Hermione can mean different things:

In names:
 Hermione is a feminine given name. It comes from the name Hermes, the Greek messenger god.

Hermione Baddeley (1906–1986), English actress
Hermione Cobbold (1905–2004), British matriarch
Hermione Cockburn (born 1973), British TV/radio personality
Hermione Gingold (1897–1987), British actress
Hermione Gulliford, English actress
Hermione Hammond (1910–2005), English painter
Hermione Hannen (1913–1983), English actress
Hermione Lee (born 1948), British critic
Hermione Norris (born 1968), English actress

In literature:
Hermione Granger is a fictional character in J.K. Rowling's novel series, Harry Potter
Hermione (mythology), the daughter of Menelaus and Helen of Troy in Greek mythology (Book 4 of the Odyssey).

In other uses:
121 Hermione is a main belt asteroid
Ermioni, a resort town in Greece

Hermione


The University of York (abbreviated as  or York for post-nominals) is a collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects.

South-east of the city of York, the university campus is about  in size. The original campus, Campus West, incorporates the York Science Park and the National Science Learning Centre, and its wildlife, campus lakes and greenery are prominent. In May 2007 the university was granted permission to build an extension to its main campus, on arable land just east of the nearby village of Heslington. The second campus, Campus East, opened in 2009 and now hosts five colleges and three departments as well as conference spaces, a sports village and a business start-up 'incubator'. The institution also leases King's Manor in York city centre. The university had a total income of £458.8 million in 2021–22 of which £79.7 million was from research grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £542.2 million.

York was one of the first of the plate glass universities established in the 1960s, and runs a distinctive collegiate system with 11 colleges as of 2022. The eleventh college, David Kato, opened in 2022. In 2012, York joined the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities.

History

Origins
The first petition for the establishment of a university in York was presented to James I in 1617. In 1641, a second petition was drawn up but was not delivered due to the English Civil War in 1642. A third petition was created in 1647 but was rejected by Parliament. In the 1820s there were discussions about the founding of a university in York, but this did not come to fruition due to the founding of Durham University in 1832. In 1903, F. J. Munby and the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, among others, proposed a "Victoria University of Yorkshire".

Oliver Sheldon a director of Rowntree's and co-founder of York Civic Trust, was a driving force behind the campaign to found the university.

Establishment
John Bowes Morrell was the driving force behind the university's establishment. York accepted its first students the year of Morrell's death, 1963, opening with 216 undergraduates, 14 postgraduates, and 28 academic and administrative staff. The university started with six departments: Economics, Education, English, History, Mathematics, Politics. At the time, the university consisted of three buildings, principally the historic King's Manor in the city centre and Heslington Hall, which has Tudor foundations and is in the village of Heslington on the edge of York. A year later, work began on purpose-built structures on the Heslington Campus, which now forms the main part of the university.

Baron James of Rusholme, the university's first Vice-Chancellor, said of the University of York that "it must be collegiate in character, that it must deliberately seek to limit the number of subjects and that much of the teaching must be done via tutorials and seminars". Due to the influence of Graeme Moodie, founding head of the Politics Department, students are involved in the governance of the university at all levels, and his model has since been widely adopted.

York's first two Colleges, Derwent and Langwith, were founded in 1965, as was the University of York Library. These were the first residential colleges. They were followed by Alcuin and Vanbrugh in 1967 and Goodricke in 1968. In 1972 this was followed by Wentworth College.

The university was noted for its inventive approach to teaching. It was known for its early adoption of joint honours degrees which were often very broad such as history and biology. It also took an innovative approach to social science introducing a five-year-long degree in the subject.

Expansion
After 1972 the construction of Colleges ceased until 1990 with the foundation of James College. Initially James was intended to be a postgraduate only college. However, the university began to expand rapidly, almost doubling in size from 4,300 to 8,500 students. In 1993, therefore it was decided that the college should become open to undergraduates. The expansion of student numbers also resulted in the creation of more accommodation by the university, which was named 'Halifax Court'; the members of Halifax Court were members of other colleges, however, soon formed their own Junior Common Room. In 2002, Halifax Court was made a full college of the university and was renamed Halifax College.

In 2003, the university set out plans to create a campus for 5,000 additional students, and to introduce a number of new subjects such as law and dentistry. For a number of years, the university's expansion plans were limited by planning restrictions. The City of York planning conditions stipulate that only 20% of the land area may be built upon, and the original campus was at full capacity.

In 2004, plans were finalised for a 117 hectare extension to the campus, initially called Heslington East, designed to mirror the existing Heslington West campus. They are now known as Campus East and Campus West. The plans set out that the new campus would be built on arable land between Grimston Bar park and ride car park and Heslington village. The land was removed from the green belt especially for the purpose of extending the university. After a lengthy consultation and a public inquiry into the proposals in 2006, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government gave the go-ahead in May 2007. In May 2008 the City of York planners approved the design for the residential college, Goodricke. In The Press on 28 July 2008, Shepherd Construction was named as the preferred contractor for the Goodricke College buildings. The proposal included landscaping the whole area, constructing a lake with marsh borders, planting light woodland and many specimen trees, and maximising biodiversity.

Construction began in 2008, with the first buildings, including Goodricke college, coming into use in October 2009. It was decided that rather than create a new college that an existing college should be moved. Goodricke College was selected for this and moved onto the new campus in 2009 with James taking over its building on Campus West. Goodricke was officially opened by the Duke of York in April 2010. In 2012 the same process took place with Langwith moving to Campus East and Derwent taking over its previous buildings. In 2014 Campus East saw the establishment of the ninth college, named Constantine College after the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, who was proclaimed Augustus in York in 306 AD.

Work began in December 2019 to build two new colleges on Campus East. These will comprise around 1,400 new student bedrooms as well as new social spaces. The university says that "development has been designed to optimise the beautiful landscape and will be built with respect for the existing ecological diversity around the lake".

Campus

Campus West

In 1964, work began on the campus facilities in the grounds of Heslington Hall. The marshy land was drained, the winding lake that dominates the campus was built, and the area was landscaped. The original buildings were designed by architects Sir Andrew Derbyshire and Sir Stirrat Johnson-Marshall, with input also from the Vice-Chancellor Lord James, Professor Patrick Nuttgens and the Registrar John West-Taylor. The new structures were assembled using the CLASP system of prefabricated construction, hence York's inclusion among the so-called plate glass universities. The buildings are connected by numerous covered walkways and bridges. Most of the university's arts departments occupy premises in the college buildings, while many of the science departments have their own buildings.

Central Hall
A landmark building is Central Hall, a half-octagonal concert hall used for convocations and examinations, as well as theatrical and musical performances. It is a Grade II-listed building, as is the West campus landscape. It has played host to The Wailers, George Melly, Soft Machine, Pink Floyd, and Paul McCartney. Performances by big-name acts have been rarer at the university following a 1985 The Boomtown Rats concert, during which the cover of the orchestra pit was damaged. A ban on pop performances, and in particular dancing, in Central Hall was imposed by the university, although it has occasionally been relaxed. Central Hall is still used for classical concerts and since a rock concert was held there on 13 March 2010 it has been available again for full booking. Public concerts are regularly held in the music department's Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, the Arthur Sykes Rymer Auditorium and in some of the colleges.

University library

The University of York Library opened in 1965 two years after the university itself opened. The building was designed by Robert Mathews, Johnson-Marshall and partners. The primary site of library comprises a series of three linked buildings to the north side of the University of York's West Campus: the JB Morrell, the Raymond Burton, and the Fairhurst buildings. Originally just consisting of the JB Morrell, in 2003 the Raymond Burton library was added to the site, designed by Leach Rhodes Walker architects and houses both the Humanities research reading room and the Borthwick institute for archives. The Raymond Burton Library was also recently nominated for a SCONUL Design award. In 2012 the Library had a £20 million renovation incorporating the neighbouring Fairhurst building, now housing the majority of libraries study spaces including the postgraduate study lounge.

A secondary site of the library is located in the King's Manor building.

Grounds
The campus lake is the largest plastic-bottomed lake in Europe. The decision by Sir Andrew Derbyshire and Stirrat Johnson-Marshall to give the university a lake had two motivations: one, to give the university a distinct image and identity while also creating areas to foster community; and two, more practically to create a drainage basin for the relatively flat agricultural site as it was feared the construction of the new buildings would increase the risk of flooding. The lake has attracted a large population of wild and semi-wild waterfowl, including greylag, Canada, barnacle and snow geese, coots, moorhens and large numbers of ducks, including mallards, tufted ducks, and common pochards. There is also a growing population of black swans and a few great crested grebe. Grey herons have also been sighted on the lake. The southern end of the lake has been established as a bird sanctuary. Fishing is permitted in season, on purchase of a licence.

Other parts of the campus support a large rabbit population. On at least one occasion, students have been cautioned by the university for hunting rabbits.

The Campus West has both indoor and outdoor sports facilities, including an all-weather AstroTurf pitch and County standard cricket pitch. A large, tent-like structure allows for indoor sport, gymnastics and dance.

In 2013 it was reported that the university was planning a major redevelopment of Campus West, which would also result in the creation of a tenth college.

Heslington Hall

Heslington Hall is a Grade II* listed rebuilt manor house consisting of a central nine-bay two-storey block with attics and two two-storey wings at each end. It is built of brick in English bond with sandstone ashlar dressings. The original Manor house was constructed in 1568 for Sir Thomas Eynns, the Secretary and Keeper of the Seal to the Council of the North; and his wife Elizabeth.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, the house was vacated by the family, allowing it to be taken over by the Royal Air Force as the headquarters of No. 4 Group RAF, part of RAF Bomber Command. The hall was not re-occupied by the family after the war. In 1955 the hall was given Grade II* listed building status. When the university was founded, Sir Bernard Feilden supervised its conversion into the administrative headquarters of the university. The hall and University were at that time in the East Riding of Yorkshire although they are now part of the City of York.

Science Park and on-campus organisations
Next door to the university on the York Science Park are organisations including the Higher Education Academy, the Digital Preservation Coalition, the National Non-Food Crops Centre, the York Neuroimaging Centre, the York JEOL Nanocentre, the IT office of VetUK, the UK head office of AlphaGraphics, the accelerated mass spectrometry specialists Xceleron Ltd, and the Leeds, York & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce. The Science Park is also home to some parts of the School of Physics, Engineering and Technology. The Department of Electronic Engineering's Recording studios are located in the park and in summer 2011, the Department of Physics moved its Plasma Physics and Fusion Group to the Genesis buildings in the Science Park at the newly created York Plasma Institute, and moved its Physics of Life group to the Science Park in winter 2019. York Conferences are located on the university campus.

King's Manor

Located in York city centre, about  from the main Heslington West campus, the historic King's Manor began as the Abbot's House of St Mary's Abbey and went on to become the headquarters of the Council of the North following the dissolution of the monasteries. For many years after 1966, the King's Manor housed the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies (IoAAS). The IoAAS was a postgraduate institute primarily specialising in providing mid-career education for architects and others. In particular, it became well known for its one-year Diploma Course in Conservation Studies. It is now home to the Archaeology, Medieval Studies and Eighteenth Century Studies departments, and is regularly used by other related departments such as History. It has a public restaurant and is used for art displays.

Not far from the King's Manor is the Minster Library, in Dean's Park. Students and staff of the university are able to use the Minster Library, which shares staff and cataloguing with the main university library, and holds the huge collection of early books belonging to the Dean and Chapter of York Minster.

Campus East

Several departments have purpose-built facilities on Campus East, including Law and the York Management School. In October 2010, several departments moved into new facilities on Campus East including the Department of Theatre, Film and Television and the Department of Computer Science.

Campus East also includes the York Sports Village and a new purpose built £1.1 million Olympic-sized outdoor velodrome, the only one in Yorkshire or the North East of England.

Other properties
The university owns several other properties including Catherine House, Constantine House, 54 Walmgate, and Fairfax House. The university publishes an annual code of practice for student accommodation to help students living off-campus.

Organisation and administration

Colleges

York is a collegiate university and has eleven colleges. All colleges have equal status, and each has its own constitution. The day-to-day running of the colleges is managed by an elected committee of staff and student members chaired by the college's Provost. Most colleges have a Junior Common Room for undergraduate students, which is managed by the elected Junior Common Room Committee, and a Graduate Common Room for postgraduate students, as well as a Senior Common Room, which is managed by elected representatives of the college's academic and administrative members. Other colleges however combine undergraduate and postgraduate representation together into student associations. The colleges are deliberately assigned undergraduates, postgraduate students and staff from a wide mixture of disciplines. The Sunday Times noted, "The colleges are tight-knit communities within the university and enjoy a healthy rivalry." The colleges share practical features of the halls of residence of other UK universities, as well as the traditional Oxbridge and Durham colleges. The university is building two new colleges on Campus East, opening in 2021 and 2022. The ninth college was founded in 2014 and was named Constantine after the Roman emperor Constantine I, who was proclaimed Augustus in York in 306 AD. The tenth was founded in 2021 and named after Anne Lister. The eleventh was founded in 2022 and named after David Kato.

Academic departments

The university hosts a number of interdisciplinary research centres, including the Borthwick Institute for Archives, Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, the Centre for Eighteenth-Century Studies, the Centre for Modern Studies, the Centre for Medieval Studies, the Institute for Effective Education and the Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past. The Department of Politics hosts the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit and the Centre for Applied Human Rights.

Campus West hosts the National Science Learning Centre which opened in March 2006, it serves as the hub for a £51 million national network of centres dedicated to revitalising science teaching in schools. It is operated by the White Rose University Consortium (which comprises the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York) together with Sheffield Hallam University.

 Department of Archaeology
 Department of Biology
 Department of Chemistry
 Department of Computer Science
 Department of Economics and Related Studies
 Department of Education
 Department of Electronic Engineering
 Department of English and Related Literature
 Department of Environment and Geography
 Department of Health Sciences
 Department of History
 Department of History of Art
 Department of Language and Linguistic Science
 York Law School
 The York Management School
 Department of Mathematics
 Hull York Medical School
 Department of Music
 Department of Philosophy
 Department of Physics
 Department of Politics
 School of Philosophy, Politics and Economics
 Department of Psychology
 School of Social and Political Sciences
 Department of Social Policy and Social Work
 Department of Sociology
 Department of Theatre, Film, Television and Interactive Media

Governance

List of chancellors

 George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood (1962–1967)
 Kenneth Clark, Baron Clark (1967–1978)
 Michael Swann, Baron Swann (1979–1990)
 Dame Janet Baker (1991–2004)
 Greg Dyke (2004–2015)
 Sir Malcolm Grant (2015–2022)
 Dr Heather Melville, OBE (2022–)

List of vice-chancellors
 Eric James, Baron James of Rusholme (1962–1973)
 Morris Carstairs (1973–1978)
 Berrick Saul (1979–1993)
 Ron Cooke (1993–2002)
 Brian Cantor (2002–2013)
 Jane Grenville, acting (2013)
 Koen Lamberts (2014–2018)
 Saul Tendler, acting (2018–2019)
Charlie Jeffery (2019–present)

University of York Music Press
University of York Music Press (UYMP) was founded in 1995 by David Blake with Bill Colleran. UYMP maintains online catalogues for composers and their music. At present, there are a total of twenty-seven house composers and thirty-one associate composers. UYMP has so far published more than one thousand projects in twelve sections. Among the composers whose music is published by UYMP are David Blake and Anthony Gilbert.

Academic profile

Rankings and reputation

QS placed York at 162 for 2023. and the Times Higher Education ranking for 2023 was 139=. All three major national rankings place York in the top 21, with The Times placing it at 17, The Guardian at 21 and The Complete University Guide at 20 for 2023.

In The Sunday Times 10-year (1998–2007) average ranking of British universities based on consistent league table performance, York was ranked 6th overall in the UK. In 2000, the Sutton Trust named York as a leading university in the United Kingdom, placing it 6th overall.

On 25 November 2010 York was named "University of the Year" at the Times Higher Education Awards, achieving praise from the judges for its "success in combining academic excellence with social inclusion, as well as its record in scientific discovery". In 2014 York was named the eighth best university under 50 years old in the world, and first within the United Kingdom.

In the Times Higher Education rankings York is listed as 34th for Life Sciences & Biomedicine in 2015. In 2018 CWTS Leiden recorded there to have been 2833 publications by York between 2013 and 2016 which placed it at 425 in the world by quantity and 128 in terms of its proportion of top 10% publications.
Overall world rankings for York by ARWU placed it between 401 and 500 for 2021. In the 2022 Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities the top-ranked research disciplines at York were sociology (49th), atmospheric science and economics (both ranked in the range 51–75).

Admissions and enrolment

Information for entry standards gathered from the 2014/15 academic year by the HESA shows that the average student at the University of York achieved a UCAS Tariff of 430, the 19th highest in the UK. An A grade at A-Level is equivalent to 120 points, and an A at AS worth 60 points, the average entrant can be assumed to achieve ABB at A Level and AB at AS Level since most applicants take 5 AS Levels and specialise to 3 A Levels. York, along with only a handful of other British universities, require the new A* grade for some course entry requirements. The university gives offers of admission to 78.5% of its applicants, the joint 15th lowest amongst the Russell Group.

There are around 6.2 applications for every undergraduate place, and a completion rate of 93.2% with around 80% of graduates graduating with a First/2:1.

17.9% of York's undergraduates are privately educated, the joint 20th highest proportion amongst mainstream British universities. In the 2016–17 academic year, the university had a domicile breakdown of 80:5:16 of UK:EU:non-EU students respectively with a female to male ratio of 56:44. 56.2% of international students enrolled at the institution are from China, the third highest proportion out of all mainstream universities in the UK.

Student activities

Representation

The students' union is the University of York Students' Union and is referred to as YUSU. Its membership is currently the entire student population of the university. In 2008 YUSU was able to open its first Union-run licensed venue The Courtyard. In addition to the students' union, there is the Graduate Students' Association (GSA), the Students' Union for postgraduate students, which follows normal SU functions such as representing postgraduates on university committees and Council.

Each college has its own JCRC or students' association which provide a variety of services, including college events and student welfare services; they also organise the Freshers' Fortnight activities in their college.

Non-partisan political societies are well represented at the university, with the York Student Think Tank – which produces research in collaboration with national policy organisations such as IPPR, New Generation Society – an informal debating society, and The York Union Society – which competes in inter-varsity debating tournaments against other universities. There are also very active party political societies on campus with the University of York Labour Club, the University of York Liberal Democrat Society, the University of York Conservative and Unionist Association and the University of York Green group; campaigning on issues both on and off campus, as well as organising debates and talks by high-profile speakers. There is also a branch of People and Planet, which campaigns on environmental and ethical issues.

Provisions for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBT) students at the university are divided among two distinct organisations. YUSU LGBTQ+ is a liberation network built into the students' union, which represents LGBTQ+ students by campaigning for issues on campus, offering welfare & support and running events for all LGBTQ+ students to attend, such as cabaret evenings and chilled mixers. The LGBTQ Social Society also organises social events aimed at LGBTQ+ students and their friends. While remaining separate, these two groups generally have strong links to each other as well as links from the student network to the Staff LGBTI+ Matters Forum, which offers largely similar provision to staff members of the university.

Student Union bars and venues

The university's Students' Union run a number of bars and venues across both campuses, namely The Courtyard, The Kitchen, The Glasshouse, The Lounge and Vanbrugh Arms. Additionally, the Union also ran a venue known as D-Bar (located in Derwent College) but had to temporarily close it due to the COVID-19 pandemic. D-Bar later reopened as a cafe during refurbishments of Derwent, before fully reopening in 2022. Shortly after reopening as a bar, D-Bar was hosting an LGBTQ+ event when it was gate crashed by Derwent College Rugby team which was called out by the then-LGBTQ+ Officers, Matt Rogan and Daniel Loyd.

In 2020, Patrick O'Donnell, the president of YUSU, unveiled a new, purpose built venue named The Forest which would be used for a wide variety of events. Later that year, Brian Terry, the then Student Activities Officer, had the venue used as part of a week long Freshers Fair, advertising societies and clubs to students in a Covid-safe environment.

In 2021, The Lakeside Tap was opened to replace The Forest  but was closed the next year.

Media

York Student Television (YSTV) was founded at the university in 1967 and is England's oldest student television station. YSTV once held the world record for longest continuous television broadcast under a single director. It was named the best student television station at the 2012, 2014 and 2019 NaSTA Awards. The University of York Filmmaking Society was a student-run filmmaking group; between 1999 and 2014 its members made two feature films and many shorts, some of which were shown at national film festivals.

University Radio York (URY) is the oldest independent radio station in the United Kingdom and winner of the Student Radio Awards Best Station Award 2020.

Nouse was established in 1964 and was 2005 NUS/Mirror Student paper of the year and 2009 NUS Best Student Media. It has also won multiple Guardian Student Newspaper awards throughout the past decade, for both its pioneering website and outstanding individual journalists. Its rival newspaper, Vision, was named Guardian Student Newspaper of the Year for three consecutive years between 2002 and 2004—the only time this has occurred in the 27-year history of the prestigious awards—and won it again in 2007. In 2011, it won the award for a fifth time, making it the most awarded student newspaper in the United Kingdom. It also won Best Small Budget Publication at the 2006 NUS/Mirror National Student Media Awards.

The Lemon Press, York's satire magazine, was launched in 2009, in both print and online formats. In 2010 it won the NUS Award for Best Student Media. The Yorker is an online publication set up by students as an independent company in 2007; it was nominated for the Guardian Student media awards after running for only a few months.

York Student Cinema (YSC), operating since the late 1960s, show around 30 films a term using a professional 35 mm projector, an industry standard Christie CP2000 digital projector, and a full size CinemaScope screen in one of the largest rooms on campus. It has won the BFFS film society of the year award several times and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2016.

In 2019, the History of Art department began publishing Aspectus, an annual research journal edited by current postgraduates within the department.

Sports
The university teams play in black-and-gold colours. York is a member of British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) and has 65 teams participating. At the end of the 2013/14 BUCS season York came 38th out of 145 participating institutions.

As well as BUCS every summer term the university take part in the Roses Tournament, a sports competition against Lancaster University, which is the largest inter-university tournament in Europe. The venue of the event alternates each year between York and Lancaster, and involves numerous sports clubs, including the conventional (football, hockey) and the more unusual (octopush, ultimate frisbee).  York are leading Lancaster with 27 wins to 26, with one draw in 1974.

The university has also previously also been in the White Rose Varsity Tournament. This started in 2005 against York's other university, York St John University. York won all six of the tournaments held. In 2011 attempts to try and increase the competitiveness of the competition saw York St John replaced by the University of Hull. York won all 3 tournaments against Hull, which resulted in it being scrapped in 2013.

In 2014 a new tournament, "College Varsity", was created, which was held between the Colleges of the University of York and the Colleges of Durham University.

Arts

The University of York Music Society and the University of York Drama Society are two of the largest student societies on campus; with each having performances and/or concerts every week during term. Central Hall Musical Society performs a number of shows and showcases every year.

Other performing societies include the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, PantSoc who stage a student-written pantomime three times a year, and York ComedySoc, one of the most active comedy societies in the UK, putting on a show every week along with workshops in stand-up, improv and sketch writing/acting. ComedySoc sends two shows to the Edinburgh Fringe each year: The Shambles, ComedySoc's in-house improv comedy troupe and The Dead Ducks, ComedySoc's in-house sketch comedy troupe. Both troupes perform throughout the year on campus and in/around York and have received critical acclaim for their shows at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Long Boi
Long Boi was an Indian Runner-Mallard Duck cross that lived by Derwent College, and has become an unofficial mascot to the university. In 2022 students campaigned to erect a 1:1 scale statue of Longboi due to his 'cultural significance' and 'contribution to student life'. In response, the union president said that he would explore possible options to construct a statue. In spring 2023, after several months without a confirmed sighting, the university announced that Long Boi was presumed to be dead. A fundraising campaign was then begun to raise enough money to construct a bronze statue of Long Boi.

FUSION
Fusion was recently founded to promote the ever-growing urban music scene and to raise money for charity.

In 2004 a student at the university established York Carnival—a day celebrating music and the arts in the centre of York. Its original aim was to encourage links between the University of York and the residents of the historic city and to encourage participation in the arts. It has grown into a large annual event, attracting crowds of up to 5,000.

Notable alumni and academics

York has a large number of alumni who have been active in politics, including at least fifteen Members of the United Kingdom Parliament, five members of the House of Lords, two Members of the Scottish Parliament, one Member of the European Parliament and several ministers of other governments around the world. The former President and former Prime Minister of Portugal Aníbal Cavaco Silva, completed his doctorate in economics at York. The former Governor-General of Belize Colville Young holds a doctorate in linguistics from York. The Senior Vice President of the World Bank Group Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin holds a master's degree in Economic and Social Policy Analysis from York.

The university is also represented by alumni educated in the liberal arts such as English literature, social sciences, economics, philosophy, medieval history, and music. The author Anthony Horowitz attended York and graduated in 1973 with a degree in English literature and art history. Greg Dyke, Chair of the Football Association and British Film Institute, is a former student, and graduated in 1974 with a BA in Politics, returning to York as university Chancellor from 2004 to 2015. Writer, critic and broadcaster, Victor Lewis-Smith, studied music in the late 1970s. The current Director of the Natural History Museum, Sir Michael Dixon, has a PhD in zoology from York.

More recently, due to expansion into areas of technology, it has also produced notable computer scientists, such as the Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood, computer scientist Chris Lilley, and computational biologist Sue Jones.

Prominent academics associated with the University of York include the distinguished literary teacher F. R. Leavis and anti-apartheid activist Adrian Leftwich, and York doctorate, Professor Jennifer Smith (sociolinguist), FRSE, now at the University of Glasgow studying Scottish dialects.

See also
Armorial of UK universities
List of UK universities
Plate glass university
White Rose Theatre, theatre company originating at the university
York College, further education college in York
York St John University, another university in York

Notes

References

External links

1963 establishments in England
Buildings and structures in York
Educational institutions established in 1963
York
York

University of York


The Bedřich Smetana Museum () in Prague is a museum which is dedicated to the life and works of famous Czech composer Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884).  It is situated in the centre of Prague in a small block of buildings right next to Charles Bridge on the right bank of the river Vltava in the Old Town (Novotného lávka 1, 110 00 Praha 1).

The building, designed by Antonín Wiehl, which was formerly owned by Prague Water Company, has housed the Smetana Museum since 1936.  It is a grand building in the Renaissance style.  The main part of the museum exhibits are on the first floor.  The upper floors house archive material relating to Smetana, providing a centre for research.

Exhibits include copies of letters, photographs and newspaper cuttings relating to Smetana's life as well as various possessions including his earbone (Smetana suffered from deafness).  There are also folders on music stands which contain material about some of Smetana's most famous works.  The visitor is able to listen to extracts from these works by zapping the required music stand with an electronic baton.

Smetana was the leading Czech composer at a time when Czech nationalism was allowed to be expressed through the medium of the arts, which had so long been dominated by the official language, German.  The Czech people were searching for their national identity and for the first time had the opportunity to perform plays and operas in Czech.  The embodiment of this movement was the National Theatre which opened in November 1883 with a performance of a specially written opera by Smetana, Libuše, which deals with the legendary story of the foundation of Prague.  His six symphonic poems Má vlast (My Country) describe various aspects of his homeland: its countryside and legends.  The second of these tone-poems, Vltava, is especially popular.  The main tune is broadcast over the public address system at Prague's main railway station.

The museum is open daily except on Tuesdays.

See also
 List of music museums
 Statue of Bedřich Smetana, Prague

References
 "Czech and Slovak Republics"

External links

 Official website by Bedřich Smetana Museums

Museum
Collections of the National Museum in Prague
Biographical museums in the Czech Republic
Czech nationalism
Museums in Prague
Music museums in the Czech Republic
Museums established in 1936
1936 establishments in Czechoslovakia

Bedřich Smetana Museum


Mary Ball Washington (30 November 170826 August 1789), was an English colonial American woman who was the second wife of Augustine Washington, a planter and iron ore miner. Mary Ball Washington, and her husband were the parents of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Mary Ball was born on November 30, 1708, as the only child of Colonel Joseph Ball (16491711) and his second wife, Mary Johnson Ball. Joseph Ball immigrated to Virginia as a young child. When Augustine Washington died on April 12, 1743, and when  the couple's son, George Washington, inherited his father's property of 276 acres on Ferry Farm and eleven slaves, Mary managed the property for her son George until he became of legal age.
Mary Washington lived most of her life in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where many monuments were erected in her honor, and a university and other public buildings bear her name.

1708 births
1789 deaths
George Washington
People from Virginia

Mary Ball Washington


Robert Norman Waddell  (born 7 January 1975) is a New Zealand Olympic Gold Medalist and double World Champion Single sculler rower, and America's Cup yachtsman. He is a triple New Zealand Supreme 'Halberg Awards' Sportsperson of the year winner, 1998 to 2000. He holds the third fastest 2000 metre indoor rowing machine time in the world, clocking a time of 5 mins 36.6 secs (5:36.6), which was the previous world record for 19 years before the time was improved by Joshua Dunkley-Smith. He also held the record for 5000m on the rowing machine with a time of 14min 58sec. This made him the first person to go below 15 min for this distance. He holds a black belt in judo. He played rugby union for Waikato. Waddell was Chef de Mission of the 2014 and 2018 New Zealand Commonwealth Games teams, and the 2016 and 2022 Summer Olympics.

Personal life

Waddell was born in 1975  in Te Kuiti. He studied at the University of Waikato, graduating in 1998 and being recognised as one of three distinguished alumni in a 2015 ceremony. In the 2001 New Year Honours, Waddell was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to rowing.

In 1998, he married fellow rower Sonia Scown, the daughter of a former All Black, Alistair Scown.

2003 Team New Zealand America's Cup defence

Rob Waddell switched to sailing for the Team New Zealand 2003 America's Cup defence. He trained as a grinder.

2007 America's Cup

He participated again in the 2007 America's Cup. Following this, Waddell returned to rowing representing New Zealand in rowing at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the double sculls at the Beijing Olympics.

2008 Olympics

In 2008 he made a comeback to rowing after leaving the sport after the 2000 Sydney Olympics, in pursuit of a sailing career as a grinder. With 8 years out of the sport he broke the 2000 m and 5000 m world records on the rowing machine and defeated Mahé Drysdale, the world champion in the single sculls, who was also a New Zealander. As it was an Olympic year and only one crew can be sent to the Olympics in each boat class the stage was set for a battle to see who would fill the Olympic single sculls spot. Despite Waddell getting the better of Drysdale in the domestic regattas the selectors created a three-race trial to decide who would go. With the wins for each sculler tied at 1–1 it came down to a final race which Drysdale won.

Waddell was then selected into the double sculls with the young Nathan Cohen, world champion at the 2006 World University Games in single sculls, in early 2008. At the 2008 Olympic Games in Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park, Shunyi, Beijing in August 2008, the two finished fourth in the double sculls final.

Waddell retired from rowing to take up sailing again. Cohen went on to win the gold medal in double sculls at the next Olympic Games in 2012, with rowing partner Joseph Sullivan as Waddell's replacement.

2013 Team New Zealand America's Cup challenge

In the 2013 Louis Vuitton Cup, which Team New Zealand won over Prada Luna Rossa, Waddell was a key grinder and member of the team that eventually went on to challenge Team Oracle USA for the 2013 America's Cup.

Medal tally

 Olympic medals: 1 gold
 World Championship medals: 2 gold

Olympic Games – rowing
 1996 – 7th, Single Sculls
 2000 – 1st, Single Sculls
 2008 – 4th, Double Sculls

World Championships – rowing
 1999 – Gold, single sculls
 1998 – Gold, single sculls
 1997 – 8th, single sculls
 1995 – 10th, coxless four (4-)
 1994 – 5th coxed pair (2+)
 1994 – 13th coxless pair (2-)

References

External links
 Indoor rowing world records

1975 births
Living people
New Zealand male rowers
Olympic gold medalists for New Zealand in rowing
Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
World Rowing Championships medalists for New Zealand
Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit
New Zealand male sailors (sport)
Team New Zealand sailors
2013 America's Cup sailors
2007 America's Cup sailors
2003 America's Cup sailors
New Zealand rugby union players
Rugby union locks
University of Waikato alumni
Sportspeople from Te Kūiti

Rob Waddell


Bring It On is a 2000 American teen comedy movie that stars Kirsten Dunst and Eliza Dushku. It is about cheerleader groups competing against each other in high schools in California. Bring It On got mixed critic reviews, though it took in over $90 million in box office revenue. It was released in America on August 25, 2000.

Other websites

2000 comedy movies
2000s sports movies
2000s teen comedy movies
American sports comedy movies
American teen comedy movies
English-language movies
High school movies
Movies set in Los Angeles
Movies set in San Diego, California
Teen sports movies
Universal Pictures movies
American independent movies

Bring It On


Bisu Parba is a new year and harvest festival of Tulunadu. It marks the first day of Paggu, which is the first month of Tulu calendar. It falls in the middle of April in the Gregorian calendar, on 14 or 15 April every year.

Background
For residents of Tulunadu, this is a significant annual festival. It is a kind of worshipping nature. According to popular belief, today is lucky for starting new ventures. The people of Tulunadu celebrate the Bisu festival as a symbol of prosperity from the past year and hope to prosper throughout the upcoming year. This festival is known as "Bisu Parba" in Tulunadu.

Celebrating
Get up early in the morning on the day of the feast and put it on the bed in the chamber of God or in the hall. Light the foot lamp and put it in two ends, keep banana leaves and placed one cup of rice, two betel leaves, one semi dehusked coconut with , a bunch of Ixora coccinea (also known as jungle geranium Tulu: ) stick of sandalwood, and wet the sandalwood which totally called . In front of this  grown vegetables, flowers, hinges, fruits, gold ornaments, mirrors.

Blessings of the elder

All the householders pray together and worship God in front of the Bisu Kani. They reconcile with family members as well as strengthen relationships between seniors and juniors. The juniors receive the blessings of the elders on this occasion. Touching the feet of elders is an age-old Indian tradition that is considered to be a mark of respect as well as a blessing. This gesture can be seen in almost all Tuluva families on this occasion. The elders of the house give money to all the minors and they enjoy the feast. Every year, it is a source of good fortune. As part of the Bisu festival, special worship is held in daivaradane chavadi, temples and the sacrificial festival of God. It is common to prepare and enjoy a traditional dish for this special day. Everybody has to go to every house and enjoy the food with the blessings of the elders. The owner of the house puts the Bisu kaṇi (arrangement of fruits and vegetables) on the roof of the house.

Bisu Kani
The festivals in Tulunadu highlight the farmer's life and his affinity with the land he tills. On the day of the feast, bed of wooden in the chamber of God, daiva or in the hall. Light the foot lamp and put it in two ends, banana leaves placed on floor or bed of wooden is accommodate one pot of water, one cup of rice, two betel leaves, one semi dehusked coconut(with muganda), a bunch of Ixora coccinea (also known as jungle geranium Tulu: Kepula poo) stick of sandalwood, and wet the sandalwood which totally called suthye dipuna. In front of this suthye grown vegetables, flowers, hinges, fruits, gold ornaments, mirrors. tenants were taking the grown vegetables to his boss (Tulu: Danikulu) such as brinjal, cucumber, sambar southe, pumpkin, ivy gourd, long yard beans, bottle gourd, okra, and fruits such as jackfruit, banana, cashew apple, jambu nerale, mango, pineapple. Arecanut and coconut, the part and parcel of local life, was also part of the Kani.

Bisu Parba Recipe

On the occasion of Bisu people are resting at home and preparing special food for breakfast on the day which is mostly "Moode recipe" (English: Screw Pine) which is similar to Kadubu and "Uddina dōse recipe" (lentil dosa). For lunch, cashew nut and green gram curry (), cucumber , ivy gourd dry palya fries and Payaso is served with steamed boiled rice and other accompaniments. Prepare a Tuluva inspired brunch this "Bisu Parba" and enjoy with the members of the family.

Kai Bittu Padune
Bisu parbo is auspious day for Tuluvas, so on this day morning they keep a side new paddy seeds.
In the evening sowing procedure is carried out on the chin(Tulu:Puṇi) of field. Put the paddy seed on the side of the mulch and shade it with Aporosa villosa (Tulu: Saroli) leaves. And tenants take permission for continuing the practice of planting the following year.

References

Tulu language
Religious festivals in India
Culture of Tulu Nadu
New Year in India
New Year celebrations

Bisu Parba


Ben Cat is a district-level town located in the north of Bình Dương province in the urban area of Ho Chi Minh City, 50 km north of Ho Chi Minh City.

Ben Cat is a grade 3 urban area under Binh Duong province, with a total natural area of 234.35 km², a population of 355,663 people and a population density of 1,518 people/km² divided into 5 wards (Chánh Phú Hòa, Hòa Lợi, Tân Định, Thới Hòa, Mỹ Phước) and 3 communes (An Điền, An Tây, Phú An), Mỹ Phước ward is considered the cultural, economic and political center of Bến Cát town.

Ben Cat town borders Bau Bang district to the north, Dầu Tiếng district to the west, Tân Uyên city and Phú Giáo district to the east, Thủ Dầu Một city and Củ Chi district of Ho Chi Minh city to the south.

Ben Cat is in the transition zone from the Trường Sơn range in the north of the central highland to the southern plain, so the general topography of the whole town is relatively high from 30 to 35m above sea level in the north and lower to the south. In the south, the climate belongs to the tropical savanna region, there is little flooding and the average annual rainfall is about 1,500-2,500mm, the average monthly temperature is 32°C during the day and 23°C at night, the hottest month is 36 °C and the coldest month is 16°C. In mid-December, the town often has dense fog in the early morning and ends at 7-8am.

Ben Cat is considered the southern key economic region, the industrial capital of Binh Duong province. In the whole area of Ben Cat town, there are many industrial parks built as models with complete infrastructure, built in the direction of focusing on environmental protection, creating a green and clean industrial park according to the model. Forming a modern industrial and urban city towards long-term and sustainable development in the north of Binh Duong province.

Currently, Ben Cat has many industrial parks, which have been deployed to phase 5 and have attracted 380 investment projects from 24 countries and territories with a total estimated capital of nearly 7.8 billion USD. Countries and territories with high investment rates in industrial parks are the United States, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan, etc. Focusing on the following fields: electrical, electronic, mechanical industry manufacturing, food processing, wood industry and interior decoration, garment, supporting industries. The favorable geographical position has made industrial parks in Ben Cat an ideal place for investors to produce goods for domestic consumption as well as for export. Income per capita: 6,500 USD/year.

References

Districts of Bình Dương province
County-level towns in Vietnam

Bến Cát


The black soft-shell turtle or Bostami turtle  (Nilssonia nigricans) is a species of freshwater turtle found in India (Assam) and Bangladesh (Chittagong and Sylhet). It was long believed to be inbred individuals of the Indian softshell turtle (A. gangeticus or N. gangeticus) or the Indian peacock softshell turtle (A. hurum or N. hurum), but later found to be  a distinct species.In the 1800s it was believed these turtles were brought from Iran to Chittagong shrine pond by Hazrat Bayezid Bostami. His turtles he had brought to this pond were treated as sacred and respected by the public. Previously declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2002, these turtles were found to still exist in a temple's pond called the Hayagriva Madhava Temple located in Assam, India. Through conservation methods and protection of the species, some of these turtles can be found today throughout the wild, and scientists and environmental biologists are continuing to work hard to preserve this endangered species and their natural habitat.

References

Turtles of Asia

Black softshell turtle


Timothy C. Collins (born 1956) is the founder, senior managing director, and chief executive officer of Ripplewood Holdings LLC. He is also a member of the board of directors of Citigroup. Collins is a director of several public companies as well as some of Ripplewood's private portfolio companies.

History and education
Collins was born in Frankfort, Kentucky. He has a B.A. degree in philosophy from DePauw University (1978), and an MBA from Yale School of Management.

He began his career in finance, marketing, and manufacturing at Cummins Engine Company. From 1981 to 1984, he worked with the management consulting firm of Booz & Company, specializing in strategic and operational assignments with major industrial and financial firms. He became a vice president at Lazard Frères in New York, then managed Onex Corporation's New York office. He also served on in many of company boards including Asbury Automotive, Shinsei Bank, Advanced Auto, Rental Services Corp.

Public service
He is involved in several not-for-profit and public sector activities, including the U.S.-Japan Business Council, the Trilateral Commission, the U.S.-Japan Private Sector/Government Commission, Yale Divinity School advisory board, American Friends of the British Museum, Yaddo, the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia, Trout Unlimited, and Lenox Hill Neighborhood House and the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. In 2012 he has been appointed chairman of the Yale School of Management Board of Advisors.

Accolades
Collins was named one of the "25 Stars of Asia: Leaders at the Forefront of Change" by BusinessWeek magazine in 2004.

Personal life
Collins is married and has three sons.

References

Private equity and venture capital investors
Living people
American investors
American money managers
American philanthropists
DePauw University alumni
Yale School of Management alumni
1956 births
Place of birth missing (living people)
People from Fostoria, Ohio
American chief executives of financial services companies

Tim Collins (financier)


A period in geology is a main subunit of an era.

Thus the Mesozoic era is divided into three periods: the Triassic, the Jurassic and the Cretaceous. These periods are then further subdivided into epochs.

Period (geology)


The New England tree frog, gold-striped tree frog, sublime tree frog or glandular tree frog (Ranoidea subglandulosa) is a tree frog from Australia.  Even though it is called the New England tree frog, it does not live in New England.  It lives on Australia's New England Tablelands.  It lives near the Great Dividing Range in Queensland and New South Wales.  It lives more than 600 metres above sea level.

The adult male frog is 4.0 cm long and the adult female is 5.0 cm long.  It can be green or brown on the back and green on the sides.  It has a white stripe on each side of its body.  Parts of its sides and legs are bright orange.

The tadpoles are about 3.5 cm long.  Unlike tadpoles of other tree frogs, they do not have teeth or beaks.  Instead, they have things similar to tentacles near their mouths.  Scientists do not know what the tadpoles eat.

This frog is in some danger of dying out.  Scientists say this is because human beings take animals to eat grass where the frog lives and collect trees from its forests for lumber.  Invasive species such as trout also eat the eggs and tadpoles.

Scientists say this frog is related to Ranoidea citropa.

References

Pelodryadidae

New England tree frog


On the web, an interstitial webpage (or interstitial) is a web page displayed before or after an expected content page, often to display advertising or for regulatory reasons, such as to confirm the user's age (prior to showing age-restricted material) or obtain consent to store cookies. Most interstitial advertisements are delivered by an ad server.

Some people take issue with the use of such pages to present online advertising before allowing users to see the content they were trying to access.

Meaning of interstitial

In this context, "interstitial" is used in the sense of "in-between".  The interstitial web page sits between a referenced page and the page which references it—hence it is in between two pages. This is distinct from a page which simply links directly to another, in that the interstitial page serves only to provide extra information to a user during the act of navigating from one page to the next.

In digital marketing, the term "interstitial" is often used in the sense of "interstitial advertising", rather than "interstitial webpage". In some cases, this may lead to confusion because interstitial ads are not always served on interstitial web pages. According to a standard advanced by the IAB, an interstitial (also known as a between-the-page ad) can either be displayed on a separate webpage or appear briefly as an overlay on the destination page. Moreover, mobile advertising guidelines created by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) include in-app interstitial ads, that are integrated into applications, rather than web pages.

Circumvention
Many interstitial pages are circumvented by NoScript and ad blockers.

See also
 Ad blocker
 Ad server, the technology that delivers most online advertisements
 AdBlock, a tool to prevent the display of online advertisements
 Adobe Flash, a technology similar in its application for online advertising.
 Modal window
 Pop-up ad

References

External links
 Google interstitial references

Web design
Online advertising methods

Interstitial webpage


Saarpfalz (Saar-Palatinate) is a Kreis (district) in the south-east of the Saarland, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from west clockwise) Saarbrücken, Neunkirchen, Kusel, Kaiserslautern, Südwestpfalz, district-free Zweibrücken, and the French département Moselle.

History
After the Treaty of Versailles, the Saar basin was placed under the administration of the League of Nations for 15 years. The Palatinate area, then part of Bavaria, was therefore split in two parts. The part which went into the Saar became commonly known as Saarpfalz, and was administered by the two Bezirksamt St. Ingbert and Homburg. The Saarpfalz district was created in 1974 when the St. Ingbert and Homburg districts were merged. Since 1997 the district has had a partnership with Henrico County, Virginia.

Coat of arms
The lion in the top left is the symbol of the Palatinate (Pfalz), the cross in the top right is the symbol of Trier, both owned a large part of the district in the past. The crosier is the bottom left represents the clerical possessions of the monasteries, while the silver lion in the bottom right is the symbol of the county of Homburg.

Towns and municipalities

References

External links

Districts of the Saarland
Palatinate (region)

Saarpfalz-Kreis


The Westcar Papyrus (inventory-designation: P. Berlin 3033) is an ancient Egyptian text containing five stories about miracles performed by priests and magicians. In the papyrus text, each of these tales are told at the royal court of king Khufu (Cheops) (Fourth Dynasty, 26th century BCE) by his sons. The story in the papyrus usually is rendered in English as, "King Cheops and the Magicians" and "The Tale of King Cheops' Court". In German, into which the text of the Westcar Papyrus was first translated, it is rendered as Die Märchen des Papyrus Westcar ("the fairy tales of Papyrus Westcar").

The surviving material of the Westcar Papyrus consists of twelve columns written in hieratic script. Miriam Lichtheim dates the document to the Hyksos period (eighteenth to sixteenth century BC) and states that it is written in classical Middle Egyptian. Linguist and Egyptologist  thinks it is possible that the Westcar Papyrus was written during the Thirteenth Dynasty. The papyrus has been used by historians as a literary resource for reconstituting the history of the Fourth Dynasty.

The papyrus is now on display under low-light conditions in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin.

Discovery story
In 1823 or 1824, British adventurer Henry Westcar apparently discovered the papyrus during travels in Egypt. For unknown reasons he didn't note the exact circumstances under which he obtained the artifact.

In 1838 or 1839, German Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius claimed to have received the papyrus from Westcar's niece. As Lepsius was able to read some signs of Hieratic, he recognized some of the royal cartouche names of the kings and dated the text to the Old Kingdom.

There are inconsistencies about the true nature of the acquisition and the subsequent whereabouts of the Westcar Papyrus. Lepsius writes that the document was on display in the Oxford Bodleian Library, but public exhibitions have been documented there since the early 1860s and Lepsius' name does not appear in any lists or documents. Furthermore, Lepsius never made the text of the Westcar Papyrus public; he stored the papyrus at home in his attic, where it was found after his death. These inconsistencies have led to widespread speculation; many British historians speculate that Lepsius may have stolen the papyrus.

In 1886, German Egyptologist Adolf Erman purchased the papyrus from Lepsius' son and left it to the Museum of Berlin. As the hieratic signs were still insufficiently investigated and translated, the Westcar Papyrus was displayed as some kind of curiosity. Since Erman's first attempt at a complete translation in 1890, the Westcar Papyrus has been translated numerous times, resulting in different outcomes. The dating of the text also varies.

Material description
Papyrus Westcar is a reused papyrus made of the plant Cyperus papyrus. The scroll of Westcar has been separated into three parts. During the life of Lepsius and Erman it was in two parts; it is not known when and why the scroll was separated into three fragments. The text written on the papyrus includes twelve columns in all. The first part contains on the recto (the front) columns one to three, the second part contains on its recto columns four and five and the third part contains on the verso (the back) columns six to nine and on the recto, the final columns, ten to twelve. The papyrus textile is grainy, of greyish-yellowish colour and very fragile. Part one was fixed onto linen and placed between two glass panes. At five spots the papyrus was fixed to the glass with methyl cellulose. Part two was fixed to a cardboard and wooden plate and is covered by a glass pane. Part three was simply placed between two glass panes and was completely glued to them. The adhesive used for this has partially lost its transparency and a whitish haze has appeared. The edges of all three parts were left free for air circulation. Because of the paper lamination during the eighteenth century, all the papyrus fragments are partially damaged; at several spots the material is torn, distorted, and squashed. Some of the fibres are now lying over the inscription. All of the artifact shows large gaps and the rim of the scrolls is badly frayed. Because of the gaps, many parts of the text are now missing.

The text itself is completely written in black iron gall ink and carbon black ink and divided by rubra into ten paragraphs. Between the neatly written sentences red traces of an older text are visible. It looks as if Papyrus Westcar is a palimpsest; the unknown ancient Egyptian author obviously tried but partially failed to wipe the older text off. The clean and calligraphical handwriting shows that the author was a highly educated professional.

Content
The first story, told by an unknown son of Khufu (possibly Djedefra), is missing everything but the conclusion, in which Khufu orders blessed offerings to king Djoser. It seems to have been a text detailing a miracle performed by a lector priest in the reign of king Djoser, possibly the famous Imhotep.

The second story, told by Khafre, is set during the reign of one of Khufu's predecessors. King Nebka's chief lector Ubaoner finds that his wife is having a love affair with a townsman of Memphis, and he fashions a crocodile in wax. Upon learning that his unfaithful wife is meeting her lover, he casts a spell for the figurine to come to life upon contact with water, and sets his caretaker to throw it in the stream by which the townsman enters and leaves the lector's estate undiscovered. Upon catching the townsman, the crocodile takes him to the bottom of the lake, where they remain for seven days as the lector entertains the visiting pharaoh. When he tells Nebka the story, and calls the crocodile up again, the king orders the crocodile to devour the townsman once and for all. Then he has the adulterous wife brought forth, set on fire, and thrown in the river.

The third story, told by another son named Baufra, is set during the reign of his grandfather Sneferu. The king is bored and his chief lector Djadjaemankh advises him to gather twenty young women and use them to sail him around the palace lake. Sneferu orders twenty beautiful oars made, and gives the women nets to drape around them as they sail. However, one of the girls loses an amulet - a fish pendant made of malachite so dear to her that she will not even accept a substitute from the royal treasury, and until it is returned to her neither she nor any of the other women will row. The king laments this, and the chief lector folds aside the water to allow the retrieval of the amulet, then folds the water back.

The fourth story, told by Hordjedef, concerns a miracle set within Khufu's own reign. A townsman named Dedi apparently has the power to reattach a severed head onto an animal, to tame wild lions, and knows the number of secret rooms in the shrine of Thoth. Khufu, intrigued, sends his son to invite this wise man to the court, and upon Dedi's arrival he orders a goose, an undefined waterbird, and a bull beheaded. Dedi reattaches the heads. Khufu then questions him on his knowledge on the shrine of Thoth, and Dedi answers that he does not know the number of rooms, but he knows where they are. When Khufu asks for the wheres and hows, Dedi answers that he is not the one who can give Khufu access, but the first of the three future kings in the womb of the woman Rededjet is. This is a prophecy detailing the beginnings of the Fifth Dynasty, starting with Userkaf.

The final story breaks from the format and moves the focus to Rededjet giving birth to her three sons. Upon the day of her children's birth, Ra orders Isis, Nephthys, Meskhenet, Heket, and Khnum to aid her. They disguise themselves as musicians and hurry to Rededjet's house to help her with the difficult birth. The three children are born, each described as strong and healthy, with limbs covered in gold and wearing headdresses of lapis lazuli. The maidservant of Rededjet later has an argument with her mistress, receives a beating and flees, vowing to tell king Khufu what had happened. But on the way, she meets her brother and tells the story to him. Displeased, he beats her, too, and sends her on a path to the water's edge where a crocodile catches her. The brother then goes to see Rededjet, who is crying over the loss of his sister. The brother starts to confess what has happened and at this point the papyrus story ends.

Analysis and interpretations
Papyrus Westcar is of great interest to historians and Egyptologists since it is one of the oldest Egyptian documents that contains such complex text. Unfortunately, the name of the author has been lost. The most recent translations and linguistic investigations by Miriam Lichtheim and Verena Lepper reveal interesting writing and spelling elements hidden in the text of the papyrus, which has led them to a new evaluation of the individual stories.

The first story is lost due to damage to the papyrus. The preserved sentences merely reveal the main protagonist of the story, King Djoser. The name of the hero, who is said to have performed the miracle, is completely lost, but Liechtheim and Lepper think it's possible that the Papyrus was talking about the famous architect and high lector priest, Imhotep.

Linguistic stylistics and changing tenses
The second and third stories are written in a conspicuous, flowery, old-fashioned style, and the author has obviously tried to make them sound as if handed down from a long time ago, but fantastic at the same time. He uses quaint phrases and makes the heroes' acting stilted and ceremonious. The first three stories are written in past tense and all the kings are addressed with the salutation "justified" (Egyptian: m3ʕ ḫrw), which was typical in Ancient Egypt when talking about a deceased king. The heroes are addressed in the second and third stories the same way. Curiously, all the kings are addressed with their birth name, notwithstanding that this was unusual in the author's lifetime. While deceased kings were normally called by their birth name, living kings were called by their Horus name. King Khufu is nevertheless called by his birth name in the first three stories, yet in the fourth story, he is treated as being still alive and being the main actor. And even the future kings Userkaf, Sahure, and Neferirkare Kakai are called by their birth names. Verena Lepper thinks, that the reason may be some kind of spelling reform that occurred in the lifetime of the author, perhaps trying to fix the spelling rule for naming a deceased king, in order to show that even the future kings in the story were long since dead during his lifetime. For this reason Verena Lepper doubts that the Westcar stories are based on documents originating from the Old Kingdom.

The fourth and fifth stories are written in present tense. The unknown author moves the timeline and also changes his mode of expression from "old-fashioned" into a contemporary form. He clearly distinguishes "long time passed" from "most recently" without cutting the timeline too quickly. The speech of Prince Hordjedef builds the decisive transition: Hordjedef is sick of hearing old, dusty tales that cannot be proven. He explains that a current wonder would be richer in content and more instructive, and so he brings up the story of Dedi. The last section of the fourth story, in which the magician Dedi gives a prophecy to king Khufu, shifts to future tense for a short time, before shifting back to present tense again. This present tense is maintained until the end of the Westcar stories.

Depictions of the kings
Papyrus Westcar contains hidden allusions and puns to the characters of the kings Nebka, Sneferu, and Khufu. An evaluation of the character description of Djoser is impossible due to the great deterioration within his story.

In the second story, king Nebka plays the key role. He is depicted as a strict, but lawful judge, who doesn't allow mischief and misbehaviour to occur. The adulterous wife of the story's hero is punished by being burnt alive and her secret lover, revealed thanks to the loyal caretaker, is eaten alive by a summoned crocodile. Caretaker and crocodile are playing the role of justice, whilst king Nebka plays the role of destiny. Lepper and Liechtheim evaluate the depiction of king Nebka as being fairly positive. A strict but lawful king was ideal for the people of the author's lifetime.

In the third story king Sneferu becomes a victim of the author's courage to criticize the monarchy. The author depicts Sneferu as a fatuous fool, who is easily pleased with superficial entertainment and who is unable to resolve a dispute with a little rowing maid. Sneferu must go to the extent of having a priest solve the problem. With this narration and embarrassing depiction of a king, the author of Westcar dares to criticise the kings of Egypt as such and makes the third story a sort of satire. Lepper points out that the critiques are hidden cleverly throughout. It is not surprising, since the author had to be careful—the Westcar Papyrus was possibly made available for public entertainment, or at least, for public study.

In the fourth story king Khufu is difficult to assess. On one hand he is depicted as ruthless: deciding to have a condemned prisoner decapitated to test the alleged magical powers of the magician Dedi. On the other hand, Khufu is depicted as inquisitive, reasonable and generous: he accepts Dedi's outrage and his offer of an alternative for the prisoner, questions the circumstances and contents of Dedi's prophecy, and rewards the magician generously. The contradictory depiction of Khufu is an object of controversy among Egyptologists and historians to this day. Earlier Egyptologists and historians in particular, such as Adolf Erman, Kurt Heinrich Sethe, and Wolfgang Helck evaluated Khufu's character as heartless and sacrilegious. They lean on the ancient Greek traditions of Herodotus and Diodorus, who described an exaggerated, negative character image of Khufu, ignoring the paradoxical (because positive) traditions the Egyptians always taught. But other Egyptologists such as Dietrich Wildung see Khufu's order as an act of mercy: the prisoner would have received his life back if Dedi had performed his magical trick. Wildung thinks that Dedi's refusal was an allusion to the respect Egyptians showed to human life. The ancient Egyptians were of the opinion that human life should not be misused for dark magic or similar evil things. Lepper and Liechtheim suspect that a difficult-to-assess depiction of Khufu was exactly what the author had planned. He wanted to create a mysterious character.

The fifth and last story tells about the heroine Rededjet (also often read as Ruddedet) and her difficult birth of three sons. The sun god Ra orders his companions Isis, Meskhenet, Hekhet, Nephthys, and Khnum to help Rededjet, to ensure the birth of the triplets and the beginning of a new dynasty. Lepper and Liechtheim both evaluate the story as some kind of narrated moral that deals with the theme of justice and what happens to traitors. Lepper points out, that the story of Rededjet might have been inspired by the historical figure of Khentkaus I, who lived and may have ruled at the end of the Fourth Dynasty. Among the titles discovered to have been given to her is the "mother of two kings". For a long time it had been thought that she may have borne Userkaf and Sahure, but new evidence shows that Sahure, at least, had a different mother (Queen Neferhetepes). The implication from the Westcar Papyrus that the first three kings of the Fifth Dynasty had been siblings, seems incorrect. Since, in the Westcar Papyrus, Rededjet is connected with the role of a future king's mother, the parallels between the biographies of the two ladies has garnered special attention. The role of the maidservant is evaluated as being a key figure for a modern phrasing of indoctrinations about morality and betrayal. The maidservant wants to run her mistress down and is punished by destiny. Destiny is depicted here as a crocodile who snatches the traitor. The whole purpose would be to ensure the beginning of a new dynasty by making the only danger disappear. The author of the Westcar Papyrus artfully creates some kind of happy ending.

Ending of Papyrus Westcar
Since the first translations of the Westcar Papyrus, historians and Egyptologists have disputed whether the story was finished or unfinished. Earlier evaluations seemed to show an abrupt ending after the death of the traitorous maidservant. But more recently, linguistic investigations made by Verena Lepper and Miriam Liechtheim (especially by Lepper) strengthen the theory that the Westcar text is definitely at an end after the story of the maidservant's death. Lepper points out that the crocodile sequence is repeated several times, like a kind of refrain, which is a typical element in similar stories and documents. Furthermore, Lepper argues that the papyrus has a lot of free space after the apparent ending, enough for another short story.

Influences of Papyrus Westcar in later Egyptian tales
Verena Lepper and Miriam Lichtheim postulate that the tales of Papyrus Westcar inspired later authors to compose and write down similar tales. They refer to multiple, and somewhat later, ancient Egyptian writings in which magicians perform very similar magic tricks and make prophecies to a king. Descriptive examples are the papyri pAthen and The prophecy of Neferti. These novels show the popular theme of prophesying used during the Old Kingdom – just as in the story of the Westcar Papyrus. They also both talk about subalterns with magical powers similar to those of Dedi's. The Papyrus pBerlin 3023 contains the story, The Eloquent Peasant, in which the following phrase appears: "See, these are artists who create the existing anew, who even replace a severed head", which could be interpreted as an allusion to the Westcar Papyrus. pBerlin 3023 contains another reference that strengthens the idea that many ancient Egyptian writings were influenced by the Westcar Papyrus: column 232 contains the phrase "sleeping until dawn", which appears nearly word-for-word in the Westcar Papyrus.

A further descriptive example appears in The prophecy of Neferti. As in the Westcar Papyrus, a subaltern is addressed by a king as "my brother" and the king is depicted as being accostable and simple-minded. Furthermore, both stories talk about the same king, Sneferu. The Papyrus pAthen contains the phrase: "...for these are the wise who can move waters and make a river flow at their mere will and want...", which clearly refers to the wonder that the magicians Djadjaemankh and Dedi had performed in the Westcar story.

Since pAthen, pBerlin 3023 and The prophecy of Neferti use the same manner of speaking and quaint phrases, complete with numerous allusions to the wonders of Papyrus Westcar, Lepper and Lichtheim hold that Dedi, Ubaoner and Djadjaemankh must have been known to Egyptian authors for a long time.

See also
 List of ancient Egyptian papyri

References

External links

 Translation by Nederof following Blackman

1823 archaeological discoveries
1824 archaeological discoveries
Fiction set in the 26th century BC
Papyri from ancient Egypt
2nd-millennium BC literature
Ancient Egyptian fiction
Cultural depictions of Khufu
Second Intermediate Period of Egypt

Westcar Papyrus


The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), officially the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Historically it has been composed of five to eleven members, and currently has seven members. Its officially mandated purpose is to conduct policy discussions and make decisions on major issues when the Politburo, a larger decision-making body, is not in session. According to the party's constitution, the General Secretary of the Central Committee must also be a member of the Politburo Standing Committee.

According to the party's Constitution, the party's Central Committee elects the Politburo Standing Committee. In practice, however, this is only a formality. The method by which membership is determined has evolved over time. In turn, the Politburo chooses the Politburo Standing Committee through secretive negotiations. The Standing Committee functions as the epicenter of the CCP's power and leadership, and its membership has ranged from five to nine people. During the Mao Zedong era, Mao himself selected and expelled members, while during the Deng Xiaoping era consultations among party elders on the Central Advisory Commission determined membership. Since the 1990s, Politburo membership has been determined through deliberations and straw polls by incumbent and retired members of both the Politburo and the Standing Committee.

The PSC is theoretically responsible to the Politburo, which is in turn responsible to the larger Central Committee. In practice, the Standing Committee is supreme over its parent bodies. Additionally, because China is a one-party state, Standing Committee decisions de facto have the force of law. Its membership is closely watched by both the national media as well as political watchers abroad. Historically, the role of the PSC has varied and evolved. During the Cultural Revolution, for example, the PSC had little power.

The membership of the PSC is strictly ranked in protocol sequence. Historically, the General Secretary (or Party Chairman) has been ranked first; the rankings of other leaders have varied over time. Since the 1990s, the General Secretary, President, Premier, first-ranked Vice Premier, Chairman of the National People's Congress, the Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party's top anti-graft body, and the first secretary of the CCP Secretariat have consistently also been members of the Politburo Standing Committee. The portfolios of additional members varied.

Terminology

The Politburo Standing Committee is technically responsible to the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. In Chinese political usage, a "Standing Committee" (常务委员会, Chángwù Wěiyuánhuì) simply refers to a body that carries out the day-to-day affairs of its parent organ, in this case, the Politburo. The Politburo, in turn, is a policy making body that is formally responsible to the larger Central Committee, which meets at plenary sessions usually once every year.

"Politburo Standing Committee" is the most commonly used name to refer to the body in English-language media. It is sometimes abbreviated PSC or PBSC (if "Politburo" is written as "Political Bureau"). It can also be referred to informally as simply the "Standing Committee". In its official English-language press releases, Chinese state media refers to the body by its lengthier, formal name, "The Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee". In turn, its members are officially referred to as "Members of Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee". These official forms are rarely used by English-language newspapers outside of mainland China.

In official Chinese-language announcements, the most commonly used name for members of the body is Zhōnggòng Zhōngyāng Zhèngzhìjú Chángwěi (中共中央政治局常委); this is an abbreviation of the much lengthier official title of Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Zhèngzhìjú Chángwù Wěiyuánhuì Wěiyuán (中国共产党中央政治局常务委员会委员). As even the officially abbreviated terminology may still be too lengthy and unwieldy, some media outlets refer to PSC members as Zhèngzhìjú Chángwěi (政治局常委) or simply Chángwěi (常委). Do note that without any context, Changwei may still be an ambiguous term, as provincial and local party committees all have a Standing Committee, the members of this committee can also be known as Changwei.

History

Early history

The first Standing Committee was formed in July 1928, at a meeting of the 6th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Between January 1934 and the 1st plenary session of the 8th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 1956, the Standing Committee was replaced by the Central Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party. During the early history of the CCP it was seen as the highest central body that was intended to carry out day-to-day work of the Party's Central Committee. It was composed of the top leadership figures of the larger Political Bureau (i.e., the "Politburo"). Unlike most other Communist parties in the world modeled after the party of Lenin, the CCP formed a Standing Committee because the Politburo (normally the highest organ in a communist party) was considered too large and unwieldy to make decisions effectively.

Cultural Revolution

In the early days of the Cultural Revolution, the Politburo Standing Committee ceased normal operations, as many of its key members, such as Chinese President Liu Shaoqi and Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping, fell out of favour with Chairman Mao. Real power was concentrated in the Cultural Revolution Group, which was nominally reporting to the Politburo Standing Committee but in fact was a separate "centre of authority" that acted mostly on its own accord. At the 9th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, radical supporters of Mao, Chen Boda, and Kang Sheng, gained seats on the Politburo Standing Committee, and it resumed a somewhat normal functioning. The last years of the Cultural Revolution were dominated by internal chaos. Between 1975 and 1976, PSC members Kang Sheng, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, and Mao all died. Deng Xiaoping was purged. During this time the body lost any semblance of a functioning policy-making or executive organ, and it met only on an ad hoc basis. By Mao's death in September 1976, the only members who still attended meetings were Hua Guofeng, Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen, and Ye Jianying, with Zhang and Wang being members of the Gang of Four. On 6 October, Hua Guofeng called a PSC meeting ostensibly to discuss Mao's legacy and memorial arrangements, inviting the active PSC members to attend. Wang and Zhang were both arrested at the meeting and accused of "counter-revolutionary crimes". Thereafter, only Ye and Hua continued their official duties. A functioning PSC was not restored until 1977.

After economic reforms
After taking power in 1978, one of the goals of Deng Xiaoping was to strengthen the power of the party and institutionalize bodies such as the Politburo and its Standing Committee. For much of the 1980s, the PSC was restored as the party's supreme decision-making body. The committee was again organized on the basis of democratic centralism, that is, decisions were to be made based on consensus, and, failing that, decisions are taken by majority vote; once a decision is taken the entire body speaks with one voice. However, the PSC competed with retired party elders (organized as the Central Advisory Commission, though they made most of their decisions informally) for influence. Deng Xiaoping himself bridged the two bodies, and his informal clout translated to great political power personally. In 1987, Deng and other party elders ousted then General Secretary Hu Yaobang from the PSC, replacing him with Zhao Ziyang. In 1989, Deng and various party elders ordered the military to intervene in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests without gaining the consensus of the PSC. Zhao was opposed to declaring martial law and broke with other members of the PSC, notably Premier Li Peng. In the aftermath, Zhao and Hu Qili were removed from the PSC at the Fourth Plenum in 1989, largely by fiat of Deng and the elders rather than institutional procedure, to be replaced by Jiang Zemin and Li Ruihuan.

The operation of the Standing Committee has remained largely stable since Tiananmen in 1989. The 1989 Plenum was the last occasion where a major reshuffle of the PSC occurred. At the 14th Party Congress in 1992, seven people – Jiang, Li Peng, Qiao Shi, Li Ruihuan, Zhu Rongji, Liu Huaqing, and Hu Jintao – were named to the Standing Committee, this arrangement remained unchanged until the regularly scheduled 15th Party Congress in 1997, where Qiao Shi and Liu Huaqing retired and were replaced by Wei Jianxing and Li Lanqing, showing the first signs that the PSC would become a term-based body operating on a fixed schedule. Liu Huaqing was also the last PSC member with a military background. In 1999, Vice President Hu Jintao also became Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, as he was being groomed to succeed Jiang. This was the first time Vice President had occupied the post of Vice Chairman of the CMC.

At the 16th Party Congress held in 2002, the Standing Committee was expanded from seven to nine members. Some political observers speculated that the expansion was done in order to stack the new Standing Committee with loyalists of Jiang Zemin, though this characterization has been disputed. During Hu Jintao's term as General Secretary (2002–2012), the PSC could be understood as a "leadership collective" or a "joint presidency"; that is, essentially a body operating on consensus that executes powers normally granted to a single officeholder. The 16th Party Congress also saw Li Changchun gain a seat on the PSC without a formally defined portfolio, though he was widely considered to be the "propaganda chief". Huang Ju died in June 2007, becoming the first sitting PSC member to die in office since 1976. His vacancy was not filled ostensibly because it was only a few months preceding a Party Congress, making the body operate temporarily with an eight-member structure. The 17th Party Congress maintained roughly the same structure as the 16th.

At the 18th Party Congress held in 2012, membership of the PSC was yet again reduced to seven members. The head of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission did not feature in the new Standing Committee, neither did the vice-president. The positions of executive secretary of the Secretariat and that of "propaganda chief" were consolidated into one person, Liu Yunshan.

Contemporary selection method and considerations
Selection of members is believed to be largely the result of high-level deliberations among incumbent members of the party's Politburo and PSC as well as retired PSC members. Prospective candidates for membership in the PSC typically rely on individual members of this high level group to act as their patrons. The current and former Politburo members conduct several rounds of deliberations interspersed with a series of straw polls to determine their support for the candidacy of new Politburo and PSC members. These straw polls are not binding and instead reflect the evolving consensus of the group on a new member's candidacy. The Politburo may also conduct a straw poll of all incumbent Central Committee members on the candidacy of new Politburo and PSC members, but this poll is only consultative. The process of selecting the new Politburo and PSC begins with a closed door session of the incumbent PSC at Beidaihe in the last summer before the Party Congress convenes in the fall. The list of Politburo and PSC candidates for the Central Committee to formally confirm is usually complete several weeks before the Party Congress.

According to informed academic observers such as Cheng Li, a scholar at Brookings Institution, and Susan Shirk of the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, rise in the Chinese political system and selection to the Standing Committee depends more on loyalty to powerful patrons than on ability. It was widely believed, for example, that the Standing Committee line-up of the 16th Party Congress included several members who were elevated based on their relationship with outgoing General Secretary Jiang Zemin, including, most notably, Zeng Qinghong, Huang Ju, and Jia Qinglin. Much has been written on the divide between Princelings and the Tuanpai (Youth League faction) between the 16th and 18th Congresses, though it is not precisely known to what extent factional identity played in the selection of PSC members.

Seniority also played an important role. It was established convention that a member of the PSC must have served for at least one term on the Politburo prior to entry to the PSC. However, this "rule" had been broken several times by those destined for party leader or the premiership, most notably with Zhu Rongji and Hu Jintao in 1992, and Li Keqiang and Xi Jinping in 2007. Jiang Zemin was also in the middle of serving out his first term on the Politburo before he was suddenly made General Secretary and thus a member of the PSC in 1989.

Since the late 1990s, nearly all PSC members have experience as a party chief of a province or a direct-controlled municipality. Of the 29 Standing Committee members inaugurated to the body since 1997, only six individuals have not held regional party chief positions: Li Peng, Wen Jiabao, Li Lanqing, Luo Gan, Liu Yunshan, Wang Huning, and Ding Xuexiang; of these, only three – Li Peng, Wen Jiabao, and Wang Huning have never served in a regional leadership role.

Age is also key. For instance, since 1989, all Standing Committee members have been at least 50 years old at the time of their appointment. Hu Jintao was 50 upon his appointment to the PSC at the 14th Party Congress in 1992. Xi Jinping was 54 and Li Keqiang was 52 at their appointment to the PSC at the 17th Party Congress in 2007. At the same time, since the 16th Party Congress in 2002, PSC members who were 68 or older at the time of a Party Congress have retired without exception. This has been known as the rule of qi-shang, ba-xia (七上八下; lit. "seven up, eight down"), referring to the fact that if a PSC member is 68 or older at the time of a party congress, he must retire, but if he is 67 or younger, he may still enter the committee. Recently, however, doubt has been cast over this "rule". A senior party cadre named Deng Maosheng, in a statement to state-run news agency Xinhua in October 2016, stated that "The strict boundaries of 'seven up, eight down' don't exist. This is something from folklore, and cannot be trusted."

In 2002, apart from Hu Jintao, the entire PSC retired and was replaced. Strict age-based retirement instituted in the CCP meant de facto term limits and relatively high turnover, with the vast majority of members serving for one or two terms. Since 1989, the only PSC member to have served more than three terms on the body was Hu Jintao, who served for four terms between 1992 and 2012. Policy views of ambitious aspirants are routinely concealed in order to gain the broadest level of consensus, with Hu Jintao being a prime example. Various theories have been proposed, mostly by academic outside of mainland China, to discern the 'factions' within a Standing Committee (often between "conservatives" and "reformers"), though in practice due to its opaque operations, faction membership has never been a hard-and-fast rule. Overly showy or high-profile 'campaigning' for the PSC, such as the actions of former Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai, were considered detrimental to PSC selection.

Current members (in order)

Historical membership and rankings
The following is a list of the historical composition of the Standing Committee since the formation of the Standing Committee of the CCP's 4th Central Bureau in 1927. Starting from 1943, those ranked first have consistently held the title of Chairman or General Secretary of the CCP. The remaining ranks vary.

 4th CSC (elected April 1927): Qu Qiubai, Tan Pingshan, Zhang Guotao
 5th PSC (elected May 1927): Chen Duxiu, Qu Qiubai, Zhang Guotao, Cai Hesen, Li Weihan, Zhou Enlai, Li Lisan, Zhang Tailei, Su Zhaozheng, Luo Yinong
 6th PSC (elected July 1928): Xiang Zhongfa (D), Bo Gu (elevated January 1934), Qu Qiubai, Zhang Guotao, Cai Hesen, Zhou Enlai, Li Lisan, Su Zhaozheng (D), Xiang Ying, Zhang Wentian, Wang Ming
 6th PSC (Zunyi re-shuffle, elected January 1935): Zhang Wentian, Mao Zedong (elevated July 1937), Zhou Enlai, Bo Gu, Wang Ming, Wang Jiaxiang, Chen Yun, Kang Sheng, Ren Bishi, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De
 7th Secretariat (elected June 1945): Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Chen Yun, Ren Bishi (D), Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi
 8th PSC (elected September 1956): Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Chen Yun, Lin Biao (X), Deng Xiaoping
 8th PSC (Cultural Revolution re-shuffle, elected August 1966): Mao Zedong, Lin Biao (X), Zhou Enlai, Tao Zhu, Chen Boda (X), Deng Xiaoping, Kang Sheng (X), Liu Shaoqi (R), Zhu De, Li Fuchun, Chen Yun
 9th PSC (elected April 1969): Mao, Lin Biao (D, X), Zhou Enlai, Chen Boda (X), Kang Sheng (X)
 10th PSC (elected August 1973): Mao (D), Hua Guofeng (elevated April 1976), Zhou Enlai (D), Wang Hongwen (X), Kang Sheng (D, X), Ye Jianying, Li Desheng, Zhu De (D), Zhang Chunqiao (X), Dong Biwu (D), Deng Xiaoping (elected January 1975)
 11th PSC (elected August 1977): Hua Guofeng, Ye Jianying, Deng Xiaoping, Li Xiannian, Wang Dongxing (resigned February 1980), Chen Yun, Hu Yaobang, Zhao Ziyang (elected February 1980)
 12th PSC (elected September 1982): Hu Yaobang (removed January 1987), Ye Jianying (resigned September 1985), Deng Xiaoping, Zhao Ziyang, Li Xiannian, Chen Yun
 13th PSC (elected November 1987): Zhao Ziyang, Li Peng, Qiao Shi, Hu Qili, Yao Yilin
 13th PSC (Post-Tiananmen re-shuffle, elected June 1989): Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, Qiao Shi, Yao Yilin, Song Ping, Li Ruihuan
14th PSC (elected October 1992): Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, Qiao Shi, Li Ruihuan, Zhu Rongji, Liu Huaqing, Hu Jintao
 15th PSC (elected September 1997): Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, Zhu Rongji, Li Ruihuan, Hu Jintao, Wei Jianxing, Li Lanqing
 16th PSC (elected November 2002): Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Zeng Qinghong, Huang Ju (D), Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun, Luo Gan
 17th PSC (elected October 2007): Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang, Zhou Yongkang (X)
 18th PSC (elected November 2012): Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan, Zhang Gaoli
 19th PSC (elected October 2017): Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, Han Zheng
 20th PSC (elected October 2022): Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi

Notes:
 (D): Died in office.
 (X): Expelled from party (including posthumously)
 (R): Expelled from the party, then rehabilitated

See also

 Longest-serving members of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
 Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party
 Political position ranking of the People's Republic of China
 Politics of the People's Republic of China

Notes

References

Standing Committee
China, Politburo of the Communist Party
Politburo
1928 establishments in China


Steve Wayne (1920 – September 5, 2004) was a film and television actor appearing in movies and commercials for products such as Alka-Seltzer, Wheaties and Ocean Spray.

Wayne was born Norman Weinberger. He had two brothers. He lived on Payson Street in Baltimore, Maryland and grew up in the same neighborhood as professional boxer Jack Portnoy.

He traveled to Hollywood, California with the dream of an acting career. From 1944 to 1957, Wayne appeared in 27 movies and T.V. programs. Among his most noted films were Bedtime for Bonzo with Ronald Reagan, The Sands of Two Jima with John Wayne, and Stalag 17 with William Holden.

In 1979 Wayne noticed that music groups were plastering fliers over "No Smoking" and "Fire Area" signs in his heavily wooded Laurel Canyon neighborhood, not far from the site of a major fire that had destroyed homes.  For the next 2 decades, Wayne tore down
thousands of illegal fliers all over Los Angeles County

"If everybody just takes down one sign a week, we could clean up Los Angeles easily," he said. He kept at it nearly up to the day he died, stopping to rip down signs "even when coming home from his chemo appointments," said his daughter, Cathy Wayne.

Wayne was married to Nancy and had one child. She died in 1999, and he died on September 5, 2004, in Los Angeles, California of cancer; he was 84 years old.

References

External links

1920 births
2004 deaths
Deaths from cancer in California
Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Steve Wayne


"Hataraku Otoko" is a single by Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi released on November 22, 2006. The title song is used as the theme to the anime series Hataraki Man.

The single's tracks are all Puffy cover songs originally from different bands. 'Hataraku Otoko' was a song by  Tamio Okuda's band Unicorn, 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' was by The Beatles, that originally appeared on John Lennon's tribute album 'Happy Birthday, John' and 'Don't Bring Me Down' by Electric Light Orchestra.

The single's cover is also notable for being drawn by Moyoco Anno, the creator of Hataraki Man.

The Song was later included in 2007's album Hit&Fun

Track listing
 働く男 (Hataraku Otoko/Working Man)
 Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
 Don't Bring Me Down

Chart performance
The single peaked at number 41 on the singles chart, selling 3.426 copies that week, and stayed on the chart for 3 weeks.

References

2006 singles
Puffy AmiYumi songs

Hataraku Otoko


The Capt. Joseph Hinckley House is a historic house located at 142 Old Stage Road in Barnstable, Massachusetts.

Description and history
The 1-3/4 story wood-frame house was built c. 1850, and is an excellent local instance of Greek Revival architecture. Its front facade is flushboarded on the first floor, with full-length windows. The front porch has a wide entablature that is continued around the sides of the house, and is supported by fluted Doric columns. The property includes a barn that was built c. 1827. It served for a time as a stop on the area stagecoach route, and was also home to Joseph Hinckley, a ship's captain.

The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 13, 1987.

See also
National Register of Historic Places listings in Barnstable County, Massachusetts

References

Houses in Barnstable, Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Barnstable, Massachusetts
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Barnstable County, Massachusetts
Houses completed in 1850
Greek Revival houses in Massachusetts

Capt. Joseph Hinckley House