text:
Suprematism

Suprematism (супремати́зм) is an early twentieth-century art movement focused on the fundamentals of geometry (circles, squares, rectangles), painted in a limited range of colors. The term suprematism refers to an abstract art based upon "the supremacy of pure artistic feeling" rather than on visual depiction of objects.

Founded by Russian artist Kazimir Malevich in 1913, Supremus (Russian: Супремус) conceived of the artist as liberated from everything that predetermined the ideal structure of life and art. Projecting that vision onto Cubism, which Malevich admired for its ability to deconstruct art, and in the process change its reference points of art, he led a group of Russian avant-garde artists—including Aleksandra Ekster, Liubov Popova, Olga Rozanova, Ivan Kliun, Ivan Puni, Nadezhda Udaltsova, Nina Genke-Meller, Ksenia Boguslavskaya and others —in what's been described as the first attempt to independently found a Russian avant-garde movement, seceding from the trajectory of prior Russian art history.

To support the movement, Malevich established the journal Supremus (initially titled Nul or Nothing), which received contributions from artists and philosophers. The publication, however, never took off and its first issue was never distributed due to the Russian Revolution. The movement itself, however, was announced in Malevich's 1915 Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings 0,10, in St. Petersburg, where he, and several others in his group, exhibited 36 works in a similar style.

Birth of the movement
Kazimir Malevich developed the concept of Suprematism when he was already an established painter, having exhibited in the Donkey's Tail and the Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) exhibitions of 1912 with cubo-futurist works. The proliferation of new artistic forms in painting, poetry and theatre as well as a revival of interest in the traditional folk art of Russia provided a rich environment in which a Modernist culture was born.

In "Suprematism" (Part II of his book The Non-Objective World, which was published 1927 in Munich as Bauhaus Book No. 11), Malevich clearly stated the core concept of Suprematism: "Under Suprematism I understand the primacy of pure feeling in creative art. To the Suprematist, the visual phenomena of the objective world are, in themselves, meaningless; the significant thing is feeling, as such, quite apart from the environment in which it is called forth."

He created a suprematist "grammar" based on fundamental geometric forms; in particular, the square and the circle. In the 0.10 Exhibition in 1915, Malevich exhibited his early experiments in suprematist painting. The centerpiece of his show was the Black Square, placed in what is called the red/beautiful corner in Russian Orthodox tradition; the place of the main icon in a house. "Black Square" was painted in 1915 and was presented as a breakthrough in his career and in art in general. Malevich also painted White on White which was also heralded as a milestone. White on White marked a shift from polychrome to monochrome Suprematism.

Distinct from Constructivism
Malevich's Suprematism is fundamentally opposed to the postrevolutionary positions of Constructivism and materialism. Constructivism, with its cult of the object, is concerned with utilitarian strategies of adapting art to the principles of functional organization. Under Constructivism, the traditional easel painter is transformed into the artist-as-engineer in charge of organizing life in all of its aspects.

Suprematism, in sharp contrast to Constructivism, embodies a profoundly anti-materialist, anti-utilitarian philosophy. In "Suprematism" (Part II of The Non-Objective World), Malevich writes:

"Art no longer cares to serve the state and religion, it no longer wishes to illustrate the history of manners, it wants to have nothing further to do with the object, as such, and believes that it can exist, in and for itself, without 'things' (that is, the 'time-tested well-spring of life')."

Jean-Claude Marcadé has observed that "Despite superficial similarities between Constructivism and Suprematism, the two movements are nevertheless antagonists and it is very important to distinguish between them." According to Marcadé, confusion has arisen because several artists—either directly associated with Suprematism such as El Lissitzky or working under the suprematist influence as did Rodchenko and Lyubov Popova—later abandoned Suprematism for the culture of materials.

Suprematism does not embrace a humanist philosophy which places man at the center of the universe. Rather, Suprematism envisions man—the artist—as both originator and transmitter of what for Malevich is the world's only true reality—that of absolute non-objectivity.

"...a blissful sense of liberating non-objectivity drew me forth into a 'desert', where nothing is real except feeling..."

For Malevich, it is upon the foundations of absolute non-objectivity that the future of the universe will be built - a future in which appearances, objects, comfort, and convenience no longer dominate.

Influences on the movement
Malevich also credited the birth of Suprematism to Victory Over the Sun, Kruchenykh's Futurist opera production for which he designed the sets and costumes in 1913. The aim of the artists involved was to break with the usual theater of the past and to use a "clear, pure, logical Russian language". Malevich put this to practice by creating costumes from simple materials and thereby took advantage of geometric shapes. Flashing headlights illuminated the figures in such a way that alternating hands, legs or heads disappeared into the darkness. The stage curtain was a black square. One of the drawings for the backcloth shows a black square divided diagonally into a black and a white triangle. Because of the simplicity of these basic forms they were able to signify a new beginning.

Another important influence on Malevich were the ideas of the Russian mystic, philosopher, and disciple of Georges Gurdjieff, P. D. Ouspensky, who wrote of "a fourth dimension or a Fourth Way beyond the three to which our ordinary senses have access".

Some of the titles to paintings in 1915 express the concept of a non-Euclidean geometry which imagined forms in movement, or through time; titles such as: Two dimensional painted masses in the state of movement. These give some indications towards an understanding of the Suprematic compositions produced between 1915 and 1918.

The Supremus journal
The Supremus group, which in addition to Malevich included Aleksandra Ekster, Olga Rozanova, Nadezhda Udaltsova, Ivan Kliun, Lyubov Popova, Lazar Khidekel, Nikolai Suetin, Ilya Chashnik, Nina Genke-Meller, Ivan Puni and Ksenia Boguslavskaya, met from 1915 onwards to discuss the philosophy of Suprematism and its development into other areas of intellectual life. The products of these discussions were to be documented in a monthly publication called Supremus, titled to reflect the art movement it championed, that would include painting, music, decorative art, and literature. Malevich conceived of the journal as the contextual foundation in which he could base his art, and originally planned to call the journal Nul. In a letter to a colleague, he explained:

"We are planning to put out a journal and have begun to discuss the how and what of it. Since in it we intend to reduce everything to zero, we have decided to call it Nul. Afterward we ourselves will go beyond zero."

Malevich conceived of the journal as a space for experimentation that would test his theory of nonobjective art. The group of artists wrote several articles for the initial publication, including the essays "The Mouth of the Earth and the Artist" (Malevich), "On the Old and the New in Music" (Matiushin), "Cubism, Futurism, Suprematism" (Rozanova), "Architecture as a Slap in the Face to Ferroconcrete" (Malevich), and "The Declaration of the Word as Such" (Kruchenykh). However, despite a year spent planning and writing articles for the journal, the first issue of Supremus was never published.

El Lissitzky: Bridge to the West
The most important artist who took the art form and ideas developed by Malevich and popularized them abroad was the painter El Lissitzky. Lissitzky worked intensively with Suprematism particularly in the years 1919 to 1923. He was deeply impressed by Malevich's Suprematist works as he saw it as the theoretical and visual equivalent of the social upheavals taking place in Russia at the time. Suprematism, with its radicalism, was to him the creative equivalent of an entirely new form of society. Lissitzky transferred Malevich's approach to his Proun constructions, which he himself described as "the station where one changes from painting to architecture". The Proun designs, however, were also an artistic break from Suprematism; the Black Square by Malevich was the end point of a rigorous thought process that required new structural design work to follow. Lissitzky saw this new beginning in his Proun constructions, where the term "Proun" (Pro Unovis) symbolized its Suprematist origins.

Lissitzky exhibited in Berlin in 1923 at the Hanover and Dresden showrooms of Non-Objective Art. During this trip to the West, El Lissitzky was in close contact with Theo van Doesburg, forming a bridge between Suprematism and De Stijl and the Bauhaus.

Architecture
Lazar Khidekel (1904–1986), Suprematist artist and visionary architect, was the only Suprematist architect who emerged from the Malevich circle. Khidekel started his study in architecture in Vitebsk art school under El Lissitzky in 1919–20. He was instrumental in the transition from planar Suprematism to volumetric Suprematism, creating axonometric projections (The Aero-club: Horizontal architecton, 1922–23), making three-dimensional models, such as the architectons, designing  objects (model of an "Ashtray", 1922–23), and producing  the first Suprematist architectural project (The Workers' Club, 1926). In the mid-1920s, he began his journey into the realm of visionary architecture. Directly inspired by Suprematism and its notion of an organic form-creation continuum, he explored new philosophical, scientific  and technological futuristic approaches, and proposed  innovative solutions for the creation of new urban environments, where people would live in harmony with nature and would be protected from man-made and natural disasters (his still topical proposal for flood protection – the City on the Water, 1925).

Nikolai Suetin used Suprematist motifs on works at the Imperial Porcelain Factory, Saint Petersburg where Malevich and Chashnik were also employed, and Malevich designed a Suprematist teapot. The Suprematists also made architectural models in the 1920s, which offered a different conception of socialist buildings to those developed in Constructivist architecture.

Malevich's architectural projects were known after 1922 Arkhitektoniki. Designs emphasized the right angle, with similarities to De Stijl and Le Corbusier, and were justified with an ideological connection to communist governance and equality for all. Another part of the formalism was low regard for triangles which were "dismissed as ancient, pagan, or Christian".

The first Suprematist architectural project was created by Lazar Khidekel in 1926. In the mid-1920s to 1932 Lazar Khidekel also created a series of futuristic projects such as Aero-City, Garden-City, and City Over Water.

In the 21st century, architect Zaha Hadid had 'a particular interest [in] the Russian avant-garde, and the movement known as Constructivism,' and 'as part of their work on the Russian avant-garde, Hadid's unit studied Suprematism, the abstract movement founded by the painter Kazimir Malevich.'.

Social context
This development in artistic expression came about when Russia was in a revolutionary state, ideas were in ferment, and the old order was being swept away. As the new order became established, and Stalinism took hold from 1924 on, the state began limiting the freedom of artists. From the late 1920s the Russian avant-garde experienced direct and harsh criticism from the authorities and in 1934 the doctrine of Socialist Realism became official policy, and prohibited abstraction and divergence of artistic expression. Malevich nevertheless retained his main conception. In his self-portrait of 1933 he represented himself in a traditional way—the only way permitted by Stalinist cultural policy—but signed the picture with a tiny black-over-white square.

Historic exhibitions

 * Exhibition of Modern Decorative Art at Lemercier Gallery, Moscow, 1915
 * The Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings 0.10 at Galerie Dobychina, Petrograd, 1915
 * First Russian Art Exhibition at Galerie Van Diemen, Berlin, 1922
 * First State Exhibition of Local and Moscow Artists, Vitebsk, 1919
 * Exhibition of Paintings by Petrograd Artists of All Trends, 1918–1923, Petrograd, 1923

Retrospective exhibitions

 * The Great Utopia: The Russian and Soviet Avant-Garde, 1915-1932 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1992
 * Malevich's Circle. Confederates. Students. Followers in Russia 1920s-1950s at The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, 2000
 * Kazimir Malevich: Suprematism at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2003
 * Zaha Hadid and Suprematism at Galerie Gmurzynska, Zürich, 2010
 * Lazar Khidekel: Surviving Suprematism at Judah L. Magnes Museum, Berkeley CA, 2004-2005
 * Lazar Markovich Khidekel – the Rediscovered Suprematist at House Konstruktiv, Zurich, 2010-2011
 * Kazimir Malevich and the Russian Avant-Garde at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 2013
 * Malevich: Revolutionary of Russian Art at the Tate Modern, London, 2014
 * Floating Worlds and Future Cities. Genius of Lazar Khidekel, Suprematism and Russian Avant-garde. NYC, 2013

Artists associated with Suprematism

 * Kazimir Malevich
 * El Lissitzky
 * Ilya Chashnik
 * Lazar Khidekel
 * Alexandra Exter
 * Lyubov Popova
 * Sergei Senkin

References and sources

 * References

 * Sources
 * Kasimir Malevich, The Non-Objective World. English translation by Howard Dearstyne from the German translation of 1927 by A. von Riesen from Malevich's original Russian manuscript, Paul Theobald and Company, Chicago, 1959.
 * Camilla Gray, The Russian Experiment in Art, Thames and Hudson, 1976.
 * Mel Gooding, Abstract Art, Tate Publishing, 2001.
 * Jean-Claude Marcadé, "What is Suprematism?", from the exhibition catalogue, Kasimir Malewitsch zum 100. Geburtstag, Galerie Gmurzynska, Cologne, 1978.

title: Suprematism


text:
Multichannel marketing

Multichannel marketing is the blending of different distribution and promotional channels for the purpose of marketing. Distribution channels include a retail storefront, a website, or a mail-order catalogue.

Multichannel marketing is about choice. The objective of the companies doing the marketing is to make it easy for a consumer to buy from them in whatever way is most appropriate.

To be effective, multichannel marketing needs to be supported by good supply chain management systems, so that the details and prices of goods on offer are consistent across the different channels. It might also be supported by a detailed analysis of the return on investment from each different channel, measured in terms of customer response and conversion of sales. The contribution each channel delivers to sales can be assessed via Marketing Mix Modeling or attribution modelling. Some companies target certain channels at different demographic segments of the market or at different socio-economic groups of consumers.

Multichannel marketing allows the retail merchant to reach its prospective or current customer through a channel of his/ her liking.

Coordination of online and offline channels
Companies that sell branded products and services through local businesses market through both online and offline channels to local audiences. Online and offline multichannel marketing campaigns can either inform one another or be executed in isolation. A proportion of companies use their online marketing efforts to inform their offline advertising (i.e. they test keywords online to understand if they fit with customer intent before printing them in offline ads).

Comparison with traditional forms of marketing
While multichannel marketing focuses primarily on new media platforms in marketing, traditional approaches use old media such as print sources, telemarketing, direct mail and broadcasting stations such as radio and television. Multichannel marketing does not only use web 2.0 forms but also integrates media convergence models, targeting customer interaction through different platforms such as via text messaging, on a website, email, online video campaigns, GPS to track the location of a customer and their proximity to the product or service. Being able to reach out to customers directly is an important marketing strategy because it is convenient and enhances direct customer interaction.

Benefits
Some of the long term benefits of this style of marketing include:
 * Better management of results and sales: Using many communicative platforms to reach the audience increases the chances of receiving feedback from a variety of customers on the overall performance. This feedback gives companies an idea of what the customer wants and what they can improve upon
 * Higher revenues: The more diverse platforms used in trying to reach customers, the more the potential customers are likely to reach out to purchase goods and services. If the company advertises its brand only on the [internet], it will be very hard to capture the attention of potential customers who do not use the internet regularly and rely on other mediums such as the [television] for example.
 * Better understanding of customers: By the response from customers, it is easier to understand what they expect from a product or service and how a brand can be improved. To satisfy the needs of a niche, it is necessary to identify the channels and platforms which work for a certain group.
 * Increased brand visibility and reach: About 36% of shoppers search products on one channel but purchase the product through a different channel.
 * Optimize media spend: Data retrieval and centralization enables companies to better target consumer segments and provide them with more effective marketing campaigns therefore optimizing media spend. ref url = https://digital.hec.ca/en/digital-and-omni-channel-marketing/

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Multichannel marketing


text:
Theo van Doesburg

Theo van Doesburg (30 August 1883 – 7 March 1931) was a Dutch artist, who practiced painting, writing, poetry and architecture. He is best known as the founder and leader of De Stijl. He married three times.

Personal life
Theo van Doesburg was born Christian Emil Marie Küpper on 30 August 1883, in Utrecht, Netherlands, as the son of the photographer Wilhelm Küpper and Henrietta Catherina Margadant. After a short period of training in acting and singing, he decided to become a storekeeper. He always regarded his stepfather, Theodorus Doesburg, to be his natural father, so that his first works are signed with Theo Doesburg, to which he later added "van".

Van Doesburg married three times: on 4 May 1910 to theosophist, poet and writer Agnita Henrica Feis; on 30 May 1917 to accountant Helena 'Lena' Milius; and on 24 November 1928 to artist, pianist and choreographer Petronella 'Nelly' Johanna van Moorsel.

Career
His first exhibition was in 1908. From 1912 onwards, he supported his works by writing for magazines. He considered himself to be a modern painter, at that time, although his early work is in line with the Amsterdam Impressionists and is influenced by Vincent van Gogh, both in style and subject matter. This suddenly changed in 1913 after reading Wassily Kandinsky's Rückblicke, in which he looks back at his life as a painter from 1903 to 1913. It made him realize there was a higher, more spiritual level in painting that originates from the mind rather than from everyday life, and that abstraction is the only logical outcome of this. It was already in 1912 that Van Doesburg was criticizing Futurism in an art article in Eenheid no. 127, on 9 November 1912, because "The mimetic expression of velocity (whatever its form may be: the aeroplane, the automobile, and so on) is diametrically opposed to the character of painting, the supreme origin of which is to be found in inner life". On 6 November 1915, he wrote in the same journal: "Mondrian realizes the importance of line. The line has almost become a work of art in itself; one can not play with it when the representation of objects perceived was all-important. The white canvas is almost solemn. Each superfluous line, each wrongly placed line, any color placed without veneration or care, can spoil everything—that is, the spiritual".

The De Stijl movement
It was while reviewing an exhibition for one of these magazines he wrote for, in 1915 (halfway through his two-year service in the army), that he came in contact with the works of Piet Mondrian, who was eight years older than he was, and had by then already gained some attention with his paintings. Van Doesburg saw in these paintings his ideal in painting: a complete abstraction of reality. Soon after the exhibition Van Doesburg got in contact with Mondrian, and together with related artists Bart van der Leck, Antony Kok, Vilmos Huszár and Jacobus Oud they founded the magazine De Stijl in 1917.

Promoting De Stijl
Although De Stijl was made up of many members, Van Doesburg was the "ambassador" of the movement, promoting it across Europe. He moved to Weimar in 1922, deciding to make an impression on the Bauhaus principal, Walter Gropius, to spread the influence of the movement.

While Gropius accepted many of the precepts of contemporary art movements he did not feel that Doesburg should become a Bauhaus master. Doesburg then installed himself near to the Bauhaus buildings and started to attract school students interested in the new ideas of Constructivism, Dadaism, and De Stijl.

The split with Mondrian

The friendship between Van Doesburg and Mondrian remained strong in these years, although their primary means of communication was by letter. In 1923 Van Doesburg moved to Paris, together with his later wife Nelly van Moorsel. Because the two men got to see each other on a much more regular basis the differences in character became apparent: Mondrian was an introvert, while van Doesburg was more flamboyant and extravagant. During 1924 the two men had disagreements, which eventually led to a temporary split that year. The exact reason for the split has been a point of contention among art historians; usually the divergent ideas about the directions of the lines in the paintings have been named as the primary reason: Mondrian never accepted diagonals, whereas Doesburg insisted on the dynamic aspects of the diagonal, and indeed featured it in his art. Mondrian accepted some concepts of diagonals, such as in his "Lozenge" paintings, where the canvas was rotated 45 degrees, while still maintaining horizontal lines. In recent years, however, this theory has been challenged by art historians such as Carel Blotkamp, who cites the artist's different concepts about space and time. After the split, Van Doesburg launched a new concept for his art, Elementarism, which was characterized by the diagonal lines and which rivaled Mondrian's Neo-Plasticism.

In 1929 the two men reconciled when they accidentally met in a café in Paris.

Architecture, design, and typography

Van Doesburg had other activities apart from painting and promoting De Stijl: he made efforts in architecture, designing houses for artists, together with Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Hans Arp he designed the decoration for the Aubette entertainment complex in Strasbourg. Together with El Lissitzky and Kurt Schwitters, Van Doesburg pioneered the efforts to an International of Arts in two congresses held in Düsseldorf and Weimar, in 1922. A geometrically constructed alphabet Van Doesburg designed in 1919 has been revived in digital form as Architype Van Doesburg. This typeface anticipates similar later experimentation by Kurt Schwitters in his typeface Architype Schwitters. In the mid-1920s, Van Doesburg worked together with Schwitters and the artist Kate Steinitz to produce a series of children's fairy-tale books that featured unusual typography, including Hahnepeter (Peter the Rooster, 1924), Die Märchen vom Paradies (The Fairy Tales of Paradise, 1924–25), and Die Scheuche (The Scarecrow, 1925).

Van Doesburg also kept a link with Dada, publishing the magazine Mécano under the heteronym of I. K. Bonset (possibly derived from "Ik ben zot", Dutch for "I am foolish"). He also published Dada poetry under the same name in De Stijl. Under a second pseudonym, Aldo Camini, he published anti-philosophical prose, inspired by the Italian representative of Metaphysical art, Carlo Carrà. In these works of literature, he heavily opposed individualism (and thus against the movement of the Tachtigers, realism, and psychological thinking). He sought for a collective experience of reality. His conception of intensity had much in common with Paul van Ostaijen's conception of dynamiek. He wanted to strip words of their former meaning, and give them a new meaning and power of expression. By doing this, he tried to evoke a new reality, instead of describing it.

Last years
Van Doesburg stayed active in art groups and the magazine Cercle et Carré, which he left in 1929. "The plan to produce a magazine had been broached some time before. It is clear from the correspondence that in the spring of 1928 Van Doesburg made the first designs for the layout of the periodical. He wrote to Joaquín Torres-García on 28 May 1929 : I will prepare the blueprint fo nouveau plan." Art Concret, which he co-founded in 1929, and Abstraction-Création, which he co-founded in 1931. At the end of February 1931 he was forced to move to Davos in Switzerland because of his declining health. Van Doesburg did not recuperate: on 7 March 1931, he died of a heart attack. After his death Nelly van Doesburg released the last issue of De Stijl in January 1932, as a memorial issue, with contributions by old and new members from De Stijl.

Influence
Van Doesburg's work has had significant influence, including that dealing with issues of crossover art, design and architecture. For example, his Space-time construction #3 (1923) was a key work in the Miller Company Collection of Abstract Art's Painting toward architecture exhibition (1947–52, 28 venues). From that time, the work was influential to the practice of noted architect Harry Seidler. In 1992, he acquired the artwork, which was donated to the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra in 2010. In a travelling, international exhibition on Seidler's work, Van Doesburg's Space time-construction #3 was shown as a key influence.

Publications

 * Baljeu, Joost (1974). Theo van Doesburg. London: Studio Vista. ISBN 0-289-70358-1.
 * Hoek, Els; Blokhuis, Marleen; Goovaerts, Ingrid; Kamphuys, Natalie; et al. (2000). Theo van Doesburg: Oeuvre Catalogus. Utrecht: Centraal Museum. ISBN 90-6868-255-5.
 * Overy, Paul (1969). De Stijl. Studio Vista. ISBN 0-289-79622-9.
 * White, Michael (2003). De Stijl and Dutch modernism. Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-6162-8.
 * Faassen, Sjoerd van en Hans Renders (2022), Ik sta helemaal alleen. Theo van Doesburg 1883-1931. Amsterdam, De Bezige Bij. ISBN 9789403134314.

title: Theo van Doesburg


text:
Crowley's Ridge

Crowley's Ridge (also Crowleys Ridge) is a geological formation that rises 250 to 550 ft above the alluvial plain of the Mississippi embayment in a 150 mi line from southeastern Missouri to the Mississippi River near Helena, Arkansas. It is the most prominent feature in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain between Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and the Gulf of Mexico.

This narrow rolling hill region rising above the flat plain is the sixth, and smallest, natural division of the state of Arkansas. The southern part is protected within Ozark–St. Francis National Forest.

Most of the major cities of the Arkansas Delta region lie along Crowley's Ridge. It was named after Benjamin Crowley, known as the first American settler to reach the area, sometime around 1820. The Civil War Battle of Chalk Bluff was fought on Crowley's Ridge on May 1–2, 1863.

Composition and origin
The ridge is primarily composed of the windblown glacially derived sediment known as loess. It contrasts greatly with the flat table land around it and with the black soil that makes up the delta. The ridge varies from half a mile to 12 mi wide and reaches an elevation of 550 ft near its northern extremity. The highest point on the ridge in Arkansas is "Legacy Mountain" at the Craighead County solid waste site south of Jonesboro.

Prevailing winds blow dust into the river fogs. The fog wetted dust tends to fall and make loess deposits on the downwind sides of rivers, such as the east and north sides of the Mississippi River, as well as the east side of the Black River. These loess deposits are a classic example of periglacial loess. Crowley's Ridge is a natural loess accumulation point. A comparable example of this type of deposit is the Loess Hills in northwestern Missouri and western Iowa.

At one time, the ridge was thought to have been an island between the Mississippi River and Ohio River that was isolated as a long low hilly ridge after the rivers changed course millions of years ago. Recent seismic evidence, however, questions the fluvial origin by focusing on uplift along ridge bounding faults.

There is evidence that the area's elevation has increased over the years, suggesting that uplift is still taking place. This alternative explanation posits a link between the ridge and the nearby New Madrid Seismic Zone.

Soils and vegetation
The flora and fauna of the ridge seem more closely related to the Tennessee hills to the east than to the Ozark Mountains to the west. This unique habitat has been protected by the establishment of several state and city parks, the St. Francis National Forest, recreational lakes, and in 1997 a national scenic byway, the Crowley's Ridge Parkway.

The soils in this area are moderately fertile and sometimes rich. The land is moderately rugged, discouraging row-crop agriculture. These soils are easily eroded. There is some commercial agriculture in the loessal plains area of the ridge. The ridge is surrounded by the fertile lands of the delta region. The vegetation is predominantly oak and hickory forests, similar to vegetation found in the Appalachian Mountains. Examples are the tulip tree (or yellow poplar) and the American beech. Ferns and flowers abound here, including the American bellflower, fire pink, butterfly weed, cardinal flower, blue lobelia, phlox, verbena, wild hydrangea, hibiscus, aster, and yellow jasmine. The low-lying areas around the ridge were once much swampier, and the ridge provided a natural and more healthful place for settlers to establish homes. The ridge became a natural north-south communications link for the region, since travel along the ridge was much easier than through the swampy lowlands.

Fossils
The region adjacent to the ridge is covered with thick deltaic soils, and few fossils are found except in gravel pits. These pits sometimes reveal the teeth of large mastodons, mammoths and horses, which roamed the continent as recently as 10,000 years ago. Crowley's Ridge contains important exposures of fossiliferous Tertiary sediments and contains the only documented Miocene exposures in the state. A silicified conifer stump weighing several tons was unearthed near Wittsburg, and many more were found around Piggott. Mastodon bones were found within the city limits of Helena at the southern end of the ridge. Near Forrest City, in the bed of Crow Creek, a deposit of oyster shells estimated to be nearly 7,000,000 cubic yards in size was discovered.

Namesake
Crowley's Ridge is named after Benjamin Crowley (1758–1842), the first American settler of the Ridge near Paragould, Arkansas. Crowley is buried in the Shiloh Cemetery in Greene County, Arkansas, and a monument marks the spot. The cemetery is part of Crowley's Ridge State Park. Next to Crowley's grave, other early settlers of the ridge are buried in unmarked graves.

Crowley's Ridge Nature Center
The Forrest L. Wood Crowley’s Ridge Nature Center in Jonesboro, Arkansas features self-guided exhibits about area's topography and natural history and wildlife of Crowley’s Ridge. Operated by the Arkansas Fish and Game Commission (AGFC) and opened in 2004, the Center includes an exhibit area, discovery room, observation tower, meeting rooms, auditorium, and gift shop. Outside there are trails through wetlands, forest and prairie, and a 1/4 mile universally accessible trail and boardwalk around a pond. The Center offers many activities and nature education programs. It is named after Forrest L. Wood, a former commissioner and supporter of the AGFC.

title: Crowley's Ridge


text:
People's Commissariat for Education

The People's Commissariat for Education (or Narkompros; Народный комиссариат просвещения, Наркомпрос, directly translated as the "People's Commissariat for Enlightenment") was the Soviet agency charged with the administration of public education and most other issues related to culture. In 1946, it was transformed into the Ministry of Education. Its first head was Anatoly Lunacharsky. However he described Nadezhda Krupskaya as the "soul of Narkompros". Mikhail Pokrovsky, Dmitry Leshchenko and Evgraf Litkens also played important roles. Lunacharsky protected most of the avant-garde artists such as Vladimir Mayakovsky, Kazimir Malevich, Vladimir Tatlin and Vsevolod Meyerhold. Despite his efforts, the official policy after Joseph Stalin put him in disgrace.

Narkompros had seventeen sections, in addition to the main ones related to general education, e.g., Some of these evolved into separate entities, others discontinued.
 * Likbez, a section for liquidation of illiteracy,
 * "Profobr", a section for professional education,
 * Glavlit, a section for literature and publishing (also in charge of censorship in publishing),
 * "Glavrepertkom" (Главрепертком), a commission for approval of performers' repertoires.
 * Department of the Mobilisation of Scientific Forces, to which the Russian Academy of Sciences reported after 1918.
 * TEO, the Theatre Department which published Vestnik Teatra
 * Vneshkol'nyi Otdel, the adult Education Department run by Krupskaya
 * "Glavpolitprosvet", in charge of political education out of school

Relationship with Proletkult
Pavel Lebedev-Polianskii, as chair of the Organizing Bureau for the National Proletkult argued that Narkompros, as a state organ, had responsibilities for the whole of society, whereas Proletkult asserted its autonomy as an organisation set up specifically for workers class. However, there was concern with "parallelism" - the situation which arose when similar work was carried out in parallel by different organisations. In early 1918 Narkompros gave Proletkult a budget of over 9,200,000 rubles, whereas the entire Adult Education Division received 32,500,000 rubles.

Izo-Narkompros
The Izo-Narkompros (Изо-наркомпрос), or the section of visual arts (отдел изобразительных искусств) created on 29 January 1918. It consisted of two parts: the collegium (deliberative organ) and the section proper (executive organ). The first collegium was headed by Vladimir Tatlin and included  Kasimir Malevich, Ilya Mashkov, Nadezhda Udaltsova, Olga Rozanova,  Alexander Rodchenko, Wassily Kandinsky. It was subdivided into a number of subsections.

Lunacharsky directed some of the great experiments in public arts after the Revolution such as the agit-trains and agit-boats, that circulated over all Russia spreading Revolution and revolutionary arts. He also gave support to Constructivism's theatrical experiments and the initiatives such as the ROSTA Windows, revolutionary posters designed and written by Mayakovsky, Rodchenko, and others.

Izo-Narkompros also published Iskusstvo kommuny (Art of the Commune) of which 19 issues appeared between 7 December 1918 and April 1919.

Film industry
Lenin saw film as the most important medium for educating the masses in the ways, means and successes of communism. As a consequence Lenin issued the "Directives on the Film Business" on 17 January 1922, which instructed the Narkompros to systemise the film business, registering and numbering all films shown in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, extracting rent from all privately owned cinemas and subject them to censorship.

title: People's Commissariat for Education


text:
Test of English as a Foreign Language

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL ) is a standardized test to measure the English language ability of non-native speakers wishing to enroll in English-speaking universities. The test is accepted by more than 11,000 universities and other institutions in over 190 countries and territories. TOEFL is one of several major English-language tests worldwide, including IELTS, Duolingo English Test, Cambridge Assessment English, and Trinity College London exams.

TOEFL is a trademark of the Educational Testing Service (ETS), a private non-profit organization, which designs and administers the tests. ETS issues official score reports which are sent independently to institutions and are valid for two years following the test.

History
In 1962, a national council made up of representatives of thirty government and private organizations was formed to address the problem of ensuring English language proficiency for non-native speakers wishing to study at U.S. universities. This council recommended the development and administration of the TOEFL exam for the 1963–1965 timings.

The test was initially developed at the Center for Applied Linguistics under the direction of Stanford University applied linguistics professor Charles A. Ferguson.

The TOEFL test was first administered in 1964 by the Modern Language Association financed by grants from the Ford Foundation and Danforth Foundation.

In 1965, The College Board and ETS jointly assumed responsibility for continuing the TOEFL testing program.

In 1973, a cooperative arrangement was made between ETS, The College Board, and the Graduate Record Examinations board of advisers to oversee and run the program. ETS was to administer the exam with the guidance of the TOEFL board.

To the present day, college admission criteria for international students who are nationals of some of the Commonwealth nations exempt them from taking the TOEFL exam. Nations that are part of the English-speaking world (from most Commonwealth realms to former British colonies e.g., Hong Kong SAR or former/protectorates of the United States (Philippines, Puerto Rico), where English is the de facto official language, automatically grant a TOEFL exemption with some restrictions (e.g., residents of Quebec are required to take TOEFL while the rest of Canada is exempt – also inclusive of Commonwealth nations where English is not an official language e.g., Mozambique or Namibia (English is co-official but spoken by 3% of the population)). However, this does not apply to some Commonwealth nations outside the Anglosphere, due to the IELTS, such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc., even though they may have English as the de facto official language.

Internet-based test
The TOEFL Internet-based test (iBT) measures all four academic English skills: reading, listening, speaking, and writing. Since its introduction in late 2005, the Internet-based Test format has progressively replaced computer-based tests (CBT) and paper-based tests (PBT), although paper-based testing is still used in select areas. The TOEFL iBT test has been introduced in phases, with the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and Italy in 2005 and the rest of the world in 2006, with test centers added regularly. It is offered weekly at authorized test centers. The CBT was discontinued in September 2006 and these scores are no longer valid.

Initially, the demand for test seats was higher than availability, and candidates had to wait for months. It is now possible to take the test within one to four weeks in most countries. Now, people who wish to take the test create an account on the official website to find the closest place. In the past this test lasted 4 hours, today people can choose to take the test for around 3 hours.

The test consists of four sections, each measuring one of the basic language skills (while some tasks require integrating multiple skills), and all tasks focus on the language used in an academic, higher-education environment. Note-taking is allowed during the TOEFL iBT test. The test cannot be taken more than once every 3 days, starting from September 2019.

 * 1) Reading
 * The Reading section consists of questions on 3–4 passages, each approximately 700 words in length and with 10 questions. The passages are on academic topics; they are the kind of material that might be found in an undergraduate university textbook. Passages require an understanding of rhetorical functions such as cause-effect, compare-contrast, and argumentation. Students answer questions about main ideas, details, inferences, essential information, sentence insertion, vocabulary, rhetorical purpose, and overall ideas. New types of questions in the TOEFL iBT test require filling out tables or completing summaries. Prior knowledge of the subject under discussion is not necessary to come to the correct answer.
 * 1) Listening
 * The Listening section consists of questions on 2–3 conversations with 5 questions each and 3–4 lectures with 6 questions each. Each conversation is 2.5–3 minutes and lectures are 4.5–5.5 minutes in length. The conversations involve a student and either a professor or a campus service provider. The lectures are a self-contained portion of an academic lecture, which may involve student participation and do not assume specialized background knowledge in the subject area. Each conversation and lecture passage is heard only once. Test-takers may take notes while they listen and they may refer to their notes when they answer the questions. The listening questions are meant to measure the ability to understand main ideas, important details, implications, relationships between ideas, organization of information, speaker purpose, and speaker attitude.
 * 1) Speaking
 * The Speaking section consists of 4 tasks: 1 independent (Task 1) and 3 integrated (Task 2, 3, 4). In task 1, test-takers answer opinion questions on familiar topics. They are evaluated on their ability to speak spontaneously and convey their ideas clearly and coherently. In tasks 2 and 4, test-takers read a short passage, listen to an academic course lecture or a conversation about campus life, and answer a question by combining appropriate information from the text and the talk. In task 3, test-takers listen to an academic course lecture and then respond to a question about what they heard. In the integrated tasks, test-takers are evaluated on their ability to appropriately synthesize and effectively convey information from the reading and listening material. Test-takers may take notes as they read and listen and may use their notes to help prepare their responses. Test-takers are given a short preparation time before they have to begin speaking. The responses are digitally recorded, sent to ETS's Online Scoring Network (OSN), and evaluated by three to six raters.
 * 1) Writing
 * The Writing section measures a test taker's ability to write in an academic setting and consists of two tasks: one integrated and one independent. In the integrated task, test-takers read a passage on an academic topic and then listen to a speaker discuss it. The test-taker then writes a summary of the important points in the listening passage and explains how these relate to the key points of the reading passage. In the independent task, the test-taker must write an essay that states their opinion or choice, and then explain it, rather than simply listing personal preferences or choices. Responses are sent to the ETS OSN and evaluated by at least 3 different raters.

One of the sections of the test will include extra, uncounted material. Educational Testing Service includes extra material to pilot test questions for future test forms. When test-takers are given a longer section, they should give equal effort to all of the questions because they do not know which question will count and which will be considered extra. For example, if there are four reading passages instead of three, then one of the passages will not be counted. Any of the four could be the uncounted one.

Home edition
The TOEFL iBT Home Edition is essentially the same test as the TOEFL iBT. However, it is taken at home while a human proctor watches through a web camera (usually built-in to most laptops) and via sharing of the computer screen. The popularity of the Home Edition has grown during the COVID-19 pandemic as it has been the only option during lockdowns. Many students experience technical or security problems during the Home Edition tests. The ETS browser used to administer the test has been unreliable in many cases. Students who have their exams interrupted are not likely to get a refund or the chance to reschedule for a new test as the ETS has technical problems that are hard to document and the processing of a complaint is slow due to the popularity of the Home Edition and the number of complaints. If the test runs smoothly, the results are accepted by most companies and universities that accept the TOEFL iBT standard edition.

Paper-delivered test
The TOEFL paper-delivered test is an official test for use where the internet test is unavailable, usually due to internet & computer issues.

It consists of the Listening, Reading, and Writing sections, with scores that are on the same scale as the Internet-Based Test. There is no total score. Not all centers have the possibility of delivering this type of test, so it will generally be necessary to reschedule the day of the test for another available day.

Paper-based test
The TOEFL paper-based test (PBT) was still available in limited areas until 2017 when it was replaced by the paper-delivered test. Scores are valid for two years after the test date, and test takers can have their scores sent to institutions or face time.

 * 1) Listening (30 – 40 minutes)
 * The Listening section consists of 3 parts. The first one contains 30 questions about short conversations. The second part has 8 questions about longer conversations. The last part asks 12 questions about lectures or talks. Harder questions are worth two scores.
 * 1) Structure and Written Expression (25 minutes)
 * The Structure and Written Expression section has 15 exercises for completing sentences correctly and 25 exercises for identifying errors. Harder questions are worth two scores.
 * 1) Reading Comprehension (55 minutes)
 * The Reading Comprehension section has 50 questions about reading passages. Harder questions are worth two scores.
 * 1) Writing (30 minutes)
 * The TOEFL PBT administrations include a writing test called the Test of Written English (TWE). This is one essay question with 250–300 words on average.

Accommodations
There are three different categories of accommodations that can be utilized for TOEFL test takers. Some of these accommodations are available for all students and some are only available for those with certain disabilities. If the accommodation the student requires is not available then requests can be made through the Testing Accommodations Request Form. For questions, ETS provides Disability Services that can be contacted.

 * 1) Technical Accommodations
 * 2) * Screen Magnification
 * 3) * Selectable background and foreground
 * 4) * Kensington Trackball mouse
 * 5) * IntelliKeys keyboard
 * 6) * Ergonomic Keyboard
 * 7) * Keyboard with touchpad
 * 8) Specialized Assistance
 * 9) * Sign language interpreter for spoken directions only
 * 10) * Oral interpreter for spoken directions only
 * 11) * Oral interpreter for the Listening section only
 * 12) * Writer/recorder of answers
 * 13) * Test reader
 * 14) Adaptive Accommodations
 * 15) * Audio version of the test
 * 16) * Reader's script version of the test
 * 17) * Braille test (in contracted or uncontracted Braille)
 * 18) * Braille test with reader's script
 * 19) * Large-print version of the test
 * 20) * Regular print version of the test
 * 21) * Listening section omitted
 * 22) * Speaking section omitted
 * 23) * Extended testing time
 * 24) * Additional rest breaks
 * 25) * Transcripts of audio elements in Speaking and Writing sections.

TOEFL iBT test

 * The TOEFL iBT test is scored on a scale of 0 to 120 points.
 * Each of the four sections (Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing) receives a scaled score from 0 to 30. The scaled scores from the four sections are added together to determine the total score.
 * The reading and listening sections are tested first, followed by a ten-minute break. The speaking and writing sections are then completed following the break. A maximum amount of 203 minutes is allowed to complete the whole exam process.
 * Each speaking question is initially given a raw score of 0 to 4, with a 1-point increment, and each writing question is initially given a raw score of 0.0 to 5.0, with a 0.5-point increment. These scores are converted to scaled scores of 0 to 30.

Paper-based test (PBT)

 * The final PBT score ranges between 0 and 677 and is based on three subscores: Listening (0–68), Structure (0–68), and Reading (0–67). The minimum possible score is 310, which corresponds to 31 scores for each section. Unlike the CBT, the score of the Writing component (referred to as the Test of Written English, TWE) is not part of the final score; instead, it is reported separately on a scale of 0–6.
 * The score test takers receive on the Listening, Structure, and Reading parts of the TOEFL test is not the percentage of correct answers. The score is converted to take into account the fact that some tests are more difficult than others. The converted scores correct these differences. Therefore, the converted score is a more accurate reflection of the ability than the raw score.

The TOEFL PBT was discontinued at the end of May 2017. Official testing in areas without internet or computers now uses the TOEFL PDT.

Accepted TOEFL scores
Most colleges use TOEFL scores as only one factor in their admission process, with a college or program within a college often setting a minimum TOEFL score required. The minimum TOEFL iBT scores range from 64 (Conservatorium van Amsterdam) to 110 (University of Oxford).

ETS has released tables to convert between iBT, CBT, and PBT scores.

TOEFL ITP tests
TOEFL ITP ("ITP" stands for "Institutional Testing Program") tests are paper-based and use academic content to evaluate the English-language proficiency of non-native English speakers. The tests use new and previously administered TOEFL test questions and are used for placement, progress, evaluation, exit testing, and other situations. The test scores, format, and content of the test match the "TOEFL PBT", with the exception of not including the TWE (Test of Written Expression).

Unlike the TOEFL iBT and PBT tests, TOEFL ITP tests are administered by the institution and for internal use. It should not replace the need for the TOEFL iBT test, which is administered securely and includes Speaking and Writing components. There are two levels of TOEFL ITP: Level 1 (intermediate to advanced) and Level 2 (high beginning to intermediate). TOEFL ITP scores are mapped to the CEFR and test takers are provided with a certificate of achievement.

TOEFL Junior tests
ETS also offers the TOEFL Junior tests, a general assessment of middle school-level English-language proficiency. It is intended for students aged 11+. The tests are administered in two formats: TOEFL Junior Standard (on paper) and TOEFL Junior Comprehensive (via computer). The TOEFL Junior Standard test has three sections: Reading Comprehension, Listening Comprehension, and Language Form and Meaning. The TOEFL Junior Comprehensive test has four: Reading Comprehension, Listening Comprehension, Speaking, and Writing. TOEFL Junior scores are mapped to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and test takers are provided with a certificate of achievement.

The test is scored on a scale of 0 to 300 on each section, added up to determine the total score (0–900). The minimum passing score is 600, corresponding to 200 scores for each section.

TOEFL Primary test
The TOEFL family of tests has also created the TOEFL Primary test. It is designed for students between the ages of eight and eleven. The test is divided into 3 sections: reading and listening – step 1, reading and listening – step 2, and speaking. Depending on the fluency of students' English, they will be expected to take either the step 1 or step 2 test. Students are expected to take two of the three sections, depending on their communicative skills in English. They will take either the step 1 or step 2 test. The reading and listening tests can be done on paper or digitally, but the speaking test is only available digitally.

While the other TOEFL test scores are valid for two years, this test is only valid for one. This is because of how quickly children grow in their communicative abilities.

Scores for these tests range from 101–115 for the reading and listening, and 1–27 for the speaking portion.

Linking TOEFL iBT score ranges to other scores
Note: the above comparison scores are provided by ETS, the company that creates the TOEFL tests. Other charts show different ranges.

TOEFL iBT Score Compared to IELTS*

 * Note: the above comparison scores are provided by ETS, the company that creates the TOEFL tests.

 * Note: the above comparison scores are provided by Duolingo, the company that creates the DET test.

Notes and references

 * "Test and Score Summary for TOEFL Internet Based Test: September 2005 – December 2006 Test Data", Educational Testing Service, 2007

title: Test of English as a Foreign Language


text:
Patrick Michaels

Patrick J. Michaels (February 15, 1950 – July 15, 2022) was an American agricultural climatologist. Michaels was a senior fellow in environmental studies at the Cato Institute until 2019. Until 2007, he was research professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia, where he had worked from 1980.

Starting in 1991, he collaborated with Fred Singer to attack the scientific consensus on ozone depletion. He joined the Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank. He described policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as "Obamunism".

He wrote a number of books and papers denying or minimizing climate change.

Early life
Born in Berwyn, Illinois, Michaels obtained an A.B. in biological science in 1971 and an S.M. in biology in 1975 from the University of Chicago, and in 1979 he obtained his Ph.D. in ecological climatology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His doctoral thesis was titled Atmospheric anomalies and crop yields in North America.

In 1991 and 1992, Michaels collaborated with Fred Singer in writing articles for the Washington Times rejecting the scientific consensus on ozone depletion. He advanced arguments on the subject as late as 2000.

Views on climate change
Michaels said that he does not contest the basic scientific principles behind greenhouse warming and acknowledges that the global mean temperature has increased in recent decades. He is quoted as being skeptical of global warming, and was described by Michael E. Mann as a "prominent climate change contrarian". He contends that the changes will be minor, not catastrophic, and may even be beneficial.

A 2002 article published in the journal Climate Research by Michaels and three other scholars predicted "a warming range of 1.3–3.0°C, with a central value of 1.9°C" over the 1990 to 2100 period, although he remarked that the "temperature range and central values determined in our study may be too great". He made the argument that the climate feedback system involving current warming trends was weaker than generally asserted, coming to a conclusion that set his views apart from that of the IPCC's estimates.

In 2009, Michaels authored a Cato report arguing that "Congress should pass no legislation restricting emissions of carbon dioxide, repeal current ethanol mandates, and inform the public about how little climate change would be prevented by proposed legislation."

In 2018, Michaels asserted on Fox News, "[P]robably about half, maybe half of that nine-tenths of the degree [of total warming] might be caused by greenhouse gases." Climate Feedback, a fact-checking website for media coverage on climate change, wrote of Michaels' assertion, "No evidence or research is provided to support this claim, which contradicts the published scientific literature."

Expert witness for Western Fuels Association
In May 1994 Richard Lindzen, Michaels, and Robert Balling served as expert witnesses on behalf of Western Fuels Association in St. Paul, Minnesota to determine the environmental cost of coal burning by state power plants. Western Fuels Association is a consortium of coal producers that uses collective advocacy to represent industry interests.

World Climate Report, Greening Earth Society, and Western Fuels Association
The World Climate Report, a newsletter edited by Michaels was first published by the Greening Earth Society. The society was a public relations organization associated with the Western Fuels Association (WFA), an association of coal-burning utility companies. It has been called a "front group created by the coal industry" and an "industry front". Fred Palmer, a society staffer, is a registered lobbyist for Peabody Energy, a coal company. WFA founded the group in 1997, according to an archived version of its website, "as a vehicle for advocacy on climate change, the environmental impact of CO2, and fossil fuel use."

2003 John Holdren
Office of Science and Technology Policy director, John Holdren, told the U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee in June 2003, "Michaels is another of the handful of U.S. climate-change contrarians … He has published little if anything of distinction in the professional literature, being noted rather for his shrill op-ed pieces and indiscriminate denunciations of virtually every finding of mainstream climate science." In 2009 Michaels responded in a Washington Examiner op-ed, saying that the IPCC had subverted the peer review process, and adding the IPCC had "left out plenty of peer-reviewed science that it found inconveniently disagreeable."

IPCC
Michaels was one of hundreds of US reviewers composing the International Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group in 2007.

Although the Greening Earth Society was generally skeptical of the impact of climate change, it acknowledged some degree of global warming as real: "Fact #1. The rate of global warming during the past several decades has been about 0.18°C per decade". Note that the actual increase in the global surface temperature during the 100 years ending in 2005 was 0.74 ± 0.18 °C.

Climate scientist Tom Wigley, a lead author of parts of the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has stated that "Michaels' statements on the subject of computer models are a catalog of misrepresentation and misinterpretation … Many of the supposedly factual statements made in Michaels' testimony are either inaccurate or are seriously misleading."

Funding from energy or fossil fuel companies
In 2006, a Colorado energy cooperative, the Intermountain Rural Electric Association, had given Michaels $100,000. An Associated Press report said that the donations had been made after Michaels had "told Western business leaders ... that he was running out of money for his analyses of other scientists' global warming research" and noted that the cooperative had a vested interest in opposing mandatory carbon dioxide caps, a situation that raised conflict of interest concerns.

Michaels said on CNN that 40 percent of his funding came from the oil industry. According to Fred Pearce, fossil fuel companies have helped fund Michaels' projects, including his World Climate Report, published every year since 1994, and his "advocacy science consulting firm", New Hope Environmental Services.

A 2005 article published by the Seattle Times reported that Michaels had received more than $165,000 in fuel-industry funding, including money from the coal industry, to publish his own climate journal.

Death
Michaels died on July 15, 2022, in Washington, D.C. at age 72. He leaves behind a wife Rachel Schwartz Michaels (m-2016 - 2022)

Selected publications
His writing has been published in major scientific journals, including Climate Research, Climatic Change, Geophysical Research Letters, Journal of Climate, Nature, and Science, as well as in popular serials such as the Washington Post, Washington Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Houston Chronicle, and Journal of Commerce. He was an author of the climate "paper of the year" awarded by the Association of American Geographers in 2004.

Science papers and technical comments

 * "Revised 21st century temperature projections", Patrick J. Michaels, Paul C. Knappenberger, Oliver W. Frauenfeld and Robert E. Davis, Climate Research, Vol. 23: 1–9, 2002.
 * "Revised 21st century temperature projections", Patrick J. Michaels, Paul C. Knappenberger, Oliver W. Frauenfeld and Robert E. Davis, Climate Research, Vol. 23: 1–9, 2002.
 * "Revised 21st century temperature projections", Patrick J. Michaels, Paul C. Knappenberger, Oliver W. Frauenfeld and Robert E. Davis, Climate Research, Vol. 23: 1–9, 2002.
 * "Revised 21st century temperature projections", Patrick J. Michaels, Paul C. Knappenberger, Oliver W. Frauenfeld and Robert E. Davis, Climate Research, Vol. 23: 1–9, 2002.

title: Patrick Michaels


text:
Talk:Test of English as a Foreign Language

iBT writing
wha? toefl writing has 6 questions? i thought it was 2 tasks and 2 questions. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.48.35.177 (talk) 09:01, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Question?
Is the TOEFL score necesary If I'm a foreigner who want to study in a US college or high school?

The TOEFL is not necessary if your a foreigner who wants to study in a US college or high school. You can go to high school, but you may not do so well in English class, as for college, you may need it for some colleges, while other colleges don't demand you really need it. Thecutnut (talk) 17:27, 19 March 2008 (UTC) when i was ypung i hope to be an actress then i change my mind and think about being a good teacher —Preceding unhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Talk:TOEFL&returntoquery=action%3Deditsigned comment added by 188.161.182.121 (talk) 17:53, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

iBT Score
Is there a scale for the iBT? if so, it should be mentioned. Sdudah 23:29, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Grades?!
I know a score of 500 on a paper based TOEFL test is equivalent to a score of 173 on a computer based test, but what is their equivalent on the internet based test?

500 can't equal to 173 on the computer based test i took (from a confused child).
 * someone please help answer the question. i just took a computer test and the test is out of 120 points.

Common usage vs. acronym
Which name do you want (TOEFL or spelled out)? Angela and I have differing opinoins on this. One is that we should use the abbreviated version, as that is what most people remember and call the test in common usage. The other opinion is that it acronyms should be spelled out. We'll keep it with the common usage for now, as that's how it started, but feedback's appreciated. --zandperl 04:37, 23 Oct 2003 (UTC)

 * I think the abreviation should be used as it is what people are familiar with. Chocolateluvr88 00:18, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

my heart goes out for acronyms BaiduryaBhatta (talk) 17:38, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

TOEIC
Somebody, please discuss TOEIC and edit the page.--Jondel 02:11, 27 May 2004 (UTC)

TOEIC is in WIKIPEDIA now. So is TSE...needs more info though. I teach an ESL spoken english course. I have watched a couple hundred kids take the TOEFL. It seemed pretty difficult to me. Huge room, trying to listen to two speakers and comprehend. It was difficult to hear and the audio was spoken quickly. I think its a pretty difficult test on the listening side. The reading comprehension is fairly technical, very small print, 10 pt maybe smaller in the booklet. And the text is fairly long and dry. These kids took the test late in the afternoon after a long day of work....they were nodding off in the heat. Very difficult to cheat--its a multiple choice with bubble answer sheet. I think they must have done alot of guessing though. I hope the grades are scaled...that may be the only way young ESLers can pass! Yaddy 02:39, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

TOEFL iBT
I'm concerned about the portion taken to mention about the iBT in this article. Most of you should have realized that the CBT and PBT would be completely replaced by TOEFL iBT in foreseeable future. I wonder if it would be a good idea to include additional information about the iBT... (or at least make some changes to the page) well it seemed to me that the CBT has taken up the entire page shown in IE on a 1024 x 768 pixels screen. In contrast, the iBT merely takes up 3 lines. Kylehung 04:21, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

 * I agree; the section about iBT needs to be expanded. I'll work on it this week, or you can help if you want to. — ElTchanggo 05:26, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
 * It's been a very long week. —ElTchanggo 00:30, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Well, what information would you like about the ibt TOEFL? I'm the test center manager for the biggest test center in Germany, I could add some info. Most of the info is accessible over the toefl.org website and the bulletin "ibt TOEFL at a Glance" though. --Grendelshitsuren 10:01, 25 July 2006 (UTC)
 * I finally did some work, essentially summarizing and paraphrasing info from the official website. --ElTchanggo 07:15, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Thanks E1Tchanggo I believe this will be a good kick-off. I'll see what I can do to help. Kylehung 05:18, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

Recommended Score
What is the recommended score for the Ivy league? I may consider taking it again, I need to beat 114/120, because last time, I got a 91/120, what score do I need to get into Ivy league? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thecutnut (talk • contribs) 17:30, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

Scores may be valid for more than 2 years
When you take the test, you get a certificate. Many institutions will accept your certificate, even if it was issued more than two years ago. This was the standard procedure some years ago, but some false certificates appeared. Then ETS decided to inform the institutions directly, but only during the first two years after the test. The test is valid for two years only for the institutions that ask ETS for your score. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Osoriosp (talk • contribs) 23:02, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

 * So I pay them more than 200 $ and I don't even get a certificate? What a rip-off! -- Seelefant (talk) 22:11, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

Edit War Discussion
In an effort to avoid an edit war of the Study Places link addition in the "Accepted TOEFL Scores" section of the article, let's talk about why the link keeps getting removed (by myself and other editors) and why it keeps getting added (by unnamed editors from IP address accounts). Here are the reasons I see that this link is not needed and was removed:

 * There is already a WP:RS reference that supports the point in question.
 * The link being repeatedly added is not to the official ETS TOEFL site, but to a third-party site. I do not see the need to go to a third party site here when the information is already sourced, and frankly, this appears to be commercially motivated.

I'd love to hear the argument for the other side, and hopefully we can come to a consensus on whether the link is appropriate or not. Thanks! Transmissionelement (talk) 16:36, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

 * I appreciate the reversion of your edit. Part of the question is, even if it isn't commercial, is this needed here when there is also a .edu reference for the exact same item? Plus, the Study Places link redirects the user to a third party site, so why would Study Places be needed at all? Seems that if it was a warranted link, it should go directly to the third party location. No offense intended, but something seems off here. Transmissionelement (talk) 18:53, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

How-to
After reading over this article, some sections (Registration especially) are written like a how-to guide. As such, I have tagged this page for clean-up. Hopefully somebody can take the time to do this. Crisco 1492 (talk) 06:43, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

 * Hello Crisco, I had assumed that a bot had raised the, "instructions, advice, or how-to" notice, but I now see that you raised it. I read the article to find out what TOEFL was all about and found it informative and relatively easy to read. The "Registration" section which you judged to be the worst offender seems to have gone. Although the article still has a fair amount of detail, I found it all useful and interesting. For my money too much info is better than not enough anyway.

 * In view of all this, do you think it's time to remove the notice?

 * Incidentally, I find the notices splattered all over Wiki to be heavy handed, intrusive, and distracting not to mention the bad impression they create for readers; it would be better if they were more discrete, better presented, and better positioned. That isn't to say that they are not necessary though. CPES (talk) 18:18, 28 September 2013 (UTC)

Report card
TOEFL is very important to Korean students who want to study abroad because they submit report card to their University on time. However, TOEFL institution doesn't send the report card in time which they promise. Like this, if they do that, students do not go study abroad. Why do TOEFL institution do so? This is fixed immediately.--Bohyunlee (talk) 14:48, 23 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Please note that ETS (the makers of TOEFL) almost certainly do not read this page. Furthermore, per Wikipedia rules, this page cannot be used as a forum to discuss the subject; it's only purpose is discuss ways to improve the article. You'll have to find another website to complain about ETS practices on. Qwyrxian (talk) 02:54, 24 March 2013 (UTC)
 * The article needs a section about score reporting. ... PeterEasthope (talk) 13:24, 17 April 2021 (UTC)

Why not TEFL??
I don't understand why the acronym for this test is "TOEFL." The rules for creating acronyms in English are the same as capitalization -- words like "of," "as," and "a" should not be included. How ironic is it, then, that a test of English should have a grammar mistake in its very name? It baffles me. Clearly if the test is following accepted standards for acronyms, it should be called either TEFL or, if, perchance, TEFL should already have been taken, TOEAAFL. I simply don't understand how TOEFL could ever be an acceptable choice. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.11.189.211 (talk) 13:01, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

Toefl murcia,spain
Toefl has become the new money in murcia Spain. It is the only real test of English here. The locals said Too many tests existed like cambridge Trinity irkts and official school. So now its Toefl to get out of high school.

Toefl murcia,spain
Toefl has become the new money in murcia Spain. It is the only real test of English here. The locals said Too many tests existed like cambridge Trinity ielts and official school. So now its Toefl to get out of high school. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.139.193.163 (talk) 21:37, 13 March 2016 (UTC)

Cheating
As a room moderator and examiner of speaking writing of toefl I must say security must be increased.Toefl and also cambridge even SAT exams in europe.Using doubles is not unheard of as cousins take cousins toefls and SATs.ID cards are old and at the door we cannot control who is who.Security must be increases.Scolarships are in play and paying someone to take your test is not fair.Now sgo ahead and tell me that security is intense,,Ill share with you videos of doubles taking the exam toefl even SAT and cambridge b2 in madrid.. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.139.193.163 (talk) 16:53, 2 April 2017 (UTC)

Broken Links
Hi all, sorry for not repairing the links right away, but today I won't be able to search for a good replacement. I hope it helps that I am indicating the broken links here. Is there a bot that I can alert to them? It's these two references: Netzwerkerin (talk) 12:02, 18 December 2022 (UTC)
 * 1) ^ "TOEFL iBT: Frequently Asked Questions". Retrieved May 2, 2015.
 * 1) ^ "TOEFL iBT: Frequently Asked Questions". Retrieved May 2, 2015.

 * Here is the second one:
 * "TOEFL iBT: About the Test". Retrieved May 2, 2015.
 * Netzwerkerin (talk) 12:03, 18 December 2022 (UTC)


text:
Talk:Les Misérables

Plot Summary again
There used to be an extra article on the plot of Les Misérables, going through the plot book by book. Can someone tell me what happened to it? Has just the link been erased or the entire article? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.216.223.231 (talk) 08:52, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 10 October 2022
The 1987 English translation published by Signet mentions a chapter on prostitution being excised from the 1862 publication by Lacroix but some later editions published in the 20th century and the 21st century has the chapter as an appendix along with the variants and notes. Please add the names of the editions that have the excised chapter and the variants and the notes. Thank you very much. 160.202.145.128 (talk) 03:02, 10 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Very interesting. Is this something about Fantine, or is it more broadly on the subject? Do you have any sources we can use? -- Valjean (talk) (PING me) 04:40, 10 October 2022 (UTC)
 * The author allowed the Belgian publisher, Albert Lacroix, to excise untitled digressive chapters 3 to 9 (7 chapters in total) from Book 7 (Patron-Minette) of Part 3 (Marius) and divided chapters 1 and 2 into 4 chapters but the chapters appear as an appendix in some French editions such as the Gallimard editions edited by Yves Gohin and Henri Scepi that are missing from the 1951 Pleiade edition edited by Maurice Allem which contains the variants and deleted passages that the Gallimard editions lack. So far, the novel has been translated into English 8 times but no translator has included the excised chapters, deleted passages, and the variants yet. 160.202.145.128 (talk) 09:33, 11 October 2022 (UTC)
 * This is all very interesting. How do you know this? What reliable sources tell you this? Without an ability to cite that information to RS, we can't add it. Please provide those sources. It would be a great addition. -- Valjean (talk) (PING me) 15:08, 11 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: A request for sources has been made without answer for ~7 days; closing out edit request. — Sirdog (talk) 09:41, 18 October 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Les Misérables