title: Dido-class cruiser

text: The "Bellona" subclass differed in appearance somewhat from their predecessors. They had eight 5.25-inch RP10 Mk II guns in four twin turrets and had greatly improved anti-aircraft armament, with twelve 2-pounder guns and twelve Oerlikon 20 mm cannon. The bridge of the "Bellona" class was lowered by one deck compared to the previous three groups. This reduced topweight and so full radar control could be fitted to the 5.25-inch turrets and 2-pounder guns. These ships used the HACS high angle fire control system. The two funnels were more upright than the raked ones of the original "Dido" class.


title: Dido-class cruiser

text: In World War II, the "Dido" class saw much action, including the Battle of Cape Matapan, the Second Battle of Sirte, Operation Torch, Operation Overlord and the Battle of Okinawa, as well as many other duties in the Mediterranean and Pacific. Five ships were lost during the war: , , , , and . was badly damaged by a naval mine and declared a constructive total loss. The post-war survivors continued in service; all were decommissioned by the 1960s. , and were lent to the Royal New Zealand Navy post-World War II. In 1956, was sold to Pakistan and renamed "Babur".


title: Dido-class cruiser

text: "Bonaventure" completed with only four twin 5.25 in turrets because of shortages and received a 4-inch starshell gun in "X" position. She received a radar set before October 1940 but was otherwise unaltered.


title: Dido-class cruiser

text: "Naiad" was completed with five turrets. She received five single 20 mm in September 1941 and had Type 279 radar by this time.


title: Dido-class cruiser

text: "Dido" had four turrets and a 4-inch gun similar to "Phoebe". The 4 in. and the machine guns were removed in the latter half of 1941 at Brooklyn Navy Yard, when the "Q" position 5.25 in. turret was shipped and five single 20 mm were fitted. In the early summer of 1943 three single 20 mm were exchanged for four twin 20 mm and the radar outfit was altered by the addition of Types 272, 282, 284 and 285. April 1944 lists show only eight 20 mm.


title: Dido-class cruiser

text: "Hermione" was also completed as a five-turret ship. She had the .5 in. MGs removed in October/November 1941 and received five single 20 mm.


title: Dido-class cruiser

text: "Royalist" was converted to an escort carrier squadron flagship immediately on completion, when an extra two twin 20 mm were fitted as well as four single 20 mm. She was the only ship to receive an extensive postwar modernisation ordered for the RN but was later loaned to New Zealand. Plans were drawn up to fully modernise the four improved "Dido"s with either four twin 3 inch L70 guns or Mk 6 4.5 inch guns. However, that would have required building new broad beamed "Dido"s (as was seriously considered in 1950–54). This was because the magazines of the "Royalist" type could hold only enough 3 inch ammunition for 3 minutes and 20 seconds of continuous firing. The refit of "Royalist" was shortened and that of "Diadem" abandoned because new steam turbines were regarded as both necessary and unaffordable. "Royalist"′s reconstruction, like that of "Newfoundland", incorporated much of the RN's late 1940s and early 1950s view of a desirable cruiser. "Royalist"′s 5.25 inch armament was given some of the improvements of the final 5.25 inch mounts built for "Vanguard", but not the extra space or power ramming. Also added was a secondary armament of three STAAG automatic twin 40mm, new Type 293, 960M radar and Type 275 (two sets) DP fire control for the 5.25 guns, and a lattice mast.


title: Dido-class cruiser

text: "Bellona" had four single 20 mm added by April 1944, and received an extra eight single 20 mm by April 1945. When she was loaned to the RNZN after the war (1946–52), the twin Oerlikons were replaced by six single MK3P 40mm in the RNZN's electric powered mount. "Bellona" was never fitted with six standard tachymetric directors requested by the RNZN for controlling the Bofors. The RNZN mothballed the quadruple pom pom mounts for manning reasons, but maintained the single Oerlikons on "Bellona".


title: Dido-class cruiser

text: Post war in the expanded 1951 programme of the Korean War Emergency a broad beam "Bellona" class armed with four twin Mk 6 4.5 guns was considered as a cruiser option along with the 1951 Minotaur class and the Tiger class completed with two Mk 24 6 inch turrets and four twin Mk 6 4.5.


title: Dido-class cruiser

text: "Black Prince" was loaned to the RNZN after the war and was operational briefly in 1947 before part of her crew mutinied and were discharged, and after a 1952 refit with 8 single Mk3P 40mm which were electric powered, like the RN Mk 9 and 6 single Oerlikon and operated till 1955, which included a visit to the 1953 Fleet Review at Spithead. "Diadem" (renamed "Babur") was sold to Pakistan in 1956 after a modest refit with 293 and 281 radar and standardised 40mm twin and single light AA guns. "Babur" became a cadet training ship in 1962 but was brought into use and her 5.25-inch guns were fired in the limited naval activities during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: Michigan Central Station (also known as Michigan Central Depot or MCS) is the historic former main intercity passenger rail station in Detroit, Michigan. Built for the Michigan Central Railroad, it replaced the original depot in downtown Detroit, which was shuttered after a major fire on December 26, 1913, forcing the still unfinished station into early service. Formally dedicated on January 4, 1914, the station remained open for business until the cessation of Amtrak service on January 6, 1988. The station building consists of a train depot and an office tower with thirteen stories, two mezzanine levels, and a roof height of 230 feet (70 m). The Beaux-Arts style architecture was designed by architects who had previously worked together on Grand Central Terminal in New York, and it was the tallest rail station in the world at the time of its construction.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: The building is located in the Corktown district of Detroit near the Ambassador Bridge, approximately southwest of downtown Detroit. It is located behind Roosevelt Park, and the Roosevelt Warehouse is adjacent to the east, with a tunnel connection to the MCS. The city's Roosevelt Park serves as a grand entryway to the station. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: Since 2011, demolition works, minor structural repairs, repairs of the roof structure, and covering the glass roof openings in the concourse have been performed. The basement, which was once full of water, has been fully drained. Barbed wire fencing has been installed in an attempt to keep out vandals and the windows in the tower have been replaced. Restoration projects and plans had gone as far as the negotiation process, but none had come to fruition until May 2018 when Ford Motor Company purchased the building for redevelopment into a mixed use facility and cornerstone of the company's new Corktown campus. Between 2018 and 2021, the building's exterior was repaired and the electrical and mechanical systems were replaced; in August 2021, the renovation entered the third and final phase, focusing on the interior.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: Images of the building prior to the Ford purchase remain a premier example of ruins photography. The building has also been featured in several television programs, films and music videos.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: The building began operating as Detroit's main passenger depot in 1913 after the older Michigan Central Station burned on December 26, 1913. It was owned and operated by Michigan Central Railroad and was planned as part of a large project that included the Michigan Central Railway Tunnel below the Detroit River for freight and passengers. The old station was located on a spur line, which was inconvenient for the high volume of passengers it served. The new Michigan Central placed passenger service on the main line.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: The growing trend toward increased automobile use was not a large concern in 1912, as is evident in the design of the building. Most passengers would arrive at and leave from Michigan Central Station by interurban service or streetcar, due to the station's distance from downtown Detroit. The station was placed away from downtown in order to stimulate related development to come in its direction. An ambitious project to connect the station to the Cultural Center via a wide boulevard was never realized. Nonetheless, the station remained active for several decades. The trains of the New York Central Railroad, the company which acquired the Michigan Central Railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Canadian Pacific Railway operated from the station.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: At the beginning of World War I, the peak of rail travel in the United States, more than 200 trains left the station each day and lines would stretch from the boarding gates to the main entrance. In the 1940s, more than 4,000 passengers a day used the station and more than 3,000 people worked in its office tower. Among notable passengers arriving at MCS were Presidents Herbert Hoover, Harry S. Truman and Franklin D. Roosevelt, actor Charlie Chaplin, inventor Thomas Edison and artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. The other major station of Detroit was the Fort Street Union Depot.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: In the 1920s Henry Ford began to buy land near the station and made construction plans, but the Great Depression and other circumstances squelched this and many other development efforts. The original design included no large parking facility. When the interurban service was discontinued less than two decades after MCS opened, the station was effectively isolated from the large majority of the population who drove cars and needed parking to use the facility.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: Passenger volume did not decrease immediately. During World War II, the station was used heavily by military troops. After the war, with a growth in automobile ownership, people used trains less frequently for vacation or other travel. Service was reduced and passenger traffic became so low that the New York Central attempted to sell the facility in 1956 for , one-third of its original 1913 building cost. Another attempted sale in 1963 failed for lack of buyers. In 1967, maintenance costs were seen as too high relative to the decreasing passenger volume. The restaurant, arcade shops, and main entrance were closed, along with much of the main waiting room. This left only two ticket windows to serve passengers and visitors, who used the same parking-lot entrance as railroad employees working in the building.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: Meanwhile, service to destinations was curtailed. By 1960 the New York Central ended its direct service south to Toledo, on its own timetable yielding that responsibility to the B&O. In 1963 the B&O moved its trains over to the Fort Street Union Depot. The New York Central ended the last of its trains bound north for Bay City in 1964. The pooled New York Central/Central Pacific trains were discontinued and the Canadian Pacific trains to Windsor ended in 1967; and the New York Central ended its named trains by the close of 1967. Any remaining New York Central trains were segmented operations between major cities. The trains run by the NYC's successor in 1968, the Penn Central continued the segmented operations at the station.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: Amtrak assumed operation of the nation's passenger rail service in 1971, reopening the main waiting room and entrance in 1975. It started a $1.25 million renovation project in 1978. Six years later, the building was sold for a transportation center project that never materialized. On January 6, 1988, the last Amtrak train pulled away from the station after owners decided to close the facility. Amtrak service continued at a platform on Rose Street near the former station building until the new Detroit station opened several miles away in New Center in 1994. In July 1992, the Detroit Master Plan of Policies for the southwest sector's urban design identified the station as an attractive or interesting feature to be recognized, enhanced and promoted.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: Controlled Terminals Inc. acquired the station in 1996. Its sister company, the Detroit International Bridge Co., owns the nearby Ambassador Bridge and both are part of a group of transportation-related companies which were owned by late businessman Manuel Moroun, Chairman and CEO of CenTra Inc. The company demolished the train shed in 2000, and converted the remaining tracks and platforms into an intermodal freight facility, named "Expressway" and operated by Canadian Pacific Railway. This facility was closed in June 2004.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: In 2004, Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick announced that the city was pursuing options to relocate its Detroit Police Department headquarters and possibly consolidate other law enforcement offices to MCS. However, in mid-2005, the city canceled the plan and chose to renovate its existing headquarters. In 2006 it was proposed that the station be redeveloped into a Trade Processing Center adapting the station as a customs and international trade processing center due to its proximity to the Ambassador Bridge. Although the City of Detroit considered the building a "Priority Cultural Site" in 2006, the City Council on April 7, 2009, passed a resolution to demolish the structure. Seven days later, Detroit resident Stanley Christmas sued the city of Detroit to stop the demolition effort, citing the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: In 2008, the station owners said that their goal was to renovate the decaying building. The estimated cost of renovations was $80 million, but the owners viewed finding the right use as a greater problem than financing. Moroun proposed making the station into a convention center and casino Such a project would have cost $1.2 billion, including $300 million to restore the station. Dan Stamper, president of Detroit International Bridge, noted that the station should have been used as one of the city's casinos. In 2010, State Senator Cameron S. Brown and Mickey Bashfield, a government relations official for the building owner CenTra Inc., suggested that the station could become the Detroit headquarters of the Michigan State Police, include some United States Department of Homeland Security offices, and serve as a center for trade inspections. The development never came to fruition.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: On March 25, 2011, in an effort to push forward a potential sale and redevelopment, Dan Stamper, spokesperson for Ambassador Bridge owner Manuel "Matty" Moroun, announced plans to work with the City of Detroit on funding replacement of the tower's roof, and installing new windows on the structure. Stamper told "The Detroit News": "It would be much easier to help a developer to come up with a package to use the depot if some improvements were made." In June 2011, work began on partial asbestos abatement on the first floor; other work conducted included interior demolition work, removal of broken glass from first floor windows, and removal of water. In June 2012, electricity was restored to the interior. Lights have illuminated the main lobby nightly.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: On May 5, 2011, the Detroit International Bridge Company announced it engaged the Ann Arbor firm of Quinn Evans on behalf of the Moroun family that owns the building to oversee restoration of the roof and windows of the structure. Bridge Company owner Moroun stated, "We hope this is just the beginning of a renaissance for the depot." The once flooded basement was largely drained, with about of water at its highest still remaining in a sub-basement of the building.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: On June 10, 2014, it was reported that the owners of Michigan Central Station were moving forward with about $676,000 in rehab work, and had received permits to install a new 9,000-pound capacity freight elevator, which will allow for the smooth installation of new windows and roof work. In late 2014 work to install the elevator started, with an expected completion by February.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: In February 2015, the owners announced that they would replace more than 1,000 windows above the first level. In late April the city announced a land swap deal with the Bridge Company to transfer a 3-acre strip of Riverside Park near the Ambassador Bridge for 4.8 acres of adjacent property owned by the Bridge Company. As part of that agreement, the city would receive up to $5 million for park improvements, and the Bridge Company agreed to replace the windows in the train station. In July the Detroit City Council approved the land transfer. As of December 2015, all of the new windows have been installed.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: As of August 2016, the Moroun family had spent 10 years and $12 million on electricity, windows and the elevator shaft, to revitalize the building. Matthew Moroun said he might put part of his family's operations in the 18-story Corktown building. In September 2017 the "Detroit Homecoming" event was held in the station, the first legal event to occur there since the building's closure in 1988.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: On March 20, 2018, "The Detroit News" published an article noting the Ford Motor Company was in talks to buy the structure. On May 22, 2018, ownership of the building was transferred from the Moroun-owned MCS Crown Land Development Co. LLC to New Investment Properties I LLC. Ford's representatives neither confirmed nor denied if this ownership exchange was made by them.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: The Moroun family confirmed on June 11, 2018, that Ford was the new owner of the building. Ford purchased the station along with the Roosevelt Warehouse. Ford plans to turn the building into a hub for its autonomous vehicle development and deployment, and it will be the anchor for the company's Corktown campus. The building will hold both Ford offices and offices of suppliers and partner companies. The first floor concourse will reopen to the public with restaurants and retail. Housing will also be created on the top floors. Restoration and renovations are expected to be completed by 2022.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: On June 19, 2018, Ford held a community celebration, in which local rapper Big Sean performed, and the building was opened to the public for the first time since its closure in the 1980s. According to local Detroit media outlets, Ford plans to renovate the station, the warehouse next door, and complete construction on the rest of its campus within four years, and is part of the company's $1 billion capital improvements project, which also includes the creation of a development on the West side of Dearborn, Michigan, as well as a renovation of the company's main headquarters in Dearborn. As part of that $1 billion, Ford Land is actively seeking at least $250 million in tax and other incentives, and has claimed that the project would not be financially feasible without the support of incentives.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: CEO of Ford Land, Dave Dubensky, stated during an interview with the "Detroit Free Press" that Ford plans to retain four of the passenger tracks at MCS in the event that Amtrak returns from the station in New Center as well as for potential commuter rail. Previous Amtrak routes that utilized MCS included the "Wolverine," "Lake Cities," "Twilight Limited," and "Niagara Rainbow." There have been other rail related projects in the area around the station in recent years. In 2010, The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded $244 million in grants for high-speed rail upgrades between Chicago and Detroit. A consortium of investors, including the Canadian Pacific Railway, has proposed a new, larger rail tunnel capable of handling large double-stacked freight cars under the Detroit River.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: In December 2018 Ford began Phase I of the building restoration. The work involved drying out the building and reinforcement of structural columns and archways. Phase II began in May 2019 and consisted of masonry restoration of the tower and concourse, retiling of the ceiling of the waiting room, and repair of the structural steel. 3-D scanning technology was used to recreate architectural details lost to exposure and vandalism. As of late 2021 work was progressing on the building's masonry facade. Restoration is anticipated to be competed in late 2022 or early 2023.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: The building is of the Beaux-Arts Classical style of architecture, designed by the Warren & Wetmore and Reed and Stem firms who also designed New York City's Grand Central Terminal. Michigan Central was designed at the same time, and is seen as a spiritual twin to Grand Central in New York, as both were meant as flagship stations on Vanderbilt's rail lines, both were designed to have office towers in their original design concepts (though Grand Central's tower was never built), both have the same detailing, and were opened six months apart. The price tag for this building was $15 million when it was built. Roosevelt Park creates a grand entryway for the station, which was fully realized around 1920.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: The building is composed of two distinct parts: the train station and the 18-story office tower. The roof height is . The original plan for the tower included a hotel, offices for the rail company, or a combination of both. The tower was used only for office space by the Michigan Central Railroad and subsequent owners of the building. The tower was never completely used; the top floors were never completely furnished, and served no function.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: The main waiting room on the main floor was modeled after an ancient Roman bathhouse, with walls of marble and vaulted ceilings. The building also housed a large hall adorned with Doric columns that housed the ticket office and arcade shops. Beyond the arcade was the concourse, which had brick walls and a large copper skylight. From here, passengers would walk down a ramp to a tunnel from which the platforms could be accessed by stairs and elevators. Under the shed there were ten passenger platforms consisting of one side platform and five island platforms along ten paired tracks. In addition, one track served the Railway Express Agency (REA) mail service at the southern end of the shed. Immediately outside the shed were seven additional freight tracks. Below the tracks and building was a large area for baggage and mail handling and offices.


title: Michigan Central Station

text: After the purchase of the building by Ford in 2018, several individuals came forward looking to return property and architectural features that were stripped and stolen from the station after its closing in 1988, the biggest item of note being the main station clock. The building renovation for Ford is being designed by Quinn Evans Architects of Detroit.


title: Galle

text: Galle (; ) (formerly Point de Galle) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, from Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the capital of Galle District.


title: Galle

text: Galle was known as "Gimhathiththa" before the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century, when it was the main port on the island. Ibn Batuta, a Moroccan Berber Muslim traveller in the 14th century, referred to it as "Qali". Galle reached the height of its development in the 18th century, during the Dutch colonial period. Galle is the best example of a fortified city built by the Portuguese in South and Southeast Asia, showing the interaction between Portuguese architectural styles and native traditions. The city was extensively fortified by the Dutch during the 17th century from 1649 onwards. The Galle fort is a world heritage site and is the largest remaining fortress in Asia built by European occupiers.


title: Galle

text: Other prominent landmarks in Galle include the city's natural harbour, the National Maritime Museum, St. Mary's Cathedral founded by Jesuit priests, one of the main Shiva temples on the island, and Amangalla, the historic luxury hotel. On 26 December 2004, the city was devastated by the massive tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which occurred off the coast of Indonesia a thousand miles away. Thousands were killed in the city alone. Galle is home to the Galle International Stadium, which is considered to be one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in the world. The ground, which was severely damaged by the tsunami, was rebuilt and test matches resumed there on 18 December 2007.


title: Galle

text: Important natural geographical features in Galle include Rumassala in Unawatuna, a large mound-like hill that forms the eastern protective barrier to Galle Harbour. Local tradition associates this hill with some events of Ramayana, one of the great Hindu epics. The major river in the area is the Gin Ganga, which begins from Gongala Kanda, passes villages such as Neluwa, Nagoda, Baddegama, Thelikada and Wakwella, and reaches the sea at Gintota. The river is bridged at Wakwella by the Wakwella Bridge.


title: Galle

text: Galle was known as "Gimhathitha" in ancient times. The term is believed to be derived from the classical Sinhalese term meaning "port near the River Gin". It is believed that the town got its name as "Gaalla" in the native tongue as a result of the large number of bullock carts that took shelter in the area, following the long slow journeys from remote areas of the island. "Gaala" in Sinhala means the place where cattle are herded together; hence the Sinhalese name for Galle, ගාල්ල, is a development from "Gaala". Another theory is that the word "Galle" is derived from the Latin word "gallus", which means 'rooster'. The Dutch used the rooster as a symbol of Galle, though probably the word comes from the Portuguese "galo" (rooster).


title: Galle

text: According to James Emerson Tennent, Galle was the ancient seaport of Tarshish, from which King Solomon drew ivory, peacocks and other valuables. Cinnamon was exported from Sri Lanka as early as 1400 BC, and as the root of the word itself is Hebrew, Galle may have been a main entrepôt for the spice.


title: Galle

text: Ancient Greek and Roman geographers may have known about Galle, which they might have called the Cape of Birds. Ptolemy might also have known about the port which he referred to as Odoka. Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta visited Galle (or Qali as he called it) in 1342. During the 12th and 13th centuries, Sinhalese refugees fleeing Tamil armies from the north began to settle in Galle and other nearby areas.


title: Galle

text: Galle had been a prominent seaport long before western rule in the country: Persians, Arabs, Greeks, Romans, Malays, Indians, and Chinese were doing business through Galle's port. In 1411, the Galle Trilingual Inscription, a stone tablet inscription in three languages, Chinese, Tamil and Persian, was erected in Galle to commemorate the second visit to Ceylon by the Chinese admiral Zheng He. In 1502, a small fleet of Portuguese ships, under the command of Lourenço de Almeida on their way to the Maldives, were blown off course by a storm. Realising that the King resided in Kotte close to Colombo, Lourenço proceeded there after a brief stop in Galle.


title: Galle

text: In 1640, the Portuguese were forced to surrender to the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch built the present fort in 1663. They built a fortified solid granite wall and three bastions, known as "Sun", "Moon" and "Star".


title: Galle

text: After the British took over the country from the Dutch in 1796, they preserved the fort unchanged and used it as the administrative centre of the district.


title: Galle

text: Galle features a tropical rainforest climate. The city has no true dry season, though it is noticeably drier in the months of January and February. As is commonplace with many cities with this type of climate, temperatures show little variation throughout the course of the year, with average temperatures hovering at around throughout.


title: Galle

text: The Galle Municipal Council governs the City of Galle, established under the Municipalities Ordinance of 1865. It was at the time, only the third municipal council in the country. The first mayor of the city, Wijeyananda Dahanayake, was appointed in 1939; he later became the fifth Prime Minister of Ceylon.


title: Galle

text: The last appointed mayor was Methsiri De Silva, who served from 2009 to 2016. The mayoral system has been dissolved the Galle administration, with the city presently administered by a commissioner. The main vision of the city is "Building of moderate city through the supply of relatively increased utility services to the citizens who pay taxes to the Galle Municipal Council". The other vision is to brand Galle as "Green City-Green Galle" to create and promote Galle as one of Sri Lanka's cool and healthy coastal cities with a clean green canopy.


title: Galle

text: Galle is a sizeable city, by Sri Lankan standards, and has a population of 101,749 the majority of whom are of Sinhalese ethnicity, with a large population of Sri Lankan Moor (Muslims), particularly in the fort area, who descend from Arab merchants that settled in the ancient port of Galle and married Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamil women. Galle is also notable for its foreign population, both residents and owners of holiday homes.


title: Galle

text: Galle is home to some of the oldest leading schools in Sri Lanka, with twenty-nine government schools and five international schools constituting the city's educational system. Some of the schools located in Galle city are listed below.


title: Galle

text: Three main faculties of the University of Ruhuna are located in Galle. The Faculty of Engineering is located at Hapugala, about 6 km from the city center. The Faculty of Medicine is located at Karapitiya near the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital. The Faculty of Allied Health Sciences of the University of Ruhuna is located in Uluwitike, in the city limits. A study centre of the Open University of Sri Lanka is also located in Galle, at Labuduwa junction.


title: Galle

text: The Advanced Technological Institute in Labuduwa, Galle was started in 2000, and it planned to offer Higher National Diploma in Information Technology and Higher National Diploma in Agriculture Technology – HNDT (Agri). Since then, Labuduwa ATI has been a pioneer in technological education in Sri Lanka. The National Institute of Business Management in Galle was established in 2010 to provide higher education opportunities in the fields of information technology and business management. The Ruhunu National College of Education, operated under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, trains teachers training for government schools in Kurunduwatta, Galle. Additionally, the Amarasuriya Teachers' Training College for government school teachers is in Unawatuna, Galle.


title: Galle

text: Galle is served by Sri Lanka Railways' Coastal Line and is connected by rail to Colombo and Matara. Galle Railway Station is a major station on the line and serves as the meeting point of the west- and south-coast segments of the line. The A2 highway, which is commonly known as the Galle Road, runs through the city and connects Galle to Colombo by the west-coast portion, and to Hambanthota by the south-coast portion.


title: Galle

text: The Southern Expressway, Sri Lanka's first E Class highway, links the Sri Lankan capital Colombo with Galle and currently reduces the time spent for travel to one hour from the three hours taken by the regular A2 highway.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: Hendersonville is a city in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. It is south of Asheville and is the county seat of Henderson County. Like the county, the city is named for 19th-century North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Leonard Henderson.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: Prior to the Treaty of Hopewell, the land that now is occupied by Hendersonville was settled by Cherokee tribes. Following this treaty, white settlers entered the region, eventually taking the land of what is now Henderson County in full from the original inhabitants. Poor trade links still restricted economic and demographic growth in the region, until the development of the Buncombe Turnpike, completed in 1827. Wealthy low-country planters started to migrate to the area, building summer homes and bringing lots of money with them. In response to this population growth, Henderson County was split off from Buncombe County and founded in 1838.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: Judge Mitchell King owned , of which he donated 50 acres for the establishment of the town of Hendersonville. He used some of the enslaved African Americans he owned as workers to lay out its Main Street.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: Chartered in 1847 as the county seat of Henderson County (formed 1838), Hendersonville is traditionally known as "The City of Four Seasons". The town has a well-preserved Main Street and adjoining downtown areas with many restaurants, antique shops and boutiques in buildings that housed key local businesses until the mid-1980s. At that point some businesses moved to suburban or highway locations, or were put out of business by big box competition. The town's architecture reflects the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Much downtown revitalization has occurred since the early 1990s.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: Larger stores have been developed almost entirely along the commercial strips extending outward from the downtown along U.S. Highway 64 east and U.S. Highways 176 and 25. There are historic neighborhoods outside the Main Street corridor, including the 5th Avenue neighborhood on the city's west side and the Druid Hills neighborhood north of downtown. Depressed areas are found along the city's east side, but redevelopment efforts are underway in the historic commercial district along 7th Avenue East.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: The architectural focus of the downtown area is the historic Henderson County Courthouse, completed in 1905 and completely renovated in 2008. The newly restored City Hall (erected 1924) and the modern Henderson County Courthouse (1995) are also located downtown.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: The largest street festival of the Hendersonville calendar is the annual North Carolina Apple Festival, culminating in the Apple Parade that regularly draws up to 50,000 spectators. Main Street is home to other festivals and special activities throughout the year.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: High schools in the city and surrounding area include Hendersonville High School, West Henderson High School, North Henderson High School, and East Henderson High School.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: On December 5, 2020, during a fall surge in the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the First Baptist Church hosted a holiday concert with two performances, despite advice to postpone events with crowds. In less than two weeks, 75 cases of the virus were traced to people who performed or attended the church events. It was characterized as a superspreader event, with a total of 97 cases by December 22. Until then Henderson County had recorded about 4,600 cases of COVID-19 and 89 deaths since the start of the pandemic in March. No deaths were immediately attributed to the church event, as the illness takes time to develop.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: Hendersonville is located at the center of Henderson County, in the southern mountains of western North Carolina near the Eastern Escarpment. (35.320586, -82.461596).


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: Interstate 26 runs through the eastern side of the city, with access from Exit 49. U.S. Routes 25 and 74 run concurrently with I-26. The freeway leads north to Asheville and southeast to Spartanburg, South Carolina. Interstate 26 also provides direct access to the Asheville Regional Airport (AVL),which features scheduled passenger airline service operated by several major air carriers. U.S. Route 25 Business passes through the center of Hendersonville on King Street northbound and Church Street southbound. U.S. Route 64 (6th Avenue) also passes through the center of Hendersonville, leading northeast to Bat Cave and west to Brevard. U.S. Route 176 (Spartanburg Highway) leads southeast to Saluda.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, Hendersonville has a total area of , of which , or 0.40%, is water. Mud Creek, a north-flowing tributary of the French Broad River and part of the Tennessee River watershed, is the watercourse through the city, passing east of downtown.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: As of the 2020 United States census, there were 15,137 people, 7,274 households, and 3,339 families residing in the city.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: As of the census of 2000, there were 13,137 people across 5,920 households in the city. The population density was 2,189.5 people per square mile (853.0/km). There were 5,181 housing units at an average density of 870.0 per square mile (335.6/km). The racial composition of the city was 81.44% White, 12.54% Black or African American, 9.09% Hispanic or Latino American, 0.73% Asian American, 0.28% Native American, 0.01% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 3.48% some other race, and 1.52% two or more races.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: In 1900, 1,967 persons lived in Hendersonville; in 1910, 2818; and in 1940, 5381 people lived here. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 13,137.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: There were 4,579 households, out of which 20.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.6% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.2% were non-families. 40.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 22.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.80.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: In the city, the population was spread out, with 28.9% under the age of 18, 17.5% from 18 to 24, 22.8% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 23.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.6 males.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: The median income for a household in the city was $30,357, and the median income for a family was $39,111. Males had a median income of $30,458 versus $22,770 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,926. About 13.3% of families and 16.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.5% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: The Mineral and Lapidary Museum of Henderson County, located at 400 North Main Street in downtown Hendersonville, has giant geodes, a Tyrannosaurus skull, minerals, and dinosaur eggs on display. The same building is home to the Henderson County Genealogical and Historical Society. Entry to both parts of the ornate building is free.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: Down the road at 318 North Main Street is Hands On!, a children's museum of "educational exhibits that stimulate the imagination and motivate learning in a fun, safe, 'hands-on' environment." Admission is $8 per child or adult.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: The Henderson County Heritage Museum, in the 1905 county courthouse at One Historic Courthouse Square, features a gallery of regional Carolina history. It sits in the heart of the Main Street Historic District. Admission is free.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: To the east of Main Street is the 1902-16 Hendersonville Rail Road Station, at 7th Avenue and Maple Street in the Seventh Avenue Depot District. The Southern Railway opened the line in 1879. Passenger rail service on the line ended in 1968.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: To the west of Main Street along U.S. Route 64 is Oakdale Cemetery. It includes the Italian marble angel statue that served as the inspiration for Thomas Wolfe's first novel, "Look Homeward, Angel" (1929).


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: North of Main Street is the Historic Johnson Farm at 3346 Haywood Road. The 1878 tobacco farm served as a summer retreat for tourists as early as the 1920s. Admission is free, while guided tours are $2 and $3.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: The Western North Carolina Air Museum , featuring airplanes of a bygone era, is near the small Hendersonville Airport at the corner of Gilbert Street and Brooklyn Avenue between Hendersonville and East Flat Rock. Admission is free.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: For additional sites, see the National Register of Historic Places listings in Henderson County, North Carolina. In addition to the Henderson County Courthouse, Historic Johnson Farm, Main Street Historic District, Oakdale Cemetery, and Seventh Avenue Depot District, the Aloah Hotel, The Cedars, Chewning House, Clarke-Hobbs-Davidson House, Cold Spring Park Historic District, Mary Mills Coxe House, Druid Hills Historic District, Grey Hosiery Mill, Hyman Heights-Mount Royal Historic District, Kanuga Lake Historic District, King-Waldrop House, Lenox Park Historic District, Reese House, Clough H. Rice House, Smith-Williams-Durham Boarding House, Erle Stillwell House, Erle Stillwell House II, The Waverly, and West Side Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: Hendersonville Little Theatre was established in 1966. It moved from its original location to a unique red barn on State Street. After many successful years at that site, in 2012 it moved to an old stone church at 220 S. Washington Street downtown.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: Clothing retailer Bon Worth was founded in Hendersonville in 1976. Sierra Nevada opened a brewery here in 2014. Blue Star Camps has operated in this city since 1951.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: The metro area has several TV broadcasting stations that serve the (DMA) as defined by Nielsen Media Research.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: The station nearest to Hendersonville is the Asheville-based WLOS (ABC), television channel 13. Other major TV broadcasters include WYFF, WSPA, WHNS, and WUNF. WMYI 102.5, is the only radio station that broadcasts in Hendersonville. Additionally, most Asheville and some Greenville/Spartanburg stations come in with a local sound quality.


title: Hendersonville, North Carolina

text: Hendersonville's only daily newspaper is the "Times-News". "The Hendersonville Lightning", founded in April 2012 by Bill Moss, is a weekly newspaper.


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: The South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), signed as E2 of the Philippine expressway network and R-3 of the Metro Manila arterial road network, is a limited-access toll expressway that connects Metro Manila to the provinces in the Calabarzon region on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The expressway has a length of , traveling from its northern terminus at the Magallanes Interchange in Makati to its southern terminus at Santo Tomas, Batangas, connecting it to the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road. A portion of the expressway from the Magallanes Interchange to the Calamba Exit is part of Asian Highway 26 of the Asian highway network.


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: The expressway also serves as a major utility corridor, carrying various high voltage overhead power lines and an oil pipeline. Notable power lines using the expressway's right of way for most or part of their route are the Sucat–Paco–Araneta–Balintawak transmission line, and the Biñan–Calamba and Calamba–Bay lines. The Magallanes–Alabang section of the expressway was also used to carry the Batangas–Pandacan oil pipeline.


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: The South Luzon Expressway was built during the late 1960s as part of the government's plan to develop the areas adjacent to Metro Manila, with SLEX serving the south. The expressway was originally controlled by the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC), until the expressway's operations and maintenance was transferred in May 2, 2010, to the South Luzon Tollways Corporation (SLTC) and Manila Toll Expressway Systems (MATES). Originally stretching from Magallanes, Makati to Alabang, Muntinlupa, it was extended in the late 1970s towards Calamba, Laguna at the south. In 1995, the expressway's Magallanes–Alabang section began to be rehabilitated and became part of the Skyway System as its at-grade section, as the elevated Skyway was being built above it up to Bicutan. From 2006 to 2009, the expressway underwent rehabilitation which modernized the road and its facilities, expanding the Alabang Viaduct as well as the section from Alabang to Calamba and connecting it to the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road in Santo Tomas, Batangas by June 2010.


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: The South Luzon Expressway cuts southwards from Manila up to the provinces in Calabarzon. The expressway consists of two sections. The first is a segment of SLEX underneath the Skyway from Magallanes Interchange in Makati to Alabang Exit in Muntinlupa, called the Skyway At-Grade. The remaining segment from Alabang to Santo Tomas, Batangas is part of the South Luzon Tollway segment, also called the Alabang–Calamba–Santo Tomas Expressway (ACTEX). Skyway At-Grade operations are held jointly by the Skyway Operations and Maintenance Corporation (SOMCO) and SMC Skyway Corporation (formerly Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corporation), while the South Luzon Tollway segment of SLEX is held by SMC SLEX, Inc. (formerly South Luzon Tollway Corporation), a concessionaire operated by Manila Toll Expressway Systems, Inc. (MATES) and a joint venture of the Philippine National Construction Corporation and the San Miguel Corporation-backed PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada Tbk group of Indonesia. In addition, the Alabang Viaduct is also known as SLEX Toll Road 1 (TR1), while the section from Filinvest Exit to Calamba Exit in Calamba, Laguna is also known as SLEX Toll Road 2 (TR2) and the section from Calamba Exit to Santo Tomas Exit is also known as SLEX Toll Road 3 (TR3).


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: The South Luzon Expressway continues the Osmeña Highway past the Magallanes Interchange, where it also meets Circumferential Road 4, particularly EDSA. The expressway runs through , spanning the cities of Makati, Pasay, Taguig, Parañaque, and Muntinlupa in Metro Manila and the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, and Batangas. From its northern terminus at Magallanes Interchange, the expressway follows a straight path southeast in parallel to the PNR South Main Line until the Bicutan Exit, where it slightly bends to the south towards the Alabang Exit. Two service roads run on either sides of the expressway from Sales Interchange to Alabang Exit, namely: West Service Road and East Service Road.


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: At the Alabang Exit, South Luzon Expressway ascends to the Alabang Viaduct, a , eight-lane viaduct over the Manila South Road through Alabang. After its descent at Filinvest Exit, SLEX narrows to four lanes and mostly parallels the Manila South Road in Muntinlupa and northwestern Laguna, passing through the Susana Heights Exit connecting it to the Muntinlupa–Cavite Expressway. It continues as a straight roadway lined with billboards and passing through residential and industrial areas. Past the San Pedro Exit, the expressway then curves and ascends past the Petron and Caltex service areas. Past Santa Rosa Exit, South Luzon Expressway narrows into three lanes per direction, having guard rails as the median divider. At the Calamba Exit, the Pan-Philippine Highway concurrency ends as it leaves the expressway towards the west as Maharlika Highway. Past such exit, the expressway narrows to two lanes per direction, without exits and with bridges built with wide shoulders to accommodate future widening to three lanes. It follows a curved route paralleling the Pan-Philippine Highway (Maharlika Highway) from Calamba to Santo Tomas, Batangas. The expressway then curves as it enters Santo Tomas before it ends at kilometer 57.5, continuing towards Batangas City as the STAR Tollway.


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: The South Luzon Expressway was originally built during the late 1960s as the Manila South Diversion Road, South Superhighway, or Manila South Expressway as newer roads used to travel from and to Manila. Located then in the province of Rizal, the original stretch of the expressway, spanning approximately from EDSA (Highway 54) in Magallanes, Makati to Alabang Exit in Muntinlupa, was constructed beginning in 1967 and was completed on December 16, 1969. It is the second roadway project completed by the Philippine National Construction Corporation, after North Luzon Expressway.


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: In the late 1970s, the expressway was extended by another from Alabang up to Calamba, Laguna through the Manila South Expressway Extension project. It included the Alabang Viaduct, which crosses over Alabang.


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: In 1982, South Superhighway from Magallanes to Calamba was renamed to "Dr. Jose P. Rizal Highway", after the Philippine national hero Dr. José Rizal, by virtue of Batas Pambansa Blg. 264. In 1989, it was renamed to "President Sergio Osmeña Sr. Highway", after the Commonwealth President Sergio Osmeña, by virtue of Republic Act No. 6760. The act was amended through Republic Act No. 7625 in 1992 to rename its portion from kilometer 28.387 in San Pedro, Laguna, southwards to "Dr. Jose P. Rizal Highway".


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: In 1995, the rehabilitation of the portion of SLEX from Magallanes to Alabang began as part of South Metro Manila Skyway Project Stage 1 that also includes the construction of the elevated Skyway above it up to Bicutan area. Thus, the Alabang Exit, which was also the expressway's former southern terminus, was designated as the concession boundary as PNCC decided to split SLEX into two concessions – the section from Magallanes to Alabang is made part of the Skyway System as the Skyway At-Grade, while the remaining section from Alabang southwards retains the South Luzon Expressway concession branding.


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: Rehabilitation work on SLEX started in May 2006, with heavy traffic brought by construction work. Prior to its rehabilitation, the South Luzon Expressway section from Alabang to Calamba was mostly an expressway with a grass median and two lanes per direction. The Alabang Viaduct was widened from three to four lanes per direction with the viaduct's rehabilitation was completed in November 11, 2008, and the construction of Skyway Stage 2 from 2009 to 2011 caused traffic disruptions on the Bicutan–Alabang section (though mitigated by the use of the "sosrobahu" method to build and position the bridge piers). Rehabilitation work was finished in June 2009, expanding the Alabang–Santa Rosa section to eight lanes (four lanes per direction) and the Santa Rosa–Calamba section to six lanes (three lanes per direction).


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: One year and six months after the Alabang Viaduct was rehabilitated and widened and eleven months after the completion of rehabilitation and modernization of the expressway's Alabang–Calamba section, the operation and maintenance of the expressway was transferred from the government-owned Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) to South Luzon Tollways Corporation (SLTC) and Manila Toll Expressway Systems (MATES) on May 2, 2010.


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: An extension of the expressway from Calamba to Santo Tomas was constructed from 2007 to June 2010 and opened on December 15, 2010, with the name Alabang–Calamba–Santo Tomas Expressway (ACTEX) and eventually connecting South Luzon Expressway to the STAR Tollway. To decongest traffic, the SLEX Elevated Extension project, originally known as Skyway Extension project, was constructed along the shoulder of the expressway in Muntinlupa from 2019 to 2021 and has connected the expressway's segment south of the Alabang Viaduct to Skyway Stage 2.


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: The South Luzon Expressway Toll Road 4, also referred to as Toll Road 4 (TR4), is a extension of South Luzon Expressway from Calamba (near its boundary with Santo Tomas, Batangas) to Lucena. Construction will be divided into five segments, with one additional extension to Mayao in Lucena on the revised project outline. The extension project is implemented by the Toll Regulatory Board and will be operated by the SMC SLEX, Inc. (formerly South Luzon Tollway Corporation). The extension would decongest the existing national road between Santo Tomas and Lucena, and provide a modern alternate route for travellers from Quezon to the Bicol Region. Right of way has been acquired for the first three segments between Santo Tomas and Tiaong, and ongoing for the remainder between Tiaong, Candelaria, and Tayabas. Right of way acquisition is ongoing as of 2019, and the groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 26, 2019, alongside the beginning of construction. The future expressway will start near the Ayala Greenfield Estate toll plaza in Calamba rather than in Santo Tomas after various project alignment revisions due to right-of-way issues. This part is two lanes per direction (with possible expansion to 3–4 lanes).


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: The South Luzon Expressway Toll Road 5, also referred to as Toll Road 5 (TR5), will be the extension of South Luzon Expressway from Mayao, Lucena to the vicinity of Port of Matnog in Matnog, Sorsogon. The total length of the extension would be approximately . It will be four-lane divided toll road with 28 interchanges and eight segments. It aims to decongest Andaya Highway and Pan-Philippine Highway, cut travel time from Manila to Naga by two to three hours, and to Matnog by six hours.


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: On June 29, 2020, the Toll Regulatory Board issued a resolution to declare this project a Toll Road upon the request of, and based on the proposal submitted by the joint venture (JV) of the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) and San Miguel Holdings Corporation (SMHC). On August 25, 2020, San Miguel Corporation thru South Luzon Toll Road 5 Expressway Inc. announced they will invest this project alongside the Pasig River Expressway with a cost of in order to boost the economy in Luzon. This project is separate from Quezon–Bicol Expressway, another proposed expressway between Quezon and Bicol Region.


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: On June 3, 2022, the Department of Transportation and San Miguel Corporation have signed a Supplemental Toll Operations Agreement (STOA) for SLEX Toll Road 5 which was approved by then President Rodrigo Duterte 24 days later.


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: Other planned expansion projects in the SMC–PNCC joint venture pipeline with connections to either SLEX and the Skyway system include:


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: The South Luzon Expressway employs closed and barrier toll systems. The expressway's toll system is integrated with the South Metro Manila Skyway Project and Muntinlupa–Cavite Expressway (MCX).


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: The expressway's section between Nichols and Calamba toll plazas employs the closed toll system wherein the toll fee is charged based on vehicle class and the kilometers travelled from the entry to exit point. However, toll fees are not charged on the expressway's section between Magallanes and Sales Interchanges. On the other hand, Toll Road 3 employs the barrier toll system, wherein a flat toll fee is charged at the Ayala Greenfield Estate toll plaza for northbound motorists and upon exit at STAR Tollway (in addition to STAR toll fees if exiting past Santo Tomas) for southbound motorists.


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: , the expressway fully implements an electronic toll collection (ETC) system, the Autosweep RFID, using RFID technology, and the system formerly used "E-Pass", which uses transponder technology. The ETC system is shared by the Skyway, STAR Tollway, NAIAX, MCX and TPLEX. Cash payments are still accepted although ETC is currently being maximized.


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: The South Luzon Expressway currently has nine service areas, with four on the northbound and five on the southbound. All existing service areas occupy large land areas and have restaurants and retail space. The service areas also provide ETC reloading for Autosweep RFID users.


title: South Luzon Expressway

text: The South Luzon Expressway also has lay-bys, or emergency parking areas where motorists can stop for safety checks on their vehicles and other emergencies.


title: Nissan R390 GT1

text: The Nissan R390 GT1 was a racing car built in Atsugi, Japan. It was designed primarily to gain a suitable racing entry in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1997 and 1998. It was built to race under the grand touring style rules, requiring a homologated road version to be built. Therefore, the R390 was built originally as road car, then a racing version of the car was developed afterwards. Only one R390 road car was ever built and is stored at Nissan's Zama facility, although one of the race cars was later modified for road use. The road car was claimed to be capable of attaining a top speed of . However, this claim has never been proven.


title: Nissan R390 GT1

text: After returning to sports car racing in 1995, Nismo (Nissan motorsport) had some measure of success with their Skyline GT-R LM which had competed in the GT1 class. However, these cars were quickly outpaced by the influx of new manufacturers who were using loopholes in the GT regulations to build racing cars that bore little resemblance to their GT1 class competitors, examples being the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR and the Porsche 911 GT1. Nismo's Skyline GT-R therefore needed to be replaced with a purpose built racing car.


title: Nissan R390 GT1

text: Turning to Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR), Nismo began developing a prototype of the R390 GT1, named to follow in the tradition started in the 1960s with Nissan's R380. The first decision for Nismo and TWR was the choice of engine. The previous Skyline GT-R LM had used the trusted RB26DETT Inline-six engine, but the design was old for a racing car, employing an iron block which added weight and had a high center of gravity. Nismo instead chose to resurrect an engine from the Nissan R89C, a racing car from the Group C era. Its powerplant, the VRH35Z, was a V8 engine which used an aluminium block, as well as having a lower center of gravity and a better ability to be used as a stressed member over the RB26. Thus the engine was modified and designated VRH35L and would produce approximately at 7,000 rpm. For the road going version, the engine was detuned to .


title: Nissan R390 GT1

text: The car's styling group was led by Ian Callum of Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR). The mechanical and aerodynamic design was led both by Tony Southgate, also of Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR), and Mr. Yutaka Hagiwara of Nismo. Southgate was the designer of the Jaguar XJR-9 amongst other TWR sports cars, which had won at Le Mans. Due to this, the R390 GT1 bears a resemblance to the Jaguar XJR-15, which was also developed by TWR and based on the XJR-9, and in fact used a cockpit - including the tub, greenhouse and roof line - from the very same tooling as the XJR-15, with some custom tooling blocks added to the XJR15 chassis mold, although for the R390, the rear and front ends, and suspension were completely different and were designed to meet GT1 specifications, the R390's chassis was lower and wider, but slightly shorter in length than the Jaguar, making the R390 larger overall. Development of the car was achieved in a small amount of time, especially due to the use of an existing engine. Nismo and TWR also had to build a road legal version of the R390 GT1 in order to meet homologation requirements. A red R390 prototype underwent wind tunnel testing and aerodynamic improvements in England, however, the final car was built and tested in Atsugi, Japan. Only one road legal R390 was built, which is currently in storage at Nissan's Zama, Kanagawa facility.


title: Nissan R390 GT1

text: After all three cars failed scrutineering at the 1997 event, they had to be modified in order to be allowed to race. This subsequently led to overheating problems for the gearbox, and ultimately led to their failure during the race. That is why for 1998, the R390 was modified, most notably in the extension of its rear bodywork to create increased "luggage space" in order to satisfy the ACO, a new rear wing for racing models (the road legal version had no wing), and a rear diffuser for improved downforce were added.


title: Nissan R390 GT1

text: Completed in time for the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans, the three cars finished in a black and red livery were the fastest in their first competition, with Martin Brundle taking pole position in May's pre-qualifying with a staggering time of 3.43.15. At the race itself, one R390 GT1 (#22) was able to qualify in 4th on the grid and 2nd in its class behind a Porsche 911 GT1, while its partners qualified 12th (#21) and 21st(#23). During the race both cars were able to perform admirably, but soon began to struggle with gearbox problems and, around halfway through the race, two of the three cars (#21 & #22) finally succumbed to mechanical failure and were withdrawn. The third R390 was able to survive the rest of the race (albeit with two complete gearbox changes along the way) finishing 12th overall and 5th in class, although many laps down from the race winners.


title: Nissan R390 GT1

text: For the 1998 season, Nissan returned, this time with four cars. The cars were slightly upgraded, with more downforce able to be generated by a longer rear tail, a new rear diffuser, and on racing versions, a new rear wing placement for less drag. Although Nissan was easily beaten in qualifying by Porsche, and Mercedes-Benz, Nissan was able to achieve considerable success in the race. As an achievement of its own, all four cars were able to finish the race. With this, Nissan was able to finish 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 10th overall, being beaten only by the Porsche 911 GT1.


title: Nissan R390 GT1

text: Following the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans, rules for the GT classes were changed, mostly to end the number of manufacturers attempting to use loopholes. This meant Nissan was forced to abandon the R390 as it was no longer legal. Nissan instead turned to the LMP classes, developing the R391 prototype for 1999. This program would also be short lived and Nissan would end up leaving Le Mans.


title: Nissan R390 GT1

text: Only one R390 road car was ever produced by Nissan as a prototype for the development of the race-cars and was never intended for sale, although Nissan did offer to build further versions at a value of US$1 million. The lone R390 GT1 is currently stored at Nismo's Zama warehouse, along with the #32 R390 GT1 race car from 1998.


title: Nissan R390 GT1

text: The vehicle is powered by the same twin-turbocharged VRH35L V8 engine as the race car, generating a power output of at 6,800 rpm and of torque at 4,400 rpm (although Nissan claimed lower figures of "over " at 5,200rpm and "over " of torque at 4,000 rpm). All of this power is sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential manual transmission. The car is able to accelerate from in 3.9 seconds and complete the quarter-mile in 11.9 seconds. The top speed is rated at by the manufacturer; however, none of the road tests featuring this car have been carried out for the purpose of top speed.


title: Nissan R390 GT1

text: Initially built in 1997 with a red paint scheme and given the UK registration number "P835 GUD", the car was displayed at the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans race. It was rebuilt in 1998 with a new front end and side vents, longer tail and a ducktail spoiler instead of a wing, and repainted blue. This car was given the fake registration number "R390 NIS" for photos and magazine articles (not a genuine UK number) and became known as the long tail version. These modifications were also incorporated on the race cars albeit with the addition of a fixed rear wing instead of a ducktail spoiler.


title: Nissan R390 GT1

text: A second R390 GT1 was later registered for road use by Érik Comas. Unlike the original R390 GT1 road car, this example was modified from chassis VIN780009 after Comas purchased it from Nissan. The modification was done by Andrea Chiavenuto, who led a two year long restoration and street conversion project on the car. The car was claimed to retain 95% of its original racing car parts, but several parts such as door panels, glass windshield, cooling system and upholstery had to be installed in order to meet road regulations.


title: Scarecrow (Oz)

text: The Scarecrow is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum and illustrator W.W. Denslow. In his first appearance, the Scarecrow reveals that he lacks a brain and desires above all else to have one. In reality, he is only two days old and merely naïve. Throughout the course of the novel, he proves to have the brains he seeks and is later recognized as "the wisest man in all of Oz," although he continues to credit the Wizard for them. He is, however, wise enough to know his own limitations and all too happy to hand the rulership of Oz, passed to him by the Wizard, to Princess Ozma, and become one of her trusted advisors, though he typically spends more time having fun than advising.


title: Scarecrow (Oz)

text: In Baum's classic 1900 novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", the living scarecrow encounters Dorothy Gale in a field in the Munchkin Country while she is on her way to the Emerald City. He tells her about his creation and of how he at first scared away the crows, before an older one realized he was a straw man, causing the other crows to start eating the corn. The old crow then told the Scarecrow of the importance of brains. The "mindless" Scarecrow joins Dorothy in the hope that The Wizard will give him a brain. They are later joined by the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion. When the group goes to the West, he kills the Witch's crows by breaking their necks. He is torn apart by the Flying Monkeys and his clothes thrown up a tree, but when his clothes are filled with straw he is back again. After Dorothy and her friends have completed their mission to kill the Wicked Witch of the West, the Wizard gives the Scarecrow brains (made out of bran, pins and needles – in reality, a placebo, as he has been the most intelligent of the group all along). Before he leaves Oz in a balloon, the Wizard appoints the Scarecrow to rule the Emerald City in his absence. He accompanies Dorothy and the others to the palace of the Good Witch of the South Glinda, and she uses the Golden Cap to summon the Winged Monkeys, who take the Scarecrow back to the Emerald City.


title: Scarecrow (Oz)

text: His desire for a brain notably contrasts with the Tin Woodman's desire for a heart, reflecting a common debate between the relative importance of the mind and emotions. Indeed, both believe they have neither. This philosophical debate between the two friends as to why their own choices are superior; neither convinces the other and Dorothy, listening, is unable to decide which one is right. Symbolically, because they remain with Dorothy throughout her quest, she is provided with both and need not select.


title: Scarecrow (Oz)

text: The Scarecrow also appears in other Oz books, sharing further adventures with Dorothy and her friends. His reign as king of the Emerald City ends in "The Marvelous Land of Oz" when General Jinjur and her Army of Revolt oust him in a coup. He manages to escape the palace and joins Tip and his companions in seeking the aid of Glinda the Good. He spars with H. M. Woggle-Bug T. E. on the value of education. Although he claims to be educated himself and to value education, he finds the Woggle-Bug's learning rote and without wisdom. Although he cannot eat, he tells Billina that she might be better cooked and generally seems to favor the use of animals as food, sometimes making snide remarks to that effect to his animal companions, although he himself only gathers nuts and fruit for his traveling companions, such as Dorothy and Tip, to eat.


title: Scarecrow (Oz)

text: By "The Road to Oz" he is acknowledged, at least by the Tin Woodman, to be "probably the wisest man in all Oz," and this is the caption of an illustration, suggesting that the reader take his comment at face value. Dorothy herself, in "Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz", praises the Scarecrow's wisdom and says the Scarecrow seemed just as wise before the Wizard gave him brains as after. In "The Emerald City of Oz", the Scarecrow lives in a house-shaped like an ear of corn in Winkie Country. In "The Scarecrow of Oz", the Scarecrow travels to Jinxland, where he helps Cap'n Bill, Trot and Button-Bright overthrow the villainous King Krewe. In "Glinda of Oz" the Scarecrow serves as Regent to Ozma of Oz, demonstrating that he is Ozma's third in command. Mostly all he does is play croquet until Ozma's advisers, including himself, band together for a rescue operation.


title: Scarecrow (Oz)

text: In "The Royal Book of Oz" by Ruth Plumly Thompson, Baum's authorized successor as "Royal Historian of Oz", Professor Woggle-Bug accused the Scarecrow of having no ancestry, so he returns to the pole at the cornfield where he was once hung. Sliding down it and descending underground, he first encounters the Middlings and then the Silver Islands, whose people believe themselves to be the ancestors of the Chinese. Apparently, when Emperor Chang Wang Woe defeated the king of the Golden Islands in battle, the king hired a sorcerer to sneak into the palace and transform the Emperor into a crocus, which later sprouted into a bean pole, preceding a prophecy that the first being to touch the bean pole would become possessed by the spirit of the Emperor. As it turned out, the first thing to touch the pole was the straw-stuffed human, which would become the Scarecrow. This account is not consistent with the Scarecrow's story in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" of becoming aware of each sense as the relevant organs were painted on his head.


title: Scarecrow (Oz)

text: Economics and history professors have published scholarly studies that indicate the images and characters used by Baum and Denslow closely resembled political images that were well known in the 1890s. The Scarecrow, like other characters and elements in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", was a common theme found in editorial cartoons of the previous decade. Baum and Denslow, like most writers, used the materials at hand that they knew best. They built a story around them, added Dorothy, and added a series of lessons to the effect that everyone possesses the resources they need (such as brains, a heart, and courage) if only they had self-confidence. Although it was a children's book, of course, Baum noted in the preface that it was a "modernized" fairy tale as well.


title: Scarecrow (Oz)

text: Those who interpret "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" as a political allegory often see the Scarecrow, a central figure, as a reflection of the popular image of the American farmer— although he has been persuaded that he is only a stupid hick, he possesses common sense, logic and a quick wit that needs only to be reinforced by self-confidence.


title: Scarecrow (Oz)

text: The blackface minstrel star Fred Stone was the first to play the Scarecrow on stage, and he brought his minstrel style of performance to the role of the Scarecrow. Baum was delighted with Stone's performance, and he wrote subsequent Oz books with Stone's minstrel-style in mind.


title: Bangor University

text: Bangor University () is a public university in Bangor, Wales. It received its Royal Charter in 1885 and was one of the founding institutions of the federal University of Wales. Officially known as University College of North Wales (UCNW; ), and later University of Wales, Bangor (UWB; ), in 2007 it became Bangor University, independent from the University of Wales.


title: Bangor University

text: The university was founded as the University College of North Wales (UCNW) on 18 October 1884, with an inaugural address by the Earl of Powis, the college's first President, in Penrhyn Hall. There was then a procession to the college including 3,000 quarrymen (quarrymen from Penrhyn Quarry and other quarries had subscribed more than 1,200 pounds to the university). The foundation was the result of a campaign for better provision of higher education in Wales that had involved some rivalry among towns in North Wales over which was to be the location of the new college.


title: Bangor University

text: The college was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1885. Its students received degrees from the University of London until 1893, when UCNW became a founding constituent institution of the federal University of Wales.


title: Bangor University

text: During the Second World War paintings from national art galleries were stored in the Prichard-Jones Hall at UCNW to protect them from enemy bombing. They were later moved to slate mines at Blaenau Ffestiniog. Students from University College, London, were evacuated to continue their studies in a safer environment at Bangor.


title: Bangor University

text: During the 1960s, the university shared in the general expansion of higher education in the UK following the Robbins Report, with a number of new departments and new buildings. On 22 November 1965, during construction of an extension to the Department of Electronic Engineering in Dean Street, a crane collapsed on the building. The three-ton counterweight hit the second-floor lecture theatre in the original building about thirty minutes before it would have been occupied by about 80 first-year students. The counterweight went through to the ground floor.


title: Bangor University

text: In 1967, the Bangor Normal College, now part of the university, was the venue for lectures on Transcendental Meditation by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at which The Beatles heard of the death of their manager, Brian Epstein.


title: Bangor University

text: Student protests at UCNW in the 1970s focused mainly on calls to expand the role of the Welsh language. Radical students would disturb lectures held in English and paint slogans in Welsh on the walls of the Main Building, resulting in a number of suspensions of these activists. In the early 1980s, the Thatcher government even considered closing down the institution. Around this time consideration began of mergers with two colleges of education in Bangor: St Mary's College, a college for women studying to become schoolteachers, and the larger and older Normal College/Coleg Normal. The merger of St Mary's into UCNW was concluded in 1977, but the merger with Coleg Normal fell through in the 1970s and was not completed until 1996.


title: Bangor University

text: The 2007 change of name to Bangor University, or Prifysgol Bangor in Welsh, was instigated by the university following the decision of the University of Wales to change from a federal university to a confederal non-membership organisation, and the granting of degree-awarding powers to Bangor University itself. As a result, every student starting after 2009 gained a degree from Bangor University, while any student who started before 2009 had the option to have either Bangor University or University of Wales Bangor on their degree certificate.


title: Bangor University

text: Under John Hughes's leadership as Vice-Chancellor (2010–18), there were a number of new developments including the opening of St Mary's Student Village, and the first ever collaboration between Wales and China to establish a new college, which involved Bangor University and the Central South University of Forestry and Technology (CSUFT).


title: Bangor University

text: In 2014, Hughes took out a £45m loan from the European Investment Bank, to assist the university in developing its estates strategy. In 2016, the university opened Marine Centre Wales, a £5.5m building on the site of the university's Ocean Sciences campus in Menai Bridge, which was financed as part of the £25 million SEACAMS project, part funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).


title: Bangor University

text: In May 2017, Bangor became the fourth Welsh university to review its cost base with a view to making savings of £8.5m. The university responded and introduced a number of cost saving measures including a reorganization of the structure of Colleges and Schools and the introduction of a voluntary severance scheme, and the numbers of compulsory redundancies was reduced from the initial estimate of 170. In addressing its financial challenges, Bangor University also reorganised some subject areas in 2017, which involved introducing new ways of co-ordinating and delivering adult education and part-time degree programmes, continuing to teach archaeology, but discontinuing the single honours course, and working with Grwp Llandrillo Menai to validate the BA Fine Art degree.


title: Bangor University

text: Other issues which attracted adverse media comment included the cost overrun and delayed opening of the Pontio Arts and Innovation Centre in 2016, the appointment of Hughes's then wife to a newly created senior management position, the purchase and refurbishment of a house for the vice-chancellor by the university (costing the institution £750,000), the expenses of some senior staff, and the discrepancy between senior management salaries and remuneration for staff working on zero hour contracts. In 2016, Hughes received a 7.5% pay rise and the university confirmed that this was the first increase that the vice-chancellor had received from the university's remuneration committee (of which Hughes himself was a member) since his appointment in 2010, although he would still have received an annual pay rise.


title: Bangor University

text: From Hughes's takeover in 2010, when Bangor University made a £4.2 million profit, to 2017, the university's nominal income had risen by 12 per cent, but their expenditures by 19 per cent with the university's interests and finance costs (despite very low interest rates) soaring by 747 per cent. In 2017/18, the university had to spend £10m in interest payments on its debts. From 2013/14 to 2017/18, Bangor University cut staff numbers from 1777.7 to 1608 FTE (minus 9.5 per cent). During the same period, student numbers grew from 10.646 to 11.156 (plus 4.8 per cent), increasing income from student fees. In early 2019, an accountant who studied the university's finances on behalf of trade union criticised that the figures suggested spending had been diverted from staff costs to financing building projects.


title: Bangor University

text: When a new financial crisis as well as allegations of Hughes's racist and sexist harassment against his ex-wife were revealed in late 2018 and the announced closure of the chemistry department and new staff cuts to save £5m sparked student protest, Bangor University announced Hughes's resignation by December 2018, eight months ahead of his ordinary retirement.


title: Bangor University

text: Between 2017 and 2019, the university underwent three rounds of staff cuts. Job insecurity as well as deteriorating working conditions and pension packages resulted in several strikes of university staff. In June 2019, the university launched a plan to concentrate its non-residential estate onto a single campus in Bangor (Deiniol Road and College Road sites) and dispose of some major sites (including Normal Site, Dean Street and Fron Heulog), altogether 25 per cent of the estate.


title: Bangor University

text: In September 2020, the university announced a new round of cuts to fill a £13m gap in the budget, saying 200 more jobs (including 80 academic posts) were at risk. Another reorganization of the university's structure of Colleges and Schools was announced as well. Thereupon staff passed a motion of no confidence in the university management.


title: Bangor University

text: The university occupies a substantial proportion of Bangor and also has part of its School of Healthcare Sciences in Wrexham.


title: Bangor University

text: The university was originally based in an old coaching inn, the Penrhyn Arms Hotel, which housed its 58 students and its 12 teaching staff. In 1911 it moved to a much larger new building, which is now the old part of the Main Arts Building. This building, designed by Henry Hare, had its foundation stone laid by King Edward VII on 9 July 1907, and was formally opened by King George V in 1911. The iconic building, which occupies a highly visible position overlooking Bangor, gave the college its Welsh nickname "Y Coleg ar y Bryn" ("The College on the Hill"). It included the large Prichard-Jones Hall, named after Sir John Prichard-Jones a local man who became a partner in the London department store Dickins & Jones, and was a substantial benefactor of the building. The building became a Grade I listed building in 1949.


title: Bangor University

text: A modern extension, completing a quadrangle on the College Road side of the building, was completed in 1969. This is now known as the Main Arts Building.


title: Bangor University

text: The university's arts and innovation centre Pontio opened in 2016. The building includes teaching and social spaces and houses the offices of the students' union.


title: Bangor University

text: The university's research expertise in the areas of materials science and predictive modelling was enhanced during 2017 through a collaboration with Imperial College London and the formation of the Nuclear Futures Institute at Bangor with the award of £6.5m in funding under the Welsh Government's Ser Cymru programme.


title: Bangor University

text: The university-owned £20m Science Park on Anglesey, M-Sparc was completed in March 2018, which will support the development of the region's low carbon energy sector.


title: Bangor University

text: In 2021 the Welsh Government announced plans to expand medical teaching at the university in collaboration with Cardiff University, with the objective of establishing an independent medical school in north Wales.


title: Bangor University

text: The 2014 Research Excellence Framework recognised that more than three quarters of Bangor's research is either world-leading or internationally excellent. Based on the university submission of 14 Units of Assessment, 77% of the research was rated in the top two tiers of research quality, ahead of the average for all UK universities.


title: Bangor University

text: In 2017, Bangor University became the only university in Wales to be rated 'Gold' by the new Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) which means that the university is deemed to be of the highest quality found in the UK, providing "consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for its students."


title: Bangor University

text: In recent years, Bangor has been rated highly by its students in two independent surveys of student opinion. In the National Student Survey, the university has been consistently ranked highly both within Wales and in the UK higher education sector. In 2017, Bangor University's students placed the university eighth among the UK's non-specialist universities and second among Welsh Universities.


title: Bangor University

text: For the second year in a row Bangor was awarded Best University in the UK for Clubs and Societies at the 2018 WhatUni Student Choice Awards. It also regained the award for best Student Accommodation which they originally won in 2016. The university was also placed second overall for 'Courses and Lecturers' and retained third place in the category 'University of the Year'. WhatUni award nominations are based on the reviews and opinions of the university's own students. This is the fourth year in a row that Bangor University has won a national WhatUni Award.


title: Bangor University

text: University Hall, built in red brick a Queen Anne style, was the first substantial block. It was opened in 1897. This building was to become the Welsh-language hall Neuadd John Morris-Jones in 1974, taking its name in honour of Professor John Morris Jones. It is now called Neuadd Rathbone.


title: Bangor University

text: Neuadd Reichel, built on the Ffriddoedd Farm site, was designed in a neo-Georgian style by the architect Percy Thomas and was opened in 1942 as a hostel for male students.


title: Bangor University

text: Expansion in the 1960s led to the development of Plas Gwyn in 1963–64 and Neuadd Emrys Evans in 1965, both on the Ffriddoedd site, and Neuadd Rathbone at the top of Love Lane in 1965. Neuadd Rathbone, designed by Colwyn Foulkes and named after the second President of the college, was originally for women students only. The names of Neuadd Rathbone and Neuadd John Morris-Jones were later exchanged. The building originally opened as Neuadd Rathbone is now known as Neuadd Garth.


title: Bangor University

text: Accommodation is guaranteed for all first-year undergraduate students. There are around 3,000 rooms available in halls of residence, all within walking distance of the university. There are three residential sites in current use: Ffriddoedd Village, St Mary's Village and Neuadd Garth.


title: Bangor University

text: The largest accommodation site is the Ffriddoedd Village in Upper Bangor, about ten minutes' walk from Top College, the Science Site and the city centre. This site has eleven en-suite halls completed in 2009, six other en-suite halls built in the 1990s and Neuadd Reichel built in the 1940s, and renovated in 2011.


title: Bangor University

text: Two of the en-suite halls, Bryn Dinas and Tegfan, now incorporate the new Neuadd John Morris-Jones, which started its life in 1974 on College Road and has, along with its equivalent Neuadd Pantycelyn in Aberystwyth, became a focal point of Welsh-language activities at the university. It is an integral part of UMCB, the Welsh Students' Union, which in turn is part of the main Students' Union.


title: Bangor University

text: The halls on "Ffridd" ("ffridd" [friːð] is the Welsh word for mountain pasture or sheep path; "ffriddoedd" [ˈfrɪðɔið] is its plural form) include Cefn y Coed, Glyder, Y Borth, Elidir, J.M.J. Bryn Dinas and J.M.J. Tegfan, all of which were built in the early 1990s; Adda, Alaw, Braint, Crafnant, Enlli, Peris, Glaslyn, Llanddwyn, Ffraw, Idwal and Gwynant, which were all built in the late 2000s; and Neuadd Reichel which was built in the 1940s and renovated in 2011. From 2021, Neuadd Reichel will no longer be used for student accommodation.


title: Bangor University

text: Bryn Eithin overlooks the centre of Bangor and is close to the Science Departments and the Schools of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering. Demolition of the former St Mary's Site halls, with the exception of the 1902 buildings and the Quadrangle, began in 2014 to make way for new halls which were completed in 2015. The halls on this site are Cybi, Penmon, and Cemlyn, which are all self-catered flats; Tudno, which is a townhouse complex; and the original St. Mary's building, with studios and flats.


title: Bangor University

text: A private hall of residence called Tŷ Willis House (formerly known as Neuadd Willis) is operated by iQ Student Accommodation; which incorporates the old listed British Hotel with a new extension to the rear, and a further hall on the site of the old Plaza Cinema. Other privately owned halls of residence in Bangor include Neuadd Kyffin, Neuadd y Castell, Neuadd Llys y Deon and Neuadd Tŷ Ni.


title: Bangor University

text: Undeb Bangor, Bangor University students' union, provides services, support, activities and opportunities for students. All students automatically become members unless they opt out. Annual elections are held for several sabbatical officers are elected; President, UMCB President, VP for Education, VP for Societies and Volunteering and VP for Sports. These sabbatical officers are accountable for the actions and decisions of the union, and often work closely with members of the Student Council and other boards.


title: Bangor University

text: SVB (Student Volunteering Bangor) is the volunteering branch the students' union, which has supported community projects in and around the Bangor area since 1952. SVB volunteers provide a total of around 600 hours work per week on 58 community based projects, including projects on mental health, children, the environment, the elderly and community & sport projects. SVB works closely with charities, organisations and schools around Bangor and North Wales, as well as further afield.


title: Bangor University

text: In 1952, SVB organised a tea party for local elderly residents. The tea party project continues to this day and is SVB's oldest project.


title: Bangor University

text: Bangor Rag is an SVB project that collects money for two local and two national charities, which change every academic year and are chosen by the students. Rag members regularly attend "raids" across the country and assist charities with one-off events throughout the year. Their mascot is a tiger named Rhodri Rag.


title: Bangor University

text: There are more than 90 societies and over 50 sports clubs, ranging from academic societies to a wide range of sports clubs. Notable sports clubs include Bangor University F.C. (football) and Bangor University Rowing Club.


title: Bangor University

text: Every year the university competes against Aberystwyth University in Varsity; a sporting tournament which sees hundreds of students compete in over 40 sporting events for the Varsity Trophy.


title: Bangor University

text: There are around 100 student societies which bring like-minded people together. These include are course-related societies; societies that celebrate nationalities and cultures and societies for students with specific interests like drama, music, film and photography. Membership of the societies is free.


title: Bangor University

text: Y Seren is the university's official English language student newspaper. It covers important student events such as sabbatical officer elections and the annual sports competition. The newspaper is published monthly and has a website where every issue is archived. The newspaper's offices are located in the Pontio Arts Centre building.


title: Bangor University

text: Storm FM is the official student radio station for Bangor University and is one of only three student radio stations in the UK with a long-term FM licence, which authorises broadcasting to a very small area of Bangor, namely the Ffriddoed Road Halls of Residence. Storm FM went on air in March 2003, and began streaming online in 2009.


title: Bangor University

text: The Student Council is a forum that meets monthly in the academic year to discuss, debate, and pass ideas, as well as working alongside the sabbatical officers on projects to improve the student experience.


title: Bangor University

text: The course representatives (course reps) scheme is run by Undeb Bangor. There are 300 course reps across the 14 different academic schools.


title: Bangor University

text: In 2022 Undeb Bangor announced the introduction LGBTQ+ reps into the course rep system, to champion the LGBTQ+ community and represent LGBTQ+ students.


title: Outing

text: Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to combat homophobia and heterosexism by revealing that a prominent or respected individual is homosexual. Examples of outing in history include the Krupp affair, Eulenburg affair, and Röhm scandal.


title: Outing

text: The ethics of outing are highly contested as it can often have a negative effect on the target's personal life or career. Some LGBT activists argue that gay individuals who oppose LGBT rights do not enjoy a right to privacy because of their perceived hypocrisy. In an attempt to pre-empt being outed, an LGBT public figure may decide to come out publicly first, although controlling the conditions under which one's LGBT identity is revealed is only one of numerous motives for coming out.


title: Outing

text: It is hard to pinpoint the first use of outing in the modern sense. In a 1982 issue of "Harper's", Taylor Branch predicted that "outage" would become a political tactic in which the closeted would find themselves trapped in a crossfire. The article "Forcing Gays Out of the Closet" by William A. Henry III in "Time" (January 29, 1990) introduced the term "outing" to the general public.


title: Outing

text: The Eulenburg affair of 1907–1909 was the first public outing scandal of the twentieth century. Left-wing journalists opposed to Kaiser Wilhelm II's policies outed a number of prominent members of his cabinet and inner circle—and by implication the Kaiser—beginning with Maximilian Harden's indictment of the aristocratic diplomat Prince Eulenburg. Harden's accusations incited other journalists to follow suit, including Adolf Brand, founder of "Der Eigene". Many activists of the first homosexual movement denounced outing as "the way over corpses". In 1928, Kurt Hiller argued that it would be permissible to out a member of a cabinet preparing an anti-homosexual law, arguing: "Our solidarity with the homosexuals of all classes and political viewpoints extends very far; but it does not include traitors to their own cause."


title: Outing

text: Left-wing journalists outed Adolf Hitler's closest ally Ernst Röhm in 1931 and 1932. In response, Brand wrote, "when someone — as teacher, priest, representative, or statesman — would like to set in the most damaging way the intimate love contacts of others under degrading control — in that moment his own love-life also ceases to be a private matter and forfeits every claim to remain protected hence-forward from public scrutiny and suspicious oversight." Left-wing journalist Kurt Tucholsky disagreed, writing in "Die Weltbühne", "We fight the scandalous §175, everywhere we can, therefore we must not join the choir of those among us who want to banish a man from society because he is homosexual."


title: Outing

text: In the 1950s during the Lavender Scare, tabloid publications like "Confidential" emerged, specializing in the revelation of scandalous information about entertainment and political celebrities. Among the political figures targeted by the magazine were former Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles and Arthur H. Vandenberg Jr., who had briefly served as President Eisenhower's Appointments Secretary.


title: Outing

text: Outing may be found to be libel by a court of law. For example, in 1957 American pianist Liberace, successfully sued the "Daily Mirror" for merely insinuating that he was gay. The newspaper responded that columnist William Connor words (written under his byline 'Cassandra') did not imply that Liberace was gay. Their defence contended that there was no libel as no accusation had been made, rather than arguing that the accusation was true. Following Liberace's death from an AIDS-related illness in 1987, the paper asked for the award to be refunded. In a 2011 interview, actress and close friend Betty White stated that Liberace was gay, and that she often served as a beard to counter rumors of the musician's homosexuality.


title: Outing

text: After the Stonewall riots of 1969, swells of gay-libbers came out aggressively in the 1970s, crying out: "Out of the closets, Into the streets!" Some began to demand that all homosexuals come out, and that if they weren't willing to do so, then it was the community's responsibility to do it for them. One example is the outing of Oliver Sipple, who helped save the life of United States President Gerald Ford during an assassination attempt. Sipple was outed by gay activists, most prominently Harvey Milk. The negative impact the outing had on Sipple's life later provoked opposition. Some argued that privacy should prevail, and felt it was better for the movement to protect closeted gays, especially in homophobic religious institutions and the military. Despite their best efforts, many gays and lesbians were still unwilling to come out.


title: Outing

text: Some political conservatives opposed to increased public acceptance of homosexuality engaged in outing in this period as well, with the goal of embarrassing or discrediting their ideological foes. Conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza, for example, published the letters of gay fellow students at Dartmouth College in the campus newspaper he edited ("The Dartmouth Review") in 1981; a few years later, succeeding "Review" editor Laura Ingraham had a meeting of a campus gay organization secretly tape-recorded, then published a transcript along with attendees' names as part of an editorial denouncing the group as "cheerleaders for latent campus sodomites."


title: Outing

text: In the 1980s, the AIDS pandemic led to the outing of several major entertainers, including Rock Hudson.


title: Outing

text: One of the first outings by an activist in the United States occurred in February 1989. Michael Petrelis, along with a few others, alleged that Mark Hatfield, a Republican Senator from Oregon, was gay. They did this because he supported legislation initiated by Jesse Helms. At a fundraiser in a small town outside of Portland, the group stood up and outed him in front of the crowd. Petrelis later tried to make news by standing on the U.S. Capitol steps and reading the names of "twelve men and women in politics and music who ... are secretly gay." Though the press showed up, no major news organization published the story. Potential libel suits deterred publishers.