title: The Travelers Companies

text: In June 2013, Travelers announced the acquisition of Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company from E-L Financial Corporation Limited (TSX: ELF). The transaction later closed in November 2013. The combined organization, referred to as Travelers Canada, remains headquartered in Toronto.


title: The Travelers Companies

text: The company's joint venture with J. Malucelli in Brazil completed the acquisition of a majority interest in Cardinal Compañía de Seguros, a Colombian start-up surety provider in September 2015. The business, which is based in Bogotá, operates under the co-branded name J. Malucelli Travelers.


title: The Travelers Companies

text: In October 2015, Travelers acquired a majority interest in the property casualty business of its J. Malucelli joint venture in Brazil. J. Malucelli commenced writing property casualty business in 2012. The property casualty business operates under the Travelers brand and focuses on property, general liability, construction and financial insurance products. The business is based in São Paulo.As a result of the transaction, Travelers now owns 95 percent of the property casualty business with Paraná Banco, the parent company of J. Malucelli, retaining a five percent interest. Travelers’ interest in the surety business of the J. Malucelli joint venture remains at 49.5 percent.


title: The Travelers Companies

text: In March 2017, Travelers agreed to acquire UK-based Simply Business from Aquiline Capital Partners for approximately $490 million. Simply Business is a leading U.K. distributor of small business insurance policies, offering products online on behalf of a broad panel of carriers. It has more than 425,000 microbusiness customers covering more than 1,000 classes of business, and was named “Best Company to Work For” by The Sunday Times in 2015 and 2016. The transaction adds to Travelers' digital capabilities.


title: The Travelers Companies

text: In 2018, Travelers ranked 106 on the Fortune 500 list of largest U.S. companies. On June 8, 2009, Travelers replaced its former parent Citigroup on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.


title: The Travelers Companies

text: On August 4, 2015, the company announced that Alan Schnitzer would succeed Jay Fishman as Chief Executive Officer effective December 1, 2015.


title: The Travelers Companies

text: On August 4, 2017, Travelers completed its previously announced acquisition of Simply Business, a leading provider of small business insurance policies in the United Kingdom.


title: The Travelers Companies

text: On August 15, 2018, Travelers acquired the majority stake of Zensurance, a digital business insurance brokerage in Canada.


title: The Travelers Companies

text: Travelers provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals. The company offers insurance through three segments:


title: The Travelers Companies

text: In January 2007, Travelers agreed to pay US$77 million to six states to settle a class action suit and end investigations into its insurance practices. The charges involved paying the insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Companies contingent commissions to win business without the knowledge of clients, thus creating a conflict of interest. Additionally, the investigation examined whether Travelers had created the illusion of competition by submitting fake bids, thus misleading clients into believing they were receiving competitive commercial premiums.


title: The Travelers Companies

text: In August 2012, Travelers sued the National Football League for forcing the company and its subsidiaries to pay to defend the league for failing to protect players from brain injury, in a case filed in the New York State Supreme Court. The league had sued over three dozen insurance companies the week before in an attempt to cover the claims that players made against the league.


title: The Travelers Companies

text: The logo of the red umbrella was created in 1870 when it appeared in a newspaper ad for the young insurance company. It was revived in the early 1960s, when it was given its signature red color by Harry W. Knettell, then the account executive for The Travelers and Vice President at the Charles Brunelle advertising agency. During the late 1960s Charles Brunelle was the largest advertising agency in Hartford, a city known as "the insurance capital of the world," "the Hollywood of insurance," or "America's file cabinet" due to the many insurance companies in that town. The Travelers was one of their many insurance company clients.


title: The Travelers Companies

text: In 2006, a Travelers commercial titled Snowball was nominated for an Emmy. Snowball featured a man, walking down a steep San Francisco sidewalk, who trips and knocks over a table of items at a garage sale. The man and the items roll down the street, forming a ball which gathers garbage cans, pedestrians, construction materials, motorcycles, light poles, and other items, in a manner very reminiscent of the "snowball" effect or the cult video game "Katamari Damacy". The creators of the ad said it was simply based on the snowball effect, they had never heard of the game, and were surprised by the resulting similarity.


title: The Travelers Companies

text: In 2007, the company secured naming rights for an annual golf event to be called the Travelers Championship golf tournament, formerly the Greater Hartford Open, on the PGA Tour.


title: The Travelers Companies

text: In April 2008, The Travelers repurchased the rights to the famous red umbrella, which is featured in several commercials starring Paul Freeman as well as other advertisements. In July 2008, the spot "Delivery," also starring Freeman, was nominated for an Emmy Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial.


title: Ronald Shusett

text: Ronald Shusett (born June 1935) is an American motion picture screenwriter and producer, usually in the science fiction genre.


title: Ronald Shusett

text: He wrote the original story for "Alien" (1979) with Dan O'Bannon and later "Alien vs. Predator" (2004).


title: Ronald Shusett

text: In 1974, he was the first to option the Philip K. Dick short story, "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale", that became the basis of the film "Total Recall".


title: St. Olaf College

text: St. Olaf College is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American pastors and farmers led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after the King and the Patron Saint Olaf II of Norway and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It was visited by King Olav in 1987 and King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway in 2011. Queen Sonja of Norway visited the college's campus a second time in 2022 as part of a tour to celebrate the connections between Norway and Minnesota's Norwegian-American community. She participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Special Collections vault at Rølvaag Memorial Library.


title: St. Olaf College

text: As of 2017, the college enrolled 3,035 undergraduate students and 256 faculty. The campus, including its 325-acre natural lands, lies 2 miles west of the city of Northfield, Minnesota; Northfield is also the home of its neighbor and friendly rival Carleton College. Between 1995 and 2020, 154 St. Olaf graduates were named Fulbright Scholars and 35 received Goldwater Scholarships. Of the nation's baccalaureate colleges, St. Olaf ranks 12th in the number of graduates who have gone on to earn doctorate degrees.


title: St. Olaf College

text: The seal of the St. Olaf College displays the Coat of arms of Norway, which includes the axe of St. Olaf.


title: St. Olaf College

text: The motto "Fram! Fram! Kristmenn, Krossmenn", written in New Norwegian, is adapted from the Old Norse battle cry of King Olaf. It means "Forward! Forward! Men of Christ, Men of the Cross".


title: St. Olaf College

text: Many Norwegian immigrants arrived in Rice County, Minnesota, and the surrounding area in the late 19th century. Nearly all were Lutheran Christians, and desired a non-secular post-secondary institution in the Lutheran tradition that offered classes in all subjects in both Norwegian and English. The catalyst for St. Olaf's founding was the Reverend Bernt Julius Muus; he sought out the help of the Revs. N. A. Quammen and H. Thorson. Together they petitioned their parishes and others to raise money to buy a plot of land on which to build the new institution. The three received around $10,000 in pledges, formed a corporation and bought land and four buildings (old Northfield schoolhouses) for the school. Muus came under scrutiny after a divorce case revealed extensive acts of domestic abuse. He fell out of favor with many of his predecessors, but the school did not officially denounce his abuses.


title: St. Olaf College

text: St. Olaf's School opened on January 8, 1875, at its first site under the leadership of its first president, Thorbjorn N. Mohn, a graduate of Luther College. Herman Amberg Preus, president of the Norwegian Synod, laid the foundation stone of the St. Olaf School on July 4, 1877. In 1887 the "Manitou Messenger" was founded as a campus magazine and has since evolved into the college's student newspaper, now called the "Olaf Messenger". 1887 was also the year that the first female St. Olaf graduate, Agnes Mellby, joined the college. Mellby graduated in 1893. She was the first woman to graduate from a Norwegian Lutheran college in the United States.


title: St. Olaf College

text: In 1932, Red Wing Lutheran Seminary was merged into St. Olaf and its Red Wing campus was closed. The Seminary was an independent academic institution from 1879 to 1932.


title: St. Olaf College

text: In 1893, St. Olaf faced severe economic difficulties. A national economic depression caused enrollment to drop from a high of 147 in 1892 to 129 in 1893. Also in 1893 the Norwegian Synod voted to cut ties with the college, greatly reducing its income. By the August 1893 board meeting, the college was $10,000 in debt. On August 2 the Board of Trustees appointed professor H. T. Ytterboe to travel around the Midwest and collect funds for the college. During this time President Mohn took over Ytterboe's responsibilities managing the college's finances. Over the next six years faculty and staff saw their salaries reduced, and the number of teaching faculty was reduced from eleven to seven. Ytterboe spent six years traveling the Midwest and was highly effective at fundraising, averaging $6,500 per year, mostly in small donations of a dollar or more from farmers and private individuals. By 1897, when the synod reinstated the college, the debt was reduced to less than $4,000. Historians of the college widely regard Ytterboe's and Mohn's efforts as having saved the college from extinction.


title: St. Olaf College

text: Following students’ return from Christmas vacation in 1903, an epidemic of scarlet fever broke out on the campus and quickly spread. Twenty-eight out of St. Olaf's approximately three hundred students came down with the highly infectious disease. With no local hospital, the north wing on the third floor of Ytterboe Hall, the boys dormitory, was used as a makeshift hospital and staffed with two nurses who worked tirelessly to contain the spread of the disease.


title: St. Olaf College

text: At the beginning of the spread of the Spanish flu to the United States, St. Olaf went into voluntary quarantine in hopes of avoiding the epidemic, allowing students to leave campus only for emergencies once they had obtained a pass. The first cases on St. Olaf's campus occurred on November 11, 1918, and shortly thereafter the college hospital was filled to capacity. Ytterboe Hall was converted into a hospital for the sick once the temporary beds in Hoyme Chapel had filled. St. Olaf officially closed for the year on December 7, due to a rapid rise of influenza cases. Four students died from flu complications.


title: St. Olaf College

text: At the beginning of World War II, St. Olaf was not directly involved with the conflict, with the extent of wartime activities including Red Cross drives and a “Bundles for Britain” project. But by the fall of 1942, over 400 undergraduates and alumni were serving overseas. The campus was also ordered to house 600 U.S. Naval recruits for flight training, leading to the conversion of Mohn and Ytterboe Halls from women's dormitories to housing for naval servicemen. Students living in Ytterboe and Mohn Halls were required to move to Agnes Mellby Hall to accommodate the naval personnel.


title: St. Olaf College

text: Known as “The Hill”, St. Olaf College's picturesque campus is home to 17 academic and administrative buildings, 29 student residences and 10 athletic facilities. St. Olaf is a residential college; 96% of St. Olaf students reside in one of the 11 residence halls and 18 academic and special interest group houses. Adjacent to campus are of restored wetlands, woodlands, and native tall grass prairie owned and maintained by St. Olaf, and a utility-grade wind turbine that supplies up to one-third of the college's electrical needs.


title: St. Olaf College

text: Two buildings on the campus are listed on the National Register of Historic Places: Old Main, designed by Long and Haglin; and Steensland Library, designed by Omeyer and Thori. In 2011, Travel+Leisure named St. Olaf one of the most beautiful college campuses in the United States.


title: St. Olaf College

text: Edward Sövik, a liturgical architect and St. Olaf professor of art until his death in 2014, designed or assisted in the design of 20 campus buildings.


title: St. Olaf College

text: The Center for Art and Dance is a collaborative project with offerings from the art, art history, and dance departments. It houses the Flaten Art Museum and studio spaces dedicated to painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, wood sculpture, digital media, photography, and a metal foundry, all named after alumni and educators who contributed to the development of each discipline. The Flaten Art Museum was founded as the Steensland Art Gallery in 1976. In 2002, it was moved to the Center for Art and Dance and renamed to honor Arnold Flaten, a past professor of art, and his family. The museum has a collection of regional, national, and international works and exhibits these as well as faculty and student work.


title: St. Olaf College

text: The building underwent significant remodeling in the early 2000s and was initially dedicated as the Dittmann Complex, honoring Reidar Dittmann. Dittmann was born in Norway in 1922, and spent the better part of his youth working with the Norwegian resistance against the rising Nazi regime until his imprisonment in the Buchenwald concentration camp. After his immigration to the United States, Dittmann joined St. Olaf's faculty as a professor of art and Norwegian in 1947. In 1952 He and Ansgar Sovik co-founded the International Studies program, now known as the Office of International and Off-Campus Studies. After his death in 2010, serious sexual assault allegations from St. Olaf alumni surfaced under the revisions of Title IX Policy concerning Dittmann and other faculty members. The decision to rename the building was made in 2017, following the pattern of campuses around the country questioning the names of buildings dedicated to notable alumni with contentious histories.


title: St. Olaf College

text: Mellby Hall was constructed in 1938 to meet the needs of the growing female student population overflowing from Ladies’ Hall, the first female dormitory competed in 1879, and Mohn Hall, completed in 1912. The building is dedicated to 1893 alumna Agnes Theodora Mellby, the first woman to graduate from St. Olaf. Born in Christiania, Norway in 1870, Mellby immigrated with her family to the U.S. in 1871 and settled in New Richland, Minnesota. After finishing her Academy (1891) and College (1893) studies at St. Olaf, she returned as the Dean of Women and an educator that fall, affectionately known as the Preceptress by those she worked with. Mellby taught English, German, geography, U. S. History, civics, and math, firm in her resolve to see to the well-being of St. Olaf's female population regarding education and housing. She held her position from 1893 until 1909, and continued to work with the college after retiring until her death in 1918.


title: St. Olaf College

text: In 1956, Agnes Kittelsby Hall was constructed with rooms for 164 women as an adjacent wing to the Gertrude Hilleboe Hall. It was an all-women's dormitory until St. Olaf residence halls became co-ed. The building is named after Agnes Kittelsby, St. Olaf class of 1900. Like many St. Olaf alumnae, Kittelsby taught various subjects at the college after her graduation. In 1914, she moved to China and established American School Kikungshan, a school for the children of American missionaries.


title: St. Olaf College

text: Thorson Hall was constructed as a men's dormitory in 1948. It was one of four dormitories constructed in the 1940s and 1950s to address an increase in enrollment after World War II. The building is named after Harald Thorson (1841-1920), an early benefactor of the college. A businessman, Thorson owned farms, sold horses and mules, and established banks. He was instrumental in establishing St. Olaf's School (as it was first named), choosing the initial 30-acre plot of land and authorizing the first payment for it. He later served as a member of the original Board of Trustees. Thorson's will bequeathed most of his estate to St. Olaf under the stipulation that the money be used for the construction of a new building, Thorson Hall.


title: St. Olaf College

text: Before graduating, St. Olaf students complete 15-18 required courses in general education credits, including courses in writing, a foreign language, society, religion, ethics, mathematical reasoning, race, social science, and natural science. Many of the courses are interdisciplinary. St. Olaf offers 41 different majors for the bachelor of arts degree, five for the bachelor of music degree, and 20 areas of concentration, which are pursued independently of majors.


title: St. Olaf College

text: The Paracollege lasted for 31 years, from 1969 to 2000, and was an individualized, interdisciplinary option for obtaining the Bachelor of Arts degree. The Paracollege program emphasized student-centered education through workshops, colloquia, tutorials, seminars, and senior concentrations. It was replaced by the Center for Integrative Studies, which allows students to design individual majors.


title: St. Olaf College

text: According to the St. Olaf College Common Dataset for the class of 2024, St. Olaf received 5,229 applications, accepted 2,656 (50.8%), and enrolled 727. The middle 50% range of SAT Composite scores for the class of 2024 was 1160–1370, while the ACT Composite range was 25–32. Of the 37% of enrolled first-year students who submitted high school class rank, 39% were in the top tenth of their high school classes and 69% ranked in the top quarter. The average high school GPA was 3.68.


title: St. Olaf College

text: The 2022 annual ranking by "U.S. News & World Report" rates St. Olaf tied for 62nd among 223 "National Liberal Arts Colleges", 29th among 100 "Best Value Schools", and tied at 27th for "Best Undergraduate Teaching" among 75 ranked liberal arts colleges.


title: St. Olaf College

text: "Forbes" in 2019 rated St. Olaf 116th overall in its America's Top Colleges ranking of 650 military academies, national universities, and liberal arts colleges, and 50th among liberal arts colleges.


title: St. Olaf College

text: "Washington Monthly" ranked St. Olaf 28th in 2022 among 203 liberal arts colleges in the U.S. based on its contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service.


title: St. Olaf College

text: St. Olaf was ranked 47th for liberal arts colleges on Payscale.com's 2016-17 list of highest-paid graduates.


title: St. Olaf College

text: More than 250 student organizations are registered at St. Olaf, including academic, athletic, awareness, multicultural, political, religious, service (Alpha Phi Omega) and other special interest groups. Club sports include rowing, men's and women's Ultimate Frisbee, men's and women's rugby, men's and women's lacrosse, badminton, cycling, judo, and fencing. KSTO 93.1 FM is the student-operated radio station and the "Olaf Messenger" (formerly known as the "Manitou Messenger)" is the student newspaper. The paper changed its name in 2020 in response to concerns of the appropriation of the word "Manitou" from the language of the original inhabitants of the land the college is built on. Other groups include an on-campus organic farm (STOGROW), an improv comedy troupe (Scared Scriptless), and an EMT (emergency medical technician) organization that is the first responder for campus emergencies. St. Olaf students edit and publish several journals each year, including "The Reed", the world's only international undergraduate journal for existential philosophy.


title: St. Olaf College

text: St. Olaf's Student Government Association (SGA) finances many student activities and organizations on campus. It operates through 10 branches, each managed by an elected executive: Diversity Celebrations Committee, Volunteer Network, Music Entertainment Committee, Student Activities Committee, Student Organizations Committee, Board of Regents Student Committee, The Pause, After Dark Committee, and Political Awareness Committee. Besides these committees, students can serve in the Student Senate to vote on issues such as constitutional bylaws changes and dorm capital improvement funds and communicate with college administrators about campus issues. SGA also maintains Oleville.com, a website containing information about student activities.


title: St. Olaf College

text: Ytterboe, named after former professor H. T. Ytterboe, was a black dog who became a facet of campus life at St. Olaf in 1942. Fed and cared for by students, the dog became an unofficial mascot. In 1957, Ytterboe the Dog "allegedly" bit the son of a local police officer Peter Morris. In response, Morris sent two officers to St. Olaf's campus to capture the dog. After he evaded capture, police shot Ytterboe on the library hill, in front of students who were studying for finals. In response, St. Olaf and Carleton students protested, gaining local and national coverage. At the protests, an effigy of the officer who shot Ytterboe was hung from a streetlight and burned. The Minnesota highway patrol was called in to control the protest as students continued demonstrating in Northfield. In response to the protests, the chief of police said, "Nobody loves a dog more than I do. We didn't mean to kill him". St. Olaf President Clemens M. Granskou commented, "As far as I could see, this is one of these tempests in a teacup that usually take place once in a while in the springtime on a college campus".


title: St. Olaf College

text: Initially, the Northfield Police sent Ytterboe's body to a local landfill, but students retrieved it. Afterward, Ytterboe's head was sent to Minneapolis to be tested for rabies; it tested negative. His body was buried on a slope of Manitou Heights the day after he was shot as a crowd of 2,000 students and members of the community gathered to pay their respects.


title: St. Olaf College

text: Between 50 and 75 students from St. Olaf, accompanied by some Carleton students, occupied the St. Olaf administration building on April 16, 1970, demanding that the school cut ties with the ROTC. Students occupied the building until Friday afternoon, ending their occupation when President Sidney Rand came to an agreement with the leaders of the protest. The school moved forward on votes within the administration and the board of regents in return for the cessation of "obstructive demonstration". The St. Olaf protests coincided with a similar occupation at Macalester College.


title: St. Olaf College

text: In 2016, students protested the school's policies on sexual harassment through a T-shirt campaign. Students donned grey shirts reading "Ask me how my college is protecting my rapist" to draw attention to the school's sexual misconduct policies. Information about the campaign circulated through social media and was soon picked up by local news sources. In response, the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Education Department launched an investigation into the college's policies. Soon after, the school officially announced an overhaul of its Title IX policies.


title: St. Olaf College

text: In 2017, a series of notes containing threats and racial slurs appeared. In response, students protested for systemic changes within the school on issues like diversity and inclusion, cultural sensitivity, and hate crimes. As of May 1, 2017, there had been 9 reported acts of hate speech during the school year. By occupying campus buildings, blocking entrances to the cafeteria, and boycotting classes, demonstrators pushed the administration to act on a number of demands. While the protests prompted the administration to reevaluate its policies, an investigation revealed that one of the notes was forged. While the forgery undermined the movement for some, others saw it as a rogue action that did not detract from the progress made.


title: St. Olaf College

text: In 2019, St. Olaf students joined over four million people worldwide who participated in the September 2019 climate strikes, a continuation of the school strike for climate movement inspired by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. On September 20, hundreds of St. Olaf students walked out of class and marched into downtown Northfield, where they joined other Northfield citizens to raise awareness of the growing threat of global climate change. The St. Olaf strike was organized by the college's Climate Justice Collective (CJC), a group dedicated to increasing campus awareness of climate issues and pushing St. Olaf to divest its endowment from fossil fuel companies.


title: St. Olaf College

text: St. Olaf's music program was founded by F. Melius Christiansen in 1903. Its band, choir and orchestra tour the continental United States annually and have made many international tours, typically occurring triennially. The St. Olaf Band, currently under the direction of Timothy Mahr '78, was the first American college musical organization to conduct a concert tour abroad when it traveled to Norway in 1906.


title: St. Olaf College

text: The St. Olaf Orchestra was conducted for 40 years by Steven Amundson. Under his direction, the orchestra performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 ("Resurrection"), Stravinsky’s "Petrouchka" and "Rite of Spring", Ravel’s "La valse," and tone poems by Richard Strauss. As of 2022, the conductor is Chung Park.


title: St. Olaf College

text: The St. Olaf Choir, conducted by Anton Armstrong ’78, was founded by Christiansen in 1907 as the St. John's Lutheran Church Choir in Northfield, a collegiate ensemble. It has toured Europe several times, as well as China, Korea, and Australia, performing before heads of state and producing more than a dozen recordings. The choir performs in the nationally broadcast annual St. Olaf Christmas Festival, along with the St. Olaf Orchestra and four of the college's other choirs. In 2005 the choir was invited to perform at the White House for President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, and guests to commemorate the National Day of Prayer.


title: St. Olaf College

text: The St. Olaf Jazz I ensemble was awarded the "DownBeat" magazine award for top undergraduate large ensemble in 2011. Led by St. Olaf music faculty member Dave Hagedorn, the ensemble toured Cuba during March 20–25, 2016.


title: St. Olaf College

text: Other student musical ensembles include The St. Olaf Handbell Choir, Chapel Choir, Cantorei, Manitou Singers, Viking Chorus, Collegiate Chorale, Philharmonia, Norseman Band, and many smaller vocal and instrumental ensembles. There are also student-run music ensembles at St. Olaf: Valhalla Band, Naknefeler Orchestra, and the men's and women's a cappella groups: "The Limestones", "Agnes," and "Krossmen". In addition, the Gospel Choir of St. Olaf is one of few Midwest college gospel choirs. These groups are not a part of the college's music program and operate independently.


title: St. Olaf College

text: In 2005 the St. Olaf Band, St. Olaf Orchestra, and St. Olaf Choir toured Norway to celebrate its independence centennial.


title: St. Olaf College

text: Ensembles that were founded at St. Olaf include the Minnesota Symphonic Winds, the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, the Copper Street Brass and the a cappella choral groups Cantus, Inpulse, and Magnum Chorum.


title: St. Olaf College

text: St. Olaf's athletic teams are called the Oles. Their colors are black and gold. The college is a member of the NCAA Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) in most sports since the 1974–75 academic year (of which it was also a member from 1920–21 to 1949–50), while its Alpine and Nordic skiing teams compete as Independents. The Oles competed in the Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference (MCAC, known as the Midwest Conference since 1994–95) from 1952–53 to 1973–74.


title: St. Olaf College

text: St. Olaf competes in 26 intercollegiate varsity sports (13 for men and 13 for women). Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, hockey, skiing (Nordic and Alpine), soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, and track & field (indoor and outdoor); women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, ice hockey, skiing (Nordic and Alpine), soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor), and volleyball. Former sports included men's wrestling.


title: St. Olaf College

text: St. Olaf also has many student-coached club and intramural teams that compete within the student body and also inter-college. Notable are the St. Olaf Ultimate teams, The Berzerkers and Durga (team name changed to Vortex in 2015), which make an annual trip to a national collegiate tournament (Spring Ultimax) in North Carolina. The women's Ultimate teams have been successful at the national level for many years. In 2011, Durga played at the Division III Nationals tournament in Buffalo, New York, finishing in seventh place. The team also played in the DIII Nationals tournament in 2014. In 2017, Vortex again qualified for the national tournament in Kentucky and placed seventh. In 2018, Vortex won the DIII national championship in Rockford, Illinois. After that success, Vortex placed third at the DIII National tournament in College Station, Texas. The St. Olaf Dance Team supports St. Olaf athletic teams (football, men's/women's soccer and basketball) with halftime performances and competes in intercollegiate events every year. It has performed in the Minnesota Swarm lacrosse team's halftime show and placed third in its division at the 2011 St. Thomas Invitational.


title: St. Olaf College

text: St. Olaf is a traditional athletic rival of its crosstown neighbor Carleton College. The annual American football game between the Knights and the Oles was recently dubbed the "Cereal Bowl" in honor of the Malt-O-Meal production facility in Northfield. The annual winner receives the "Goat Trophy", which was created by Minneapolis dentist Ranthus B. Fouch in 1931.


title: St. Olaf College

text: The rivalry between St. Olaf and Carleton began with a Carleton victory over St. Olaf in 1919. A statue of an eagle in Northfield's Civil War Veterans' Memorial (in Bridge Square) is turned to face the college that wins the annual match between the schools.


title: St. Olaf College

text: These football teams are also significant for having played the only NCAA-sanctioned "Liter Bowl" metric football game in history, which St. Olaf won in 1977.


title: St. Olaf College

text: The Great Karhu Shoe Race is an annual rivalry between the cross country teams of Carleton and St. Olaf College. The race was founded in 1972 when Carleton Coach Bill Huyck was in search of a new championship course for the Midwest Conference Meet. St. Olaf coach Bill Thornton agreed to a competition between the runners on each team who were not on the varsity top 7. The varsity athletes were still racing later in the season. The trophy for the 1972 race was a pair of Karhu Shoes worth $10. These shoes have remained the trophy to this day.


title: St. Olaf College

text: Several traditions exist between the St. Olaf and Carleton runners at the race. As the race typically falls near Halloween, many of the runners will often don costumes. The runners for the St. Olaf men use safety pins to attach gummy bears to their shorts, which the Carleton runners attempt to rip off.


title: St. Olaf College

text: The Howard V. and Edna H. Hong Kierkegaard Library is a research collection dedicated to the work of the 19th-century Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), housed at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota. Along with the Søren Kierkegaard Research Center at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, it is one of two internationally significant research facilities devoted to the study of Kierkegaard. The collection began as the private library of Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong, assembled during their complete translation of Kierkegaard's writings into English, the first volume of which received the National Book Award. Subsequent curators of the library were philosophers C. Stephen Evans and, from 1995 to 2022, Gordon D. Marino.


title: St. Olaf College

text: The Hongs donated the collection to St. Olaf College in 1976 with the understanding that it be made available as a center for research and publication. The library's current holdings include over 11,000 volumes, 3,500 periodical articles and a partial replication of Kierkegaard's personal library as well as titles Kierkegaard might have had access to during his lifetime. It hosts visiting researchers throughout the year (including an active summer fellows program) and periodic conferences and research seminars. Activities in the summer include Danish courses and an International Conference every fourth year. Yearlong Kierkegaard Fellowships see scholars living in St. Olaf's Kierkegaard House. The library's director is St. Olaf College philosophy faculty member Anna Louise Strelis Söderquist.


title: St. Olaf College

text: St. Olaf students edit and publish "The Reed", an undergraduate journal of existential philosophy, from the library. "The Reed" began in 1998, and since then has published articles from undergraduates across the globe every year.


title: St. Olaf College

text: St. Olaf is home to the Flaten Art Museum, in the Center for Art and Dance. The museum holds over 4,000 works on rotating display to the public. The vast majority of the works were received through donations, but a few were purchased. The museum also displays senior studio majors' work at the end of the year to give them experience in having artwork displayed in a professional setting.


title: St. Olaf College

text: In 2015 St. Olaf accepted a collection of 147 rare World War II-era propaganda posters as part of a donation from the estate of Richard N. Tetlie. The posters were created by the Nazi regime and the Vichy French government for display across occupied Europe and were collected by Major Duncan Emrich, historian for General Dwight D. Eisenhower, during the liberation of Europe. The collection provides insight into how the Nazis and their allies attempted to foster racial ideology, encourage distrust of the Allies, and rally support for their cause by manipulating the fear, anxiety, traditions, and political circumstances of the people in the occupied territories. The museum contacted the Midwest Art Conservation Center for a full assessment of the collection in hopes that the posters can be restored. They could then be used in exhibits and as resources to teach about the dangers of propaganda and extremism.


title: St. Olaf College

text: Notable St. Olaf alumni include civil rights activist James Reeb ’50, AIA Gold Award-winning architect Edward Sövik ’39, Minnesota Governor Al Quie ’50, Oscar-winning screenwriter Barry Morrow ’70, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gretchen Morgenson ’76, and writers Ole Rolvaag 1905, Siri Hustvedt ’77 (winner of the Princess of Asturias Award in Letters), ornithologist Margaret Sordahl, and Traci Lambrecht ’89 (of P.J. Tracy). Game designer Jonathan Tweet studied at the college, as did the first female major league baseball coach, Justine Siegal. Raffi Freedman-Gurspan graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and Norwegian. Andrew Volstead 1881 introduced the National Prohibition Act to Congress in 1919. Cheryl Willman is an American cancer researcher and the executive director of Mayo Clinic Cancer Programs.


title: St. Olaf College

text: St. Olaf is mentioned in the works of Minnesota author F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose character Jay Gatsby of "The Great Gatsby" attended the college briefly and worked as a janitor. The college is also frequently mentioned in Garrison Keillor's radio program "A Prairie Home Companion," which broadcast its show from St. Olaf on November 17, 2001, and November 19, 2011.


title: St. Olaf College

text: The fictional Minnesota city of St. Olaf was the hometown of Rose Nylund in the TV show "The Golden Girls." In the TV show the fictional city's sister city was St. Gustav, Minnesota, a nod to Gustavus Adolphus College, in nearby St. Peter, Minnesota. Betty White, the actress who played Rose, visited St. Olaf and was given an honorary membership in St. Olaf's chapter of the theater honorary society.


title: St. Olaf College

text: The St. Olaf Choir can be heard performing Mozart's "Requiem" with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in Nike's "Jordan XXII-Takeover" commercial. The choir is also on the soundtrack of the 1972 film "The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid".


title: St. Olaf College

text: In October 2008 the Coen Brothers shot scenes at St. Olaf for their film "A Serious Man". After a long search of many campuses, they chose St. Olaf's old Science Center because it had the late 1960s look of the movie. St. Olaf has since built a new science center and remodeled the old facility into Tomson Hall.


title: I Could Never Be Your Woman

text: I Could Never Be Your Woman is a 2007 American romantic comedy film directed and written by Amy Heckerling and starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Paul Rudd. It was released on May 11, 2007 in Spain, July 18 in Belgium, September 14 in Brazil, September 20 in Greece and October 19 in Taiwan. It was not released theatrically in the United States, instead going direct to DVD on February 12, 2008. It was also sent straight to DVD in Italy (February 6), the UK (July 14), Finland (August 6), Australia, Iceland (both August 27) and Germany (December 11), and on February 1, 2011 in France. The film's title is a line from the 1997 song "Your Woman" by British artist White Town.


title: I Could Never Be Your Woman

text: Forty-five-year-old divorced mother Rosie (Michelle Pfeiffer) is a scriptwriter and producer for a TV show "You Go Girl". Insecure about her age, she uses cosmetics to maintain her appearance. Very close to her thirteen-year-old daughter, Izzie (Saoirse Ronan), they become even closer when Izzie falls for Dylan (Rory Copus), a boy in her class.


title: I Could Never Be Your Woman

text: Despite her ex-husband's urging that she start dating again, Rosie is single. To the dismay of Rosie and David (David Mitchell) (her British co-writer), her boss Marty (Fred Willard) decides the show can't cover controversial subjects. So, Rosie decides to cast a new character for the show. Taken with Adam (Paul Rudd), a bright and charming young man from one of her auditions, she casts him as a new, nerdy character to fall for the arrogant and self-centered lead actress's character, Brianna (Stacey Dash). The new character tests well, so Rosie persuades Marty to give him a chance.


title: I Could Never Be Your Woman

text: Rosie continues to offer Izzie advice on Dylan, as she becomes smitten with Adam, who suggests they go clubbing. When he picks her up, he bonds with Izzie immediately through a video game she was playing to impress Dylan. While out, Rosie lies that she's 37, while Adam says that he is 32. She is nervous about their age difference, but when he goes onto the dance floor at the nightclub, she realizes they are equally free-spirited, and joins him. Kissing in Adam's car, Rosie admits she's actually 40, and is startled when Adam confesses he's actually 29.


title: I Could Never Be Your Woman

text: Adam assures her that he doesn't care about their age difference at all, and they continue their relationship. Nevertheless, Rosie's insecurity over her age surfaces, egged on by her internal conversations with Mother Nature (Tracey Ullman), and she tells Adam she is not sure that their relationship is going to work, to his confusion.


title: I Could Never Be Your Woman

text: Meanwhile, their relationship draws the jealousy of Rosie's secretary, Jeannie (Sarah Alexander). She sabotages them by stealing Adam's gifts to Rosie, and then his phone, putting a sexy photograph of Brianna on it, and then dropping it in Rosie's handbag. Rosie continues to be nervous when she hears a recording of Adam flirting with Brianna (he was told to in order to keep her calm and the center of attention). Things become worse when Izzie has a failed double date with Dylan, and becomes insecure about her appearance, something that concerns Rosie.


title: I Could Never Be Your Woman

text: When Adam is first shown on television, he is an instant hit, becoming famous. This leads to Rosie becoming even more insecure, and worrying he will take advantage of his fame and start looking at younger women. Things get worse when the show is unexpectedly cancelled. Shortly after, Adam is given a role in an upcoming sitcom, and she is shocked to discover a speeding ticket sent to Adam showing him in a car with Brianna. Already in a foul mood, Rosie berates Izzie when, during a chance encounter with her friend, Henry Winkler, he reveals that Izzie and her friend had prank-called a number of celebrities in her phone book.


title: I Could Never Be Your Woman

text: Rosie confronts Adam with the photograph of him and Brianna, and he is shocked, having never been in a car with her before. She angrily breaks it off. Despite this, Adam makes numerous attempts to reconcile, including refusing to film the new sitcom he has been offered until she is named co-producer. Meanwhile, Rosie is looking through a bloopers reel of her old show, realizing it was filmed at the time that the speeding ticket claimed Adam had been driving with Brianna, and deduces that Jeannie was behind it.


title: I Could Never Be Your Woman

text: As Rosie confronts Jeannie, Marty calls to offer her a job on Adam's sitcom. She hits Jeannie in the face, reducing her to tears. She then reconciles with Adam. Later, at a school talent show, she sees Izzie has finally won Dylan over, and watches as they kiss. Mother Nature reminds her that, in growing older, she is making way for a girl like Izzie to replace her.


title: I Could Never Be Your Woman

text: A number of British comedy actors have roles in the film, including David Mitchell, Mackenzie Crook, Steve Pemberton, Olivia Colman, Phil Cornwell and Sarah Alexander, as well as Irish comedy actors Graham Norton and Ed Byrne.


title: I Could Never Be Your Woman

text: Heckerling's inspiration for "I Could Never Be Your Woman" came from her own personal life as a single mother raising a young daughter during the making of the "Clueless" TV show. According to Missy Schwartz in an "Entertainment Weekly" article on the film, "Every day, she felt increasingly ambivalent about working in an industry that promotes unrealistic standards of beauty for young girls and considers women over 40 to be prehistoric beasts."


title: I Could Never Be Your Woman

text: Heckerling sent her script for "Woman" to Paramount Pictures, but the studio was unnerved by the idea of backing a film about an older female protagonist. The script was eventually read by independent producer Philippe Martinez of Bauer Martinez Entertainment, and he picked up the film with a $25 million budget.


title: I Could Never Be Your Woman

text: Principal photography began in August 2005 and ended later in the year. Although many scenes were shot in California, several scenes were shot in London, England to take advantage of tax incentives. In order to cut production costs even further, Martinez suggested to Michelle Pfeiffer to take a reduced salary ($1 million, plus 15% of the gross).


title: I Could Never Be Your Woman

text: Bauer Martinez signed a deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to distribute the film theatrically, and The Weinstein Company for DVD and non-pay TV distribution rights. MGM backed out upon learning about Pfeiffer's share in the film's revenue. After Bauer Martinez failed to find a theatrical distributor, the film was released straight to video in North America.


title: I Could Never Be Your Woman

text: Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 64% based on reviews from 11 critics, with an average rating of 5.7/10.


title: I Could Never Be Your Woman

text: Joe Leydon of "Variety" called it "A desperately unfunny mix of tepid showbiz satire and formulaic romantic comedy."


title: Hakuoki

text: Two films were released in 2013 and 2014. The first was released in August 2013 and on DVD in February 2014. The film is a retelling of both seasons in greater detail and with a slightly different ending. The second film was released on March 8, 2014. A short anime television series adaptation of a new instalment of the game, titled "Hakuoki: Otogisōshi" and produced by DLE, aired from April to June 2016. A new OVA series by Studio Deen was released from November 2021 to January 2022.


title: Hakuoki

text: Like most otome games, the player takes the role of a female character who can choose from a variety of male characters as her 'love interest'.


title: Hakuoki

text: Hakuoki's gameplay requires little interaction from the player as most of the game's duration is spent on reading the text that appears, representing either dialogue between the characters, narration, or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Often, players will come be given the chance to choose from options displayed on the screen that would be crucial to the story. The time between these decision points is variable and during these times, gameplay pauses until a choice is made that furthers the plot in a specific direction. There are six main plot lines that the players will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroes in the story. When interacting with the chosen heroes with the routes, an "affection meter" is created which is raised by giving them an answer that pleases them. The ending the player will get in each route depends on the affection the player has achieved.


title: Hakuoki

text: It also included all the basic functions such as CG Gallery, Music List, Scene Recollection, and skip options. Once completing a route, player can unlock the ‘Record of Service’ to select exactly which chapter they would like to start the next play through on, as well as adjusting the bachelor's affection level to access the different endings. There's also encyclopaedia in understanding the historical terminology and timeline.


title: Hakuoki

text: In the updated remake "Kyoto Winds" and "Edo Blossoms", six more routes are added. In "Edo Blossoms", there's also "corruption meter", which tells the players the bachelor's corruption rate after becoming a Fury. Making sure the corruption level is low is crucial to prevent the player from reaching bad ends.


title: Hakuoki

text: Taking place during the Edo period, around the 1860s, Chizuru Yukimura heads to Kyoto to search for her father, finding herself attacked by mad men before they are cut down by members of the Shinsengumi who mistake her for a boy and take her into custody for interrogation. Upon learning that she is a girl and the daughter of a doctor who developed the Water of Life elixir that turns those that drink it into invincible blood lusting berserkers called , the Shinsengumi decide to keep her as an aide in their search. In time, as the Shinsengumi aid the shogunate in the Bakufu, Chizuru begins to develop a bond with the Shinsengumi and its aloof member Toshizo Hijikata. However, as time passes, Chizuru and Shinsengumi confront a mysterious faction who claimed to be demons and that Chizuru is also a demon with her father revealed to be experimenting on the Water of Life to create the Furies to conquer the human race.


title: Hakuoki

text: The "Hakuoki" series of otome visual novels were released for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android by Idea Factory. Two of the games have been published in English by Aksys Games in North America on PlayStation Portable. Rising Star Games renewed partnership with Idea Factory to bring two of their "Hakuoki" games to PAL territories. The first game is a port of Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom with added story content. Two more ports, Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds and Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms, were released with additional routes and story contents.


title: Hakuoki

text: Following the success of the original game, a prequel titled is released on October 28, 2010, for PlayStation 2. The prequel focuses on a young man named Ryunosuke Ibuki, who is saved by the leader of Roshigumi (the old name of Shinsengumi), Kamo Serizawa, and then forced to join Roshigumi as his page to repay his debt. Similar to the original game, it consists of six routes of the same characters where Ibuki is required to make the right choice to form friendship with each main characters of their respective routes. In all routes, Ibuki always ends up leaving the Shinsengumi to start a new life of his own. Reaching the good ending of the routes would show the continuation of the ending of respective Shinsengumi members with Chizuru from the original game after war ends. Two updated versions of the game, and , are released for PlayStation 3 on June 28, 2012, and PlayStation Vita on July 2, 2015, respectively.


title: Hakuoki

text: Several spin-off were released not long after the original game, ranging from mini games to action RPG. The first spin-off, is released for PlayStation Portable on August 26, 2010. Unlike the original game that requires the player to choose the right options to romance the chosen bachelor, Yuugiroku requires player to play mini games based on traditional Japanese games. A sequel, , is released on October 18, 2012, this time with the theme of games found on festival stalls. An updated version of both games, , which includes both games and additional content based on Kyoto Winds and Edo Blossoms, is released on November 17, 2016, for PlayStation Vita.


title: Hakuoki

text: The action RPG games of the series, and are released on March 22, 2012, for PlayStation Vita and December 19, 2013, for PlayStation Vita, respectively. The game tells the Shinsengumi members in alternate universe.


title: Hakuoki

text: , released for PlayStation Vita on March 27, 2014, unlike the other games, the story is set in modern times with Chizuru and the other characters from the original game introduced as students or teachers going to the same school.


title: Hakuoki

text: Some characters from the Hakuoki series are featured in the PSP game B's LOG Party, released on May 20, 2010.


title: Hakuoki

text: There are two manga adaptations of "Hakuoki: Shinsengumi Kitan". The first, entitled "Hakuoki Junrenka", is serialized in the "shōjo" manga magazine "Dengeki Comic SYLPH", and is an anthology of the different endings available in the video games. Another adaptation is currently serialized in "Comic B's Log Kyun!!".


title: Hakuoki

text: The game was adapted into 22-episode anime television series split into two seasons, produced by Studio Deen and directed by Osamu Yamasaki; aired from April 4 to June 20, 2010, and aired from October 10 to December 12, 2010. A 6-episode OVA series, adapting from "Hakuoki: Stories of Shinsengumi" was produced under the same staff and cast and was released from August 5, 2011, to July 7, 2012. Following the OVA release, a 12-episodes prequel adapting from was also released from July 9 to September 24, 2012. After the success of the TV series, Studio Deen released two anime films, which are the alternate retelling of the game. The first film, was released on August 24, 2013, and the second film was released on March 8, 2014. A 12-episode short anime adaptation of a new instalment of the game, titled Hakuoki: Otogisōshi, was produced by DLE and aired from April 5 to June 28, 2016. A new three-part OVA adaptation by Studio Deen was released from November 14, 2021, to January 24, 2022. The staff from the first anime series returned to produce the series.


title: Hakuoki

text: Since April 2012 Hakuoki is adapted as a musical. Up till now there are thirteen productions. Nobuhiro Mori has written the script and were responsible for the whole production. Toshihiko Sahashi wrote the music. The musical includes aside from the usual dancing and singing also sword fights, which were supervised by Yuta Morokaji, Shinnosuke Motoyama and Yasuhiro Roppongi.


title: Hakuoki

text: 5.→ Musical Hakuoki - Chikage Kazama's Route 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼』〜風間千景篇〜』16. - 18. May, 23. May - 1. June 2014


title: Hakuoki

text: 6.→ Musical Hakuoki - Heisuke Toudou's Route 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼』〜藤堂平助篇〜』10. - 12. January, 25. - 17. January 2015


title: Hakuoki

text: 7.→ Musical Hakuoki - Reimeiroku 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼』〜黎明録〜』 - 2015年5月23日〜31日 23. - 31. May, 10. -14. June 2015


title: Hakuoki

text: 9.→ Musical Hakuoki - HAKUMYU LIVE 2 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼』HAKU-MYU LIVE　2』12. -13. August, 16. - 17. August 2016


title: Hakuoki

text: 10.→ Musical Hakuoki - Sanosuke Harada's Route 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼』〜原田左之助篇〜』14. - 16. April, 26. - 30. April 2017


title: Hakuoki

text: 11.→ Musical Hakuoki Shitan - Toshizou Hijikata's Route 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼 志譚』〜土方歳三篇〜』21. - 23. April, 28. April - 1. May 2018


title: Hakuoki

text: 12.→ Musical Hakuoki Shitan - Chikage Kazama's Route 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼 志譚』〜風間千景篇〜』5. - 11. April, 18. - 21. April


title: Hakuoki

text: 13.→ Musical Hakuoki Shinkai - Kazue Souma's Route 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼 真改 』〜相馬主計篇〜』previously scheduled 2. - 5. April, 9. - 12. 2020, but due to the situation caused by the COVID-19-Pandemic postponed to 1. - 4. April, 8. - 11. April 2021


title: Hakuoki

text: 14.→ Musical Hakuoki Shinkai - Hajime Saitou's Route『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼 真改』〜斎藤一篇〜』22. - 27. April, 1. - 5. May 2022


title: Hakuoki

text: 15.→ Musical Hakuoki - HAKUMYU LIVE 3 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼』HAKU-MYU LIVE　3』29. - 30. October, 11. - 13. November


title: Hakuoki

text: Hakuoki received positive review. Metacritic gave the PSP version of the game the score of 79 based on 4 Critic reviews, which is a generally favorable review. The game is praised for its story-telling, character designs and development, and CG art. But has mixed review about the music and Kazama's route that is deemed too short compared to the other routes. The updated remake of the game, "Kyoto Winds" and "Edo Blossoms" also received positive review. "Kyoto Winds" is given the score of 83 from the same site based on 8 Critic reviews, once again praising the remake for its solid characters and story-telling. "Edo Blossoms" is given the score of 75, also from the same site, based on 9 Critic reviews, praising the inclusion of new characters that give fans new perceptive, but feels that the story's finale is not quite as interesting as its beginning. The decision to split the remake into two games also gained mixed review. Similarly, Hardcore Gamer praised the game for its story-telling, finding the focus of political and fantasy aspects in historical background is a different approach in otome game. The characters are also well-received, finding their struggle throughout the game relatable. The site also praised the inclusion of additional events and terminology highlighted during conversations for an easy glossary look up, though criticised the lack of interactive element within the game.


title: Hakuoki

text: Theron Martin from Anime News Network give the first season a positive review. He praised the studio's way of properly integrating fantasy element into the actual history, the design of the male characters, and the music for using heavy, dark tones for its action and dramatic scenes, which "lends intensity and even an occasional amount of creepiness to the content." However, he criticised the plotlines about Chizuru looking for her father and the motivations of the various devils afoot in the setting are not handled properly due to the history portrayed in the series. He also criticised Chizuru's role as a heroine for following the typical reverse harem protagonist being damsel-in-distress that needs to be rescued.


title: Hakuoki

text: THEM praised the well-executed art and the amount of depth and genuine drama in the story and the action scenes. The site also praised the studio for balancing Chizuru's character as being more dynamic than the standard female samurai era character tropes without anywhere near an idealized Mary Sue. The site finds the use of Rasetsu plot device repetitive, causing a lack of plot twists and surprise revelation in the series. The second season is praised for the characterization, while still finds the pacing and animation quality not balanced properly.


title: Vaio

text: VAIO () is a brand of personal computers and consumer electronics, currently developed by Japanese manufacturer , headquartered in Azumino, Nagano Prefecture.


title: Vaio

text: VAIO was originally a brand of Sony, introduced in 1996. In February 2014, Sony created VAIO Corporation Inc., a special purpose company with investment firm Japan Industrial Partners, as part of its restructuring effort to focus on mobile devices. Sony maintains a minority stake in the new, independent company, which currently sells computers in the United States, Japan, India, and Brazil, and maintains exclusive marketing agreements in other regions. Sony still holds the intellectual property rights for the VAIO brand and logo.


title: Vaio

text: Originally an acronym of Video Audio Integrated Operation, this was amended to Visual Audio Intelligent Organizer in 2008 to celebrate the brand's 10th anniversary. The logo, along with the first of the VAIO computers, were designed by Teiyu Goto, supervisor of product design from the Sony Creative Center in Tokyo. He incorporated many meanings into the logo and acronym: the pronunciation in both English (VAIO) and Japanese () is similar to "bio", which is symbolic of life and the product's future evolution; it's also near "violet", which is why most early Vaios were purple or included purple components. Additionally, the logo is stylized to make the "VA" look like a sine wave and the "IO" like binary digits 1 and 0, the combination representing the merging of analog and digital signals. The sound some Vaio models make when starting up is derived from the melody created when pressing a telephone keypad to spell the letters V-A-I-O.


title: Vaio

text: Although Sony made computers in the 1980s, such as MSX-based HitBit computers mainly for the Japanese market, the company withdrew from the computer business around the beginning of the 1990s. Under the then-new VAIO brand, Sony's re-entry into the global computer market began in 1996. Sony's then-president Nobuyuki Idei thought "there was no point making an ordinary PC", so the VAIO lineup was to focus on Audio Visual (as the VAIO name suggests), portability, and design.


title: Vaio

text: The PCV-90 was the first series of desktops introduced in 1996, and designed with a 3D graphical interface as a novelty for new users. The first VAIO laptop computers followed in 1997 with the US$2,000 PCG-505 "SuperSlim" model, constructed out of a four-panel magnesium body. VisualFlow was a Sony program distributed in the late 1990s and early 2000s with Sony VAIO computers.


title: Vaio

text: Over the years, many audio visual technologies and interfaces pioneered by Sony became a key focus for its VAIO computers, including Memory Stick, i.Link, and even MiniDisc.


title: Vaio

text: In 2001, Steve Jobs presented a Vaio PC running MacOS to Sony executives, suggesting the possibility of collaboration. Sony's Vaio team ultimately turned down the proposal they regarded a "diversion of resources", as the popularity of the Windows-based premium PC brand was growing.


title: Vaio

text: Sony Vaio's later designs were released during a period of low PC sales and included models with innovations such as magnetized stands and the Vaio Tap, which was designed with a completely separate keyboard. The latest models were complemented by the Windows 10 operating system.


title: Vaio

text: On 4 February 2014, Sony announced that it would sell its Vaio PC business due to poor sales. In March 2014, it was announced that Japan Industrial Partners had purchased a 95% stake in the VAIO division.


title: Vaio

text: The sale was closed on 1 July 2014; on the same day, the company announced refreshed entries in the VAIO Fit and Pro lines. The re-launched products initially distributed in Japan, then later in Brazil. In August 2015, Vaio announced plans to re-enter international markets, beginning with Brazil and the United States. Vaio CEO Yoshimi Ota stated that the company planned to focus more on high-end products in niche segments (such as the creative industries), as they felt Sony was somewhat too focused on attempting to garner a large market share in its PC business. The Canvas Z tablet was released in the United States on 5 October 2015, through Microsoft Store and the Vaio website. On 16 October 2015, Vaio agreed to introduce their products in Brazil through a partnership with a local manufacturer Positivo Informática.


title: Vaio

text: On 2 February 2016, Vaio announced that it would unveil a Windows 10 smartphone. Also that month, it was also reported that Vaio was negotiating with Toshiba and Fujitsu Technology Solutions to consolidate their personal computer businesses together.


title: Vaio

text: On 4 June 2018, Nexstgo Company Limited announced that they will be licensed by VAIO Corporation to oversee the business in Asia. This license agreement between Hong Kong-based Nexstgo and the Japan-based VAIO Corporation will include manufacturing, sales and marketing as well as servicing of VAIO laptops under the VAIO trademark in the Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan markets.


title: Vaio

text: Sony's VAIO brand included product lines across notebooks, subnotebooks, desktops, media centres, and even Network media solutions.


title: Vaio

text: Included as part of the out-of-box experience are prompts to register at Club Vaio, an online community for Vaio owners and enthusiasts, which also provides automatic driver updates and technical support via email, along with exclusive desktop wallpapers and promotional offers. From 1997 to 2001 in Japan, the SAPARi program was also pre-installed on Vaio machines. On later models, the customer is also prompted to register the installed trial versions of Microsoft Office 2010 and the antivirus software (Norton AntiVirus on older models, and McAfee VirusScan or TrendMicro on newer ones) upon initial boot.


title: Vaio

text: Vaio computers come with components from companies such as Intel processors, Seagate Technology, Hitachi, Fujitsu or Toshiba hard drives, Infineon or Elpida RAM, Atheros and Intel wireless chipsets, Sony (usually made by Hitachi) or Matsushita optical drives, Intel, NVIDIA or AMD graphics cards and Sony speakers. Recent laptops have been shipped with Qimonda RAM, HP speakers with Realtek High Definition Audio Systems, and optional Dolby Sound Room technology.


title: Vaio

text: A selection of media centres were added to the Vaio range in 2006. These monitorless units (identified by a product code prefixed by VGX rather than VGN) are designed to form part of a home entertainment system. They typically take input from a TV tuner card, and output video via HDMI or composite video connection to an ideally high-definition television. The range included the XL and TP lines. The VGX-TP line is visually unique, featuring a circular, 'biscuit-tin' style design with most features obscured behind panels, rather than the traditional set-top box design.


title: Vaio

text: In 2013, Sony Vaio's range comprised seven products. The most basic were the E, T and S series while the high end models, the F and Z Series, were discontinued. Sony also had a range of hybrid tablet computers, with models called Vaio Duo 11/13, Vaio Tap 11/20 and Vaio Fit multi-flip, as well as a desktop computer under the L series. These models use Windows systems and Intel processors, as described above.


title: Vaio

text: Sony released some of their early digital audio players (DAP) under the Vaio line. The first model, the "VAIO Music Clip", was released in 1999, powered by an AA battery and featuring 64 MB of internal memory. It differed from Sony's players in the "Network Walkman" line which used external Memory Stick medium instead at the time. Succeeding models were also released, but it was mainly sold domestically, with Walkman-branded players more widespread internationally. In 2004 the brand made a comeback with the VAIO Pocket (model VGF-AP1L), featuring a 40 GB hard disk drive for up to 26,000 songs, and a 2.0-inch color LCD display. Like Walkman DAPs it used SonicStage software.


title: Vaio

text: Sony had also released several other products under the VAIO lineup, including the VAIO WA1 wireless digital music streamer, essentially a portable radio and speaker.


title: Vaio

text: The current lineup of Vaio computers, developed by VAIO Corporation, continues the same product line naming, and currently include:


title: Vaio

text: The first new VAIO computer developed by VAIO corporation was the Vaio Z Canvas 2-in-1 PC, which began sales on 23 September 2015 starting from $2,199 in the USA. The Z Canvas is focused on creative professionals as its target audience. Graphic artists, illustrators, animators, etc. With a 12.3-inch LCD WQXGA+ 2560 x 1704 IPS multi-touch display with digitizer stylus (pen) capability, the Z Canvas looks similar in design to the Microsoft Surface Pro 3, but comes with Windows 10 Pro and is available as a Microsoft Signature PC. It has an Intel Core i7 processor, an Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200, a 2nd generation PCIe SSD with PCIe Gen.3 compatibility (up to 1 TB) or SATA/M.2 for the 256 GB model, and up to 16 GB of memory.


title: Vaio

text: In February 2016, Vaio announced the Vaio Phone Biz which is a premium built mid-range Windows 10 Mobile device. This is Vaio's first Windows smartphone. In March 2017, Vaio announced Vaio Phone A, which has the look of the Vaio Phone Biz, but uses the Android operating system instead.


title: Vaio

text: Over the years, the Sony VAIO lineup has been responsible for many 'firsts' in desktops and laptops, as well as for setting trends for what would now be considered standard equipment.


title: Vaio

text: The Sony VAIO C1 PictureBook subnotebook, first released in 1998, was among the first to feature a built in web-cam, at 0.27 megapixels, and could swivel around to capture photos on both sides.


title: Vaio

text: Some Sony Vaio models come with Sony's proprietary XBRITE (known as ClearBright in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region) displays. The first model to introduce this feature was the Vaio TR series, which was also the first consumer product to utilize such technology. It is a combination of smooth screen, anti-reflection (AR) coating and high-efficiency lens sheet. Sony claims that the smooth finish provides a sharper screen display, the AR coating prevents external light from scattering when it hits the screen, and the high-efficiency lens sheet provides 1.5 times the brightness improvement over traditional LCD designs. Battery life is also extended through reduced usage of the LCD backlight. The technology was pioneered by Sony engineer Masaaki Nakagawa, who is in charge of the Vaio TR development.


title: Vaio

text: The TX series, introduced in September 2005, was the first notebook to implement a LED back-lit screen, which provides lower power consumption and greater color reproduction. This technology has since been widely adopted by many other notebook manufacturers. The TX series was also the first to use a 16:9 aspect ratio screen with 1366x768 resolution. The successor to the TX series was the TZ series in May 2007. This new design featured an optional 32 or 64GB Solid State Drive (SSD) for rapid boot-up times, quicker application launches and greater durability. If selected, a 250 GB Hard Drive could also have been included in place of the built-in CD/DVD drive to provide room for additional storage. For security, this model included a biometric fingerprint sensor and Trusted Platform Module. The TZ offered a built-in highly miniaturized Motion Eye camera built into the LCD panel for video conferencing. Additional features included the XBRITE LCD, integrated Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) technology and Bluetooth technology.


title: Vaio

text: The SZ series was the first to use switchable graphics – the motherboard contained an Intel GMCH (Graphics Memory Controller Hub) featuring its own in-built graphics controller (complete memory hub controller and graphics accelerator on the one die) and a separate NVIDIA graphics accelerator chipset directly interfaced with the GMCH. The GMCH could be used to reduce power consumption and extend battery life whereas the NVIDIA chipset would be used when greater graphics processing power was needed. A switch is used to toggle between the graphics options but required the user to preselect the mode to be used before the motherboard could initialize. The Z series, which replaced the SZ series, can change graphics modes "on the fly" on Windows Vista, and does not require a restart of the system. This feature has subsequently been used by other manufacturers, including Apple, Asus and Alienware.


title: Vaio

text: The AR Series was the first to incorporate a Blu-ray Disc burner, at the height of the Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD format war. This series was designed to be the epitome of high-definition products including a 1080p capable WUXGA (1920 × 1200 pixels) screen, HDMI output and the aforementioned Blu-ray burner. The AR series also includes an illuminated logo below the screen. Blu-ray/HDMI capable models have been the subject of intense promotion since mid-2007, selling with a variety of bundled Blu-ray Discs. The AR series was subsequently replaced by the AW series, and in 2011, replaced by the F Series, which incorporates all of these features in a 16.4" 16:9 display.


title: Vaio

text: The chime heard when a VAIO computer is booted are the DTMF notes corresponding to V-A-I-O (8-2-4-6) dialed on a telephone keypad.


title: Vaio

text: Sony has been criticized for loading its Vaio laptops with bloatware, or ineffective and unrequested software that supposedly allows the user to immediately use the laptop for multimedia purposes. This includes trial versions of Adobe Premiere Elements & Adobe Photoshop Elements with Vaio Media Gate and XMB. Sony later offered a "Fresh start" option in some regions with several of their business models. With this option, the computer is shipped only with a basic Windows operating system and very little trial software already installed.


title: Vaio

text: The default webcam software in Vaio notebooks is ArcSoft WebCam Companion. It offers a set of special effects called Magic-i visual effects, through which users can enhance the images and videos taken through the webcam. It also features a face detection feature. Certain other Sony proprietary software such as Click to Disc Editor, Vaio Music Box, Vaio Movie Story, Vaio Media Plus are also included with recent models. Those shipped with ATI Radeon Video cards feature the Catalyst Control Centre, which enables control of brightness, contrast, resolution etc., and also enables connection to an external display the best laptop.


title: Vaio

text: Beginning in mid-2005, a hidden partition on the hard drive, accessible at boot via the BIOS or within Windows via a utility was used instead. Pressing [F10] at the Vaio logo during boot-up will cause the notebook to boot from the recovery partition; where the user has the choice of either running hardware diagnostics without affecting the installed system, or restoring (re-imaging) the hard drive to factory condition – an option that destroys all user installed applications and data). The first time a new VAIO PC is started up, users are prompted to create their own recovery media. This physical media would be required in case of hard disk failure and/or replacement. In cases where the system comes with Windows 7 64-bit pre-installed, the provided recovery media restores the system to Windows 7 32- or 64-bit.


title: Freedom of association

text: Freedom of association encompasses both an individual's right to join or leave groups voluntarily, the right of the group to take collective action to pursue the interests of its members, and the right of an association to accept or decline membership based on certain criteria. It can be described as the right of a person coming together with other individuals to collectively express, promote, pursue and/or defend common interests. Freedom of association is both an individual right and a collective right, guaranteed by all modern and democratic legal systems, including the United States Bill of Rights, article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and international law, including articles 20 and 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 22 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work by the International Labour Organization also ensures these rights.


title: Freedom of association

text: Freedom of association is manifested through the right to join a trade union, to engage in free speech or to participate in debating societies, political parties, or any other club or association, including religious denominations and organizations, fraternities, and sport clubs and not to be compelled to belong to an association. It is closely linked with freedom of assembly, particularly under the U.S. Bill of Rights. Freedom of assembly is typically associated with political contexts. However, (e.g. the U.S. Constitution, human rights instruments, etc.) the right to freedom of association may include the right to freedom of assembly. In the United States, since the Civil Rights Act of 1968, freedom of association was largely curtailed regarding housing, education, and business when it comes to race or ethnicity.


title: Freedom of association

text: The courts and delegated officers of local jurisdictions may impose restrictions on any of the rights of a convicted criminal as a condition of a legal stipulation. Rights to freedom of association and freedom of assembly are waived under certain circumstances, such as a guilty plea or conviction, restraining orders and probationer's search and seizure procedures.


title: Freedom of association

text: The general freedom to associate with groups according to the choice of the individual, and for the groups to take action to promote their interests, has been a necessary feature of every democratic society. Because freedom of association necessarily recognizes pluralistic sources of power and organisation, aside from the government, it has been a primary target for repression by all dictatorial societies. In the United Kingdom, all forms of "combination" were prohibited and criminal, particularly worker organisations, until the Combination Act 1825. After this, it was still not until the Companies Act 1856, the Trade Union Act 1871 and the Criminal Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act 1875 that companies and then trade unions became generally lawful. In Germany, a similar set of repressive laws were put in place against both trade unions and social democrat organisations by the Bismarck government under the "Sozialistengesetze" (the "Socialist Acts") in 1878. These remained in force until 1890. In 1933, trade unions were once again prohibited by the Fascist dictatorship of Hitler's National Socialist party, and the existing unions were nationalized and combined into a single government controlled German Labor Front. In West Germany after World War II, free trade unions were quickly resurrected and guaranteed by the German "Grundgesetz". In the United States, trade unions were classified by various state courts, at various times, as being in restraint of trade. Under the Clayton Act of 1914, trade unions were given a general freedom to organize and to act collectively to secure collective agreements, however further hurdles were put in place until the National Labor Relations Act 1935 created a comprehensive labor code.


title: Freedom of association

text: Section 2 of the Charter, under the heading of "Fundamental Freedoms", states:Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:


title: Freedom of association

text: d) freedom of association.Under Canadian jurisprudence, freedom of expression has three dimensions: the “constitutive” right to form associations with other people, a“derivative” right to collectively invoke other constitutional rights, and the “purposive” right to collectively bargain in order to be on equal footing with other groups and entities.


title: Freedom of association

text: The South African Constitution's Bill of Rights establishes the right to freedom of association in Section 18, which states "Everyone has the right to freedom of association." Furthermore, Section 17 states "Everyone has the right, peacefully and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket and to present petitions", thus establishing the right to freedom of assembly. Workers' right to freedom of association in terms of the right to form trade unions and collective bargaining is recognized separately, in Section 23.


title: Freedom of association

text: While the United States Constitution's First Amendment identifies the rights to assemble and to petition the government, the text of the First Amendment does not make specific mention of a right to association. Nevertheless, the United States Supreme Court held in "NAACP v. Alabama" (1958) that freedom of association is an essential part of freedom of speech because, in many cases, people can engage in effective speech only when they join with others. Other Supreme Court cases involving freedom of association issues include:


title: Freedom of association

text: A fundamental element of personal liberty is the right to choose to enter into and maintain certain intimate human relationships. These intimate human relationships are considered forms of "intimate association." The paradigmatic example of "intimate association" is the family. Depending on the jurisdiction it may also extend to abortion, birth control and private, adult, non-commercial and consensual sexual relationships.


title: Freedom of association

text: In the United States, expressive associations are groups that engage in activities protected by the First Amendment – speech, assembly, press, petitioning government for a redress of grievances, and the free exercise of religion. In "Roberts v. United States Jaycees", the U.S. Supreme Court held that associations may not exclude people for reasons unrelated to the group's expression. However, in the subsequent decisions of "Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston", the Court ruled that a group may exclude people from membership if their presence would affect the group's ability to advocate a particular point of view. The government cannot, through the use of anti-discrimination laws, force groups to include a message that they do not wish to convey.


title: Freedom of association

text: However, this concept does not now apply in the University setting due to the Supreme Court's ruling in "Christian Legal Society v. Martinez" (2010), which upheld Hastings College of Law policy that the school's conditions on recognizing student groups were viewpoint neutral and reasonable. The policy requires student organizations to allow "any student to participate, become a member, or seek leadership positions, regardless of their status or beliefs" and so, can be used to deny the group recognition as an official student organization because it had required its members to attest in writing that "I believe in: The Bible as the inspired word of God; The Deity of our Lord, Jesus Christ, God's son; The vicarious death of Jesus Christ for our sins; His bodily resurrection and His personal return; The presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the work of regeneration; [and] Jesus Christ, God's son, is Lord of my life." The Court reasoned that because this constitutional inquiry occurs in the education context the same considerations that have led the Court to apply a less restrictive level of scrutiny to speech in limited public forums applies. Thus, the college's all-comers policy is a reasonable, viewpoint-neutral condition on access to the student organization forum.


title: Freedom of association

text: The implicit First Amendment right of association in the U.S. Constitution has been limited by court rulings. For example, it is illegal in the United States to consider race in the making and enforcement of private contracts other than marriage. This limit on freedom of association results from Section 1981 of Title 42 of the United States Code, as balanced against the First Amendment in the 1976 decision of "Runyon v. McCrary".


title: Freedom of association

text: Governments often require contracts of adhesion with private entities for licensing purposes, such as with Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for stock market trading in the 1938 Maloney Act amendments to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These contracts often bar association with banned members, as can be seen in "United States v. Merriam", 108 F.3d 1162.


title: Freedom of association

text: The organization of labor was commonly resisted during the 19th century, with even relatively liberal countries such as the United Kingdom banning it for various periods (in the UK's case, between 1820 and 1824).


title: Freedom of association

text: In the international labour movement, the freedom of association is a right identified under international labour standards as the right of workers to organize and collectively bargain. Freedom of association, in this sense, is recognized as a fundamental human right by a number of documents including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Labour Organization Convention C87 and Convention C98 – two of the eight fundamental, core international labour standards. 'Freedom of association' can also refer to legal bans on private contracts negotiated between a private employer and their employees requiring workers at a particular workplace to join a union as a term and condition of employment. Supporters of this sort of private freedom of association claim that the right to join a union incorporates a right not to join a union. In the United States, the term 'right to work' is more common for this type of law.


title: Freedom of association

text: "The Supreme Court today (1-21-1997) sharply limited the ability of labor union organizers to go onto an employer's property to distribute literature or urge workers to join the union. In a 6-to-3 opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the Court said that the National Labor Relations Board had failed to give adequate protection to employers' property rights when it adopted a rule four years ago that gave union organizers greater access to areas like the parking lots of shopping centers or factories." -New York Times


title: Freedom of association

text: Jeremy McBride argues that respect the freedom of association by all public authorities and the exercising of this freedom by all sections of society are essential both to establish a "genuine democracy" and to ensure that, once achieved, it remains "healthy and flourishing". In this regard he sees the formation of political parties as a significant manifestation of the freedom of association.


title: Freedom of association

text: The freedom of association is however not only exercised in the political sense, but also for a vast array of interests – such as culture, recreation, sport and social and humanitarian assistance. Jeremy McBride argues that the formation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which he equates with civil society, is the "fruit of associational activity".


title: Freedom of association

text: Right-libertarians believe that while freedom of association includes the right for workers to organise as unions and to withdraw their labour it also recognises the right of an employer to replace that labour. They also believe that where unions employ coercive or violent tactics, such behaviours would be in breach of both individual rights and property rights. Some critics of unionism allege that such breaches have frequently been the case with union activity.


title: 1990–91 NBA season

text: The 1990–91 NBA season was the 45th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Chicago Bulls winning their first NBA Championship, eliminating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals.


title: 1990–91 NBA season

text: Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.


title: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

text: Jonathan Dayton (born July 7, 1957) and Valerie Faris (born October 20, 1958) are a team of American film and music video directors who received critical acclaim for their feature film directorial debut, "Little Miss Sunshine" (2006). Later the married couple directed the romantic comedy-drama "Ruby Sparks" (2012), and the biographical sports drama "Battle of the Sexes" (2017). Their most recent directing project is the 2019 Netflix comedy series, "Living with Yourself", starring Paul Rudd, and the 2022 Hulu series "Fleishman Is In Trouble".


title: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

text: Dayton was born in Alameda County, California, and grew up in Grass Valley, California. After graduating from Ygnacio Valley High School in Concord, California, he attended the UCLA Film School, studying film and television in the late 1970s; while there, he met Valerie Faris, a dance student and native of Los Angeles County, California, who became his wife and his partner. They have three children together. Valerie is the daughter of Paula Forbes, a supervising painter, and Jim Faris, a film editor.


title: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

text: As a pair, Dayton and Faris have directed and produced music videos, documentaries, commercials and films. They have directed music videos for bands such as Oasis, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys, and R.E.M. Their 1996 video for "Tonight, Tonight" by The Smashing Pumpkins won six MTV Video Music Awards. Another of their videos that found significant success was for the 1990 Extreme song "More Than Words".


title: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

text: In 1998, they established a production company, Bob Industries. Through this company the pair directed commercials for companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Volkswagen, Sony, GAP, Target, IKEA, Apple Computer, and ESPN. The two directed a 1999 commercial for the Volkswagen Cabrio, titled "Milky Way", whose soundtrack consisted entirely of the 1972 Nick Drake song "Pink Moon", and which is credited with initiating a massive revival of interest in Nick Drake's music.


title: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

text: They began to be offered feature films to direct at around this time; among projects that they turned down were "The Mod Squad" (1999) and "Bad Boys II" (2003).


title: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

text: In 2001, they began to work on the film "Little Miss Sunshine"; it was released in 2006. The film won the Audience Award at the 2006 Sydney Film festival and an ovation at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. Their directing style for the film involved a high level of improvisation to allow the actors to create organic connections to the roles.


title: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

text: In 2006, the pair were announced as the directors of a planned screen adaptation of Tom Perrotta's novel "The Abstinence Teacher" for Warner Independent Pictures. In 2007 Perrotta wrote a screenplay with input from Dayton and Faris. However, by 2012 they had left the project, and it was taken over by director Lisa Cholodenko.


title: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

text: Their next film was "Ruby Sparks" in 2012. Dayton and Faris then directed "Battle of the Sexes", about the tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, with Emma Stone as King and Steve Carell as Riggs. The film also stars Elisabeth Shue, Alan Cumming, and Sarah Silverman; it was released in 2017.


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: Margaret Bourke-White (; June 14, 1904 – August 27, 1971), an American photographer and documentary photographer, became arguably best known as the first foreign photographer permitted to take pictures of Soviet industry under the Soviets' five-year plan, as the first American female war photojournalist, and for taking the photograph (of the construction of Fort Peck Dam) that became the cover of the first issue of "Life" magazine. She died of Parkinson's disease at age 67, about eighteen years after developing symptoms.


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: Margaret Bourke-White, born Margaret White in the Bronx, New York, was the daughter of Joseph White, a non-practicing Jew whose father came from Poland, and Minnie Bourke, who was of Irish Catholic descent. She grew up near Bound Brook, New Jersey (the Joseph and Minnie White House in Middlesex), and graduated from Plainfield High School in Union County. From her naturalist father, an engineer and inventor, she claimed to have learned perfectionism; from her "resourceful homemaker" mother, she claimed to have developed “an unapologetic desire for self-improvement." Her younger brother, Roger Bourke White, became a prominent Cleveland businessman and high-tech industry founder, and her older sister, Ruth White, became well known for her work at the American Bar Association in Chicago, Ill. Roger Bourke White described their parents as "Free thinkers who were intensely interested in advancing themselves and humanity through personal achievement", attributing the success of their children in part to this quality. He was not surprised at his sister Margaret's success, saying "[she] was not unfriendly or aloof".


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: Margaret's interest in photography began as a hobby in her youth, supported by her father's enthusiasm for cameras. Despite her interest, in 1922, she began studying herpetology at Columbia University, only to have her interest in photography strengthened after studying under Clarence White (no relation). She left after one semester, following the death of her father. She transferred colleges several times, attending the University of Michigan (where she was a photographer at the "Michiganensian" and became a member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority), Purdue University in Indiana, and Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Bourke-White ultimately graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1927, leaving behind a photographic study of the rural campus for the school's newspaper, including photographs of her famed dormitory, Risley Hall. A year later, she moved from Ithaca, New York, to Cleveland, Ohio, where she started a commercial photography studio and began concentrating on architectural and industrial photography.


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: One of Bourke-White's clients was Otis Steel Company. Her success was due to her skills with both people and her technique. Her experience at Otis is a good example. As she explains in "Portrait of Myself", the Otis security people were reluctant to let her shoot for many reasons.


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: Firstly, steel making was a defense industry, so they wanted to be sure national security was not endangered. Second, she was a woman, and in those days, people wondered if a woman and her delicate cameras could stand up to the intense heat, hazard, and generally dirty and gritty conditions inside a steel mill. When she finally got permission, technical problems began.


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: Black-and-white film in that era was sensitive to blue light, not the reds and oranges of hot steel (In the words of her collaborator, the ambient red-orange light had no "actinic value"), so she could see the beauty, but the photographs were coming out all black.


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: She solved this problem by bringing along a new style of magnesium flare, which produces white light, and having assistants hold the flares to light her scenes. Her abilities resulted in some of the best steel-factory photographs of that era, which earned her national attention.


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: "To me... industrial forms were all the more beautiful because they were never designed to be beautiful. They had a simplicity of line that came from their direct application of purpose. Industry... had evolved an unconscious beauty – often a hidden beauty that was waiting to be discovered"


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: In 1929 Bourke-White accepted a job as associate editor and staff photographer of "Fortune" magazine, a position she held until 1935. In 1930 she became the first Western photographer allowed to enter the Soviet Union.


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: Henry Luce hired her as the first female photojournalist for "Life" magazine in 1936. She held the title of staff photographer until 1940, but returned from 1941 to 1942, and again in 1945, after which she stayed through her semi-retirement in 1957 (which ended her photography for the magazine) and her full retirement in 1969.


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: Her photographs of the construction of the Fort Peck Dam featured in "Life"s first issue, dated November 23, 1936, including the cover. This cover photograph became such a favorite (see) that it was the 1930s' representative in the United States Postal Service's "Celebrate the Century" series of commemorative postage stamps. "Although Bourke-White titled the photo, "New Deal, Montana: Fort Peck Dam", it is actually a photo of the spillway located three miles east of the dam", according to a United States Army Corps of Engineers webpage.


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: During the mid-1930s, Bourke-White, like Dorothea Lange, photographed drought victims of the Dust Bowl. In the February 15, 1937, issue of "Life" magazine, her famous photograph of black flood-victims standing in front of a sign which declared, "World's Highest Standard of Living", showing a white family, was published. The photograph later would become the basis for the artwork of Curtis Mayfield's 1975 album, "There's No Place Like America Today".


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: She also traveled to Europe to record how Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia were faring under Nazism.


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: Bourke-White and then husband Erskine Caldwell collaborated on "You Have Seen Their Faces" (1937), a book about conditions in the South during the Great Depression.


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: Bourke-White was "the first Western professional photographer permitted into the Soviet Union". She travelled there in consecutive summers from 1930-32 to document the Five Year Plan. While in the USSR, she photographed Joseph Stalin, as well as making portraits of Stalin's mother and great-aunt when visiting Georgia. She also took portraits of other famous people in the Soviet Union, such as Karl Radek, Sergei Eisenstein, and Hugh Cooper. She noted that the trips and work there required a lot of patience, and generally had mixed, yet positive impressions of the USSR. Her photographs were first published in "Fortune" magazine in 1931 under the title "Eyes on Russia", and then as a book with the same name by Simon and Schuster. These photos additionally became "a six-part series in "The New York Times" (1932), a deluxe photo portfolio (1934), and a set of photomurals for the Soviet consulate in New York (1934). Still other photographs circulated in exhibitions, books, and periodicals around the globe, especially in Soviet magazines and postcards of the early 1930s."


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: Bourke-White returned to the Soviet Union in 1941 during the Second World War. With 5 cameras, 22 lenses, 4 developing tanks and 3,000 flashbulbs, her luggage total was 600 pounds. The resulting body of work was published in a book titled "Shooting the Russian War" in 1942.


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: Bourke-White was the first known female war correspondent and the first woman to be allowed to work in combat zones during World War II. In 1941 she traveled to the Soviet Union just as Germany broke its pact of non-aggression. She was the only foreign photographer in Moscow when German forces invaded. Taking refuge in the U.S. Embassy, she then captured the ensuing firestorms on camera.


title: Margaret Bourke-White

text: As the war progressed, she was attached to the U.S. Army Air Force in North Africa, then to the U.S. Army in Italy and later in Germany. She repeatedly came under fire in Italy in areas of fierce fighting. On January 22, 1943, Major Rudolph Emil Flack, Squadron and Mission Commander, piloted the lead aircraft with Margaret Bourke-White (the first female photographer/writer to fly on a combat mission) aboard his 414th Bombardment Squadron B-17F LITTLE BILL (41-24400) and bombed the El Aouina Airdrome in Tunis, Tunisia. On this bombing raid, she describes the field of 130 enemy planes as "one bright orange flash". The navigator on this flight, Lieutenant Abraham J. Dreiseszun, ended up rising through the ranks of the U.S. Air Force to become a Major General.