Krystian Mitchell Victor Pearce (born 5 January 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for  club Kidderminster Harriers and the Barbados national team.

Pearce began his football career with Birmingham City, but never played for their first team. He spent time on loan at Notts County, with whom he made his debut in the English Football League, Port Vale, Scunthorpe United and Peterborough United before leaving Birmingham permanently for Huddersfield Town in 2010. He returned to Notts County later that year, and had a spell on loan at Barnet in 2012 before signing for Torquay United in 2013. After two seasons with Torquay, he spent five years with Mansfield Town in League Two and then half a season with Solihull Moors in the National League. He joined Hereford in August 2021 and moved on to Kidderminster Harriers in June 2022. He was promoted out of the National League North with Kidderminster via the play-offs in 2023.

Pearce was born in England, and played for England U17 at the 2007 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship, where they reached the final, and at the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup. In September 2007 he made his debut for the England under-19 team, the year above his actual age group, and played at the finals of the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. He switched in 2018 to represent Barbados, for which he qualified via descent.

Club career

Birmingham City
Pearce was born in Birmingham and started his career at Sunday league side Kingsdown Colts before joining Birmingham City's Academy when he was ten years old. He began as a striker but converted to play in defence. He was first given a squad number in January 2007 when included in the travelling squad for the FA Cup replay at Newcastle United but did not make the final 16. Two months later he signed his first professional contract, due to expire in 2009. He made frequent appearances for Birmingham City's reserve team, winners of their division of the Central League. As captain of the under-18 side, he scored the winning goal which put his team through to the quarter-final of the FA Youth Cup, in which he conceded a penalty as Birmingham lost to Manchester United. Singled out in Academy manager Terry Westley's end-of-season report as "the one name that does stand out in terms of what he has achieved", Pearce was chosen as Academy Player of the Season for 2006–07.

2007–08 season
Pearce was given a squad number for the 2007–08 season and included in Birmingham's squad for the League Cup match at Blackburn Rovers, but remained an unused substitute.

On 8 November 2007, Pearce signed a one-month loan deal at League Two side Notts County in order to gain experience. He made his competitive debut two days later in the starting eleven for Notts County's 3–0 FA Cup first round win over Histon, and the following Saturday made his Football League debut for the club, playing the full 90 minutes in the 1–0 defeat at home to Macclesfield Town. On 8 December he scored his first senior goal, in a 2–1 win against Shrewsbury Town, contributing to him being named in the League Two Team of the Week, after which his loan was extended for a further month. A sending off for a clumsy challenge failed to dampen County's wish to extend the loan again, but Birmingham recalled the player at the expiry of the second month so that new manager Alex McLeish could assess him as possible cover during Radhi Jaïdi's absence at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.

On 31 January 2008, Pearce joined Port Vale of League One on loan for an initial period of one month to gain experience at a higher level. This loan spell was disrupted by another red card, this time for two bookings, resulting in a two-game ban which left the player anxious to make amends. This loan was twice extended, up to the maximum permissible 93 days, though an ankle injury cut short his stay with the club.

2008–09 season
In May 2008 Pearce signed a new two-year contract with Birmingham, in recognition of his performances while on loan and his potential to develop into a first-team player.

On 19 August 2008, he joined League One club Scunthorpe United on loan for a month, later extended, initially until January 2009, then until the end of the season, including, if necessary, for the play-offs. Pearce scored twice for Scunthorpe, once in the league against Swindon Town and once in the Football League Trophy against Rotherham United. He partnered with David Mirfin for the majority of the 2008–09 campaign, though was dropped for the experienced Andy Crosby with four games left of the season due to niggling injuries and a lack of form – Crosby went on to captain the club to victory in the play-off final.

2009–10 season
Pearce signed for Peterborough United on a season-long loan on 20 July 2009. In the starting eleven for the League Cup win against Wycombe Wanderers in August, he had to wait until late September for his first League appearance, as a second-half substitute in a poor team performance as Peterborough lost 2–0 away at Blackpool. In contention to start the next game, Pearce remained among the substitutes as changes were made in defence, and his 20-minute appearance as Peterborough lost 2–1 at home to Plymouth Argyle was his last League outing for the club. Pearce remained out of favour as Mark Cooper succeeded Darren Ferguson as manager, and in January 2010 the loan was cut short and the player returned to Birmingham.

Huddersfield Town
On 19 January 2010, Pearce joined League One side Huddersfield Town on an emergency loan deal, to be made permanent the following day. He made his debut for the Terriers as a half-time substitute in the 5–0 defeat by Southampton at St Mary's Stadium on 2 March. That turned out to be Pearce's only appearance for Huddersfield, as loan signing Neal Trotman was preferred, and the player left the club at the end of the 2009–10 season having failed to reach agreement on a new deal.

Notts County
After a successful trial, Pearce signed a one-year deal with former club Notts County in August 2010. He established himself as a first-team regular and was rewarded with a contract extension until 2013. In March 2011, he suffered serious injury after a clash of heads with teammate Stephen Darby in training, only weeks after a similar collision with Manchester City's Mario Balotelli in an FA Cup match. He remained unconscious for two to three minutes and was detained in hospital where he was found to have blood on the brain. Manager Paul Ince said it was "a massive blow" to lose Pearce from the defence for an expected six weeks as the team battled against relegation. He made an unexpected return to action in a 1–1 draw against Brentford on 25 April; in his absence, County had lost nine successive games. His performances over the season led to his nomination for the club's Player of the Season award.

Pearce scored his first goal of the 2011–12 campaign in a 3–2 victory against Tranmere Rovers in August. He was handed the captaincy for the game against Preston North End for which regular captain Neal Bishop was suspended. He scored his second goal of the season against AFC Bournemouth in a 3–1 win. Pearce suffered a groin injury in August which caused him discomfort during the first half of the campaign; in January 2012, he said that he had "felt it in games but you have to play through it. Adrenalin usually gets you through and that's what I've been relying on." He underwent a hernia operation at the end of the season.

Manager Keith Curle made what the Nottingham Post described as a "shock decision" to place Pearce on the transfer list in May 2012, suggesting that the player had "not been able to recreate the level of performance [he] was hoping for and expecting". Curle said that Pearce would not be given a free transfer, and claimed that a £500,000 bid had been rejected during the season. He joined League Two club Barnet on a three-month loan on 14 September, and made his debut the next day, playing in central defence alongside David Stephens in a 3–0 defeat away to Bradford City. Pearce scored his first goal for the club with a glancing header from a John Oster corner as Barnet beat Northampton Town 4–0 at Underhill on 19 October. He continued as a first-team regular until returning to Notts County when his loan expired, match-fit and hopeful of proving himself to Curle. He played the last two games of County's 2012–13 season, and scored the last goal of their campaign in a 2–2 draw with Coventry City at Meadow Lane. Out of contract at the end of the season, Pearce was told that any new deal was subject to budgetary considerations; in the event, he was released.

Torquay United
On 30 July 2013, Pearce signed a two-year contract with League Two club Torquay United. He made 37 appearances as Torquay were relegated out of the Football League in the 2013–14 season. He made 32 League appearances in 2014–15, and was then released after manager Chris Hargreaves judged that Pearce failed to "reach the heights of last season" and that his wages were too high for the club.

Mansfield Town
Pearce signed for League Two side Mansfield Town following a trial period in July 2015. He made 40 appearances in the 2015–16 campaign despite being sent off three times, and signed a new contract in the summer. He stated that he was happy to be signing again because he believed in the squad and in what manager Adam Murray was trying to achieve. He scored four goals in 48 appearances in the 2016–17 campaign, and was named as the club's Player of the Season.

Speaking in September, he stated that the "Stags" aimed to finish in the top three at the end of the 2017–18 season after manager Steve Evans invested heavily in the playing squad over the summer. Pearce signed a new one-year contract, with the option of a further 12 months, to keep him at Field Mill until either 2019 or 2020. He made 44 appearances in the 2017–18 campaign, scoring two goals and receiving one red card, as Mansfield finished in a disappointing eighth place under the stewardship of David Flitcroft.

He was named on League Two's PFA Team of the Year and EFL Team of the Season for the 2018–19 campaign, alongside teammate Tyler Walker, having scored four goals in 54 league and cup appearances. On 2 February, he scored in a 3–1 home win over Macclesfield Town to secure himself a place on the EFL Team of the Week. Despite keeping 18 clean sheets in the league, Mansfield missed out on automatic promotion by three points and went on to lose to Newport County on away goals in the play-off semi-finals. He was named as the club's captain.

On 5 October 2019, he scored the only goal of the game at Grimsby Town to earn himself a place on the EFL team of the week. He was transfer-listed in January by new manager Graham Coughlan, who later admitted that "I had to ruffle a few feathers at the club" and "the best way into a dressing room is through the skipper". Pearce was released at the end of the 2019–20 season.

Solihull Moors
Pearce signed a short-term deal with National League club Solihull Moors on 30 October 2020, and made his debut the following day in the starting eleven away to Maidenhead United. He played the whole of the match, which ended as a 3–1 defeat. He went on to play nine matches in all competitions and score three goals before, on 5 January 2021, the club confirmed that his contract had come to an end.

Boreham Wood
On 18 January 2021, Pearce signed for fellow National League side Boreham Wood on an 18-month contract. He was cup-tied after playing for Solihull in the FA Trophy, but played 21 league games for Boreham Wood in the second half of the 2020–21 season. He was transfer-listed at the end of the season for what were described as "location reasons".

Hereford
Pearce joined National League North club Hereford on 30 August 2021. Manager Josh Gowling said that his side had needed an "experienced leader". After administrative issues delayed his registration, he finally made his debut on 18 September in the FA Cup second qualifying round against Lymington Town, but lasted only 18 minutes before injury intervened. Pearce won the league's Player of the Month award for November after helping his side achieve five league wins across the course of the month without conceding a goal. He was released at the end of the 2021–22 season.

Kidderminster Harriers
Pearce joined National League North club Kidderminster Harriers on a one-year deal on 22 June 2022. He started the opening match of the season, and was reportedly fortunate not to be sent off for elbowing an opponent. He played 42 of the club's 46 league games across the 2022–23 campaign, helping them to qualify for the play-offs. Promotion was secured with a 2–0 victory over Brackley Town in the play-off final.

International career
Pearce was born in England, and is of Barbadian descent through his father.

He was first capped at under-17 level for England on 27 October 2006 in a UEFA mini-tournament against Portugal, and was part of the squad which qualified for the final stages of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship held in Belgium in May 2007. He started all of England's games in those finals, and scored their opening goal, his first at international level, helping them to reach the final in which they lost 1–0 to Spain.

England's performance in the UEFA championships earned them qualification for the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup in South Korea. Again Pearce was in the starting eleven for each of England's games, and scored the second goal in their win over Syria U-17 in the round of 16, described in FIFA's match report as: "Once again, another Porritt cross caused problems for Mohamad Aljomaa's side, the ball fell to centre half Krystian Pearce, who showed all the composure of a striker, taking two touches before hitting a low shot into the net."

During both the European and World tournaments, Pearce formed a sound defensive partnership with team captain Jordan Spence of West Ham United; Sir Trevor Brooking, the Football Association's Director of Football Development, tipped the pair for future success. Pearce was described in an article on the FA's website as "arguably England's best player at the World Cup".

In September 2007 Pearce was called up to the England under-19 squad for the qualifying tournament for the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship, despite being a year younger than most of the squad. He played the whole of England's first two games and was rested for the third, coming on at half time and scoring the third goal in a 3–1 win. Called up for a friendly against Russia under-19 in March 2008, Pearce was withdrawn and allowed to play for his loan club Port Vale, on the grounds that both England under-19 coach Brian Eastick and Birmingham City saw "playing in a League One game against Gillingham as being beneficial to his development". He was part of the under-19 squad that topped their group at the elite qualification stage, starting in their second match and coming on as a very late substitute in the third. In England's first group match in the finals, a lack of communication between Pearce and his goalkeeper cost England a goal against their Czech counterparts. He retained his starting place for the remaining group games, keeping clean sheets in a goalless draw with Italy, where he made a vital late interception, and a 3–0 defeat of Greece. Though England failed to reach the semifinals, their performance was good enough to qualify for the final stages of the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Pearce took part in two of the three group matches in the first qualifying round for the 2009 European Under-19 Championships, as a half-time substitute in a 3–1 victory over their Northern Irish counterparts which ensured qualification for the elite qualification round, and playing the whole of the 4–1 defeat by Serbia.

Pearce switched to represent Barbados and made his debut in a 2–2 draw with Guyana in a 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League qualifying match on 6 September 2018. However he and fellow debutant Hallam Hope were deemed ineligible by CONCACAF, and the result of the match overturned into a 3–0 defeat for Barbados. His Barbados nationality was formally recognised by FIFA in December 2020, making him once again eligible to represent the country.

Style of play
Pearce is good in the air, as one would expect of a large man, and has pace and composure. He is equally comfortable with the ball at his feet and does not lack confidence. According to Birmingham Academy manager Terry Westley, "he has pace and power in abundance and he will be an absolute giant when he stops growing. He's strong, he's tidied up his feet and he's another ... who is not flash or arrogant. He thrives on being pushed." His nickname is "Chief", because "one of the [Birmingham] coaches said he saw a movie and there was a chief in it who didn't talk much but everyone looked up to him and respected him. I am like that so everyone gave me the name."

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours
Birmingham City
 Academy Player of the Season: 2006–07
 Central League Division One Central: 2006–07
England under-17
 UEFA European Under-17 Championship runners-up: 2007

Kidderminster Harriers
National League North play-offs: 2023

Individual
 Mansfield Town F.C. Player of the Season: 2016–17
 EFL Team of the Season: 2018–19
 EFL League Two PFA Team of the Year: 2018–19
 National League North Player of the Month: November 2021

References

External links

1990 births
Living people
Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands
Barbadian men's footballers
Barbados men's international footballers
English men's footballers
England men's youth international footballers
Men's association football central defenders
Birmingham City F.C. players
Notts County F.C. players
Port Vale F.C. players
Scunthorpe United F.C. players
Peterborough United F.C. players
Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players
Barnet F.C. players
Torquay United F.C. players
Mansfield Town F.C. players
Solihull Moors F.C. players
Boreham Wood F.C. players
Hereford F.C. players
Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players
Black British sportsmen
English sportspeople of Barbadian descent
People with acquired Barbadian citizenship

Krystian Pearce


College ice hockey  is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America.

In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

In Canada, the term "college hockey" refers to community college and small college ice hockey that currently consists of a varsity conference – the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) – and a club league – the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL). "University hockey" is the term used for hockey primarily played at four-year institutions; that level of the sport is governed by U Sports.

History

In fall of 1892, Malcolm Greene Chace, then a freshman at Brown University, and Robert Wrenn, of Harvard University, were participating in a tennis tournament in Niagara Falls, Ontario. They both had dabbled a bit in a sport called ice polo; in Ontario, they met  members of the Victoria Hockey Club, who introduced them to their similar game of ice hockey, and invited the two to visit Montreal to learn about their version of the game.

The next winter, during Christmas break 1894-1895, Chace (who had by then transferred to Yale University) and Wrenn returned to Canada with a group of college students from several universities. The cadre was one of the first American ice hockey teams and, after a 10-game tour of Canada, the students returned to their respective schools with the intent of founding collegiate ice hockey clubs.

Yale, where Chace served as team captain and player-coach, was the first of the group to organize its team and in February 1896 the Bulldogs played the first two intercollegiate ice hockey games against Johns Hopkins University. While Johns Hopkins' program would cease for 90 years after 1898, Yale has served as a bedrock of college hockey ever since, playing continually including through the Great Depression and two world wars. Yale's 125-year continuous streak was broken for the 2020-21 season, when all Ivy League winter sports were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another game often cited as the "first game of intercollegiate ice hockey played in the United States" is a well-documented contest on January 19, 1898 at Franklin Park, Boston. Students from Brown took the train to Boston, where they commandeered a patch of a frozen pond in Franklin Park, asked pleasure skaters to give them room, and played students from Harvard. The details and outcome of the game were recorded in the following day's Boston Herald: Brown 6, Harvard 0.

Within ten years all eight schools that would eventually comprise the Ivy League had played their first game as well as several other nearby teams. A lack of available ice was the primary concern for most schools as to whether they should start a program or continue supporting an existing team but that did not detract from the enthusiasm of the students.

Early style of play
For at least the first 25 years of intercollegiate play the teams used a 7-on-7 format, a typical setup for turn of the century ice hockey. On a faceoff players were typically arranged as either four forwards, two point men and one goaltender or three forwards, one rover two point men and one goaltender.

In the four forward setup the players were arranged from a faceoff as a left and right wing (or end) on the outside and a left and right center on the inside. The two point men and goaltender were typically arrayed in a line from center ice to the goal as cover point, point and goaltender. If viewed from above the players would form a ' T '.

If a rover was used instead there would only be one center. The rover would line up either in a defensive or offensive position depending on the need. The remaining five positions would be unchanged. By the 1921–22 season college hockey adopted the increasingly more common 6–aside format with the abandonment of the second center/rover position and the two point men being renamed as 'defensemen'. The change from point men to defensemen comes as a result of an alignment change where instead of lining up one in front of the other, the two defensive players would play beside one another.

The ice surfaces that the players played on were not of a uniform size. Rinks like the St. Nicholas Rink or Duquesne Gardens were few and far between and quite often teams would only be able to play on frozen ponds. Slightly more consistent were the length of games, however, there was no set game time. Most were played as two 20-minute halves but some games had 15- or 25-minute halves and others were one 40-minute period. Occasionally games were not able to be played entirely at one time so the teams would arrange to meet at a later date to finish the match. Overtime after a tie did not always occur, as ice times at public skating rinks were constrained, but even when teams were able to play extra frames the rules were somewhat flexible; because there were no lights illuminating the ponds, games could only be played while the sun was shining and in the winter months dusk came quickly. The teams would attempt to finish the game with a winner decided but even after multiple overtimes ties did result.

Stabilizing the game

From the start college hockey teams were rarely in a place of surety. In the 10 years since Johns Hopkins University's exit in 1898 at least a dozen teams were forced to cancel seasons or suspend their program entirely, including some of the more financially sound institutions like Cornell University and Brown University. The two main factors in this were interest from the student body and the lack of available or good ice. While the interest conundrum required a more nuanced solution, the ice troubles had a more tangible answer. Teams near to public skating rinks would be able to hold their games at venues where ice conditions could be ensured but at the start, with so few available, some programs came up with novel solutions. One such idea came from Harvard University who, after completing construction of their football stadium in 1904, decided to erect two open-air rinks on the field for the team to use.

As rinks continued to be built in areas near to the colleges, specifically the Boston Arena, New Haven Arena and Philadelphia Ice Palace, college teams had more and more ice rinks available to them and with most using artificial ice the teams were no longer dependent on weather conditions. Owing to the popularity of the game the first on-campus, purpose-built arena was constructed by Princeton University in 1923. Most schools were content with buying ice time from local rink operators while others simply didn't want to fund the building of their own version of the Hobey Baker Memorial Rink. As the weather warmed in the 1930s and 40s many of these teams would be forced to decide whether they were willing to financially support their ice hockey programs or not. Army, for instance, had Smith Rink built in 1930 while Cornell struggled with the ice on Beebe Lake until after World War II.

World War I aftermath
The vast majority of teams ceased operating in 1917 after the United States entered World War I. This made sense as many of the students who would otherwise have been playing had instead joined the military. Because the war ended in November 1918 many of the teams returned to the ice for the 1918–19 season and, while the game continued to grow around New England, an interesting development happened shortly after the armistice was signed.

Colleges in the midwest began their own ice hockey programs. At the beginning these were typically restricted to upper-echelon universities like the University of Minnesota or the University of Michigan but some of the smaller schools got into the game as well. From the MIAC's foundation in 1920, member schools have played ice hockey and were able to establish the first consistent lower-tier competition in college hockey.

Great Depression
While college ice hockey flourished in the 1920s the Great Depression did have an impact on the game in the '30s. Most schools that had established programs made the effort to keep their teams going but some less-acclaimed teams like Pennsylvania or Columbia decided that ice hockey wasn't worth the cost. Some of the smaller schools like Rensselaer had no choice but to suspend their programs as they did not have the resources that a Harvard or Yale did. After the first half of the 1930s, however, the depression lessened and schools were able to found or restart their programs. The game continued to expand west with the addition of Gonzaga, USC, UCLA and others, however, none of the Pacific-coast teams would make it to the 1950s.

World War II hiatus
As was the case during World War I, the majority of universities suspended their ice hockey teams during World War II. Most of teams that were active just prior to the U.S.' entry played during the 1942–43 season but were mothballed afterwards. There were notable exceptions such as Yale and Dartmouth, who continued to play through the duration of the war, but many teams returned to the ice for an abbreviated 1945–46 season. One benefit to college hockey that resulted from the war was the G.I. Bill which helped returning servicemen pay for a college education. With a much larger student body and a resulting influx in cash, colleges were more able to afford to support an ice hockey team.

NCAA tournament
By 1947, college ice hockey was still a regional sport, being localized in the northeast and northern Midwest (with a few exceptions) but despite the low number of teams playing, the NCAA finally instituted a national tournament. At the start the tournament invited two participants from the two regions: east and west. The east region was loosely defined as any college east of the Pennsylvania-Ohio border with all other teams being lumped into the west region. The tournament was held at the Broadmoor World Arena for the first ten years. Partially due to a lack of competition, Michigan was invited to participate in each of the first ten tournaments and won six National Championships in that time.

NCAA

The National Collegiate Athletic Association has conducted national championships for men's ice hockey since 1948, and women's ice hockey since 2001.

U.S. college hockey players must be deemed eligible for NCAA competition by the NCAA Eligibility Center, a process that examines a student-athlete's academic qualifications and amateur status. Players who have participated in the Canadian Hockey League or any professional hockey league are considered ineligible.

Men's U.S. college hockey is a feeder system to the National Hockey League. As of the  2010–11 season, 30 percent of NHL players (a total of 294) had U.S. college hockey experience prior to turning professional, an increase of 35 percent from the previous 10 years. That percentage has been maintained the past three seasons, with a record 301 NHL players coming from college hockey in 2011–12.

Men
One hundred thirty-eight colleges and universities sponsor men's ice hockey in the NCAA's three divisions.

Division I

NCAA Division I will have 64 ice hockey teams in the 2023–24 season, two more than in 2022–23. Of these schools, 20 are Division II or III athletic programs that "play up" to Division I in hockey, and 16 of the full Division I members are in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Seven of the FBS schools compete in the Big Ten Conference; six are full conference members and the seventh is a single-sport member.

The NCAA Division I Championship is a 16-team, single-elimination tournament, divided into four, 4-team regional tournaments. The winner of each regional advances to the Frozen Four to compete for the national championship. For many years, 5 teams earned automatic bids through winning conference tournament championships, while 11 earned at-large berths through a selection committee. With the addition of the Big Ten hockey conference for the 2013–14 season, the tournament now features 6 automatic qualifiers, and 10 at-large bids. The ranking system that is used to determine the at-large teams is known as the Pairwise Rankings, which uses a number of ranking factors to create a scoring system for all NCAA Division I teams.

In 2023–24, one school will play its first season of Division I hockey, while another will resume D-I play after a two-season hiatus. Augustana University, a Division II school in South Dakota (and not to be confused with Augustana College, a Division III school in Illinois), is launching a new varsity program as the newest member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Robert Morris, which had suspended its men's and women's hockey programs after the 2020–21 season due to COVID-19 impacts, reinstated both teams for 2023–24, with the men returning to their previous home of Atlantic Hockey.

As of the upcoming 2023–24 season, the conferences are:

Atlantic Hockey Association
Big Ten Conference
Central Collegiate Hockey Association
ECAC Hockey
Hockey East Association
National Collegiate Hockey Conference

The CCHA, the revival of a league that had operated from 1971 to 2013 before folding in the aftermath of major conference realignment, initially consisted of seven schools that had previously competed in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. These schools had announced in late 2019 that they would leave the WCHA after the 2020–21 season, and subsequently announced that they would operate as a new CCHA. In July 2020, the new CCHA added an eighth member in St. Thomas, a Twin Cities institution that made an unprecedented move from NCAA Division III directly to Division I. Augustana became the ninth member in 2023.

As for the WCHA, it folded its men's division. Not only did the aforementioned group of seven schools leave to form the revived CCHA, but an eighth men's member, Alaska Anchorage, had announced it would drop hockey (plus two other sports) after the 2020–21 school year. Still another men's member, Alabama–Huntsville (UAH), had also filed papers to leave after the 2020–21 season, then dropped the sport entirely due to fallout from COVID-19, but soon reinstated the sport following a successful fundraising drive led by UAH hockey alumni. This reprieve proved temporary, as the school and its hockey supporters agreed that the continuation of the sport beyond 2020–21 would be contingent on finding a new conference home; when no conference move materialized, the hockey program was dropped again (although UAH officially called the move a "suspension"). The other remaining WCHA men's member was Alaska, representing the Fairbanks campus of the University of Alaska; it chose to continue play as a D-I independent.

The Ivy League recognizes ice hockey champions for both sexes, but it does not sponsor the sport; it instead uses the results of regular-season ECAC Hockey matches involving two Ivy League schools to extrapolate an Ivy champion (all six Ivy League schools that sponsor varsity hockey do so for both men and women, and compete in the ECAC). The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference sponsored D-I men's hockey, but dropped the sport in 2003.

The most recent additions to D-I men's ice hockey are the aforementioned Augustana and Robert Morris. The 2022–23 season saw Alaska Anchorage resume D-I play after a successful fundraising drive.

In May 2021, Tennessee State University announced that it was conducting a feasibility study on the possible addition of varsity men's and women's hockey teams. Should TSU add either team, it would become the first historically black university to field a varsity hockey team. The study was partially backed by the NHL and the Nashville Predators, located in TSU's home city. TSU announced in June 2023 that it would start a men's hockey program at club level in 2024–25, with women's hockey to be added at an indeterminate future time. While hockey will initially play at club level, it will be overseen by the TSU athletic department. TSU plans to eventually upgrade its men's and women's teams to NCAA play.

The Hobey Baker Memorial Award honors the top player in men's Division I hockey. The Mike Richter Award honors the top goaltender in Division I.

Division II
The NCAA does not currently sponsor a championship in NCAA Division II, as there is only one conference that currently sponsors hockey, the Northeast-10 Conference. The NCAA conducted a Division II national championship from 1978 to 1984 and also from 1993 to 1999.

Division III
The 84 programs in Division III hockey are part of nine conferences:
Commonwealth Coast Conference
Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
New England Hockey Conference
New England Small College Athletic Conference
Northern Collegiate Hockey Association
State University of New York Athletic Conference
United Collegiate Hockey Conference
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

The Middle Atlantic Conference officially sponsors men's and women's ice hockey, but does not hold a conference tournament. Instead, in a relationship similar to that between the Ivy League and ECAC Hockey, all MAC hockey schools are members of the UCHC, and the MAC uses regular-season results of games between MAC members to extrapolate a MAC champion. MAC members compete for the UCHC's automatic NCAA tournament berth.

The NCAA has conducted a Division III national championship since 1984. The current championship format is a 12-team (formerly 11-team), single-elimination bracket.

Women

There are 108 colleges and universities that sponsor women's ice hockey in two divisions: National Collegiate and Division III.

National Collegiate
As of the upcoming 2023–24 season, 44 teams compete in the National Collegiate division (commonly referred to as Division I). All of them play in one of five conferences:
College Hockey America (CHA)
ECAC Hockey
Hockey East
New England Women's Hockey Alliance (NEWHA)
Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA)

The WCHA remains in operation as a women's league despite the demise of the conference's men's side.

The National Collegiate championship is an 8-team, single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion.

The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is awarded annually by USA Hockey to the top player in women's Division I hockey.

The most recent school to start National Collegiate play is Assumption, which begins varsity play in 2023–24 as the newest member of the NEWHA, having joined for administrative purposes a year earlier. Also, as noted previously, Tennessee State has plans to add women's hockey, although it did not set a timeline.

Robert Morris resumed National Collegiate play in 2023–24, returning to CHA after having dropped men's and women's hockey following the 2020–21 season.

The newest National Collegiate conference is the NEWHA, formed in 2017 as a scheduling alliance between the then-current National Collegiate independents. It formally organized as a conference in 2018 and received NCAA recognition in 2019.

Division III
There are 67 teams in Division III in eight conferences:
Colonial Hockey Conference
ECAC West
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
New England Hockey Conference
New England Small College Athletic Conference
Northern Collegiate Hockey Association
United Collegiate Hockey Conference
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

As noted previously, the Middle Atlantic Conference sponsors women's ice hockey, but does not hold a conference tournament. All of its hockey members compete for the UCHC's automatic tournament berth, and the MAC champion is extrapolated from regular-season results of games between MAC members.

The Division III championship is a 9-team, single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion.

U Sports

University hockey teams in Canada compete in leagues as part of U Sports, the national governing body for Canadian university athletics (in Canadian English, the term "college" is reserved for schools that would be called "junior", "community", or "technical" colleges in the U.S.). U Sports sponsors both men's and women's hockey.

Like in the United States, teams compete in athletic conferences based on geographical locations of the schools. Unlike the NCAA, U Sports does not award players with athletic scholarships, resulting in a lack of divisional separation such as found between NCAA divisions. Individual conferences hold postseason tournaments, followed by the round-robin U Sports championship tournament in late March.

NAIA
In 2015, a group of member schools in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) began working to add the sport to the organization.  The NAIA originally sponsored a men's ice hockey championship from 1968 to 1984 when it was discontinued due to many of the schools with teams leaving the NAIA for the NCAA.  A few NAIA schools continued to sponsor the sport as varsity-club teams in the ACHA. A growing number of schools have added ice hockey as members of the ACHA over the past 5–10 years. In 2016, several NAIA institutions that sponsor men's ice hockey teams announced the formation of a coaches association and a new division for NAIA ice hockey program to begin play during the 2017–18 season. In 2017, The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) became the first current conference in the NAIA to offer the sport and host a conference championship.

ACHA

The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) is the sanctioning body for non-NCAA or "club" ice hockey in the United States. The organization provides structure, regulations and promotes the quality of collegiate ice hockey.

Teams separated into three men's and two women's divisions with over 300 teams from across the United States. The recruiting process, rules and regulations, and player eligibility standards parallel that of NCAA Division III. Sometimes, ACHA and NCAA will play games against each other to complete each of their season schedules.

Outdoor games in the 21st century

Men's
 Cold War – October 6, 2001, Michigan vs. Michigan State (Spartan Stadium)
 Frozen Tundra Hockey Classic – February 11, 2006, Ohio State vs. Wisconsin (Lambeau Field)
 Frozen Fenway 2010 – Boston University vs. Boston College, and Northeastern University vs. New Hampshire (Fenway Park)
 Culver's Camp Randall Hockey Classic – February 6, 2010, Michigan vs. Wisconsin (Camp Randall Stadium)
 The Big Chill at the Big House – December 11, 2010 held at Michigan Stadium set the hockey attendance record when 104,173 fans watched Michigan defeat Michigan State, 5–0.
 Frozen Diamond Classic – January 15, 2012, Michigan defeated Ohio State University, 4–1, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH.
 Frozen Fenway 2012 – Northeastern University vs. Boston College, Union College vs. Harvard University, and Maine vs. New Hampshire (Fenway Park)
 North Dakota and Omaha played in an outdoor game at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska on February 9, 2013, with North Dakota winning, 5–2.
 Hockey City Classic – February 17, 2013, Notre Dame vs. Miami University, and Minnesota vs. Wisconsin (Soldier Field)
 Frozen Frontier – December 14, 2013, Rochester Institute of Technology vs. Niagara University
 2013 Great Lakes Invitational – December 27–28, 2013 – The annual Detroit-based holiday tournament was moved outdoors from its traditional location at Joe Louis Arena to Comerica Park. The field consisted of Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech and Western Michigan.
 Hockey City Classic – January 17, 2014, Minnesota vs. Ohio State (TCF Bank Stadium)
 Bowling Green State University hosted Robert Morris University in an outdoor game at Fifth Third Park in Toledo, Ohio, on January 3, 2015. The game ended in a 2–2 draw.
 Hockey City Classic – February 7, 2015, Miami University vs. Western Michigan, and Michigan vs. Michigan State (Soldier Field)
 The Battle on Blake – February 20, 2016, University of Denver Pioneers vs. Colorado College Tigers as part of the Battle for the Gold Pan at Coors Field.
 Robert Morris hosted Niagara in an outdoor game at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on February 26, 2017. The Colonials won the game 5–1. Admission was free of charge.
 Hockey Day Minnesota 2022 – As part of this annual event that features multiple college and high school games, Minnesota State defeated St. Thomas 7–1 on January 22, 2022 at Blakeslee Stadium in Mankato, normally home to Minnesota State football.
 Faceoff on the Lake – February 18, 2023, Michigan vs. Ohio State (FirstEnergy Stadium)

Women's
January 8, 2010 Northeastern vs New Hampshire Fenway Park
Culver's Camp Randall Hockey Classic February 6, 2010 Bemidji State vs Wisconsin Camp Randall Stadium
Greater Rochester Frozen Frontier, December 14, 2013 Clarkson vs RIT Frontier Field
Hockey City Classic January 17, 2014, Minnesota vs Minnesota State (TCF Bank Stadium)
 Hockey Day Minnesota 2018 – St. Cloud State defeated Minnesota Duluth 2–1 after a shootout at a temporary outdoor venue next to Lake George in St. Cloud on January 20, 2018.
 Hockey Day Minnesota 2020 – Minnesota defeated Ohio State at Parade Stadium in Minneapolis on January 18, 2020.
 Hockey Day Minnesota 2022 – On January 23, 2022, the day after the two schools' men's teams played at Blakeslee Stadium in Mankato, Minnesota State defeated St. Thomas 3–1 at the same venue.

Longest-running annual international rivalry
A rivalry between the United States Military Academy (Army) Black Knights and the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) Paladins resulted in an annual West Point Weekend hockey game. The series was first played in 1923, and was claimed to be the longest-running annual international sporting event in the world. Army and RMC played continuously from 1949 until 2007, when scheduling conflicts forced the academies to abandon the scheduled game. The game was not played from 2007-2010, nor in 2012, but has been held annually since.  The most recent edition in 2020 saw RMC defeat West Point 3-2 in overtime, RMC's first win in the series since 2002.

European collegiate league
In Europe, the first college hockey league called EUHL was founded in 2013.

In the United Kingdom, college hockey league is operated by BUIHA (British Universities Ice Hockey Association). It was founded in 2003 and currently includes 23 clubs across the UK.

Professional hockey

For much of its history, college teams produced very few, if any, athletes that would play professionally. While there were several reasons for this, two primary causes established that trend. College teams were made up mostly by American player and professional teams preferred to use Canadians. Additionally, and because of that reason, the level of competition for college hockey was not viewed favorably. The perception of college hockey was so bad at one point that Red Berenson was told:
"If you go to an American college, you'll never become a pro."
While Berenson managed to defy those predictions, most players of his era did not. It wasn't until the NHL began expanding in 1967 that many alumni would even be looked at as potential professionals.

Over time, as many college players demonstrated that they could compete on the same level as their contemporaries from the Canadian junior leagues, The number of players able to continue their careers after graduating increased. Throughout the 80's and 90's colleges became a more acceptable pathway for potential NHLers and the effects having high-caliber talents on college rosters caused a change in the style of play. By the 21st Century, was mirroring the NHL in its defensive schemes and had become one of the producers of professional players.

See also
Battle for the Gold Pan Colorado based college hockey rivalry
Beanpot Boston-area college hockey tournament
College athletics
Great Lakes Invitational
List of defunct college hockey teams
List of ice hockey leagues#College
List of NCAA Division I ice hockey programs
NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship
National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Championship

References

College ice hockey


Universal design is a design of any products and informations that every person can use, of all ages, genders, disabilities.

The principle of universal design is to be simple, and easy to accesse to any public institutions and informations. It also include the useful information technology and Internet. This concept is also uesd in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as a condition of the common human rights.

Related pages
 Accessibility
 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
 Interior design

Design
Disability

Universal design


John Morrison Clarke (29 July 1948 – 9 April 2017) was a New Zealand-born Australian comedian, writer, and satirist. He was born in Palmerston North, New Zealand. He lived in Australia from the late 1970s. He was a well known actor and writer. His work appeared on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in both radio and television and also in print.

In 1982, he was nominated for an AFI award for co-writing the acclaimed Paul Cox movie Lonely Hearts.

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Clarke featured in several movies, including Never Say Die, Death in Brunswick, alongside another New Zealand actor, Sam Neill, and Blood Oath.

Clarke was also known for his mock interviews for A Current Affair until 1997, satirising a range of figures including Paul Keating, Alexander Downer, George Bush, and Alan Bond. After a break, the pair reappeared on ABC TV's The 7.30 Report in a similar format.

Clarke died while walking in the Grampians National Park in the Australian state of Victoria on 9 April 2017. He was 68. He died because of the heart attack.

References

1948 births
2017 deaths
Deaths from myocardial infarction
New Zealand movie actors
New Zealand television actors
New Zealand voice actors
New Zealand comedians
New Zealand writers
Australian movie actors
Australian television actors
Australian voice actors
Australian novelists
Australian screenwriters
Australian comedians

John Clarke (satirist)


Prometheus is an active volcano on Jupiter's moon Io.  It is located on Io's hemisphere facing away from Jupiter at .

Description
Prometheus consists of a -wide volcanic pit named Prometheus Patera and a -long compound lava flow, all surrounded by reddish sulfur and circular, bright sulfur dioxide volcanic plume deposits.  The volcano was first observed in images acquired by the Voyager 1 spacecraft in March 1979.  Later that year, the International Astronomical Union named this feature after a Greek fire god, Prometheus.

Prometheus is the site of a volcanic eruption that has been ongoing since at least the Voyager 1 encounter in 1979.  Between the Voyager encounters and the first observations by Galileo, a  flow field was emplaced.   Later Galileo observations of this flow field revealed numerous small breakouts, particularly on the western end of the flow field.

Prometheus is the site of two volcanic eruption plumes: a small, sulfur-rich plume erupting from the magma-source vent at the eastern end of the flow field and a -tall, -rich dust plume erupting from the active flow front at the other end.  The former forms a diffuse, red deposit to the east of the Prometheus flow field.  The latter forms a bright, circular deposit surrounding the entire volcano and lava flow.  The -rich plume is generated as lava at the western end of the flow field covers sulfur dioxide frost, heating and vaporizing it.  This is accomplished at multiple breakouts, generating gas and dust for the visible dust plume.  Prometheus' plume has been observed by both Voyager spacecraft, Galileo, and New Horizons, at every appropriate imaging opportunity.

References

Volcanoes of Io (moon)
Prometheus
Active volcanoes

Prometheus (volcano)


Steven Canny is an Executive Producer for BBC Studios Comedy and has written a number of plays.

Education
Canny attended Filton High School, Bristol, before going to St. Brendan's Sixth Form College, Bristol, and then University of Surrey.

Career
Canny moved into his career as a theatre director and writer after several years working at London's National Theatre.  He was associate director for theatre company Complicite from 1999–2004 where productions included Mnemonic, The Noise of Time, The Elephant Vanishes, Light and he was also Associate Director on Al Pacino's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. He was the dramaturg on Complicite's production of Measure for Measure at the National Theatre.

In 2009 he won the Sony Gold Drama Award with Mr Larkin's Awkward Day, a comedy radio play by Chris Harrald, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday, 29 April 2008 as the Afternoon Play. The Sony Gold citation said: "Assured direction, excellent performances and concise, skilfully-researched writing all made this deceptively straightforward story a masterpiece. Funny and touching by turns, a single, seemingly insignificant incident in the life of Philip Larkin brought out the humanity and humour of a poet whose personal life is not commonly associated with either."

In 2010 he won the Sony Gold Drama Award with People Snogging in Public Places by Jack Thorne.  It was broadcast on Radio 3's The Wire.  The Sony Gold citation said: "The judges described this as a wonderfully written and performed, highly original piece of radio drama in which the production perfectly mirrored the subject. Painful and funny, it was a bold exciting listen."  The production was also shortlisted for the 2010 Prix Italia and the Tinniswood Award.

Canny was listed as the Executive Producer of the winners of the Gold, Silver and Bronze Sony Awards for Best Comedy in 2011. He was Executive Producer of the pan-BBC initiative for the Edinburgh Festival in 2011.

Canny was Executive Producer of more than 300 hours of comedy on Radio 4 including: News Quiz, Tom Basden's Party, Rudy's Rare Records, Radio 4's Advent Calendar and The Show What You Wrote.

Plays written include: A Dulditch Angel, Spyski (revived as The Importance of Being Honest), Origins, No Wise Men, The Hound of the Baskervilles The Arthur Conan Doyle Appreciation Society, and The Time Machine; A Comedy.

By Spring 2023 The Hound of the Baskervilles has had more than 200 theatrical productions worldwide with the majority being in the US.

In September 2013, the BBC announced that they had appointed Canny as Executive Producer,  BBC Comedy Scotland.  There he has been the Executive Producer of Miller's Mountain (winner Scottish BAFTA Best Comedy 2014), Bob Servant (winner Best Comedy RTS Scotland Award), Don't Drop the Baton, Comedy Playhouse: Where it All Began, What's Funny about the Indyref, Still Game Live, Radges, Sketchland, Two Doors Down (winner Best Comedy RTS Scotland Award), Mrs Brown's Boys, Gary: Tank Commander Election Special, Stop/Start, Porridge, Pumped, British Sitcom: 60 Years of Laughing at Ourselves, A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, Lost Sitcoms and Still Game series 7, 8 & 9.

Personal life
Canny is married to theatre director Orla O'Loughlin and they have two children.

References

British radio producers
British television producers
Year of birth missing (living people)
British dramatists and playwrights
Living people
BBC people

Steven Canny


Richard and Mary Parker are fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are the parents of Peter Parker, the superhero known as Spider-Man.

Richard and Mary Parker have been adapted to appear in several animated television series and video games. Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz portrayed the characters in the films The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014).

Publication history
Richard and Mary Parker were created by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber. For many years prior to The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5 (published in 1968), there had been no explanation of why Peter Parker was being raised by his aunt and uncle, with his parents only appearing in flashbacks and photographs. That issue finally answered the question: Richard and Mary Parker were murdered by Albert Malik, who was one of Johann Schmidt's successors to the persona of Red Skull.

In The Amazing Spider-Man #365 (August 1992), Spider-Man's 30th anniversary, they reappeared. Two years later, however, in #388 (April 1994), they were revealed to be Life Model Decoys created by the Chameleon and were destroyed.

In the novel Mary Jane, it is said they died in a plane accident while going to Switzerland to turn in some important discovery that Richard made. Peter tries to figure out what the discovery was but fails, as he cannot figure out the things Richard has written on his board.
In July 1997, Untold Tales of Spider-Man #-1, part of Marvel Comics' "Flashback Month" event, written by Roger Stern and drawn by John Romita, Sr., the characters' origins are expanded. Since then, they have rarely been mentioned.

Fictional character biographies
Captain Richard Parker, a decorated soldier of the United States Army Special Forces and younger brother of Ben Parker, was recruited by Nick Fury, the future director of S.H.I.E.L.D., to the C.I.A.

Mary Fitzpatrick was the daughter of O.S.S. agent "Wild Will" Fitzpatrick. She attended the best schools and eventually followed in her father's footsteps, becoming a C.I.A. translator and data analyst.

Richard and Mary met on the job, fell in love, and married. Originally they eloped, later having a more elaborate service, fooling many. Mary became a field agent like Richard, giving them both an easy cover as a married couple. They were assigned to investigate Baroness Adelicia Von Krupp, who had captured an agent of a "friendly power" (who turned out to be Logan, aka Wolverine, then a Canadian operative called "Agent Ten" and who would eventually become an ally of their son Peter who would grow up to become Spider-Man). They rescued Logan from the Baroness and Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. After that mission, they discovered Mary was pregnant; Logan was actually the first person to congratulate the Parkers, commenting later that he never saw an agent as tough as Richard Parker go that white that fast.

Their son, Peter, was often left in the care of Ben and his wife May when Richard and Mary were away on missions. When Richard and Mary ultimately died, Peter was raised by them.

While on a mission to investigate Albert Malik, the third Red Skull, they posed as traitors and double agents to infiltrate his criminal organization in Algeria, ultimately being discovered. Malik had an assassin kill the two by sabotaging their airplane and causing it to crash. They were subsequently declared missing in action/presumed dead, as two burnt bodies were found in the remains.

After death
Richard and Mary's son, Peter, grew up to become Spider-Man. Although he has only vague memories of his parents and no memory of their militaristic history, his aunt and uncle share photographs and happy memories with him, but not their belief that they had been traitors to their country. When Peter discovers this, he travels to Algeria. He finds Malik who sends the Finisher to kill Spider-Man. Spider-Man turns the Finisher's missile against him, killing him, but not before revealing that Richard and Mary were in fact innocent. Spider-Man returns to America with evidence and clears his parents' names.

Richard and Mary Parker were revealed to have a daughter named Teresa Parker.

Life Model Decoys
Years later, the Chameleon, working for Harry Osborn, created Life Model Decoys of Richard and Mary. These LMDs were near-perfect robotic replicas of Peter's dead parents, and managed to convince him that they had in fact been held captive overseas for most of his life. Aunt May retained some suspicions, as there were some things they did not know, such as Richard and Mary's elopement. When Peter discovers that they were fake, he suffers a nervous breakdown. When the decoys were ordered to attack Parker, the Mary duplicate—sharing the original's love for her son—saves him instead. Neither LMD survives the incident. After battling the Chameleon, Spider-Man discovers that Harry Osborn was behind the whole thing, as an effort to avenge his (supposedly) dead father, Norman Osborn. Spider-Man then becomes mentally unhinged over time, until having a near-death experience. May Parker eventually learns the truth about the Life Model Decoys, via learning the truth about Spider-Man. May draws strength by talking to the graves of Mary, Richard, and Ben about Peter's life. The cynical mindset of Harry Osborn and the Chameleon was present in the LMDs, particularly during Maximum Carnage: When Aunt May advises Peter to "listen to your heart", (the pseudo) "Richard" tells a very different lesson:

When Shriek uses her psychic powers to turn the whole town against Spider-Man and the other super-heroes, "Richard" remarks that the "moral, orderly" world he remembered while in prison "was just an illusion! The evil was here—all along — festering beneath the surface!" — inviting a sharp rebuke from Peter's wife, Mary Jane (when exposed as frauds, some of his "parents'" cynicism rubs off on the "son" — with Spider-Man becoming unusually brutal against his enemies and developing a "Spider" alternate personality).

Ambiguities in Marvel documentation
The nature and timing of Richard and Mary Parker's fate are somewhat ambiguous in Spider-Man documentation. For one thing, the very fact that Harry Osborn and the Chameleon were able to fool the State Department, Peter, and (for a time) Aunt May into thinking Richard and Mary had "returned" after 20 years implies that the government was never able to solidly confirm the bodies found in the original plane crash were theirs. This uncertainty was exploited by Harry Osborn and the Chameleon: When explaining how he and Mary "survived", the false Richard Parker asserts that the bodies found were of Russian spies who stayed on the plane while they were forced to jump out. According to Spider-Man: Unmasked, "young Peter was orphaned at an early age when his parents were declared missing in action".

It is also ambiguous how old Peter was when his parents mysteriously disappeared: some accounts have it happening in his infancy; others say he was as old as six years—particularly, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man, 2004. The latter view is supported by Spider-Man's musing, during The Child Within, that he remembers his parents, yet "they were practically strangers to me", as he prepares to fight Green Goblin and Vermin. During the fight, Harry drugs Peter and subsequently discovers that Peter blames himself for his parents' death; Harry conceives the LMD scam to "avenge" his own father shortly after. Another, more comprehensive book on the Marvel Universe (also released in 2004) asserts that Peter's only clear memory of his (real) parents was of the moment they were boarding the fateful plane and he promised them he would be a "good boy" for Aunt May and Uncle Ben. Most Spider-Man stories in the main continuity are vague about Peter's exact age when he was effectively orphaned.

Other versions

1602
In Marvel 1602, Peter Parquagh's parents are briefly mentioned as having worked with Sir Nicholas Fury, Queen Elizabeth I's chief of security.

Bullet Points
In the alternate timeline of Bullet Points, Ben is killed a few months into his relationship with May Parker. Richard and Mary promise to "always be there for her", a vow which was later broken.

House of M
In the alternate reality created by the Scarlet Witch during the House of M storyline, Peter and Gwen Stacy name their son Richard in name of Peter's father.

Marvel Mangaverse
Richard has not appeared or been mentioned in the Marvel Mangaverse continuity, although Mary has. In this version, Mary is named Kiri and is Aunt May's sister and is both the leader of the Spider Clan and a Spider demon, who is known as the Spider Queen. She's been plotting to make her son, Peter, the new leader of the Clan, which he later rejects. Disappointed by his rejection, Mary passes leadership of the Spider Clan to her pupil, Venom, causing Peter to give up his Spider-Man identity.

MC2
In the alternate reality of MC2, Peter names his son Benjamin Richard Parker, with his second name being in honor of his father.

Trouble
The 2003 Epic Comics limited series, Trouble, was marketed as the "true origin" of Spider-Man. In the story, characters named Richard and Mary met while on summer vacation, and Mary's friend, May, rather than Mary herself, was Peter's mother with none of the characters' last names ever revealed.

Ultimate Marvel
In the Ultimate Marvel continuity, Dr. Richard "Ray" Parker was a biologist instead of a spy. He and Mary supposedly died in an airplane accident when Peter was six, and Peter still has vague memories of his parents. Before the crash, Richard, along with his friend Eddie Brock Sr., father of Peter's childhood friend Eddie Brock Jr. were working on a cure for terminal malady, in the form of a biological suit that could repair its host body. He recorded a series of tapes addressed to Peter, in which he revealed his fears the suit would be used as a weapon instead of a cure. A tape recorded just before the crash revealed his project had been taken away from him, as this project became the basis of Venom. His name and work were known by scientists (including Dr. Curt Conners and the Ultimates Wasp and Giant Man with the former having a written a paper on his work in college), Susan Storm and Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four also knew of him and his work, with the former in particular being a great admirer of it.

In Ultimate Spider-Man #100, Richard Parker seemingly reappeared. He recounted that Bolivar Trask, the man responsible for shutting down the cure project, brought the research staff back together. Richard had second thoughts about working on the project, now knowing the suit he developed would be used as a weapon, and chose not to get on the plane. Mary, however, felt Richard was a fool for turning down this opportunity, and appeared willing to leave her husband (this contradicts her earlier sentiments, that Richard was getting in way over his head). After the crash, Richard was approached by government agent Henry Gyrich, for the purposes of launching his own research project in case S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury were ever to go rogue. Gyrich showed Richard a surveillance video proving his son, Peter, was Spider-Man. Afterwards, he revealed himself to May Parker. May, shocked by the possibility that Richard was alive all this time, told him to go away.

Later, in issue #103, Dr. Otto Octavius (who created multiple clones of Spider-Man) reveals that "Richard Parker" was a clone, later confirmed when Susan Storm runs a test on Richard's DNA and finds it identical to Peter's. Apparently, the cloning process severely aged Richard. Though his memories were false, Richard loves Peter like a son and asks the Fantastic Four in particular Sue Storm to look after him before passing away.

In issue #4 of Ultimate Origins, which takes place 15 years before the current Ultimate timeline, Richard is shown to have been hired by the U.S. government and Nick Fury as part of a project to recreate the Super Soldier Serum. At a covert lab in Dover, New Jersey, Richard worked alongside fellow scientists, a young Hank Pym, Franklin Storm, father of Sue and Johnny Storm, and a young Bruce Banner.

One day, while Pym and Banner are testing a possible match to the serum, Richard is just outside the lab being visited by his wife and recently born son, Peter. Having just tested the serum on himself, Banner transforms into the Hulk and goes on a rampage, destroying the complex. Richard and Mary are caught in an explosion and severely injured.

Artist Mark Bagley based the likeness of the Ultimate version of Richard Parker on that of Peter Parker as drawn by John Romita, Sr. and Gil Kane in the late 1960s and early 1970s, feeling he hadn't captured Peter's appearance during his earlier run on The Amazing Spider-Man in the 1990s.

Spider-Geddon
During the "Spider-Geddon" storyline, a version of Richard and Mary Parker were riding an airplane provided to them by Wilson Fisk that is carrying them over the Savage Land until it was rigged to crash by Fisk. The two of them were killed in the crash while their son Peter was parachuted out of the airplane, taken in by giant spiders, and became the Savage Spider-Man.

In other media

Television
 Illusionary versions of Richard and Mary Parker appear in the Spider-Man episode "Doctor Strange".

Film
 Richard and Mary Parker appear in The Amazing Spider-Man, respectively portrayed by Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz.
 Scott and Davidtz reprise their roles of Richard and Mary Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Here, it is revealed that Richard fled Oscorp to prevent his discoveries from being used in the production of biological weapons, and that Oscorp's genetically-engineered spiders were created using his DNA.

Video games
Richard and Mary Parker appear in Ultimate Spider-Man, with Richard voiced by Loren Lester and Mary having no dialogue. This version of Richard worked with Eddie Brock Sr. (Eddie Brock's father) to create the Venom suit as a possible cure for severe illness. Subsequently, the two lost ownership of the suit to Trask Industries and were killed in a plane crash caused by Brock Sr. losing control of the Venom suit and killing the pilot.

Novels
In the "Sinister Six" novel trilogy by Adam-Troy Castro (Gathering of the Sinister Six, Revenge of the Sinister Six, and Secret of the Sinister Six), a man known as the Gentleman — an internationally known criminal mastermind, currently in his late nineties and possessing a strong disdain for the rest of humanity, as well as being the brother of the Red Skull's assassin the Finisher — was revealed to have been partially responsible for Richard and Mary's deaths, having revealed their true identities to the Red Skull, only asking that Peter be spared so that he would be more of a challenge later on in life. The possibility was also raised that Spider-Man had an older sister: the Gentleman's ward, a young woman called Pity, who was capable of climbing walls, possessed a strength level approximately equal to Spider-Man, and could create a "darkness" preventing anyone around her from seeing. At the conclusion of the trilogy, Peter Parker meets Logan, who reveals he worked regularly with the Parkers on joint missions between the American and Canadian secret services; the discovery that Logan was the first person to congratulate Richard after learning that Mary was pregnant prompted Peter to say "Wolverine's practically my Uncle". Logan also clarifies that Pity wasn't his sister; the photographs Peter found of his parents with a little girl were actually part of a long-term cover operation before Peter was born, with both of them still so attached to the memory that Mary kept the pictures and Richard told Logan about it during a joint mission.

References

Characters created by Larry Lieber
Characters created by Stan Lee
Comics characters introduced in 1968
Fictional Central Intelligence Agency personnel
Fictional characters from Queens, New York
Fictional married couples
Fictional murdered people
Fictional secret agents and spies
Fictional special forces personnel
Marvel Comics martial artists
Marvel Comics scientists
Marvel's Spider-Man characters
S.H.I.E.L.D. agents
Spider-Man characters

Richard and Mary Parker


The Vanyume or Desert Serrano are an Indigenous people of Southern California. Traditional Vanyume territory extended along the Mojave River from the Eastern Mojave Desert to present day Victorville and may have included portions of southern Antelope Valley. The major village of Wá'peat was part of this area.

Though the Vanyume were closely related to the neighboring Serrano people linguistically and culturally, the two groups were politically distinct prior to European contact. Because all documented Vanyume villages had been abandoned prior to the development of modern ethnographic fieldwork, ethnographic information on the Vanyume is limited.

Name
The first European to mention the Vanyume, Father Francisco Garcés, referred to the group using the Mohave exonym Beñemé. Vanyumé, a variation of the term, was later adopted by ethnographer Alfred Louis Kroeber.

Pre-Contact

Population
A. L. Kroeber described the Vanyume population as "very small" at the time of European contact. A 2017 analysis found that the group could have comprised as many as 700 people at the time of contact.

Language
The Vanyume traditionally spoke the Vanyume language, a now-extinct Uto-Aztecan language belonging to the Takic branch. The Vanyume language was likely very closely related to the Serrano language, though it may have shared features with the neighboring Kitanemuk language.

Population decline
Between the late 18th and early 20th centuries, the Vanyume population dramatically declined.

Missionization
Beginning in 1790, a number of Vanyume people were baptized at Mission San Fernando and Mission San Gabriel. The period between 1811 and 1814 saw the most rapid missionization, a process likely aided through military intimidation. A 1811 effort may have attempted to forcefully round up and relocate the Vanyume and Serrano.

Compared to their upriver counterparts, Vanyume villages on the lower Mojave river enjoyed relative freedom from Spanish influence and missionization.

In late 1810s, a number of Vanyume settlements were depopulated and their residents killed by warring Spanish and Mohave people.

Other factors
Indigenous Californians interviewed by ethnographers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries describe incidents of trade-related violence with the Mohave as a key factor in the decline and dispersion of Vanyume populations. These conflicts likely occurred around the 1830s.

A number of living individuals are of Vanyume ancestry.

References

Indigenous peoples of California
Native American tribes in California
California Mission Indians
History of the Mojave Desert region

Vanyume


MGE Energy: MGE Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: MGEE) is a utility holding company based in Madison, Wisconsin. Its main subsidiary, Madison Gas and Electric Co., produces and distributes electricity and distributes natural gas.

Subsidiaries
MGE Energy is the parent corporation and holding company of eight subsidiaries.
Madison Gas and Electric Co. (MGE), a regulated utility, and its divisions, which serve natural gas and electric customers in south-central and south-western Wisconsin. MGE has 146,000 electric customers and 152,000 natural gas customers.
MGE Power, which owns assets in the West Campus Cogeneration Facility at Madison, Wis., and the Elm Road Generating Station at Oak Creek, Wis.
MGE Transco Investment, which owns interest in the American Transmission Co. through its members, MGE and MGE Energy
MGE Services provides construction and other services
Central Wisconsin Development Corp. promotes business growth in MGE's service area
MAGAEL holds title to properties acquired for future utility plant expansion
North Mendota Energy & Technology Park owns property and serves as the development entity for the property

History
The company's history in the Madison area date back more than 150 years. In 1888, as the renamed Madison Electric Co., it began delivering electric service. In 1892, the Four Lakes Light and Power Co. succeeded Madison Electric Co. and operated as Madison's electricity provider for the next four years. In 1896, the local utility incorporated to become Madison Gas and Electric Co.

In 2001, the company formed a holding company named MGE Energy, Inc. − and Madison Gas and Electric Co. became its main subsidiary.

References

External links
Official MGE Energy website

Energy in Wisconsin
Electric power companies of the United States
Natural gas companies of the United States
Companies based in Madison, Wisconsin
Non-renewable resource companies established in 1888
1880s establishments in Wisconsin
Holding companies established in 2001
Non-renewable resource companies established in 2001
2001 establishments in Wisconsin

MGE Energy


Kweku Asomah-Cheremeh is a Ghanaian politician and a member of the New Patriotic Party in Ghana. He is the former Brong Ahafo Regional minister of Ghana. He was appointed by President Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo-Addo in January 2017 and was approved by the Members of Parliament in February 2017. He is currently Lands and Natural Resources minister Of Ghana.

References

New Patriotic Party politicians
Brong-Ahafo Region
People from Brong-Ahafo Region

Kweku Asomah-Cheremeh


Keith Locke (born 1944) is a New Zealand politeecian, an a member o the kintra's pairlament in Wellington, representin the Green Pairty.  He is a leet member o the pairlament unner the proportional representation seestem.

New Zealand politeecians
1944 births
Livin fowk

Keith Locke


Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg (14 April 1936 – 2 April 2020) was a Norwegian politician. She was a member of the Conservative Party. She was the state secretary to the Minister of Social Affairs from 1981 to 1985, and Minister of Administration and Consumer Affairs in 1986.

Heiberg was vice-chairwoman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1991 and member of the Norwegian Parliament from 1985 to 1989. She was President of the Norwegian Red Cross from 1993 to 1999 and President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies from 1997 to 2001.

She was also appointed as State Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Care Services, resigning in 2016. In 2018, she was once again elected to the Norwegian Parliament.

Heiberg died on 2 April 2020 at the age of 83.

References

1936 births
2020 deaths
Norwegian politicians
Humanitarians

Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg


Magnus II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Güstrow (1441 – 20 November 1503) was duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1477 until his death.

Biography
He was the son of Henry IV, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Dorothea of Brandenburg, daughter of Elector Frederick I of Brandenburg. Duke Henry IV had re-united the Mecklenburg lands under his rule through his inheritance of the former Lordships of Werle and Stargard in 1436 and 1471, respectively.  Near the end of his life, Henry IV devoted more and more time to hedonistic luxury, while Magnus and his brothers Albert and John took over the most active share in the business of government.  John died in 1474 leaving a grieving widow, Sophie of Pomerania-Stettin, daughter of Eric II of Pomerania, whom Magnus married himself on 29 May 1478.

After Henry died in 1477, Magnus ruled the Duchy jointly with Albert. After Albert died in 1483, Magnus ruled alone, as his younger brother Balthasar did not care at all about governing. Magnus reigned until his death in 1503, when he was succeeded by his sons Henry V, Eric II and Albert VII, who at first ruled jointly until they split their lands into the duchies of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Güstrow in 1520.

The duchy's debt increased excessively due to the lavish court life of Henry IV. Magnus sought to reduce that debt. He curtailed his own ducal household in every way, and pawned goods and regalia. He tried to restore the shattered finances through the introduction of extraordinary  (from Lower Saxon Beden: goods to be delivered to the manor by the serfs).  This caused tensions with the Hanseatic cities of Rostock and Wismar that were trying to achieve a more independent position.

In 1487 a rebellion broke out in Rostock that is known as the "Rostock Cathedral Feud" ().  The trigger was the establishment of a collegiate church (commonly known as Dom) at the Church of St. James ().  With this action, Magnus II wanted to secure the financing of the university and his position of power within the city.  On 12 January 1487, the day the church was to be consecrated, Provost Thomas Rode was murdered in the street.  Dignitataries present for the consecration had to flee the city.  Magnus feared for his own life when his entourage was attacked.  His life was saved by a bodyguard who threw himself on top of Magnus in the thick of the melee.  The rebellion lasted until 1491.  In the end, rebel leader Hans Runge and three other insurgents were executed and the city had to recognize the cathedral chapter, pay a substantial fine and confirm all of the Duke's privileges.  The excommunication and interdict under which Magnus and Balthasar had been placed by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III and Pope Innocent VIII were then rescinded.

Besides these feuds in his own country, Magnus also had disputes with neighbouring princes and with his vassals, as was usual in those days, for example over inheritances, fiefs and border disputes.  Magnus would participate in battles or mediate between the contending parties.  Certain projects intended to benefit the economic position of his territories, such as the proposed canal connecting the Baltic Sea with the Elbe and North Sea via Lake Schwerin and the improvement of the quality of the Mecklenburg coinage had to be postponed indefinitely due to a lack of funding.
In 1492, 27 Jews in Sternberg were condemned to death after being accused of desecrating bleeding communion wafers.  Magnus confirmed the verdict, and the Jews were executed at the stake.

In his domestic life he had the pleasure to see two of his daughters marry respected German princes.  His daughter Anna became the matriarch of the House of Hesse and Sophie assumed the same status for the Ernestine line of the House of Wettin.  After Magnus' death, his youngest daughter Catherine achieved fame in her own right as the mother of the famous Duke Maurice of Saxony.

Magnus died on 20 November 1503 in Wismar and was later buried in Doberan Abbey.

Offspring
Magnus II was married to Sophie of Pomerania-Stettin.  With her he had the following children:
 Henry V,  the Peaceable, (1479–1552), Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; married three times. Firstly, on 12 December 1505, he married Ursula of Brandenburg, with whom he had issue. He married secondly, on 12 June 1513, Helen of the Palatinate, with whom he also had issue. Finally, he married Ursula of Saxe-Lauenburg, with whom he had no issue.
 Dorothea of Mecklenburg (21 October 1480 – 1 September 1537 in Ribnitz), Abbess in the Ribnitz monastery from 24 February 1498.
 Sophie, (18 December 1481 – 12 July 1503 in Torgau); married, on 1 March 1500, John the Steadfast of Saxony and had issue.
 Eric II, (1483–1508), Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
 Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, (1485–1525), Landgravine of Hesse; married firstly, on 20 October 1500, William II, Landgrave of Hesse, and had issue. Married secondly, on 7 September 1519, Otto of Solms-Laubach and had issue.
 Catherine of Mecklenburg, (1487–1561), Duchess of Saxony; married, on 6 July 1512, Henry IV, Duke of Saxony, and had issue.
 Albert VII, the Handsome (1486–1547), Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow; married, on 17 January 1524, Anna of Brandenburg and had issue.

Ancestry

References

 Rudloff: Mecklenburgische Geschichte, vol 2, parts 3 and 4
 v. Lützow: Geschichte Mecklenburgs, vol. 2.
 Schröder: Papist. Mecklenburg, vol. II.

External links

 Genealogical table of the House of Mecklenburg

House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
1441 births
1503 deaths

Magnus II, Duke of Mecklenburg