title: The Black Crowes

text: Ultimately, the tour was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The dates were eventually rescheduled for summer and fall of 2021. In May 2021, the Crowes announced their rescheduled tour dates and revealed that Sven Pipien would be returning on bass. In June 2021, it was announced that the band had already written at least 20 songs for an upcoming album but had no plans to record them until after the tour. It was also announced that Brian Griffin is the new drummer. He has toured with Brandi Carlile, Richard Marx, Patti Smith and others.


title: The Black Crowes

text: On January 8, 2021, The Black Crowes announced a 30th Anniversary multi-format re-issue of "Shake Your Money Maker", releasing a previously unheard track "Charming Mess" in conjunction.


title: The Black Crowes

text: In May 2022, the band released their first newly recorded material since the reunion, "1972", an EP consisting of covers of famous tracks released in 1972.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: Alvin and the Chipmunks is a 2007 American live-action/computer-animated musical comedy film directed by Tim Hill. Based on the characters of the same name created by Ross Bagdasarian Sr., the film stars Jason Lee, David Cross and Cameron Richardson, while Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney play the self-titled Chipmunks.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: It was released worldwide on December 14, and it was produced by Fox 2000 Pictures, Regency Enterprises and Bagdasarian Productions. It received generally negative reviews from critics. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus criticizes the film's humor and "rehashed kids' movie formula". "Alvin and the Chipmunks" grossed $361 million worldwide on a budget of $60 million and was the seventh-best-selling DVD of 2008.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: "Alvin and the Chipmunks" is the first live-action/animated film starring Alvin and the Chipmunks since "Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks" was released in 2003, as that film features puppetry used for the Chipmunks and this film features computer animation used for them. The film was followed by three sequels: "" (2009), "" (2011), and "" (2015).


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: A fir tree housing talking chipmunk brothers Alvin, Simon, and Theodore is cut down and driven to Los Angeles after JETT Records purchases it as a Christmas tree. Struggling songwriter and composer David Seville has his latest demo rejected by their chief executive, Ian Hawke, his college roommate, who suggests that Dave give up writing songs. The Chipmunks hop into a basket of muffins that Dave stole from one of Ian's coworkers and follow Dave home.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: Once there, Dave discovers the Chipmunks and kicks them out of the house, only to hear them sing "Only You (And You Alone)" and "Funkytown." Dave then makes a deal with the Chipmunks to sing songs he writes in exchange for shelter. Later, when Dave tries to present the Chipmunks to Ian, they fail to sing because of stage fright. The day worsens as Dave is dismissed from his advertising job due to the Chipmunks having unknowingly ruined his presentation boards by drawing and writing on them. While hosting dinner with former girlfriend Claire, Dave struggles to hide the Chipmunks after Alvin attempts to create a romantic atmosphere, making Claire uncomfortable and causing her to leave. To make it up to him, the Chipmunks go to Ian's lavish mansion, where they sing Dave's song to him, prompting Ian to sign a record deal.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: The Chipmunks quickly become an international success. When Dave, concerned for their well-being, insists that the Chipmunks are too young to handle fame, Ian convinces them that Dave is holding them back. After a misunderstanding, the Chipmunks choose to live with Ian, whose only interest is profiting off the Chipmunks’ success as they set off on a nationwide coast-to-coast tour, where Ian exploits their naïveté by overworking them constantly. When Ian's plan is revealed on the news, Dave decides to infiltrate their concert at the Orpheum Theatre to take them back.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: Before their tour can begin, a veterinarian explains to Ian that the Chipmunks' voices have been worn out due to exhaustion and suggests that they take a long rest, but Ian, unwilling to issue refunds, advises the Chipmunks to lip-sync. Dave sneaks into the concert with help from Claire; the Chipmunks hear Dave calling and decide to sabotage the show by causing chaos onstage. Dave is stopped by security, and Ian catches the Chipmunks, locks them in a cage, and prepares to take them on their world tour, escaping in his limousine with Dave in pursuit. When he loses Ian, the Chipmunks unexpectedly show up in his car. As Dave and the Chipmunks reconcile, Ian uncovers the escape, which costs him both his career and his fortune.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: Additionally, Kevin Symons appears as Ted, Frank Maharajh appears as Barry, and Veronica Alicino appears as Amy, Dave's three former coworkers.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: Ross Bagdasarian Jr., the son of Alvin and the Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian Sr. who revived the franchise after his father's death, dreamed of making a live-action "Alvin" film since 1997, "and the dream has had many nightmare moments." On September 17, 2004, Fox 2000 Pictures, 20th Century Fox Animation and Bagdasarian Productions announced they would collaborate to create a live-action computer-generated film starring Alvin and the Chipmunks. On April 17, 2005, Jon Vitti was revealed to be writing the screenplay. On January 24, 2007, it was announced Tim Hill was in talks with Fox to direct the film.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: Chevy Chase, Jim Carrey, Tim Allen, John Travolta, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Bill Murray were originally considered for the role of David Seville. On March 7, 2007, Jason Lee joined the project to play David Seville, and Cameron Richardson signed on March 21. David was a more clean-cut character for Lee than his past roles, which he appreciated. Patton Oswalt and Brian Posehn were approached to play Ian Hawke but both of whom declined.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: Bagdasarian and his wife, Janice Karman, had always voiced the chipmunks since they revived the franchise; however, for the film, they were replaced by Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney for marketing reasons., despite the fact that for the first trailer of the film, Bagdasarian and Karman voiced the chipmunks.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: For recording, the chipmunk voice actors spoke their lines slowly to be sped up to normal speed in post-production; McCartney described it as a "tedious process," where "it could take 40 takes for one line." He was such an Alvin and the Chipmunks fan that he even owned the album "Chipmunk Punk" (1980), and studied 1980s "Alvin" cartoons for his role in the film.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: Principal photography began on March 28, 2007, making it the first film to be produced under the leadership of Fox Animation president Vanessa Morrison. Seville's house was built on Sunset Gower Studios and contains references to Bagdasarian Sr.'s life. The set pieces included an upright piano he used to write his songs and a flower visual he painted; the house's address number includes 1958, the year he created the chipmunk characters; and the house design is based on a cottage built in 1919, the year Bagdasarian Sr. was born. In shots where Lee interacted with the chipmunks, the actor rehearsed with small stuffed animals indicating where the chipmunks would be; the animals were then removed when it was time to shoot, and he used his memory of where the animals were.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: The Chipmunks were animated by Rhythm and Hues Studios, a company that previously animated creatures for projects such as "Mouse Hunt" (1997); "The Cat in the Hat" (2003); "" (2005); and "Babe" (1995), which garnered Rhythm & Hues an Academy Award. As with all of its past projects, Rhythm & Hues used its own software for animating "Alvin and the Chipmunks", such as Voodoo and Icy, which was used for placing the CGI into live-action shots; although Autodesk programs like Flame and Maya were used.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: According to Bagdasarian Jr., getting the look of the chipmunks suited for a live-action setting while maintaining the essence of the cartoon designs was challenging, and it took until September 10, 2006, for the artists to get it right. Hill instructed the artists to make the chipmunks look realistic, but not entirely like chipmunks. In addition to observing real chipmunks offered by Universal Studios, Rhythm and Hues studied all versions of the chipmunk characters from past "Alvin" media for conceiving, fur-texturing, and animating designs for the film. Human dancers were referenced for animating the dance movements of the chipmunks, and YouTube videos of famous guitarists playing the guitar influenced how Alvin's guitar-playing was animated. High-dynamic-range images of sets were also used for lighting the chipmunks to fit the live-action shots. The most difficult part of integrating the CGI critters in the live-action shots was match moving for instances when they climb on Seville's head. For scenes where the chipmunks interacted with props, some of them were live-action props while others, such as a paper airplane, were produced and animated with computers.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: The soundtrack was released November 20, 2007, three weeks before the film's opening, and contains new versions of old songs such as "Witch Doctor" and "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas, Don't Be Late)" (as made famous by David Seville and the Chipmunks), cover versions of songs such as "Bad Day" (as made famous by Daniel Powter) and "Funkytown" (as made famous by Lipps Inc.) and new songs such as "Coast 2 Coast", "Get You Goin'" and "Get Munk'd". The second track on the album is "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)", a remake version, without Jason Lee as the voice of Dave. However, the seventh track, the rock version of the song, features Lee as the voice of Dave. The soundtrack is the first album to be released in three years by Bagdasarian Productions, and is the group's 43rd album overall. Four songs from the album have charted on the "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: The album has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of over one million copies.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: In December 2007, the album debuted at number 133 on the "Billboard" 200. In its second week of sales, the album jumped to number 67 on the chart.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: The album's highest peak was number 5 on the "Billboard" 200, making it the group's highest on the chart album since "Chipmunks in Low Places" (which peaked at number 21). Following "Alvin and the Chipmunk" DVD release, the soundtrack went back into the top ten from number 16 to number five with a 111% sales increase; it sold 51,000 copies of what was its 18th week on the chart, and was the issue's greatest gainer.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: The album has been certified Platinum by the RIAA and has sold over 1,000,000 copies in the United States. By doing this, the album has become the group's first RIAA-certified album since "Chipmunks in Low Places" (which also went Platinum). "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" has become the Chipmunks' third Platinum album and sixth RIAA-certified album total.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: Four songs from the album managed to chart on the "Billboard" Hot 100 during the month of December 2007. They became the group's first charting songs in 47 years ("Alvin for President" had been the last charting single for the group, it peaked at number 95 in 1960). None of the songs were released as singles or ever solicited to mainstream radio (although it is possible that kid-oriented radio stations, such as Radio Disney, might have played them anyway); they charted solely because of high digital downloads.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: A soundtrack sampler was released along with the DVD of the film in a two-pack sold exclusively at Walmart. This features five songs produced exclusively for the soundtrack.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: The film's original score was composed and conducted by Christopher Lennertz, a fan of the Chipmunks since childhood. La-La Land Records released a limited edition album on September 19, 2008.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: The first poster for "Alvin and the Chipmunks" was revealed online on July 4, 2007. Later that month, Fox launched the official website for "Alvin and the Chipmunks" with only a trailer and synopsis; Several games were added later on. In an August 2007 survey of 750 American teens ran by eCRUSH and OTX, "Alvin and the Chipmunks", alongside "Saw IV", "", "Mama's Boy", "Fred Claus", "I Am Legend", and "Enchanted", were the most anticipated films of the 2007 fall and winter seasons in the group.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: Months before its release, bloggers predicted "Alvin and the Chipmunks" to be terrible because of the involvement of the director of "" (2006); the writers of the "Ice Age" films, "Robots" (2005) and "Big Momma's House 2" (2006); and the poor quality of previous live-action adaptations of old cartoons.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: "Rotten Tomatoes" reported that "critics say this may be the weakest vehicle for the helium-voiced rodents yet," elaborating, "the pundits say despite a few laughs, this is pretty bland stuff: dated, weakly constructed, and lacking in three-dimensional characters of the human or CGI variety." , on Rotten Tomatoes the film had an approval rating of 28% based on 109 reviews and an average score of 4.52/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Though cutely rendered, "Alvin and the Chipmunks" suffers from bland potty humor and a rehashed kids' movie formula." , on Metacritic the film had a weighted average score of 39 out of 100 based on reviews from 23 critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it grade A, on a scale of A+ to F.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: Ty Burr of the "Boston Globe" said, "the script leans heavily on the pranks and big-eyed cuteness of the li'l guys and leaves the live actors with unfunny dialogue and nothing to do." According to "The New York Times", "its animated protagonists are egregiously eclipsed by the live-action characters." "Chicago Reader" criticized the "cardboard" characters of David Seville and Ian Hawke. The most common censure was the film's satire on commercialism, which was hypocritical due to being bombarded with popular brands, including the chipmunks themselves. Explained Burr, the film's message "is torn between the glitz that sells and the homilies that endure."


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: Some critics disliked Lee's under-acting, particularly his underwhelming yelling of the word "Alvin!" In "Premiere"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s view, "Jason Lee makes for a sympathetic Dave, yet there's an almost somnambulistic quality to his performance," and "Vice" wrote that Lee's "rather 'cartoony' acting style here leaves a lot to be desired." However, Lee's acting did have some supporters for working as a likable protagonist, such as "Time Out", a source that thought his "wry approach lends an edge to some of the script’s wittier moments." Some reviewers praised Cross' performance, such as Bill Goodykoontz of "The Arizona Republic" who called the villain the highlight of the film: "Cross is hilarious in everything he does, but he's surprisingly effective in a kids comedy. His villainy is so broad that it's never really scary, and he's so funny that you never tire of seeing him on-screen." However, one reviewer, Tim Robey, admitted to being annoyed by Cross in the film. "Premiere" called Richardson "sufficiently adorable and winsome, though the film's purity makes it difficult to imagine any sort of romantic entanglement." Wrote Roger Ebert, "Jason Lee and David Cross manfully play roles that require them, as actors, to relate with empty space that would later be filled with CGI."


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: "The Philadelphia Inquirer" wrote, "the values and the CGI are good." Some critics praised the chipmunk protagonists; with Vice writing they were "integrated pretty well into the live-action elements." "The A.V. Club" wrote, "the manic Chipmunks wear out their welcome pretty quickly." The Globe and Mail also commented on the shot composition: "you've got regulation-height dancers and musicians backing a singing group the size of kids' mittens." "As rendered here by the average-looking CGI effects, the characters are underwhelming in their appeal, lacking the charm of their previous animated incarnations," summarized "The Hollywood Reporter". Some reviewers, including Ebert, also panned the lack of distinction between the chipmunks. However, "Variety" thought there was a "persuasive interaction of human and digital co-stars."


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: Fox submitted "Alvin and the Chipmunks" to the Academy Awards for a Best Animated Feature before the film had a theatrical run required for the award; it wasn't nominated. Upon the announcement of the submitted films, Brad Brevet of ComingSoon.net questioned the submission of a live-action/animated film like "Alvin": "I mean, why wouldn’t "Transformers" then be considered animated?" While the Movieguide Awards named "Alvin and the Chipmunks" the third best family film of 2007, "PopMatters" called it the second worst film of the year. It was also named one of 2007's worst pictures by science fiction writer John Varley. In 2011, "Entertainment Weekly" ranked "Alvin and the Chipmunks" the third worst live-action/animation hybrid film of all-time. In terms of lists regarding the worst talking animal films of all time, both "Complex" and "Screen Rant" named it eleventh worst. In 2013, it was ranked by "GamesRadar" the 48th worst Christmas movie ever. In 2016, "Box Office Prophets" ranked it the fifth worst live-action film based on a cartoon. The film also won a Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie, a BMI Film & TV Award for Film Music, and was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Family Feature Film (Fantasy or Musical).


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: Cross' appearance in "Alvin and the Chipmunks" was negatively received by fans of the comedian, "The New York Observer" reporting blog comments that called him a "smug, condescending asshole" and "a huge prick." On December 10, 2007, comedian Patton Oswalt published a writing on his MySpace blog titled "Godawful/Thank God," where he revealed he and Brian Posehn were approached for the part of Ian for "Alvin and the Chipmunks"; he made the following remark in the post: "We both threw the script across the room in disgust. David Cross caught it."


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: All of this prompted Cross to publicly discuss his involvement with the film on his website "The Bob and Davider" on December 31, 2007. He explained that he actually was offered the role before the casting team approached Oswalt and Posehn, but rejected. He got the offer again after six months of failing to find acting work and having a down payment on a cottage in the middle of Sullivan County, New York due; this time, he accepted the role out of desperation. He also admitted in the post he never saw the film, and hoped that his post "hopefully lessens some of the sense that I'm some kind of whore sell-out who doesn't care about anything but making money." The post only garnered more bad comments on blog stories about it: a "Defamer" reader commented that it was "the shittiest fucking defense since the Nuremberg trials," an "A.V. Club" user stated that "he's digging his own grave, professionally," and a "Stereogum" reader thought he "wouldn’t mind if [Cross] dies."


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: Oswalt responded to the post via "The A.V. Club" on January 2, 2008. He revealed that the comment towards Cross was nothing more than a "snide, private in-joke between us" that referenced a comment Cross made at a party in New York in March 2006; Cross had just received the script for "Failure to Launch" and stated, "Man, they sent me that script, and I read ten pages and threw it across the room." He called blog comments that responded to Cross' writing "very entertaining," but also concluded, "I don't care what any of my friends – or, for that matter, enemies – does to pay the bills. I think my role in this is finished, so it's up to someone else to mention your massive cash donations to Operation Rescue, or your upcoming tour with Toby Keith."


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: When it came to responses from professional writers towards Cross' behavior in the debacle, Jeff Bergstrom of "BrooklynVegan" opined that "no explanation was needed; a person needs work. And to be honest, I found his 5 part response to be a mega-invaluable resource for learning what Cross has been up to these days." "Gawker" stated the post "will effectively quash any burgeoning feud between two of our favorite comedians—especially since Cross demonstrated the above-referenced respect for his Pixar-blessed peer by not noting Oswalt's longtime involvement in "King of Queens"." C. Robert Cargill, on the other hand, thought that while Cross gave "pretty good reasons" in his post, "he forgot that he could drop some really biting sarcasm in the place of a 1000-word diatribe" and "lost" in responding to Oswalt.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: "Playlist" was very harsh, calling Cross' post an "extremely lengthy and tedious defense" and that "at least Jason Lee had the good sense to take the pay check and shut the fuck up." Writing for "The A.V. Club", Steve Hyden called Cross' blog post a "snide, dishonest, and largely unsuccessful attempt" to deflect the harsh responses thrown at him. He cited similar public statements Cross made when involved in previous projects, such as when he discussed being in the "" episode "" with "Time Out Chicago"; he elaborated, "Even at his funniest Cross is distant, cold, untouchable; he either can't admit to the occasional lame moment in his own life or he honestly believes he's above the foibles the rest of us idiots are guilty of every day."


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: A week after Cross-published on his blog, "The New York Observer" interviewed him and reported that he "seemed genuinely hurt by the criticism he was being subjected to online." Cross stated while being interviewed:


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: In 2014, "Flavorwire" named Oswalt's snide remark in the MySpace blog the 30th harshest comedian-on-comedian insult of all time.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: "Alvin and the Chipmunks" was released in North America on December 14, 2007. The film grossed $44.3 million in 3,475 theaters its opening weekend averaging to about $12,750 per venue, and placing second at the box office behind "I Am Legend". Its second weekend was $28.2 million, behind "" and "I Am Legend". On its third weekend, it surpassed "I Am Legend" for number 2 at the box office, but still ranked behind "National Treasure: Book of Secrets". The film closed on Thursday June 5, 2008, making $217.3 million in the US and $144 million overseas for a total of $361.3 million worldwide. The sustained box-office success surprised the studio; Elizabeth Gabler of Fox 2000 told the "Los Angeles Times", "I look at the numbers every day, and we just laugh". Given its $60 million budget, "Alvin" was far more profitable than either "I Am Legend" or "National Treasure: Book of Secrets". According to MTV, it also became the highest-grossing talking animal/cartoon adaptation until its sequel. It is also 20th Century Fox's highest-grossing film in the US to be released in 2007.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: "Alvin and the Chipmunks" was released in DVD in North America, Greece, and Mexico on April 1, 2008; Hong Kong on April 10, 2008; the United Kingdom on April 14, 2008; and Taiwan on November 24, 2008. On Blu-ray, the film was issued in the United States on April 1, 2008; Portugal, South Africa, and the United Kingdom on April 14, 2008, Germany on April 25, 2008; Australia on June 18, 2008; Norway and Sweden on July 2, 2008; South Korea on July 7, 2008; Brazil on July 10, 2008; Finland on July 11, 2008; Hong Kong on July 18, 2008; Taiwan on August 8, 2008; France on November 19, 2008; Denmark on December 19, 2009; Canada on March 29, 2011; Mexico on October 16, 2011; and Spain on November 16, 2011. Also on April 1, 2008, a Blu-ray "gift set" that included dolls of all the three chipmunks alongside the movie was released. On Amazon Prime, the film was originally released in standard definition on March 30, 2010, before being issued in HD on September 18, 2012; and it was made available on Movies Anywhere on October 12, 2017.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: The video game for this film was released December 4, 2007 for the Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, and the PC. It was written and produced by DeeTown Entertainment.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

text: A sequel, titled "", was released on December 23, 2009. Zachary Levi joined the cast to replace Jason Lee due to his small role and because of his role on "My Name Is Earl"; the main cast members reprised their roles for the sequel and the film also re-introduced the Chipettes. A third film, titled "", was released on December 16, 2011. A fourth and final film, titled "", was released on December 18, 2015.


title: Arminius

text: Arminius ( 18/17 BC – 21 AD) was a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe who is best known for commanding an alliance of Germanic tribes at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, in which three Roman legions under the command of general Publius Quinctilius Varus were destroyed. His victory at Teutoburg Forest would precipitate the Roman Empire's permanent strategic withdrawal from Germania Magna. Modern historians have regarded Arminius' victory as one of Rome's greatest defeats. As it prevented the Romanization of Germanic peoples east of the Rhine, it has also been considered one of the most decisive battles in history and a turning point in human history.


title: Arminius

text: Born a prince of the Cherusci tribe, Arminius was part of the Roman friendly faction of the tribe. He learned Latin and served in the Roman military, which gained him Roman citizenship and the rank of "eques". After serving with distinction in the Great Illyrian Revolt, he was sent to Germania to aid the local governor Publius Quinctilius Varus in completing the Roman conquest of the Germanic tribes. While in this capacity, Arminius secretly plotted a Germanic revolt against Roman rule, which culminated in the ambush and destruction of three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest.


title: Arminius

text: In the aftermath of the battle, Arminius fought retaliatory invasions by the Roman general Germanicus in the battles of Pontes Longi, Idistaviso, and the Angrivarian Wall, and deposed a rival, the Marcomanni king Maroboduus. Germanic nobles, afraid of Arminius' growing power, assassinated him in 21 AD. He was remembered in Germanic legends for generations afterwards. The Roman historian Tacitus designated Arminius as the liberator of the Germanic tribes and commended him for having fought the Roman Empire to a standstill at the peak of its power.


title: Arminius

text: During the unification of Germany in the 19th century, Arminius was hailed by German nationalists as a symbol of German unity and freedom. Following World War II, however, Arminius' significance was reduced in Germany due to his association with militaristic nationalism; the 2,000th anniversary of his victory at the Teutoburg Forest was only lightly commemorated in Germany.


title: Arminius

text: The etymology of the Latin name is unknown, and confusion is further created by contemporary scholars who alternately referred to him as . In his "History", Marcus Velleius Paterculus mentions him as "Arminius, the son of Sigimer, a prince of the nation" and states he "attained the dignity of equestrian rank". Due to Roman naming conventions of the time, it is likely is an adopted name granted to him upon citizenship or in any case not his Germanic name. The name instead appears to ultimately be of Etruscan origin, appearing as and on inscriptions found at Volaterrae. According to another theory, that name was given to Arminius for his service in Armenia.


title: Arminius

text: The German translation of as the name "Hermann" dates from the 16th century, possibly first by Martin Luther. In German, Arminius was traditionally distinguished as ("Hermann the Cheruscan") or ("Hermann the Cheruscan Prince"). Hermann etymologically means "Man of War", coming from the Old High German meaning "war" and meaning "person" or "man".


title: Arminius

text: Born in 18 or 17 BC in Germania, Arminius was the son of the Cheruscan chief Segimerus (German: "Segimer"; Proto-Germanic: "Sigimariz"; Old English: "Sigemaer"), who was allied with Rome.


title: Arminius

text: Arminius learned to speak Latin and joined the Roman military alongside his younger brother Flavus. He served in the Roman army between 1 and 6 AD, and received a military education as well as Roman citizenship and the status of equite before returning to Germania. These experiences gave him knowledge of Roman politics and military tactics, which allowed him to successfully anticipate enemy battle maneuvers during his later campaigns against the Roman army.


title: Arminius

text: Around the year 4 AD, Arminius assumed command of a Cheruscan detachment of Roman auxiliary forces, probably while fighting in the Pannonian wars on the Balkan peninsula. He returned to northern Germania in 7 or 8 AD, where the Roman Empire had established secure control of the territories just east of the Rhine, along the Lippe and Main rivers, and was now seeking to extend its hegemony eastward to the Weser and Elbe rivers, under Publius Quinctilius Varus, a high-ranking administrative official appointed by Augustus as governor. Arminius began plotting to unite various Germanic tribes in order to thwart Roman efforts to incorporate their lands into the empire. This proved a difficult task, as the tribes were strongly independent and many were traditionally enemies of each other.


title: Arminius

text: Between 6 and 9 AD, the Romans were forced to move eight of the eleven legions present in Germania east of the Rhine to crush a rebellion in the Balkans, leaving Varus with only three legions to face the Germans, which was still 18,000 troops, or 6,000 men per legion. An additional two legions, under the command of Lucius Nonius Asprenas, were stationed in Moguntiacum. Arminius saw this as the perfect opportunity to defeat Varus.


title: Arminius

text: In the autumn of 9 AD, the 25-year-old Arminius brought to Varus a false report of rebellion in northern Germany. He persuaded Varus to divert the three legions under his command (composed of the 17th, 18th, and 19th legions, plus three cavalry detachments and six cohorts of auxiliaries), which were at the time marching to winter quarters, to suppress the rebellion. Varus and his legions marched right into the trap that Arminius had set for them near Kalkriese. Arminius' tribe, the Cherusci, and their allies the Marsi, Chatti, Bructeri, Chauci, and Sicambri (five out of at least fifty Germanic tribes at the time) ambushed and annihilated Varus' entire army, totaling over 20,000 men, as it marched along a narrow road through a dense forest. Recent archaeological finds show the long-debated location of the three-day battle was almost certainly near Kalkriese Hill, about north of present-day Osnabrück. When defeat was certain, Varus committed suicide. The battle was one of the most devastating defeats Rome suffered in its history. Arminius' success in destroying three entire legions and driving the Romans out of Germany marked a high point of Germanic power for centuries. Roman attempts to reconquer Germania failed, although they did eventually manage to break Arminius' carefully coordinated alliance.


title: Arminius

text: After the battle, the Germans quickly annihilated every trace of Roman presence east of the Rhine. Roman settlements such as the Waldgirmes Forum were abandoned. The vastly outnumbered Roman garrison of Aliso (present-day Haltern am See), under the command of the prefect Lucius Cedicius, inflicted heavy losses on the Germans before retreating into Gaul, resisting long enough for Lucius Nonius Asprenas to organize the Roman defense on the Rhine and Tiberius to arrive with a new army. This prevented Arminius from crossing the Rhine and invading Gaul.


title: Arminius

text: Between 14 and 16 AD, Germanicus led punitive operations into Germany, fighting Arminius to a draw in the Battle at Pontes Longi and twice defeating him (according to Tacitus): first in the Battle of Idistaviso and later at the Battle of the Angrivarian Wall. In 15 AD, Roman troops managed to recapture one of the three legionary eagles lost in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. In 16 AD, a second eagle was retrieved. Tiberius denied the request of Germanicus to launch an additional campaign for 17 AD, however, having decided the frontier with Germania would stand at the Rhine river. Instead, he offered Germanicus the honor of a triumph for his two victories. The third Roman eagle was recovered in 41 AD by Publius Gabinius, under the emperor Claudius. Arminius also faced opposition from his father-in-law and other pro-Roman Germanic leaders. His brother Flavus, who had been raised alongside him in Rome, remained loyal to the Roman Empire and fought under Germanicus against Arminius at the Battle of Idistaviso. With the end of the Roman threat, a war broke out between Arminius and Marbod, king of the Marcomanni. It ended with Marbod fleeing to Ravenna and Roman protection, but Arminius failed to break into the "natural fortification" of Bohemia, and the war ended in stalemate.


title: Arminius

text: In 19 AD, Germanicus died in Antioch under circumstances which led many to believe he had been poisoned by his opponents. Arminius died two years later, in 21 AD, murdered by opponents within his own tribe who felt that he was becoming too powerful. Tiberius allegedly had refused an earlier offer from a Chatti nobleman to poison Arminius: "It was not by secret treachery but openly and by arms that the people of Rome avenged themselves on their enemies."


title: Arminius

text: Arminius married a Germanic princess named Thusnelda. Her father was the Cheruscan prince Segestes, who was pro-Roman. After the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, Arminius abducted and then impregnated Thusnelda circa 14 AD. This elopement was likely a result of a dispute between Arminius and Segestes who was against their relationship. In May 15 AD the Roman general Germanicus captured Thusnelda. At the point of her capture she was pregnant and living with her father, who had taken her back. Arminius deeply grieved the capture of Thusnelda and did not marry again. Tacitus recorded that Arminius was "driven to frenzy" by the loss of his beloved wife. Tacitus states in the "Annals":Arminius, with his naturally furious temper, was driven to frenzy by the seizure of his wife and the foredooming to slavery of his wife's unborn child. He flew hither and thither among the Cherusci, demanding "war against Segestes, war against Cæsar." And he refrained not from taunts.Thusnelda gave birth to a son named Thumelicus who grew up in Roman captivity. Tacitus describes him as having an unusual story, which he promises to tell in his later writings, but these writings have never been found.


title: Arminius

text: Arminius' victory against the Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest had a far-reaching effect on the subsequent history of both the ancient Germanic peoples and on the Roman Empire. The Romans made no further concerted efforts to conquer and permanently hold Germania beyond the Rhine and the "Agri Decumates". Numerous modern historians have regarded Arminius' victory as one of the most decisive battles in history, with some calling it "Rome's greatest defeat".


title: Arminius

text: In the accounts of his Roman enemies, Arminius is highly regarded for his military leadership and as a defender of the liberty of his people. Based on these records, the story of Arminius was revived in the 16th century with the recovery of the histories of Tacitus, who wrote in his "Annales II, 88":


title: Arminius

text: Arminius was not the only reason for Rome's change of policy towards Germania. Politics also played a factor; emperors found they could rarely trust a large army to a potential rival, though Augustus had enough loyal family members to wage his wars. Also, Augustus, in his 40-year reign, had annexed many territories still at the beginning of the process of Romanization. Tiberius, who succeeded Augustus in 14 AD, decided that Germania was a far less developed land, possessing few villages and only a small food surplus, and therefore was not currently important to Rome. Conquering Germania would require a commitment too burdensome for the imperial finances and an excessive expenditure of military force.


title: Arminius

text: Modern scholars have pointed out that the Rhine was a more practical boundary for the Roman Empire than any other river in Germania. Armies on the Rhine could be supplied from the Mediterranean Sea via the Rhône, Saône, and Mosel, with only a brief area of portage. Armies on the Elbe, however, would had to have been supplied by extensive overland routes or by ships travelling the hazardous Atlantic. Economically, the Rhine already had towns and sizable villages at the time of the Gallic conquest. The Rhine was significantly more accessible from Rome and better equipped to supply sizable garrisons than the regions beyond.


title: Arminius

text: Rome chose no longer to rule directly in Germania east of the Rhine and north of the Danube, instead preferring to exert indirect influence by appointing client kings, which was cheaper than military campaigns. Italicus, nephew of Arminius, was appointed king of the Cherusci; Vangio and Sido became vassal princes of the powerful Suebi, etc. When indirect methods proved insufficient to control the Germanic tribes beyond the Rhine, Roman emperors occasionally led devastating punitive campaigns deep into Germania. One of them, led by the Roman emperor Maximinus Thrax, resulted in a Roman victory in 235 at the Battle at the Harzhorn Hill, located in the modern German state of Lower Saxony, east of the Weser river, between the towns of Kalefeld and Bad Gandersheim.


title: Arminius

text: In the early 19th century, attempts were made to show that the story of Arminius and his victory may have lived on in the Old Norse sagas, in the form of the dragon slayer Sigurd of the Völsunga saga and the Nibelungenlied. An Icelandic account states that Sigurd "slew the dragon" in the Gnitaheidr—today the suburb Knetterheide of the city of Bad Salzuflen, located at a strategic site on the Werre river which could very well have been the point of departure of Varus' legions on their way to their doom in the Teutoburg Forest. One of the foremost Scandinavian scholars of the 19th century, Guðbrandur Vigfússon, identified Sigurd as Arminius. This educated guess was also picked up by Otto Höfler, who was a prominent Nazi academic during World War II.


title: Arminius

text: During the unification of Germany in the 19th century, Arminius was hailed as a symbol of German unity and freedom. In Germany, the name "Arminius" was interpreted as reflecting the name "Hermann" by Martin Luther, who saw Arminius as a symbol of the German people and their fight against Rome. "Hermann der Cheruskerfürst" became an emblem of the revival of German nationalism fueled by the Napoleonic Wars in the 19th century, such as in Caspar David Friedrich's 1812 painting "The Tombs of the Old Heroes".<ref name="Klein/Käppel">Dorothea Klein (ed.), Lutz Käppel (ed.): "Das diskursive Erbe Europas: Antike und Antikerezeption". Peter Lang, 2008, , p. 329</ref>


title: Arminius

text: In 1808, Heinrich von Kleist wrote the play "Die Hermannsschlacht", but with Napoleon's victory at Wagram it remained in manuscript, being published in 1821 and not staged until 1860. The play has been revived repeatedly at moments propitious for raw expressions of National Romanticism and was especially popular in Nazi Germany.


title: Arminius

text: In 1838, construction was started on a massive statue of Arminius, known as the "Hermannsdenkmal", on a hill near Detmold in the Teutoburg Forest; it was finally completed and dedicated during the early years of the Second German Empire in the wake of the German victory over France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. The monument has been a major tourist attraction ever since, as has the Hermann Heights Monument, a similar statue erected in New Ulm, Minnesota, in the United States in 1897. The Hermann Heights monument was erected by the Sons of Hermann, a fraternal organization formed by German Americans in New York City in 1840 that flourished during the 19th century in American cities with large populations of German origin. Hermann, Missouri, a town on the Missouri River founded in the 1830s and incorporated in 1845, was also named for Arminius.


title: Arminius

text: Following the rise of Nazi Germany, fueled by aggressive German nationalism, and its subsequent defeat in World War II, Arminius became a lesser-known figure among West Germans and many schools shied away from teaching his story in any detail due to its previous association with nationalism. There was, however, a somewhat different perception in East Germany. In East Germany, Arminius, based on a Marxist reading of history, came to be seen as a revolutionary figure of sorts, leading German tribes in a fight against the Roman slaveholder society ("Sklavenhaltergesellschaft"). In the context of the Cold War, Arminius was interpreted as symbolic of socialism, with Rome being a symbol of the capitalist United States as an oppressive empire.


title: Arminius

text: According to journalist David Crossland: "The old nationalism has been replaced by an easy-going patriotism that mainly manifests itself at sporting events like the soccer World Cup." The German Bundesliga football club DSC Arminia Bielefeld is named after Arminius. The 2,000-year anniversary of the battle was also celebrated in New Ulm, Minnesota without restraint. There were mock battles between Romans and club-wielding barbarians and also a lecture series in an auditorium.


title: Teacher

text: A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.


title: Teacher

text: "Informally" the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. when showing a colleague how to perform a specific task).


title: Teacher

text: In some countries, teaching young people of school age may be carried out in an informal setting, such as within the family (homeschooling), rather than in a formal setting such as a school or college.


title: Teacher

text: In most countries, "formal" teaching of students is usually carried out by paid professional teachers. This article focuses on those who are "employed", as their main role, to teach others in a "formal" education context, such as at a school or other place of "initial" formal education or training.


title: Teacher

text: Teachers may provide instruction in literacy and numeracy, craftsmanship or vocational training, the arts, religion, civics, community roles, or life skills.


title: Teacher

text: Formal teaching tasks include preparing lessons according to agreed curricula, giving lessons, and assessing pupil progress.


title: Teacher

text: A teacher's professional duties may extend beyond formal teaching. Outside of the classroom teachers may accompany students on field trips, supervise study halls, help with the organization of school functions, and serve as supervisors for extracurricular activities. They also have the legal duty to protect students from harm, such as that which may result from bullying, sexual harassment, racism or abuse.


title: Teacher

text: This is partially because teaching is a social practice, that takes place in a specific context (time, place, culture, socio-political-economic situation etc.) and therefore is shaped by the values of that specific context. Factors that influence what is expected (or required) of teachers include history and tradition, social views about the purpose of education, accepted theories about learning, etc.


title: Teacher

text: The competences required by a teacher are affected by the different ways in which the role is understood around the world. Broadly, there seem to be four models:


title: Teacher

text: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has argued that it is necessary to develop a shared definition of the skills and knowledge required by teachers, in order to guide teachers' career-long education and professional development. Some evidence-based international discussions have tried to reach such a common understanding. For example, the European Union has identified three broad areas of competences that teachers require:


title: Teacher

text: Scholarly consensus is emerging that what is required of teachers can be grouped under three headings:


title: Teacher

text: It has been found that teachers who showed enthusiasm towards the course materials and students can create a positive learning experience. These teachers do not teach by rote but attempt to invigorate their teaching of the course materials every day. Teachers who cover the same curriculum repeatedly may find it challenging to maintain their enthusiasm, lest their boredom with the content bore their students in turn. Enthusiastic teachers are rated higher by their students than teachers who didn't show much enthusiasm for the course materials.


title: Teacher

text: Teachers that exhibit enthusiasm are more likely to have engaged, interested and energetic students who are curious about learning the subject matter. Recent research has found a correlation between teacher enthusiasm and students' intrinsic motivation to learn and vitality in the classroom. Controlled, experimental studies exploring intrinsic motivation of college students has shown that nonverbal expressions of enthusiasm, such as demonstrative gesturing, dramatic movements which are varied, and emotional facial expressions, result in college students reporting higher levels of intrinsic motivation to learn. But even while a teacher's enthusiasm has been shown to improve motivation and increase task engagement, it does not necessarily improve learning outcomes or memory for the material.


title: Teacher

text: There are various mechanisms by which teacher enthusiasm may facilitate higher levels of intrinsic motivation.


title: Teacher

text: Teacher enthusiasm may contribute to a classroom atmosphere of energy and enthusiasm which feeds student interest and excitement in learning the subject matter. Enthusiastic teachers may also lead to students becoming more self-determined in their own learning process. The concept of mere exposure indicates that the teacher's enthusiasm may contribute to the student's expectations about intrinsic motivation in the context of learning. Also, enthusiasm may act as a "motivational embellishment", increasing a student's interest by the variety, novelty, and surprise of the enthusiastic teacher's presentation of the material. Finally, the concept of emotional contagion may also apply: students may become more intrinsically motivated by catching onto the enthusiasm and energy of the teacher.


title: Teacher

text: Research shows that student motivation and attitudes towards school are closely linked to student-teacher relationships. Enthusiastic teachers are particularly good at creating beneficial relations with their students. Their ability to create effective learning environments that foster student achievement depends on the kind of relationship they build with their students. Useful teacher-to-student interactions are crucial in linking academic success with personal achievement. Here, personal success is a student's internal goal of improving themselves, whereas academic success includes the goals they receive from their superior. A teacher must guide their student in aligning their personal goals with their academic goals. Students who receive this positive influence show stronger self-confidence and greater personal and academic success than those without these teacher interactions.


title: Teacher

text: Students are likely to build stronger relations with teachers who are friendly and supportive and will show more interest in courses taught by these teachers. Teachers that spend more time interacting and working directly with students are perceived as supportive and effective teachers. Effective teachers have been shown to invite student participation and decision making, allow humor into their classroom, and demonstrate a willingness to play.


title: Teacher

text: In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional qualifications or credentials from a university or college. These professional qualifications may include the study of pedagogy, the science of teaching.


title: Teacher

text: Teachers, like other professionals, may have to, or choose to, continue their education after they qualify, a process known as continuing professional development.


title: Teacher

text: The issue of teacher qualifications is linked to the status of the profession. In some societies, teachers enjoy a status on a par with physicians, lawyers, engineers, and accountants, in others, the status of the profession is low. In the twentieth century, many intelligent women were unable to get jobs in corporations or governments so many chose teaching as a default profession. As women become more welcomed into corporations and governments today, it may be more difficult to attract qualified teachers in the future.


title: Teacher

text: Teachers are often required to undergo a course of initial education at a College of Education to ensure that they possess the necessary knowledge, competences and adhere to relevant codes of ethics.


title: Teacher

text: There are a variety of bodies designed to instill, preserve and update the knowledge and professional standing of teachers. Around the world many teachers' colleges exist; they may be controlled by government or by the teaching profession itself.


title: Teacher

text: They are generally established to serve and protect the public interest through certifying, governing, quality controlling, and enforcing standards of practice for the teaching profession.


title: Teacher

text: The functions of the teachers' colleges may include setting out clear standards of practice, providing for the ongoing education of teachers, investigating complaints involving members, conducting hearings into allegations of professional misconduct and taking appropriate disciplinary action and accrediting teacher education programs. In many situations teachers in publicly funded schools must be members in good standing with the college, and private schools may also require their teachers to be college members. In other areas these roles may belong to the State Board of Education, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the State Education Agency or other governmental bodies. In still other areas Teaching Unions may be responsible for some or all of these duties.


title: Teacher

text: Misconduct by teachers, especially sexual misconduct, has been getting increased scrutiny from the media and the courts. A study by the American Association of University Women reported that 9.6% of students in the United States claim to have received unwanted sexual attention from an adult associated with education; be they a volunteer, bus driver, teacher, administrator or other adult; sometime during their educational career.


title: Teacher

text: A study in England showed a 0.3% prevalence of sexual abuse by any professional, a group that included priests, religious leaders, and case workers as well as teachers. It is important to note, however, that this British study is the only one of its kind and consisted of "a random ... probability sample of 2,869 young people between the ages of 18 and 24 in a computer-assisted study" and that the questions referred to "sexual abuse with a professional," not necessarily a teacher. It is therefore logical to conclude that information on the percentage of abuses by teachers in the United Kingdom is not explicitly available and therefore not necessarily reliable. The AAUW study, however, posed questions about fourteen types of sexual harassment and various degrees of frequency and included only abuses by teachers. "The sample was drawn from a list of 80,000 schools to create a stratified two-stage sample design of 2,065 8th to 11th grade students". Its reliability was gauged at 95% with a 4% margin of error.


title: Teacher

text: In the United States especially, several high-profile cases such as Debra LaFave, Pamela Rogers Turner, and Mary Kay Letourneau have caused increased scrutiny on teacher misconduct.


title: Teacher

text: Chris Keates, the general secretary of National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, said that teachers who have sex with pupils over the age of consent should not be placed on the sex offenders register and that prosecution for statutory rape "is a real anomaly in the law that we are concerned about." This has led to outrage from child protection and parental rights groups. Fears of being labelled a pedophile or hebephile has led to several men who enjoy teaching avoiding the profession. This has in some jurisdictions reportedly led to a shortage of male teachers.


title: Teacher

text: Teachers facilitate student learning, often in a school or academy or perhaps in another environment such as outdoors.


title: Teacher

text: The objective is typically accomplished through either an informal or formal approach to learning, including a course of study and lesson plan that teaches skills, knowledge or thinking skills. Different ways to teach are often referred to as pedagogy. When deciding what teaching method to use teachers consider students' background knowledge, environment, and their learning goals as well as standardized curricula as determined by the relevant authority. Many times, teachers assist in learning outside of the classroom by accompanying students on field trips. The increasing use of technology, specifically the rise of the internet over the past decade, has begun to shape the way teachers approach their roles in the classroom.


title: Teacher

text: The objective is typically a course of study, lesson plan, or a practical skill. A teacher may follow standardized curricula as determined by the relevant authority. The teacher may interact with students of different ages, from infants to adults, students with different abilities and students with learning disabilities.


title: Teacher

text: Teaching using pedagogy also involve assessing the educational levels of the students on particular skills. Understanding the pedagogy of the students in a classroom involves using differentiated instruction as well as supervision to meet the needs of all students in the classroom. Pedagogy can be thought of in two manners. First, teaching itself can be taught in many different ways, hence, using a pedagogy of teaching styles. Second, the pedagogy of the learners comes into play when a teacher assesses the pedagogic diversity of their students and differentiates for the individual students accordingly. For example, an experienced teacher and parent described the place of a teacher in learning as follows: "The real bulk of learning takes place in self-study and problem solving with a lot of feedback around that loop. The function of the teacher is to pressure the lazy, inspire the bored, deflate the cocky, encourage the timid, detect and correct individual flaws, and broaden the viewpoint of all. This function looks like that of a coach using the whole gamut of psychology to get each new class of rookies off the bench and into the game."


title: Teacher

text: Perhaps the most significant difference between primary school and secondary school teaching is the relationship between teachers and children. In primary schools each class has a teacher who stays with them for most of the week and will teach them the whole curriculum. In secondary schools they will be taught by different subject specialists each session during the week and may have ten or more different teachers. The relationship between children and their teachers tends to be closer in the primary school where they act as form tutor, specialist teacher and surrogate parent during the course of the day.


title: Teacher

text: This is true throughout most of the United States as well. However, alternative approaches for primary education do exist. One of these, sometimes referred to as a "platoon" system, involves placing a group of students together in one class that moves from one specialist to another for every subject. The advantage here is that students learn from teachers who specialize in one subject and who tend to be more knowledgeable in that one area than a teacher who teaches many subjects. Students still derive a strong sense of security by staying with the same group of peers for all classes.


title: Teacher

text: Co-teaching has also become a new trend amongst educational institutions. Co-teaching is defined as two or more teachers working harmoniously to fulfill the needs of every student in the classroom. Co-teaching focuses the student on learning by providing a social networking support that allows them to reach their full cognitive potential. Co-teachers work in sync with one another to create a climate of learning.


title: Teacher

text: Throughout the history of education the most common form of school discipline was corporal punishment. While a child was in school, a teacher was expected to act as a substitute parent, with all the normal forms of parental discipline open to them.


title: Teacher

text: In past times, corporal punishment (spanking or paddling or caning or strapping or birching the student in order to cause physical pain) was one of the most common forms of school discipline throughout much of the world. Most Western countries, and some others, have now banned it, but it remains lawful in the United States following a US Supreme Court decision in 1977 which held that paddling did not violate the US Constitution.


title: Teacher

text: 30 US states have banned corporal punishment, the others (mostly in the South) have not. It is still used to a significant (though declining) degree in some public schools in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Private schools in these and most other states may also use it. Corporal punishment in American schools is administered to the seat of the student's trousers or skirt with a specially made wooden paddle. This often used to take place in the classroom or hallway, but nowadays the punishment is usually given privately in the principal's office.


title: Teacher

text: Official corporal punishment, often by caning, remains commonplace in schools in some Asian, African and Caribbean countries.


title: Teacher

text: Currently detention is one of the most common punishments in schools in the United States, the UK, Ireland, Singapore and other countries. It requires the pupil to remain in school at a given time in the school day (such as lunch, recess or after school); or even to attend school on a non-school day, e.g. "Saturday detention" held at some schools. During detention, students normally have to sit in a classroom and do work, write lines or a punishment essay, or sit quietly.


title: Teacher

text: A modern example of school discipline in North America and Western Europe relies upon the idea of an assertive teacher who is prepared to impose their will upon a class. Positive reinforcement is balanced with immediate and fair punishment for misbehavior and firm, clear boundaries define what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior. Teachers are expected to respect their students; sarcasm and attempts to humiliate pupils are seen as falling outside of what constitutes reasonable discipline.


title: Teacher

text: Whilst this is the consensus viewpoint amongst the majority of academics, some teachers and parents advocate a more assertive and confrontational style of discipline (refer to "Canter Model of Discipline"). Such individuals claim that many problems with modern schooling stem from the weakness in school discipline and if teachers exercised firm control over the classroom they would be able to teach more efficiently. This viewpoint is supported by the educational attainment of countries—in East Asia for instance—that combine strict discipline with high standards of education.


title: Teacher

text: It's not clear, however that this stereotypical view reflects the reality of East Asian classrooms or that the educational goals in these countries are commensurable with those in Western countries. In Japan, for example, although average attainment on standardized tests may exceed those in Western countries, classroom discipline and behavior is highly problematic. Although, officially, schools have extremely rigid codes of behavior, in practice many teachers find the students unmanageable and do not enforce discipline at all.


title: Teacher

text: Where school class sizes are typically 40 to 50 students, maintaining order in the classroom can divert the teacher from instruction, leaving little opportunity for concentration and focus on what is being taught. In response, teachers may concentrate their attention on motivated students, ignoring attention-seeking and disruptive students. The result of this is that motivated students, facing demanding university entrance examinations, receive disproportionate resources. Given the emphasis on attainment of university places, administrators and governors may regard this policy as appropriate.


title: Teacher

text: Sudbury-model democratic schools claim that popularly based authority can maintain order more effectively than dictatorial authority for governments and schools alike. They also claim that in these schools the preservation of public order is easier and more efficient than anywhere else. Primarily because rules and regulations are made by the community as a whole, thence the school atmosphere is one of persuasion and negotiation, rather than confrontation since there is no one to confront. Sudbury model democratic schools' proponents argue that a school that has good, clear laws, fairly and democratically passed by the entire school community, and a good judicial system for enforcing these laws, is a school in which community discipline prevails, and in which an increasingly sophisticated concept of law and order develops, against other schools today, where rules are arbitrary, authority is absolute, punishment is capricious, and due process of law is unknown.


title: Teacher

text: Teachers face several occupational hazards in their line of work, including occupational stress, which can negatively impact teachers' mental and physical health, productivity, and students' performance. Stress can be caused by organizational change, relationships with students, fellow teachers, and administrative personnel, working environment, expectations to substitute, long hours with a heavy workload, and inspections. Teachers are also at high risk for occupational burnout.


title: Teacher

text: A 2000 study found that 42% of UK teachers experienced occupational stress, twice the figure for the average profession. A 2012 study found that teachers experienced double the rate of anxiety, depression, and stress than average workers.


title: Teacher

text: There are several ways to mitigate the occupational hazards of teaching. Organizational interventions, like changing teachers' schedules, providing support networks and mentoring, changing the work environment, and offering promotions and bonuses, may be effective in helping to reduce occupational stress among teachers. Individual-level interventions, including stress-management training and counseling, are also used to relieve occupational stress among teachers.


title: Teacher

text: Apart from this, teachers are often not given sufficient opportunities for professional growth or promotions. This leads to some stagnancy, as there is not sufficient interests to enter the profession. An organisation in India called Centre for Teacher Accreditation (CENTA) is working to reduce this hazard, by trying to open opportunities for teachers in India.


title: Teacher

text: There are many similarities and differences among teachers around the world. In almost all countries teachers are educated in a university or college. Governments may require certification by a recognized body before they can teach in a school. In many countries, elementary school education certificate is earned after completion of high school. The high school student follows an education specialty track, obtain the prerequisite "student-teaching" time, and receive a special diploma to begin teaching after graduation. In addition to certification, many educational institutions especially within the US, require that prospective teachers pass a background check and psychiatric evaluation to be able to teach in classroom. This is not always the case with adult further learning institutions but is fast becoming the norm in many countries as security concerns grow.


title: Teacher

text: International schools generally follow an English-speaking, Western curriculum and are aimed at expatriate communities.


title: Teacher

text: Education in Australia is primarily the responsibility of the individual states and territories. Generally, education in Australia follows the three-tier model which includes primary education (primary schools), followed by secondary education (secondary schools/high schools) and tertiary education (universities or TAFE colleges).


title: Teacher

text: Teaching in Canada requires a post-secondary degree Bachelor's Degree. In most provinces a second Bachelor's Degree such as a Bachelor of Education is required to become a qualified teacher. Salary ranges from $40,000/year to $90,000/yr. Teachers have the option to teach for a public school which is funded by the provincial government or teaching in a private school which is funded by the private sector, businesses and sponsors.


title: Teacher

text: In France, teachers, or "professors", are mainly civil servants, recruited by competitive examination.


title: Teacher

text: In Germany, teachers are mainly civil servants recruited in special university classes, called "Lehramtstudien" ("Teaching Education Studies"). There are many differences between the teachers for elementary schools ("Grundschule"), lower secondary schools ("Hauptschule"), middle level secondary schools ("Realschule") and higher level secondary schools ("Gymnasium").


title: Teacher

text: In ancient India, the most common form of education was gurukula based on the guru-shishya tradition (teacher-disciple tradition) which involved the disciple and guru living in the same (or a nearby) residence. These "gurukulam" was supported by public donations and the guru would not accept any fees from the "shishya". This organized system stayed the most prominent form of education in the Indian subcontinent until the British invasion. Through strong efforts in 1886 and 1948, the gurukula system was revived in India.


title: Teacher

text: The role and success of a teacher in the modern Indian education system is clearly defined. CENTA Standards define the competencies that a good teacher should possess. Schools look for competent teachers across grades. Teachers are appointed directly by schools in private sector, and through eligibility tests in government schools.


title: Teacher

text: Salaries for primary teachers in Ireland depend mainly on seniority (i.e. holding the position of principal, deputy principal or assistant principal), experience and qualifications. Extra pay is also given for teaching through the Irish language, in a Gaeltacht area or on an island. The basic pay for a starting teacher is €27,814 p.a., rising incrementally to €53,423 for a teacher with 25 years service. A principal of a large school with many years experience and several qualifications (M.A., H.Dip., etc.) could earn over €90,000.


title: Teacher

text: Teachers are required to be registered with the Teaching Council; under Section 30 of the Teaching Council Act 2001, a person employed in any capacity in a recognised teaching post - who is not registered with the Teaching Council - may not be paid from Oireachtas funds.


title: Teacher

text: From 2006 Garda vetting has been introduced for new entrants to the teaching profession. These procedures apply to teaching and also to non-teaching posts and those who refuse vetting "cannot be appointed or engaged by the school in any capacity including in a voluntary role". Existing staff will be vetted on a phased basis.


title: Teacher

text: To become a teacher in the Philippines, one must have a bachelor's degree in education. Other degrees are also allowed as long they are able to get 18 units of professional education subjects (10 units for arts and sciences degrees). A board exam must be taken to become a professional teacher in the Philippines. Upon passing the board exam, the Professional Regulatory Commission will issue a teaching licence.


title: Teacher

text: Education in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter with each of the countries of the United Kingdom having separate systems.


title: Teacher

text: Salaries for nursery, primary and secondary school teachers ranged from £20,133 to £41,004 in September 2007, although some salaries can go much higher depending on experience and extra responsibilities. Preschool teachers may earn an average salary of £19,543 annually. Teachers in state schools must have at least a bachelor's degree, complete an approved teacher education program, and be licensed.


title: Teacher

text: Many counties offer alternative licensing programs to attract people into teaching, especially for hard-to-fill positions. Excellent job opportunities are expected as retirements, especially among secondary school teachers, outweigh slowing enrollment growth; opportunities will vary by geographic area and subject taught.


title: Teacher

text: In Scotland, anyone wishing to teach must be registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS). Teaching in Scotland is an all graduate profession and the normal route for graduates wishing to teach is to complete a programme of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) at one of the seven Scottish Universities who offer these courses. Once successfully completed, "Provisional Registration" is given by the GTCS which is raised to "Full Registration" status after a year if there is sufficient evidence to show that the "Standard for Full Registration" has been met.


title: Teacher

text: For the salary year beginning April 2008, unpromoted teachers in Scotland earned from £20,427 for a Probationer, up to £32,583 after 6 years teaching, but could then go on to earn up to £39,942 as they complete the modules to earn Chartered Teacher Status (requiring at least 6 years at up to two modules per year.) Promotion to Principal Teacher positions attracts a salary of between £34,566 and £44,616; Deputy Head, and Head teachers earn from £40,290 to £78,642.


title: Teacher

text: Teachers in Scotland can be registered members of trade unions with the main ones being the Educational Institute of Scotland and the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association.


title: Teacher

text: Education in Wales differs in certain respects from education elsewhere in the United Kingdom. For example, a significant number of students all over Wales are educated either wholly or largely through the medium of Welsh: in 2008/09, 22 per cent of classes in maintained primary schools used Welsh as the sole or main medium of instruction. Welsh medium education is available to all age groups through nurseries, schools, colleges and universities and in adult education; lessons in the language itself are compulsory for all pupils until the age of 16.


title: Teacher

text: Teachers in Wales can be registered members of trade unions such as ATL, NUT or NASUWT and a report in 2010 suggested that the average age of teachers in Wales was falling with teachers being younger than in previous years. It was suggested that a proportion of older teachers had faced discrimination and did not have their experience valued. A growing cause of concern at that time was that attacks on teachers in Welsh schools reached an all-time high between 2005 and 2010.


title: Teacher

text: In the United States, each state determines the requirements for getting a license to teach in public schools. Teaching certification generally lasts three years, but teachers can receive certificates that last as long as ten years. Public school teachers are required to have a bachelor's degree and the majority must be certified by the state in which they teach. Many charter schools do not require that their teachers be certified, provided they meet the standards to be highly qualified as set by No Child Left Behind. Additionally, the requirements for substitute/temporary teachers are generally not as rigorous as those for full-time professionals. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there are 1.4 million elementary school teachers, 674,000 middle school teachers, and 1 million secondary school teachers employed in the U.S.


title: Teacher

text: In the past, teachers have been paid relatively low salaries. However, average teacher salaries have improved rapidly in recent years. US teachers are generally paid on graduated scales, with income depending on experience. Teachers with more experience and higher education earn more than those with a standard bachelor's degree and certificate. Salaries vary greatly depending on state, relative cost of living, and grade taught. Salaries also vary within states where wealthy suburban school districts generally have higher salary schedules than other districts. The median salary for all primary and secondary teachers was $46,000 in 2004, with the average entry salary for a teacher with a bachelor's degree being an estimated $32,000. Median salaries for preschool teachers, however, were less than half the national median for secondary teachers, clock in at an estimated $21,000 in 2004. For high school teachers, median salaries in 2007 ranged from $35,000 in South Dakota to $71,000 in New York, with a national median of $52,000. Some contracts may include long-term disability insurance, life insurance, emergency/personal leave and investment options.


title: Teacher

text: The American Federation of Teachers' teacher salary survey for the 2006–07 school year found that the average teacher salary was $51,009. In a salary survey report for K-12 teachers, elementary school teachers had the lowest median salary earning $39,259. High school teachers had the highest median salary earning $41,855. Many teachers take advantage of the opportunity to increase their income by supervising after-school programs and other extracurricular activities. In addition to monetary compensation, public school teachers may also enjoy greater benefits (like health insurance) compared to other occupations. Merit pay systems are on the rise for teachers, paying teachers extra money based on excellent classroom evaluations, high test scores and for high success at their overall school. Also, with the advent of the internet, many teachers are now selling their lesson plans to other teachers through the web in order to earn supplemental income, most notably on TeachersPayTeachers.com. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 also aims to substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers through international cooperation by 2030 in an effort to improve the quality of teaching around the world.


title: Teacher

text: Assistant teachers are additional teachers assisting the primary teacher, often in the same classroom. There are different types around the world, as well as a variety of formal programs defining roles and responsibilities.


title: Teacher

text: One type is a Foreign Language Assistant, which in Germany is run by the Educational Exchange Service ().


title: Teacher

text: British schools employ teaching assistants, who are not considered fully qualified teachers, and as such, are guided by teachers but may supervise and teach groups of pupils independently. In the United Kingdom, the term "assistant teacher" used to be used to refer to any qualified or unqualified teacher who was not a head or deputy head teacher.


title: Teacher

text: The Japanese education system employs Assistant Language Teachers in elementary, junior high and high schools.


title: Teacher

text: Learning by teaching (German short form: LdL) is a method which allows pupils and students to prepare and teach lessons or parts of lessons, with the understanding that a student's own learning is enhanced through the teaching process.


title: Brian Williams

text: Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American retired journalist and television news anchor. He was a reporter for "NBC Nightly News" starting in 1993, before his promotion to anchor and managing editor of the broadcast in 2004. In February 2015, Williams was suspended for six months by NBC for "misrepresent[ing] events which occurred while he was covering the Iraq War in 2003". Four months after the lying incident came to light, the network removed him from "NBC Nightly News" and reassigned him as the breaking news anchor for MSNBC. In September 2016, he became the host of MSNBC's political news show, "The 11th Hour". Williams announced in November 2021 that he would be leaving MSNBC and NBC News at the completion of his contract the following month, when he hosted his final episode of "The 11th Hour".


title: Brian Williams

text: Born on May 5, 1959, in Ridgewood, New Jersey, Williams was raised in a "boisterous" Catholic home of largely Irish descent. He is the son of Dorothy May (née Pampel) and Gordon Lewis Williams, who was an executive vice president of the National Retail Merchants Association, in New York. His mother was an amateur stage actress. Williams is the youngest of four siblings.


title: Brian Williams

text: He lived in Elmira, New York, for nine years before moving to Middletown Township, New Jersey, when he was in junior high school.


title: Brian Williams

text: Williams graduated from Mater Dei High School, a Roman Catholic high school in the New Monmouth section of Middletown. While in high school, he was a volunteer firefighter for three years at the Middletown Township Fire Department. Also while in high school, he was the editorial editor for the school newspaper. He suffered an accident during a football game that left him with a crooked nose. His first job was as a busboy at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery.


title: Brian Williams

text: Following high school, Williams attended Brookdale Community College before transferring to the Catholic University of America and then George Washington University. He did not earn a degree, ultimately interning with the administration of President Jimmy Carter. He later called leaving college one of his "great regrets".


title: Brian Williams

text: Williams first worked in broadcasting in 1981 at KOAM-TV in Pittsburg, Kansas. The following year he covered news in the Washington, D.C., area at then-independent station WTTG, then worked in Philadelphia for WCAU, then owned and operated by CBS. Beginning in 1987 he broadcast in New York City at WCBS.


title: Brian Williams

text: Williams joined NBC News in 1993, where he anchored the national "Weekend Nightly News" and was chief White House correspondent. In the summer of 1996 he began serving as anchor and managing editor of "The News with Brian Williams", broadcast on MSNBC and CNBC. Williams also served as primary substitute anchor on "The NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw", and its weekend anchor. He reported the accident and death of Diana, Princess of Wales.


title: Brian Williams

text: Williams became anchor of "NBC Nightly News" on December 2, 2004, replacing the retiring Tom Brokaw. The year he took the helm, in December 2004, Williams had to apologize for saying there are "bigger problems" than newsroom diversity. NBC News President Neal Shapiro vowed to redouble the company's minority hiring efforts.


title: Brian Williams

text: He still was allowed to continue and his coverage of Hurricane Katrina was widely praised, particularly "for venting his anger and frustration over the government's failure to act quickly to help the victims." The network was awarded a Peabody, the committee concluding that "Williams, and the entire staff of NBC Nightly News exemplified the highest levels of journalistic excellence." Williams accepted the award on behalf of the organization. "NBC Nightly News" also earned the George Polk Award and the duPont-Columbia University Award for its Katrina coverage. "Vanity Fair" called Williams' work on Katrina "Murrow-worthy" and reported that during the hurricane, he became "a nation's anchor". "The New York Times" characterized Williams' reporting of the hurricane as "a defining moment".


title: Brian Williams

text: In 2009, Williams was awarded the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism by Arizona State University. At the announcement of the award, Cronkite said he was one of Williams' "ardent admirers" and described him as a "fastidious newsman" who brought credit to the television news reporting profession.


title: Brian Williams

text: While anchoring the "Nightly News", Williams received 12 News & Documentary Emmy Awards. For "outstanding" work as anchor and managing editor of the "Nightly News", he received one Emmy in 2006 (for "Nightly News" coverage of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina), two in 2007, one in 2009, two in 2010, one in 2011, one in 2013, and one in 2014. The 2014 Emmy was awarded "Nightly News" for its coverage of a deadly series of tornadoes in Oklahoma, for which it also received the duPont-Columbia University Award.


title: Brian Williams

text: Williams also received a 2012 Emmy for his interview program "Rock Center" and a 2013 Emmy for being one of the executive producers and editors of a documentary on the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. He also shared a 2014 Emmy awarded for an NBC News Special on the Boston Marathon bombing.


title: Brian Williams

text: Based on the Nielsen ratings, from late 2008 Williams' news broadcast consistently had more viewers than its two main rivals, ABC's "World News Tonight" and "CBS Evening News". In fact, from late 2008 to late 2014, "NBC Nightly News" beat the other two network programs in the Nielsen ratings all but one week.


title: Brian Williams

text: In February 2015, Williams was suspended for six months from the broadcast for misrepresenting his experience in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. At the time, his salary was $10 million a year, with a five-year contract signed in December 2014.


title: Brian Williams

text: On October 4, 2011, it was announced that Williams would be the host of "Rock Center with Brian Williams", a news magazine program premiering on October 31, 2011, at 10:00 pm Eastern, replacing the canceled drama series "The Playboy Club".


title: Brian Williams

text: Named after the nickname of Rockefeller Center, the New York City landmark where NBC Radio City Studios are located, the program would become the first new NBC News program to launch in primetime in nearly two decades.


title: Brian Williams

text: NBC cancelled "Rock Center" on May 10, 2013, due to low ratings; the network was also having trouble finding a permanent time slot for the program. The last show aired on June 21, 2013.


title: Brian Williams

text: On February 4, 2015, Williams apologized for and recanted his disproven Iraq War story, which he had told on a "Nightly News" broadcast on January 30, 2015. He claimed that a military helicopter he was traveling in had been "forced down after being hit by an RPG". Soon after it aired, Williams' story was criticized by Lance Reynolds, a flight engineer on board one of the three Chinook helicopters that had been attacked. Reynolds and other crew members said Williams had been aboard one of a separate group of helicopters from the helicopter that had been fired upon, which was flying about half an hour behind and was forced to make an emergency landing because of a sandstorm rather than an attack. Additional soldiers soon came forward to confirm that Williams was not in the group of helicopters that had come under fire and that Williams had inserted himself into the event.


title: Brian Williams

text: In his original on-air reporting of the incident on March 26, 2003, for "Dateline NBC", Williams had said only that "the Chinook ahead of us was almost blown out of the sky ... by an RPG" and made an emergency landing. But in introducing the piece, NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw described Williams as having "got [him]self into ... a close call in the skies over Iraq", and the story was headlined, "Target Iraq: Helicopter NBC's Brian Williams Was Riding In Comes Under Fire".


title: Brian Williams

text: A book published by NBC in 2003 said that "Army Chinook helicopters [were] forced to make a desert landing after being attacked by Iraqi Fedayeen", with Williams aboard.


title: Brian Williams

text: In a 2007 retelling, Williams did not state that his craft had been hit, but said, "I looked down the tube of an RPG that had been fired at us, and it hit the chopper in front of us." This contradicted the statements by the crew of the craft that was hit, that it was at least 30 minutes ahead of Williams' helicopter. However, the soldiers who piloted Williams' helicopter in Iraq said no rocket-propelled grenades had been fired at the aircraft, a fact that Williams did not dispute and apologized for. In a 2013 account, Williams said his helicopter had been "hit ... and landed very quickly".


title: Brian Williams

text: In a February 5, 2015, interview with CNN, the pilot of the Chinook in which Williams was traveling said that while the aircraft did not sustain RPG fire, it did indeed sustain small-arms fire and the door gunners returned fire.


title: Brian Williams

text: On February 10, 2015, NBC News President Deborah Turness suspended Williams without pay for six months from his position as Managing Editor and Anchor of the "Nightly News" for having misrepresented the Iraq incident. On June 18, 2015, he was demoted to breaking news anchor for MSNBC.


title: Brian Williams

text: Journalist Malcolm Gladwell reexamined the story in a podcast episode entitled "Free Brian Williams" from his "Revisionist History" podcast. Gladwell argued that the evolving versions of Williams' story over many years matched the normal pattern of how human memory works. Over time, people conflate and combine different memories, shift times and locations, and misremember details large and small.


title: Brian Williams

text: In September 2015, Williams returned to the air as MSNBC's chief anchor. News events that Williams has since covered for MSNBC include Pope Francis's trip to the United States; the Umpqua Community College shooting; and terrorist attacks in Paris, San Bernardino, Brussels, and Nice. In January 2016, Williams also added the role of chief elections anchor for MSNBC and subsequently debuted in the new role during coverage of the 2016 Iowa caucuses.


title: Brian Williams

text: As part of his chief anchor duties, Williams anchored "The 11th Hour with Brian Williams" a nightly news and politics wrap-up show. The "New York Post" labeled the program a "legit hit" in February 2019, noting the show had been "beating [competitors] CNN and Fox News for three months straight." Williams, alongside co-anchors Rachel Maddow & Joy Reid and lead analyst Nicolle Wallace, led the network's coverage of the 2020 United States presidential election.


title: Brian Williams

text: Williams announced on the November 9, 2021, episode of "The 11th Hour with Brian Williams" that he would be leaving NBC News and MSNBC at the expiration of his contract the following month, after five years hosting the show and 28 years with the networks. His final night hosting the show was December 9, 2021.


title: Brian Williams

text: Williams frequently appeared on "The Daily Show" as a celebrity guest interviewed by Jon Stewart and in 2007, made regular cameos as a giant head sidekick looking on Jon Stewart and helping out with pronunciations of foreign names and occasionally other foreign affairs all beginning at the premiere of the new "Daily Show" set. He appeared on the "Weekend Update" segment of the season 32 premiere of "Saturday Night Live", hosted by Dane Cook. He then hosted a season 33 episode on November 3, 2007, becoming the first, and still only, sitting network news anchor to host the show.


title: Brian Williams

text: Williams appeared on "Sesame Street" in a 2007 episode, announcing the word of the day, "squid", in a special broadcast. Williams appeared on "Sesame Street" again in a 2008 episode, reporting for "Sesame Street Nightly News" about the "mine-itis" outbreak, becoming a victim. He was also the host of the 2009 Annual Sesame Workshop Benefit Gala.


title: Brian Williams

text: On February 22, 2010, while covering the Winter Olympics, Williams did a skit with Brian Williams, the Canadian sportscaster of CTV Sports, on the CTV Olympic set. Some in the media dubbed this the new "Battle of the Brians", as NBC's Williams compared his own modest set to CTV's expensive Olympic studio.


title: Brian Williams

text: Williams regularly appeared on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon", where he slow jams the news of the previous week as Fallon sings and reiterates what Williams says, with The Roots providing the musical backing. A mash-up video created by Fallon, where Williams appears to rap to hip-hop instrumentals, became popular within a few hours. Williams has also made numerous appearances on "Late Show with David Letterman". During an appearance on July 26, 2011, he demonstrated a skilled vocal impersonation of TV personality Regis Philbin. He has also appeared on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien", where he took part in numerous skits and interviews.


title: Brian Williams

text: Williams made frequent guest appearances on NBC's television comedy "30 Rock", as a caricatured version of himself. In the episode "The Ones", he is seen at home receiving proposition calls meant for Tracy Jordan. In "Audition Day", he auditions to be a new TGS cast member. He also is seen once on the show taunting Tina Fey's character, Liz Lemon. In April 2012, on the West Coast installment of the "30 Rock" season6 live show, Williams portrayed a news anchor covering the Apollo 13 story.


title: Brian Williams

text: Williams was the commencement speaker at Bates College in May 2005, The Catholic University of America in May 2004, Ohio State University in June 2008, and at the University of Notre Dame in 2010. In May 2012, he spoke at the George Washington University commencement on the National Mall. He was the commencement speaker for Elon University's graduating class of 2013, which included his son Douglas.


title: Brian Williams

text: Williams also collaborated on the "Encyclopedia of World History" from Backpack Books published in 2003.


title: Brian Williams

text: Williams' statements about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath were received with scrutiny. For example, Williams referred inconsistently to a suicide inside the New Orleans Superdome after Katrina. CNN reported in a 2005 television documentary that Williams said he was not a witness to the suicide: "We heard the story of a man killing himself, falling from the upper deck."


title: Brian Williams

text: Appearing on "The Daily Show" in August 2006, he told host Jon Stewart that he was nearly hit the previous month by Katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon by Hezbollah while flying in an Israeli Air Force (IAF) Black Hawk helicopter: "Here's a view of rockets I have never seen, passing underneath us, 1,500 feet beneath us. And we've got the gunner doors on this thing, and I'm saying to the general, some four-star: 'It wouldn't take much for them to adjust the aim and try to do a ring toss right through our open doors, would it?' Anytime you want to cross over to the other side, baby, travel with me."


title: Brian Williams

text: In another version of the same story, Williams claimed that the rockets passed "just underneath the helicopter I was riding in." The claim was drawn into question since there are no four-star generals in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israeli helicopter doors are routinely closed during flights and the IAF's Black Hawks do not carry gunners. An IDF spokesman who was on the helicopter in question did confirm afterwards that there was Katyusha fire and, although the helicopter was not in danger, the "trajectory of the rockets was beneath us."


title: Brian Williams

text: A reference to the fall of the Berlin Wall also received scrutiny. In 2008, Williams said he was "at the Brandenburg Gate the night the wall came down", while CBS and other sources report that he did not arrive until the next day.


title: Brian Williams

text: Another statement by Williams, this one regarding the Navy SEALs, also received attention. Williams said he flew into Baghdad with SEAL Team Six, but Special Operations Command spokesman Ken McGraw stated the SEALs do not embed journalists.


title: Brian Williams

text: On April 7, 2017, Williams referred to the 2017 Shayrat missile strike footage of missiles being fired from a US warship as "beautiful pictures" after quoting Leonard Cohen's "First We Take Manhattan". This brought widespread criticism from news organizations and social media.


title: Brian Williams

text: Williams married Jane Gillan Stoddard, at the First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan, Connecticut, on June 7, 1986. They have two children: Allison, an actress, and Doug, the late-night anchor of Geico SportsNite on SportsNet New York. Williams and his wife live in New Canaan, and own a beach house in Bay Head, New Jersey and a pied-à-terre in Midtown Manhattan.


title: Brian Williams

text: From 2006 to 2015, Williams was a member of the board of directors of the Medal of Honor Foundation; he resigned days after his suspension from NBC.


title: Susan Sontag

text: Susan Sontag (; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, philosopher, and political activist. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on 'Camp'", in 1964. Her best-known works include the critical works "Against Interpretation" (1966), "Styles of Radical Will" (1968), "On Photography" (1977), and "Illness as Metaphor" (1978), as well as the fictional works "The Way We Live Now" (1986), "The Volcano Lover" (1992), and "In America" (1999).


title: Susan Sontag

text: Sontag was active in writing and speaking about, or travelling to, areas of conflict, including during the Vietnam War and the Siege of Sarajevo. She wrote extensively about photography, culture and media, AIDS and illness, human rights, and leftist ideology. Her essays and speeches drew controversy, and she has been described as "one of the most influential critics of her generation."


title: Susan Sontag

text: Sontag was born Susan Rosenblatt in New York City, the daughter of Mildred (née Jacobson) and Jack Rosenblatt, both Jews of Lithuanian and Polish descent. Her father managed a fur trading business in China, where he died of tuberculosis in 1939, when Susan was five years old. Seven years later, Sontag's mother married U.S. Army captain Nathan Sontag. Susan and her sister, Judith, took their stepfather's surname, although he did not adopt them formally. Sontag did not have a religious upbringing and said she had not entered a synagogue until her mid-20s.


title: Susan Sontag

text: Remembering an unhappy childhood, with a cold, distant mother who was "always away," Sontag lived on Long Island, New York, then in Tucson, Arizona, and later in the San Fernando Valley in southern California, where she took refuge in books and graduated from North Hollywood High School at the age of 15. She began her undergraduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley but transferred to the University of Chicago in admiration of its prominent core curriculum. At Chicago, she undertook studies in philosophy, ancient history, and literature alongside her other requirements. Leo Strauss, Joseph Schwab, Christian Mackauer, Richard McKeon, Peter von Blanckenhagen, and Kenneth Burke were among her lecturers. She graduated at the age of 18 with an A.B. and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. While at Chicago, she became best friends with fellow student Mike Nichols. In 1951, her work appeared in print for the first time in the winter issue of the "Chicago Review".