This document represents the results of an informal survey conducted beginning July 18, 2017 via Google Forms. Participants were asked for their first name, the Humanities discipline(s) they studied in undergraduate coursework, their current position of employment, and a short narrative about the relationship between their studies and their current work and life. Most participants also supplied a picture of themselves. All participants agreed to allow their responses to be used for the purpose of advising undergraduates about possible careers after undergraduate Humanities study. I am making this document available so that readers may discuss it with their students, friends, and families as they make choices about how to plan for a good life in an uncertain world.
The results of this survey are qualitative. The survey does not attempt to predict causal relationships between majors and careers, or between careers and happiness. Participants are not asked to supply their financial information, such as income, tuition, debt, or family wealth, all of which are better represented by quantitative analysis. Rather, the survey results merely describe a wide range of real experiences and employment opportunities that some former students of the Humanities have pursued. Edits to responses have been made for length or style when necessary. Many respondents have provided pictures so that their narratives appear in an appropriately individual context. Some of the participants are recent graduates in their first jobs; others are at the peak or end of long and distinguished careers.
I conducted this survey because, as a professor in the Humanities, I have students who are passionate about their studies but unsure about whether a Humanities degree can result in meaningful employment, even though our discipline is not as obviously focused on vocational training as some other disciplines are. Rather, the Humanities can (and I believe, should) serve as the backbone of the "liberal arts"—an education traditionally designed for free people who are empowered to define and seek happiness for themselves, including in their work. As the results of this survey show, the paths taken by former Humanities students are astoundingly varied, deeply reflective, and often richly rewarding.
Although it is clear that Humanities students often go on to brilliant, joyful work lives after college, it is also clear that Humanities professors and our institutions often fail to provide adequate counseling about post-graduation possibilities for Humanities students. For many of these students, the most obvious career path for a Humanities graduate is to teach, as we do. Teaching can be enormously satisfying work, but a student without an inclination for it will never teach well or happily. Teaching and academic research are represented here alongside many other experiences of post-graduate employment. This document provides teachers, professors, counselors, administrators, students, and families with a series of narratives about a range of careers and lives that can be (and have been) possible for Humanities graduates in the past.
This document will continue to grow as more participants respond to the survey. Visit the survey to participate. To ask to be removed from the next edition of Profiles in the Humanities, email me.


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NSA: VMware vulnerability is being exploited by Russian hackers
Special investigators from the National Security Agency (NSA) have issued a high priority alert arguing that Russian state-sponsored threat actors are exploiting a VMware vulnerability to steal sensitive data and get persistence in affected systems. The Agency urgently asks network admins at the US National Security System (NSS), Department of Defense (DoD) and Defense Industrial Base (DIB) to patch the bug as soon as possible.
The flaw (tracked as CVE-2020-4006) was fixed by VMware last Thursday. According to the report it is a command injection vulnerability that exists in VMware Access and VMware Identity Manager products: "Successful exploitation via command injection led to installation of a web shell and further malicious activity where credentials in the form of SAML authentication assertions were generated and sent to Microsoft Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS), which in turn granted the actors access to protected data,".
The experts consider the flaw becomes critical when running products that perform authentication that the server and all the services that depend on it are properly configured for secure operation and integration. Otherwise, SAML assertions could be forged, granting access to numerous resources.
The Agency recommended that any admins integrating authentication servers with ADFS follow Microsoft best practices, such as multi factor authentication to prevent major risks.
The report mentions that threat actors require password-based access to the web-based user interface to exploit the flaw, so using a strong and unique password would help to mitigate the risk, as would disconnecting the interface from the internet.
On the other hand, Daniel Trauner from security firm Axonius likened the vulnerability to one in a MobileIron MDM exploited recently as it enables compromise across a potentially large number of organizations. More details are still unknown.
Tagged: cybersecurity, Hacking, National Security Agency (NSA), Russia, United States, VMware, vulnerability

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Catalan referendum was no violent rebellion says Spain's solicitor general
Far-right Vox pushes for a dissuasive sentence so that 'no one dares to carry out a coup attempt' again
For the rebellion charges brought by the public prosecutor against Catalan independence leaders to stick, it must be proved that violence was part of the 2017 bid to split from Spain, characterised by the public prosecutor as "an act against the constitutional order." The defendants on trial in the Supreme Court have consistently denied any accusations of violence and, on Tuesday, the solicitor general representing the Spanish government agreed that "the use of violence was not central to the independence bid."
With the prosecution taking turns giving their closing arguments on day 50 of the trial, the solicitor general justified her decision to charge the defendants with sedition rather than rebellion by making a distinction between the use of violence and "the use of force." Referring to "active and passive resistance" aimed at "preventing" police from carrying out court orders to stop the unilateral independence referendum on October 1, the solicitor general insisted that "violence and the use of force can't be put on the same level."
"For it to be rebellion, violence or the threat of its use had to have been organized and planned as a central tool for reaching the desired aims," said the government's attorney in rejecting the use of violence as a "structural element" in the independence bid. However, the attorney did implicate three main actors in the bid: the Catalan parliament, the government, and civil society leaders, and she accused activist leaders Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart of "encouraging the masses" to break the law.
Far-right Vox
After the solicitor, far-right Vox party lawyers, acting as private prosecutors, sided with the public prosecutor and requested rebellion charges. Yet the maximum sentence they ask for is 74 years, with a joint figure of almost 700 years behind bars. In his final report, party secretary and Vox's head lawyer, Javier Ortega Smith, expressed pride that it was his party that lodged the first complaint that led to the investigation and subsequent trial of the Catalan leaders, who he says are not in court "by accident."
The report calls for a "dissuasive" sentence for the defendants, so that "no one else dares to carry out a coup against the constitutional order," and Ortega praised the "heroism" of the Guardia Civil and Spanish police for their investigations into the independence bid. According to the report, the Catalan independence leaders carried out "a sophisticated and innovative coup attempt" and that the victors of the legal process should be "justice, the rule of law, democracy and national sovereignty."


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Tarbes Pyrénées Rugby
Tarbes Pyrénées Rugby is a French rugby union team that currently takes part in the promotion-eligible pool (poule d'accession) of Fédérale 1, the third, semi-professional level of the country's league system.
2000; 19 years ago (2000)
Tarbes, France
Ground(s)
Stade Maurice Trélut (Capacity: 16,400)
Jean-Pierre Davant
Coach(es)
Pierre-Henry Broncan
Nicolas Nadau
League(s)
Fédérale 1 poule d'accession
1st kit
2nd kit
www.tpr65.com
They were founded in August 2000 as a result of a merger between Stadoceste Tarbais and the senior side of Cercle Amical Lannemezanais. They play in red and white. They are based in Tarbes, the capital of the Hautes-Pyrénées département, in Occitania, and play at the Stade Maurice Trélut.
Several clubs from the Bigorre region have been part of the history of rugby union in France, but none of them was able to keep up with the times when professionalism appeared. Stadoceste Tarbais, the big regional gun, a two-time French champion, was struggling in the amateur leagues, like FC Lourdes (8 times French champion) and Stade Bagnérais. However, at the end of the 1999-2000 season, CA Lannemezan reached Pro D2 for the first time ever. But the Ligue Nationale de Rugby, which operates the French professional leagues, blocked the promotion, fearing that a club in a town of 6 000-odd inhabitants would never survive as a professional outfit. Stadoceste Tarbais, which had just been promoted to the 4th division (Fédérale 2), made CA Lannemezan an offer to join forces in order to build a strong viable club and reach Top 14 in the near future. Tarbes and Lannemezan are 35 km apart. The plan was backed by the local government of Hautes-Pyrénées, which would only support one top level club in the area. FC Lourdes and Stade Bagnérais were offered to join but rejected the offer as they feared that they would lose their identity in a bigger club which, in all likelihood, would play in the capital of the department, Tarbes. The board of CA Lannemezan originally rejected the merger 73%–27%, but the club president managed to get it done.
In August 2000, the new club LT65 (Lannemezan Tarbes Hautes-Pyrénées) took off as a merger of Stadoceste Tarbais and CA Lannemezan, and took the place of Lannemezan in Pro D2. Very soon though, dissensions appeared inside the club: all games were played in Tarbes, while Lannemezan became « dead on matchdays » (according to the CAL president), professional and semi-professional players were mixed, leading to frictions inside the squad etc. Soon, the club was renamed Tarbes Pyrénées Rugby, severing the symbolic link with Lannemezan. In 2003, some players and board members left and decided to relaunch the senior team in their lifelong club which had kept its youth teams. By 2005, Lannemezan was back in Fédérale 1 and hoping to climb back to Pro D2, with a view to juicy derbies against TPR; their ambitions were realized in 2009, when they won the Fédérale 1 crown and earned promotion to Pro D2. TPR has not been able to establish itself as a candidate for promotion to Top 14 so far.
HonoursEdit
French Championship: 1920, 1973
Current standingsEdit
8th in pool
Current squadEdit
2017-18 Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.
Gonzalo Manso Moyano Hooker
Nicolas Basile Prop
David Dadunashvili Prop
Kakhaber Koberidze Prop
Nikoloz Kazalikashvili Prop
Alexandre Duny Prop
Isoa Domolailai Lock
Mikael Lacroix Lock
James Percival Lock
Alexis Armary Flanker
Loic Bernad Flanker
David Bonnecarrere Flanker
Semisi Taulava Number 8
Paula Havela Number 8
Maxime Bats Scrum-half
Nicolas Vergallo Scrum-half
Jean-Baptiste Claverie Fly-half
Jonathan Brethous Centre
Julien Lastisneres Palacin Centre
Anitelega Tuilagi Centre
Morgan Rubio Wing
Aderito Esteves Wing
Sionasa Vunisa Wing
Adrien Domec Fullback
William Pees Fullback
Notable former playersEdit
Colin Charvis, Number eight, played for Wales national team (1996-2007).
Răzvan Mavrodin, Romanian national team player
Giorgi Nemsadze, Georgian national team player (62 caps) and Bristol Rugby Lock (2005-)
Giorgi Chkhaidze, Georgian national team player (95 caps)
Stadoceste Tarbais
CA Lannemezan
List of rugby union clubs in France
Rugby union in France
(in French) Tarbes Pyrénées Rugby Official website
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tarbes_Pyrénées_Rugby&oldid=875459664"


Golos (with headquarters in Moscow) Citizen Watch (St. Petersburg), Civic Society (with HQ in Moscow), For Human Rights Movement, Committee Against Torture (Nizhny Novgorod), Mashr (Ingushetia), International Memorial and Memorial HRC (with the head offices in Moscow), Moscow Helsinki Group, EcoDefence (Kaliningrad), and Public Verdict (Moscow).
The application was drafted by "Memorial" HRC's Senior Lawyer Furkat Tishaev. The applicants' interests are represented by "Memorial" Human Rights Centre, based in Moscow, and the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre, based in London.
Tomorrow, Thursday, February 7, the eleven NGOs host a news conference at Moscow's Independent Press Centre (17 Prechistenka St.).
systemic issues involved in the "Foreign Agents" Law.


The Whitworth Communication Studies Department offers students a range of opportunities to engage in academic research. All communication studies majors are introduced to quantitative and qualitative research skills in Introduction to Communication Research (JMC/SP 209). Students gain experience using social science methods, rhetorical and critical analysis, and historical inquiry. Students who have conducted their own projects, worked in research teams, or worked collaboratively with a faculty member have presented their work at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research Conference (SIRC).
The communication studies department offers a major and a minor in each of three areas: communication, journalism and mass communication, and speech communication. In addition, all majors are encouraged to take one or more of the following activity courses: Applied Journalism, and Editorial and Broadcast Practicum.


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Building a multi-junction solar cell from off-the-shelf components
Technology News | July 1, 2019
Power Management Energy Harvesting Materials & processes
A multi-junction solar cell is both the most efficient type of solar cell on the market but also the most expensive. These stacked cells convert up to 45% of the solar energy they absorb into electricity by stacking semiconductors with varying bandgaps on top of one another, allowing the cell to absorb differing wavelengths of solar radiation.
"We want to create high efficiency solar cells at a reasonable cost," said Salah Bedair, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NC State and lead author of the research. "Silicon-based thin solar cells are very popular because the material has around 20% efficiency and the cells cost about 1/10th what a multi-junction solar cell costs. And other low cost, lower efficiency materials are gaining popularity as well. If we could create stacked solar cells using this existing technology we would be well on our way to reaching our goal."
The challenge is that the different materials in the layers are structurally incompatible, and so charges cannot pass through them to be collected. So heavily doped metals are used to create a tunnel junction between the various layers, adding significant expense and complexity.
Bedair and his team developed a simpler approach, using intermetallic bonding to bond solar cells made of different materials. In a proof-of-concept, the team stacked an off-the-shelf gallium arsenide solar cell on top of a silicon solar cell to produce a two or three terminal GaAs/Si multi-junction solar cell.
"In a multi-junction solar cell the tunnel junction enables electric connectivity by acting as a metal-to-metal connection," said Bedair. "In our system, indium serves as a shortcut to that. The existing metal contacts of the individual cells are covered with indium films. The indium films bond to themselves easily at room temperature under low pressure. The result is a solar cell made of two different materials that is mechanically stacked and electrically connected."
"With this technique we are able to take advantage of inexpensive, off-the-shelf solutions without having to develop all new technology. Manufacturers could simply tweak their existing products slightly to increase their efficiency in multi-junction solar cells, rather than having to create new products."
A patent application has been submitted for the work and the authors are interested in collaborating with potential academic and industry partners.
www.ncsu.edu
Other multi-junction solar cell stories
HIGH EFFICIENCY STACKED PEROVSKITE SOLAR CELLS CAN BE PRINTED ON PLASTIC
PEROVSKITE STACKED SOLAR CELL BEATS SILICON EFFICIENCY FOR THE FIRST TIME
STACKED THIN FILM ORGANIC SOLAR CELL CATCHES UP WITH SILICON


In May 2017, YARA and technology company KONGSBERG announced a partnership to build the world's first autonomous, electric container vessel. Replacing 40,000 truck journeys a year, Yara Birkeland will reduce NOx and CO2 emissions and improve road safety in a densely populated urban area. Now the shipyard has been selected and construction will begin.


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The Three Main Reasons to Replace a Failed Water Pump or Timing Belt Simultaneously
If a customer comes in with a failed water pump or timing belt, it's worth talking to them about replacing both parts at the same time even if the other part still works. There are three main reasons to replace the parts simultaneously.
By GMB North America, Inc.
Sponsored by GMB North America, Inc.
The typical life expectancy for most water pumps and timing belts is about 100,000 miles. That means both parts tend to go bad around the same time. If a customer comes in with a failed water pump or timing belt, it's worth talking to them about replacing both parts at the same time even if the other part still works. There are three main reasons to replace the parts simultaneously:
It Saves Hours of Labor
To replace either part, the engine has to essentially be taken apart, which can be tedious and is extremely time consuming. Depending on the engine, the project can take between a few hours and a full day. Replacing both the timing belt and water pump at the same time can save half a day or more of future labor.
It's Cheaper and More Convenient for the Customer
If only one part is replaced, the customer will eventually have to bring their car back to replace the other part. Instead of being without a car again during the second repair and paying for the same labor again, the customer saves hundreds of dollars and the hassle of being without a vehicle.
It Prevents Further Engine Issues
It's a good idea to replace the timing belt or the water pump before it actually fails because a bunch of engine issues can crop up when failure of either part goes undetected for too long.
When a timing belt breaks, this affects almost every part in the engine, including the valves, cylinder head, camshaft, piston, and cylinder walls. This means a broken timing belt can result in thousands of dollars of engine repairs.
When a water pump breaks, the engine can overheat. This causes problems such as warped cylinder heads, a warped engine block, and even catastrophic engine failure.
Bottom line: it's worth talking to your customers about replacing both the timing belt and the water pump at the same time.
This article has been sponsored by: GMB
For more information please visit: https://goo.gl/erKBHF
What Causes Fuel Pumps to Fail?
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Complete Pentastar Oil Adapter Fix
Engineering behind chassis: high and low-friction parts
What Do You Need to Know About Motor Oil?
Over the past decade, more and more shelf space has been dedicated to motor oils. New SKUs might be for new viscosities, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) specifications, and even motor oil formulations. This proliferation can create confusion when recommending the correct motor oil for the vehicle and customer. To help clear up the chaos, it
By Andrew Markel
Over the past decade, more and more shelf space has been dedicated to motor oils. New SKUs might be for new viscosities, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) specifications, and even motor oil formulations. This proliferation can create confusion when recommending the correct motor oil for the vehicle and customer. To help clear up the chaos, it is essential to understand what factors are driving these changes.
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6 Signs It's Time to Put Down the Pen and Ditch the Paper
There's no time to hesitate. The surge in the aftermarket sweet spot — or vehicles in the six- to 12-year age range that will soon require significant repairs — reached 94 million in the first half of 2021, according to Experian Automotive. That total accounts for nearly 31% of all vehicles in operation. That percentage
By ShopBoss Sep 21, 2022
Updating Your Shop's Approach to Vehicle Filtration
Customers may wonder what the biggest threats are to their engines. Heat is one for sure. But the other are tiny – often microscopic – particles. If these aren't filtered thoroughly, they will accumulate inside the engine, which will increase friction, heat and lead to significant damage to internal engine components. In time, it will
By FRAM Sep 9, 2022
Oxygen Sensors – Technology, Types, Evolution, and Life Expectancy
Since the implementation of OBDII, the oxygen sensor has been a main staple of engine management systems. Modern oxygen sensors are much faster and more accurate than their older counterparts. This allows the engine to enter closed loop control faster which decreases emissions and fuel usage by as much as 15-20%. O2 sensors are separated
By Walker Products Aug 22, 2022
Warn Your Customers About Water Pump Failure During the Summer
Summer is an opportune time for automotive professionals to remind customers to keep an eye on the signs of a failing water pump. As you know, extreme summer temperatures and added strain on vehicles from activities like long road trips can cause engines to become more susceptible to troubles from excessive heat, making the function
By Carter Fuel Systems Aug 8, 2022
Keep Drivers Comfortable with Airborne Contaminant Control
Oil changes are one of the first projects that DIYers and experienced automotive pros learn how to perform. This maintenance task is vital to vehicle performance, relatively easy to do and performed at regular intervals, so most customers understand its importance. All drivers need to stay on top of oil changes, especially with more cars
By FRAM Aug 1, 2022
Protect Your Fuel Tank and Pump With Delphi Technologies
The fuel tank and pump are considered the lifeblood of a vehicle, supplying and circulating fuel to other critical components throughout the vehicle. Delphi Technologies has been a manufacturer of fuel delivery parts for over 80 years, and a lot has changed since then. With over 30 OE-proprietary innovations and 150 patents in fuel technologies
By Delphi Technologies Jul 27, 2022
Trusted for R&D and factory fill for decades
ENEOS is the largest oil company in Japan, as the "original JDM oil" they've been working in partnership with Asian automakers for decades. As part of this partnership, ENEOS has in-house testing facilities where they follow strategies developed with each OEM partner to meet their vehicle and performance specifications, particularly for the tighter tolerances of
By ENEOS Jul 25, 2022
FRAM® Provides Next-Level Engine Protection for the Summer
For many people, road trips are an enjoyable summertime tradition. Whether you're taking the family out on vacation, traveling for sporting events, or just hitting the road for some mind-clearing relaxation, summer usually means miles. Since 1934, Pros and DIYers everywhere have relied on FRAM® to get the most complete engine protection. When it comes
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GM Timing Belt & Chain Service
Tech Tip: Tool Needed to Replace Timing...
Inspection Tips For Chain-Driven Water Pumps


EA has shut down Mythic Entertainment, the longtime video game studio most recently responsible for Warhammer Online and the Dungeon Keeper reboot for mobile platforms.
Founded in 1995, Mythic also developed Dark Age of Camelot and a number of other online games including the popular MUD Dragon's Gate. Their most recent release, a microtransaction-heavy remake of the classic strategy game Dungeon Keeper, was received poorly by many gamers.


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Why this architecture critic supports a proposed addition to the Château Laurier despite backlash | CBC Radio Loaded
Why this architecture critic supports a proposed addition to the Château Laurier despite backlash
Ottawa city councillors are taking heat over a proposed, modern addition to the historic Château Laurier hotel. Alex Bozikevic, the architecture critic for the Globe and Mail, explains why he's one of the few people publicly supporting this and other modern additions to heritage buildings.
'The craftsmanship that went into that building 100 years ago is literally impossible to reproduce today'
CBC Radio · Posted: Jul 12, 2019 6:21 PM ET | Last Updated: July 12, 2019
Larco Investments has had its architects do five versions of an addition for the Château Laurier. The fifth and final one is several storeys shorter and has more limestone than the first. (Larco Investments)
Day 610:12Why this architecture critic supports a proposed addition to the Château Laurier despite backlash
Ottawa city councillors came under fire this week over a proposed addition to the Château Laurier hotel, but at least one architecture critic supports altering the national historic site.
"There's an idea among heritage planners and heritage experts that a new building that adds on to an important historic site should look different," said Alex Bozikovic, the architecture critic for the Globe and Mail.
The modern design of the boxy new wing proposed by the hotels owner, Vancouver's Larco Investments, has been criticized for being out of step with the turreted hotel. Some have described it as looking like a "radiator" in sharp contrast against the limestone of the Château Laurier, which opened in 1912, and the neighbouring east block of Parliament Hill.
Despite the debate, Ottawa city councillors voted down a motion twice this week to put the project on hold.
Bozikovic says the plan deserves some scrutiny, but it would be impossible to match the original design perfectly. A modern add-on, then, is a much better compromise.
He explained to Day 6 host Brent Bambury why he believes the building's proposed new wing works. Here's part of their conversation.
Why are you the only person signing on to this design in the entire country?
I think, first of all, I'm not.
I think there are probably a lot of people out there and I have heard from some of them, you know, who agree that an addition to the Château Laurier that is not in the same style as the existing building is a perfectly acceptable idea — including Ottawa's heritage planners.
The Château Laurier is seen from Parliament Hill in this photo from 1925. (Samuel J. Jarvis/Library and Archives Canada)
OK, so take me through this design proposal. What do you like about the design?
I should start by saying that there are a lot of different ways that this can be done. But in broad strokes, there's an idea among heritage planners and heritage experts that a new building that adds on to an important historic site should look different.
There's a sort of there's an international consensus on that, which is why Ottawa has a policy that this new building should be subordinate but complementary.
This design, which is the fifth version of a design for the site [pictured above], it responds to the existing hotel by picking up on its materials. It uses the same Indiana limestone that the hotel does. It uses copper for accents as the existing hotel building does.
And I think the architects have done a really nice job of putting together a building that, in its details, in its proportions, is quite beautiful; is distinct from the hotel in terms of the forms and the proportions that it uses.
But also [it] captures a little bit of the spirit of the existing building.
[Architecture] captures how people are able to build, what people want to build, the tools and materials that are available at the time. - Alex Bozikovic, the Globe and Mail
As you know, Prince Charles famously said of, I think, the National Gallery in London that the new addition was a 'monstrous carbuncle' on the face of a beloved friend. Is this addition to the Chateau Laurier a monstrous carbuncle?
I don't think it is. And, you know, I think Prince Charles was wrong about the building that he was talking about as well.
Why is a pretty complicated question. I think we need to distinguish between what makes a contemporary work of architecture beautiful and what makes it fit in with what goes in around it — or not fit in — versus, sort of, the larger question of whether there's any case to be made for doing a new building.
'It's soooooo ugly': Public pans approval of Château Laurier expansion
'Betrayal of democracy': Reviled Château Laurier addition to go ahead
There's sort of this larger argument that whatever we build in this context should look old fashioned in the same way as the old thing, you know, which is not a very carefully considered point of view, I don't think.
And then there are more subtle arguments you can make, which people in Ottawa have been making, about whether this building could be made slightly better or could be done in a slightly different way.
But let's go back to, you said, the argument that the addition should look like the existing building.
I've seen people talk about that and they talk about it in terms of the Disney-fication of the building, sort of continuing this kind of style that's no longer contemporary.
But what is wrong with a Disney-fication if it's a popular building and people want the style to be continued — they're the people that use the building — why not just do it? Why not go ahead with it?
If you could reproduce the existing building exactly that would be one thing. But you can't.
That kind of stonework, the craftsmanship that went into that building 100 years ago is literally impossible to reproduce today.
So you're going to get something that looks kind of like the original and often those half imitations of older buildings date really badly.
There are a lot of 1980s buildings right now that tried to pick up on the language of historic buildings that now look very much like 1980s buildings.
Alex Bozikovic is the Globe and Mail's architecture critic and author of Toronto Architecture: A City Guide. (The Globe and Mail)
We had some fun playing Tom Green off the top, but with all respect to him there are experts in architecture who've come out against this design.
Phyllis Lambert from the Canadian Centre for Architecture is among them. So do you believe you're giving a pass to the specific design of this addition?
I think there are reasonable criticisms that could be made of this design.
The Lalji family who own Larco Investments are thoughtful developers and property owners. They have a relationship with this particular architect, Peter Clewes and his firm Architects Alliance, who do a lot of commercial work and do it very well.
But, you know, Peter Clewes also has his own particular take. He has his own ideas about the form and the way he likes to make buildings look these days which other people can disagree with.
I don't think that a building, just because it is contemporary in its expression, necessarily has to look like this. I think there might be other solutions that other people might bring forward that are contemporary that might be better loved by average folks.
But is there any architecture that you think is inviable; that you think, 'there's no way you can put an addition onto this structure and make it work'?
What's interesting about architecture for me is that it expresses where society is at not just culturally but also economically. It captures how people are able to build, what people want to build, the tools and materials that are available at the time.
Social, economic, technological as well as aesthetic, all of these different dimensions come together in a building and my feeling is that building should be representative of their time. They should express the culture of their moment. And, as I say, there are different ways to do that.
But I don't think in general that reproducing the commercial architecture of a particular style of 105 years ago is really the way to go.
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. To hear the full interview with Alex Bozikovic, download our podcast or click 'Listen' above.
Sea of Solitude is the latest high-profile video game to artfully explore mental health, trauma and isolation
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OpinionCase details
Pierce Petroleum Corp. v. Osage Coal Co.
Suttle v. Chadwell
Under these circumstances the reports were admissible in evidence. Pierce Petroleum Corporation v. Osage Coal…
Casselman v. State
It is, however, equally well settled that an expert who testifies in such case may not state simply that the…
3 Citing Cases
Full title:PIERCE PETROLEUM CORP. et al. v. OSAGE COAL CO
Court:Supreme Court of Oklahoma
Date published: Jul 17, 1928
271 P. 675 (Okla. 1928)
271 P. 675
Supreme Court of Oklahoma
Opinion Filed July 17, 1928. Rehearing Denied November 20, 1928.
(Syllabus.)
1. Corporations — Insolvency — Discretion of Officers of Reorganized Corporation as to Payment of Unsecured Creditors Under Terms of Debenture Certificates.
In an action to compel the board of directors of a corporation to provide for payment on a noninterest-bearing debenture certificate issued by such corporation to an unsecured creditor of a corporation whose assets had theretofore been sold to a trustee of a reorganization committee of bondholders in foreclosure proceedings of a first mortgage given to secure such bonds, and such debenture had been issued pursuant to an agreement of the reorganization committee with the unsecured creditor, and the provisions of the debenture were that the company "agrees with the registered holder of this certificate and the registered holders of other certificates of like tenor that the Osage Company will, by action of its board of directors, from time to time hereafter, when as in the discretion of said board of directors there shall be surplus earnings of the company available for that purpose, declare from such surplus earnings, distribution to retire debenture certificates, * * *" and further provides that no dividends will be declared on the capital stock of the company until the entire issue of certificates shall have been retired as above, or called for retirement by resolution of the board of directors; and the petition contains no allegation that the board of directors of the company abused the discretion given them, or were guilty of fraud or oppression in refusing to declare distribution, a demurrer to such petition is properly sustained.
2. Appeal and Error — Necessity for Injury in Refusal to Strike Portions of Answer.
Though a motion to strike certain portions of defendant's answer may be well taken, in part, if it appears from the whole record that no substantial injury was done plaintiff by the refusal to sustain such motion, a judgment for defendant will not be reversed on account of such refusal.
3. Evidence — Voluminous Corporation Records — Admissibility of Digest Made by Expert Accountant.
It is not error to admit in evidence a digest or statement showing the financial condition and transactions of a company covering a long period of time, prepared by an expert accountant, who qualifies as such expert and testifies that the statement correctly reflects the condition of the company as shown by the books, when the books are all in court and opposing counsel have full opportunity to cross-examine the witness as to the correctness of the statements, and the books are voluminous and such as would require an explanation by an expert accountant.
4. Appeal and Error — Findings of Trial Court Sustained.
Evidence examined, and held, that the findings of the trial court were not clearly against the weight of the evidence.
Commissioners' Opinion, Division No. 2.
Error from District Court, Pittsburg County; Harve Melton, Judge.
Action by Pierce Petroleum Corporation et al. against Osage Coal Company. Judgment for defendant, and plaintiffs bring error. Affirmed.
A. C. Markley, for plaintiffs in error.
James H. Gordon and Monk McSherry, for defendant in error.
DIFFENDAFFER, C.
For a number of years, prior to June 1, 1918, a corporation known as the Osage Coal Mining Company of McAlester, Okla., had been in the hands of a receiver in an action pending in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Oklahoma. The action was for the foreclosure of a mortgage. The debts of the company consisted of $400,000 first mortgage bonds, with a large amount of past-due interest, and about $89,000 in unsecured notes and accounts payable. About June 1, 1918, the bondholders appointed a committee to arrange a plan for the reorganization of the company. The bondholders had obtained a judgment of foreclosure, and the unsecured creditors, including the plaintiffs in this action, had also obtained judgment on their claims, aggregating $79,694.82. The reorganization committee mailed the following letter to the unsecured creditors:
"1015 Federal Reserve Bank Bldg."
"St. Louis, Mo. June 1, 1918.
'To The Unsecured Creditor Osage Coal Mining Company:
"Gentlemen:
"In September, 1913, upon the death of Wm. Busby, principal owner of the Osage Coal Mining Company, Mr. Busby's affairs and the affairs of the Osage Company were found to be in great confusion.
"It was hoped for a time that it would be possible to rehabilitate the company without receivership, but because of the attitude of some of the creditors of the company, this was found impossible — and on July 30, 1914, upon proceedings in the U.S. District Court of Oklahoma, Mr. James Duncan was appointed receiver, and the property has been administered by the receiver since that date.
"The debts of the Osage Company consist of:
"First Mortgage Bonds Outstanding ............... $400,000.00
"Unsecured Notes and Accounts Payable ........... 79,694.82
"The bondholders have deposited their bonds with a reorganization committee, and it is proposed to terminate the receivership by foreclosure sale, and reorganize the business.
"The bondholders' committee of reorganization expect to bid for and purchase the property of the Osage Coal Mining Company at such sale, and the plan herein outlined is subject to the purchase of the committee of the property at such sale.
"In behalf of the bondholders committee, a new corporation will be formed to take over the property so purchased.
"The new company will create a new mortgage to secure an issue of first mortgage 10-year 6% bonds amounting to $400,000.
"The holders of the Osage Coal Mining Company bonds have agreed to accept $200,000 in new bonds in place of their present holdings of $400,000. The remaining $200,000 of the new issue will be reserved in the treasury of the new company to provide for possible future requirements for new equipment and development.
"The bonds of the new company will carry interest at the rate of 6% per annum, payable semi-annually, and the mortgage will provide for a sinking fund of $20,000 per annum to be applied annually to the payment and cancellation of bonds. If any of the bonds to be held in reserve, as above described, are issued at some future time, the sinking fund payments will then be correspondingly increased.
"The present bondholders, acting through the reorganization committee, propose to give to assenting unsecured creditors of the Osage Coal Mining Company noninterest-bearing income debentures for the full amount of their claims. This proposition has already been accepted by the holders of a very large majority in amount of the unsecured debts.
"The board of directors will, from time to time, as in their judgment surplus income becomes available for that purpose, order payments in liquidation of these debentures. Such payments will be made pro rata and the payment indorsed upon the debentures. The debentures will be registered and transferable by indorsement.
"No dividends will be declared or paid upon the capital stock until the entire issue of debentures shall have been paid off and canceled or provided for and called for payment.
"G. L. Blackford, "Chas. E. Kimball, "Richard Stout, "Reorganization Committee."
The proposition was accepted by plaintiffs, and each of them assigned their claim against the Osage Coal Mining Company to the reorganization committee. In pursuance of the plan of reorganization, the bondholders procured an order of sale under which the property and assets of every description belonging to the Osage Coal Mining Company were sold to Charles E. Kimball, a member of the reorganization committee, as trustee, for the sum of $400,000, which he paid by surrendering bonds in that amount. He also assumed certain obligations of the receiver, etc., which, however, were paid out of funds in the hands of the receiver.
Mr. Kimball, as such trustee, operated the mines, etc., until the new company, Osage Coal Company, defendant herein, was organized and took over the business, the property being conveyed to it on or about January 25, 1919.
On May 29, 1920, there was issued to the several plaintiffs noninterest-bearing debenture certificate, the one to the Pierce Oil Corporation being as follows:
"Osage Coal Company.
"No. 14. $834.20.
"Non-Interest-Bearing Debenture Certificate.
"The Osage Coal Company, pursuant to agreement with bondholders' committee of reorganization, Osage Coal Mining Company, providing for liquidation of unsecured notes of and claims against Osage Coal Mining Company heretofore assigned to said committee, pursuant to circular of committee June 1, 1918, undertakes as follows:
"The Osage Coal Company agrees with the registered holder of this certificate and the registered holders of other certificates of like tenor, that the Osage Coal Company will, by action of its board of directors, from time to time hereafter, when, as in the discretion of said board of directors, there shall be surplus earnings of the company available for the purpose, declare from such surplus earnings, distribution to retire debenture certificates not exceeding in the aggregate $80,000.
"This certificate is registered in the name of: Pierce Oil Corporation in the amount of $834.20, which is to be discharged pro rata with other certificates of like tenor, not exceeding the aggregate of $80,000 under the terms above stated.
"Payments in liquidation of this certificate will be indorsed hereon, reducing the principal sum accordingly.
"No dividend will be declared on the capital stock of the coal company until this entire issue of certificates shall have been retired and canceled, as above, or called for retirement by resolution of the board of directors.
"This certificate, and all benefits hereunder, may be transferred upon the books of the company upon its presentation on and surrender at the office of the company, signed in accordance with the transfer on the back hereof, and a new certificate will be issued in place hereof.
"St. Louis, Mo., May 29, 1920."
"Osage Coal Company, by James Duncan, President.
"Attest: Chas. E. Kimball, Secretary.
Indorsed on Back:
"No. 14, Osage Coal Company. Non-Interest-Bearing Debenture Certificate $834.29. Pierce Oil Corporation, Registered Owner.
"Payments in Liquidation.
"For value received, the undersigned hereby sell, assign and transfer to Pierce Petroleum Corporation all right, title and interest in the within debenture, and any amount that may be due thereunder, and do hereby irrevocably constitute and appoint __________ attorney to transfer the said debenture on the books of the within named company, with full power of substitution in the premises.
"Pierce Oil Corporation. By H. B. Thorne, Vice President.
"In the presence of J. L. Spear, Secy.
"(Seal)."
The name of the Pierce Oil Corporation was afterwards changed to Pierce Petroleum Corporation, and the debenture assigned accordingly.
When the Osage Coal Company was organized, it issued to the bondholders of the old company in lieu of the $400,000 in bonds of the old company, $200,000 bonds of the new company, and $200,000 capital stock of the new company, and provision was made for the issuance of an additional $200,000 of bonds to be retained in the treasury to "provide for possible future requirements for new equipment and development." None of the latter bonds were ever used. The $200,000 bonds that were issued drew interest at 6 per cent. per annum, and the principal was due and payable $20,000 each year for ten years.
On May 2, 1925, plaintiff Pierce Petroleum Corporation filed suit in the district court of Pittsburg county to recover the $834.20 represented by its debenture certificate. The petition alleged the issuance and delivery of the debenture, a copy of which and a copy of the reorganization committee's circular letter were attached to the petition as exhibits and made part thereof. The petition then alleged that in accordance with the terms of the debenture and circular letter, there had accrued and was held by defendant in 1919 and 1920, and ever since, surplus earnings of the company that are and were applicable to the payment of the debentures. Proper allegation of the change of name of plaintiff, and the assignment of the debenture to plaintiff in its new name, and the ownership of the debenture by plaintiff and demand for payment and refusal thereof were contained in the petition.
On October 12, 1925, Graham, Fultz Garrett filed a petition in intervention on the same reorganization agreement, and a debenture held by it. On the same date, McAlester Grocery Company filed a similar suit to recover on a debenture held by it. On March 16, 1925, the Southwest General Electric Company and the Western Electric Company each filed a similar petition to recover on a debenture held by each of them. On May 3, 1926, all the actions were consolidated for trial with that of Pierce Petroleum Corporation against Osage Company, and they were tried together on the same evidence, but separate motions for judgment, judgments, and separate motions for new trial were filed. A stipulation was entered into at the trial that appeal to the Supreme Court should be perfected in cause No. 8622, Pierce Petroleum Corporation v. Osage Coal Company, and that judgments in the other causes abide the decision and judgment in such appeal. The petitions, demurrers, amended petitions and answers are similar in all the cases. Demurrers were filed to the petition and sustained by the court. Plaintiff thereafter filed an amended petition, the additional allegations being in substance:
"Plaintiff alleges that said reorganization committee entered into like contracts and the defendant corporation executed like debenture certificates, totaling some $80,000 to Western Electric Company, Southwestern Electric Company, McAlester Grocery Company and Graham, Fultz Garrett, and to others whose names and addresses are unknown to plaintiff, but are known to the defendant corporation and its board of directors, and that such contracts, debentures and rights are shown on the books and records of said defendant. And prays the court to require defendant to make answer setting forth the names and addresses and amounts owning said debenture certificate holders as shown on its books and records that summons may issue to each of said other debenture certificate holders, and that they be made parties hereto that their rights to said fund may be determined.
"This plaintiff further avers: That said defendant corporation has, during the year 1919, 1920, and succeeding years, and each of said years, from the operation of its said business, accumulated surplus earnings greatly in excess of its expenses and the $20,000 providing for a sinking fund for the payment of its outstanding bonds and the bonds sold to provide for a new equipment and development. And which surplus was available during each of said years for the board of directors of said defendant corporation to declare dividends for distribution and payment on the debenture certificate holders. The said surplus earnings are shown on the daily, monthly and yearly balance sheets and records and books of said defendant, as this plaintiff verily believes (interlined), and cannot ascertain without examination of books and an accounting and asks that defendant be required to produce in court its said books, records and balance sheets showing said surplus earnings to be submitted in evidence. And that the defendant be required to make an accounting to this court of its said business and surplus earnings. Said defendant's board of directors, and James Duncan, its president, abused the discretion given them, and their contract duty in failing, neglecting and refusing to declare the dividends from the surplus funds of said defendant corporation available and make the payments to this plaintiff and the other debenture certificate holders."
The prayer was that the court require defendant and its board of directors to make an accounting of its business and surplus earnings for each of the years 1918 to 1925, inclusive.
Defendant answered by general denial, and after admitting its corporate existence, and the execution of the debenture certificate and the circular of the bondholder committee, alleged, in substance, that by the terms of the debenture the amount thereof is payable only upon action of the board of directors of defendant company, and only when and as in the discretion of the board there should be surplus earnings of the company available for that purpose; that the only obligation upon the part of the defendant is that it will not declare dividends on the capital stock until the entire issue of certificates has been retired or called for retirement by resolution of the board; that the company's business is that of mining and selling coal, which business is rendered extremely hazardous by reason of explosions and disturbance of the coal at the great depth at which the mining is carried on, causing what is known as "squeezes," necessitating great expense and shutdown of the mine for long periods of time; the demand for coal is variable; that the business is subject to great loss by reason of strikes of miners, etc.; that the properties of the company are covered by a large outstanding mortgage.
The answer then recited the receivership proceedings against the old company, and alleged that the property was not worth and would not sell for the amount of the first mortgage indebtedness, but that the bondholders, being desirous that the unsecured creditors be protected out of the profits said property should make as operated under a new company, "voluntarily and without consideration agreed as set out in the debenture certificate and the bondholders circular;" that the provisions were inserted in the certificate making payments thereon wholly discretionary with the board for the protection of the new company against interference in the operation of the property by holders of the certificates, but protected the interests of the unsecured creditors by the provisions against payment of dividends.
The answer further alleged that, from the nature of the business, it is necessary to keep on hands at all times a large sum of money as working capital, and also to meet extraordinary demands in times of shutdowns, strikes, and mining disasters; that in the judgment of the board of directors, it would be dangerous to the company to pay out at this time any of its surplus funds, and that the same must be retained to care for ordinary and extraordinary expenses; that it is ready and willing to pay dividends to the debenture holder whenever it feels that it is safe so to do; that defendant has acted in the utmost good faith, and has so operated its properties that a substantial sum has been accumulated to protect the company from disasters and provide for working capital, but that it has on hands no more than is reasonably necessary for such purpose.
Motion was filed by plaintiffs to strike certain portions of the answer, which was overruled. Plaintiffs replied by general denial, and the cause was tried to the court without a jury, resulting in a finding and judgment for defendant, from which judgment plaintiffs prosecute this appeal.
The first assignment is that the trial court erred in sustaining the demurrer to the original petition. The action pleaded in the original petition was an action at law based solely upon the debenture certificate and the letter of the reorganization committee to the unsecured creditors of the old corporation. It is contended that the debenture certificate is an obligation to pay, and under the law was due and payable in a reasonable time from the date of the contract. In 14A C. J. 1050, the following general rule is stated:
"The general rule is that, where the reorganization follows a valid foreclosure, the new corporation is under no obligation with respect to the liabilities of the old corporation which did not have priority over the mortgage foreclosed, unless such liability is assumed by the new corporation or is imposed by the decree of foreclosure or by statute."
The liability was not imposed by the decree of foreclosure nor by statute. The only liability, therefore is that voluntarily assumed. The only obligation is as stated in the certificate and letter that the Osage Coal Company will, by action of its board of directors, from time to time, when, and as in the discretion of said board, there shall be surplus earnings of the company available for that purpose, declare from such surplus earnings distribution to retire the debenture certificate.
The agreement or obligation is similar to that which the law implies in favor of a common stockholder for the payment of a dividend. When a corporation has net or surplus profits, unless some restraint is imposed by statute, charter, by-laws or contract, or otherwise, whether a dividend shall be declared, and if declared the amount thereof, rests in the sound discretion of the directors. 14 C. J. 808.
By the express provision of the debenture certificate, the declaration of a distribution to retire the debenture in whole or in part is placed within the sound discretion of the board of directors. Though the matter is within the discretion of the board, the board of directors would not be permitted to use their power illegally, oppressively or wantonly or arbitrarily. So where there are net or surplus profits out of which a dividend may be declared, and the board of directors fraudulently refuse or neglect to declare and pay a dividend, a court of equity will compel them to do so. 14 C. J. 813. So applying this rule, and we think it is applicable in the instant case, in the absence of any allegation that the board of directors had abused their discretion, or were acting fraudulently, wantonly, oppressively, or arbitrarily in refusal to declare a distribution, we think the petition failed to state a cause of action, and that it was not error to sustain the demurrer.
Complaint is also made that the court erred in refusing to sustain the motion of plaintiffs to strike certain portions of the answer of defendant. The motion could have properly been sustained in part, as to the allegations concerning the receivership, etc., of the old company, but from an examination of the whole record, we do not think that plaintiffs' rights were materially affected by the ruling of the court, and plaintiffs do not point out wherein they were injured, or their rights were materially affected by the denial of their motion.
Complaint is made of the admission of certain digest statements of the company's business, as made by the witness T. T. Brewster. The digests were a part of the deposition of the witness Brewster taken in St. Louis, Mo., and attached to his deposition. Plaintiff was represented by counsel at the taking of the deposition, and no objection to these digests was made at the time, and objection was thereby waived. Section 630, C. O. S. 1921; Okla. State Bank of Cushing v. Buzzard, 73 Okla. 250, 175 P. 750.
Complaint is also made of the admission of certain statements of the defendant's business as digested and tabulated by the witness Miller, who was a bookkeeper for defendant at Krebs, Okla., the objection being that this was all secondary evidence. The books from which the compilations or digests were made were all before the court at the time. The books themselves were very voluminous, and plaintiff was permitted to cross-examine the witness thoroughly. We think the witness qualified as an expert, and these digests reflected his opinion as an expert as to the condition of the company's business, as shown by the books.
An expert accountant who has examined certain books and schedules which have been introduced in evidence may state the result of his computation therefrom. 22 C. J. 537. This was an equity case in the nature of an accounting, wherein it was sought to show the financial condition of a corporation, involving transactions covering a period of about eight years, during which time the company had handled a business amounting to nearly $4,000,000. To have placed the entire set of books in evidence, and require the trial court to examine same, item by item, would have required a great deal of time, and unless the trial judge was an expert accountant, would have been of little benefit to the court, and would have made a very voluminous record to present here for review. We think the only practical method of getting the facts before the court was that adopted by the trial court. Counsel does not point out wherein plaintiff was prejudiced by the evidence, and we are unable to see how it was injured thereby, since the books were all before the court, and plaintiff was given every opportunity to cross-examine the witness.
The other assignments of error may all be considered in determining whether the finding and judgment of the trial court was supported by the evidence. The single question for the trial court to determine, as we view it, was, Did the board of directors abuse their discretion in refusing to declare a distribution for the benefit of the holders of the debenture certificates?
We have examined the entire record, consisting of nearly 600 pages, and conclude that the findings and judgment are not clearly against the weight of the evidence. To review all the evidence would require more space than we feel justified in devoting to this case. In substance, the evidence shows that when the assets of the old company were sold, they were appraised at $410,000. They consisted of seven departmental coal mining leases located in Pittsburg county. These leases are to expire in 1931, appraised at $140,000, machinery, equipment, mules, supplies, and other property, appraised at $145,000, and bills receivable, $125,000. These assets were sold to Kimball, as trustee, and delivered to him September 14, 1918. He operated the business as such trustee until about January 25, 1919, when the defendant company took the business over. The new company was capitalized at $200,000. Six per cent. bonds were issued maturing $20,000 each year for 10 years, and $78,635.90 in debenture certificates were issued.
In the property account of the company, the cost of the property was carried at $480,000. The evidence shows that the business was conducted at considerable profit for a few years. At the close of 1924, the margin of income over operating expenses was about $520,000. In 1925, to August 31st, the excess of operating expenses over income was $16,732.01. The company had set aside each year the $20,000 to pay off the bonds falling due. The plan adopted was to set aside enough money out of the income to retire the bonds in ten years, that is, one-tenth of the bonds each year. They also set aside what they termed a depreciation and obsolescence fund, this being based upon the fact that the leases would expire in 1931, after which the company must cease operations. The depreciation and obsolescence fund was to be created by setting aside from the income one-twelfth of the amount of the capital stock and $80,000 debenture certificates, so that when the leases expired, the company would have sufficient money to retire the capital stock, pay off the debentures, and the balance, if any, to be distributed to the stockholders in dividends.
The earnings for the first three years were considerably in excess of the amount required for that purpose, and the board of directors purchased bonds of the company before they matured to the amount of about $43,000, or possibly at one time they had bought $63,000 of bonds before they became due. At the time of the trial the company held $23,000 of these bonds that had not matured.
It was this method of handling the income that plaintiff contended was an abuse of discretion. It was contended that the company had no right to invest its earnings in its bonds before their maturity, or to accumulate a fund to retire the capital stock until the debentures were retired.
It is contended by the defendant that, because of the hazardous nature of the business, and the probability of the company at any time incurring great losses by mine disasters, strikes, shutdowns, etc., good business judgment demanded that the company keep in reserve large sums of money to meet and care for such losses.
On March 31, 1926, shortly before the trial, the net surplus on hand was about $19,500. The company, however, held $23,000 of its bonds which had not matured. The record disclosed that for the year 1924, the losses were $38,000, and for the year 1925, the loss was about $60,000.
It is contended by the plaintiff that the debenture should be retired before any payment is provided for the stockholders. That is, that the one-twelfth of the amount of the capital stock, which the company has set aside each year for the purpose of paying off the stockholders in 1931, when the company must cease doing business by reason of the expiration of their coal mining leases, should be used now to retire the debenture. In other words, that the debenture holders are to be preferred over the stockholders. On the other hand, the defendant claims that a fund should be provided to retire the capital stock, and that in the event there should not be enough at the expiration of the leases to pay both stockholders and debenture holders, the stockholders should be paid first.
As to which of these positions is correct, we deem it inadvisable at this time to decide. The finding of the trial court was that there was not sufficient evidence to show fraud or abuse of discretion on the part of defendant, or its board of directors, and that upon the whole evidence the defendant was entitled to judgment.
We have carefully examined the whole record, and in view of the fact that the evidence discloses that during the three years next preceding the trial the company sustained loss, due largely to strikes of the mineworkers, of approximately $140,000, and at the time of the trial the company's cash was reduced to about $19,000, with some $37,000 of first mortgage bonds to provide for before January, 1929, we do not think that the findings and judgment of the trial court are clearly against the weight of the evidence.
The judgment should be affirmed.
TEEHEE, HALL, LEACH, and HERR, Commissioners, concur.
By the Court: It is so ordered.


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Capital Project
WELCOMEThe BAC Playground Project INITIAL IDEASWhat triggered Battersea Arts Centre's Playground Projects UNLOCKING THE BUILDING'S POTENTIALStarting with the Masque of the Red Death INVOLVING PEOPLEDeveloping ideas for the building MAKING PLANSTowards a Masterplan PLAYGROUNDING CASE STUDIESTesting ideas through 'Playgrounding' FINDING FUNDINGHow we are funding the project THE MASTER PLANExplore the plans NEWS THE HISTORY OF THE BUILDING SUPPORT US MAIN SITE
PLAYGROUNDING CASE STUDIES
CASE STUDY : BEDROOMS
CASE STUDY : THE BEES KNEES
CASE STUDY : WELCOME AREA
CASE STUDY : COUNCIL CHAMBER
CASE STUDY : THE GRAND HALL
CASE STUDY : THE LOWER HALL
INITIAL IDEAS
UNLOCKING THE BUILDING'S POTENTIAL
INVOLVING PEOPLE
MAKING PLANS
TESTING IDEAS THROUGH 'PLAYGROUNDING'
TESTING IDEAS TO MAKE THEM STRONGER
Initial ideas for developing the building were not polished, there were no clear plans for what we were going to do and how we were going to do it. In 2006 we established the idea of applying the process we use to develop theatre, 'Scratch', to an architectural design and building process. We took ideas from local people, artists and professionals and in direct collaboration with the architects we tested them through low-cost investment. We call this concept and process 'Playgrounding'.
By seeing our entire building as a playground for performance it allowed us to think creatively about how artists and audiences use space in an iterative yet ambitious way. The time and resources spent on practical research and development strengthened our ideas and had the effect of reducing construction costs – the initial master-plan for Battersea's old Town Hall was around £18m – through Battersea Arts Centre's Playground Projects this has reduced to around £13m.
Playgrounding Case Studies SLIDER
HOW DID PLAYGROUNDING DEVELOP?
The first and most ambitious playground project was The Masque of the Red Death in collaboration with Punchdrunk. It enabled Battersea Arts Centre to reconsider its relationship with the Town Hall and view the entire footprint of its one-acre site as valid creative space.
Following its success, and thanks to a pledge of three years support from Bloomberg, we initially planned to stage three large-scale co-productions a year that would each mark significant stages in the building's architectural development. However, as the work with Haworth Tompkins developed, we realised that this was a highly ambitious aim which we simply could not achieve.
Playgrounding developed into a constant, on-going approach to the building reflected in every area of our programme, not just in major building wide productions. During the Playgrounding process the building has remained open, as it will through the full realisation of the masterplan. We believe that Playgrounding is a more responsible approach to capital projects in an economically unstable cultural environment as it pairs ambition with available resources through a flexible approach.
Steve Tompkins
Steve Tompkins is the Director of Haworth Tompkins Architects.
David Jubb
David Jubb is Artistic Director of Battersea Arts Centre.
In 2011, a call went out for 6 artists to design and create a room which would house their performance in the second One on One festival in 2011. The only two criteria were that they had to act as a working bedroom that could be comfortably stayed in after the performance and they had to be themed on an existing story.
The chosen designs went on to provide Battersea Arts Centre with the legacy of permanent residency spaces, allowing future artists to live and work in the building without limits, providing complete creative freedom without impinging on the public opening times. Having a community of different artists in residency generates dialogue and cross-pollination of ideas.
This idea of Battersea Arts Centre providing a 'Home' for artists has gone on to become a crucial aspect of the final masterplan, and is being developed further.
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Bedroom Images
One-on-one Festival was a season of work put on by Battersea Arts Centre that takes place between one artist and one audience member at a time. Building on the enormous success of the first One on One Festival in 2010, a second festival was staged the following year bringing together seminal works from around the world with new commissions from leading artists in the field.
Kirsty Harris
Kirsty Harris is a designer and artist who made one of the bedrooms commissioned in the One-on-One festival.
Rio Occupation: A Cultural Invasion!
Part of the official London 2012 Festival (Cultural Olympiad), the Rio Occupation was a project conceived by the Secretaria de Estado de Cultura do Rio de Janeiro, directed by Gringo Cardia and Christiane Jatahy and produced by People's Palace Projects in association with Battersea Arts Centre.
www.riooccupationlondon.com
POP UP BEDROOMS, RIO OCCUPATION
In 2012 the Playgrounding project was extended to a second phase in connection with The Rio Occupation, an exchange of 30 Brazilian artists who came to London for 30 days as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad Festival. Throughout the 30 days of the Occupation, the artists hosted a panorama of Rio's contemporary creative scene in some of London's most prominent and revered arts venues, including The Roundhouse, Southbank Centre, Somerset House, Victoria and Albert Museum and Barbican.
We used this opportunity to create a home for the visiting artists, extending the exiting residential facilities by developing a series of pop-up bedrooms across all major performance spaces. This series of pop-up bedrooms can now be used for a range of residencies and allows us to use the building flexibly.
"Having the Rio Occupation artists living all together in a creative space was a completely central element of the project. It enabled them to get to know each other on a much deeper level and create far more tangible relationships... They broke down barriers with all Battersea Arts Centre's staff – we all felt like we were part of the same team."
Liz Morton, Battersea Arts Centre Producer for the Rio Occupation
Monique Duchen
Monique Duchen is an artist who has been working on projects at Battersea Arts Centre for over 8 years.
'Engagement with young families forms an important part of our long-term relationship with our local community. I'm delighted The Bees Knees has become a permanent fixture in our building, giving children, parents and artists the space to play and create together for many years to come.'
Sarah Golding,
Associate Artistic Director
Project leader of The Bees Knees
In 2010, we created a scratch of a children's play space, The Bees Knees, transforming what was previously Studio 1, one of three black box spaces, into an English garden, complete with decking, picnic tables, a community notice board, toys, a slide and a gentle slope for toddlers to climb and roll down. It is a room designed for families with young children where they can interact in a safe, accessible and stimulating environment. It was immediately popular and received constantly high visitor numbers.
This early scratch enabled Battersea Arts Centre to offer a new strand of engaging work aimed at toddlers aged 0-5 years to help develop their learning, creativity and social skills, as well as supporting parents in bonding with their child and in meeting other members of the community.
Following the sustained success of The Bees Knees, the project was incorporated into the masterplan and developed further with lessons learnt from the first phase, and more funding invested to make it more permanent. It now plays a key role in the creative programme as a space to develop and present family work.
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Bees Knees Images
'Bees Knees is a great space to come visit. My son is autistic and has a tendency to run off – so the fact that it's enclosed makes it less stressful for me – at the same time the slide and 'hill' provides a great opportunity for him to get some good exercise, which is not something you can say about many cafes! It's also a place where he gets a chance to interact with other children which is invaluable. Just wanted to let you know that your project makes a difference to our week'
Gitte Hart, Wandsworth resident
Welcome Area Images
WELCOME AREA
In 2012, we ran a playground project which extend the café into foyer. We aimed to develop a feeling of community and inclusion as soon as you walk in the door; a place to eat, meet and share with each other. This built on the 'Home' principal embodied by the bedrooms project and extended it to everyone who comes through the doors. The Welcome Area playground project allowed us to discover and start to overcome the challenges presented by a building designed for a purely formal civic function and to help maximise the area as a potential revenue generator.
In the foyer we introduced seating, wifi, mirrors, lighting, internal doors and heaters. For the marble staircase, a seating installation was commissioned with rung makers Nicholas Hartwright which created a continuous flow of carpet, linking a series of benches. This softened the imposing, municipal first impression of the foyer with a welcoming, warm seating area. In the café we created a raised platform to make the space more dynamic, and reconfigured the space utilising recycled and reused elements of design such as a reclaimed floor from The Almeidia Theatre.
Overall these measures made the area a more hospitable, less imposing, dynamic space with the flexibility to facilitate different roles for the daytime and evening. It then led to a further development of the Bar and Café area as part of the masterplan which has been completed in Spring 2013.
Key Learning
The Welcome Area Playground Project was managed and delivered in house by a Battersea Arts Centre team. Managing lighter construction phases in-house with theatre artists and the production team can be a lot more cost effective than handing everything over to a contractor – the in-house team take more ownership of the project and a theatre production team understands the value of every penny and critical factor of opening the show on time.
Jude Kelly
Jude Kelly was the first Artistic Director of Battersea Arts Centre (1980 - 1985). She is currently Artistic Director of Southbank Centre.
Council Chamber Images
Emma Rice
Emma Rice is the Joint-Artistic Director of the internationally renowned Cornish theatre makers Kneehigh.
The Council Chamber has always been one of Battersea Arts Centre's main performance spaces. Until February 2011 it was a black box space, with a permanent seating rake.
In March 2011 Kneehigh returned to Battersea Arts Centre with their award winning show The Red Shoes which had originally been staged in the Council Chamber. We used that opportunity to return the space to its original form, the idea being that artists should be able to use and respond to it, almost casting it as a character in their productions. The black paint was stripped; the permanent rake was taken out and replaced with a flexible system which could be used throughout the building.
The result for The Red Shoes was a completely new and flexible approach to staging. It also allowed for the space to be used for commercial purposes and now the Council Chamber is regularly hired for functions and events.
One of Kneehigh's best loved and award winning shows, The Red Shoes is a passionate, funny, bloody and surreal re-imagining of Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy-tale about a girl possessed by a pair of red shoes who can't stop dancing. In trademark Kneehigh style, the production fused dance, live music, striking visuals and compelling story telling to bring the tale to life.
'This is intensely charismatic theatre about what it is to be alive'
Elisabeth Mahoney, The Guardian
Full review available here
Grand Hall Images
Don John
Drawing on the influences of disco and punk with a hint of Mozart, Don John was the amoral yet compelling story of the man who slept with over 2,000 women. First performed at the RSC's Courtyard Theatre in December '08, Don John was directed and adapted by Emma Rice - most recently Brief Encounter (West End), A Matter of Life and Death (RNT) - and designed by Vicki Mortimer - The Waves (RNT and UK Tour), Attempts on her Life (RNT).
GRAND HALL
The Grand Hall Playgrounding project came from a desire to test its potential as a theatre and maximise the income from the Grand Hall commercial outlets hires.
In spring 2009 we used the opportunity presented by Kneehigh and Royal Shakespeare Company's co-production of Don John to test the space as a temporary large scale theatre for a five week run. This provided a legacy of greater access to the space and better technical facilities. Playgrounding enabled the Grand Hall to become a flexible space that increases Battersea Arts Centre's artistic and income earning potential.
"The staging is magnificent… the finest Kneehigh production I have seen"
Financial Times *****
Lower Hall Images
"Due to the high number of commercial enquires Battersea Arts Centre was receiving, it became clear that there was a real demand for a space that local residents and organisations could use as a regular class venue."
Freddie Huntington, Events Manager
THE LOWER HALL
The Lower Hall was originally created for community uses and served this purpose both as a Town Hall and as an Arts Centre. In 2012 a series of Playgrounding works were undertaken and as a result the Lower Hall has become a versatile, flexible and vibrant space suitable for our current regular hires, and fulfilling the requirements that our new clients were asking for, such as an easier to use sound system, dance mirrors and better storage facilities. The Lower Hall now provides an essential and affordable service to the local community and also helps improve Battersea Arts Centre's awareness and relationships with its neighbours.
This work was an early scratch of this side of the building to improve the space in advance of the major works in 2014/15. Further improvements to the lobby areas, toilets and accompanying offices have been written into the masterplan to enable the space to reach its full potential.
THE MASTER PLAN


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Home #CharlestonShooting #WeWillShootBack Nat Turner self defense #WeWillShootBack: Is It Time for Black People to Begin Arming Themselves in America?
#WeWillShootBack: Is It Time for Black People to Begin Arming Themselves in America?
by Anna Gibson
Relatives of the victims whose lives were taken in the Emanuel AME church shooting had the opportunity to speak with the shooter, Dylann Roof, a few days ago. In the clip, we see the family of the victims in a courtroom speaking directly to Roof via video. We hear the families forgive Roof for his actions in the church. One-woman states:
"We welcomed you Wednesday night in our bible study with open arms. You have killed some of the most beautiful people that I have known. Every fiber of my body hurts and I will never be the same. But as we say in the bible study… we enjoyed you and may God have mercy on you."
While people across the United States are filled with grief about this tragedy, black people expressed this grief in dramatically different ways. The varied reactions shed light on a divide that's occurred for centuries, from the slave rebellions of Nat Turner, to the conversations trending on Twitter today.
Some applauded the family's spirit of love and forgiveness, celebrating AME Church's (which historically has dealt with many hate crimes) resilience in the face of tragedy. As such, people on Twitter started the hashtag #PrayForCharleston, which emphasizes the need for prayer and love above hatred.
However, others are taking a different approach. This group, trending on Twitter under the hashtag #WeWillShootBack, critically examines the spirit of forgiveness that Black people are often forced to exhibit after hate crimes. Writer and activist Taurean Brown, @SankofaBrown on Twitter, started this movement and makes a number of valid points about this issue.
He's cited as saying, "If our community is being unjustly attacked by terrorists, be it police or others, we have a right to defend ourselves."
This directly mirrors the anger the #WeWillShootBack movement feels toward the terrorist attack against AME church. Roof walked into one of our most hallowed spaces and systematically slaughtered everyone that welcomed him there. Many claim that if the people in the church were armed, this entire situation would have been averted.
For those who want to #PrayForCharleston, bringing a gun into the church is sacrilegious at best. While I can understand where this sentiment comes from symbolically, it can't be denied that prayer alone doesn't seem to be saving us. To quote the Bible, "Faith without works is dead." If we don't take action in self-defense against the people who oppress us, we will continue to die. When we examine #WeWillShootBack, we see that black people aren't advocating wanton violence, but the necessity of arming ourselves to ensure our peace of mind.
History has shown us that our willingness to defend ourselves has served our best interests, especially in a society that at one time, used violence against us as a way to maintain the status quo and keep black people in a state of terror. The hashtag #WeWillShootBack takes its name from the seminal work of Akinyele Umoja. We Will Shoot Back: Armed Resistance in the Mississippi examines the legacy of armed self-defense embraced by black people in the Mississippi as well as the terror white people spread in the south. In "We Will Shoot Back," Umoja says,
"Violence was central to the establishment of white discrimination, not only to seize power for white supremacist but to instill fear and intimidation [in black people]"
Of course, this wasn't a struggle that was just fought in Mississippi. These terrorist attacks took place all across the United States. Fighting back is a reaction that anyone who's been assaulted would experience. If you were outside and all of a sudden someone began to hit or shoot at you, your first response wouldn't be to pray. It would be to defend yourself. Self-preservation is a biological imperative.
Robert F. Williams, President of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP, had much to say about the necessity of black people fighting back in the face of oppression. In his "Speech from Radio Free Dixie," Williams echoes the pragmatism of the Black Power Movement. Williams stated:
"There are some who exhort us not to defend ourselves. There are some who exhort us to invoke the power of love and nonviolence. Yes, they would have us to turn the other cheek even as our women and children are being defiled. Is not self preservation not the first law of nature?"
In short, black people should be praised for their resilience in the face of darkness. Prayer is also our foundation—it helps us regain hope in the face of the hopelessness. However, if we want to experience true and lasting peace, we have to be prepared to defend ourselves against the unthinkable: lynchings, riots, and even our sacred spaces being desecrated due to white supremacy. Faith and self-defense must be balanced in order for us to live a full and peaceful life.
Photo: Washington State Archives
Anna Gibson is a student at Wayne State University who majors in Journalism with a minor in Africana Studies. She seeks to create safe space for the marginalized to tell their stories. If you would like to get in touch you can reach her on Twitter @TheRealSankofa or on Facebook under the name Anna Gibson.
#WeWillShootBack: Is It Time for Black People to Begin Arming Themselves in America? Reviewed by Anonymous on June 26, 2015 Rating: 5
Tags : #CharlestonShooting #WeWillShootBack Nat Turner self defense


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Pennsylvania Governor Prepares New Budget While Still Struggling to Pass This Year's
by Tribune News Service | February 9, 2016 AT 11:50 AM
By Angela Couloumbis, Harrisburg Bureau
This time last year, talk in the Capitol swirled around how newly elected Gov. Wolf's first budget was going to be bold and controversial.
It was to be an early test of whether the mild-mannered Democratic governor with the polished business resume and the famously unpredictable Republican-dominated legislature could put aside political and policy differences and achieve something.
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Few could have predicted just how messy that experiment would get.
Nearly 12 months later, the governor finds himself still wading through a stubborn and mentally exhausting stalemate over his proposed spending priorities for the current fiscal year.
And now he has to unveil a budget for the next one.
On Tuesday, Wolf will address a joint session of the legislature and implore lawmakers to embrace some of the same core ideas he advocated last year: more money for public schools, and a permanent solution to gaping deficits that have plagued the state's budgets for more than half a decade.
And just like last year, he is expected to argue that the only way to fix the state's cash-flow problem -- while also buoying public education, a priority for his administration -- is by making the politically difficult decision of raising the state's sales or personal income taxes.
"We are in a crisis mode," Mary Isenhour, Wolf's chief of staff, said in an interview late last week, describing a state shortfall predicted to grow from $500 million this year to between $1.8 billion and $2.5 billion next year. "For many years, state government has been robbing Peter to pay Paul. And Peter is out of money."
Without a balanced budget that attacks the deficit, she said, "We are going to have to do massive cuts."
Wolf has already started releasing some details of his plan. Last week, he traveled to Reading and Philadelphia to announce his intention to ask for $200 million in additional funding for public schools; and $60 million more for preschool programs.
That money, he stressed, will be on top of the school funding increases he wants -- but still hasn't secured -- for this year.
That first funding boost was part of his tentative deal with GOP leaders on a $30.8 billion budget that unceremoniously blew up days before Christmas.
It derailed, in large part, over disputes on how to fund the increase in spending. Despite the participation of their leaders in negotiating the deal, Republicans in the more conservative-leaning House balked at the eleventh hour because the deal would have required hiking sales or income taxes.
Wolf still expects that pieces of it will stand, namely, the proposed deal to increase public education funding by $350 million in this fiscal year.
That deal is dead, House Majority Leader Dave Reed (R., Indiana) said last week.
"He's got to be realistic," said Reed. "At some point, he's going to have to change or adjust his vision accordingly so we can complete this year's budget first."
Ask anyone in the Capitol what progress has been made to resolve their differences, and the answer is invariably the same: We're working on it.
Complicating matters is a looming election in which all 203 House seats and half the 50 Senate seats are up for grabs. Pushing through a substantial tax increase in an election year will be a heavy political lift.
Rep. Pamela DeLissio (D., Philadelphia) said in an interview last week that as the stalemate dragged on last year, she advocated for a mediator. "You know when people need help with the dialogue," she said.
But she and others said they hope Wolf's budget address this week will lay out, in the starkest of terms, what a refusal to raise significant new revenue could mean: severe cuts, likely in such areas as public education and social services.
"He has to, even more clearly than last time, spell out the choices before us," said Rep. Madeleine Dean (D., Montgomery). "Do we continue the obstructionism or do we finally sit down and decide how to move Pennsylvania forward?"
Rep. John Taylor, a Republican from Philadelphia, said he doesn't want to vote for a tax increase. But he believes that ignoring the need to raise new dollars could have catastrophic consequences for critical state programs.
"If you are an elected official right now in the Pennsylvania legislature, you have one of two bad choices," he said. "Either you are going to have to vote for drastic cuts that are politically disastrous, or tax increases that are politically disastrous.
"It's almost as if leadership has to act as if we don't care about the political consequence," he said. "Because if we don't act like that, the political consequences will envelop us anyway."
(c)2016 The Philadelphia Inquirer
Tribune News Service | @TribuneAgency
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