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Roronoa Zoro

Roronoa Zoro (ロロノア・ゾロ), also known as "Pirate Hunter" Zoro (海賊狩りのゾロ), is a fictional character created by Japanese manga artist Eiichiro Oda who appears in the manga series and media franchise One Piece. He first appeared in the third chapter of the One Piece manga, published in the manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1997. Zoro is the first crewmate to join Monkey D. Luffy to be part of his crew of pirates, after he is rescued by Luffy from execution. Zoro is a highly skilled swordsman and serves as the crew's combatant, though he possesses an extremely poor sense of direction which recurs as a running gag throughout the series.

Creation and conception
Zoro originally used two swords instead of three. Zoro was originally planned to be part of Buggy the Clown’s pirate crew and would have been recruited by Luffy away from Buggy. Zoro's surname was based on the Japanese pronunciation of French pirate François l'Olonnais. In several Western localizations, his name was changed to Zolo.

Design
Zoro commonly wears a plain white shirt (though he can be seen wearing other types of shirts), black pants, and a light-green, haramaki sash that holds his three swords. These sword's names are Enma, Wado Ichimonji, and Sandai Kitetsu. Zoro also has a black bandanna tied around his left biceps that he only wears on his head while in a serious battle. Under his shirt, his torso is heavily scarred from many of the battles he has fought, especially since he joined the Straw Hats (like the one acquired during the battle against Dracule Mihawk, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea). He has three golden earrings in his left ear, which denotes his three swords style. After the two year time-skip, Zoro has a scar across his left eye (obtained during his training under Dracule Mihawk) and replaces his shirt with a long dark green samurai's coat which he can even open the torso while fighting (against the New Fishman Pirates) or when he experiences heat (burning side of Punk Hazard). Concerning his ethnic appearance, Oda revealed that he imagines Zoro to be of Japanese descent, albeit in a real-world context.

Zoro has many scars on his body. The most noticeable is the long scar running down his left eye, which is the one he got after returning from the two-year time skip. It is currently unknown how he acquired it, but he either can't or won't open his left eye because of it. He also has a heavily scarred torso, having a diagonal cut mark from the top left to the bottom right of his torso due to fighting Dracule Mihawk. He also has scars on both of his ankles, which he obtained from trying to cut his own legs off to escape the candle prison of Mr. 3 in Little Garden.

Portrayals
In the original Japanese version of the One Piece anime series, Zoro is voiced by Kazuya Nakai as an adult and Megumi Urawa as a child. In the first OVA ''Defeat Him! The Pirate Ganzack'' from 1998 is voiced by Wataru Takagi.

In Odex's dubs of the first 104 episodes of One Piece in Singapore, Zoro was voiced by Brian Zimmerman. In the 4kids Entertainment's dub of the first 104 episodes of One Piece, Zoro was renamed "Zolo," which was later influenced and implemented in the Viz Media adaption of the manga series; he was voiced by Marc Diraison and Andrew Rannells as a child. In Funimation Entertainment's dubs of the entire One Piece franchise, adult Zoro is voiced by Christopher Sabat with Cynthia Cranz playing the role of child Zoro for episode 2 and by Brina Palencia for the rest of the franchise. Sabat compared Zoro's characterization with Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles Kurogane and YuYu Hakushos Kazuma Kuwabara, describing them as "the tough guy with a heart of gold". As a result, Sabat feared that he sometimes performs similar voices despite the fact the characters are different. He also tried seeing the original actors' works to avoid getting a more specific delivery. In the game One Piece: Unlimited Adventure, Sabat reprises his role as adult Zoro, with child Zoro voiced by Aaron Dismuke.

Zoro is portrayed by Mackenyu in the live action adaptation of One Piece.

Characteristics
Zoro is confident but often acts in a very comical manner. A running gag is that he has a terrible sense of direction (being capable of getting lost even while walking in a straight line) which he is very insecure about since he never admits when he gets lost, instead always blaming someone else. While the crew is out at sea, Zoro can (usually) be found sleeping or training towards his goal of becoming the world's best swordsman. He and Sanji have a great rivalry, often resorting to fighting (both verbally and physically) over issues from minor to extreme. Zoro had never called Sanji by his name in the original Japanese manga, he uses phrases like "dumb-cook", etc. On the other side, Sanji uses phrases like marimo (moss-head). etc.

Though not a samurai, he appears to maintain a certain degree of bushido and is frequently mistaken for one. Unlike Luffy and most of the other Straw Hat Pirates, Zoro has been known to kill his opponents if he has to, though never in cold blood. It is shown that Zoro enjoys fighting a strong opponent (usually left to face down the second strongest villain in each arc, as Luffy faces down the strongest). Zoro tends to retain a maniacal grin and serious glare when battling a worthy opponent.

Personality
Zoro has a stern, serious, and distanced personality, but unlike Robin, he often reacts in a goofy and exaggerated comic style due to his short-tempered and impatient attitude. On the ship, he normally either trains with weights or sleeps. The only work he is seen doing regularly is hoisting the anchor using his great strength and maintaining a lookout in the ship's crow's nest (which on the Thousand Sunny ship also doubles as his gym). He also likes sake, almost to the degree that Luffy likes meat, but like Nami, he never gets drunk due to his inhumanly high endurance and tolerance for alcohol. Another notable trait is his lack of orientation, as Zoro often gets lost, even in small, familiar spaces or when being led by someone. Despite this, he is often the first to sense an enemy or danger and react. He is often displayed as being well aware of dangerous situations and the people around him.

Despite his stern personality, Zoro had a strong sense of loyalty and mutual respect towards his crewmates when accomplishing their dreams. After his humiliating loss to Dracule Mihawk, Zoro pledged his loyalty to Luffy as his captain. As a vice-captain, Zoro often reminds others of the harsh facts, which shocks some other crew members, although they usually decide he is right. It can be seen when Luffy and Usopp have a fight and Usopp leaves the crew, Zoro says that Luffy is the captain of the ship and everyone must respect him without any exception so Usopp must apologize to Luffy before he joins the crew. He also added that if Luffy takes in Usopp without his apology to Luffy then the next one leaving the crew will be Zoro himself. Later everyone understood him and decided that Zoro was right about it. Zoro has stated that he does not pray to any god, does not care one way or the other, and has never believed in anything except himself, and for him, only one man is above him (his captain, Luffy). He has also stated that he would follow Luffy till the end of his journey - becoming the King of the Pirates - but Luffy should not come between him and his dream either - becoming the world's strongest Swordsman (currently: Dracule Mihawk). Even so, Zoro knows he still has much untapped potential and is constantly seen training and improving his fighting skills. He also adheres to a strict sword master's code of honor and never falsely brags or lies about his abilities, sometimes outright admitting a weakness, even to an enemy. He also never tries to escape from a fight or use trickery to win, believing that doing so is cowardly and scorning anyone who uses such tactics. Zoro is vigorous, strong-willed, and determined.

Haki
He is proficient in Armament and Observation Haki and is one of the few known characters who possess Conquerors Haki. During his battle against King, Zoro unlocks an advanced form of Conqueror Haki, which allows him to coat his swords with it, similar to Armament Haki, which could further enhance his attacks. Although it hasn't been confirmed, Zoro is heavily linked with conqueror Haki by the beast pirate captain himself after the wound he gave to him. He also uses an advanced form of Armament Haki to shoot a short blast of Haki from a distance. However, zoro can not use observation haki that proficiently.

One Piece manga
Roronoa Zoro first appears in the manga chapter "Enter Pirate Hunter Zoro" ("海賊狩りのゾロ"登場), first published in Japan's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on August 18, 1997. He first appears as a captured criminal awaiting his execution at the hands of the Marines. Before the beginning of the series' narrative, Zoro loses his childhood friend Kuina and vows to become the strongest swordsman in the world. For years, Zoro hunts pirates as a bounty hunter only to get money for food in the company of his friends Johnny and Yosaku. Zoro initially did this because he got lost seeking to face the best swordsman in the world, Dracule Mihawk. When Luffy offers Zoro the opportunity to join his crew, Zoro initially refuses. But after Luffy saves him from execution, Zoro pledges loyalty to him. Zoro is later easily defeated at Mihawk's hands at the Baratie restaurant and pledges to Luffy that he would never lose again.

Zoro's loyalty to Luffy is incomparable among the crew and develops through the series. Even though he joined Luffy's crew, his main goal was to become the strongest swordsman. Originally Zoro threatened to kill Luffy if he ever got in the way of this goal. He listens to his captain's order and follows the order until the very end. On Jaya, Zoro followed Luffy's orders not to fight an enemy in a bar no matter what and followed it without hesitation. In "Water 7," Zoro upholds the authority of Luffy as captain during Luffy's fight with Usopp and Usopp's leaving of the crew. Zoro pointedly refuses to allow Usopp to rejoin the crew without an apology and threatens to be the next to leave because to let Usopp "back as if nothing happened was an insult to Luffy's authority as captain. He even slapped Luffy with the reality that being a pirate isn't a game."

On the next island, Thriller Bark, Bartholomew Kuma confronted a knocked-out Luffy and the Straw Hats and asked the protagonists to surrender Luffy. Everyone refused, and Kuma knocked everyone out except for Zoro, Sanji, and Brook. Zoro offers to sacrifice his life for Luffy, proclaiming that Luffy will be the man to become Pirate King. Sanji also offers his life, but Zoro knocks out Sanji to save his life. Zoro begs Kuma not to take Luffy and to take him instead. Zoro told Kuma that he is even willing to give up his dream of becoming the world's greatest swordsman for Luffy's dream. After seeing this, Kuma agreed to Zoro instead of taking Zoro with him. Kuma asked to take all Luffy's pain after fighting Gecko Moria. Zoro's dream in the entire series was to become the world's greatest swordsman, but he is willing to give that up for Luffy, showing how loyal Zoro grew to his captain after initially threatening to end Luffy's life for threatening his dream.

After fighting Daz Bonez in Alabasta, Zoro's bounty is initially set at 60,000,000 but is later raised to 120,000,000 after fighting the World Government at Enies Lobby. Later, the crew is separated by Bartholomew Kuma, which resulted in pre and post-time skips. Zoro encounters Mihawk again and trains under him for two years before reuniting with the crew. He receives a bounty of 320,000,000 after cutting up an antagonist as large as a mountain and assisting Luffy at the end of Don Quixote Doflamingo's tyrannical rule. After the events in Wano Country and his contributions in the Onigashima Raid such as defeating King, he receives a bounty of 1,111,000,000.

In One Piece volume 105, Oda revealed Zoro's family history. His father, Roronoa Arashi, was killed by pirates and his mother, Tera, died of illness when he was young. Zoro is a descendant of the Shimotsuki family of Wano Country through his grandmother Furiko, the older sister of Ushimaru, the daimyo of Ringo who is Zoro's great-uncle. Zoro is related to Kuina as distant cousins and is the descendant of Shimotsuki Ryuma.

In other media
Zoro has made several appearances in other media, including, but not limited to, every One Piece licensed electronic video game to date, including Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars. In 2006, he is featured in the Dragon Ball/One Piece/Naruto crossover game Battle Stadium D.O.N..

Zoro appears in a special episode of One Piece X Toriko, fighting Zebra and Vegeta, Zoro appears lost, searching for his crew, until Zebra appears to Zoro, and Vegeta appears searching for Goku to "settle the score", the three were furious and fought without end.

Reception
Zoro is always among the top three most popular characters, usually only below Luffy in popularity. He ranked second in every Shōnen Jump character popularity poll except the fifth, where he ranked third after Trafalgar Law. Furthermore, in a 2007 poll by Oricon, Zoro was voted as the 4th most desired character to receive a spinoff. DVD Talk praises Zoro's "hilarious" three-sword fighting style as a great example of the show's sense of humor. Holly Ellingwood from Activeanime praised Zoro's fight against Luffy as one of the best moments from the 10th DVD from the series released by Viz Media, praising the action scenes. Sabat's work with Zoro has resulted in him being nominated in the category "Best Voice Actor (English)" in the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) Awards from 2008. Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network commented on Sabat's work with Zoro as a "standout", noting that Zoro and Sabat are "well-matched. Kimlinger also found that his and Sanji's flashbacks from the anime "really do jerk tears, even if they are less than gracefully executed".

When Nico Robin refers to the two as the "Wings of the Pirate King," it "suggests that they're the two most important people to Luffy becoming the Pirate King, for their ability to carry their responsibility effectively and fight at the highest level, if not more."

title: Roronoa Zoro


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Jack Finney

Walter Braden "Jack" Finney (born John Finney; October 2, 1911 – November 14, 1995) was an American writer. His best-known works are science fiction and thrillers, including The Body Snatchers and Time and Again. The former was the basis for the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers and its remakes.

Personal life
Finney was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and given the name John Finney. After his father died when Finney was three years old, he was renamed Walter Braden Finney in honor of his father, but continued to be known as "Jack". He attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, graduating in 1934. He married Marguerite Guest, and they had two children, Kenneth and Marguerite. After living in New York City and working for an advertising agency there, he moved with his family to California in the early 1950s. He lived in Mill Valley, California, and died of pneumonia and emphysema in Greenbrae, California, at the age of 84.

Writing career
Finney's first article, "Someone Who Knows Told Me …", published in the December 1943 issue of Cosmopolitan, reflects the message of the Office of War Information's (OWI) "Loose Lips Sink Ships" campaign of World War II. As an advertising copywriter, Finney was doing his part, driving home the point that careless remarks by otherwise patriotic citizens can aid enemy agents, resulting in the death of US servicemen.

His story "The Widow's Walk" won a contest sponsored by Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine in 1946. His first novel, 5 Against the House, was published in 1954. It was made into a movie the following year.

Finney's novel The Body Snatchers (1955) was the basis for the 1956 movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers and multiple remakes.

Another novel, Assault on a Queen (1959), became the film Assault on a Queen with Frank Sinatra as the leader of a gang that pulls a daring robbery of the RMS Queen Mary.

Finney's greatest success came with his science fiction novel Time and Again (1970). It involves time travel to the past, a theme he had experimented with previously in short stories. Its protagonist, Simon Morley, is working in advertising in New York City when he is recruited for a secret government project to achieve time travel. Morley travels to the New York City of 1882. The novel is notable for Finney's vivid and detailed picture of life in the city at that time and for the art and photographs supposedly made by Morley during his experiences, which are reproduced in the pages of the novel. Morley sees many actual historical sites, some now gone (e.g., the post office that, until 1939, stood in what is now the southern tip of City Hall Park) and some still existing (e.g., St. Patrick's Cathedral, then the tallest building in its Fifth Avenue neighborhood).

In 1987, Finney was given the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement at the World Fantasy Convention, held in Nashville, Tennessee.

Finney's story "Such Interesting Neighbors" (Collier's, 6 January 1951) was the basis for the second episode of Science Fiction Theatre, entitled "Time Is Just a Place". It was first broadcast on 16 April 1955. It co-starred Don DeFore and Warren Stevens; it was then published in 1957, in the collection The Third Level by Rhinehart and Company; later, the story appeared as an episode of the Steven Spielberg-created anthology series Amazing Stories, starring Adam Ant and Marcia Strassman. Spielberg's version was first broadcast on 20 March 1987.

In 1995, twenty-five years after Time and Again, Finney published a sequel called From Time to Time featuring the further adventures of Morley, this time centering on Manhattan in 1912. Finney died at the age of 84 not long after finishing the book.

The 1998 television movie The Love Letter, starring Campbell Scott and Jennifer Jason Leigh, is based on Finney's short story of the same name, which appeared in The Saturday Evening Post in 1959.

The Third Level, Knox College's science fiction and fantasy publication, is named for Finney's short story "The Third Level", published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in October 1952.

Short stories

 * "Someone Who Knows Told Me …", Cosmopolitan (Non-Fiction) (December 1943)
 * "The Widow's Walk", Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (July 1947)
 * "Manhattan Idyl", Collier's (April 1947)
 * "I'm Mad at You", Collier's (December 1947)
 * "Breakfast in Bed", Collier's (May 1948)
 * "It Wouldn't Be Fair", Collier's (August 1948) - Also published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
 * "You Haven't Changed a Bit", Colliers (April 1949)
 * "The Little Courtesies", Collier's (June 1949)
 * "A Dash of Spring", Cosmopolitan (June 1949)
 * "Week-end Genius", Colliers (May 1950)
 * "I Like It This Way", Collier's (June 1950)
 * "My Cigarette Loves Your Cigarette", Collier's (September 1950)
 * "Such Interesting Neighbors", Collier's (January 1951)
 * "One Man Show", Collier's (June 1951)
 * "I'm Scared", Collier's (September 1951)
 * "It Wouldn't be Fair", Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (November 1951)
 * "Obituary" (co-written with C.J. Durban), Collier's (February 1952)
 * "The Third Level", The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (October 1952)
 * "Quit Zoomin' Those Hands Through the Air", The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (December 1952)
 * "Of Missing Persons" (1955)
 * "Man of Confidence", Good Housekeeping (September 1955)
 * "Second Chance", Good Housekeeping (April 1956)
 * "Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket", Good Housekeeping (June 1956)
 * "The Love Letter", Saturday Evening Post (August 1, 1959) [Also re-published in January/February 1988 issue of Saturday Evening Post]
 * "The U-19’s Last Kill", Saturday Evening Post (six-part series, beginning August 22, 1959, and ending September 26, 1959)
 * "The Other Wife" (also known as "The Coin Collector"), Saturday Evening Post (January 30, 1960)
 * "An Old Tune" (also known as "Home Alone"), McCall's (October 1961)
 * "Old Enough for Love", McCall's (May 1962)
 * "The Sunny Side of the Street", McCall's (October 1962)
 * "Time Has No Boundaries" (also known as "The Face in the Photo"), Saturday Evening Post (October 13, 1962)
 * "Hey, Look at Me!" (1962)
 * "Lunch Hour Magic" (1962)
 * "Where the Cluetts Are" (1962)

Novels
Several Finney novels were adapted as feature films (†); see below.
 * 5 Against the House (1954) †
 * The Body Snatchers (1955) †
 * The House of Numbers (1957) †
 * Assault on a Queen (1959) †
 * Good Neighbor Sam (1963)
 * The Woodrow Wilson Dime (1968)
 * Time and Again (1970)
 * Marion's Wall (1973)
 * The Night People (1977)
 * From Time to Time (1995) – sequel to Time and Again

Collections

 * The Third Level (1957), short story collection, in England as The Clock of Time (1958)
 * I Love Galesburg in the Springtime (1963), short story collection
 * Forgotten News: The Crime of the Century and Other Lost Stories (1983), nonfiction
 * About Time (1986), short story collection, a subset of only the time stories from The Third Level and I Love Galesburg in the Springtime
 * Three by Finney (1987), an omnibus edition of The Woodrow Wilson Dime, Marion's Wall, and The Night People

Plays

 * Telephone Roulette: A Comedy in One Act (1956)
 * This Winter's Hobby: A Play (1966)

Film adaptations

 * 5 Against the House (1955 Phil Karlson film starring Guy Madison, Kim Novak, and Brian Keith)
 * Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 Don Siegel film starring Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter and Larry Gates)
 * House of Numbers (1957 Russell Rouse film noir starring Jack Palance)
 * Good Neighbor Sam (1964 David Swift film starring Jack Lemmon, Romy Schneider, and Dorothy Provine)
 * Assault on a Queen (1966 Jack Donohue film based on The U-19's Last Kill starring Frank Sinatra, Virna Lisi, and Anthony Franciosa)
 * Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 remake by Philip Kaufman starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, and Leonard Nimoy)
 * Maxie (1985 Paul Aaron film starring Glenn Close, Mandy Patinkin, and Ruth Gordon; based on Marion's Wall)
 * Body Snatchers (1993 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers)
 * The Love Letter (1998 Dan Curtis TV movie starring Campbell Scott, Jennifer Jason Leigh, David Dukes, and Estelle Parsons; based on the story of the same name)
 * The Invasion (2007 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig)
 * Crayon Shin-chan: The Legend Called: Dance! Amigo! (2006 Shin-Ei Animation film starring Akiko Yajima, Miki Narahashi, Keiji Fujiwara, Akeno Watanabe; based on Yoshito Usui's original manga that was inspired by The Body Snatchers)

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Purandara Dasa

Srinivasa Nayaka, also known as Purandara Dasa (IAST: Purandara dāsa) (c. 1484 – c.  1564) was a composer, singer and a Haridasa philosopher from present-day Karnataka, India. He was a follower of Madhvacharya's Dvaita philosophy. He was one of the chief founding proponents of Carnatic music. In honor of his contributions to Carnatic music, he is referred to as the Pitamaha (lit. "grandsire") of Carnatic music. According to a legend, he is considered as an incarnation of Narada.

Purandara Dasa was a wealthy merchant of gold, silver and other miscellaneous jewellery from Karnataka, who gave away all his material riches to become a Haridasa (literally meaning a servant of Vishnu or Krishna), a devotional singer who made the difficult Sanskrit tenets of Bhagavata Purana available to everyone in simple and melodious songs. He was one of the most important music scholars of medieval India. He formulated the basic lessons of teaching Carnatic music by structuring graded exercises known as Svaravalis and Alankaras, and at the same time, he introduced the raga Mayamalavagowla as the first scale to be learnt by beginners in the field – a practice that is still followed today. He also composed Gitas (simple songs) for novice students.

Purandara Dasa is noted for composing Dasa Sahithya, as a Bhakti movement vocalist, and a music scholar. His younger contemporary, Kanakadasa, emulated his practice. Purandara Dasa's Carnatic music compositions are mostly in Kannada, though some are in Sanskrit. He signed his compositions with the ankitanama (pen name) "Purandara Vittala" (Vittala is another name of Vishnu) and this same form of Vishnu is his aaradhya daiva or ishta murthi or worshippable deity. His work was appreciated by many scholars of his time and later scholars.

Biography
Inscriptional evidence suggests Purandara Dasa was born to a diamond merchant in a Kannada Deshastha Madhva Brahmin family,  in 1484 CE in Purandara gada,18 kms far from pune present-day Maharashtra state. According to other opinions, his native town was Purandaraghatta in Karnataka, or Purandaragad near Pune, but the latter is considered a historical mistake – connecting his "pen name" (his ankita) with a location that mainly served as a military encampment in the 15th and 16th century. In 2018, a five-member committee set up by the Government of Karnataka to ascertain the birthplace of Purandara Dasa has submitted its report asserting Tirthahalli as the likeliest candidate. The committee included veteran singer and musicologist RK Padmanabha, scholars Aralumallige Parthasarathi, AV Navada, Veeranna Rajora, and former minister Leeladevi Navada. It is now ascertained that Purandharadasa was born in Araga, Vijayanagara Empire (Modern Day Thirthahalli, Karnataka, India), Karnataka

Purandara Dasa was the only son of the wealthy merchant Varadappa Nayaka and his wife Rukmini. He was named Srinivasa Nayaka, after the patron deity of Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala. He acquired proficiency in Kannada, Sanskrit, and sacred music through education. At the age of 16, he was married to Saraswati Bai, traditionally described as a pious young girl. They had four sons, Varadappa, Gururaya, Abhinavappa and Madhvapati. He lost his parents at age 20, thereby inheriting his father's business of gemstones and pawning. He prospered and became known as Navakoti Narayana (an abundantly rich man; worth ninety million).

Popular legend narrates a miraculous incident in Srinivasa Nayaka's life, owing to which he was led to devote himself to the practice, propagation and inculcation of bhakti (devotion) towards Krishna through musical compositions. As a natural, inescapable consequence of such a transforming event, ubiquitous in the lives of several saints throughout the ages, he is believed to have relinquished his former greedy and miserly self, having realized the worthlessness of attachment to worldly possessions: The deity, in a bid to cure Srinivaasa of his tenacious materialistic delusion and attachment, and thereby claim his devotion to himself, approached Srinivaasa in the guise of a poor man, with a piteous plea for money; ostensibly, the money was needed to perform His son's 'upanayana'(sacred-thread investiture ceremony).

Having been summarily rejected, mocked and turned out, the 'poor man' repeated his plea before Srinivaasa's wife; a generous soul of rigorous spiritual nature, she gave away one of her precious nose rings, unbeknownst to her husband; the 'poor man' sold the nose ring back to none other than Srinivasa himself! The shrewd Srinivasa, privy to his wife's openhandedness, immediately identified the nose ring as his wife's and hurried home; enraged and anxious to ascertain the truth of the matter, he demanded his wife to produce the nose ring before him immediately.

Realizing that Srinivaasa had grown wise to her secret donation, the wife decided to end her life with poison. Having completed her prayers to Vishnu before her attempt, she was shocked to see a nose ring inside the poison cup – completely identical to the one she had just given away. Incredulous and rapturous, she recounted the entire episode to her husband, who was bewildered and lost. Meanwhile, a search for the 'poor man' was of no avail; he had as mysteriously vanished as he had appeared! At that very propitious moment, Srinivaasa's old self – convinced of the inscrutable ways of Vishnu, having witnessed the unfailing grace that saved his pious wife, bewildered at the power that could, in a moment, produce a gold ornament by mere will – instantly shook off that beginning-less, persistent veil in the form of 'I' and 'mine', which masks most men's vision of the divine. At 30 years of age, he gave away all his wealth in charity, and with his family, he abandoned his house to lead the life of a mendicant – living on alms and singing the glories of Vishnu. In his first song composition, he laments his wasted life of indulgence. It begins with the words "Ana lae kara" in the Shuddha Saveri raga, set to Triputa tala.

In the course of his wandering, he met the sage Vyasatirtha, one of the chief exponents of Madhwa philosophy and the Rajaguru of Krishnadevaraya, emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire. According to Prof. Sambamoorthy, Srinivasa had his formal initiation at the hands of Vyasatirtha in 1525 when he was about 40 years old, with the name Purandara Daasa bestowed on him. Purandara Daasa travelled through the length and breadth of the Vijayanagara Empire and Pandharapur in Maharashtra composing and rendering soul-stirring songs in praise of God. He spent his last years in Hampi and also sang songs in Krishnadevaraya's court. The mantapa (mandap) in which he stayed is known as Purandara Daasa Mantapa (mandap) in Hampi. He died on 2 January 1564 at the age of 95. Within a short period after his death, Vijayanagara Empire collapsed. Tradition and legend hold that he composed 475,000 keerthanas (songs). Further, according to this legend, his original desire was to compose 500,000 keerthanas. Being unable to do it in his present life, he requested his younger son to complete them. His son Madhwapathi told his father that he could do this in his next janma (birth). It is believed that he was reborn as the famous Vijayadasa—birthplace is Cheekalparvi village near Maanvi town, Raichur district in Karnataka State—and completed the remaining 25 thousand keerthanas as promised. Most of his songs are in praise of Vishnu and other divinities. Due to this, he is believed to be an avatar of Narada, the celestial singer and son of goddess Saraswati. One of the Trimurtis (three icons) of Carnatic music, Saint Tyagaraja, has paid tribute to Purandara Dasa in his geya natakam (an opera) Prahlada Bhakti Vijayam.

Influence on Carnatic music
Purandara Dasa systematized the method of teaching Carnatic music which is followed to the present day. He introduced the raga Mayamalavagowla as the basic scale for music instruction and fashioned a series of graded lessons such as swaravalis, janti swaras, alankaras, lakshana geetas, prabandhas, ugabhogas, daatu varase, geeta, sooladis and kritis. Another contribution was the fusion of bhava, raga, and laya in his compositions. He included comments on ordinary daily life and elements of colloquial language in his lyrics. He introduced folk ragas into the mainstream, setting his lyrics to ragas of his day so that even a common man could learn and sing them. He also composed several lakshya and lakshana geetas, many of which are sung to this day. His sooladis are regarded as musical masterpieces and are the standard for raga lakshana. Scholars attribute the standardization of varna mettus entirely to Purandara Dasa.

Travelling Haridasa successors are said to have followed the systems he devised, and orally transmitted his compositions. According to traditional sources, his compositions numbers as many as 4,75,000. His original collection of songs is referred to as Purandaropanishat as given by Vyasatirtha out of which only 1000 are available right now.

Shri.Dasa was a vaggeyakara (composer-performer), a lakshanakara (musicologist), and the founder of musical pedagogy. Musicologists call him the Sangeeta Pitamaha (lit. "grandfather") of Carnatic music.

Social reforms
Purandara Dasa tried to reform existing social practices and preached through devotional songs in the local Kannada language. Most of his keertanas deal with social reform and pinpoint the defects in society. The philosophy of Purandara Dasa is harmonious with the concept of bhakti in Hinduism, broadly based on the Narada Bhakti Sutras and essentially synchronous with the pan-Indian Bhakti movement. It teaches complete self-surrender and unadulterated love towards God. The philosophy of Bhakti in Purandara Dasa's compositions stems from the essential teachings of the realistic-pluralistic Madhva Philosophy of Vaishnavism, and has been rendered in simple Kannada. The individual soul (jeeva) is a pratibimba (reflection) of God (Vishnu/Ishvara), who is the bimba (source). The jeeva owes its existence, knowledge and bliss to the Ishvara, and any sense of independence with regards to one's actions and the results thereof is to be given up. The mind has to be turned away from transient pleasures and possessions of this world; instead, it is to be turned towards Vishnu, who alone is the abode of unadulterated, unswerving bliss. His keerthanas have simple lessons in this regard and implore men to lead the noble life of a Vaishnava.

Casteism
Purandara Dasa fought the evils of casteism through his songs. In his song aavakulavaadarenu aavanadarenu aatma bhavavariyada mele he wonders what is the use if one does not understand the spirit of humanism whatever caste or status one might be accredited to. In the same song when relating to cows of different colours and sugarcane of different shapes he emphasizes that one's birth cannot merely decide the highness or lowness of any individual. He asks will the sweetness of crooked sugarcane be also crooked or will the milk of cows of many a colour be also of many colours. He asked people to do their best in the world, to provide food and charity to the poor, help others and give up attachments. He was against the caste system, and believed true caste was based on character, not on birth. Sacrifice did not imply the slaughter of animals, but the slaying of one's bad qualities.

Gender equality
According to Purandara Dasa, there were no inequalities among men and women. Both of them had the same rights and obligations in their conduct of everyday life as well as observation of piety. Purandara Dasa distinctly described the quality of a virtuous woman. According to him, the neck chains, bangles and other ornaments that women wore were not important; the beauty of mind and noble conduct were her true embellishments.

Untouchability
Purandara Dasa made some forceful expressions on untouchability, which was dogging society. His strength comes perhaps from the support of his guru Vyasathirtha with the backing of king Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara himself. In one such song Holaya horagithane oorolagillave he opines that an individual should not be branded untouchable based on his/her birth in any specific caste, however it is rather his conduct which should make him untouchable if at all he can be called so. The usage of the word untouchable is not used in the limited context of physical contact with the person, it is the worthlessness of the association with that person which is highlighted here. This is evident by the subsequent expressions in the song which says that one who does not practice self-discipline is untouchable, one who plots against his government is untouchable, one who shirks charity while having wealth is untouchable, one who poisons to eliminate his opponents is untouchable, one who does not use soft language is untouchable, one who prides over his purity of caste is untouchable and finally one who does not meditate on Purandara Vittala is untouchable. Dasa's message is loud and clear rejecting untouchability in our society. He uses the name of Purandara Vittala to imply any God. This is evident from his other songs on various Gods and Goddesses. Similar ideas were expressed by many other poets also.

In contemporary music
In the pure Carnatic tradition, Bidaram Krishnappa was one of the foremost singers of modern times to popularize the compositions of Purandara Dasa. Singer Madras Lalithangi, and her illustrious daughter Padmavibushan, Sangeetha Kalanidhi M. L. Vasanthakumari have rendered yeoman service in propagating the compositions of Purandara Dasa; both were considered authorities on Purandara Dasa. M. L. Vasantha Kumari was awarded an honorary doctorate by Mysore University for her contributions to Purandara Dasa's music.

Though the compositions of Purandara Dasa are originally in the ragas of the Carnatic system of music, his compositions have been adopted and made equally popular in Hindustani music. Hindustani music legends such as Bhimsen Joshi, Madhav Gudi and Basavaraj Rajguru have made them more popular in recent years.

Classical vocalists and musicians such as Upendra Bhat, Puttur Narasimha Nayak, Venkatesh Kumar, Nagaraja Rao Havaldar, Ganapathi Bhatt, Vidyabhushana, Pravin Godkhindi, Nachiketa Sharma, Sangeetha Katti, and the Bombay Sisters are continuing the tradition of singing and performing Purandara Dasa's compositions and other Dasa Sahitya songs in Carnatic as well as Hindustani music concerts. Of late, Mysore Ramachandracharya is industriously propagating dasa sahitya through his concerts. Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams is also propagating the dasa krithis through the Dasa Sahitya Project. He also composed the first lullaby songs in Carnatic music, such as Thoogire Rangana and Gummana Kareyadire, which led to the creation of many similar songs by others.

Memorials and monuments
The Purandara Mantapa adjoining the Vijayavittala temple at Hampi is one of the long-standing monuments relating to Purandara Dasa. This is where he is said to have composed and sung in praise of Vishnu.

Purandara Dasa is said to have composed his well-known song, ‘Aadisidaleshoda jagadoddharana’ on infant Sri Krishna, in raga Kapi, at the Aprameyaswamy temple in Doddamallur, Channapattana taluk, Karnataka. A small mantapa outside the temple is named after him, where he is said to have stayed as he passed through the village.

A statue of Purandara Dasa has been erected at the foothills of Tirumala in Alipiri. A statue of Purandara Dasa adorns the Asthana Mandapam (auditorium) on the Tirumala hill.

A huge statue of Purandara Dasaru is erected at the holy premises of Uttaradi Matha,Bangalore

Sri Purandara Dasa Memorial Trust (SPDMT), formed in Bangalore in 2007, has been actively involved in promoting and researching all aspects of the life and works of Purandara Dasa. A 3500-square-foot concert hall, called 'Purandara Mantapa', has been erected on the premises of the Trust.

The Indiranagar Sangeetha Sabha (ISS) at Indiranagar, Bangalore formed in 1986, has dedicated an auditorium with a seating capacity of 600 called Purandara Bhavana exclusively for cultural events, inaugurated by Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, to his memory.

Salutations

 * On 14 January 1964, the India Security Press – Department of Posts had issued a stamp in honour of Purandarasa Dasa on his 400th death anniversary.
 * Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam has propagated and popularised the literature of Purandara Dasa under the Dasa Sahitya Project.

Biographical movies and documentaries
Three biographical films, in the Kannada language, have been made on the life and compositions of Purandara Dasa.
 * Purandaradasa (1937)
 * Navakoti Narayana (1964)
 * Sri Purandara Dasaru (1967)
 * Film director and playwright Girish Karnad made a documentary film titled Kanaka-Purandara (English, 1988) on the two medieval Bhakti poets of Karnataka.

Aradhana
Aradhana is a religious-devotional observation, held annually, to remember and honor saintly persons on the anniversary of the completion of their earthly lives. Purandara Dasa's aradhana or punyadina is held on the pushya bahula amavasya of the Indian Chandramana calendar (a new moon day, generally in February–March). Musicians and art aficionados in the state of Karnataka, South India and many art and religious centres around the world observe this occasion with religious and musical fervour. His compositions are sung by established and upcoming artists on this day.

In 2022, aradhanas are happening in India and around the world even to this day.

Compilations of Purandara Dasa's lyrics

 * Gaja Vadana Beduve Gowri Thanaya A popular Purandara Dasa composition in Carnatic Raagam Hamsadhwani
 * KavyaPremi. 1996. Purandara Daasa Haadugalu. Dharwad: Samaja Publishers. Contains ca. 225 songs; in Kannada language.
 * KavyaPremi. 1996. Purandara Daasa Haadugalu. Dharwad: Samaja Publishers. Contains ca. 225 songs; in Kannada language.

title: Purandara Dasa


text:
Walter Tewksbury

John Walter Beardsley Tewksbury (March 21, 1876 – April 24, 1968) was an American track and field athlete. At the 1900 Summer Olympics, he won five medals, including two golds.

Biography
Born in Ashley, Pennsylvania, Tewksbury studied for a dental degree at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1899. Running for the university team, he won the IC4A titles in the 110 and 220 y in 1898 and 1899.

After graduating in 1899, he headed for Paris to compete in the Olympic Games. Tewksbury entered in 5 events, but had strong competition, among others from fellow Penn student Alvin Kraenzlein. In the 100 m, Tewksbury equalled the world record in the semi-finals, but placed second in the final to Frank Jarvis. The following day, he took another second place, behind Kraenzlein, in the 60 m, before entering the 400 m hurdles.

At the time, this event had probably never been contested in the United States, but Tewksbury easily beat the local favourite for the 400 m hurdles title. The event was quite different from present day, as the hurdles were actually telephone poles laid over the track, and the final hurdles was a water barrier (like in the steeplechase). In the final of the 200 m hurdles, he placed third (with Kraenzlein the winner). The final of the 200 m was held a week later; in that race Tewksbury won his second individual Olympic gold, finishing immediately ahead of Norman Pritchard of India.

Tewksbury retired from sports to open a dental practice in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, in 1913. He died there on April 24, 1968.

title: Walter Tewksbury


text:
DNRC

DNRC may refer to:

 * Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, United States, oversees sustainable use of Montana's resources
 * Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre, Nottinghamshire, England, rehabilitates military personnel and civilians

title: DNRC


text:
Jenny Jones (presenter)

Janina Maria Stronski (born June 7, 1946), known professionally as Jenny Jones, is a Canadian comedian, television presenter, cook, and philanthropist. She hosted the nationally syndicated talk show The Jenny Jones Show, from 1991 to 2003.

Early life
Janina Maria Stronski was born on June 7, 1946, in Bethlehem, Palestine, to John Stronski, a World War II veteran, and Zosia "Sophie", a dressmaker. The family, who also had an older daughter, Helena Elizabeth (born 1944), briefly moved to Italy, before relocating to London, Ontario, in 1948. A strict Catholic household, the impoverished family ran a bridal shop. Upon her parents' divorce, Jones, her mother, and sister moved to Montreal. Disheartened by her mother's alcoholism and verbal abuse, Jones began "shoplifting, drinking and necking with guys that we just picked up." Jones ran away from home at 11 years old; after one month, Jones was arrested for shoplifting and returned to her mother. Jones's mother subsequently sent her and Helena back to London to live with their father. As a teenager, Jones began to abuse alcohol, her school grades declined, and she ran away from home again. According to Jones, "I didn't want to be with either parent and couldn't wait until I was old enough to leave. Show business was my way out."

In 1963, at 17 years old, Jones dropped out of high school and formed a band that toured mining towns in Ontario. The following year, she adopted the stage name Jenny Jones and moved to Hollywood, Los Angeles. She briefly worked as a strip-club hostess, before moving to Las Vegas to form the all-female rock band The Cover Girls. The band toured throughout Nevada; impressed by Jones's performance, she was recruited by Wayne Newton as a background vocalist.

1981–1990: Stand-up comedy and Star Search
Jones started her career as a drummer in a rock band, and later attempted a career in stand-up comedy during the 1980s. She experienced some success with comedy, winning the 1986 season of the TV talent show Star Search. Prior to that, her first television appearances were as a contestant on The Price Is Right in 1979 (winning $12,955 in cash & prizes, including a sports car and $6,000 cash), Match Game in 1981 (as Jenny Wilburn, winning $5,500), and Press Your Luck in 1985 (as Jennie Jones, winning $18,706 over 3 days).

In 1986, Jones appeared as a contestant on Star Search, in which she became the first woman to win the comedy category. This appearance boosted Jones's stand-up career, and she subsequently served as a supporting act for performers including Sammy Davis Jr., Engelbert Humperdinck, Kenny Loggins, Glen Campbell, Kool & the Gang, Tony Bennett, Dionne Warwick, Gregory Hines, and Wayne Newton.

By 1983, Jones had worked her way up to serving as an opening act for Jerry Seinfeld. She embarked on a comedy show titled Girls' Night Out. Billed as a "No Men Allowed" event, Jones sold out 10 consecutive shows and had her routine featured on 20/20.

1991–2003: The Jenny Jones Show
The Jenny Jones Show was conceived as an alternative to the "harder-edged" tabloid talk shows that aired at the time. The show premiered in September 1991 on 178 television stations nationwide, which was the biggest launch in syndicated talk show history. It was produced by Telepictures and was distributed by Warner Bros. Television. The show ran from September 1991 to September 2003 and was taped in Chicago at WMAQ-TV studios.

On March 6, 1995, the show taped an episode titled "Revealing Same Sex Secret Crush"; the episode featured six guests who were invited to meet their same-sex secret admirers. Three days after the episode's taping, one of the guests killed his secret admirer. Jones provided testimony in the ensuing criminal trial. In August 1995, the victim's family filed a lawsuit against The Jenny Jones Show for negligence. Jones was required to testify during the civil trial. The jury initially found in favor of the victim's family; however, this judgment was reversed by the Michigan Court of Appeals. The court found that the murder was "unforeseeable" and that the show "had no duty to anticipate and prevent the act of murder committed by [the killer] three days after leaving [the] studio and hundreds of miles away".

In 1997, Jones released a memoir, Jenny Jones: My Story; it was co-authored with Patsi Bale Cox.

In 2003, The Jenny Jones Show broadcast its twelfth and final season.

2004–present: Jenny Can Cook and philanthropy
Jones established The Jenny Jones Foundation in 2005 as a means to provide assistance to those in need. Primary areas of focus are education, women's health, and improving communities throughout the country. In 2008, Jenny established "Jenny's Heroes," a program where, through The Jenny Jones Foundation, she is giving two million dollars of her own money to individuals wanting to make a difference in their local communities.

On April 10, 2006, Jones released her first cookbook, Look Good, Feel Great Cookbook. All of the book's proceeds were donated to City of Hope Breast Cancer Research Treatment and Education. Jones also maintains a personal website, in which she shares her own recipes. Speaking on this endeavor, Jones commented: "My goal is to motivate more people to cook at home and make healthy eating a priority."

Personal life
Jones maintains an official website, JennyJones.com; a cooking website, JennyCanCook.com; and a YouTube cooking channel. Another website, JennysHeroes.com, which she launched in 2008, features stories from anonymous people who positively impacted their communities. Since the website was launched, Jones has given over $1 million to fifty such people who are looked upon as "heroes". The site is based upon a segment of the Jenny Jones talk show that once featured such people.

Jones has been married three times. She married Al Gambino, a musician, in 1970; they divorced in 1972. Jones married Buz Wilburn, a record marketing executive, in 1973; they divorced in 1980. An earlier marriage was annulled. She is in a long-term relationship with Denis McCallion, a film-location manager.

Women's health advocate
Jones was an honorary chairperson for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Chicago Race for the Cure, an annual event that raises awareness and money for breast cancer research. Jones also donated a mobile mammography motor coach to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County. Six silicone-implant operations since 1981 had left her with firm and asymmetrical breasts. Jones later had her breast implants removed, and publicly spoke out against them in a cover story article in People. Jones then went on to establish The Image Foundation as a resource for women seeking information about implants and support with body image issues.

title: Jenny Jones (presenter)


text:
USS Raleigh (C-8)

USS Raleigh (C-8) was a United States Navy protected cruiser of the Cincinnati class, commissioned in 1894 and in periodic service until 1919.

The second ship named Raleigh, was laid down on 19 December 1889 at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia; launched 31 March 1892; sponsored by Mrs. Alfred W. Haywood; and commissioned on 17 April 1894. The ship was named after the City of Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina.

Pre-Spanish–American War
Remaining in the yard for another five months, Raleigh shifted to Hampton Roads in early September, then conducted shakedown in Chesapeake Bay. In January 1895, she completed fitting out at the torpedo station at Newport, Rhode Island, and on the 25th put to sea to join the North Atlantic Squadron for battle practice in the Caribbean. In June, she put into New York, whence she moved south again for a cruise around the Florida peninsula; and in August, she returned to New York for voyage repairs before resuming operations with her squadron. For the next 10 months, she continued operations in the western Atlantic, ranging from New England to the Straits of Florida.

During the summer of 1896, she trained Naval Militiamen from South Carolina and Louisiana, then returned to the east coast and North Atlantic Squadron exercises. From late October 1896-early February 1897, she joined in a neutrality patrol off Florida, and in April, after the completion of an overhaul at Norfolk, participated in ceremonies marking the dedication of Grant's Tomb.

On 6 May, Raleigh steamed east, and on 11 June reported for duty on the European Station at Smyrna (now Izmir) on the Aegean Sea. In July, she participated in a good-will tour of Moroccan ports. In August, she cruised off Italy, then returned to the western Mediterranean. Into December, she operated off the Levant and, toward the end of the month transited the Suez Canal en route to the Asiatic Station. On 18 February 1898, she reached Hong Kong where she joined Dewey's squadron.

Spanish–American War
On 26 April, the US Congress declared war against Spain. On the 27th the squadron got underway for Manila.

At the end of the month, Raleigh passed El Fraile Island and was fired on by an enemy battery. With USS Concord (PG-3) and USS Boston (1884), she returned the fire, then moved toward Cavite to engage the Spanish fleet. Raleigh is credited with firing the first shot of the Battle of Manila Bay from a 5-inch/40 caliber gun.

Steaming in column, the American squadron ran by the Spanish, firing at close range. Two hours later, five cross runs had been completed, and the Spanish fleet had been destroyed. Shore batteries became the targets. Just before noon on 1 May, Raleigh joined USS Olympia (C-6), Boston, and USS Petrel (PG-2) in silencing the navy yard and arsenal batteries. On 2 May, she sent officers ashore to demand the surrender of Corregidor and, on the 3rd, sent men to disable the batteries there and destroy the munitions. In the late afternoon, shore parties were sent to Palo Caballo for the same purpose. Raleigh then took up picket and patrol duties, capturing the gunboat SPANISH GUNBOAT Callao on the 12th.

In July, Raleigh shifted from Manila Bay to Subic Bay. On the 7th, she shelled Spanish positions on Grande Island until they surrendered; she then sent garrison troops ashore. On the 10th, she returned to Manila, where she remained until after the Spanish surrendered the city in mid-August.

Pre-World War I
On the 25th, Raleigh put to sea, bound for Hong Kong with mail. In early September, she returned to the Philippines where she operated until sailing for Suez, Gibraltar, and the United States on 15 December. On 15 April 1899, she arrived at New York and the next day received honors from other ships and from officials of the city.

10 days after her arrival, Raleigh cleared New York Harbor and turned south. On the 26th, she entered the Delaware River and moved up to Philadelphia, where on the 28th, President William McKinley and Secretary of the Navy John Davis Long came on board to honor the ship and crew for a job well done.

On 2 May, Raleigh got underway again, and, after visiting ports in the Carolinas, put into Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where she was decommissioned on 10 June.

Recommissioned on 5 January 1903, Raleigh was fitted out at New York and in mid-March sailed for Honduras. There, she delivered stores to ships cruising off that coast, then headed east. Steaming via Gibraltar and Suez, she rejoined the Asiatic Fleet at Chefoo, China, on 26 August.

For the next four years she cruised in Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Philippine waters in support of diplomatic missions as well as showing the flag and conducting good-will tours. One of Raleigh's sailors, Chief Carpenter's Mate Robert Klein, received the Medal of Honor for his actions during a 25 January 1904 incident in which he rescued shipmates who had been overcome by turpentine fumes in a double bottom compartment. On 12 August 1907, she departed Yokosuka for San Francisco. Arriving on 6 September, she proceeded to Mare Island to begin inactivation.

Decommissioned on 12 October 1907, Raleigh was recommissioned on 21 February 1911. Initially assigned to the Pacific Reserve Squadron, she remained in San Francisco until December. She then moved north to Bremerton, Washington, and two more years of little activity.

On 6 December 1913, she departed Puget Sound. Steaming south, she joined the active fleet and served as a station ship in Mexican ports, primarily Manzanillo, Mazatlán, La Paz, and Guaymas for the next four years. During the time she interrupted her Mexican assignments twice: for duty at Ocos, Guatemala from 6–25 October 1915; and at Corinto, Nicaragua from 1 April-26 July 1916.

World War I and beyond
Undergoing repairs at Mare Island when the United States entered World War I, Raleigh departed San Francisco in early May 1917, and on 5 June joined the Patrol Force, Atlantic Fleet, at Newport, R.I. Assigned to Cruiser Force, 2nd Squadron, she patrolled from Boston to Norfolk until November when she was detached for duty in Brazilian waters.

On 12 December, Raleigh arrived at Rio de Janeiro, and until 27 April 1918 she patrolled between there and Bahia (Salvador). In May, she arrived off West Africa; delivered munitions to the Liberian Government; continued on to Dakar, French West Africa, then headed west on 18 May. At the end of the month, she resumed Bahia-Rio patrols. At the same time, however, German U-boats appeared off the east coast of the United States. Raleigh was ordered home.

Clearing Bahia on 26 June, she joined the American Patrol Detachment at Key West, Florida, on 21 July and began guarding convoys in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Caribbean, and off the east coast of the Carolinas. She remained on that duty until after the end of the war, and into 1919 continued operations out of Key West. On 6 April, she entered the Charleston Navy Yard and prepared for inactivation. On 21 April, she was decommissioned for the last time, and on 5 August 1921 she was sold for scrapping to Henry A. Hitner's Sons Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

title: USS Raleigh (C-8)


text:
Stellar black hole

A stellar black hole (or stellar-mass black hole) is a black hole formed by the gravitational collapse of a star. They have masses ranging from about 5 to several tens of solar masses. They are the remnants of supernova explosions, which may be observed as a type of gamma ray burst. These black holes are also referred to as collapsars.

Properties
By the no-hair theorem, a black hole can only have three fundamental properties: mass, electric charge, and angular momentum. The angular momentum of a stellar black hole is due to the conservation of angular momentum of the star or objects that produced it.

The gravitational collapse of a star is a natural process that can produce a black hole. It is inevitable at the end of the life of a massive star when all stellar energy sources are exhausted. If the mass of the collapsing part of the star is below the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff (TOV) limit for neutron-degenerate matter, the end product is a compact star – either a white dwarf (for masses below the Chandrasekhar limit) or a neutron star or a (hypothetical) quark star. If the collapsing star has a mass exceeding the TOV limit, the crush will continue until zero volume is achieved and a black hole is formed around that point in space.

The maximum mass that a neutron star can possess before further collapsing into a black hole is not fully understood. In 1939, it was estimated at 0.7 solar masses, called the TOV limit. In 1996, a different estimate put this upper mass in a range from 1.5 to 3 solar masses. The maximum observed mass of neutron stars is about for PSR J0740+6620 discovered in September, 2019.

In the theory of general relativity, a black hole could exist of any mass. The lower the mass, the higher the density of matter has to be in order to form a black hole. (See, for example, the discussion in Schwarzschild radius, the radius of a black hole.) There are no known stellar processes that can produce black holes with mass less than a few times the mass of the Sun. If black holes that small exist, they are most likely primordial black holes. Until 2016, the largest known stellar black hole was $15.65$ solar masses. In September 2015, a rotating black hole of $62$ solar masses was discovered by gravitational waves as it formed in a merger event of two smaller black holes. , the binary system 2MASS J05215658+4359220 was reported to host the smallest-mass black hole currently known to science, with a mass 3.3 solar masses and a diameter of only 19.5 kilometers.

There is observational evidence for two other types of black holes, which are much more massive than stellar black holes. They are intermediate-mass black holes (in the center of globular clusters) and supermassive black holes in the center of the Milky Way and other galaxies.

X-ray compact binary systems
Stellar black holes in close binary systems are observable when the matter is transferred from a companion star to the black hole; the energy released in the fall toward the compact star is so large that the matter heats up to temperatures of several hundred million degrees and radiates in X-rays. The black hole, therefore, is observable in X-rays, whereas the companion star can be observed with optical telescopes. The energy release for black holes and neutron stars are of the same order of magnitude. Black holes and neutron stars are therefore often difficult to distinguish.

The derived masses come from observations of compact X-ray sources (combining X-ray and optical data). All identified neutron stars have a mass below 3.0 solar masses; none of the compact systems with a mass above 3.0 solar masses display the properties of a neutron star. The combination of these facts makes it more and more likely that the class of compact stars with a mass above 3.0 solar masses are in fact black holes.

Note that this proof of the existence of stellar black holes is not entirely observational but relies on theory: we can think of no other object for these massive compact systems in stellar binaries besides a black hole. A direct proof of the existence of a black hole would be if one actually observes the orbit of a particle (or a cloud of gas) that falls into the black hole.

Black hole kicks
The large distances above the galactic plane achieved by some binaries are the result of black hole natal kicks. The velocity distribution of black hole natal kicks seems similar to that of neutron star kick velocities. One might have expected that it would be the momenta that were the same with black holes receiving lower velocity than neutron stars due to their higher mass but that doesn't seem to be the case, which may be due to the fall-back of asymmetrically expelled matter increasing the momentum of the resulting black hole.

Mass gaps
It is predicted by some models of stellar evolution that black holes with masses in two ranges cannot be directly formed by the gravitational collapse of a star. These are sometimes distinguished as the "lower" and "upper" mass gaps, roughly representing the ranges of 2 to 5 and 50 to 150 solar masses, respectively. Another range given for the upper gap is 52 to 133. has been regarded as the upper mass limit for stars in the current era of the universe.

Lower mass gap
A lower mass gap is suspected on the basis of a scarcity of observed candidates with masses within a few solar masses above the maximum possible neutron star mass. The existence and theoretical basis for this possible gap are uncertain. The situation may be complicated by the fact that any black holes found in this mass range may have been created via the merging of binary neutron star systems, rather than stellar collapse. The LIGO/Virgo collaboration has reported three candidate events among their gravitational wave observations in run O3 with component masses that fall in this lower mass gap. There has also been reported an observation of a bright, rapidly rotating giant star in a binary system with an unseen companion emitting no light, including x-rays, but having a mass of $3.3$ solar masses. This is interpreted to suggest that there may be many such low-mass black holes that are not currently consuming any material and are hence undetectable via the usual x-ray signature.

Upper mass gap
The upper mass gap is predicted by comprehensive models of late-stage stellar evolution. It is expected that with increasing mass, supermassive stars reach a stage where a pair-instability supernova occurs, during which pair production, the production of free electrons and positrons in the collision between atomic nuclei and energetic gamma rays, temporarily reduces the internal pressure supporting the star's core against gravitational collapse. This pressure drop leads to a partial collapse, which in turn causes greatly accelerated burning in a runaway thermonuclear explosion, resulting in the star being blown completely apart without leaving a stellar remnant behind.

Pair-instability supernovae can only happen in stars with a mass range from around 130 to 250 solar masses and low to moderate metallicity (low abundance of elements other than hydrogen and helium – a situation common in Population III stars). However, this mass gap is expected to be extended down to about 45 solar masses by the process of pair-instability pulsational mass loss, before the occurrence of a "normal" supernova explosion and core collapse. In nonrotating stars the lower bound of the upper mass gap may be as high as 60. The possibility of direct collapse into black holes of stars with core mass > 133, requiring total stellar mass of > 260 has been considered, but there may be little chance of observing such a high-mass supernova remnant; i.e., the lower bound of the upper mass gap may represent a mass cutoff.

Observations of the LB-1 system of a star and unseen companion were initially interpreted in terms of a black hole with a mass of about 70 solar masses, which would be excluded by the upper mass gap. However, further investigations have weakened this claim.

Black holes may also be found in the mass gap through mechanisms other than those involving a single star, such as the merger of black holes.

Candidates
Our Milky Way galaxy contains several stellar-mass black hole candidates (BHCs) which are closer to us than the supermassive black hole in the galactic center region. Most of these candidates are members of X-ray binary systems in which the compact object draws matter from its partner via an accretion disk. The probable black holes in these pairs range from three to more than a dozen solar masses.

Extragalactic
Candidates outside our galaxy come from gravitational wave detections:

Candidates outside our galaxy from X-ray binaries:

The disappearance of N6946-BH1 following a failed supernova in NGC 6946 may have resulted in the formation of a black hole.

title: Stellar black hole


text:
Allen Woodring

Allen Woodring (February 15, 1898 – November 15, 1982) was an American sprint runner. At the 1920 Olympic trials, he failed to qualify in the 200 meters yet was selected for the national team and won the Olympic gold medal in this event.

Woodring ran for Mercersburg Academy under Jimmy Curran, before competing for the Meadowbrook Club of Philadelphia. He graduated from Syracuse University and later worked as a salesman for the Spalding Company.

After his athletics career ended he worked as a salesman for Sears, Roebuck & Co. In his later years he moved to Florida.

title: Allen Woodring


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Baffin Bay

Baffin Bay (Inuktitut: Saknirutiak Imanga; Avannaata Imaa; Baie de Baffin ), located between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland, is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization as a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is sometimes considered a sea of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is connected to the Atlantic via Davis Strait and the Labrador Sea. The narrower Nares Strait connects Baffin Bay with the Arctic Ocean. The bay is not navigable most of the year because of the ice cover and high density of floating ice and icebergs in the open areas. However, a polynya of about 80000 km2, known as the North Water, opens in summer on the north near Smith Sound. Most of the aquatic life of the bay is concentrated near that region.

Extent
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of Baffin Bay as follows: "On the North. A line from Cape Sheridan, Grant Land (82.58333°N, -60.75°W) to Cape Bryant, Greenland.

On the East. The West Coast of Greenland.

On the South. The parallel of 70° North between Greenland and Baffin Land.

On the West. The Eastern limits of the North-West Passages [The East Coast of Ellesmere Island between C. Sheridan and Cape Norton Shaw (76.48333°N, -78.5°W), thence across to Phillips Point (Coburg Island) through this Island to Marina Peninsula (75.91667°N, -79.16667°W) and across to Cape Fitz Roy (Devon Island) down the East Coast to Cape Sherard (Cape Osborn) (74.58333°N, -80.5°W) and across to Cape Liverpool, Bylot Island (73.73333°N, -77.83333°W); down the East coast of this island to Cape Graham Moore, its southeastern point, and thence across to Cape Macculloch (72.48333°N, -75.13333°W) and down the East coast of Baffin Island to East Bluff, its Southeastern extremity, and thence the Eastern limit of Hudson Strait ]."

History
The area of the bay has been inhabited since c. 500 BC. Around AD 1200, the initial Dorset settlers were replaced by the Thule (the later Inuit) peoples. Recent excavations also suggest that the Norse colonization of the Americas reached the shores of Baffin Bay sometime between the 10th and 15th centuries. The English explorer John Davis was the first recorded European to enter the bay, arriving in 1585. In 1612, a group of English merchants formed the "Company of Merchants of London, Discoverers of the North-West Passage". Their governor Thomas Smythe organized five expeditions to explore the northern coasts of Canada in search of a maritime passage to the Far East. Henry Hudson and Thomas Button explored Hudson Bay, William Gibbons Labrador, and Robert Bylot Hudson Strait and the area which became known as Baffin's Bay after his pilot William Baffin. Aboard Discovery, Baffin charted the area and named Lancaster, Smith, and Jones Sounds after members of his company. By the completion of his 1616 voyage, Baffin held out no hope of an ice-free passage and the area remained unexplored for another two centuries. Over time, his account came to be doubted until it was confirmed by John Ross's 1818 voyage. More advanced scientific studies followed in 1928, in the 1930s and after World War II by Danish, American and Canadian expeditions.

Currently, there are a few Inuit settlements on the Canadian coast of the bay, including Arctic Bay (population 690), Pond Inlet (1,315) and Clyde River (820). Those settlements are accessed and supplied by air and annual sealifts. In 1975, a town was built at Nanisivik to support lead and zinc production at the Nanisivik Mine—the first Canadian mine in the Arctic. The mine was closed in 2002 due to declining resources and metal prices. Whereas the town still has a functional seaport and an airport, as of the 2006 census, it has an official population of zero.

Baffin Bay was the epicenter of a 7.3 magnitude earthquake in 1933. This is the largest known earthquake north of the Arctic Circle. It caused no damage because of its offshore location and the small number of the nearby onshore communities. The northwestern part of the bay remains one of the most seismically active regions in eastern Canada. Five earthquakes of magnitude 6 have occurred here since 1933. The latest strong earthquake occurred on 15 April 2010 and had the magnitude of 5.1.

Geography and geology
Baffin Bay is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by the Baffin Island in the west, Greenland in the east, and Ellesmere Island in the north. It connects to the Atlantic through the Davis Strait, and to the Arctic through several narrow channels of Nares Strait. It is a northwestern extension of the North Atlantic and Labrador Sea. It can also be viewed as a long strait separating Baffin Island and Greenland.

The bay is less than 1000 m deep near the coast, where the sea bottom is covered with gravel, crushed stone and sand. In the centre, there is a deep pit called the Baffin Basin, reaching 2136 m (see depth map), which is mostly covered in silt. Currents form a cyclonic circulation. On the eastern periphery, in summer, the West Greenland Current transports water from the Atlantic Ocean to the North. In its western part, the Baffin Island Current brings the Arctic waters to the south.

Climate, hydrology and hydrochemistry
The climate is Arctic with frequent storms, especially in winter. Average January temperatures are -20 C in the south and -28 C in the north. In July, the average temperature is 7 C. The annual precipitation is 100 – on the Greenland side and about twice as much near Baffin Island.

The water temperature at the surface is below -1 C in winter. In summer, it varies from 4 - 5 C in the south-east to 0 C and below at north-west. The salinity exceeds 34‰ (parts per thousand) in winter. In summer, it is 32‰ on the east and 30–31‰ on the west. Deep waters are formed as a result of mixing of Arctic and Atlantic waters; their temperature is about -0.5 C and salinity is 34.5 ‰. In winter, 80% of the bay is covered with continuous ice, floating ice and fast ice. In some winters, the continuous ice stretches from shore to shore. The ice is most abundant in March and least in August–September. In summer, drifting ice remains in the central and western parts of the bay. Numerous icebergs are formed in this period and are brought, together with ice, to the Atlantic Ocean near Newfoundland.

The tides are semidiurnal, with an average height of 4 m and the maximum of 9 m. Their speed varies between 1 and 3.7 km/h hour and the direction by as much as 180°. This variability results in the collision and crushing of fresh, old, and pack ice. Winds are predominantly north-western through the whole year. South-eastern and eastern winds are common in July and August.

North Water
Between May and July (sometimes April), a significant portion of navigable open water (polynya) forms at the extreme north of the bay, presumably due to the relatively warm Greenland Current. With an area of about 80000 km2 in summer, it is the largest polynya of the Canadian Arctic and covers the Smith Sound between the Ellesmere Island and Greenland. This polynya has a stable position and existed for at least 9,000 years. It was first described in 1616 by William Baffin and was named North Water by whalers of the 18–19th centuries.

Wildlife
The North Water provides air to ice algae and zooplankton and is characterized by abundant fauna. Of about 20,000 beluga whales living in the Baffin Bay, some 15,000 are concentrated at the North Water. Other abundant animals of the region include walrus, narwhal, harp seal, bearded seal, ringed seal, bowhead whale, rorquals and polar bear. All aquatic mammals crucially depend on the availability of open water; they have very limited ability to maintain breathing holes in ice and are all vulnerable to attacks by the polar bear when breathing at the holes. The seals and walrus occupy areas of fast ice, which is essential for giving birth and raising the pups. Bearded seals feed near the bottom of the bay and therefore are restricted to the shallow waters. Ringed seal is the most common meal of the polar bear. It is also an occasional prey of the walrus and Arctic fox. Most large animals of the bay are being traditionally hunted, but the hunting has been restricted in the 20th century in order to preserve the wildlife population. For example, the quota for polar bears in the bay area is 105 per year.

There are about 400 plant and tree species on the bay shores, including birch, willow, alder and plants adapted to salty soils, as well as lyme grass, mosses, and lichens. These serve as food for caribou and rodents, such as lemming. Resident fish species include polar cod, Arctic flounder (Pleuronectidae, Liopsetta), four-horned sculpin and capelin, whereas cod, haddock, herring, halibut, and rattail migrate from the Atlantic. The birds are represented by the little auk, snowy owl, willow ptarmigan, rock ptarmigan, gyrfalcon, Arctic redpoll and guillemots. Most of them migrate to the south during the winter.

Oil and gas
The US Geological Survey has estimated that at least 13% of the world's undiscovered oil deposits and 30% of the world's undiscovered gas pockets are located in the Arctic, with the seas around Greenland potentially holding large amounts of natural gas and lesser amounts of crude oil and natural-gas liquids. Accordingly, the Greenland authorities have offered a large number of off-shore concessions for potential hydrocarbon (oil and gas) extraction. The largest concession-areas are located in seas west of Greenland; primarily in Baffin Bay and the Davis Strait, but with several smaller concessions in the Greenland Sea in the east also.

title: Baffin Bay


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New Mexico State University

New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and the state's first land-grant institution in New Mexico. NMSU has campuses in Alamogordo, Doña Ana County, and Grants, as well as research centers and programs in all 33 counties in the state.

Initially established as Las Cruces College, NMSU was designated a land-grant college in 1889 and renamed New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts; it received its present name in 1960. NMSU offers over 180 degree programs, including 28 doctoral, 58 master's, and 96 baccalaureate programs. It had approximately 21,700 enrolled in Fall 2021, with a faculty-to-student ratio of roughly 1 to 16. New Mexico State's athletic teams, the Aggies, compete at the NCAA Division I level in Conference USA.

NMSU is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". It is particularly noted for its graduate programs in astrophysics, astronomy, education, engineering, business, and nursing. NMSU is the chief space grant college in New Mexico and leads one of 52 national consortia dedicated to space research.

History
Hiram Hadley, an Earlham College-educated teacher from Indiana, founded Las Cruces College. Upon its opening on September 17, 1888, it included an elementary school, a university preparatory school, and a business school; it "was not a college in the contemporary meaning of the word."

A year later, the Territorial Assembly of New Mexico provided for the establishment of an agricultural college and agricultural experiment station with the Rodey Act of 1889. It stated: "Said institution is hereby located at or near the town of Las Cruces in the County of Doña Ana, upon a tract of land of not less than one hundred (100) acres." Designated as the land-grant college for New Mexico under the Morrill Act, it was named the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.

Las Cruces College merged with the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts and opened on January 21, 1890. It began with 35 students and six faculty members. The college was supposed to graduate its first student in 1893, but the only senior, Sam Steel, was murdered before he was able to receive his diploma. Classes met in the two-room adobe building of Las Cruces College until new buildings were erected on the 220 acre campus three miles (5 km) south of Las Cruces. In February 1891, McFie Hall, popularly known as Old Main, opened its doors.

In 1960, to better represent its expanded programs and operations, New Mexico A&M was renamed New Mexico State University.

Organization and administration
Regulated by the New Mexico Constitution, the Regents of New Mexico State University are a corporate body that implements legislation over the control and management of NMSU. The board is made of up five persons appointed by the governor of New Mexico with the consent of the senate.

Full-time faculty members number 694, with a staff of 3,113.

Campus
The main campus of New Mexico State University occupies a core of 900 acres in the city of Las Cruces, New Mexico. It is located adjacent to Interstate 25, surrounded by desert landscape and greenhouses. The main campus is also bordered by Interstate 10, which is the main east–west interstate highway across the southern part of the United States. To the east of Interstate 25, the campus facilities consist of the President's residence, NMSU Golf Course, the "A" Mountain west slope, and the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. South of University Avenue are Pan American Plaza, 48 acres of horse farm, and the Fabian Garcia Science center, which houses the Chile Pepper Institute's research, teaching and demonstration garden, algal biofuels research equipment, grape vineyards and gazebos, and fields and greenhouses for plant research projects. About six miles south of campus, on 203 acres of land, is the Leyendecker Plant Science Research Center.

The Las Cruces campus is home to a nesting population of Swainson's hawks, a raptor species currently protected by federal law. Pedestrians are advised to be careful when walking on Stewart Street, as the birds can be aggressive during nesting season.

The first master plan of the university was to create a "Horseshoe", a U-shaped drive, in an open large lawn. At the center was Old Main, the original campus building, originally known as McFie Hall, which was destroyed by fire in 1910 (the remains are now a college landmark). The cornerstone and remains of Mcfie Hall stand near the flagpole in the middle of the Horseshoe. Today, the Horseshoe is the center of campus and is the location of the main administration building, Hadley Hall, which sits at the top of the Horseshoe, and other classroom buildings.

NMSU is a land-grant institution with a presence in all 33 counties of New Mexico, a satellite learning center in Albuquerque, 13 research and science centers, distance education opportunities, and five campuses in Alamogordo, Carlsbad, Grants, Doña Ana County, and Las Cruces.

Medical school
The Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine at New Mexico State University (BCOM), a private medical school, is located on NMSU's main campus. Medical students can utilize the facilities and amenities of NMSU's campus, including on-campus student housing. BCOM began instruction in August 2016 and graduated its first class in May 2020. BCOM and NMSU created a pipeline program whereby qualified NMSU students are guaranteed a seat at the medical school following graduating from NMSU. BCOM is the first osteopathic medical school in New Mexico and just one of two medical schools in the state, the other being in Albuquerque at the University of New Mexico.

Libraries
NMSU has two major libraries on the main campus, Branson Hall Library and Zuhl Library. Both libraries have a total collection of more than 1 million volumes.

Branson Hall Library
Branson Hall Library was built in 1951 and houses texts and resources related to engineering, business, agriculture, science, special collections, maps, government publications, and archives. The New Mexico State University Library is an official depository for documents produced by United States and State of New Mexico government agencies. The federal government established a system of depositories in 1813 in order to provide government information to the public free of charge. The New Mexico State University Library joined the depository program in 1907

Zuhl Library
Zuhl Library was built in 1992. The library houses texts and resources related to the arts, humanities, and sciences.

Museums and collections
NMSU is home to several museums, collections, and galleries. The NMSU Arthropod Museum, which houses more than 150,000 research and 5,000 teaching specimens, is housed in Skeen Hall. Specimens are used globally for taxonomic research and within the state for community outreach. The University Museum (established in 1959) serves the community as a repository and exhibitor of local and regional culture and history. The Klipsch Museum containts materials representing more than 80 years of audio engineering. The Zuhl Collection combines the functions of an art gallery and natural history museum and showcases thousands of specimens of petrified wood, fossils, and minerals.

Academics
The NMSU faculty senate consists of 66 elected faculty and has shared governance over academic policies across the NMSU system.

NMSU offers a wide variety of programs across multiple disciplines, including agriculture, education, engineering, and the sciences. There are 58 master's degree programs, 96 baccalaureate degree programs, and 28 doctoral programs. Over 4,400 courses are available across 54 academic departments.

In addition to the main campus in Las Cruces, NMSU has community colleges in Alamogordo, Doña Ana County, and Grants, through which it offers academic, vocational/technical, and continuing education programs. In accord with its land-grant mission, the university provides informal, off-campus educational programs through the Cooperative Extension Service. Through a statewide network of nine research facilities, the Agricultural Experiment Station conducts basic and applied research supporting agriculture, natural resources management, environmental quality, and improved quality of life.

NMSU is divided into six colleges and a graduate school:
 * College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences
 * College of Arts and Sciences
 * College of Business
 * College of Engineering
 * College of Health, Education and Social Transformation
 * Honors College
 * Graduate School

Rankings
According to the 2022 college rankings by U.S. News & World Report, NMSU is tied for 263 among National Universities and tied for 132 among public universities in the U.S. USN&WR ranked several programs among the top 200 in the nation, including the College of Engineering's graduate program at 149, the Nursing School for master's degrees (139; tied) and Doctoral degrees (109), and the College of Education's graduate program (125; tied). Forbes listed NMSU as one of "America's Top Colleges in 2021", based on indicators such as alumni salary, debt, return on investment, and graduation rate. In 2022, NMSU was among the top 35 percent of schools in the SMI rankings.

NMSU is recognized as a top institution for minority students. In 2021, it was recognized as one of the Top 100 Colleges and Universities for Hispanics by Hispanic Outlook on Education Magazine. A 2017 report by the National Science Foundation's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics ranked NMSU first for federal funding for science and engineering activities for minority-serving institutions. In 2016, NMSU was among the top 10 universities in awarding bachelor's degrees to Hispanics, including for communications technologies/technicians and support services (seventh); agriculture, agriculture operations and related sciences (eighth); hospitality administration/management (ninth); engineering technologies and engineering-related fields (10); and education (10). The school also ranked among the top 10 universities in conferring bachelor's degrees to Native Americans. The school also ranked ninth for awarding bachelor's degrees to minorities overall for agriculture, agriculture operations and related sciences.

Research programs
The university is home to New Mexico's NASA Space Grant Program.

In 2010, the NMSU Physical Sciences Laboratory secured a study contract with Reaction Engines Limited, a British aerospace company that is developing technology for an airbreathing single stage to orbit, precooled air turboramjet based spaceplane.

The NMSU Department of Astronomy operates the Sunspot Solar Observatory and Apache Point Observatory, in Sunspot, New Mexico, including the site of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

NMSU is a research active university, with $150 million per year in externally funded research programs. Its estimated annual economic impact in New Mexico is $1 billion. Anchoring the southern end of New Mexico's Rio Grande Research Corridor, NMSU is the only university to reach the platinum, or highest, level of service to NASA's Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program. SATOP makes the expertise of corporate and university researchers available to small businesses.

Academic centers and research institutes

 * Agricultural Experiment Station – conducts basic and applied research supporting agriculture, natural resources management, environmental quality, and improved quality of life.
 * Arrowhead Center – provides business assistance, technology incubation, intellectual property commercialization, economic policy analysis to local businesses as well as students, staff and faculty at the university.
 * Institute for Energy and Environment (IEE) – a multidisciplinary, energy sector and water resource institute. IEE's goal is to provide global leadership, expertise, and technology for public policy, technical and human resource development to meet growing energy and water needs. The International Environmental Design Contest is co-hosted by the IEE.
 * Manufacturing Technology and Engineering Center (M-TEC) – supports economic development in New Mexico by providing manufacturing education, technical assistance, and other extension services to industries in New Mexico.

Student life
New Mexico State University enrolls more than 21,000 students from the United States and 71 foreign countries.

Student organizations
NMSU student organizations include a Greek system and several religious organizations. The Associated Students of New Mexico State University (ASNMSU) is the student government and is considered a departmental organization. It consists of an elected student body president, vice president, 30 senators, and an appointed student supreme court. Senators are elected to two-semester terms, with two elections each school year, in each, 15 senators are elected. There are 12 different departments within ASNMSU, that manage various events such as the homecoming parade, free student concerts, a free cab program for students, and many others. Each department is overseen by a director, who is appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate. ASNMSU manages a budget of over $1 million.

Greek life
There are numerous fraternities and sororities at New Mexico State University. Kappa Sigma was suspended after a student was shot during hazing in 2020.

Media
Founded in 1907, The Round Up is the oldest student-run news publication at New Mexico State University. In fall 2017, it reduced its printing frequency and now provides current online news coverage as well as special print editions.

KRWG-TV is a full-service television station in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and is operated and owned by New Mexico State University. It is a member station of PBS (Public Broadcasting Service).

Puerto del Sol is a literary magazine run by graduate students in the English Department. It has been in print for over fifty years and currently publishes biannually. The magazine also curates a Black Voices series on its website.

News22 is a student-run television newscast that airs live on KRWG-TV three days per week during the nine-month academic year. The broadcast is produced by New Mexico State University journalism students. In 2011, News22 added Noticias22 en Español, a Spanish language broadcast that airs Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Las Cruces, Silver City and El Paso, Texas.

Kokopelli is an online news publication produced by New Mexico State University journalism students. Kokopelli provides breaking news, features and weekly sports coverage during the nine-month academic year. Kokopelli is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press.

NMSU owns and operates two radio stations: KRUX (91.5 FM) and KRWG-FM. KRUX is entirely student–run and non-commercial; it was founded in 1989. KRUX is financed through student fees. KRWG-FM (90.7 FM) is a public, non-commercial, full-service FM radio station. It serves the area within southwestern New Mexico and Far West Texas. It is an affiliated station of National Public Radio and features NPR programming.

Aggies
The nickname was derived from its roots and beginnings as an agricultural school and the state's only designated land-grant university.

Victory Bell
In the 1940s, the Victory Bell, a gift of the Class of 1939, was housed in an open-sided structure on the Horseshoe and rung to announce Aggie victories. In 1972, the bell was rededicated as the NMSU Engineer's Bell and mounted on a platform near Goddard Hall. On game days, various school organizations took turns in toting the ringing bell around Las Cruces before kick-off. The Bell was then taken to Aggie Memorial Stadium where it rang after Aggie touchdowns. More recently, the bell has been permanently mounted at field level just behind the south goal post of the stadium.

"A" Tradition
In 1920, students of then New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts scouted for an appropriate place to display their school letter. Tortugas Mountain, located three miles (5 km) east of campus, seemed a natural spot. Brave males gathered enough stones to form a big "A" easily visible from campus and the surrounding area. On the following day, April 1, students trudged up the mountain side with their five-gallon cans of whitewash and splashed it on the stones, turning them into a gleaming white "A". For many years, giving the "A" its annual fresh coat of whitewash was an all-school effort. The seniors mixed lime and water at the foot of the mountain and the freshmen and sophomores toted the mixture up to the juniors who splashed it on the "A." With the growth of the university through the years, the tradition was taken over by the Greek Council.

The Pride of New Mexico Marching Band
The marching band of New Mexico State University is known as the Pride of New Mexico. It is composed of approximately 200 musicians, dancers, and auxiliary.

The Wonder Dog
At kickoff of every NMSU home football game, Aggie fans await the "Wonder Dog" to retrieve the kicking tee from the football field. This tradition started in the mid-1990s. The first "Wonder Dog" was Smoki, a border collie-Australian shepherd mix born in Capitan, New Mexico, and trained by Joel Sims, an NMSU alumnus. Smoki "The Wonder Dog" entertained the Aggie crowd for six years and retired in 2002. She also debuted in a Hollywood film which co-starred Kevin Costner and Dennis Quaid, entitled "Wyatt Earp", as a town dog. Smoki "The Wonder Dog" died at the age of 15 in 2005. Since then, the tradition ended until 2012, when a tryout for the next "Wonder Dog" took place. A panel of celebrity judges chose a four-year old border collie, Striking as the next "Wonder Dog". Striking first appeared on August 30, 2012, at the NMSU-Sacramento State home game.

Crimson Fridays
Every Friday, some students, faculties, staff, and alumni of NMSU wear crimson colors to show support for the university and the school's sports programs.

NMSU ring
The official ring of New Mexico State University is given to students with junior and senior standing, and alumni of NMSU, to celebrate and commemorate their achievements and NMSU traditions. The official Ring Ceremony is sponsored by the Alumni Association, which is held every spring and fall Semester at the Aggie Memorial Tower.

The official ring is manufactured by Balfour, which comes with white gold and yellow gold, with an optional stone; diamond or cubic zirconia at the centerpiece of the ring; and is presented with Hatch Chile Ristra. The top of the ring highlights the NMSU three triangles school seal, encircled with the school name. The three triangles represent NMSU's role as a land-grant university – teaching, research, and service. It also represents the connection of Spanish, American Indian, and Anglo cultures in New Mexico, and the triangulation of NMSU campus with Interstate 10 linking Interstate 25 in the first principal interchange of the Pan American Highway in North America. The one side of the ring shows the Aggie Memorial Tower, in honor of Aggies who died for the country, and the other side of the ring displays the majestic Organ Mountains. Students wear the ring facing the school name. Upon granting of degrees, graduates should turn the ring around facing outward, which symbolizes that they are ready to face the world.

Noche de Luminarias
A tradition that signals the beginning of the holiday season is the "Noche de Luminarias" or "Night of Lights". A university tradition that started as the President's Holiday Reception in 1984, which starts the holiday season with a night of entertainment and festivities. It is considered one of the largest luminaria displays in the state of New Mexico. Each candle set is lit inside a paper bag. With more than 6,000 luminarias, it begins at the Educational Services Building, extends towards the International Mall and then encircles the Corbett Center Student Union. The display is set up by the Las Cruces High School band and accompanies visitors as they walk through the lighted path by the Las Cruces High School Brass Choir.

Athletics
NMSU's teams are called the Aggies, a nickname derived from the university's agricultural beginnings.

New Mexico State is a member of Conference USA (C-USA), as of July 1, 2023. Conference USA is the sixth conference NMSU has been affiliated with in its football history. New Mexico State spent the past eighteen seasons as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Before that, NMSU was a member of the Big West Conference, Sun Belt Conference, Missouri Valley Conference and the Border Conference.

In 2023, two basketball players complained of sexual assault during hazing rituals. Deuce Benjamin settled out of court for $4.125 million, Shak Odunewu settled out of court for $3.875 million, and the case was dropped with no verdict. As a result of the investigation, the head coach Greg Heiar was fired and students were found guilty of a Title VI violation by the university and were removed. A criminal case against those students who were on the 2022-23 basketball team, is still ongoing. A second lawsuit was filed against the university, the athletic director and several coaches and students, alleging the presence of guns on campus and hazing, and that the coach was aware but failed to act, all in violation of university policy.

The Women's Equestrian Team was first established in 2004 and cut following the 2016–2017 season due to budget cuts.

Rivalries
NMSU maintains strong athletic rivalries with the University of New Mexico. The UNM-NMSU rivalry is called the Rio Grande Rivalry (aka Battle of I-25), a competitive series based on points awarded to the winners of head-to-head competitions between the two universities in every sport. A rotating trophy is granted to the winning university for a period of one year, until the award presentation the following year. Different traditions take place at each school the night before game day.

The university also has a strong rivalry with the University of Texas at El Paso known as The Battle of I-10. UTEP and NMSU are located just over 40 miles apart.

Alumni
There are approximately 120,000 living NMSU alumni. The NMSU Alumni Association is one of the university's oldest organizations, dating from May 24, 1898. Notable alumni include Kevin Johnson, President and CEO of Starbucks Corporation; Paul Wilbur Klipsch, founder of Klipsch Audio Technologies; Jerome Shaw, EVP/COO of Volt Information Sciences, Inc; Christine Aguilera, president of SkyMall; Jorge Gardea-Torresdey, a nanoparticle researcher and professor at the University of Texas at El Paso; Alvy Ray Smith, co-founder of Pixar; and Kathy Lueders, the first woman to head NASA's human spaceflight program as the Associate Administrator of the Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate.

Faculty
Notable faculty include:
 * Clyde Tombaugh, an astronomer best known for his discovery of Pluto
 * Antonya Nelson, named by The New Yorker as one of the 20 best young fiction writers in America, has published three novels and more than 50 stories

title: New Mexico State University