Background.

In the wake of Hariri's assassination on 14 February 2005, Annan dispatched a fact-finding mission to investigate the killing. Arriving in Beirut on 25 February, the mission interviewed Lebanese officials and politicians, from both the government and opposition, studied the Lebanese investigation and legal proceedings, examined the crime scene and collected evidence. It also interviewed witnesses.

Summary.

The report comments on the political polarization in Lebanon between those who blame pro-Syrian government, and even Syria itself, for the murder, and those who accuse "the enemies of Syria" of carrying out the crime in order to set Syria up. The report emphasizes that it is impossible to identify the culprit until the perpetrators have been brought to justice, but blames the Syrian government, which it charges with exerting "influence that goes beyond the reasonable exercise of cooperative or neighborly relations", with primary responsibility for the political tension that preceded the assassination, by its "(interference) with the details of governance in Lebanon in a heavy-handed and inflexible manner".  It also charges the Lebanese government with "a failure... to provide adequate protection for its citizens", thereby contributing to "the propagation of a culture of intimidation and impunity", and accuses the Lebanese security forces with "serious and systematic negligence in carrying out the duties usually performed by a professional national security apparatus". The report accuses the Lebanese authorities of not investigating the crime seriously enough, and of failing to pursue the investigation "in accordance with acceptable international standards." The acceptability of the results is further compromised, the report says, by the lack of trust of the Lebanese population. In addition, Lebanese investigators are accused of fabricating, falsifying, manipulating, and destroying evidence. Among other things, automobile parts were allegedly planted at the scene of the crime and used as "evidence".  The report goes on to judge as "more than doubtful" the ability of an international commission to carry out a satisfactory investigation while the Lebanese security forces remain under their present leadership, and calls for extensive reforms in the security services, with the assistance of the international community.

The "Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Lebanon inquiring into the causes, circumstances and consequences of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, 25 February - 24 March 2005", better known as the FitzGerald Report, is the outcome of an inquiry, ordered by the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and conducted by Irish deputy police commissioner Peter FitzGerald, into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on 14 February 2005..

Der FitzGerald-Bericht ist ein Communiqué, das das Resultat einer von UN-Generalsekretär Kofi Annan in Auftrag gegebenen Untersuchung darstellt. Der ausführliche Titel lautet "Bericht über die Tatsachenermittlungsmission in den Libanon den Fall, die Umstände und Folgen des Attentats auf den Fahrzeugkonvoi des früheren Ministerpräsidenten Rafik al-Hariri, 25. Februar bis 24. März 2005". Diese Untersuchung wurde von dem irischen Polizeibeamten Peter FitzGerald geführt. Ziel des Communiqués war es, das Attentat auf den früheren libanesischen Ministerpräsidenten Rafik al-Hariri am 14. Februar 2005 zu beleuchten.


History.

The land, which was to become Larsmo rose from the sea some 2,000 years ago, due to post-glacial rebound. Today the municipality consists of more than 360 islands.  The administrative municipality Larsmo was founded in 1867, having previously belonged to the parish of Pedersöre. Hunting, fishing and agriculture used to be important sources of income. However, industry and service have now taken over since the changes of agriculture nowadays require larger farms to be profitable. The businesses are mainly influenced by the strong traditions of crafting or boat building.  The municipality came to play an interesting role in the Finnish independence-movement. During the dark autumn night of December 6, 1905, the steamer S/S "John Grafton" sailed into the Larsmo archipelago with its cargo of weapons, meant to be used for the independence movement in Finland and the revolutionary attempts in Russia. The cargo was unloaded and transported away with the help of the local population. However, the ship ran aground when the ship was heading out to sea. The crew decided to blow up the ship before the Russian guards would find it. The crew fled to Sweden with some smaller sailing vessels and the ship was blown up on December 8. News about the mystical ship spread around the world, and were mentioned in i.e. "The Times", "Deutsche Tageblatt" and the "Daily Mail". This incident is often counted as the first attempt for a free Finland and to obtain independence from Russia. S/S "Equity", another ship, loaded with weapons, also unloaded its cargo in the Larsmo archipelago, and a memorial plate is now in place at the Tolvmangrundet island.

Coat-of-arms.

The municipal coat-of-arms was officially approved in 1952. It has been designed by Gustav von Numers and depicts a two-masted "skötbåt" in silver on a blue shield (a "" is a traditional fishing vessel which could be sailed or rowed). The coat-of-arms symbolizes the boatbuilding and fishing traditions in the municipality.

Settlements.

The two largest islands are called "Larsmo" and "Eugmo", and these two islands also make up the two administrative villages of the municipality. Larger settlements are "Risö häll", "Holm", "Eugmo" and "Bosund". The church village is called "Fagernäs" and is located on the Larsmo island.

Politics.

Results of the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election in Larsmo:

Business.

The municipality has always been connected to ship building and still is. Among the more famous ones are Baltic Yachts, the world's leading constructor of high-tech sailing yachts in carbon fiber, as well as Bella boats.

Culture.

A number of cultural events are held every summer in the municipality. A small jazz festival, called "Föusjazz" ("barn jazz") is arranged every summer at the stone barn in Fagernäs. Many famous jazz artists have appeared at the festival. Many events are also held at Köpmanholmen and at Bjärgas hembygdsgård. A fish market is held every summer at the fishing harbour in Bosund.  There are two museums in the municipality. The previously mentioned Bjärgas hembygdsgård is displaying how the rural society was in the 1930s and also how a countryside shop looked like in the 1950s. The Bosund boat and fishing museum (Bosund båt- och fiskemuseum) displays older boats and fishing and hunting equipment. The exhibit "Terra Mare" at Köpmanholmen shows how post-glacial rebound has affected the coastal landscape.  The two libraries in Holm and in Bosund are serving the inhabitants of the municipality. Further there are two more school libraries, one in Risö and one in Näs.  Larsmo is located between the cities of Jakobstad in the south and Kokkola in the north. The lively trafficked Seven Bridges' Road ("") goes through Larsmo and connects the municipality with the mainland. The road's official designation is Regional Road 749.  The Haldin & Rose bus company has a number of lines going through the municipality.  There is no railroad in the municipality. The closest stops are located in Bennäs or Kokkola.  The closest airports are Kokkola-Pietarsaari Airport, which is about from Holm, and the Vaasa Airport, which lies about away. There is also a small field for ultra-light aircraft in Bosund.  The closest ferry route to Sweden is RG Line from Vaasa in Finland to Umeå in Sweden. Jakob Lines, which went from Jakobstad and Kokkola, ceased their activities in 1999.

Recreation.

There are a lot of paved pedestrian roads in the municipality. There are walking paths of different lengths in Holm (8 and 13 km), as well as in Fagernäs (5 km), Bosund (8 km) and on Öuran (5.7 km).  The winter sports are concentrated to Holm where there are 5.5 km of skiing paths as well as facilities for biathlon. Ice hockey rinks are located in Risö, Holm, Näs and Bosund.  There are nine un-supervised beaches in the municipality: Vikarholmen, Assarskär, Fagernäs, Kackur, Sonamo, Köpmanholmen, Annäsgrundet, Svennasminne och Brännbacka. Most of them have dressing rooms, toilets and life saving equipment.

Sports.

The soccer club Larsmo bollklubb was founded in 1952 and is currently playing in Division 4, where they usually are located among the top teams. The ice hockey team IF Pucken is currently playing in Division 3.

Larsmo () is a municipality of Finland, located in the Ostrobothnia region. "Larsmo" is also the name of one of the villages in the municipality of Larsmo. The municipality is bilingual with Swedish as the majority language and Finnish as the minority language. Until 2014 Swedish was Larsmo's only official language. The municipality consists of an archipelago of about 360 islands and numerous skerries. The length of the coastline is about. Lake Larsmo (""), which is Finland's largest artificial fresh water lake is also located in the municipality.

Larsmo (schwedisch), finnisch "Luoto", ist eine Gemeinde mit Einwohnern (Stand ) in Westfinnland. Sie liegt im Schärengarten vor der Küste der Landschaft Österbotten. Larsmo war bis Ende 2014 neben Korsnäs und Närpes eine der drei finnischen Gemeinden außerhalb Ålands, in denen ausschließlich Schwedisch Amtssprache war. Am 1. Januar 2015 wurde es auf eigenen Antrag zweisprachig. 93,2 % der Einwohner sind Finnlandschweden, rund 6 % sind finnischsprachig.


Facilities.

Kalpakkam is a well built and planned township. There is peace and serenity throughout. The backwaters add beauty to the township where fishermen cast their nets. There is greenery everywhere. The schools present in the township are Atomic Energy Central School (AECS 1 and 2), Kendriya Vidyalaya-1, Kendriya Vidyalaya-2, Govt Hr. Secondary School and Infant Jesus Matric Hr. Sec. School on Pudupattinam, with AECS-1 being the best among all. The township is split into two sides: the Sadras and Pudupattinam sides. Both sides have similar facilities and also good facilities for sports, but Pudupattinam has more complete and bigger facilities, such as the hospital and the General Services Organization (GSO). The two sides are separated by two bridges over the canal which joins the sea nearby and well over the backwater with thousands of jellyfish moving underneath. Also, the backwater is a visiting place by many migratory birds especially the rarely seen Siberian crane in the depths of winter. The backwater can be clearly seen through the compound walls of K.V-2 in Sadras.

Recreation.

Until a few years ago, the beach at Kalpakkam used to be lined with casuarina trees and only a few weeds. Nowadays, to avoid the widespread damage in case of a tsunami again, weed growth is starting to dominate, which the locals are fighting to keep in check. Also, a tsunami wall has been built across the seashore in case of another tsunami. The relatively calm waters are free of sharks.  Kalpakkam is also very close to Mamallapuram, a tourist destination near Chennai. The environment within the township has been maintained for over 30 years. The township contains numerous trees and various parks, and recreation facilities, including tennis courts, music, dance, swimming academies and other sport activities.

NESCO.

NESCO (Nuclear Employee Sports and Cultural Organisation), previously KRC (Kalpakkam Recreation Centre) is governed by an elected employee council. It offers various facilities for members: Swimming, Movies, Basketball, Volleyball, Football, Badminton, Carrom, Chess, Table Tennis and a Gym. There is also a tennis court and Swimming pool where competitions are held annually.

Bus routes.

The township is well connected by road and TNSTC operates buses from Chennai, Pondicherry, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Trichy, Nagercoil, Tirupathi, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai Chittoor, Tindivanam and Kanchipuram. The East Coast Road connecting Chennai and Pondicherry passes through Pudupattinam.

Kalpakkam is a beautiful town in Tamil Nadu, India, situated on the Coromandel Coast 70 kilometres south of Chennai. A conglomerate of two villages (Puduppattinam and Sadurangappatinam) and a DAE township, it is about from Thiruvanmiyur and from Pondicherry. This costal town is rather humid, since it is very close to the sea.Summers here prevail from early March till late May. Temperatures in the Summer vary from 32 degree celsius and can go up to 41 degree celsius. There is no particular Monsoon season for Kalpakkam as rains are unpredictable here, although there is heavy rainfall in the months of October and November,Usually turning into a storm.Coolest months are December and January. A study by the Madras Atomic Power Station(MAPS) revealed that the pollution in Kalpakkam is very low, which when compared to the neighbouring city Chennai is 50 times less. Kalpakkam is known for its nuclear plants and affiliated research installations. These include the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS), one of India's nuclear power plants, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), an affiliate of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Eminent scientists from various different fields of science work here for research and development in nuclear science and engineering. Kalpakkam hosts the only nuclear plant in India with a Fast Breeder Test Reactor(FBTR) and a Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor(PHWR).

Kalpakkam (Tamil: []) ist ein Ort im indischen Bundesstaat Tamil Nadu. Er liegt im Distrikt Kanchipuram, etwa 60 km südlich von Chennai.


Design.

The design of the American Buffalo gold bullion coin is a modified version of James Earle Fraser's design for the Indian Head nickel (Type 1), issued in early 1913. After a raised mound of dirt below the animal on the reverse was reduced, the Type 2 variation continued to be minted for the rest of 1913 and every year until 1938, except for 1922, 1932, and 1933 when no nickels were struck. Generally, Fraser's Indian Head nickel design is regarded as among the best designs of any U.S. coins. The same design also was used on the 2001 Smithsonian commemorative coin.  The obverse (front) of the coin depicts a Native American, whom Fraser said he created as a mixture of the features of three chiefs from different American Indian tribes, Big Tree, Iron Tail, and Two Moons, who posed as models for him to sketch. The obverse also shows the motto "LIBERTY" on the top right, the year of mintage on the bottom left, and below that the letter F for Fraser.  The American Buffalo gold bullion coin further has in common with the nickel the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM above the buffalo's lower back and the device UNITED·STATES·OF·AMERICA along the top. Differences that can be noted between the nickel and the fifty dollar piece are, on the gold American Buffalo coin the mound area of the reverse of the Indian Head nickel bearing the words, "FIVE CENTS", has been changed to read "$50 1 OZ..9999 FINE GOLD". Also, the motto, "IN GOD WE TRUST", appearing on all U.S. gold coins since 1908, can be seen on the reverse of the newer coin to the left of, and beneath, the buffalo's head.

Fractional sizes.

The U.S. Mint has indicated an expansion of the program, to include buffalo gold coins in fractional sizes for 2008 only. The specially-packaged 8–8-08 Double Prosperity set contains a one-half ounce gold buffalo coin.  Weights and measures provided below:

Distribution.

Currently, all U.S. bullion coins, including the American Buffalo gold piece, are being struck at the West Point Mint in New York. According to the U.S. Mint website, only the "proof" version of the buffalo gold coin bears the mint mark "W" on the obverse (front) of the coin, behind the neck of the Indian; the bullion version does not have the "W" mint mark. The 2006 and 2007 coins only have been issued in a one-ounce version, but in 2008, $5, $10, and $25 face value coins were minted with 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, and 1/2 oz of gold respectively.  After a long wait by both collectors and investors, the "uncirculated" version of the American Buffalo gold piece was made available to coin dealers on June 20, 2006. Collectors who wanted to purchase the "proof" version from the mint were given the opportunity to place their orders with the mint beginning on July 22. The 2006 proof quality coin has a strict mintage limit of 300,000, with an additional enforced limit of only ten (10) coins per household. The catalog number of the 2006 proof coin at the U.S. Mint is (BA6).  The coin was created in order to compete with foreign 24-karat gold bullion coins. Since investors sometimes prefer 99.99% pure gold over the 91.67% gold used in the American Gold Eagle, many were choosing non-U.S. coins, such as the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, to meet their bullion needs. With the American Buffalo coin, the U.S. government hopes to increase the amount of U.S. gold sales and cash in on the 24-karat sales, which makes up about 60% of the world gold market.  On September 26, 2008, the U.S. Mint announced that, temporarily, it would halt sales of the American Buffalo coins because it could not keep up with soaring demand as investors sought the safety of gold amid the subprime mortgage crisis of the late 2000s, which had also affected the price of gold.

Mintage.

Mintage for the bullion version of the American Buffalo is as follows (all 1 ounce coins):

The American Buffalo, also known as a gold buffalo, is a 24-karat bullion coin first offered for sale by the United States Mint on June 22, 2006, and available for shipment beginning on July 13. The coin follows the design of the Indian Head nickel and has gained its nickname from the American Bison on the reverse side of the design. This was the first time ever that the United States Government has minted pure (.9999) 24-karat gold coins for the public. The coin has a legal tender (face) value of US$50. Due to a combination of the coin's popularity and the tremendous increase in the price of gold since its creation the coin's value has increased considerably in a short time of just a few years. The initial 2006 U.S. Mint price of the proof coin was $800. In 2007 the Mint proof coin was $899.95, $1,410.00 in 2009, and $2,010.00 in 2011.

Bei der American Buffalo handelt es sich um eine 24-Karat-Anlagegoldmünze (Feinheit 99,99 %). Das Gewicht beträgt 1 Feinunze (31,1035 Gramm). Sie wird von der United States Mint (Münzprägeanstalt der USA) seit dem 22. Juni 2006 herausgegeben und in West Point (New York) geprägt. Es handelt sich dabei um die erste von der US Mint geprägte Feingoldmünze. Der Nennwert beträgt 50 US-Dollar. Die Münze kann als offizielles Zahlungsmittel eingesetzt werden.


Construction and commissioning.

Keel-laying and launching.

The contract to build "Guitarro" was awarded to Mare Island Naval Shipyard at Vallejo, California, on 18 December 1964 and her keel was laid down there on 9 December 1965. She was launched on 27 July 1968, sponsored by Mrs. John M. Taylor, wife of Vice Admiral John Taylor.  On 15 March 1969 during a meeting with the shipyard managers, Cmdr. William G. Lange urged them to create centralized control and designate responsibility for all construction. The shipyard representatives dismissed his idea, saying "the shipyard had been building ships for a long time without the need for such a procedure and no one had been killed or equipments damaged yet."

Sinking.

On 15 May 1969, "Guitarro" was moored in the Napa River at Mare Island Naval Shipyard while construction was still underway. At about 16:00, a civilian nuclear construction group began to calibrate the aft ballast tanks, which required them to fill the tanks with approximately of water. Within 30 minutes, a different, non-nuclear civilian construction group began an assignment to bring "Guitarro" within a half-degree of trim; this entailed adding water to the forward ballast tanks to overcome a reported two-degree up-bow attitude. Until shortly before 20:00, both groups continued to add water, unaware of each other's activities.  Twice between 16:30 and 20:00, a security watch advised the non-nuclear group that "Guitarro" was riding so low forward that the 1.5-foot-high (0.46 m) wakes of boats operating in the Napa River were sloshing into the sonar dome manhole, but the group ignored the warnings. At 19:45, the non-nuclear group stopped adding water to the ballast tanks and began to halt work for their meal break, leaving at 20:00. At 19:50, the nuclear group completed their calibrations and began to empty the tanks aft.  At 20:30, both the nuclear group, still aboard, and the non-nuclear group, returning from their break, noticed "Guitarro" taking a sudden down angle which put the forward hatches underwater. Massive flooding took place through several large open hatches. Efforts between 20:30 and 20:45 to close watertight doors and hatches were largely unsuccessful because lines and cables ran through the doors and hatches, preventing them from closing. At 20:55, "Guitarro" sank, leaving only her sail above water, earning her the nickname "Mare Island Mud Puppy".

Causes.

In an attempt to correct what they thought was an out of trim condition, the non-nuclear construction team in the forward part of the boat purposefully defeated safety measures preventing accidentally filling ballast tanks while the sub was under construction. During construction, steel plates are welded over the ballast tanks flood ports to prevent water from getting into the tanks and putting the submarine in an unsafe condition. The construction crew put a fire hose down the tank's vent pipe and forced it past the check valve.  The Congressional report concluded that the sinking was caused in large part by "the action, or inaction, of certain construction workers who either failed to recognize an actual or potential threat to the ship's safety or assumed that it was not their responsibility." The report stated that the "lack of centralized control and responsibility for all construction" was the overriding cause.  One of the factors contributing to the ship's sinking was the open manhole used to access the bow structure sonar dome containing the boat's sonar sphere. The manhole has a bolted cover which had been removed for maintenance purposes. The opening was protected by a cofferdam approximately high. The cofferdam was intended to prevent water from accidentally entering the dome and contacting the exposed electronic gear.  To facilitate repair work, the cofferdam and the bolted manhole cover were removed in early March 1969 and neither the cofferdam nor the cover was ever replaced. When the construction crews added and then removed water from the ballast tanks, affecting the boat's trim, the manhole was exposed to waves caused by the wake of other vessels, causing the boat to sink at the bow, eventually filling the entire submarine.

Refloating.

"Guitarro" was refloated three days later, on 18 May 1969. Damages to her were estimated at $15.2 to $21.85 million (equivalent to $ to $ million in ).

Lessons learned.

Among other recommendations affecting communication, management, and supervision of ship construction, the report authors recommended that cables and lines running through watertight hatches and doors be equipped with quick disconnect fittings.

Commissioning.

"Guitarro" had been scheduled to be commissioned in January 1970, but repairs necessitated by her sinking dictated a 32-month delay. She finally was commissioned on 9 September 1972 with Commander Gordon Lange in command.

Service history.

In the mid-to-late 1970s, "Guitarro" was stationed at Point Loma in San Diego, California, commanded by Alvin H. Pauole, followed by Scott Van Hoften. She was active at the time in the pre-operational testing of the new Tomahawk cruise missile, launching several of the missiles on a test range off the coast of Southern California.  Guitarro was used as the primary test bed for Tomahawk Cruise Missile testing from 1977 through 1984. Primary GD test conductor was Wiley Huffman. All torpedo tube launches were successful, but flight tests were failures. Following test bed used was USS-705 City of Corpus Cristi with Roy Keely as test conductor. All Tomahawk tests completed successfully. Guitarro (SSN-665) at NAS North Island on 4 October 1990 for a VIP visit. General Mikhail Moiseyev, First Deputy Minister of Defense and Chief of the General Staff for the Soviet Union and General Colin Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, toured the forward areas of the ship that day, but did not tour the engineering spaces. Just aft of the Guitarro (SSN-665) is the Missouri BB-63.

Decommissioning and disposal.

"Guitarro" was decommissioned on 29 May 1992 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day. Her scrapping via the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, was completed on 18 October 1994.

USS "Guitarro" (SSN-665), a, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the guitarro, a ray of the guitarfish

Die USS Guitarro (SSN-665) war ein Atom-U-Boot der United States Navy und gehörte zur "Sturgeon-Klasse". Beim Bau unterlief der Werft ein folgenschwerer Fehler, der das halbfertige Boot in ca. 10 Meter tiefem Wasser sinken ließ.


Early life.

Nelsons was born in Riga. His mother founded the first early music ensemble in Latvia, and his father was a choral conductor, cellist, and teacher. At age five, his mother and stepfather (a choir conductor) took him to a performance of Wagner's "Tannhäuser", which Nelsons refers to as a profoundly formative experience: "...it had a hypnotic effect on me. I was overwhelmed by the music. I cried when Tannhäuser died. I still think this was the biggest thing that happened in my childhood."  As a youth, Nelsons studied piano, and took up the trumpet at age 12. He also sang bass-baritone, with a special interest in early music, in his mother's ensemble. He studied for one summer at the Dartington International Summer School with Evelyn Tubb. He served as a trumpeter with the orchestra of the Latvian National Opera.

Conducting career.

Nelsons studied conducting with Alexander Titov in Saint Petersburg, Russia and participated in conducting master classes with Neeme Järvi, Roberto Carnevale and Jorma Panula. He came to the attention of Mariss Jansons when he emergency-substituted with the Oslo Philharmonic in their trumpet section during an orchestra tour. Nelsons counts Jansons as a mentor and has been a conducting student with him since 2002.  In 2003, Nelsons became principal conductor of the Latvian National Opera. He concluded his tenure there after four years in 2007. In 2006, Nelsons became chief conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie of Herford, Germany, a post he held until the end of the 2008/09 season. His first conducting appearance at the Metropolitan Opera was in October 2009, a production of "Turandot". In July 2010, Nelsons made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival, conducting a new production of Wagner's "Lohengrin" at the opening performance of the festival.  In November 2017, "The Boston Globe" reported that Nelsons told Jim Braude and Margery Eagan of Boston Public Radio that sexual harassment is not – nor has it ever been – an issue in the classical music world. In a subsequent statement to the paper, Nelsons clarified his position saying that he has "not seen overt examples of sexual misconduct" but admitted that it "takes place in all fields, including, of course, the classical music industry."

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

In the UK, Nelsons's early work included studio concerts with the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester, and his first BBC Philharmonic concert at the Bridgewater Hall was in November 2007. In October 2007, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) named Nelsons as its 12th principal conductor and music director, effective with the 2008/09 season, with an initial contract for three years. The appointment was unusual in that Nelsons had conducted the CBSO only in a private concert and in a recording session, without a public concert engagement, prior to being named to the post. His first public conducting appearance with the CBSO was on 11 November 2007 in a matinee concert, and his first subscription concert appearance with the CBSO was in March 2008. In July 2009, Nelsons extended his CBSO contract for an additional three years, through the 2013/14 season. In August 2012, the CBSO announced the extension of his CBSO contract formally through the 2014/15 season, and then for subsequent seasons on the basis of an annual rolling renewal. In October 2013, the CBSO announced the conclusion of Nelsons's tenure as music director after the end of the 2014/15 season.

Boston Symphony Orchestra.

In the US, Nelsons made his first guest-conducting appearance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) in March 2011, as an emergency substitute for James Levine at Carnegie Hall. He subsequently guest-conducted the BSO at the Tanglewood Music Festival in July 2012, and made his first appearance with the BSO at Symphony Hall, Boston in January 2013. In May 2013, the BSO named Nelsons as its 15th music director effective the 2014/15 season. His initial contract was for 5 years and stipulated 8 to 10 weeks of scheduled appearances in the first year of the contract and 12 weeks in subsequent years. Nelsons held the title of Music Director Designate in the 2013/14 season. In August 2015, the BSO announced the extension of Nelsons's contract as music director through the 2021/22 season with a new contract, for eight years, that replaced the initial five-year contract, and also contained an evergreen clause for automatic renewal.

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

Nelsons first guest-conducted the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in 2011. Since February 2018 Nelsons is the 21st "Gewandhauskapellmeister" (music director). The orchestra announced the appointment with the initial contract for 5 seasons.

Concerts and operas.

In the 2016/17 season, Nelsons continued his collaborations with Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, Concertgebouw Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra.  In December 2016, he returned to the Royal Opera House conducting "Der Rosenkavalier" in a new production directed by Robert Carsen. Nelsons is a regular guest at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Bayreuth Festival and is Artist-in-Residence at the Konzerthaus Dortmund.  In January 2019 the Vienna Philharmonic announced that Nelsons will conduct its 2020 Vienna New Year's Concert.

Recording history.

With the CBSO, Nelsons has recorded music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss, and Igor Stravinsky for the Orfeo label. Separately from the CBSO, Nelsons has also recorded for the BR-Klassik label and for the label of the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Nelsons has also recorded commercially with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Deutsche Grammophon, where their album "Under Stalin's Shadow", of the Symphony No 10 of Shostakovich, received a 2015 Grammy Award for best orchestral performance. This DG album is part of an intended long-term contract between the Boston Symphony, Nelsons and DG, as extended in May 2016. In 2019 DG published Complete Beethoven symphonies with Andris Nelsons and Vienna Philharmonic (Wiener Philharmoniker).

Personal life.

Nelsons was married to the Latvian soprano Kristīne Opolais. They met during Nelsons's tenure at Latvian National Opera, when she was a member of the Latvian National Opera chorus, and later became a solo singer with the company. The couple married in 2011. Their daughter, Adriana Anna, was born on 28 December 2011. The couple announced their divorce on 27 March 2018.

Andris Nelsons (born 18 November 1978) is a Latvian conductor. He is currently the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the "Gewandhauskapellmeister" of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

Andris Nelsons (* 18. November 1978 in Riga, Lettische SSR, Sowjetunion) ist ein lettischer Dirigent und 21. Gewandhauskapellmeister des Leipziger Gewandhausorchesters sowie Chefdirigent und Musikdirektor des Boston Symphony Orchestra.


History.

Early years (1983–1991).

Formed in Dayton, Ohio, in the early 1980s, Guided by Voices began their career as a bar band working the local scene. As lineups and day-jobs shifted, however, Pollard moved the band towards a studio-only orientation. Guided by Voices' recording career began with a stream of self-financed, independent releases beginning with the R.E.M.-inspired E.P. "Forever Since Breakfast" and followed by the albums "Devil Between My Toes", "Sandbox", "Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia", and "Same Place The Fly Got Smashed". With only a few hundred copies of each album being pressed, these tended to circulate only among the band members' family and friends.

Lo-fi (1992–1996).

With the release of the ultra-limited album "Propeller" in 1992 (of which only 500 copies were pressed, each with a unique, handmade cover), Guided by Voices for the first time gained some recognition outside of their hometown. This was due in part to gaining fans in the college rock circuit and bands such as Sonic Youth, R.E.M. and The Breeders. New York City and Philadelphia were host to Guided by Voices' return to the live stage (and first shows outside of Ohio) in 1993. At this time, the always-fluid Guided by Voices lineup coalesced around the core of Pollard, guitarists Tobin Sprout and Mitch Mitchell (not to be confused with Jimi Hendrix's drummer), bassist Greg Demos, and drummer Kevin Fennell. Sprout, who was briefly featured in an early-'80s version of the band, had re-joined circa "Propeller" and soon became Pollard's primary musical foil, in addition to contributing several of his own songs to the band's catalog. 1993 also saw the release of "Vampire on Titus", as well as the "Fast Japanese Spin Cycle" and "Static Airplane Jive" EPs. Over the next year, the band began to receive national media exposure from sources such as "Spin" magazine.  In 1994, after culling both new songs and reams of archival recordings from GBV's history, Pollard delivered the indie landmark "Bee Thousand" via Scat Records, with a distribution deal through indie label Matador Records. Soon, the band officially signed with Matador, concurrent with Pollard and his bandmates finally retiring from their day jobs to work in music full-time. The band surprised early audiences accustomed to the generally shambling, lo-fi and collage-like quality of the records with their energetic live show, featuring Pollard's homegrown rock theatrics (consisting of karate-kicks, leaps, Roger Daltrey-inspired mic-twirling, later beer can throwing at rival bands), Mitch Mitchell's windmilling and chain smoking, sometime bassist Greg Demos' striped pants, a never-ending barrage of tunes that all seemed to clock in under 90 seconds, and prodigious alcohol consumption all around.  Their true Matador debut came in 1995 with "Alien Lanes", which, despite a five-figure recording allowance, was constructed out of home-recorded snippets on the cheap. The band's underground following continued to grow, with notices coming from mainstream sources such as MTV and "Rolling Stone". Guided by Voices is frequently referenced by novelist and poet, Dennis Cooper, in his George Miles cycle and the group's lyrics appear in "Guide", the fourth of the five novels which make up the cycle. The first chapter of "Guide" is titled "Guided by Voices". After sessions for a concept album entitled "The Power of Suck" were aborted, the band assembled "Under the Bushes Under the Stars" out of their first 24-track studio sessions, recorded with Kim Deal and Steve Albini among others, in 1996. However, the strain of heavy touring would ultimately lead to the demise of the "classic lineup", with Sprout deciding to retire from the road in order to focus on raising his first child, his painting, and his solo musical career. Sprout and Pollard marked the occasion by releasing simultaneous solo albums on the same day in 1996: Sprout's "Carnival Boy" and Pollard's "Not in My Airforce", with each making a guest appearance on the other's album. Pollard maintained an active, parallel solo and side project career alongside GBV releases for the remainder of that band's existence. These records were primarily self-released. Because GBV alumni were regularly featured, and songs from these albums were frequently included in GBV setlists, they are informally considered to be part of the GBV canon. Also in 1995, the band contributed the song "Sensational Gravity Boy" to the AIDS benefit album "Red Hot + Bothered" produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Major label (1997–2001).

Pollard created a new incarnation of Guided by Voices with Cleveland glam rockers Cobra Verde in 1997. The following album "Mag Earwhig!", combined a new hard-rocking swagger with classic lo-fi fragments and one track, "Jane of the Waking Universe", that featured the classic lineup for one last time. However, after another year of rigorous touring, the "Guided by Verde" lineup split in late 1997 following Pollard's announcement in an interview that he intended to work with other musicians on the next Guided by Voices project.  Cobra Verde's Doug Gillard was tapped for yet another new Guided by Voices lineup in 1998, which also included "classic"-era bassist Greg Demos, former Breeders drummer Jim Macpherson, and eventually, former Amps/Breeders guitarist Nate Farley. Departing from Matador, this lineup (without Farley) worked with producer Ric Ocasek to create what was intended to be Guided by Voices' major label debut. Initially produced for Capitol Records, "Do the Collapse" was repeatedly delayed and finally released in mid-1999 on pseudo-indie label TVT. (In the UK it was released on Creation Records). Featuring a slick, heavily processed sound previously foreign to GBV albums, "Do the Collapse" failed to garner radio airplay, and was for the most part greeted with mixed reviews.  Through touring heavily throughout 1999 and 2000, Guided by Voices' live act became legendary, with shows often stretching past the three-hour mark, and populated by an endless stream of new and classic songs, Pollard solo tracks, impromptu covers of The Who, David Bowie and The Rolling Stones, all accompanied by continuous alcohol consumption. In addition to multiple swings through the United States and Europe, 2000 saw the band's first and only visits to Australia and Japan. 2000 was capped with the release of the massive "", a four-disc, 100-song trawl through three decades worth of Pollard's enormous reserve of unreleased material. (Three more box sets of unreleased songs, "", "" and "" released in October 2005, November 2009 and November 2015 respectively.)  2001's "Isolation Drills" was recorded with Rob Schnapf, who aimed to capture the band's live sound more closely than did Ocasek. Though the album debuted in "Billboard"'s top 200 and received higher critical notices than its predecessor, it did not achieve the sought-after radio breakthrough.

Later years (2002–2004).

After departing from TVT in 2002, Guided by Voices returned to Matador and released "Universal Truths and Cycles", a departure from the previous two radio-aspiring albums, and a return to the band's mid-90s, mid-fi aesthetic. "Universal Truths" producer Todd Tobias would also record the band's final two albums for Matador. 2003 saw the release of the prog-styled "Earthquake Glue", followed by the anthology box set "" and the greatest hits compilation "".  In 2004, Pollard announced he was disbanding Guided by Voices following the release of the "Half-Smiles of the Decomposed" LP, and a final farewell tour. Pollard stated:  Guided by Voices would go on to release no less than 15 more studio albums (since "Surrender Your Poppy Field)".  On November 9, 2004, Guided by Voices performed on the stage of Austin City Limits, broadcast by PBS on January 22, 2005. Their last television appearance was on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" on December 2, 2004. They played the single, "Everybody Thinks I'm a Raincloud (When I'm Not Looking)". After a select round of final US shows, Guided by Voices played their final show at The Metro in Chicago on December 31, 2004. The four-hour, 63-song marathon finale is documented on the DVD "The Electrifying Conclusion".

Post-GBV (2005–2009).

Pollard released his first post-GBV album in 2006 on Merge Records. The album, titled "From a Compound Eye" was a double LP produced by Todd Tobias. Later Pollard albums have been released on Merge and Pollard's own label, Guided by Voices Inc.  Following GBV's demise, Pollard was frequently asked about band reunions. In 2007 he told "MAGNET": "To me, it’s just cashing in. If you’re gonna get the band back together, it should be to support a new record, not just to play the hits. That’s like doing the county-fair circuit. I don’t see Guided By Voices reforming. For one thing, there were 50 or 60 people in Guided By Voices over time."  Pollard also commented on the fact that GBV and his solo output are basicially the same, when he told "Harp" magazine, in 2005, "You know, a lot of people try to distinguish things between what is Robert Pollard and what is Guided By Voices. I tell them basically that there is no difference; I am Robert Pollard and I am Guided By Voices."  In 2008, Pollard admitted to almost bringing GBV back for his album "Robert Pollard Is Off to Business" but decided against it, instead forming a new label titled Guided by Voices Inc.  The 1998–1999 lineup of the band reunited for a few songs, for Pollard's 50th birthday in 2007.  In October 2008, it was announced that Guided by Voices' music would be used for a 3-D film musical based on the life of Cleopatra to be directed by Steven Soderbergh with script by James Greer. Soderbergh and Greer would rewrite the lyrics of the songs to fit the story. Soderbergh had previously used a Guided by Voices song in his film "Full Frontal", and wrote an introduction to a book on the band. Pollard wrote the soundtrack to Soderbergh's film "Bubble", and that music was released as "Music for 'Bubble'". Guided by Voices and Pollard posters, t-shirts, and songs appeared frequently on British sit-com "The IT Crowd".

Reunion (2010–2014).

In June 2010, Matador Records announced that the "Classic '93–'96 Lineup" would reunite to perform at the label's 21st Anniversary celebration in Las Vegas, in October of that year. A full reunion tour was subsequently announced, with the band selling out nearly every date. The tour included stops at Hoboken's Maxwell's and the Southgate House in Newport, Kentucky, two venues that the band had built a history with due to legendary shows there in the past. When asked by "Spinner" if there might ever be another proper GBV record Pollard said "I've thought about it sometimes but it's a very long shot," he says. "We all kind of do our own thing. I'm not completely eliminating the possibility."  On September 21, 2011, it was announced that a new GBV album, "Let's Go Eat the Factory", had been recorded for release in January 2012. On January 4, 2012, the band performed their single "The Unsinkable Fats Domino" on the "Late Show with David Letterman" to promote "Let's Go Eat the Factory". During their performance, bassist Greg Demos fell while attempting a dance move. However, Demos was not seriously injured and the band continued to perform their song.  The band canceled what was to have been their first post-reunion show in the UK at the All Tomorrow's Parties 'I'll Be Your Mirror' festival at Alexandra Palace, London, in May 2012 as well as a planned appearance at the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona. The band's management denied reports that the cancellations were due to them splitting up again and confirmed they were still working on new material.  The band released a second post-reformation LP, "Class Clown Spots a UFO", on June 12, 2012. Generally regarded by fans as the best of the latter-years' albums, it marked a return in tenor and quality to this line-up's mid-90s heyday. A third, "The Bears for Lunch", followed in November. GBV began touring again in September 2012 with a 13 show "Tour of the South", starting in Dayton, Ohio, on September 8, 2012, which included gigs in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and stops in North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, New Orleans, Texas (Houston and Austin), Missouri and Kansas, with the final show on September 29, 2012, in St. Louis. Another album, "English Little League", was released in 2013.  In a July 2013 interview with "Magnet" magaziine, Pollard stated that "English Little League" could be the final GBV album. However, in September, a fifth reunion record, "Motivational Jumpsuit", was confirmed for release on Guided By Voices Inc. and Fire Records in February 2014. A sixth reunion album, "Cool Planet", was released on May 13, 2014.  On September 18, 2014, GBV abruptly released a statement on Facebook that they had once again disbanded. Remaining tour dates were canceled.

Second reunion (2016–present).

In February 2016, the official Guided By Voices Facebook page announced that GBV has been announced to headline the Sled Island Festival on June 25 and that a "strikingly fresh Guided By Voices album in the works," on which Pollard plays all the instruments. Pollard subsequently confirmed the new lineup for the band which would include returning drummer Kevin March along with newcomers guitarist Bobby Bare, Jr., guitarist Nick Mitchell and bassist Mark Shue.  For a show on July 16, 2016, guitarist Nick Mitchell was replaced by former member Doug Gillard. Gillard subsequently rejoined Guided by Voices permanently later that month.  On January 25, 2017, the band announced their first double album "August by Cake" for release on April 7, 2017 and released a new song, "Hiking Skin." The album will also be Robert Pollard's 100th album. On March 10, the band premiered another new song from the upcoming album "Dr. Feelgood Falls Off the Ocean".  On June 22, 2017, Guided by Voices announced another new album for 2017, titled "How Do You Spell Heaven", which was released on August 11. The band also released a new single from the upcoming album "Just to Show You".  On December 8 of the same year, the band announced another album to be released the following March entitled "Space Gun", and released the title track as a single.  In 2018, Guided by Voices announced the future release of the double album "Zeppelin Over China" and "Warp and Woof" for 2019. They also made their 7" single, "You Own the Night" available for pre-order containing singles from both albums. On October 25, 2019, the band released their album "Sweating the Plague".

Band members.

Current  Former  Timeline

Guided by Voices (GBV) is an American indie rock band formed in 1983 in Dayton, Ohio. It has made frequent personnel changes but always maintained the presence of principal songwriter Robert Pollard. The most well-known lineup of the band consisted of Pollard (lead vocals), his brother Jim (guitar, bass), Mitch Mitchell (lead guitars), Tobin Sprout (vocals, rhythm guitars), Kevin Fennell (drums), and bassist Greg Demos. Noted at first for their lo-fi aesthetic and typically Portastudio four-tracks-to-cassette production methods, Guided by Voices' music was influenced by early post–British Invasion garage rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, punk rock and post-punk. Due to their prolific output, releasing 30 full-length albums along with many other releases, they have garnered a dedicated cult following with songs that are in the two-minute range, with many which are even shorter. Their songs are also known for ending abruptly or intertwining with odd and homemade sound effects.

Guided by Voices (abgekürzt GbV) ist eine Independent-Band um Robert Pollard aus Dayton, Ohio, USA. Die Band gilt als einer der Pioniere des Lo-Fi.


Biography.

Of him practically nothing personal is known but his name, the fact that he was a cleric, and that he wrote his poem around 1130. According to the poet's own statement, the model for his poem was a French poem on Alexander the Great by Albéric de Besançon. Only a portion of the beginning of the French original, 105 verses in all, is preserved (discovered and published by Paul Heyse, Berlin, 1856). The poem contained a fabulous account of the life and deeds of the great Macedonian conqueror as it was current in Greek and Latin versions of the early Middle Ages, such as the Greek romance of pseudo-Callisthenes, dating from the third century A.D., the Latin translation of Julius Valerius, the epitome thereof, and especially the free Latin version made by the Neapolitan archpresbyter Leo in the tenth century, known as the "Historia de preliis".  A comparison of Lamprecht's opening lines with the fragment preserved of the French original shows that he followed his source with tolerable fidelity, adding, however, occasional moralizing comments or remarks of a learned nature. Altogether there are 7302 verses in short rhymed couplets, the rhyme being very imperfect.  Besides Albéric's poem, which, as far as we know it, is based on Valerius, Lamprecht used also the "Historia de preliis" and an "Iter ad paradisum", especially in the narration of the marvels seen by Alexander in the Far East, and in the account of the hero's journey to Paradise. There admittance is refused him, and he is made to realize the emptiness of earthly glory. Thus the close of the poem is distinctly moralizing in tone; the career of the great conqueror is but an illustration of the dictum concerning the vanity of earthly things. The poem seems to have been written in Middle Rhenish territory about 1130, at a time, therefore, when the crusades had brought the East nearer to the Western world, and when stories of its marvels were sure to find an eager audience.

Manuscripts.

There are three manuscripts of Lamprecht's poem extant, one from Vorau which is not quite complete, one from Strasburg dating from 1187, which is about five times as extensive as the preceding, and lastly a version interpolated in the manuscript of a Basle chronicle. The relationship of the manuscripts to one another is in doubt. The Vorau manuscript is generally regarded as the oldest and most authentic; that of Strasburg as an amplified recension. The Basle manuscript is certainly late and inferior in value to the other two.

Editions.

The "Alexanderlied" with German translation was first edited by Heinrich Weismann (2 vols., Frankfurt, 1850); the best edition is by Karl Kinzel in "Germanistische Handbibliothek", ed. Zacher, VI (Halle, 1884). The Vorau manuscript was edited by Joseph Diemer in "Deutsche Gedichte des 11. und 12. Jahrhunderts" (Vienna, 1849), the Strasburg manuscript by Hans Ferdinand Massmann in "Deutsche Gedichte des 11. und 12. Jahrhunderts" (Quedlinburg, 1837), and the Basle manuscript by Richard Maria Werner (Stuttgart, 1882) in "Bibliothek des Literarischen Vereins in Stuttgart", CLIV. Selections were edited by Paul Hermann Eduard Piper in "Die Spielmannsdichtung", II, 2; in "Kürschners Deutsche National Litteratur", II, pp. 116–82. A modern German translation by Richard Eduard Ottmann appeared in "Hendels Bibliothek der Gesamtlitteratur" (Halle, 1898).

Lamprecht, surnamed Der Pfaffe (“The Priest”), was a German poet of the twelfth century. He is the author of the "Alexanderlied" (“Song of Alexander”), the first German epic composed on a French model.

Lamprecht genannt: "der Pfaffe", war ein mittelalterlicher Dichter von geistlichem Stande, der am Niederrhein in der ersten Hälfte des 12. Jahrhunderts lebte. Er war der Verfasser des "Alexanderlieds", welches er um 1150 dichtete. Als Entstehungsort kommen Köln und Regensburg in Frage. Das Gedicht beruht auf einem französischen Werk des Alberich von Besançon, von welchem wir aber nur ein Bruchstück des Anfangs besitzen. Das Werk vom Pfaffen kann als erster deutschsprachiger Roman gelten, es zählt zum Beginn der frühhöfischen Epik. Im Werk wird eine Verbindung zwischen altem und neuem Testament hergestellt (Typologie). Im Original ist es nicht erhalten geblieben. Weiterhin ist Lamprecht der Dichter einer fragmentarisch erhaltenen Tobiaslegende.


Algorithm.

This description assumes the ILP is a maximization problem.  The method solves the linear program without the integer constraint using the regular simplex algorithm. When an optimal solution is obtained, and this solution has a non-integer value for a variable that is supposed to be integer, a cutting plane algorithm may be used to find further linear constraints which are satisfied by all feasible integer points but violated by the current fractional solution. These inequalities may be added to the linear program, such that resolving it will yield a different solution which is hopefully "less fractional".  At this point, the branch and bound part of the algorithm is started. The problem is split into multiple (usually two) versions. The new linear programs are then solved using the simplex method and the process repeats. During the branch and bound process, non-integral solutions to LP relaxations serve as upper bounds and integral solutions serve as lower bounds. A node can be pruned if an upper bound is lower than an existing lower bound. Further, when solving the LP relaxations, additional cutting planes may be generated, which may be either "global cuts", i.e., valid for all feasible integer solutions, or "local cuts", meaning that they are satisfied by all solutions fulfilling the side constraints from the currently considered branch and bound subtree.  The algorithm is summarized below.

Pseudocode.

In C++-like pseudocode, this could be written: // ILP branch and cut solution pseudocode, assuming objective is to be maximized ILP_solution branch_and_cut_ILP(IntegerLinearProgram initial_problem) {  In the above pseudocode, the functions codice_1, codice_2 and codice_3 called as subroutines must be provided as applicable to the problem. For example, codice_2 could call the simplex algorithm. Branching strategies for codice_3 are discussed below.

Branching strategies.

An important step in the branch and cut algorithm is the branching step. At this step, there are a variety of branching heuristics that can be used. The branching strategies described below all involve what is called branching on a variable. Branching on a variable involves choosing a variable, formula_14, with a fractional value, formula_15, in the optimal solution to the current LP relaxation and then adding the constraints formula_16 and formula_17  There are also a large number of variations of these branching strategies, such as using strong branching early on when pseudo cost branching is relatively uninformative and then switching to pseudo cost branching later when there is enough branching history for pseudo cost to be informative.

Branch and cut is a method of combinatorial optimization for solving integer linear programs (ILPs), that is, linear programming (LP) problems where some or all the unknowns are restricted to integer values. Branch and cut involves running a branch and bound algorithm and using cutting planes to tighten the linear programming relaxations. Note that if cuts are only used to tighten the initial LP relaxation, the algorithm is called cut and branch.

Branch-and-Cut bzw. Verzweigung und Schnitt bezeichnet in der kombinatorischen Optimierung, einem Teilgebiet der diskreten Mathematik, ein Verfahren zur Lösung ganzzahliger linearer Optimierungsprobleme. Das Verfahren besteht aus der Kombination von Schnittebenenverfahren und Branch-and-Bound.


History.

Implicit cognition and measurement.

In 1995, social psychology researchers Anthony Greenwald and Mahzarin Banaji asserted that the idea of implicit and explicit memory can apply to social constructs as well. If memories that are not accessible to awareness can influence our actions, associations can also influence our attitudes and behavior. Thus, measures that tap into individual differences in associations of concepts should be developed. This would allow researchers to understand attitudes that cannot be measured through explicit self-report methods due to lack of awareness or social-desirability bias. In essence,the purpose of

Application and use.

A computer-based measure, the IAT requires that users rapidly categorize two target concepts with an attribute (e.g. the concepts "male" and "female" with the attribute "logical"), such that easier pairings (faster responses) are interpreted as more strongly associated in memory than difficult pairings (slower responses).  The IAT is thought to measure implicit attitudes: "introspectively unidentified (or inaccurately identified) traces of past experience that mediate favorable or unfavorable feeling, thought, or action toward social objects." In research, the IAT has been used to develop theories to understand implicit cognition (i.e. cognitive processes of which a person has no conscious awareness). These processes may include memory, perception, attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes. Because the IAT requires that users make a series of rapid judgments, researchers believe that IAT scores may also reflect attitudes which people are unwilling to reveal publicly. The IAT may allow researchers to get around the difficult problem of social-desirability bias and for that reason it has been used extensively to assess people's attitudes towards commonly stigmatized groups, such as African Americans and Individuals who identify as homosexual.

Procedure.

A typical IAT procedure involves a series of seven tasks. In the first task, an individual is asked to categorize stimuli into two categories. For example, a person might be presented with a computer screen on which the word "Black" appears in the top left-hand corner and the word "White" appears in the top right-hand corner. In the middle of the screen a word, such as a first name, that is typically associated with either the categories of "Black" or "White". For each word that appears in the middle of the screen, the person is asked to sort the word into the appropriate category by pressing the appropriate left-hand or right-hand key. On the second task, the person would complete a similar sorting procedure with an attribute of some kind. For example, the

Types.

Valence.

Valence IATs measure associations between concepts and positive or negative valence. They are generally interpreted as a preference for one category over another. For example, the Race IAT shows that more than 70% of individuals have an implicit preference for Whites over Blacks. On the other hand, only half of Black individuals prefer Blacks over Whites ("cf." the earlier "doll experiment" developed by psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark during the early civil rights era). Similarly, the Age IAT generally shows that most individuals have an

Stereotype.

Stereotype IATs measure associations between concepts that often reflect the strength to which a person holds a particular societal stereotype. For example, the Gender-Science IAT reveals that most people associate women more strongly with liberal arts and men more

Self-esteem.

The self-esteem IAT measures implicit self-esteem by pairing "self" and "other" words with words of positive and negative valence. Those who find it easier to pair

Brief.

The Brief IAT (BIAT) uses a similar procedure to the standard IAT but requires fewer classifications. It involves approximately four to six tasks rather than seven, only uses combined tasks (corresponding most closely to tasks 3, 4, 6, and 7 on the standard IAT), and has fewer repetitions. Additionally, it requires specification of a focal concept in

Child.

The Child IAT (Ch-IAT) allows for children as young as four years of age to take the IAT. Rather than words and pictures, the Ch-IAT uses sound and pictures. For example, positive

Theoretical interpretation.

According to Greenwald, the IAT provides a "window" into a level of mental operation that operates in unthinking (unconscious, automatic, implicit, impulsive, intuitive, etc.) fashion because associations operating without active thought (automatically) can help performance in one of the IAT's two "combined" tasks, while interfering with the other. Respondents to the IAT experience a higher (conscious, controlled, explicit, reflective, analytic, rational, etc.) level of mental operation, when they try to overcome the effects of the automatic associations. The IAT succeeds as a measure because the higher level fails to completely overcome the lower level.  The interpretation that the IAT provides a "window" to unconscious mental contents has been challenged by Hahn and colleagues, whose results indicated that people are highly accurate in predicting their own IAT scores for a variety of social groups.  De Houwer theorizes that the IAT is a measure of a response compatibility effect, in which participants first learn to associate positive and negative words and concepts with pressing specific keys on the keyboard. Later in the test, when participants are instructed to sort words and concepts that are both negative and positive with the same keyboard key, De Houwer argues that much of the latency and incorrect responses that result from this change are due to the increased cognitive complexity of the task, and not necessarily a reflection of implicit bias.  Brendl, Markman, and Messner have proposed a random walk model process to explain responses in the critical portions of the IAT. They theorize that test respondents base their responses on

Balanced-identity theory and design.

Heider's balance theory.

In 1958, Fritz Heider proposed the balance theory, which stated that a system of liking and disliking relationships is balanced if the product of the valence of all relationships within the system is positive. In the theory, there are concepts and associations. Concepts are persons, groups, or attributes; and among attribute concepts,

Balance–congruity principle.

When two unlinked or weakly linked nodes are linked to the same third node, the association between these two should strengthen. This is the principle of balance–congruity. The nodes in the principle of balance–congruity are equivalent

Balanced-identity research design.

In 2002, Greenwald and his colleagues introduced the balanced-identity design as a method to test correlational predictions of Heider's balance theory. The balanced identity design incorporated Heider's theory, the balance–congruity principle, and the assumption of centrality of self. The assumption of centrality of self is that in an associative knowledge structure, the self's centrality can be represented by its being associated with many other concepts that are themselves highly connected in the structure. The concepts in a typical balanced identity design are the self, a social group/object, and either a valence attribute or nonvalence attribute. There are thus five important associations possible in a typical

Typical results of balanced-identity research design with implicit measures.

A typical result of a balanced identity design usually shows that a group's identity is balanced, at least with implicit measures. According to a derivation of Heider's balance theory, since there are three concepts in a typical balanced identity design, the identity is balanced either when all three relations are positive or when one positive and two negative relations are

Comparison to findings with explicit reports.

Self-reporting is also usually used in a balanced identity design. Although self-reports don't necessarily reflect the predicted consistency patterns from Heider's theory, it is often used to compare with the results from the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Any discrepancies between the self-reports and the IAT results on the same association in a balanced identity design can be an indication of an experience of conflict. The above triad system of "me—male—being good at math" is a good example. For female subjects, whereas the Implicit Association Test (IAT) typically shows a stronger positive association of "male" and "being good at math," the explicit self-reporting usually shows a weaker positive association or even a

Limitations.

The IAT has been widely used as a measure for the balanced identity design because data obtained with this method revealed that predicted consistency patterns from Heider's theory were strongly apparent in the data for implicit measures by IAT but not in those for parallel explicit measures by self-report. The general explanation for why explicit measures by self-report did not reflect the predicted consistency patterns from Heider's theory was

Criticism and controversy.

The IAT has engendered some controversy in both the scientific literature and in the public sphere (e.g. in the "Wall Street Journal"). For example, it has been interpreted as assessing familiarity, perceptual salience asymmetries, or mere cultural knowledge irrespective of personal endorsement of that knowledge. A more recent critique argued that there is a lack of empirical research justifying the diagnostic statements that are given to the lay public. For instance, feedback may report that someone has a [slight/moderate/strong] automatic preference for [European Americans/African Americans]. Proponents of the IAT have responded to these charges, but the debate continues. According to an article in "The New York Times", "there isn't even that much consistency in the same person's scores if the test is taken again". In addition, researchers have recently claimed that results of the IAT might be biased by the participant's lacking cognitive capability to adjust to switching categories, thus biasing results in favor of the first category pairing (e.g. pairing "Asian" with positive stimuli first, instead of pairing "Asian" with negative stimuli first).  According to Jesse Singal, some of these issues have been settled in the research literature, but others continue to inspire debate among researchers and lay people alike.

Validity research.

Since its introduction into the scientific literature in 1998, a great deal of research has been conducted in order to examine the psychometric properties of the IAT as well as to address other criticisms on validity and reliability.

Construct validity.

The IAT is purported to measure relative strength of associations. However, some researchers have asserted that the IAT may instead be measuring constructs such as salience of attributes or cultural knowledge.

Internal validity.

In popular culture.

After establishing the IAT in the scientific literature, Greenwald, along with Mahzarin Banaji (Professor of Psychology at Harvard University) and Brian Nosek (Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia), co-founded Project Implicit, a virtual laboratory and educational outreach organization that facilitates research on implicit cognition.  The IAT has been profiled in major media outlets (e.g. in the "Washington Post") and in the popular book "Blink," where it was suggested that one could score better on the implicit racism test by visualizing respected black leaders such as Nelson Mandela. The IAT was also discussed in a 2006 episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show".  In the episode "Racist Dawg" on "King of the Hill", Hank and Peggy take an IAT, colloquially referred to as the "racist test" to see if they prefer the company of white or black people.

The implicit-association test (IAT) is a measure within social psychology designed to detect the strength of a person's subconscious association between mental representations of objects (concepts) in memory. It is commonly applied to assess implicit stereotypes held by test subjects, such as unconsciously associating stereotypically black names with words consistent with black stereotypes. The test's format is highly versatile, and has been used to investigate biases in racial groups, gender, sexuality, age, and religion, as well as assessing self-esteem.

Der Implizite Assoziationstest (IAT) ist ein Messverfahren in der Sozialpsychologie. Er wird verwendet, um die Stärke der Assoziationen zwischen einzelnen Elementen des Gedächtnisses zu messen. Das implizite Verfahren geht auf Greenwald, McGhee und Schwartz (1998) zurück.


Early history.

The grounds of the Esalen Institute were first home to a Native American tribe known as the Esselen, from whom the institute adopted its name. Carbon dating tests of artifacts found on Esalen's property have indicated a human presence as early as 2600 BCE.  The location was homesteaded by Thomas Slate on September 9, 1882, when he filed a land patent under the Homestead Act of 1862. The settlement began known as Slates Hot Springs. It was the first tourist-oriented business in Big Sur, frequented by people seeking relief from physical ailments. In 1910, the land was purchased by Henry Murphy, a Salinas, California, physician. The official business name was "Big Sur Hot Springs" although it was more generally referred to as "Slate's Hot Springs".

Founding.

Stanford grads meet.

Michael Murphy and Dick Price both attended Stanford University in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Both had developed an interest in human psychology and earned degrees in the subject in 1952. Price was influenced by a lecture he heard Aldous Huxley give in 1960 titled "Human Potentialities". After graduating from Stanford, Price attended Harvard University to continue studying psychology. Murphy, meanwhile, traveled to Sri Aurobindo's ashram in India where he resided for several months before returning to San Francisco. They met in San Francisco at the suggestion of Frederic Spiegelberg, a Stanford professor of comparative religion and Indic studies, with whom both had studied. By then they had both dropped out of their graduate programs (Price at Harvard and Murphy at Stanford), and had served time in the military. Although they had not met until this point, their experiences were similar enough for them to begin their partnership creating Esalen.  After Price was hospitalized for eighteen months he was inspired to change the way people could experience a new way to live their life and experience new ideas and thoughts without judgment and influence from the outside world. He was inspired by his own interest in Buddhist practices and along with his own understanding of Taoism, he formed his teachings. He then took what Fritz Perls had taught him and created a process that is still taught and followed today. Today students all over the world follow the practices set up by Price in guidance, healing and the process and principles.

Lease property.

Price and Murphy wanted to create a venue where non-traditional workshops and lecturers could present their ideas free of the dogma associated with traditional education. The two began drawing up plans for a forum that would be open to ways of thinking beyond the constraints of mainstream academia while avoiding the dogma so often seen in groups organized around a single idea promoted by a charismatic leader. They envisioned offering a wide range of philosophies, religious disciplines and psychological techniques.  In 1961, they went to look at property owned by the Murphy family at Slates Hot Springs in Big Sur. It included a run-down hotel occupied in part by members of a Pentecostal church. The property was patrolled by gun-toting Hunter S. Thompson. Gay men from San Francisco filled the baths on the weekends.  Henry Murphy's widow and Michael's grandmother Vinnie "Bunnie" MacDonald Murphy, who owned the property, lived away in Salinas. She had previously refused to lease the property to anyone, even turning down an earlier request from Michael. She was afraid her grandson was going to "give the hotel to the Hindus," Murphy later said. Not long after, Thompson attempted to visit the baths with friends and got into a fistfight after antagonizing some of the gay men present. The men almost tossed him over the cliff. Murphy's father, a lawyer, finally persuaded his mother to allow her grandson to take over and she agreed to lease the property to them in 1962. The two men used capital that Price obtained from his father, who was a vice-president at Sears. They incorporated their business as a non-profit named Esalen Institute in 1963.

Develop counterculture workshops.

Murphy and Price were assisted by Spiegelberg, Watts, Huxley and his wife Laura, as well as by Gerald Heard and Gregory Bateson. They modeled the concept of Esalen partially upon Trabuco College, founded by Heard as a quasi-monastic experiment in the mountains east of Irvine, California, and later donated to the Vedanta Society. Their intent was to provide "a forum to bring together a wide variety of approaches to enhancement of the human potential... including experiential sessions involving encounter groups, sensory awakening, gestalt awareness training, related disciplines." They stated that they did not want to be viewed as a "cult" or a new church but that it was to be a center where people could explore the concepts that Price and Murphy were passionate about. The philosophy of Esalen lies in the idea that "the cosmos, the universe itself, the whole evolutionary unfoldment is what a lot of philosophers call slumbering spirit. The divine is incarnate in the world and is present in us and is trying to manifest," according to Murphy.  Alan Watts gave the first lecture at Esalen in January 1962. Gia-fu Feng joined Price and Murphy, along with Bob Breckenridge, Bob Nash, Alice and Jim Sellers, as the first Esalen staff members. In the middle of that same year Abraham Maslow, a prominent humanistic psychologist, just happened to drive into the grounds and soon became an important figure at the institute. In the fall of 1962, they published a catalog advertising workshops with such titles as "Individual and Cultural Definitions of Rationality," "The Expanding Vision" and "Drug-Induced Mysticism". Their first seminar series in the fall of 1962 was "The Human Potentiality," based on a lecture by Huxley.

Fritz Perls residency.

In 1964, Fritz Perls began what became a five-year long residency at Esalen, leaving a lasting influence. Perls offered many Gestalt therapy seminars at the institute until he left in July 1969. Jim Simkin and Perls led Gestalt training courses at Esalen. Simkin started a Gestalt training center on property next door that was later incorporated into Esalen's main campus.  When Perls left Esalen he considered it to be "in crisis again". He saw young people without any training leading encounter groups. And he feared that charlatans would take the lead. However, Grogan claims that Perls’ practice at Esalen had been ethically "questionable", and according to Kripal, Perls insulted Abraham Maslow.

Gestalt Practice developed.

Dick Price became one of Perls' closest students. Price managed the Institute and developed his own form he called Gestalt Practice, which he taught at Esalen until his death in a hiking accident in 1985. Michael Murphy lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and wrote non-fiction books about Esalen-related topics, as well as several novels.

Leads counterculture movement.

Esalen gained popularity quickly and started to regularly publish catalogs full of programs. The facility was large enough to run multiple programs simultaneously, so Esalen created numerous resident teacher positions. Murphy recruited Will Schutz, the well-known encounter group leader, to take up permanent residence at Esalen. All this combined to firmly position Esalen in the nexus of the counterculture of the 1960s.  The institute gained increased attention in 1966 when several magazines wrote about it. George Leonard published an article in "Look" magazine about the California scene which mentioned Esalen and included a picture of Murphy. "Time" magazine published an article about Esalen in September 1967. "The New York Times Magazine" published an article by Leo E. Litwak in late December. "Life" also published an article about the resort. These articles increased the media and the public's awareness of the institute in the U.S. and abroad. Esalen responded by holding large-scale conferences in Midwestern and East Coast cities, as well as in Europe. Esalen opened a satellite center in San Francisco that offered extensive programming until it closed in the mid-1970s for financial reasons.

Programs and management.

The institute continues to offer workshops about humanistic psychology, physical wellness, and spiritual awareness. The institute has also added workshops on permaculture and ecological sustainability. Other workshops cover a wide range of subjects including arts, health, Gestalt, integral thought, martial arts, massage, dance, mythology, philosophical inquiry, somatics, spiritual and religious studies, ecopsychology, wilderness experience, yoga, tai chi, mindfulness practice, and meditation. The institute was closed for the first half of 2017 and forced to drastically reduce staff. They also decided to revamp their offerings upon reopening to include topics more relevant to a younger generation.

Center for Theory and Research.

In 1998, Esalen launched the Center for Theory and Research to initiate new areas of practice and action which foster social change and realization of the human potential. It is the research and development arm of Esalen Institute., Michael Cornwall, who previously worked in the Institutes' Schizophrenia Research Project at Agnews State Hospital, was conducting workshops titled the "Alternative Views and Approaches to Psychosis Initiative" at Esalen. He was inviting leaders in the field of psychosis treatment to attend the workshops.

Management changes.

Esalen has been making changes to respond to internal and external factors. Dick Price was the key leader of the institute until his sudden death in a hiking accident in late 1985 brought about many changes in personnel and programming. Steven Donovan became president of the institute, and Brian Lyke served as general manager. Nancy Lunney became the director of programming, and Dick Price's son David Price served as general manager of Esalen beginning in the mid-1990s.  The baths were destroyed in 1998 by severe weather and were rebuilt at great expense, but this caused severe institutional stress. Afterward, Andy Nusbaum developed an economic plan to stabilize Esalen's finances.  In 2011, the Institute commissioned the company Beyond the Leading Edge to conduct a Leadership Culture Survey to assess the quality of its leadership culture. The results were negative. The survey measured how well the leadership "builds quality relationships, fosters teamwork, collaborates, develops people, involves people in decision making and planning, and demonstrates a high level of interpersonal skill." In the "relating dimension" the survey returned a score of 18%, compared to a desired 88%. It also produced strongly dissonant scores in measures of community welfare, relating with interpersonal intelligence, clearly communicating vision, and building a sense of personal worth within the community. It ranked management as overly compliant and lacking authenticity. However, the survey found that Esalen closely matched its overall goal for customer focus.  Gordon Wheeler dramatically restructured Esalen management. These changes prompted Christine Stewart Price, the widow of Dick Price, to withdraw from the institute, and found an organization named the Tribal Ground Circle with the intention to preserve Dick Price's legacy.

Early leaders and programs.

In the few years after its founding, many of the seminars like "The Value of Psychotic Experience" attempted to challenge the status quo. There were even Esalen programs that questioned the movement of which Esalen itself was a part—for instance, "Spiritual and Therapeutic Tyranny: The Willingness To Submit". There were also a series of encounter groups focused on racial prejudice.  Early leaders included many well-known individuals, including Ansel Adams, Gia-fu Feng, Buckminster Fuller, Timothy Leary, Robert Nadeau, Linus Pauling, Carl Rogers, Virginia Satir, B.F. Skinner, and Arnold Toynbee. Rather than merely lecturing, many leaders experimented with what Huxley called the non-verbal humanities: the education of the body, the senses, and the emotions. Their intention was to help individuals develop awareness of their present flow of experience, to express this fully and accurately, and to listen to feedback. These "experiential" workshops were particularly well attended and were influential in shaping Esalen's future course.

Staff residency.

Because of Esalen's isolated location, its operational staff members have lived on site from the beginning and for many years collectively contributed to the character of the institute. The community has been steeped in a form of Gestalt that pervades all aspects of daily life, including meeting structures, workplace practices, and individual language styles. There is a preschool on site called the Gazebo, serving the children of staff, some program participants, and affiliated local residents.

Scholars in residence.

Esalen has sponsored long-term resident scholars, including notable individuals such as Gregory Bateson, Joseph Campbell, Stanislav Grof, Sam Keen, George Leonard, Fritz Perls, Ida Rolf, Virginia Satir, William Schutz, and Alan Watts.

Esalen Massage and Bodywork Association.

Bodywork has always been a significant part of the Esalen experience. In the late 1990s, the "EMBA" was organized as a semi-autonomous Esalen association for the regulation of Esalen massage practitioners.

Past initiatives and projects.

Esalen Institute has sponsored many research initiatives, educational projects, and invitational conferences. The Big Sur facility has been used for these events, as well as other locations, including international sites.

Arts events.

In 1964, Joan Baez led a workshop entitled "The New Folk Music" which included a free performance. This was the first of seven "Big Sur Folk Festivals" featuring many of the era's music legends. The 1969 concert included musicians who had just come from the Woodstock Festival. This event was featured in a documentary movie, "Celebration at Big Sur", which was released in 1971.  John Cage and Robert Rauschenberg performed together at Esalen. Robert Bly, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, Michael McClure, Kenneth Rexroth (who led one of the first workshops), Gary Snyder and others held poetry readings and workshops.  In 1994, President and CEO Sharon Thom created an artist-in-residence program to provide artists with a two-week retreat in which to focus upon works in progress. These artists interacted with the staff, offered informal gatherings, and staged performances on the newly created dance platform. Located next to the Art Barn, the dance platform was used by Esalen teachers for dance and martial arts. The platform was later covered by a dome and renamed the Leonard Pavilion after deceased Esalen past president and board member, George Leonard.  In 1995 and 1996, Esalen hosted two arts festivals which gathered together artists, poets, musicians, photographers and performers, including artist Margot McLean, psychotherapist James Hillman, guitarist Michael Hedges and Joan Baez. All staff members were allowed to attend every class and performance that did not interfere with their schedules. Arts festivals have since become a popular yearly event at Esalen.

Schizophrenia Research Project.

Encouraged by Dick Price, the Schizophrenia Research Project was conducted over a three-year period at Agnews State Hospital in San Jose, California, involving 80 young males diagnosed with schizophrenia. Funded in part by Esalen Institute, this program was co-sponsored by the California Department of Mental Hygiene (reorganized: CMHSA) and the National Institute of Mental Health. It explored the thesis that the health of certain patients would permanently improve if their psychotic process was not interrupted by administration of antipsychotic pharmaceutical drugs. Julian Silverman was chief of research for the project. He also served as Esalen's general manager in the 1970s. The Agnews double blind study was the largest first-episode psychosis research project ever conducted in the United States. It demonstrated that the young men given a placebo had a 75 percent lower re-hospitalization rate and much better outcomes than the men who received anti-psychotic medication. These results were used as justification for medication-free programs in the San Francisco Bay Area. Esalen has recently begun to revive some of this interest in schizophrenia and psychosis, and hosted the R.D. Laing Symposium and workshops on compassionately responding to psychosis.

Publishing.

Starting in 1969, in association with Viking Press, the institute published a series of 17 books about Esalen-related topics, including the first edition of Michael Murphy's novel, "Golf in the Kingdom" (1971). Some of these books remain in print. In the mid-1980s, Esalen entered into a joint publishing arrangement with Lindisfarne Press to publish a small library of Russian philosophical and theological books.

Soviet–American Exchange Program.

In 1979, Esalen began the Soviet–American Exchange Program (later renamed: Track Two, an institute for citizen diplomacy). This initiative came at a time when Cold War tensions were at their peak. The program was credited with substantial success in fostering peaceful private exchanges between citizens of the "super powers". In the 1980s, Michael Murphy and his wife Dulce were instrumental in organizing the program with Soviet citizen Joseph Goldin, in order to provide a vehicle for citizen-to-citizen relations between Russians and Americans. In 1982, Esalen and Goldin pioneered the first U.S.–Soviet Space Bridge, allowing Soviet and American citizens to speak directly with one another via satellite communication. In 1988, Esalen brought Abel Aganbegyan, one of Mikhail Gorbachev's chief economic advisors, to the United States. In 1989, Esalen brought Boris Yeltsin on his first trip to the United States, although Yeltsin did not visit the Esalen facility in Big Sur. Esalen arranged meetings for Yeltsin with then President George H. W. Bush as well as many other leaders in business and government. Two former presidents of the exchange program included Jim Garrison and Jim Hickman. After Gorbachev stepped down, and effectively dissolved the Soviet Union, Garrison helped establish The State of the World Forum, with Gorbachev as its convening chairman. These successes led to other Esalen citizen diplomacy programs, including exchanges with China, an initiative to further understanding among Jews, Christians and Muslims, as well as further work on Russian-American relations.

Prices and finances.

2017 closure.

On February 12, 2017, a number of mud and land slides closed Highway 1 in several locations to the south and north of the hot springs and caused Esalen to partially shut down. On February 18, 2017, shifting earth damaged a pier supporting the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge north of Esalen and forced CalTrans to close Highway 1. CalTrans determined that the bridge was damaged beyond repair and announced an accelerated project to replace the bridge by September. Following closure of the bridge, Esalen was cut off, and resorted to evacuating dozens of guests by helicopter. A landslide at Mud Creek south of the hot springs severely restricted vehicle access to the resort, and Esalen temporarily closed its doors. Then, on May 20, 2017, a new slide at Mud Creek closed Highway 1 for at least a year.  On June 20, Eslalen announced that it would lay off 45 staff members through at least July, leaving only about 10 percent of its staff.  Esalen partially reopened on July 28, 2017, offering limited workshops. It plans to add more seminars after the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge reopens in September 2017.

Attendance and costs.

In 2012, 600 Esalen workshops were attended by more than 12,000 people. Topics ranged from sustainable business practices to hypnosis to "The Holy Fool: Crazy Wisdom From Van Gogh to Tina Fey and The Big Lebowski." , a weekend workshop, including the program, meals, and a place for a sleeping bag in a communal area, cost a minimum of $405 per person. A couple could rent a private room for $730 per person. Week-long workshops begin at $900 and couples are charged $1,700 per person to stay in a private room. In 2013, the Institute charges participants in its month-long, residential licensed massage practitioner training programs, $4910, including board and room. In 1987, a weekend workshop along with a single room and meals cost $270, and a five-day workshop cost $530.

Revenue and expenses.

In 2013, the Institute reported revenue of $18,513,254, $13,066,407 from programs, and after expenses of $13,515,552 a net income of $4,997,702. In that year it paid CEO Patricia McEntee $152,077 In 2014, it reported total revenue of $15,934,586, expenses totalling $14,472,201, and net income of $1,462,385. McEntee was paid $157,839.  The company spent nearly $10 million for renovations from 2014 to 2016, including $7.4 million to renovate the main lodge and add a cafe and bar. It also spent $1.8 million on a six-room guesthouse. There is only limited internet cellular service available, but Esalen is planning to make some of its workshops available to online participants.

Lease terms.

The annual cost of its 87-year lease for the 27 acre site from the Vinnie A. Murphy Trust—which extends through 2049—was $344,704 in 2014. McEntee told the "Monterey County Weekly" that the cost of the lease is highly discounted, and that the terms of the lease allow the trust to re-assess the lease terms in 2017. This could potentially increase the institute's rent to market value.

Past teachers.

Past guest teachers include:

In popular culture.

Cultural influence.

Esalen has been cited as having played a key role in the cultural transformations of the 1960s. In its beginnings as a "laboratory for new thought", it was seen by some as the headquarters of the human potential movement. Its use of encounter groups, a focus on the mind-body connection, and their ongoing experimentation in personal awareness introduced many ideas to American society that later became mainstream. In its early years, guest lecturers and workshop leaders included many leading thinkers, psychologists, and philosophers including Erik Erikson, Ken Kesey, Alan Watts, John Lilly, Buckminster Fuller, Aldous Huxley, Linus Pauling, Fritz Perl, Joseph Campbell, Robert Bly and Carl Rogers.  Esalen has also been the subject of some criticism and controversy. "The Economist" wrote, "For many others in America and around the world, Esalen stands more vaguely for that metaphorical point where ‘East meets West’ and is transformed into something uniquely and mystically American or New Agey. And for a great many others yet, Esalen is simply that notorious bagno-bordello where people had sex and got high throughout the 1960s and 1970s before coming home talking psychobabble and dangling crystals."  The Human Potential Movement was criticized for espousing an ethic that the inner-self should be freely expressed in order to reach a person's true potential. Some people saw this ethic as an aspect of Esalen's culture. The historian Christopher Lasch claimed that humanistic techniques encourage narcissistic, spiritual materialistic or self-obsessive thoughts and behaviors. In 1990 a graffiti artist spray painted "Jive shit for rich white folk" on the entrance to Esalen, highlighting class and race issues. Some thought that this was a regression of progress away from true spiritual growth. Michel Houellebecq's Atomised traces the New Age movement's influence on the novel's protagonists to older generations' chance meetings at Esalen.

Popular media.

Films.

In the comedy-drama "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" (1969), sophisticated Los Angeles residents Bob (played by Robert Culp) and Carol Sanders (Natalie Wood) spend a weekend of emotional honesty at an Esalen-style retreat, after which they return to their life determined to embrace free love and complete openness.  In the film "What About Bob?" (1991), Bill Murray's character mentions that he hasn't felt this good since Esalen, upon his arrival at his psychiatrist's vacation home.

Literature.

In Edward St Aubyn's comic novel "On the Edge" (1998), Esalen features prominently.  In Thomas Pynchon's novel "Inherent Vice" (2009) and Paul Thomas Anderson's eponymous 2014 film adaptation, the Chryskylodon Institute is modeled after Esalen.  In Norman Rush's novel "Mating" (1992), Esalen is referred to as a "twit factory."

Television.

The BBC television series, "The Century of the Self" (2002), is critical of the Human Potentials Movement and includes video segments recorded at Esalen.  The "Mad Men" show finale, "Person to Person" (airdate May 17, 2015), features Don and Stephanie staying at an Esalen-like coastline retreat in the year 1970.  In "True Detective" season 2, the Panticapaeum Institute is largely based on the Esalen Institute.  In "You" season 1, Beck's friends tell Joe that Peach had gone to "Esalen" and Beck to a writers' retreat.

Music.

On July 10, 1968 The Beatles guitarist George Harrison was given sitar lessons at Esalen by Ravi Shankar for the movie Raga (film).

The Esalen Institute, commonly called Esalen, is a non-profit American retreat center and intentional community in Big Sur, California, which focuses on humanistic alternative education. The Institute played a key role in the Human Potential Movement beginning in the 1960s. Its innovative use of encounter groups, a focus on the mind-body connection, and their ongoing experimentation in personal awareness introduced many ideas that later became mainstream.

Das Esalen-Institut ist ein seit 1962 bestehendes gemeinnütziges Zentrum für humanistisch ausgerichtete interdisziplinäre Studien und Kongresse in Big Sur, Kalifornien. An ihm lehrten und nahmen an Workshops und Kongressen eine Vielzahl von Persönlichkeiten des geistigen und kulturellen Lebens in den Vereinigten Staaten teil, etwa Joan Baez, Paul Tillich, Henry Miller, Fritz Perls, Carl Rogers, Timothy Leary, u. a. m. Gegründet wurde es von Michael Murphy und Dick Price. Bis heute finden jährlich etwa 500 Workshops statt, sowie erweiterte Studentenprogramme und Tagungen.