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The civilizations of East Asia offer a wealth of human experience of invaluable import to every academic discipline. Unbroken cultural lines of great antiquity lead to modern East Asian cultures of ever growing global significance. Whether we look first to the past, the present, or the future, in studying East Asia we study ourselves and our world.
A traditional liberal education, limited to the study of "Western" civilization, is no longer a liberal education. The department of East Asian studies, therefore, offers courses for all Bucknell students, as well as for the special interests of students choosing either the East Asian studies major or one of the department's three minors: in East Asian studies, Chinese, or Japanese.
The major, requiring an emphasis on either China or Japan, entails a program of study (created in consultation with a department adviser) that requires a minimum of 11 courses:
- six language courses in the language of one's emphasis (Chinese or Japanese);
- four cultural courses, of which one - to provide a broad historical introduction to East Asian civilizations - must be chosen from the following (for the China emphasis: EAST 111, EAST 233, EAST 234, EAST 267; for the Japan emphasis: EAST 111, EAST 254, EAST 255, EAST 256); and one must be outside one's emphasis (on China or Japan); and
- a Culminating Experience in the senior year.
The Culminating Experience, required of all majors, may be fulfilled in one of two ways:
- Completion of an Honors Thesis (EAST 395), or
- Completion of a Senior Thesis (EAST 400).
The department encourages majors and potential majors, especially those considering a double major, to consult early and frequently with an EAST faculty member to explore ways to systematically connect and expand work done in the culture courses taken for the major with the research project that forms the core of the Culminating Experience.
The Culminating Experience provides students an opportunity to pursue focused research on a subject relevant to their concentration and of interest to them. The Culminating Experience must: involve substantial writing, involve substantial research, incorporate Japanese- or Chinese-language sources, treat in depth some aspect of the culture of Japan or China, and be presented at the spring Majors' Symposium.
All students majoring in East Asian studies will receive instruction in writing, speaking, and information literacy in the discipline through experiences in the language courses, culture courses, and the Culminating Experience that each major completes.
The department offers three minors. A minor in East Asian studies consists of a coherent group of five courses offered or crosslisted by the department, one of which must be chosen from EAST 111, EAST 233, EAST 234, EAST 254, EAST 255. A minor in Chinese or Japanese consists of six department courses, of which four must be in the respective language.
All students majoring or minoring in the East Asian studies department are strongly encouraged to seek opportunities for summer, semester, or preferably, full-year study in China or Japan. Bucknell is a member of the Associated Kyoto Program, under which students may, if accepted, spend their junior year at Doshisha University in Japan. Many other opportunities to study in East Asia also are available.


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The logic of Boehner's gambit last week was straightforward: A debt-ceiling showdown looked like another dumb fight.
A well-organized retreat is said to be one of the most difficult military maneuvers: You're under enemy fire, your troops are likely to be demoralized, and you've got to avoid a rout.
That why House Republicans' orderly withdrawal last week was unexpectedly impressive.
House Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, and his conservative members had vowed to block an increase in the federal government's debt ceiling unless Democrats accepted deep cuts in spending.
But as warnings mounted that a crisis over the debt ceiling could tank the economy and that the GOP would reap most of the blame, Boehner understood he couldn't hold that hill.
"While we want to stand up and fight for more fiscal responsibility ... we're going to be doing it in an environment that is far more hostile," he warned House members. "Where's the ground we fight on? Where's the ground that we retreat on? Where are the smart fights? Where are the dumb fights that we have to stay away from?"
Astonishingly, for perhaps the first time since they won the majority in 2010, Boehner's House Republicans were seized by a sudden fit of pragmatism. That debt ceiling that couldn't be lifted as a matter of sacred principle? It was "suspended" until May with only perfunctory debate.
Boehner's sometimes fractious lieutenants, Eric Cantor of Virginia and Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, fell into line. Tea party firebrands including Michele Bachmann of Minnesota voted no, but they remained uncharacteristically quiet.
Score one for Boehner.
It may seem painfully obvious that a political party needs to seek favorable ground on which to wage its battles — to choose "smart fights" and avoid dumb ones.
But until last week, Democrats could pretty much count on House Republicans to ignore that rule. Only three weeks ago, Republicans had dared President Obama to take the country over a fiscal cliff of brutal tax increases and spending cuts — only to retreat in disarray when they noticed that the country wasn't behind them.
The logic of Boehner's gambit last week was straightforward: A debt-ceiling showdown looked like another dumb fight. The speaker wants to change the subject to federal spending, an issue on which conservatives think they have more public support. On March 1, deep automatic cuts in both domestic and military spending are scheduled to take effect. And on March 27, the federal government will have to shut down unless Congress passes a new spending bill. Both of those events, Republicans say, will let them push for new spending cuts without the dangers of a debt-ceiling crisis.
They're at least partly right. A poll released last week by the Pew Research Center found that, with the economy slowly recovering, more voters want Congress to do something about the deficit. In 2009, only 53 percent of Americans said the deficit should be a top priority; now 72 percent do, a big jump.
But here's the problem for the GOP: Polls also show that when voters are presented specific options for shrinking the deficit, they recoil from domestic spending cuts, especially in Medicare and Social Security. The most popular ways to cut the deficit turn out to be Democratic policies: higher taxes on the wealthy and cuts in military spending.
And as the price for tea party support, Boehner promised conservatives a gift he may come to rue. He directed Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, to draw up a new federal budget that eliminates the deficit within 10 years through spending cuts alone — no new taxes allowed. Ryan's last such effort would have balanced the budget through cuts in Medicaid, Medicare and other domestic programs over 26 years. Balancing the budget in 10 years will likely require much deeper cuts in those programs.
Still, give Boehner credit. He and his caucus members are much better off than they were two weeks ago, lurching from crisis to self-defeating crisis.
Congress may still be less popular than cockroaches — but unlike cockroaches, Republican politicians appear to be evolving rapidly.
"We must stop being the stupid party," Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal lectured the Republican National Committee last week. "It's time for a new Republican Party that talks like adults."
GOP leaders aren't revamping the party's principles — at least, not explicitly. But to improve their chances of winning a majority in the Senate in 2014 and regaining the White House in 2016, they're edging away from the narrow version of tea party Republicanism that brought them down in 2012.
Obama and the Democrats still have better battlefield conditions: a growing economy, a unified party, demographic trends that fall in their favor.
But they're already facing a smarter Republican Party than the one they defeated in November — a GOP smart enough to stage a tactical retreat and avoid a losing fight.
McManus is a columnist for The Los Angeles Times. His email is

subset: commoncrawl


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Journalism, General Journalism Projects in Bolivia by Charlotte Mayhew
I couldn't tell you exactly why I had such a strong desire to travel to South America, considering I didn't know anyone who'd travelled there and I didn't really have a clue as to what I could expect. My mother credits a Japanese cartoon about the Incas called the 'Mysterious Cities of Gold' that I couldn't get enough of as a small child, thinking that maybe it was still lingering on in my subconscious after all these years. She clearly needed to figure out some reasoning as to why, seeing as I was travelling outside of Europe for the first time in my life, I was doing it alone and I didn't know any Spanish whatsoever.
But as I flew the odd 6000 miles to Cochabamba I felt perfectly at ease knowing I was to be met at the airport and taken to my host family by one of Project's Abroad's staff. I will never forget my first taxi ride through Cochabamba, instantly it struck me as a lively colourful city (it helped I'd arrived on a sunny Saturday) and upon spotting a cow tied to a tree in a play-park I grew quite excited at realising I was a very long way from home and this was going to be a very different cultural experience.
As with all my fellow volunteers, I was very happy with my host family. Mine was single mother Beatriz, who couldn't have been more warm and friendly if she tried - within a couple of weeks she had taken to calling my housemate, Heather, and I her 'wa-wa's' (Quechan for babies), which I found very endearing. Every day, she had to sit through what I can only imagine to be my baffling attempts at Spanish and she was always ready with dictionary by her side and teaching me how words should be pronounced. One amusing car journey after her sister's family took us to lunch involved Beatriz mooing and baaing at me as she taught me cow and sheep in Spanish. Thankfully my Spanish teacher Andrea knew enough English so my lessons weren't conducted in this fashion.
I was fortunate in that my placement was located within the Projects Abroad office, only a twenty minute walk from my home-stay (although the walk wasn't quite so enjoyable during carnival season when I would arrive to work drenched by water balloons). I enjoyed the journalism placement as we were given a lot of freedom with our articles, Ximena would arrange interviews and point out a couple of useful websites, but other than that we were completely left to our own devices. That said, Ximena did accompany me to an interview at Sayaricuy orphanage owing to the fact I spoke basic Spanish and the manager didn't speak English.
The highlight of my time away was the people I met. The Projects Abroad staff, our Spanish teachers, Beatriz and her family and of course my fellow volunteers - all were such interesting, amiable people that I am now pleased to call my friends and I do sincerely wish there was a chance we could all meet up again.
Whenever we could the volunteers and I would attend salsa classes, which would always be good for a laugh, and with our dynamic teacher Wilson we'd head into town, possibly to Dali for a jug of Pecera del Amor (fishbowl of love). And of course the weekends were for travelling. My first weekend we took the 12 hour night bus to Potosi to explore the mines, other weekends we'd visit Oruro, Uyuni and La Paz.
The sad part was saying goodbye to Cochabamba. I've never been one to cry. I managed to say my farewells and get on the bus with Philip, Adam, Alex, Melanie and Heather dry-eyed as they came to see me off on a tour I'd booked starting in La Paz. Even when we discovered the travel company I'd booked the tour with back in England had muddled my starting destination as Lima as opposed to La Paz (not naming any names, but they mainly cater for students), I'd say I was more frustrated than tearful.
But the floodgates opened when Philip had arranged for a taxi to take me across the border to Peru, and put me on a bus to the next city with a main terminal from which I could then travel to find my group, then I cried like a child because I truly did not want to say goodbye to my friends. Fortunately, the tour returned to La Paz, so Philip took the seven hour journey back, whilst Adam, Alex and Melanie (who had since gone on to travel around Peru) travelled overnight so we could all be reunited. The excitement to see them again was on a par with coming home to see my friends and family in England. Even after this, I managed to meet Alex again in Rio and we've been out a couple of times in London, one occasion being my birthday. Through Projects Abroad, I'm happy to say I think I've made some friends for life (and some memories to bore my friends back home with.)
Charlotte Mayhew
Ce témoignage est basé sur l'expérience unique d'un volontaire à un certain moment donné. Nos projets s'adaptent constamment aux besoins locaux, ils évoluent au fur et à mesure que des volontaires s'impliquent et s'adaptent aux saisons, ainsi votre expérience sur place pourra être différente de celle décrite ici. Pour en savoir plus sur cette mission, vous pouvez consulter la page de ce projet ou bien contacter l'un de nos conseillers de volontaires.


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Michael Masser, a songwriting legend in the 1970s and '80s, died in Rancho Mirage, California, on Thursday at age 74.
Masser, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007, created hit songs for Diana Ross in the '70s and Whitney Houston in the '80s, according to The Desert Sun. He wrote two of Ross' biggest hits as a solo artist: "Touch Me in the Morning" and "Do You Know Where You're Going To?" which was the Academy Award-nominated theme from the movie, "Mahogany." The song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, as well. Continue reading Popular Songwriter of the '70s and '80s, Michael Masser Dies at 74


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This easy, DIY at-home pumpkin mask was featured in the October issue of Good Housekeeping magazine.
Created by beauty guru Erika Katz, this mask is full of exfoliating enzymes that brighten the skin so it won't look the least bit scary this fall season. Katz, the author of "Bonding Over Beauty, A Mother-Daughter Guide to Self-Esteem, Confidence and Trust," explains why this simple do-it-yourself mask works: Pumpkin is rich in vitamin A, which is healing to the skin and is essential to maintain and repair skin tissue. It also helps reduce lines and wrinkles. Honey is a humectant. The cream moisturizes and helps soothe flaky skin.
- 2 teaspoons canned pureed pumpkin
- 1/2 teaspoon honey
- 1/4 teaspoon heavy whipping cream
- Mix all ingredients and apply to face.
- Leave on for 10 min and rinse.
Erika Katz is a beauty writer and blogger. Using her experience in the beauty department at Seventeen and lessons learned through her work in television and modeling, Katz created a beauty guide that served as the foundation for her book, "Bonding Over Beauty, A Mother-Daughter Guide to Self-Esteem, Confidence and Trust."


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Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum told Texas Republicans at a fundraising gala that "the very essence of American is in the balance" in the presidential race.
"We have to stay focused because we must be successful. We cannot afford to lose this race," he said.
Asked afterward about Democratic criticism of the tea party, he said that "generally speaking the tea party has been a great value add" to the GOP.
"I love the tea party," he told the gala. "I love that they have resurrected one of those founding documents of American history. That document, of course, is the U.S. Constitution."
Santorum, who spoke after U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, also said the results of Wisconsin's recall election show "what Americans are really looking for are people who stand up in front of them and tell them the truth."
Johnson had tea party backing when he won in 2010 along with Gov. Scott Walker, who just survived a recall election. He emphasized the importance of cooperation between the tea party and the traditional GOP.
In Wisconsin, Johnson said, "the tea party and the Republican Party were totally in sync.
"We cooperated. I can't stress enough how important that is," Johnson said, although he said he can understand how some tea party members "might kind of get on the nerves" of establishment Republicans.
Still, he said, "We are 100 percent united on the larger issues, and we are 100 percent united on the goal that faces us right now and that is to make sure that President Obama is a one-term president."
Johnson also lauded the recall election results: "What happened in Wisconsin? Democracy happened."


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Week 2 of Human Trafficking Awareness Month 2013
Shop Smart: A Fair Trade Shopping Market
Week 2 of Human Trafficking Awareness Month includes the Houston Rescue and Restore Coalition 4th Annual Shop Smart: A Fair Trade Shopping Market. Simply shopping fair trade will give you an opportunity to learn more about human trafficking and ways to combat it through conscientious purchases. The event will highlight the importance that shopping fair trade has on eliminating human trafficking.
This year's event features a larger space with lots of great vendors and door prizes. Join HRRC to learn more about conscious consumerism, make a difference in the fight against slavery, and get a head start on your holiday shopping!
Where: First United Methodist Church, Stansbury Building, located at 10570 Westpark Dr; Houston, TX
When: Saturday, September 14; 10 am – 2 pm
For more information: http://www.houstonrr.org/event/shop-smartfair-trade-shopping-market/
Please stop by anytime between 10 am – 2 pm; however, prizes will be announced at 11:30, 12:30, and 1:30 pm.
A partial list of vendors includes:
Equal Exchange
Houston Rescue and Restore Coalition Fair Trade Bake Sale
The LoVE Project
Paul Devine Photography
Ona Mission
Ten Thousand Villages
Women Craft Social Enterprise
Butterfly Project Jewelry
Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC)
Night Light International
Fe y Justicia Workers Justice
Colores del Pueblo
Audrey Omenson, Artist
A 2nd Cup
Asha Nepal


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AutoLoader Considered Harmful?
Lately, I've been doing a lot of work on some of my modules using the fine Devel::Cover package. And for about two years now, I've also been using Perl::Critic almost religiously (to the point where I've introduced it around $DAY_JOB, and even built them a snazzy web interface for it). But these two share a common failing: both fall down when they encounter a module that uses some form of external-file-based auto-loading.
First, let me explain what I'm referring to, for those who might not be familiar with auto-loading. Perl has this nifty feature called auto-loading, in which a function that doesn't exist when it is called might have the chance to spring into life dynamically. Perl will look for and invoke a special subroutine called
AUTOLOAD in your current namespace, giving it the name of the subroutine that was just requested in the special variable
$AUTOLOAD (and passing that call's args list in
@_). You can get the routine by any means that Perl allows: you can create it on the fly, you can on-demand load a module and add it to your
@ISA search path, etc. One of the most clever uses I saw early on in Perl 5's life, was Lincoln Stein's CGI module. In it, he used auto-loading to define all the HTML shortcut routines from a template,
eval'ing them on the fly as they were each first called.
In short, this amounts to Perl's version of C's dynamic loading, deferring the loading and compilation of code (well, in the C world you were just deferring the loading and linking, it was already compiled) until you needed it. Into to this we introduce the core modules AutoLoader and AutoSplit. AutoLoader provides for you an
AUTOLOAD method that uses the name of the requested routine and the package it is in to look for a file by that name under a directory hierarchy within your
@INC path. To compliment this, AutoSplit is used by the build/install process (be it ExtUtils::MakeMaker or Module::Build, etc.) to look at a module, determine if it uses AutoLoader, and splits out the routines that were defined as dynamically-loading into these per-name files. In fact, I got my break into the world of writing about Perl by writing an article explaining these two modules for the Perl Journal (alas, I cannot find a link to the article online). I also made my first contributions to Perl's core by fleshing out the docs for these two, as I had been using them at my then-job to make a 20,000-line module more manageable.
But! I'm clearly not hear to sing the praises of AutoLoader, or I would have titled this post something else entirely. I don't necessarily come here to bury Caesar in lieu of praising him, but introducing AutoLoader (or SelfLoader, for that matter) gums up the works when you use either of Devel::Cover or Perl::Critic. And while Devel::Cover might be able to fix this (I've filed a bug, but I don't know the internals of D::C so I don't know if it is addressable), Perl::Critic definitely won't be able to.
See, AutoLoader/AutoSplit (and SelfLoader, though it uses a slightly different model) work by having you put the code you want to delay loading after the
__END__ token in your module (
__DATA__ in the case of SelfLoader). AutoSplit can then find it and split it out into individual files, and as the compiler stops compiling once it hits that token nothing at that point onward contributes to the start-up compilation phase. But while this successfully hides the code from the compiler, it also very successfully hides the code from Perl::Critic and Devel::Cover as well.
P::C is built on the PPI package by Adam Kennedy, and in terms of a Perl module as a document anything after
__END__ is simply not code and not going to be processed as such. So your code that uses AutoLoader is not being fully analyzed by P::C. I had released a version of RPC::XML that I thought was critic-clean, without having thought about this caveat. When I later went and commented-out the "
use AutoLoader" and "
__END__" lines, I found a whole new set of violations to clear up.
Likewise, I had a similar problem with Devel::Cover. Only slightly worse, because I assumed that they had already dealt with this problem. The code gets loaded just like any other Perl module, so I assumed that when it loaded it then got instrumented. And the code uses "
#line" directives to associate the code with the correct line in the original *.pm file, so I thought that they would be able to "translate" the line numbers of coverage statistics back to the originating file. But alas, no— code after __END__ is just as hidden from D::C as it is from P::C.
Which leaves me wondering whether AutoLoader (and
__END__-based auto-loading in general) might not have run its course of usefulness. I'm left wondering what sort of hoops the authors of syntax-highlighting for Emacs had to jump through, to determine that content after
__END__ was actually code rather than data, and to highlight it as such (vim doesn't, it leaves it in the same font-face as data). Editors aside, here are two extremely useful development tools for Perl programmers (remember, I'm practically religious about P::C, spreading the gospel to my workplace and anywhere else I can), and both are hampered by the use of auto-loading. Given the leaps in memory and CPU over the last 15 years or so since I wrote that first article, do we really need AutoLoader anymore? I mean, I'm not saying do away with auto-loading itself, it has a truly useful place in Perl. I'm just not so sure whether we need AutoLoader (or SelfLoader) like we used to.


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Amurican ( Moorish) Nation Permanent Mission
Enter subhead content here
Enter content here
Enter supporting content here
Mahalaws Yamassee
copyright/copyclaim 2005
all rights reserved
We cal on all CARBON / MELANINATED, NUBIAN, Indigenous (Muurs) People to endorse
the She People(Muurs) and contribute time, resources and funds to help organize this important undertaking. To participate
in the MelaninBase's organizing process, all Indigenous Muurs contact Mr. Ankh @ 1-614-568-3733 Thank you for visiting our
web site. We encourage to fill in the surveys daily, wekly , monthly until our goals are met , if you would like more
information or are interested in becoming a part of our organization.


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Ca'Sandra P, Georgia
- 12/4/2012
About Me
I am a Disney freak and a true southern princess! I live in Peachtree City with my beloved husband and two small children. My professional career involves working in outreach with a national non-profit. When I am not traveling for work, you will find me spending time with my family, reading, volunteering or planning our next Walt Disney World vacation. There is not a day that goes by that I'm not thinking about my next vacation to see the Mouse. One might say that I'm infatuated with Walt Disney World.
About My Family
My husband and I are the proud parents to two beautiful children; a 5-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son. My husband is a computer analyst and is a Disney fan. My daughter, Madison, has taken after me and acquired a love for all things Disney. My son, Landon, is starting to recognize Mickey Mouse and does a happy dance anytime he's watching the Disney Channel. Both children took trips to Walt Disney World before they could say their first words.
About My Disney Experience
Family and friends know that our vacations consist of trips to Walt Disney World. My love for Disney began when my parents took me on my first trip in 1987. I know what it is like to visit Disney without children as well as being pregnant and breastfeeding with an infant. I have learned how to successfully manage and tour Walt Disney World with baby gear and strollers. Being at Walt Disney World allows me to be a kid again, immersing in all the magical pixie dust while tuning out the real world.


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In the world of Facebook, users are either kings or lemmings. That's the conclusion of a new study, the largest to analyze how information spreads across social networks—and who does the spreading.
The debate about how ideas, opinions, and behaviors radiate within groups of people goes back decades. According to the so-called influentials hypothesis, made popular by books such as The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, a small number of highly influential people drive most of the spread. For example, if the popular kids in a high school get iPhones and all the other kids soon follow, the hypothesis says that it was because of the sway of the cool kids. But critics counter that influential individuals play only a minor role, and what matters is whether people are susceptible to the new idea.
The debate has remained unsettled because studying peer influence is notoriously difficult. Studies of the real world are messy and rarely allow for controlled experiments, whereas social experiments in laboratories are expensive and involve contrived situations. So, researchers are turning to online social networks such as Facebook. Such approaches make it easy to track the behavior of huge numbers of people, while third-party software applications, or apps, allow researchers to run virtual experiments on Facebook users, often for free.A Weekly Chat on the Hottest Topics in Science Thursdays 3 p.m. EDT
To test peer influence, Sinan Aral and Dylan Walker, economists at New York University's Stern School of Business in New York City, used a Facebook app that allows users to rate and recommend movies. (Aral and Walker are keeping the identity of the app confidential at the request of the company, but they say that it is similar to Flixster.) As users interact with the app—for example, you give the 2011 movie The Tree of Life four out of five stars—it sends messages to a random selection of your Facebook friends notifying them of the rating and providing a link to the app. The more friends that adopt the app after receiving a notification from you, the greater your influence. The shorter the time period between receiving a notification and adopting the app yourself, the higher your susceptibility.
Over 44 days, the apps of nearly 8000 users sent over 40,000 notifications to 1.3 million friends, and about 1000 of those friends adopted the app. Aral and Walker then built a model of the app's "contagion" through this massive social network. If the influentials hypothesis is true, most of the spread should be catalyzed by a small number of key people.
Reality seems to fall somewhere between influence and susceptibility. Both are important, but contagion depended on the personal traits of the people, the team reports online today in Science. For example, people older than 30 were more influential than those who are younger than 30, and people of the same age had the most influence on each other. Women tended to influence men more than they influenced each other. But most surprisingly, influence and susceptibility almost never occurred in the same person. At least in the Facebook network, there are only trendsetters and followers.
The study is on "a phenomenally large scale," says Brian Uzzi, a social scientist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The division between influence and susceptibility could have a large influence on online marketing, he says, allowing companies to predict not only whether you will be interested in a particular product, but also whether you're the kind of person who can help it go viral. However, says Uzzi, "to know if virtual world social influence substitutes, complements, or is independent of the real world, we need another experiment that looks at the diffusion of the same product on Facebook and [in] the real world."


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Anna Vanessa Sellers and Christopher Thomas Hicks were married Sept. 29, 2012, by the Rev. Maxie A. Threatt, uncle of the bride, at Plantation Farms in Byron, Ga.
The bride is the daughter of Mark Sellers of Byron and Alona Sellers of Warner Robins, Ga. She is the granddaughter of Howard and Sybil Threatt Sellers of Lancaster. She is a 2007 graduate of Northside High School in Warner Robins and a 2012 graduate of Valdosta State University with a bachelor's degree in early childhood education. She works as an educator in Lowndes County, Ga.
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Applying to Marlboro
If you are looking for an intentionally small, intellectually demanding liberal arts school where students are seen, heard, known, and valued, Marlboro College would be a great college choice for you.
Marlboro assesses student potential in the unique context of each applicant's experience, without the confines of GPAs or standardized test scores. There is no formula for what makes a student a "good fit" for Marlboro, but applicants are reviewed with an eye towards intellectual promise, self-motivation, self-discipline, and ability to positively contribute to our community.
To apply, follow the guidelines below and see special considerations for first-year students, transfers, international students, homeschooled students, and veterans.
Applicants may choose to use either the Common Application (with the Marlboro Supplement) or our own Marlboro College Application.


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Will the Hobby Lobby Decision Open the Door for HIV-Related Health Insurance Restrictions?
In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court exempted closely held for-profit corporations from providing health insurance coverage for methods of contraception that violated the religious beliefs of corporation owners. The court ruled that Affordable Care Act (ACA) regulations requiring employers to facilitate employee access to all approved contraceptive methods violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
Advocates say that the decision on Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. has the potential to open the door to employers wishing to restrict health insurance coverage for people living with HIV or those seeking PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis).
Speaking after a National Health Law Program (NHLP) press conference, Kimberly Inez McGuire, public affairs director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, said the Supreme Court decision could affect health insurance coverage for sexuality and gender diverse communities and people living with HIV.
"While ostensibly, the conversation in this case was around birth control, we know that once you open the door to discrimination around health care, you open the door to all sorts of discrimination that can have an impact on many different communities," McGuire said.
"Unfortunately, we know that religion is used to discriminate, in this country and around the world, not only against women who are seeking reproductive health care, but against [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer] people ... and folks living with HIV who are seeking health care of any kind."
In "How the Hobby Lobby Decision Could Undermine the Fight Against HIV/AIDS," Carlos Maza of Media Matters speculates that the ruling could be used to limit access to PrEP.
"Given the opposition to Truvada [tenofovir/FTC] even within the gay community, it's not hard to imagine a religious employer making similar arguments to the ones made in the Hobby Lobby case to justify denying health insurance coverage for Truvada," he writes.
Speaking at the press conference, NHLP executive director Elizabeth Taylor said the ramifications of the Supreme Court decision were likely to be broad.
"Although the court emphasizes that these are closely held corporations and this is only about certain contraceptives, the court's analysis would apply to publicly-traded corporations and it would also apply to any other health benefit," she said.
"The fact that the court doesn't see that the same analysis could be applied to immunizations, antidepressants and blood transfusions is actually one of the most troubling aspects of this because the court seems to be 20 years behind science and evidence and thinks that contraception is not basic health care."
Under the RFRA, the U.S. government cannot substantially burden a person's exercise of religion unless the government demonstrates a compelling interest and unless the particular intervention is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest.
In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., the Supreme Court acknowledged a compelling governmental interest in providing cost-free access to the challenged contraceptive methods.
The court noted that the government could, for example, assume the cost of providing contraceptives to women unable to obtain coverage due to their employer's religious objections. Or the government could extend the accommodation already available to religious non-profit organizations, which enables employers to opt out of providing contraceptive coverage and, in those cases, obliges insurers to provide coverage directly to employees.
"One of the problems with this decision is that you can imagine an employer being able to object to almost anything on religious grounds," Taylor said.
"The government has got to come in then and show a compelling interest for anything that an employer wants to challenge," she explained. "And then the question would be, 'Is there a less restrictive means to provide care to people living with HIV?' So the potential for damage is huge." Robert Greenwald, director of Harvard Law School's Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, said the Supreme Court decision undermined the provision of whole-person care under the PPACA (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act).
"When you start from a place of recognizing that the most important thing that we're trying to accomplish is whole-person care -- and that includes integration of primary care, specialty care, behavioral health, sexual and reproductive health care -- the idea then of having a Supreme Court decision that starts carving out exceptions to access to contraception undermines that principle and it's in that way that the decision is so damaging," Greenwald said.
However, he said it was important not to overstate the implications of the Supreme Court decision.
"We need to fight to hold the line to make sure that [the decision] is limited, as I believe the Supreme Court intended it to be, to very few closely held small enterprises," he said. "So most people do not need to worry and should still be entitled to, and be able to demand, their free preventive services."
Health sector advocates encouraged community members to learn as much as possible about the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. case and about the human right to health care.
Taylor urged the U.S. government to act quickly to ensure equitable health insurance coverage for all Americans, regardless of the religious beliefs of their employers.
"Congress can fix this because it is a statutory decision so RFRA could be amended to be clear that for-profit corporations don't exercise religion, or Congress could pass a statute that specifically prevents an employer from depriving its employees of health benefits on religious grounds," she explained.
"People with HIV and their allies have been fighting for a very long time for recognition, for health care, for funding for research," McGuire said.
"Latinas and other communities of color have fought for their civil and human rights and that fight continues ... In any of the work we do, we hope to stand side by side with everyone who is fighting for the human right to health care, and we hope that we can work together to get to a place where this right is no longer being questioned and undermined as it was in the Hobby Lobby case.
"As we say in Spanish, la lucha continúa -- the fight continues."
Katherine Moriarty is a consultant and freelance writer, based in Vancouver. She has 10 years of experience in the intersecting fields of public health and community development, with a focus on bloodborne virus policy and programming.


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I imagine so. What do you think? And if anyone wants to provide a caption for the picture below please have at it in the comments.
This is a Purple Gallinule Porphyrio martinica and a Common Gallinule Gallinula galeata at the Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland, Florida. Can you tell which is which? (Click image for larger version.)
Great capture!
I know which is which: if you look very closely, the colouration of the legs gives them away.
A couple of years ago a Moorhen… I mean Common Gallinule… was found on the Lake in Central Park.
It attracted a hoard of birders like it was an Ivory-billed Woodpecker or something.
As soon as everybody learned that they couldn't count the bird because it was placed in the Lake after being found out on Broadway, they all scattered like House Sparrows with a Sharpie in pursuit….
CAPTION: "The AOU finally comes to the determination that the Common Gallinule is really just a female Purple Gallinule. Sorry for the species lumping every body!"
Common Gallinule: Take two aspirin and the discoloration should go away by morning.
That's a great photo, Corey!
CAPTION: Which of these birds has been feeding on Skittles?
Fantastic image.
So is a Moorhen and a common gallinule are the same thing?
My theory is that this Common Gallinule was photo-bombing us. With four(!!) of his Purple cousins in the same 10ft square, there wasn't any way we would have taken his picture otherwise.
@Duncan, "where Americans can't even name birds properly" Please don't be rude. It is uncalled for such as remarks regarding poor grammar and punctuation would be.
This is a beautiful picture, Thank You.
One of these appeared in front of my house, I avoided for it to be eaten by a cat, the male is more colorful, because what is here with me is the same color photo, thanks for posting, best photo.
© 2013 10,000 Birds. All words, images, and opinions are the property of their respective authors unless stated otherwise.


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Hi there,
some minor things I noticed during the last couple of days:
(1) The status of my opponent shown ingame is most of the time completely wrong. Sometimes it says "here" when he is obviously offline. For example, I have two games against the same player. In one game it says he is "here", while in the other game he's said to be "offline". He's also not shown in the player-list under the "Online"-tab of the game.
(2) Probably related to (1): So far, in none of my games I was shown whether my opponent had done his turn or not. Instead, so far most of the time he was shown "offline" and once I committed I immediately was presented the outcome.
(3) Currently, none of my games shows that there is a new turn to be made by me, even though in most of them there is one. Also the "Online"-tab of the game says that there are "0 games which require turns", which is obviously wrong. First this only was the case for games started prior to the server update. Games freshly started where correctly included in the "require turn"-count. But one day later (me not having touched the corresponding games) none of them is included in the count anymore.
(4) When I load a game I was not part of (e.g., the current featured game), the player-stats in the upper right corner always shows myself as the green team (instead of the actual guy that played that game).
Cheers and keep up the good work!
New UK1 Server Bugs
Post bug reports here
Moderator: Admins
Post Reply
5 posts • Page 1 of 1
Re: New UK1 Server Bugs
First things first. Thank you for the update the server is significantly faster.
I can confirm 1 - 3, 4 I haven't noticed. I would also like to add that I'm receiving zero email notifications as well.
I can confirm 1 - 3, 4 I haven't noticed. I would also like to add that I'm receiving zero email notifications as well.
Re: New UK1 Server Bugs
Thanks for these bug reports. We hope to have these fixed within the next couple of hours.
Re: New UK1 Server Bugs
How about looking into this game breaking bug?
Re: New UK1 Server Bugs
The point that changed my mind was very impressive.
Post Reply
5 posts • Page 1 of 1


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Welcome to the CRG Discussion Forum!Forum registration problems: Make sure you enter your email correctly and you check your spam box first. *Then* email KurtS2@gmail for help.Classified ads are not allowed on the forum.
I took pictures if anyone wishes to see.
I used to have a picture of the "square c" but can't seem to find it. JohnZ? Kurt? Rich? Jerry? Tony? ANYBODY?Ed


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Mariners Insider Blog
Felix's perfecto - he'd expected it for years
The question Felix Hernandez has had throughout his career was whether his talent was as big as his dreams, because his dreams were perfect.
Today, so was his game.
Dominant from the first batter to the last, the Seattle Mariners ace held the Tampa Bay Rays without a hit or walk for nine innings – retiring all 27 batters he faced – in a 1-0 victory that pushed him into history.
It was the first perfect game in franchise history, the 23rd in major league history.
"Warming up in the bullpen before the game, everything worked," Felix said. "Every game, I'm always thinking about a perfect game, but this is pretty awesome."
A Safeco Field crowd of 21,889 was behind their pitcher from the outset, but somewhere along the way – much like the Mariners themselves – they realized they were watching something spectacular.
"Felix was hitting 95 mph with his fastball, throwing his changeup to right-handers and left-handers and is curve was nasty," catcher John Jaso said. "When he struck out Evan Longoria in the second inning with a curve, I thought the day might be special."
Inning after inning, Felix set down the side in order, and after four innings had thrown only 40 pitches. After eight innings, he'd used 98 pitches. In the end, he threw 113 – 77 for strikes.
"I don't care what lineup you might have put out there today, it would not have had a chance," center fielder Michael Saunders said. "His pitches were moving all over the place.
"Every time he goes out there – and this is the God's honest truth – I expect him to throw a no-hitter. It's like when he gives up a hit, I think 'well, he'll throw one his next start.'
"I think he expects that, too," Saunders said.
There was one thing Hernandez needed Wednesday he couldn't provide for himself – a run. No matter how many consecutive outs he'd put up, Tampa's Jeremy Hellickson was pitching nearly as well.
Shortstop Brendan Ryan, batting .198 before his first at-bat, singled to open the third inning but, two outs later, remained at first base. With designated hitter Jesus Montero up, Ryan stole second base and scrambled all the way to third when Hellickson threw a wild pitch.
Rookie Montero singled him home for the only run of the day.
"That RBI was so important, I'll never forget it," Montero said. "I spent most of the rest of the game on the bench, praying with 'Guti.'"
That would be Mariners teammate and fellow Venezuelan Franklin Gutierrez, an energetic teammate who often spends time in the clubhouse during the game.
On this day, he stayed put.
"I sat in one spot and didn't move," Gutierrez said. "I wasn't even playing and I got nervous. That last batter, I kept thinking, 'He's going to do this!' and he did it."
Felix seemed to get stronger as he closed in on the prize. Facing the heart of the Rays lineup in the eighth inning – Longoria, Ben Zobrist and Carlos Pena – he struck out the side.
Opening the ninth with 24 batters retired in order, there was no one in Safeco Field unaware of the situation.
"All day, I'd been able to throw any pitch in any count for a strike," Hernandez said. "I went out there in the ninth to throw good pitches. The fans were great, the 'King's Court' was fired up."
That particular group of fans, the yellow t-shirted denizens of the left field corner each day Felix pitches, had all but come unglued.
The Rays opened the ninth inning with pinch hitter Desmond Jennings.
"I was on that team that last few years," Jaso said. "I know how they approached Felix in the past. We used that all day."
Jennings struck out swinging.
The Rays sent up another pinch-hitter, Jeff Keppinger. Felix got him out in front of a changeup and Keppinger grounded to shortstop – 26 batters up, 26 down.
With that crowd standing, Felix fell behind third baseman Sean Rodriguez in the count, 2-0, then evened it at 2-2 and took a little walk around the mound.
Jaso called for his slider. Hernandez threw it. Rodriguez took it for a called third strike.
"I caught that final pitch and I paused," Jaso said. "Then I thought, 'I can't believe that just happened!'"
"Me too!" Felix chimed in, and both men laughed.
Thirty minutes later, Hernandez was still a little overwhelmed, almost giddy with joy.
"The only bad thing is my wife and kids flew home last week," he said. "I'm glad it happened here at home. The fans deserved it – so did I!"
Someone pointed out that in a Mariners career that begin in 2005, the 26-year-old Hernandez had won an American League Cy Young Award and thrown a perfect game.
What's next? Hernandez didn't miss a beat.
"The playoffs," he said, still dreaming big. "That's what's next. The playoffs."


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Barcelona 666 John Black
We're proud to introduce this stylish new watch collection from Barcelona. While traveling through Spain, we discovered this super cool company at a hip little watch shop in Las Ramblas.
43mm diameter
Stainless Steel Case
Genuine Leather Strap
"The magic of numbers. The hidden harmonies of an exact science that is capable of explaining the universe. Matter and energy. Space and time... Capable of revealing the true you. From this ocean of infinite affinities, a number emerges. The mark of an authentic and unconventional man."


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lukatosh wrote:Hello Friends! ... I'm Lucas and I'm writting from Chile!
I've build the bb preamp (glitterati, madbean v3.5)...and iwould like to add more gain to it... how can increase gain in the pedal?
excuse my bad English :/
thanks so much!
sinner wrote:phibes wrote:Paco, what does the PCB screw to in the case? I never looked into the Xotic stuff too much.
Timothy, It holds the second PCB with pots and one resistor attached to it
Return to Boutique Stompboxes dissected...
Users browsing this forum: AR6056, gkhebert, LoudCancer, lukatosh, trent.ff and 13 guests


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Call it the Packer way.
From general manager Ted Thompson to coach Mike McCarthy to most of roster, the Green Bay Packers tend to stick to the company line. (Tight end Jermichael Finley is the much-welcomed exception.) News conferences are rather bland, contract talks are kept fairly quiet and any infighting usually stays behind closed doors.
"In fact, I think that is one of the most important things they look at," linebacker Clay Matthews told Pat Kirwan on Saturday on SirusXM's NFL Radio, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. "Obviously, you need to have athletic ability and be able to help this team, but for the most part, you look at the players up and down the board, it's very rare that you are going to find a Packer get into trouble or saying something outlandish.
"We like to keep everything in-house, make sure we handle our business professionally. There is not a lot of buzz around these contract negotiations, as well as Aaron (Rodgers') here in the near future. So I'm sure we will wake up one day and hopefully they will announce he is the highest-paid quarterback. In the meantime, you are not going to be hearing much grumbling from anyone."
The New England Patriots operate in a similar fashion. While the organizations take pride in it, that approach can be boring for the rest of us. Rodgers will show his snarky side from time to time, and B.J. Raji can be brutally honest, but the Packers are tame compared to other NFL teams.
So if you're wondering why there hasn't been much news lately on Rodgers' contract extension, there you go.
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.


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Teens and Smoking: Do you Know the Truth?
Teens and Smoking: Do you Know the Truth?
Right now, you have a chance to make one of the biggest decisions of your life. It's about smoking. It may not seem like a big deal. But if you start smoking now, there's a good chance that you'll be addicted for life. Think it can't happen to you? Check out these facts.
Facts about smoking
Smoking is addictive. Even if you only smoke once in a while, you can still get hooked. Once that happens, it's very hard to stop.
5 out of 6 teens don't smoke. And most teens who do smoke say they wish they could quit.
Smoking is toxic. A single cigarette contains over 50 chemicals that cause cancer. Some of the chemicals are even used in bug spray.
Smoking is deadly. 1 out of every 3 teens who starts smoking will later get sick and die of a smoking-related disease.
All forms of tobacco are bad for you. This includes cigars, menthols, chewing tobacco, dip, snuff, bidis, "additive free" cigarettes, and secondhand smoke.
If you don't start smoking by the time you're 18, chances are you'll never start.
Truth about tobacco ads
Tobacco companies know that most smokers start young. If they can get you to try smoking now, there's a good chance you'll get addicted. That means you'll be putting money in their pockets for the rest of your life. They will say anything to get you to smoke. They use ads that make it seem like smoking is fun and exciting. They hire thin, healthy, good-looking models to sell their products. They do all this because every day tobacco companies have to replace 3,000 smokers who quit. Or die.
To learn more
If you want to learn more about tobacco addiction, visit these websites:
The Foundation for a Smokefree America www.notobacco.org
American Legacy Foundation Truth Campaign www.thetruth.com
For more information
National Cancer Institute Smoking Quitline: 877-44U-QUIT (877-448-7848)
October 16, 2017
Reviewed By:
Adler, Liora, C., MD,Fraser, Marianne, MSN, RN,Image reviewed by StayWell art team.


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Only one word can sum up today's sexy pornstar gallery, that is: FUCK!! This is Pornstar Victoria Valentino, I am a porn sexpert and I am telling you, this is the hottest gallery we have EVER posted:
You will need to sit down for pornstar Victoria Valentino and her gallery. Would you believe that she is actually MILF material! I bet even her sons jerk off over this sexy gallery.
Victoria loves Al Pacino movies, I'm sure Al would be very happy to be this babes godfather!… There is nothing more to say, I'm wasting valuable jerking off time! This gallery rules!
Allan Lake
Your RedTube Blog Host!


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So as soon as we got our referral and found out for sure that we're anxiously awaiting the arrival of one little boy and one little girl, I headed to the fabric store. My babies needed crib bedding and they needed it yesterday!
If you'd like to tuck your little ones in at night with equally adorable bunting blankets, here's the how-to:
1. Gather your materials:
*white flannel cut to the size of your finished blanket (plus a few inches for hems) Mine was 36"x60" (4"
bigger all around than a crib mattress so it can later be used as a throw on a twin bed.)
*various 1/4 yards of quilting fabrics in cheery colors. I had a lot to work with and plan to use the
leftovers for other projects.
*fleece for backing. Expensive stuff when purchased at the fabric store. ($10/yard x 2 yards per blanket
x 2 blankets = way too much $$$ for me.) Not so expensive when purchased as ready-made blankets
at Ross. Makes no sense, but I was happy to capitalize on it! We picked up a twin size coverlet for
$12 and a throw blanket for $10. Thanks to mom for the great idea!
*iron & ironing board
*sewing machine
2. Start cutting out your bunting triangles. Mine are 9" tall x 7" wide, though the height/width ratio is a very
personal thing. Tip - using a cutting mat and rotary cutter makes this step much easier.
3. Painstakingly iron under the edges of each triangle.
5. Lay out your design. I chose to go with 4 rows of 7 triangles. I tried to create a somewhat random
pattern, but do what makes you happy.
7. Sew!
8. ......aaaaand repeat steps 6 & 7 until you've sewed all the triangles on.
9. Cut your fleece to size (if it's not already)
10. Lay out your flannel top and your fleece backing - right sides together - and pin.
11. Sew the two layers together - around all 4 sides - but leave a 12" hole open so you can turn it right-
12. Turn it right-side-out, then turn under the edges of your hole and pin. Sew it up.
{Note - I haven't actually done the next 2 steps yet -- probably due to my impatience to get the blankets on the cribs -- done or not -- but this is what I plan to do to finish them up.}
13. Top stitch around the edges. This just means stitching a straight line around all four sides, about 1/2" in,
to make the edges look neater, and to keep them lined up correctly.
14. Sew the two sides together in strategic spots to keep the front and back together. I plan on
hand-stitching where a couple of the bunting triangles meet.
And that's it! Definitely not the quickest project I've ever done, but I love, love the results:


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Every now and then, although not nearly often enough to pretend any masculine aspiration to be a "Master Carpenter," I watch Norm Abrams on the New Yankee Workshop. His woodworking studio is a utopia for any power tool-loving handyman or craftsman; full of routers, dovetail jigs, miter gauges, biscuit cutters, and still more esoteric powered equipment. Norm's easygoing, everyman approach to his craft makes it seem like no big deal that he's got a different special tool for seemingly every turn of a screw, although there are times when I just have to laugh at the stuff Norm casually reaches for so matter-of-factly. Just because I know what a Jack Rabbit is doesn't mean I've got one lying around.
Of course, Norm also makes it seem like no big deal to reproduce period furniture, build custom router tables with built-in vacuums, and small rowboats (for crying out loud!), single-handedly and all from scratch, in an afternoon. Obviously, that ease comes with knowledge, experience, and talent. My own basement workshop houses a radial arm, a band saw, and a mini-router table, among a scattered few other hand power tools, but it's far from an envy-inducing workspace. While I've built a few things—a two-seater garden swing, a cabinet or two, and a workbench—I'm no master carpenter. And all those projects took well more than an afternoon.
Still, my humble construction projects exercise my body and my mind as I work through the puzzles of starting from nothing and creating something tangible. I've not built a rowboat, nor an English Country secretary desk, but being a woodworker is not (only occasionally do I regret this) my career or life calling. And, even with my modest skills and relatively humble equipment I still, more often than not, end up being fulfilled by, if not proud of, the results.
Of course, when it comes to video production, maybe my studio is a little more like Norm's. As a journalist who's covered the broad digital video industry for getting close to a decade, I've had the opportunity to work with a great number of tools, boxes, systems, and software, including digital cameras, camcorders, encoders, editing systems, graphics applications, workstations, and every DVD authoring application that exists. Indeed, at times I get a chuckle out of the job-specific stuff that I get to see firsthand and can reach for in case it's needed.
That wonderful experience has allowed me to learn by comparing products, interface design successes and mistakes, and capabilities, as well as to do my creative work on the best products there are. I've edited commercial videos on editing systems from Avid, Adobe, Pinnacle, Media 100, Discreet, and more, and augmented them with 2D and 3D graphics created using top products (well, I do what I can with graphics and get help from partners that can do more). And I've authored DVDs on everything up to Sonic's premium Scenarist.
Top-of-the-line, feature-rich tools like Scenarist offer broad palettes when it comes to painting in fine detail. It's the reason, for example, that amid the overwhelming trend toward easier-to-use abstraction- level DVD authoring interfaces, Sonic has just re-launched a more affordable version of Scenarist, called Scenarist Studio ($7,999). For professionals manipulating the full extent of DVD specification capabilities—using pre-, post-, or embedded cell commands, full control of GPRM and SPRM logic, and related navigation control—that old and arguably complicated Scenarist methodology ultimately offers more hands-on control than tools that put a visual interface layer between the programmer and the engine.
Just the same, I surely don't need Scenarist for everything I put to DVD. Naturally, as I try to document the lives of my young sons in my spare time and send the resulting DVDs to their grandparents, there's a much greater value in just getting it done than in having all the capabilities of a tool as complex as Scenarist. That's when using simple tools can be more expeditious. The same is true as I assemble video clips for business presentations and communications. I don't need complicated navigation and, as long as they look good enough, those menus are mostly utilitarian.
Roxio's Easy CD Creator is, of course, a staple disc-burning application that now, in Easy CD & DVD Creator 6.0 (see review, www.emedialive.com/r16/2003/reviews0503_01.html), includes a full DVD authoring sub-application, called DVD Builder. It's a new feature to learn even if you're an Easy CD Creator jock, but coming at video creation from the familiar media management side brings the integration of video into business and personal communications one big step closer. What's more, DVD Builder includes a smartly designed "timeline-like" authoring interface that supports clip trimming and clip appending; in other words, basic video editing and audio linking. That's often all that's really needed to "just get things done" and still produce polished finished products that will impress their intended audience.
There was never any "authoring" with printing video to tape, and the migration to DVD may seem like adding another layer of new, complicated steps, but it's really just the opposite, especially as DVD becomes integrated into the greater workflow. DVD Builder can take you all the way from capturing digital camcorder footage, to basic video editing, to finishing the disc—all in a single application. And that same application can move the PowerPoint slides or other supporting information onto the DVD-ROM portion of a hybrid DVD-Video disc.
Whether you're building with video or wood, it's nice to have the best tools, but not having them is ever becoming less a reason for intimidation. Aspirations and grand visions are great, but so are finished projects. Sometimes having fewer tools makes the choices easier.
Heck, I still haven't figured out the band saw.


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Ten years ago, a bunch of lunatics with no game industry experience, led by our CEO Erez Goren, were crazy enough to start a game company. Our goal was always to build "games as a service" -- meaning games that were built from their core around the idea of being frequently updated and shaped by vibrant communities.
Paladins is now our fourth game we've created, the most successful being SMITE.
Over the last 10 years, we've had some massive failures and screw ups, but I like to think we have continually improved.
We were one of the first game developers in the Western (Non-Asian) market to attempt to build very high-quality Free-to-Play games. We've learned a lot, and now are at least smart enough to know how much more we still have to learn!
Because our history and company background is different, our approach to developing games and running betas may be different from what you have experienced with other developers.
In order to really understand what you are testing and how to help us shape the best game we can, I think it is important for our players to understand some of the principles that underly our game development. Without this, I fear people will pre-judge Paladins based on "what it is now" versus "what it will become with your help."
So here are some things I want you to know about how we build games:
Principle #1: Start public testing as early as you can, and let the community help shape the game's development.
Our goal is always to start closed beta testing as soon as we feel we have basic core gameplay and systems in place. We know a lot of things aren't finished or fully polished. But we want your feedback to help us shape where we take the game.
Principle #2: No game is ever done. Labels such as "Closed Beta", "Open Beta", "Released" are mostly artificial marketing milestones.
We will, of course, have big milestones around a Closed Beta (maybe even with multiple "phases"), as well as an Open Beta and a Launch. But really these are just partly artificial marketing milestones. Games are never done. We believe in frequently patching and improving.
Principle #3: Be open.
Streaming and video content creation is allowed from Day One. In some ways, this is dangerous for us, since it means that, years from now, when the game has evolved well beyond the point it is now -- this content will still be out there and may give people a false impression of the current state of the game. (I still cringe when I see some of the early SMITE videos). But, overall, the benefits of being open and transparent outweight the risks.
[NOTE: One reason we LOVE for people to stream our game during beta is that we watch the streams religously. Watching other people play our games gives us insight into what is and isn't working well that is hard to get any other way.]
Principle #4: Don't be afraid to try lots of crazy shit while you are beta.
We'll do some stuff and try some experiments in beta that will seem very stupid and crazy. And they just may be. Old-time testers of SMITE can probably relay some of the insane stuff we did during that beta.
But sometimes these experiments help us learn things about our game that are really important and inform future design. When we run a bad experiment, we will work hard to fix it up as quickly as we can!
Principle #5: Initially worry most about gameplay and fun. We can improve the art quality and general polish later on.
There may be times when we introduce new features or champions or maps before their art quality is at a level that is ideal for us. That's because we want to make sure the gameplay is right before we apply tons of art resources in a direction that isn't working. As gameplay and fun solidify, we will come back around and make the art great.
Principle #6: Patch frequently, add new content constantly, learn from each patch.
I think this one is self-explanatory.
Principle #7: When you are doing #6, bugs and balance issues will happen.
We will move fast and patch frequently. It's hard to do that in a way that is bug free and perfectly balanced. During the beta phase especially, we prefer to move quick and fix quick -- versus delaying the learning experiences that we know we will get when people try the new things we are testing.
Principle #8: Use data and stats religously to mine insights on player behavior.
We will read the forums and the Reddit and the user surveys religiously and shape a lot of the game around the feedback we see. But, sometimes, people have issues or experiences in the game that they can't really verbalize correctly. Being very focused on mining the right data to see what is and isn't working is very important.
Principle #9: Let people play with their friends.
If you are in our beta and playing regularly, we will setup systems to make sure you can get your friends into the beta.
Principle #10: Make money, but do so in a fair way that respects your community.
We are extremely strong believers that Free to Play is a fantastic business model for gaming. But it needs to be done in a fair way that isn't "Pay to Win." That's harder to achieve than you may think, and bear with us as we balance the game around that philosophy. But I think people that have been with us for a while know that we work hard to build fair systems for our players and hugely respect the experience of players that never pay us a dime.


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Have you been worried about a friend, roommate, or classmate who is increasingly withdrawn, behaving recklessly, or hinting at self-harm? Joining a college campus means joining a community—and within that community, it is likely that someone you know will be seriously affected by mental illness or will contemplate suicide. In an anonymous survey of 29,000 students, 1 in 10 said they had seriously considered suicide in the past 12 months (NCHA, 2015). Two out of three college students who disclose suicidal thoughts tell a peer first (Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 2009). Most students want to help others but often aren't sure how, SH101 surveys show. So here's how.
Three steps to helping a friend who may be suicidal
1. Notice something is wrong
Warning signs indicate an immediate risk for suicide. Mental health professionals or emergency responders should be contacted quickly. Warning signs can include:
- A threat to self-harm
- Hopelessness
- Increasing alcohol or drug use
- Dramatic mood changes
- Seeking access to a firearm, pills, or other lethal means
2. Choose to respond
Your concerns are probably valid. It's appropriate to empathize, listen, and help connect your friend to other supports. Suicidal thoughts are far more common than suicide attempts; your friend may feel relief when you raise the issue.
Reach out to mutual close friends to see if they share your concern, and strategize about how to help. "It's not gossip if the intention is to coordinate help for a friend," says Charles Morse, associate dean for student development and director of counseling at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts.
When seeking help for another person, what's the deal with privacy?
By Marian Trattner, MSW, suicide prevention coordinator at the University of Texas at Austin, and Charlie Morse, MA, LMHC, associate dean for student development at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts
When the professional is a licensed mental health professional:
- If Student A talks to a licensed mental health professional about Student B, privacy is guaranteed in almost all circumstances. Because of confidentiality laws, the mental health professional can't reach out to the student of concern. Exception: The professional can contact Student B if there seems to be an immediate threat to Student B or others.
- Counselors might ask for information about Student B but will not reveal what they know about that student: "Occasionally we do ask for names of students, as it might help us strategize as to how to best approach the situation (for instance, when we know the student is already in counseling)," says Charles Morse. "Students understand that we will never share confidential information, even something as 'simple' as whether a student has been seen in counseling before. Unless we are concerned about a student's well-being, we will not try to take the situation out of their hands."
When the professional is not a licensed mental health professional:
- If Student A talks to a student affairs professional who is not a licensed mental health professional, seeking advice about Student B, then that student affairs professional could and should reach out to Student B. Student A can ask that their name be kept out of the conversation.
3. Take action
Your support can be either or both of these:
- Direct: i.e., talking to the person you're worried about
- Indirect: i.e., talking to or involving another person or resource
Direct action
Suicide risk factors, warning signs, and what to do
Is it a warning sign or a risk factor?
Suicide risk factors suggest a person may be at higher risk for suicide in the long term (not immediately). For example:
- An alcohol or drug use problem
- A previous suicide attempt
- A mood disorder (e.g., depression)
- Access to a firearm, pills, or other lethal means
Action: Call 911 or seek immediate help from a mental health provider
When you hear or see any one of these behaviors:
- Someone threatening to hurt or kill themselves
- Someone looking for ways to kill themselves (e.g., seeking access to pills or weapons)
- Someone talking or writing about death, dying, or suicide
Action: Contact a mental health professional or call 1-800-273-TALK for a referral
When you witness, hear, or see anyone exhibiting any one or more of these behaviors:
- Hopelessness
- Rage, anger, seeking revenge
- Acting reckless or engaging in risky activities, seemingly without thinking
- Feeling trapped, like there's no way out
- Increasing alcohol or drug use
- Withdrawing from friends, family, or society
- Anxiety, agitation, unable to sleep, or sleeping all the time
- Dramatic mood changes
- No reason for living; no sense of purpose in life
Adapted from table #2: Rudd, D. M., Berman, A. L., Joiner, T. E., Nock, M. K., et al. (2006). Warning signs for suicide: Theory, research, and clinical applications. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 36(3), 255-262.
How to talk to someone who may be having suicidal thoughts
- Think this through in advance and role-play your conversation.
- Talk about behaviors, not labels: Avoiding labels like "depressed" or "alcoholic" helps take judgment and stigma out of the conversation.
- Talk about being concerned, not worried. "'Worried' potentially conveys that it's the friend anxiety that is the issue," says Charles Morse.
- Ask open-ended questions about your friend's situation.
- Ask your friend about suicide directly, in a nonjudgmental way. Worried that raising the issue may give them the idea? This concern is outweighed by the risk of not raising it.
- Stay supportive. It's OK that you don't have all the answers. Refer them to a helpful resource.
Indirect intervention
Sometimes you are not the best person to intervene, and that's OK. You can take these helpful actions:
- Involve another helper, such as a friend or resident assistant.
- Consult with the counseling center; the counselors can help figure out how to support your friend and when to involve outside resources.
- Report an online post that hints at suicide to the relevant social media network; they can connect the poster to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
- Share urgent concerns about another student's safety with the dean's office, or call 911; you should do this immediately if you feel a student is in danger.
Take care of yourself too
Being an active bystander involves recognizing your limits. Take care of yourself, and seek guidance from professionals as needed.
Get anonymous help or screening: ULifeline/Jed Foundation
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
How to talk about suicide: Conversations Matter
Help someone on social media: Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Are you worried about a friend? Active Minds
Info, help, & resources for students: The JED Foundation
Info, help, & resources: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Article sources
Marian Trattner, MSW, suicide prevention coordinator, University of Texas at Austin.
Charlie Morse, MA, LMHC, associate dean for student development; director, counseling center, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts.
American College Health Association. (2016). ACHA-NCHA-II, Reference Group Data Report. (Spring 2016). Retrieved from https://www.acha-ncha.org/docs/NCHA-II%20SPRING%202016%20US%20REFERENCE%20GROUP%20DATA%20REPORT.pdf
Be vocal. (n.d.). BeVocal Campaign. University of Texas at Austin. [Website]. Retrieved from https://www.wellnessnetwork.utexas.edu/BeVocal/index.html
Drum, D. J., Brownson, C., Denmark, A. B., & Smith, S. E. (2009). New data on the nature of suicidal crises in college students: Shifting the paradigm. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 40(3), 213–222. Retrieved from https://cmhc.utexas.edu/pdf/Drum,%20Brownson,%20Burton%20Denmary&Smith2009.pdf
Hunter Institute of Mental Health. (2013). Conversations matter: Resources for discussing suicide. [Website]. Retrieved from https://www.conversationsmatter.com.au/
Protecting your child's mental health: What can parents do? (n.d.). The Jed Foundation. [pdf]. Retrieved from https://www.counseling.ucla.edu/pdf/TheJetFoundation.pdf
Rudd, D. M., Berman, A. L., Joiner, T. E., Nock, M. K., et al. (2006). Warning signs for suicide: Theory, research, and clinical applications. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 36(3), 255–262. Retrieved from https://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~nock/nocklab/Rudd%20et%20al_warning%20signs%20for%20suicide_2006.pdf
Suicide Prevention Resource Center. (2004). Promoting mental health and preventing suicide in college and university settings. Newton, MA: Education Development Center, Inc. Retrieved from https://www.sprc.org/sites/sprc.org/files/library/college_sp_whitepaper.pdf
Suicide Prevention Resource Center & Rodgers, P. (2011). Understanding risk and protective factors for suicide: A primer for preventing suicide. Newton, MA: Education Development Center, Inc. Retrieved from https://www.sprc.org/sites/sprc.org/files/library/RiskProtectiveFactorsPrimer.pdf


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Members of the New Zealand police force will welcome the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to The Royal New Zealand Police College in Porirua on the final day of their tour of the country.
Among those attending the welcome will be serving members of the No 25 HRH Prince of Wales Cadet Wing, who also participated at the opening ceremony of the College 33 years ago in April 1981.
However, times have changed since 1981 and William and Catherine will witness a more modern style of policing, as staff will showcase their skills and capabilities to the royal couple at the College.
The visit will begin with The Duke and Duchess acknowledging the sacrifice of 29 officers from the New Zealand Police who have been killed during the course of their duties. This will be accompanied by a Mihi and Karakia, a traditional Maori greeting and prayer, with music from the police Kapa Haka group.
The Royals will then view police recruits training from close up and move onto the parade ground for a policing and dog handling demonstration.
Speaking about the visit, Commissioner Mike Bush said: "We have much to be proud of in New Zealand Police and it is a great honour and privilege to host the Duke and Duchess".
"The College deeply values its association with the Royal family and we look forward to showing them how modern policing works, particularly our focus on prevention and victims".
The College aims to equip staff with the skills needed to contribute to the Police vision, mission and objectives. It was originally opened by Prince Charles in 1981, and the College had its Royal title conferred later on in 1986 by Her Majesty The Queen during her visit for the Police Centenary celebrations.
This is the last engagement the Duke and Duchess will attend in New Zealand before they depart from Wellington Airport for a three hour flight to Sydney for the next leg of their tour.
Photo Credit: Government House, New Zealand


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Parent Advocacy and Engagement
Parents are important advocates for their schools. This presentation, intended for pre-authorization planning teams, focuses on effective practices for parent engagement and advocacy strategies. In addition to offering numerous tips and advice, this presentation specifically covers steps needed to include a parent engagement plan on the charter application.