is university of oxford the same as oxford university

The curriculum at Oxford before the reforms was notoriously narrow and impractical. Sir Spencer Walpole, a historian of contemporary Britain and a senior government official, had not attended any university. He says, "few medical men, few solicitors, few persons intended for commerce or trade, ever dreamed of passing through a university career." He quotes the Oxford University Commissioners in 1852 stating: "The education imparted at Oxford was not such as to conduce to the advancement in life of many persons, except those intended for the ministry."[38] Nevertheless, Walpole argued:

University of Oxford

Coordinates: 51°45′40″N 1°15′12″W / 51.7611°N 1.2534°W / 51.7611; -1.2534

The University of Oxford (formally The Chancellor Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford)[11] is a collegiate research university located in Oxford, England. It has no known date of foundation, but there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096,[1] making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in continuous operation.[1][12] It grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris.[1] After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled north-east to Cambridge where they established what became the University of Cambridge (see "town versus gown").[13] The two "ancient universities" are frequently jointly referred to as "Oxbridge". The history and influence of the University of Oxford has made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world.[14][15]

The university is made up of a variety of institutions, including 38 constituent colleges and a full range of academic departments which are organised into four divisions.[16] All the colleges are self-governing institutions within the university, each controlling its own membership and with its own internal structure and activities.[17] Being a city university, it does not have a main campus and instead its buildings and facilities are scattered throughout the city centre. Most undergraduate teaching at Oxford is organised around weekly tutorials at the colleges and halls, supported by classes, lectures and laboratory work provided by university faculties and departments.

The university operates the world's oldest university museum, as well as the largest university press in the world[18] and the largest academic library system in Britain.[19] Oxford has educated many notable alumni, including 29 Nobel laureates, 27 prime ministers of the United Kingdom and many heads of state and government around the world.[20] Sixty-nine Nobel Prize winners, 4 Fields Medalists, and 6 Turing Award winners have studied, worked, or held visiting fellowships at the University of Oxford. Oxford is the home of the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the world's oldest international scholarships.[21]

The University of Oxford has no known foundation date.[22] Teaching at Oxford existed in some form as early as 1096, but it is unclear when a university came into being.[1] It grew quickly in 1167 when English students returned from the University of Paris.[1] The historian Gerald of Wales lectured to such scholars in 1188 and the first known foreign scholar, Emo of Friesland, arrived in 1190. The head of the university had the title of chancellor from at least 1201, and the masters were recognised as a universitas or corporation in 1231. The university was granted a royal charter in 1248 during the reign of King Henry III.[23]

After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled from the violence to Cambridge, later forming the University of Cambridge.[13][24]

The students associated together on the basis of geographical origins, into two "nations", representing the North (northerners or Boreales, who included the English people from north of the River Trent and the Scots) and the South (southerners or Australes, who included English people from south of the Trent, the Irish and the Welsh).[25][26] In later centuries, geographical origins continued to influence many students' affiliations when membership of a college or hall became customary in Oxford. In addition, members of many religious orders, including Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites and Augustinians, settled in Oxford in the mid-13th century, gained influence and maintained houses or halls for students.[27] At about the same time, private benefactors established colleges as self-contained scholarly communities. Among the earliest such founders were William of Durham, who in 1249 endowed University College,[27] and John Balliol, father of a future King of Scots; Balliol College bears his name.[25] Another founder, Walter de Merton, a Lord Chancellor of England and afterwards Bishop of Rochester, devised a series of regulations for college life;[28][29] Merton College thereby became the model for such establishments at Oxford,[30] as well as at the University of Cambridge. Thereafter, an increasing number of students lived in colleges rather than in halls and religious houses.[27]

In 1333â€“34, an attempt by some dissatisfied Oxford scholars to found a new university at Stamford, Lincolnshire, was blocked by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge petitioning King Edward III.[31] Thereafter, until the 1820s, no new universities were allowed to be founded in England, even in London; thus, Oxford and Cambridge had a duopoly, which was unusual in large western European countries.[32][33]

The new learning of the Renaissance greatly influenced Oxford from the late 15th century onwards. Among university scholars of the period were William Grocyn, who contributed to the revival of Greek language studies, and John Colet, the noted biblical scholar.

With the English Reformation and the breaking of communion with the Roman Catholic Church, recusant scholars from Oxford fled to continental Europe, settling especially at the University of Douai.[34] The method of teaching at Oxford was transformed from the medieval scholastic method to Renaissance education, although institutions associated with the university suffered losses of land and revenues. As a centre of learning and scholarship, Oxford's reputation declined in the Age of Enlightenment; enrolments fell and teaching was neglected.

In 1636[35] William Laud, the chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury, codified the university's statutes. These, to a large extent, remained its governing regulations until the mid-19th century. Laud was also responsible for the granting of a charter securing privileges for the University Press, and he made significant contributions to the Bodleian Library, the main library of the university. From the beginnings of the Church of England as the established church until 1866, membership of the church was a requirement to receive the BA degree from the university and "dissenters" were only permitted to receive the MA in 1871.[36]

The university was a centre of the Royalist party during the English Civil War (1642â€“1649), while the town favoured the opposing Parliamentarian cause.[37] From the mid-18th century onwards, however, the University of Oxford took little part in political conflicts.

Wadham College, founded in 1610, was the undergraduate college of Sir Christopher Wren. Wren was part of a brilliant group of experimental scientists at Oxford in the 1650s, the Oxford Philosophical Club, which included Robert Boyle and Robert Hooke. This group held regular meetings at Wadham under the guidance of the College's Warden, John Wilkins, and the group formed the nucleus which went on to found the Royal Society.

Among the many deficiencies attending a university education there was, however, one good thing about it, and that was the education which the undergraduates gave themselves. It was impossible to collect some thousand or twelve hundred of the best young man in England, to give them the opportunity of making acquaintance with one another, and full liberty to live their lives in their own way, without evolving in the best among them, some admirable qualities of loyalty, independence, and self-control. If the average undergraduate carried from University little or no learning, which was of any service to him, he carried from it a knowledge of men and respect for his fellows and himself, a reverence for the past, a code of honour for the present, which could not but be serviceable. He had enjoyed opportunities... of intercourse with men, some of whom were certain to rise to the highest places in the Senate, in the Church, or at the Bar. He might have mixed with them in his sports, in his studies, and perhaps in his debating society; and any associations which he had this formed had been useful to him at the time, and might be a source of satisfaction to him in after life.[39]

Out of the students who matriculated in 1840, 65% were sons of professionals (34% were Anglican ministers). After graduation 87% became professionals (59% as Anglican clergy). Out of the students who matriculated in 1870, 59% were sons of professionals (25% were Anglican ministers). After graduation 87% became professionals (42% as Anglican clergy).[40][41]

M. C. Curthoys and H. S. Jones argue that the rise of organised sport was one of the most remarkable and distinctive features of the history of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was carried over from the athleticism prevalent at the public schools such as Eton and Harrow.[42]

At the start of 1914 the university housed about 3,000 undergraduates and about 100 postgraduate students. During the First World War many undergraduates and Fellows joined the armed forces. By 1918 virtually all Fellows were in uniform, and the student population in residence was reduced to 12 per cent[of what?].[43] The University Roll of Service records that, in total, 14,792 members of the university served in the war, with 2,716 (18.36%) killed.[44] Not all the members of the university who served in the Great War were on the Allied side; there is a remarkable memorial to members of New College who served in the German armed forces, bearing the inscription, 'In memory of the men of this college who coming from a foreign land entered into the inheritance of this place and returning fought and died for their country in the war 1914â€“1918'. During the war years the university buildings became hospitals, cadet schools and military training camps.[43]

Two parliamentary commissions in 1852 issued recommendations for Oxford and Cambridge. Archibald Campbell Tait, former headmaster of Rugby School, was a key member of the Oxford Commission; he wanted Oxford to follow the German and Scottish model in which the professorship was paramount. The Commission's report envisioned a centralised university run predominantly by professors and faculties, with a much stronger emphasis on research. The professional staff should be strengthened and better paid. For students, restrictions on entry should be dropped, and more opportunity given to poorer families. It called for an enlargement of the curriculum, with honours to be awarded in many new fields. Undergraduate scholarships should be open to all Britons. Graduate fellowships should be opened up to all members of the University. It recommended that fellows be released from an obligation for ordination. Students were to be allowed to save money by boarding in the city, instead of in a college.[45][46]

The system of separate honour schools for different subjects began in 1802, with Mathematics and Literae Humaniores.[47] Schools of "Natural Sciences" and "Law, and Modern History" were added in 1853.[47] By 1872, the last of these had split into "Jurisprudence" and "Modern History". Theology became the sixth honour school.[48] In addition to these B.A. Honours degrees, the postgraduate Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.) was, and still is, offered.[49]

The mid-19th century saw the impact of the Oxford Movement (1833–1845), led among others by the future Cardinal John Henry Newman. The influence of the reformed model of German universities reached Oxford via key scholars such as Edward Bouverie Pusey, Benjamin Jowett and Max Müller.

Administrative reforms during the 19th century included the replacement of oral examinations with written entrance tests, greater tolerance for religious dissent, and the establishment of four women's colleges. Privy Council decisions in the 20th century (e.g. the abolition of compulsory daily worship, dissociation of the Regius Professorship of Hebrew from clerical status, diversion of colleges' theological bequests to other purposes) loosened the link with traditional belief and practice. Furthermore, although the university's emphasis had historically been on classical knowledge, its curriculum expanded during the 19th century to include scientific and medical studies. Knowledge of Ancient Greek was required for admission until 1920, and Latin until 1960.

The University of Oxford began to award doctorates in the first third of the 20th century. The first Oxford DPhil in mathematics was awarded in 1921.[50]

The mid-20th century saw many distinguished continental scholars, displaced by Nazism and communism, relocating to Oxford.

The list of distinguished scholars at the University of Oxford is long and includes many who have made major contributions to politics, the sciences, medicine, and literature. More than 50 Nobel laureates and more than 50 world leaders have been affiliated with the University of Oxford.[20]

The university passed a statute in 1875 allowing examinations for women at roughly undergraduate level;[51] for a brief period in the early 1900s, this allowed the "steamboat ladies" to receive ad eundem degrees from the University of Dublin.[52] The first four women's colleges were established through the efforts of the Association for Promoting the Higher Education of Women (AEW). Lady Margaret Hall (1878)[53] was followed by Somerville College in 1879;[54] the first 21 students from Somerville and Lady Margaret Hall attended lectures in rooms above an Oxford baker's shop.[51]

These first two colleges for women were followed by St Hugh's (1886),[55] St Hilda's (1893)[56] and St Anne's College (1952).[57] All of these colleges later became coeducational, starting with Lady Margaret Hall and St Anne's in 1979,[58][59] and finishing with St Hilda's, which began to accept male students in 2008.[60] In the early 20th century, Oxford and Cambridge were widely perceived to be bastions of male privilege,[61] however the integration of women into Oxford moved forward during the First World War. In 1916 women were admitted as medical students on a par with men, and in 1917 the university accepted financial responsibility for women's examinations.[43]

On 7 October 1920 women became eligible for admission as full members of the university and were given the right to take degrees.[62] In 1927 the university's dons created a quota that limited the number of female students to a quarter that of men, a ruling which was not abolished until 1957.[51] However, during this period Oxford colleges were single sex, so the number of women was also limited by the capacity of the women's colleges to admit students. It was not until 1959 that the women's colleges were given full collegiate status.

In 1974, Brasenose, Jesus, Wadham, Hertford and St Catherine's became the first previously all-male colleges to admit women.[63][64] The majority of men's colleges accepted their first female students in 1979,[64] with Christ Church following in 1980,[65][unreliable source?] and Oriel becoming the last men's college to admit women in 1985.[66] Most of Oxford's graduate colleges were founded as coeducational establishments in the 20th century, with the exception of St Anthony's, which was founded as a men's college in 1950 and began to accept women only in 1962.[67] By 1988, 40% of undergraduates at Oxford were female;[68] in 2016, 45% of the student population, and 47% of undergraduate students, were female.[69][70]

In June 2017, Oxford announced that starting the following academic year, history students may choose to sit a take-home exam in some courses, with the intention that this will equalise rates of firsts awarded to women and men at Oxford.[71] That same summer, maths and computer science tests were extended by 15 minutes, in a bid to see if female student scores would improve.[72][73]

The detective novel Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers, herself one of the first women to gain an academic degree from Oxford, is largely set in a (fictional) women's college at Oxford, and the issue of women's education is central to its plot. Social historian Jane Robinson's book Bluestockings: A Remarkable History of the First Women to Fight for an Education gives a very detailed and immersive account of this history.[74]

The university is a "city university" in that it does not have a main campus; instead, colleges, departments, accommodation, and other facilities are scattered throughout the city centre. The Science Area, in which most science departments are located, is the area that bears closest resemblance to a campus. The ten-acre (4 hectare) Radcliffe Observatory Quarter in the northwest of the city is currently under development. However, the larger colleges' sites are of similar size to these areas.

Iconic university buildings include the Radcliffe Camera, the Sheldonian Theatre used for music concerts, lectures, and university ceremonies, and the Examination Schools, where examinations and some lectures take place. The University Church of St Mary the Virgin was used for university ceremonies before the construction of the Sheldonian. Christ Church Cathedral uniquely serves as both a college chapel and as a cathedral.

In 2012–13, the university built the controversial one-hectare (400m × 25m) Castle Mill development of 4–5-storey blocks of student flats overlooking Cripley Meadow and the historic Port Meadow, blocking views of the spires in the city centre.[75] The development has been likened to building a "skyscraper beside Stonehenge".[76]

The University Parks are a 70-acre (28 ha) parkland area in the northeast of the city, near Keble College, Somerville College and Lady Margaret Hall. It is open to the public during daylight hours. As well as providing gardens and exotic plants, the Parks contains numerous sports fields, used for official and unofficial fixtures, and also contains sites of special interest including the Genetic Garden, an experimental garden to elucidate and investigate evolutionary processes.

The Botanic Garden on the High Street is the oldest botanic garden in the UK. It contains over 8,000 different plant species on 1.8 ha (4 1⁄2 acres). It is one of the most diverse yet compact major collections of plants in the world and includes representatives of over 90% of the higher plant families. The Harcourt Arboretum is a 130-acre (53 ha) site six miles (10 km) south of the city that includes native woodland and 67 acres (27 hectares) of meadow. The 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) Wytham Woods are owned by the university and used for research in zoology and climate change.

There are also various collegiate-owned open spaces open to the public, including Bagley Wood and most notably Christ Church Meadow.[77]

As a collegiate university, Oxford's structure can be confusing to those unfamiliar with it. The university is a federation, comprising over forty self-governing colleges and halls, along with a central administration headed by the Vice-Chancellor.

Academic departments are located centrally within the structure of the federation; they are not affiliated with any particular college. Departments provide facilities for teaching and research, determine the syllabi and guidelines for the teaching of students, perform research, and deliver lectures and seminars.

Colleges arrange the tutorial teaching for their undergraduates, and the members of an academic department are spread around many colleges. Though certain colleges do have subject alignments (e.g., Nuffield College as a centre for the social sciences), these are exceptions, and most colleges will have a broad mix of academics and students from a diverse range of subjects. Facilities such as libraries are provided on all these levels: by the central university (the Bodleian), by the departments (individual departmental libraries, such as the English Faculty Library), and by colleges (each of which maintains a multi-discipline library for the use of its members).

The university's formal head is the Chancellor, currently Lord Patten of Barnes, though as at most British universities, the Chancellor is a titular figure and is not involved with the day-to-day running of the university. The Chancellor is elected by the members of Convocation, a body comprising all graduates of the university, and holds office until death.[78]

The Vice-Chancellor, currently Louise Richardson,[5][6] is the de facto head of the university. Five pro-vice-chancellors have specific responsibilities for education; research; planning and resources; development and external affairs; and personnel and equal opportunities. The University Council is the executive policy-forming body, which consists of the vice-chancellor as well as heads of departments and other members elected by Congregation, in addition to observers from the students' union. Congregation, the "parliament of the dons", comprises over 3,700 members of the university's academic and administrative staff, and has ultimate responsibility for legislative matters: it discusses and pronounces on policies proposed by the University Council.

Two university proctors, elected annually on a rotating basis from two of the colleges, are the internal ombudsmen who make sure that the university and its members adhere to its statutes. This role incorporates student welfare and discipline, as well as oversight of the university's proceedings. The university's professors are collectively referred to as the "Statutory Professors of the University of Oxford". They are particularly influential in the running of the university's graduate programmes. Examples of statutory professors are the Chichele Professorships and the Drummond Professor of Political Economy. The various academic faculties, departments, and institutes are organised into four divisions, each with its own head and elected board. They are the Humanities division; the Social Sciences Division; the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division; and the Medical Sciences Division.

The University of Oxford is a "public university" in the sense that it receives some public money from the government, but it is a "private university" in the sense that it is entirely self-governing and, in theory, could choose to become entirely private by rejecting public funds.[79]

To be a member of the university, all students, and most academic staff, must also be a member of a college or hall. There are 38 colleges of the University of Oxford and six Permanent Private Halls, each controlling its membership and with its own internal structure and activities.[17] Not all colleges offer all courses, but they generally cover a broad range of subjects.

The colleges are:

The Permanent Private Halls were founded by different Christian denominations. One difference between a college and a PPH is that whereas colleges are governed by the fellows of the college, the governance of a PPH resides, at least in part, with the corresponding Christian denomination. The six current PPHs are:

The PPHs and colleges join together as the Conference of Colleges, which represents the common concerns of the several colleges of the university, and to discuss policy and to deal with the central university administration.[80][81] The Conference of Colleges was established as a recommendation of the Franks Commission in 1965.[82]

Teaching members of the colleges (i.e. fellows and tutors) are collectively and familiarly known as dons, although the term is rarely used by the university itself. In addition to residential and dining facilities, the colleges provide social, cultural, and recreational activities for their members. Colleges have responsibility for admitting undergraduates and organising their tuition; for graduates, this responsibility falls upon the departments. There is no common title for the heads of colleges: the titles used include Warden, Provost, Principal, President, Rector, Master and Dean.

In 2014/15, the university had an income of £1,429m; key sources were research grants (£522.9m) and academic fees (£258.3m).[83] The colleges had a total income of £415m,[84]

While the university has a larger annual income and operating budget, the colleges have a larger aggregate endowment: over £3.8bn compared to the university's £834m.[85] The Central University's endowment, along with some of the colleges', is managed by the university's wholly owned endowment management office, Oxford University Endowment Management, formed in 2007.[86] The university has substantial investments in fossil fuel companies, and in 2014 began consultations on whether it should follow some US universities which have committed to sell off their fossil fuel investments.[87]

The University was one of the first in the UK to raise money through a major public fundraising campaign, the Campaign for Oxford. The current campaign, its second, was launched in May 2008 and is entitled "Oxford Thinking – The Campaign for the University of Oxford".[88] This is looking to support three areas: academic posts and programmes, student support, and buildings and infrastructure;[89] having passed its original target of £1.25 billion in March 2012, the target has now been raised to £3 billion.[83] The university has raised £2 billion so far in 2015.[90]

Oxford is a member of the Russell Group of research-led British universities, the G5, the League of European Research Universities, and the International Alliance of Research Universities. It is also a core member of the Europaeum and forms part of the "golden triangle" of highly research intensive and elite English universities.[91]

In common with most British universities, prospective students apply through the UCAS application system, but prospective applicants for the University of Oxford, along with those for medicine, dentistry, and University of Cambridge applicants, must observe an earlier deadline of 15 October.[98]

To allow a more personalised judgement of students, who might otherwise apply for both, undergraduate applicants are not permitted to apply to both Oxford and Cambridge in the same year. The only exceptions are applicants for organ scholarships[99] and those applying to read for a second undergraduate degree.[100]

Most applicants choose to apply to one of the individual colleges, which work with each other to ensure that the best students gain a place somewhere at the university regardless of their college preferences.[101] Shortlisting is based on achieved and predicted exam results, school references, and, in some subjects, written admission tests or candidate-submitted written work. Approximately 60% of applicants are shortlisted, although this varies by subject. If a large number of shortlisted applicants for a subject choose one college, then students who named that college may be reallocated randomly to under-subscribed colleges for the subject. The colleges then invite shortlisted candidates for interview, where they are provided with food and accommodation for around three days in December. Most applicants will be individually interviewed by academics at more than one college. Students from outside Europe can be interviewed remotely, for example, over the Internet.

Offers are sent out in early January, with each offer usually being from a specific college. One in four successful candidates receives an offer from a college that they did not apply to. Some courses may make "open offers" to some candidates, who are not assigned to a particular college until A Level results day in August.[102][103]

The university has come under criticism for the number of students it accepts from private schools;[104] for instance, Laura Spence's rejection from the university in 2000 led to widespread debate.[105] In 2016, the University of Oxford gave 59% of offers to students from state schools, while about 93% of all pupils are educated in state schools.[106] However, 64% of applicants were from state schools and the university notes that state school students apply disproportionately to oversubscribed subjects.[107] Oxford University spends over Â£6 million per year on outreach programs to encourage applicants from underrepresented demographics.[106]

In 2018 the University's annual admissions report revealed that approximately one third of Oxford's colleges had accepted three or fewer black applicants.[108]

Undergraduate teaching is centred on the tutorial, where 1â€“4 students spend an hour with an academic discussing their week's work, usually an essay (humanities, most social sciences, some mathematical, physical, and life sciences) or problem sheet (most mathematical, physical, and life sciences, and some social sciences). The university itself is responsible for conducting examinations and conferring degrees. Undergraduate teaching takes place during three eight-week academic terms: Michaelmas, Hilary and Trinity.[109] (These are officially known as 'Full Term': 'Term' is a lengthier period with little practical significance.) Internally, the weeks in a term begin on Sundays, and are referred to numerically, with the initial week known as "first week", the last as "eighth week" and with the numbering extended to refer to weeks before and after term (for example "-1st week" and "0th week" precede term). Undergraduates must be in residence from Thursday of 0th week. These teaching terms are shorter than those of most other British universities,[110] and their total duration amounts to less than half the year. However, undergraduates are also expected to do some academic work during the three holidays (known as the Christmas, Easter, and Long Vacations).

Research degrees at the master's and doctoral level are conferred in all subjects studied at graduate level at the university.

There are many opportunities for students at Oxford to receive financial help during their studies. The Oxford Opportunity Bursaries, introduced in 2006, are university-wide means-based bursaries available to any British undergraduate, with a total possible grant of £10,235 over a 3-year degree. In addition, individual colleges also offer bursaries and funds to help their students. For graduate study, there are many scholarships attached to the university, available to students from all sorts of backgrounds, from Rhodes Scholarships to the relatively new Weidenfeld Scholarships.[111] Oxford also offers the Clarendon Scholarship which is open to graduate applicants of all nationalities.[112] The Clarendon Scholarship is principally funded by Oxford University Press in association with colleges and other partnership awards.[113][114] In 2016, Oxford University announced that it is to run its first free online economics course as part of a “massive open online course" (Mooc) scheme, in partnership with a US online university network.[115] The course available is called ‘From Poverty to Prosperity: Understanding Economic Development’.

Students successful in early examinations are rewarded by their colleges with scholarships and exhibitions, normally the result of a long-standing endowment, although since the introduction of tuition fees the amounts of money available are purely nominal. Scholars, and exhibitioners in some colleges, are entitled to wear a more voluminous undergraduate gown; "commoners" (originally those who had to pay for their "commons", or food and lodging) are restricted to a short, sleeveless garment. The term "scholar" in relation to Oxford therefore had a specific meaning as well as the more general meaning of someone of outstanding academic ability. In previous times, there were "noblemen commoners" and "gentlemen commoners", but these ranks were abolished in the 19th century. "Closed" scholarships, available only to candidates who fitted specific conditions such as coming from specific schools, now exist only in name.

The university maintains the largest university library system in the UK,[19] and, with over 11 million volumes housed on 120 miles (190 km) of shelving, the Bodleian group is the second-largest library in the UK, after the British Library. The Bodleian is a legal deposit library, which means that it is entitled to request a free copy of every book published in the UK. As such, its collection is growing at a rate of over three miles (five kilometres) of shelving every year.[116]

The buildings referred to as the university's main research library, The Bodleian, consist of the original Bodleian Library in the Old Schools Quadrangle, founded by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1598 and opened in 1602,[117] the Radcliffe Camera, the Clarendon Building, and the New Bodleian Building. A tunnel underneath Broad Street connects these buildings, with the Gladstone Link connecting the Old Bodleian and Radcliffe Camera which opened to readers in 2011.

The Bodleian Libraries group was formed in 2000, bringing the Bodleian Library and some of the subject libraries together.[118] It now comprises 28[119] libraries, a number of which have been created by bringing previously separate collections together, including the Sackler Library, Social Science Library and Radcliffe Science Library.[118] Another major product of this collaboration has been a joint integrated library system, OLIS (Oxford Libraries Information System),[120] and its public interface, SOLO (Search Oxford Libraries Online), which provides an electronic catalogue covering all member libraries, as well as the libraries of individual colleges and other faculty libraries, which are not members of the group but do share cataloguing information.[121]

A new book depository opened in South Marston, Swindon in October 2010,[122] and current building projects include the remodelling of the New Bodleian building, which will be renamed the Weston Library when it reopens in 2014â€“15.[123] The renovation is designed to better showcase the library's various treasures (which include a Shakespeare First Folio and a Gutenberg Bible) as well as temporary exhibitions.

The Bodleian engaged in a mass-digitisation project with Google in 2004.[124][125]

Oxford maintains a number of museums and galleries, open for free to the public. The Ashmolean Museum, founded in 1683, is the oldest museum in the UK, and the oldest university museum in the world.[126] It holds significant collections of art and archaeology, including works by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Turner, and Picasso, as well as treasures such as the Scorpion Macehead, the Parian Marble and the Alfred Jewel. It also contains "The Messiah", a pristine Stradivarius violin, regarded by some as one of the finest examples in existence.

The University Museum of Natural History holds the university's zoological, entomological and geological specimens. It is housed in a large neo-Gothic building on Parks Road, in the university's Science Area.[127][128] Among its collection are the skeletons of a Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops, and the most complete remains of a dodo found anywhere in the world. It also hosts the Simonyi Professorship of the Public Understanding of Science, currently held by Marcus du Sautoy.

Adjoining the Museum of Natural History is the Pitt Rivers Museum, founded in 1884, which displays the university's archaeological and anthropological collections, currently holding over 500,000 items. It recently built a new research annexe; its staff have been involved with the teaching of anthropology at Oxford since its foundation, when as part of his donation General Augustus Pitt Rivers stipulated that the university establish a lectureship in anthropology.

The Museum of the History of Science is housed on Broad St in the world's oldest-surviving purpose-built museum building.[129] It contains 15,000 artefacts, from antiquity to the 20th century, representing almost all aspects of the history of science. In the Faculty of Music on St Aldate's is the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments, a collection mostly of instruments from Western classical music, from the medieval period onwards. Christ Church Picture Gallery holds a collection of over 200 old master paintings.

The Oxford University Press is the world's second oldest and currently the largest university press by the number of publications.[18] More than 6,000 new books are published annually,[130] including many reference, professional, and academic works (such as the Oxford English Dictionary, the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, the Oxford World's Classics, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, and the Concise Dictionary of National Biography).

Oxford is regularly ranked within the top 10 universities in the world and is currently ranked first in the world in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, as well as the Forbes's World University Rankings.[138] It held the number one position in the Times Good University Guide for eleven consecutive years,[139] and the medical school has also maintained first place in the "Clinical, Pre-Clinical & Health" table of the THE World University Rankings for the past seven consecutive years.[140] THE has also recognised Oxford as one of the world's "six super brands" on its World Reputation Rankings, along with Berkeley, Cambridge, Harvard, MIT, and Stanford.[141] Its Saïd Business School came 23rd in the world in Financial Times Global MBA Ranking.[142]

Oxford is ranked 5th best university worldwide and 1st in Britain for forming CEOs according to the Professional Ranking World Universities.[143] It is ranked first in the UK for the quality of its graduates as chosen by the recruiters of the UK's major companies.[144]

In the 2018 Complete University Guide, all 38 subjects offered by Oxford rank within the top 10 nationally meaning Oxford was one of only two multi-faculty universities (along with Cambridge) in the UK to have 100% of their subjects in the top 10.[145] Computer Science, Medicine, Philosophy, Politics and Psychology were ranked first in the UK by the guide.[146]

According to the QS World University Rankings by Subject, the University of Oxford also ranks as number one in the world for four Humanities disciplines: English Language and Literature, Modern Languages, Geography, and History. It also ranks 2nd globally for Anthropology, Archaeology, Law, Medicine, Politics & International Studies, and Psychology.[147]

Academic dress is required for examinations, matriculation, disciplinary hearings, and when visiting university officers. A referendum held amongst the Oxford student body in 2015 showed 76% against making it voluntary in examinations â€“ 8,671 students voted, with the 40.2% turnout the highest ever for a UK student union referendum.[148] This was widely interpreted by students as being a vote on not so much making subfusc voluntary, but rather, in effect, abolishing it by default, in that if a minority of people came to exams without subfusc, the rest would soon follow.[149] In July 2012 the regulations regarding academic dress were modified to be more inclusive to transgender people.[150]

Other traditions and customs vary by college. For example, some colleges have formal hall six times a week, but in others this only happens occasionally. At most colleges these formal meals require gowns to be worn, and a Latin grace is said.

Balls are major events held by colleges; the largest, held triennially in 9th week of Trinity Term, are called Commemoration balls; the dress code is usually white tie. Many other colleges hold smaller events during the year that they call summer balls or parties. These are usually held on an annual or irregular basis, and are usually black tie.

Punting is a common summer leisure activity.

There are several more or less quirky traditions peculiar to individual colleges, for example the All Souls mallard song.

Sport is played between college teams, in tournaments known as cuppers (the term is also used for some non-sporting competitions). In addition to these there are higher standard university wide groups. Significant focus is given to annual varsity matches played against Cambridge, the most famous of which is The Boat Race, watched by a TV audience of between five and ten million viewers. This outside interest reflects the importance of rowing to many of those within the university. Much attention is given to the termly intercollegiate rowing regattas: Christ Church Regatta, Torpids and Summer Eights. A blue is an award given to those who compete at the university team level in certain sports. As well as traditional sports, there are teams for activities such as Octopush and quidditch.

There are two weekly student newspapers: the independent Cherwell and OUSU's The Oxford Student. Other publications include the Isis magazine, The Owl Journal, the satirical Oxymoron, and the graduate Oxonian Review. The student radio station is Oxide Radio. Most colleges have chapel choirs. Music, drama, and other arts societies exist both at collegiate level and as university-wide groups. Unlike most other collegiate societies, musical ensembles actively encourage players from other colleges.

Most academic areas have student societies of some form which are open to students studying all courses, for example the Scientific Society. There are groups for almost all faiths, political parties, countries and cultures.

The Oxford Union (not to be confused with the Oxford University Student Union) hosts weekly debates and high-profile speakers. There have historically been elite invite-only societies such as the Bullingdon Club.

The Oxford University Student Union, better known by its acronym OUSU, exists to represent students in the university's decision-making, to act as the voice for students in the national higher education policy debate, and to provide direct services to the student body. Reflecting the collegiate nature of the University of Oxford itself, OUSU is both an association of Oxford's more than 21,000 individual students and a federation of the affiliated college common rooms, and other affiliated organisations that represent subsets of the undergraduate and graduate students. The OUSU Executive Committee includes six full-time salaried sabbatical officers, who generally serve in the year following completion of their Final Examinations.

The importance of collegiate life is such that for many students their college JCR (Junior Common Room, for undergraduates) or MCR (Middle Common Room, for graduates) is seen as more important than OUSU. JCRs and MCRs each have a committee, with a president and other elected students representing their peers to college authorities. Additionally, they organise events and often have significant budgets to spend as they wish (money coming from their colleges and sometimes other sources such as student-run bars). (It is worth noting that JCR and MCR are terms that are used to refer to rooms for use by members, as well as the student bodies.) Not all colleges use this JCR/MCR structure, for example Wadham College's entire student population is represented by a combined Students' Union and purely graduate colleges have different arrangements.

Throughout its history, a sizeable number of Oxford alumni, known as Oxonians, have become notable in many varied fields, both academic and otherwise, ranging from T. E. Lawrence, British Army officer known better as Lawrence of Arabia[151] to the explorer, courtier, and man of letters, Sir Walter Raleigh, (who attended Oriel College but left without taking a degree);[152] and the Australian media mogul, Rupert Murdoch.[153] Moreover, 58 Nobel prize-winners have studied or taught at Oxford, with prizes won in all six categories.[20] More information on famous senior and junior members of the university can be found in the individual college articles. An individual may be associated with two or more colleges, as an undergraduate, postgraduate and/or member of staff.

27 British prime ministers have attended Oxford, including William Gladstone, H. H. Asquith, Clement Attlee, Harold Macmillan, Edward Heath, Harold Wilson, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, David Cameron and Theresa May. Of all the post-war prime ministers, only Gordon Brown was educated at a university other than Oxford, while James Callaghan and John Major never attended a university.[154]

Over 100 Oxford alumni were elected to the House of Commons in 2010.[154] This includes former Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband, and numerous members of the cabinet and shadow cabinet. Additionally, over 140 Oxonians sit in the House of Lords.[20]

At least 30 other international leaders have been educated at Oxford.[20] This number includes Harald V of Norway,[155] Abdullah II of Jordan,[20] five Prime Ministers of Australia (John Gorton, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, Tony Abbott, and Malcolm Turnbull),[156][157][158] five Prime Ministers of Pakistan (Liaquat Ali Khan, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Sir Feroz Khan Noon, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and Benazir Bhutto),[20] two Prime Ministers of Canada (Lester B. Pearson and John Turner),[20][159] two Prime Ministers of India (Manmohan Singh and Indira Gandhi (although she did not finish her degree)),[20][160] S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike (former Prime Minister of Ceylon), Norman Washington Manley of Jamaica,[161] Eric Williams (Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago), Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (former President of Peru), Abhisit Vejjajiva (former Prime Minister of Thailand) and Bill Clinton (the first President of the United States to have attended Oxford; he attended as a Rhodes Scholar).[20][162] Arthur Mutambara (Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe), was a Rhodes Scholar in 1991. Seretse Khama, first president of Botswana, spent a year at Balliol College. Festus Mogae (former president of Botswana) was a student at University College. The Burmese democracy activist and Nobel laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, was a student of St Hugh's College.[163] Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the current reigning Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) of Bhutan, was a member of St Peter's College.[164]

Oxford has produced a large number of distinguished jurists, judges and lawyers around the world. Lords Bingham and Denning, commonly recognised as two of the most influential English judges in the history of the common law,[165][166][167][168] both studied at Oxford. Within the United Kingdom, five of the current Justices of the Supreme Court are Oxford-educated: Jonathan Sumption, Jonathan Mance, Nicholas Wilson, Robert Reed, and Michael Briggs;[169] retired Justices include David Neuberger (President of the Supreme Court 2012-2017), Alan Rodger, Mark Saville, John Dyson and Simon Brown. The twelve Lord Chancellors and nine Lord Chief Justices that have been educated at Oxford include Thomas Bingham,[165] Stanley Buckmaster, Thomas More,[170] Thomas Wolsey,[171] Gavin Simonds.[172] The twenty-two Law Lords count amongst them Leonard Hoffmann, Kenneth Diplock, Richard Wilberforce, James Atkin, Simon Brown, Nicolas Browne-Wilkinson, Robert Goff, Brian Hutton, Jonathan Mance, Alan Rodger, Mark Saville, Leslie Scarman, Johan Steyn;[173] Master of the Rolls include Alfred Denning and Wilfred Greene;[168] Lord Justices of Appeal include John Laws, Brian Leveson and John Mummery. The British Government's Attorneys General have included Dominic Grieve, Nicholas Lyell, Patrick Mayhew, John Hobson, Reginald Manningham-Buller, Lionel Heald, Frank Soskice, David Maxwell Fyfe, Donald Somervell, William Jowitt; Director of Public Prosecutions include Sir Thomas Hetherington QC, Dame Barbara Mills QC and Sir Keir Starmer QC.

In the United States, three of the nine incumbent Justices of the Supreme Court are Oxonians, namely Stephen Breyer,[174] Elena Kagan,[175] and Neil Gorsuch;[176] retired Justices include John Marshall Harlan II,[177] David Souter[178] and Byron White.[179] Internationally, Oxonians Sir Humphrey Waldock[180] served in the International Court of Justice; Akua Kuenyehia, sat in the International Criminal Court; Sir Nicolas Bratza[181] and Paul Mahoney sat in the European Court of Human Rights; Kenneth Hayne,[182] Dyson Heydon, as well as Patrick Keane sat in the High Court of Australia; both Kailas Nath Wanchoo, A. N. Ray served as Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of India; in Hong Kong, Aarif Barma currently serves in the Court of Appeal (Hong Kong), while Charles Ching and Henry Litton both served as Permanent Judges of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong;[183] six puisne justices of the Supreme Court of Canada and a chief justice of the now defunct Federal Court of Canada were also educated at Oxford.

The list of noted legal scholars includes H. L. A. Hart,[184] Ronald Dworkin,[184] Jeremy Waldron, A. V. Dicey, William Blackstone, John Gardner, Timothy Endicott, Peter Birks, John Finnis, Andrew Ashworth, Joseph Raz, Leslie Green, Tony Honoré, Neil MacCormick and Hugh Collins. Other distinguished practitioners who have attended Oxford include Lord Pannick QC,[185] Geoffrey Robertson QC, Amal Clooney,[186] Lord Faulks QC, and Dinah Rose QC.

Three Oxford mathematicians, Michael Atiyah, Daniel Quillen and Simon Donaldson, have won Fields Medals, often called the "Nobel Prize for mathematics". Andrew Wiles, who proved Fermat's Last Theorem, was educated at Oxford and is currently a Royal Society Research Professor at Oxford. Marcus du Sautoy and Roger Penrose are both currently mathematics professors, and Jackie Stedall is a former professor of the university. Stephen Wolfram, chief designer of Mathematica and Wolfram Alpha studied at the university, along with Tim Berners-Lee,[20] inventor of the World Wide Web,[187] Edgar F. Codd, inventor of the relational model of data,[188] and Tony Hoare, programming languages pioneer and inventor of Quicksort.

The university is associated with eleven winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, five in physics and sixteen in medicine.[189]

Scientists who performed research in Oxford include chemist Dorothy Hodgkin who received her Nobel Prize for "determinations by X-ray techniques of the structures of important biochemical substances".[190] Both Richard Dawkins[191] and Frederick Soddy[192] studied at the university and returned for research purposes. Robert Hooke,[20] Edwin Hubble,[20] and Stephen Hawking[20] all studied in Oxford.

Robert Boyle, a founder of modern chemistry, never formally studied or held a post within the university, but resided within the city to be part of the scientific community and was awarded an honorary degree.[193] Notable scientists who spent brief periods at Oxford include Albert Einstein[194] developer of general theory of relativity and the concept of photons; and Erwin Schrödinger who formulated the Schrödinger equation and the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment. Structural engineer Roma Agrawal, responsible for London's iconic Shard, attributes her love of engineering to a summer placement during her undergraduate physics degree at Oxford.

Economists Adam Smith, Alfred Marshall, E. F. Schumacher, and Amartya Sen all spent time at Oxford.

The long list of writers associated with Oxford includes John Fowles, Theodor Geisel, Thomas Middleton, Samuel Johnson, Christopher Hitchens, Robert Graves, Evelyn Waugh,[195] Lewis Carroll,[196] Aldous Huxley,[197] Oscar Wilde,[198] C. S. Lewis,[199] J. R. R. Tolkien,[200] Graham Greene,[201] V.S.Naipaul, Vera Brittain, Dorothy L. Sayers, A.S. Byatt, Iris Murdoch, Philip Pullman,[20] Joseph Heller,[202] Vikram Seth,[20] the poets Percy Bysshe Shelley,[203] John Donne,[204] A. E. Housman,[205] W. H. Auden,[206] T. S. Eliot, Wendy Perriam and Philip Larkin,[207] and seven poets laureate: Thomas Warton,[208] Henry James Pye,[209] Robert Southey,[210] Robert Bridges,[211] Cecil Day-Lewis,[212] Sir John Betjeman,[213] and Andrew Motion.[214]

Composers Hubert Parry, George Butterworth, John Taverner, William Walton, James Whitbourn and Andrew Lloyd Webber have all been involved with the university.

Actors Hugh Grant,[215] Kate Beckinsale,[215] Dudley Moore,[216] Michael Palin,[20] Terry Jones,[217] Anna Popplewell, and Rowan Atkinson were undergraduates at the university, as were filmmakers Ken Loach[218] and Richard Curtis.[20]

Oxford has also produced at least 12 saints, and 20 Archbishops of Canterbury, the most recent Archbishop being Rowan Williams, who studied at Wadham College and was later a Canon Professor at Christ Church.[20][219] Duns Scotus' teaching is commemorated with a monument in the University Church of St. Mary. Religious reformer John Wycliffe was an Oxford scholar, for a time Master of Balliol College. John Colet, Christian humanist, Dean of St Paul's, and friend of Erasmus, studied at Magdalen College. Several of the Caroline Divines e.g. in particular William Laud as President of St. John's and Chancellor of the University, and the Non-Jurors, e.g. Thomas Ken had close Oxford connections.The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, studied at Christ Church and was elected a fellow of Lincoln College.[220] The Oxford Movement (1833â€“1846) was closely associated with the Oriel Fellows John Henry Newman, Edward Bouverie Pusey and John Keble. Other religious figures were Mirza Nasir Ahmad, the third Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Shoghi Effendi, one of the appointed leaders of the Baha'i faith and Joseph Cordeiro, the only Pakistani Catholic cardinal.[221]

Oxford's philosophical tradition started in the medieval era, with Robert Grosseteste[222] and William of Ockham,[222] commonly known for Occam's razor, among those teaching at the university. Thomas Hobbes,[223][224] Jeremy Bentham and the empiricist John Locke received degrees from Oxford. Though the latter's main works were written after leaving Oxford, Locke was heavily influenced by his twelve years at the university.[222]

Philosophy was never absent from Oxford's preoccupations. Oxford philosophers of the 20th century include Gilbert Ryle,[222] author of the influential The Concept of Mind, who spent his entire philosophical career at the university and Derek Parfit, who specialised in personal identity and related matters. Other commonly read modern philosophers to have studied at the university include A. J. Ayer,[222] Paul Grice, Thomas Nagel, known for his essay "What Is it Like to Be a Bat?", Bernard Williams, Robert Nozick, John Rawls, Michael Sandel, and Peter Singer. John Searle, presenter of the Chinese room thought experiment, studied and began his academic career at the university.[225]

Some 50 Olympic medal-winners have academic connections with the university, including Sir Matthew Pinsent, quadruple gold-medallist rower.[20][226] Other sporting connections include Imran Khan.[20]

Rowers from Oxford who have won gold at the Olympics or World Championships include Michael Blomquist, Ed Coode, Chris Davidge, Hugh Edwards, Jason Flickinger, Tim Foster, Christopher Liwski, Matthew Pinsent, Pete Reed, Jonny Searle, Andrew Triggs Hodge, Jake Wetzel, Michael Wherley, and Barney Williams. Many Oxford graduates have also risen to the highest echelon in cricket: Harry Altham, Bernard Bosanquet (inventor of the googly), Colin Cowdrey, Gerry Crutchley, Jamie Dalrymple, Martin Donnelly, R. E. Foster (the only man to captain England at both cricket and football), C. B. Fry, George Harris (also served in the House of Lords), Douglas Jardine, Malcolm Jardine, Imran Khan, Alan Melville, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, M. J. K. Smith, and Pelham Warner.

Oxford students have also excelled in other sports. Such alumni include American football player Myron Rolle (NFL player); Olympic gold medalists in athletics David Hemery and Jack Lovelock; basketball players Bill Bradley (US Senator and NBA player) and Charles Thomas McMillen (US Congressman and NBA player); figure skater John Misha Petkevich (national champion); footballers John Bain, Charles Wreford-Brown, and Cuthbert Ottaway; fencer Allan Jay (world champion and five-time Olympian); modern pentathlete Steph Cook (Olympic gold medalist); rugby footballers Stuart Barnes, Simon Danielli, David Humphreys, David Edward Kirk, Anton Oliver, Ronald Poulton-Palmer, Joe Roff, and William Webb Ellis (allegedly the inventor of rugby football); runner Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister (who ran the first sub-four-minute mile), World Cup freestyle skier Ryan Max Riley (national champion); and tennis player Clarence Bruce.

Three of the most well-known adventurers and explorers who attended Oxford are Walter Raleigh, one of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, T. E. Lawrence, whose life was the basis of the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia, and Thomas Coryat. The latter, the author of "Coryat's Crudities hastily gobbled up in Five Months Travels in France, Italy, &c'" (1611) and court jester of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, is credited with introducing the table fork and umbrella to England and being the first Briton to do a Grand Tour of Europe.[227]

Other notable figures include Gertrude Bell, an explorer, archaeologist, mapper and spy, who, along with T. E. Lawrence, helped establish the Hashemite dynasties in what is today Jordan and Iraq and played a major role in establishing and administering the modern state of Iraq; Richard Francis Burton, who travelled in disguise to Mecca and journeyed with John Hanning Speke as the first European explorers to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile; mountaineer Tom Bourdillon, member of the expedition to make the first ascent of Mount Everest; and Peter Fleming, adventurer and travel writer and elder brother of Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond.

The University of Oxford is the setting for numerous works of fiction. Oxford was mentioned in fiction as early as 1400 when Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales referred to a "Clerk [student] of Oxenford". By 1989, 533 novels based in Oxford had been identified and the number continues to rise.[228] Famous literary works range from Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, to the trilogy His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, which features an alternate-reality version of the university.

Other notable examples include:

Notable non-fiction works on Oxford include Oxford by Jan Morris.[229]


correct order for the pathway in a flexion withdrawal reflex arc

When a person touches a hot object and withdraws their hand from it without actively thinking about it, the heat stimulates temperature and pain receptors in the skin, triggering a sensory impulse that travels to the central nervous system. The sensory neuron then synapses with interneurons that connect to motor neurons.[3] Some of these send motor impulses to the flexors that lead to the muscles in the arm to contract, while some motor neurons send inhibitory impulses to the extensors so flexion is not inhibited. This is referred to as reciprocal innervation.[4]

Withdrawal reflex

The withdrawal reflex (nociceptive flexion reflex or flexor withdrawal reflex) is a spinal reflex intended to protect the body from damaging stimuli.[1]  Spinal reflexes are often monosynaptic and are mediated by a simple reflex arc. A withdrawal reflex is mediated by a polysynaptic reflex resulting in the stimulation of many motor neurons in order to give a quick response.[2]

The withdrawal reflex in the leg can be examined and measured, using an electromyogram to monitor the muscle activity in the upper leg (biceps femoris) while applying increasing electrical stimulation to the lower leg (sural nerve) on the same side of the body. The stimulus intensity at which the reflex is evoked is often the intensity at which the subject reports the onset of pain, and the strength of the withdrawal reflex is correlated with the strength of the pain experienced.[5]

Once a danger receptor (called 'nociceptor') has been stimulated, the signal travels via the sensory nerve to the dorsal (posterior) horn of the spinal cord. The nerve synapses with ipsilateral motor neurons that exit the ventral (anterior) horn of the spinal cord and work to pull the soon-to-be injured body part away from danger within 0.5 seconds.[1] At the same time, the sensory neuron synapses with the ipsilateral motor neuron, as well as the motor neuron in the contralateral anterior horn.[4] This motor neuron stabilizes the uninjured side of the body (for instance; preparing the other leg to support the entire body weight when the other foot has stepped on a tack). At the same time as these two synapses, the sensory neuron also sends signals along the spinal cord to get motor neurons to contract muscles that shift the center of gravity of the body to maintain balance. This contralateral stimulation of motor neurons to stabilize the body is called the crossed extension reflex, and is a result of the withdrawal reflex (usually in the lower extremities).[6]


who sang the theme song for it's a different world

The theme song was co-written by Stu Gardner, Bill Cosby, and Dawnn Lewis â€“ who was also a cast member. In the online interviews related to the 2006 "Hillman College Reunion," Lewis revealed that her being approached to write the song and to audition were two separate events that occurred within a short time of each other, such that she thought it was a practical joke by her friends. The song was performed by Phoebe Snow in season one, then by Aretha Franklin in seasons two through five, and Boyz II Men in season six.

A Different World

A Different World is an American sitcom (and a spin-off of The Cosby Show) that aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987 to July 9, 1993. The series originally centered on Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) and the life of students at Hillman College, a fictional historically black college in Virginia. It was inspired by student life at historically black colleges and universities.[1][2][3] After Bonet's departure in the first season, the remainder of the series primarily focused more on Southern belle Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy) and maths whiz Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison).

While it was a spin-off from The Cosby Show, A Different World typically addressed issues that were avoided by The Cosby Show writers (race and class relations, or the Equal Rights Amendment). One episode that aired in 1990 was one of the first American network television episodes to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic.[4] The original premise was to have a white student there and have Lena Horne as an acting teacher, but in production, the premise changed from being a story about a white girl in a black college to a black girl (Denise Huxtable) in a black college with a white friend.[5][6] It was ultimately decided that Denise, who was of college age, would be spun off and have a white roommate in order to show the dynamic of a white girl in predominantly black surroundings.[7] Meg Ryan was originally cast for this role, but she decided to pursue a film career, so Marisa Tomei was cast. The first season of Hillman's student body consisted of both black and white students, but this was changed at the beginning of the second season and a very predominantly black student body maintained until the series ended.

After the first season, it came to Cosby's and the producers' attention that the series was not accurately portraying a historically black college and life on campus, so Debbie Allen, an alumna of Howard University, was hired as the chief creative force to revamp the show. During the summer of 1988, Lisa Bonet announced that she and husband Lenny Kravitz were having a baby. Allen was in favor of having a young pregnant student in the show, but Cosby said that Lisa Bonet may be pregnant but not Denise Huxtable.[8] It was felt that viewers would not accept Denise as an unwed mother, having grown to know her as a "good girl" after four seasons of The Cosby Show. Thus it was decided that Denise would drop out of Hillman, return home to her family, and eventually travel to Africa throughout the fifth season of The Cosby Show, ensuring that viewers would not see a pregnant Denise. Allen was also in favor of keeping Tomei, as she herself recalls a white student at Howard and wanted to relate that in the show and even had possible premises for her character, such as meeting Dwayne's parents and seeing the other side of racism.[8] However, Tomei left the show, and she and Marie-Alise Recasner were replaced by Cree Summer and Charnele Brown, respectively. Darryl M. Bell and Sinbad were promoted to the principal cast, and Glynn Turman and Lou Myers were added as supporting cast members. These changes led to the placement of Whitley and Dwayne at the center of a wider ensemble, dealing with more relevant issues of the day.

In season one, the episode "Rudy and the Snow Queen" marks the beginning of the softening of Whitley's image as a spoiled troublemaker at Hillman. Denise's kid sister Rudy (Keshia Knight-Pulliam) visits Hillman and becomes smitten with Whitley. Flattered at the attention, Whitley befriends the little girl, but when it becomes clear that she's trumping Denise as a role model, Whitley has a change of heart, steps back and gently persuades Rudy to return to her sister.

In season two, the episode titled "No Means No" deals with date rape. Freddie has a crush on Hillman's new top-notch baseball star Garth Parks (played by Taimak). Dwayne hears Garth discuss a disturbing incident involving another woman. Dwayne goes to Walter (Sinbad) for advice, and Walter tells him about date rape. Dwayne tries to warn Freddie, but she does not believe Garth would do such a thing. Later at a dance, Garth goes off alone with Freddie and attempts to rape her, but Dwayne finds them and fights Garth. At the end of the episode, Walter takes Garth to the police station for his assault on Freddie and the rape of the other woman.

In January 1991 (seven days before the beginning of Operation Desert Storm), Blair Underwood guest-starred in the episode "War and Peace" (written by Jasmine Guy and Dominic Hoffman) about the impending Persian Gulf War. A Different World became the first situation comedy to address this topic, and "War and Peace" was one of the highest-rated episodes of season four.[10]

In the season four episode "Ms. Understanding", Hillman student Shazza Zulu (Gary Dourdan) peddles a book he has written and self-published that is highly critical of African-American men and their allegedly sexist behavior. The episode is based on the controversy surrounding the book The Blackman's Guide to Understanding the Blackwoman  [sic]. This book, written by controversial African American author Shahrazad Ali, blamed many of the problems within the black family and the black community on African American women. Although many black women found the book highly offensive and intellectually deficient, African American men purchased hundreds of thousands of copies in 1989 and 1990, leading to a temporary rift between many African American men and women. Ali's book is mentioned specifically in the 1990 episode "Time Keeps on Slippin'" where Ron suggests putting it in the time capsule to represent a female point of view, but is shouted down by the women in the group.

The season five episode "Mammy Dearest" addresses two subjects almost never discussed on prime time television: the "mammy" image and its negative effect upon African Americans' sense of beauty and self-worth, and the little-known fact that some well-to-do African-Americans actually owned slaves themselves. Kim is disheartened with the display of several "mammy" dolls in a cultural exhibit, while Whitley learns that some of her African-American ancestors were slave owners. In some regions of the U.S., blacks owning black slaves (or relatives) would ensure that they would not be sold to leave the town.

The season five episode "Cat's in the Cradle" deals with racism, from both sides of the proverbial fence. While attending a Hillman football game on a predominantly white campus, Ron and Dwayne are involved in a bias incident with three white students, which culminates with Ron and Dwayne fighting the white students as they attempt to spraypaint the word "Nigger" on Ron's car, stopping them before they could complete the slur. They are all arrested by the campus police. They share with the campus police chief (Ernie Sabella) the perspectives of the incident, shown from each side. Predictably, it shows drastically different takes. The racist act by the white students is not alone, however, as Dwayne is guilty of the same prejudice by assuming the white campus chief is racist. Poignantly, the ending scene find both parties returning to the parking lot where the altercation started, only to find that some unknown other person or persons finished spray-painting the "Nigger" slur on the car. This episode features one of actor Dean Cain's earliest television appearances.

The season five episode "Love Taps" dealt with domestic violence. Gina has been dating an up-and-coming rapper named Dion, a.k.a. "I'm Down" (played by Edafe Blackmon), who many of the students admire, including Terrance. When Lena suspects that Dion has been beating up on Gina (who is sporting a black eye), she confronts her about it, but Gina makes excuses for Dion's rages and tells Lena to back off. Lena confides in Kim about Gina's situation; Kim informs Lena that some things should not be kept secret. Eventually, Dion's reputation is spread all over campus. After having a heart-to-heart talk with Whitley and engaging in a confrontation with Dion (in front of Terrance who has called the police), Gina finally decides to press assault charges against him.

Various episodes in the last two seasons of the series referenced contemporary high-profile cases of sexual harassment, such as the Mitsubishi scandal [11] and the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings. In the episode "Bedroom at the Top," Whitley is sexually harassed at her new job by an executive. The Anita Hill hearings also are mentioned in the episode "The Little Mister," in which Dwayne dreams about the 1992 elections imagining himself as Hillary Clinton, while Whitley is Bill.

The season six premiere includes Whitley and Dwayne's recounting of their honeymoon in Los Angeles, during which four white police officers who were on trial for the videotaped beating of African American motorist Rodney King were acquitted of state criminal charges, sparking the 1992 Los Angeles riots. (Actors Roseanne Barr and Tom Arnold, comedian Gilbert Gottfried and rapper Sister Soulja made cameo appearances in this two-part episode.)[12]

In "Homie, Don't You Know Me?" (one of the "lost episodes" from season 6), rapper Tupac Shakur portrays Lena's (Jada Pinkett) old boyfriend from back home. The two bump heads over Lena's new college "attitude", not to mention her new boyfriend Dorian (Bumper Robinson). This is one of the few television sitcom appearances made by Tupac, though his appearance was more serious than the show's tone itself.

The season four episode "If I Should Die Before I Wake" dealt with the AIDS epidemic. It featured actress Tisha Campbell-Martin as Hillman student Josie, who reveals during a class project that she has contracted the disease from a former boyfriend and would probably die shortly after graduating college. Because of the reveal, some of the students (including Gina and Terrance) start to treat Josie as an outcast by either covering their face around her, or refusing to have her serve food at the Pit. Their attitudes towards Josie change after being chastised by Kim and Mr. Gaines. The dialogue also causes Whitley (who was still a virgin) to put off a sexual relationship with Dwayne. Whoopi Goldberg stars as the professor who conducts the class.

As a show developed by Bill Cosby for a character from The Cosby Show, A Different World had many connections to its parent program, even before the latter program was created. The third season finale of The Cosby Show, entitled "Hillman", was essentially a pilot episode for the new show.

The spin-off program featured many appearances by characters from the parent program, especially in the initial season, in which Denise's father Cliff (Bill Cosby), mother Clair (Phylicia Rashad), younger sisters Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe) and Rudy, brother Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), and grandfather Russell (Earle Hyman) all appeared on the show, either at Hillman or at the other end of a phone call. Denise's departure from Hillman after Season 1 did not stop her mother from reappearing on the show. Three of Phylicia Rashad's four appearances as Hillman alumna Clair Huxtable took place after season one, and in one of these, she brought her younger daughter Vanessa to tour the college. Sondra was the only Huxtable child not to appear on the show. Martin (Joseph C. Phillips) and Olivia (Raven Symone) appear in season 3 episode "Forever Hold Your Peace" along with Phylicia Rashad and Lisa Bonet. Elvin (Geoffrey Owens) and Pam (Erika Alexander) also never appeared on the show.

Producer/director Debbie Allen is the real-life sister of Phylicia Rashad. Allen made one guest appearance on The Cosby Show, playing an aggressive aerobics instructor who helps Clair slim down for a special occasion. Allen appeared in later seasons in a recurring role as Whitley's psychiatrist. Dwayne and Whitley also visited the Huxtable home in an episode featuring the revelation that Denise had married and would not return to Hillman.

A young Kadeem Hardison appeared on The Cosby Show as one of Theo Huxtable's friends in the first-season episode "A Shirt Story", though not playing Dwayne.

Sinbad also appeared on The Cosby Show as a car salesman in third-season episode "Say Hello to a Good Buy."

A Hillman alumna by the name of "Louise Sujay" was mentioned on both Cosby and A Different World by Clair Huxtable, Whitley Gilbert and her mother Marion.

Like Lisa Bonet, Karen Malina White brought her Cosby Show character to Hillman. Charmaine was the best friend of Clair Huxtable's cousin Pam Tucker. White's Cosby Show costar Allen Payne turned down an offer to bring his role as Charmaine's boyfriend Lance Rodman to A Different World as a regular during Season 6, preferring instead to pursue a movie career; he and Jada Pinkett starred in the 1994 film Jason's Lyric, which is considered to be a milestone in both their careers. Payne did appear in one episode during season five in which Charmaine visits Hillman as a prospective student, bringing Lance along to see if he can gain admission as well. When Charmaine arrives at Hillman, she and Lance are maintaining a long-distance relationship and he is mentioned in multiple episodes. Lance and Charmaine later break up over the phone.

Years later, Tempestt Bledsoe (who played Vanessa on Cosby) and Darryl M. Bell (who played Ron on A Different World) became a real-life couple and co-starred on the 2009 Fox Reality Channel series Househusbands of Hollywood.

Hillman College is a fictional, historically Black college, founded in 1881 and located in the commonwealth of Virginia. The exact locality of the school is never revealed, but several geographic references are made which allude to the campus either being located somewhere in the Hampton Roads area or in the Roanoke Metropolitan Area. The school's motto is Deus Nondum Te Confecit, which literally translates from Latin to: God has not yet finished. The school colors are maroon and gray. Visual shots of the Hillman campus that were used in the series were actually filmed at two real-life Black colleges, Clark Atlanta University and Spelman College, both in Atlanta, Georgia.

The first references to Hillman on The Cosby Show were made during season one, when it is mentioned as the place where Cliff Huxtable and Clair Hanks went to school while they were engaged. Cliff's father Russell is also a Hillman alumnus. The school made its first on-screen appearance in the third-season finale of The Cosby Show, titled "Hillman", when Cliff and Clair and their family attend a Hillman commencement ceremony which also honored a retiring professor.

In August 2006, Nick at Nite aired a week-long marathon showing episodes of A Different World. Lisa Bonet, Dawnn Lewis, Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Darryl M. Bell, Cree Summer, and Sinbad reunited for short vignettes that provided a glimpse of the current state of their characters. Nick at Nite's "Hillman College Reunion"[13] website added details beyond those shown on television.

Critics say that A Different World benefited from airing between The Cosby Show and Cheers on Thursday night; however, the show consistently ranked first or second among African American viewers during most of its run.[14]

The Hollywood Reporter is quoted as stating that when Debbie Allen became the producer (and usually director) of A Different World after the first season, she transformed it "from a bland Cosby spin-off into a lively, socially responsible, ensemble situation comedy."[14]

The Museum of Broadcast Communications states that Debbie Allen:

On August 23 & 24, 2012, Debbie Allen, the former chief creative force of A Different World from 1988 to 1993, wrote on Twitter that she wants to reboot A Different World. Over a million people on Facebook, Twitter, and blogs reacted to the tweet and approve the potential reboot.[15]

Because of Debbie Allen's influence as the producer (and usually director) of A Different World after the first season, African-American youth who watched the show often cite it as a defining reason why many of them decided to attend a historically Black college or university.[16][17]

Urban Works released Season 1 of A Different World on DVD in Region 1 on November 8, 2005. Several release dates for a Season 2 DVD were announced (May 2006,[18] July 2006,[19] and September 2006[20]), but the DVD was never released. Urban Works was acquired by First Look Studios in early 2006. The distribution rights for the series have since reverted to the production company, Carsey-Werner Productions.


what is an honor graduate in the air force

The Air Force Basic Military Training Honor Graduate Ribbon was established on 3 April 1976 by order of the Air Force Chief of Staff, General David Charles Jones. The ribbon is awarded to graduates of Air Force basic training who have obtained an honor graduate designation and demonstrate excellence in all areas of academic and military training.[5]

Basic Training Honor Graduate Ribbon

The Basic Training Honor Graduate Ribbon is the informal collective name for three equivalent United States military awards for the Air Force, Coast Guard, and Navy recruits who graduate at the top of their basic training classes: The Air Force Basic Military Training Honor Graduate Ribbon, the Coast Guard Basic Training Honor Graduate Ribbon, and the Navy Recruit Honor Graduate Ribbon.

An airman must achieve at least a 90% on his/her physical fitness level during the final AFBMT physical fitness test. The AFBMT physical fitness test has four parts: 1.5-mile run time (60%), number of sit ups in a minute (10%), number of push ups in a minute (10%), and waist measurement (20%). If the trainee fails to reach a score of at least 90%, the airman is ineligible no matter how well he or she performed in other areas of basic training. Additionally, the airman must average over a 90 percent on all the written examinations, and never fail a graded inspection (graded inspections are conducted randomly after week #3). The airman must never receive a negative mark in a written evaluation. Current regulations limit the number of selectees to no more than ten percent of the graduating squadron.[6]

The U.S. Air Force Basic Military Training Honor Graduate Ribbon is a one-time award and may not be presented retroactively. Those awarded are entitled to wear the Air Force Basic Training Honor Graduate Ribbon for the rest of their U.S. Air Force careers.

The Coast Guard Basic Training Honor Graduate Ribbon was created on 3 March 1984, with the first presentation in April of that same year to Seaman apprentice Scott Woodard. The Basic Training Honor Graduate Ribbon is presented to the service member who graduates at the top of their basic training instruction class.

Retroactive presentations of the Basic Training Honor Graduate Ribbon may be awarded upon application from the service member to the United States Coast Guard. In such cases, the award will be presented for basic training graduation prior to 1984, only with supporting documentation and a written request from the service member.

The Navy Recruit Honor Graduate Ribbon was created in 2015. On 18 August 2015, U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus released a statement authorizing the establishment of the Recruit Honor Graduate Ribbon.[7] This ribbon is awarded to "initial accession enlisted personnel of the U.S. Navy who are designated as Honor Graduates." No more than three percent of each training group will be designated as honor graduates.

Fifteen recruits from Recruit Division 281 at Recruit Training Command (RTC), Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois, were first awarded the ribbon on 20 August 2015.[8] No retroactive awards will be made.[9] In the Navy's military award order of precedence, the ribbon is worn after the Navy Ceremonial Guard Ribbon and before the Armed Forces Reserve Medal.[3]


the tendency for individual effort to decline as group size increases refers to

The Ringelmann effect is the tendency for individual members of a group to become increasingly less productive as the size of their group increases.[1] This effect, discovered by French agricultural engineer Maximilien Ringelmann (1861–1931), illustrates the inverse relationship that exists between the size of a group and the magnitude of group members’ individual contribution to the completion of a task. While studying the relationship between process loss (i.e., reductions in performance effectiveness or efficiency) and group productivity, Ringelmann (1913) found that having group members work together on a task (e.g., pulling a rope) actually results in significantly less effort than when individual members are acting alone. Furthermore, Ringelmann discovered that as more and more people are added to a group, the group often becomes increasingly inefficient, ultimately violating the notion that group effort and team participation reliably leads to increased effort on behalf of the members.[1][2]

Ringelmann effect

According to Ringelmann (1913), groups fail to reach their full potential because various interpersonal processes detract from the groupâ€™s overall proficiency.[2] Namely, two distinct processes have been identified as potential sources for the reduced productivity of groups: loss of motivation, and coordination problems.

Motivation loss, or social loafing as it is otherwise known, is the reduction of exerted individual effort observed when people work in groups compared to when they work alone (Williams, Harkin, & Latané, 1981).[3] According to Ringelmann (1913), group members tend to rely on their co-workers or co-members to furnish the desired effort required for a communal task. Although group members generally believe that they are contributing at maximum potential when asked, evidence has indicated that members exhibit loafing even when they are unaware that they are doing so (Karau & Williams, 1993).[4] In order to reduce the level of social loafing in a group, several “solutions” have appeared in the literature on social facilitation. A selection of these solutions is as follows:

When individuals come together in groups to perform a task, their performance depends on their individual resources (e.g., talents, skills, effort) and the various interpersonal processes at work within the group. Even if group members possess the abilities and expertise required to complete an assigned task, they may fail to coordinate their efforts in a productive way.[1] For example, hockey fans may feel that a particular team has the best chances of winning the Stanley Cup simply because the team is composed of all-star players. However, in reality, if the members of the team are not able to effectively synchronize their actions during game play, the team’s overall performance will likely suffer. According to Steiner (1972), coordination problems between group members are a function of the demands of the tasks to be performed.[10] If a task is unitary (i.e., cannot be broken into subtasks for individual members), requires output maximization to be successful (i.e., a high rate of production quantity), and requires interdependence among members to yield a group product, the potential performance of a group relies on members’ abilities to coordinate with one another.[1][10]

Subsequent research has aided the further development of the Ringelmann effect theory. Most notably, Ingham, Levinger, Graves, and Peckham (1974) discovered that group members continue to exhibit reductions in rope-pulling force even after being placed in pseudo-groups (i.e., groups composed of confederates and one, true participant). In their study, Ingham et al. (1974) directed confederates to pretend to pull on a rope by faking exertion, suggesting to the real participant that all members were working together. What proves of interest here is that because there was virtually no coordination between the participant and the confederates (they were not physically taking part in the actions), poor communication cannot account for the decrease in effort.[11] Therefore, Ingham et al. (1974) support the assertion that motivational losses largely determine an individualâ€™s decline in performance when acting as a member of a group.


what is the ingredients in old bay seasoning

According to the ingredients list, the seasoning mix includes celery salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and paprika. Other spices are used, but are not specified.[2] It is regionally popular, specifically in Maryland, the Mid-Atlantic States, the Southern States, and parts of New England and the Gulf Coast.[3] Due to the strong presence of the United States Navy in Maryland and Virginia, it is a common fixture in galleys onboard navy ships.[citation needed] Otherwise, it can be made at home, with instructions on its manufacture readily available.[4]

Old Bay Seasoning

Old Bay Seasoning is a blend of herbs and spices that is marketed in the United States by McCormick & Company, and produced in Maryland. It is produced in the Chesapeake Bay area where it was developed by German immigrant Gustav Brunn in 1939,[1] and where the seasoning is very popular to this day. At that time, crabs were so plentiful that bars in Baltimore, Maryland, offered them free[citation needed] and salty seasonings like Old Bay were created to encourage patrons to purchase more beverages. Old Bay is just one of many crab seasonings created during that era, yet it is one of only a few that survived. Notable others are J.O. Spice and Baltimore Spice.

Old Bay Seasoning is named after the Old Bay Line, a passenger ship line that plied the waters of the Chesapeake Bay from Baltimore to Norfolk, Virginia, in the early 1900s. Gustav Brunnâ€™s company became the Old Bay Company in 1939, the year he fled Nazi Germany, producing crab seasonings in the unique yellow can container until the company was purchased by McCormick & Co in 1990.[5] McCormick continued to offer Old Bay in the classic yellow can.[6] According to Gustav Brunn, he had worked for McCormick for a week before starting his own spice business. He claimed that he was fired when McCormick learned that he was Jewish.[7]

McCormick has a number of other products under the Old Bay banner, including seasoning packets for crab cakes, salmon patties and tuna, tartar sauce, cocktail sauce, and seafood batter mix. They also make other seasoning blends that mix Old Bay seasoning with garlic, lemon, brown sugar, herbs and blackened seasonings. McCormick has offered a lower-sodium version of Old Bay Seasoning.

The seasoning is chiefly used to season crab and shrimp. It is also used in various clam chowder and oyster stew recipes. The seasoning is also used as a topping on popcorn, salads, eggs, fried chicken, french fries, tater tots, corn on the cob, boiled peanuts, dips, chipped beef, baked potato, potato salad, and potato chips. Several movie theaters in the Chesapeake region offer it in the condiment section. Potato chip manufacturer Utz created the original "Crab Chip" based on an analogue spice mix. The popular potato chip variety was later copied and marketed by Herrâ€™s (however, Herr's uses the Old Bay seasoning and it is sold as "Herr's Old Bay Chips"). Early in its history, the Subway sandwich shop used Old Bay when mixing their seafood and crab salad. Many local Subway shops in the Northeastern states still have Old Bay for use on sandwiches. Old Bay is also occasionally used around the Chesapeake Bay region as an ingredient in Bloody Marys,[7] and as far south as The Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. Old Bay Seasoning is available at every Boardwalk Burgers and Fries restaurant.

In 2014, the Maryland-based brewery Flying Dog created an Old Bay-inspired summer ale named Dead Rise to celebrate the seasoning's 75th anniversary.[8]


who says we'll leave the light on for you

Thomas Edward Bodett (/boʊˈdɛt/ boh-DET; born February 23, 1955) is an American author, voice actor, and radio host. Since 1986 he has been the spokesman for the hotel chain Motel 6, ending commercials with the phrase, "I'm Tom Bodett for Motel 6, and we'll leave the light on for you."

Tom Bodett

Thomas Edward Bodett was born on February 23, 1955, in Champaign, Illinois, and raised in Sturgis, Michigan.[1] As of 2013[update], he resided in Dummerston, Vermont, where he is a member of the town's board of selectmen.[2]

In 1986, Bodett was building houses in Homer, Alaska, and contributing to NPR's All Things Considered. A creative director at the Richards Group ad agency heard him on NPR and hired him to record a commercial for Motel 6. Bodett ad-libbed the famous line "We'll leave the light on for you" and has been the chain's spokesperson ever since.[3] The director David Fowler hired him because Bodett "sound[ed] like the kind of person who stays there."[4] Fowler said he thought, "Gosh, if I only had an account for a national budget motel brand with a sense of humor and humility, I could make a heck of an advertising campaign with this guy."[3]

In 2005, Motel 6 began using Bodett for their wake-up calls. The chain hoped to bring a more personal touch to people's day by using their spokesperson's voice.[5] Bodett was also featured on the first Motel 6 podcast, released for the holidays.

In November 2015, a new marketing campaign featuring Bodett's voice premiered, highlighted by TV and radio commercials touting the investment in and renovation of Motel 6 properties nationwide.

From 1993 to 1994, Bodett was also the spokesperson for Jamesway department stores in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania and recorded radio commercials for it. A discount chain, Jamesway filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the fall of 1995 and closed at the end of the year.

As a broadcaster, Bodett hosted two radio programs, The End of the Road (1988 to 1990) and Bodett & Company (1993).

In 1999, Bodett started The Loose Leaf Book Company, a radio program that centered on author and book interviews, discussions, and dramatizations.

As of 2013[update], he is a contributor to The Bob Edwards Show on XMPR and a member of the stable of panelists on Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, a National Public Radio news quiz show.

In 2015, he was interviewed as a guest on Episode 301 of Public Radio International's Live Wire Radio.

Bodett hosted the public television program Travels on America's Historic Trails (1997),[3][6] did the voice-over for "Mime Time" and the "Good Idea/Bad Idea" segments featuring Mr. Skullhead on Animaniacs, had a brief cameo in Pinky and the Brain, and narrated the direct-to-video Animaniacs movie Wakko's Wish (1999).

Bodett was a regular columnist for the webzine Mr. Showbiz.

A fictionalized Bodett was featured in Episode 11 of The Adventure Zone as a recurring character in Rockport, a town populated entirely by Tom Bodetts. They would later return in the finale to defend the city of Rockport.

In 1999, Bodett published his first children's book, Williwaw![7]

"(The) Last Decent Parking Place in North America", ISBNÂ 055345272X Audio Cassette - 1991 by Random House Audio

Song, Tom Bodett by Mark David Manders


black and white bird looks like a crow

It is approximately the size of the European carrion crow (46–52 cm in length) but has a longer bill, slightly longer tail and wings, and longer legs. As its name suggests, its glossy black head and neck are interrupted by a large area of white feathering from the shoulders down to the lower breast but the tail, bill and wings are black. The eyes of a fully matured bird are dark brown. The white plumage of immature birds is often mixed with black. It resembles the White-necked and thick-billed ravens but is much smaller, less stocky and has a smaller bill.[2]

Pied crow

The pied crow (Corvus albus) is a widely distributed African bird species in the crow genus.

Structurally, the pied crow is better thought of as a small crow-sized Raven (except the lack of throat hackles, fan-shaped tail and other more crow-like traits), especially as it can hybridise with the Somali crow (sometimes called the Dwarf Raven) where their ranges meet in the Horn of Africa. Its behaviour, though, is more typical of the Eurasian carrion crows, and it may be a modern link (along with the Somali crow) between the Eurasian crows and the common raven.

In southern Africa the range overlaps with the white-necked raven. The pied crow is smaller and has a white chest and belly with a black, more delicate beak compared to the black chest and belly of the larger white-necked raven which also has a white tipped and weightier beak.[4]

The voice is described as a harsh "ar-ar-ar-ar" or "karh-karh-karh" and lacks the whispering note of the White-necked raven.[5]

The pied crow was first described in 1776 by Statius Muller. Its specific name is the Latin adjective albus, meaning "white". Recent findings indicate that based on mitochondrial DNA, common ravens (C. corax) from the north of the United States are more closely related to those in Europe and Asia than to those in the California clade, and that common ravens in the California clade (C. corax sinuatus) are more closely related to the Chihuahuan raven (C. cryptoleucus) than to those in the Holarctic clade.[6] while ravens in the Holarctic clade are more closely related to the pied crow (C. albus) than they are to the California clade.[7] Thus, the common raven species as traditionally delimited is considered to be paraphyletic.[7]

This species, Africa's most widespread member of the genus Corvus, occurs from Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Senegal, Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea down to the Cape of Good Hope and on the large island of Madagascar, the Comoros islands, Aldabra group islands, Zanzibar, Pemba and Fernando Po. Although the species is still a vagrant north of the Sahara, a breeding case [8] and a number of long-staying birds [9][10] were observed during the last few years in Morocco. It inhabits mainly open country with villages and towns nearby. It does not occur in the equatorial rainforest region. It is rarely seen very far from human habitation, though it is not as tied to the urban way of life as the house crow (Corvus splendens) of Asia, and may be encountered far from human habitation in Eritrea.[2]

Pied crows are generally encountered in pairs or small groups, although an abundant source of food may bring large numbers of birds. The species behaves in a similar manner to the hooded and carrion crows.[11] In Dakar, birds have been observed mobbing passing ospreys and snake eagles but avoiding black kites.

All of its food is obtained from the ground such as insects and other small invertebrates, small reptiles, small mammals, young birds and eggs, grain, peanuts, carrion and any scraps of human food and sometimes fruit and even mushrooms.[12] It has been recorded killing and eating roosting bats and is frequently seen scavenging around slaughterhouses in large numbers.

The nest is usually built in tall, isolated trees, though sometimes smaller ones are used, depending on availability. The cross supports of telephone poles are also frequently used, and both sexes build the nest. A clutch of 3–6 eggs is laid from September to November (depending on latitude) and are pale green spotted with various shades of brown. The eggs are normally covered when the incubating female leaves the nest. Incubation is 18–19 days and the young are usually fledged by around 45 days. Both sexes rear the young.[11]