title: MyNetworkTV

text: Heavy local sports preemptions were previously a problem for MyNetworkTV at its launch, as they were for all of the U.S. broadcast networks that have debuted since the January 1995 launches of The WB and UPN. However, these have become less of an issue with the end of the network's telenovela strategy, where an airing of the pre-empted telenovela episode rescheduled as soon as possible on the same day as required by default rather than the flexibility that affiliates of UPN, The WB or The CW had to push a show off to a weekend slot. With the service's switch to an all-rerun schedule in 2009, this effectively allows stations to pre-empt repeat programming at will to fit in sporting events (mainly those provided by syndication services such as ESPN Regional Television and the ACC Network, as some local events that had aired on its affiliates have moved to regional sports networks in the time since MyNetworkTV launched) without much consequence. During the telenovela era, affiliates often scheduled contractual "make goods" of the network's daily schedule between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m. local time. Not only are these light viewing hours, but they air after Nielsen processes its preliminary morning network ratings.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: The network's original format focused on the 18-to-49-year-old, English-speaking population with programming consisting exclusively of telenovelas (a version of the soap opera format rarely attempted on American television outside of Spanish language broadcast networks, much less in primetime), starting with "Desire" and "Fashion House". Originally, each series aired Monday through Friday in continuous cycles of 13-week seasons, with a one-hour recap of the week's episodes airing on Saturdays; when one series ended, another unrelated series would begin the following week. The fifth and sixth series, "American Heiress" and "Saints and Sinners", appeared one hour per week on Wednesdays before abruptly vanishing from the schedule. The MyNetworkTV serial lineup was broadcast in Australia on the W. Channel under the block name "FOXTELENOVELA". In Canada, the first "Desire"/"Fashion House" cycle aired weekday afternoons on Toronto independent station CKXT-TV, which decided not to air subsequent cycles for unknown reasons.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: The announcement of the network also stated that additional unscripted reality-based and current-affairs programming were in development. These included:


title: MyNetworkTV

text: MyNetworkTV abandoned the development of these programs in mid-2006, choosing to focus solely on telenovelas.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: Later announcements by Fox regarding additional programming to air on MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated stations – such as "Desperate Housewives" repeats in traditional weekend syndication, a trial run of the sitcom "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" (which later moved to TBS), and the daytime viewer-participation game show "My GamesFever" – never applied to the network as a whole.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: MyNetworkTV does not supply any children's programming, late-night programming or any news or sports programming. San Francisco affiliate KRON-TV (which has maintained a news department since it launched as an NBC affiliate in 1949), Philadelphia affiliate WPHL-TV (which produces a morning newscast, while its 10:00pm newscast is produced by ABC O&O WPVI-TV), and Escanaba affiliate WJMN-TV (which started its news operation as a CBS affiliate) are currently the only stations aligned with the service that produce their own local news programming, giving MyNetworkTV the fewest news-producing stations among the six major broadcast networks (in comparison, The CW has four news-producing stations within its portfolio).


title: MyNetworkTV

text: Some Fox stations that declined to carry 4Kids TV passed on that block to an affiliate of UPN/The CW or The WB/MyNetworkTV, or an independent station, in order for the Fox affiliate to air general entertainment programming or local newscasts on Saturday mornings (for example, WFLD in Chicago moved the 4Kids TV schedule to co-owned then-UPN affiliate WPWR-TV, while WFLD aired infomercials).


title: MyNetworkTV

text: Some MyNetworkTV affiliates began carrying the Litton-owned E/I "Go Time" block since October 1, 2016. It would mainly be carried by CBS Television Stations, along with Gray Television and Sinclair Broadcast Group to carry the block. Other groups carrying it are Cox, Hearst, NPG, Scripps, and Weigel.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: Some MyNetworkTV affiliates began carrying the Steve Rotfeld Productions-owned E/I Xploration Station block since September 13, 2014. It would mainly be carried by Fox Television Stations, along with Nexstar Media Group to carry the block. Other groups carrying it are Gray Television and Sinclair Broadcast Group.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: Many of the service's other affiliates carry local newscasts produced through a news share agreement with a station affiliated with one of the major networks (most often, these are produced by those owned or managed alongside the local MyNetworkTV-affiliate station), and may serve as broadcasters for local sports teams. They may also air Big Four network programming as an alternate outlet due to either breaking news or major sporting events.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: In response to the telenovela lineup's poor ratings performance, highlighted by an average household rating of 0.7%, reports surfaced that Fox executives were planning a major revamp of MyNetworkTV's programming, decreasing its reliance on telenovelas and adding new unscripted programs to the schedule such as reality shows, game shows (such as "My GamesFever"), movies and sports, and a possible revisit to a deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. However, MyNetworkTV instead signed a deal with another mixed martial arts organization, the International Fight League, in conjunction with Fox Sports Net.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: On February 1, 2007, Greg Meidel, who was named to the newly created position of network president just ten days earlier, confirmed the rumors and unveiled a dramatically revamped lineup. The intent of the shakeup was to increase viewer awareness of the network (and boost viewership, in turn), as well as to satisfy local affiliates who were disappointed over the poor ratings performance of the network under its initial format. After March 7 (when "Wicked Wicked Games" and "Watch Over Me" finished their runs), telenovelas were reduced to occupying only two nights of its programming schedule, airing in two-hour movie-style blocks rather than each of the serials airing in a one-hour, five-night-a-week format. The remainder of the schedule included theatrical movies and the new "IFL Battleground" (originally titled "Total Impact"). In addition, the Saturday night telenovela recaps ended immediately, with movies running on that night until March. The 1986 film "Something Wild" aired on February 3, becoming the network's first non-telenovela presentation.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: Specials (ranging from the World Music Awards to the Hawaiian Tropic International Beauty Pageant) and reality programming were also a part of the network's reformatting, with the first two specials airing on March 7. MyNetworkTV also reduced its telenovela programming to a single night each week, with "American Heiress" and "Saints & Sinners" airing for one hour each on Wednesdays until their unexpected termination, due to incompatible flow with "IFC Battleground" from Monday to Tuesday as far as promotions. The new Thursday night movie block featured mostly action/adventure films, with Friday night featuring a mix of contemporary classic films, beginning on June 5.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: A side effect of the new programming schedule was the loss of the network's claim that it was the only U.S. broadcast network at the time to have its entire programming schedule available in high definition, due to the IFL, some of the network's movies and additional programs being produced exclusively in 480i standard definition. In the fall of 2007, MyNetworkTV dropped telenovelas altogether, and began to air reality series and sports programs.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: On September 1, 2007, the network aired its first live program, the men's final of the AVP Croc Tour's Cincinnati Open. The network debuted its first sitcom, the Flavor Flav vehicle "Under One Roof", on April 16, 2008; because the series used Canadian writers, it was unaffected by the 2007–08 Writers Guild strike.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: On February 26, 2008, the network announced it had picked up the rights to air "WWE SmackDown", which left The CW at the end of September 2008. The first "SmackDown" episode on MyNetworkTV aired on October 3, 2008. The first episode of "WWE SmackDown" pulled in the largest audience in MyNetworkTV history with 3.2 million viewers, and for the first time, put the network in fifth place for the night – ahead of The CW – and was the top-rated program that night in the male 18-34 and 18-49 demographics.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: Depending on the market, many current and former affiliate stations have presented MyNetworkTV programs out of pattern – either to run syndicated programs or local newscasts or because of an existing affiliation with another network:


title: MyNetworkTV

text: MyNetworkTV's debut was far from successful. "Desire" scored a 1.1 household rating/2 share; "Fashion House" went up to 1.3/2. Fox had sold about half of its projections of $50 million in advance commercial sales. On March 7, 2007, MyNetworkTV began to be included in Nielsen's daily "Television Index" reports, alongside the other major broadcast networks, although it was still not part of the "fast nationals" that incorporate the other networks. Last-minute changes to MyNetworkTV's 2007-08 fall schedule included the retitling of the reality series "Divorce Wars" to "Decision House", and the addition of "Celebrity Exposé" and "Control Room Presents" to the network's Monday lineup as well as a one-hour "IFL Battleground", followed by "NFL Total Access" on Saturdays.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: The network's shift from telenovelas to reality shows and movies produced only a small bump in the ratings. It averaged only a .7 household rating during September 2007. MyNetworkTV continues to be the second lowest-rated English-language broadcast network in the United States, ahead of only Ion Television. The night MyNetworkTV debuted "WWE SmackDown", the network took fifth place in household ratings ahead of The CW, but went back to sixth place shortly afterward. Of the six broadcast networks, Nielsen Media Research said that only MyNetworkTV had increased viewership, with 1.76 million viewers per night, up 750,000 from the previous season.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: On January 5, 2009, MyNetworkTV aired episodes of the 2002 revival of "The Twilight Zone" (which originally aired on UPN, one of the networks MyNetworkTV had replaced). The series helped the network's ratings rise, along with "WWE SmackDown", becoming the second highest-rated program on the network. The highest-rated program to have ever aired on MyNetworkTV is a December 10, 2008 broadcast of the 1990 comedy film "Home Alone", which brought in 3.70 million viewers (although not a record), but earned a 1.4 rating among the 18-49 adult demographic.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: On February 9, 2009, Fox Entertainment Group announced that MyNetworkTV would convert from a television network to a programming service, similar to that of Ion Television, with a focus on repeats of acquired programs originally aired on broadcast and cable networks and in first-run syndication. Litton Entertainment had reportedly expressed interest in leasing MyNetworkTV's Saturday evening time slots, which MyNetworkTV chose to instead turn back over to its affiliates. MyNetworkTV began airing more syndicated programming in the fall, which included game shows and dramas, five nights a week. This required the network's affiliates to re-negotiate a new affiliate agreement with the new corporation within Fox operating MyNetworkTV, Master Distribution Service, Inc., though it also gave a full and unencumbered "out" to stations which chose to end their association with MyNetworkTV under this guise, which Ion Television did with their three affiliates.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: On April 12, 2010, WWE announced that "WWE SmackDown" would move to the Syfy cable channel that October; the move left MyNetworkTV with no first-run programming other than that it shared with its syndicators. Despite the lack of first-run programming, MyNetworkTV renewed its affiliation contracts for three more years on February 14, 2011. The programming service has seen significant viewership growth since its 2006 startup as a television network. Although ratings on MyNetworkTV do not match those of the other broadcast networks, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook noted his approval of its business model at the time, saying that Nexstar's MyNetworkTV stations get 'more (local ad) inventory per hour' than they would be associated with a traditional network such as Fox or ABC. Nexstar has since become the largest affiliate base for The CW through several acquisitions.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: In announcing its fall schedule for the 2012-13 schedule, MyNetworkTV executives revealed that the programming service increased ratings over the previous year, and rated as the #6 most-watched network during the 2011–12 season with around 2.5 million viewers.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: MyNetworkTV has 186 owned-and-operated or affiliate stations in the United States, reaching 84.39% of all U.S. households with at least one television set (totaling approximately 263,699,742 homes). This number includes six stations owned at the time of its launch by companies involved in the founding of competitor The CW: three were owned by Tribune Broadcasting (located in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Seattle), and three owned by CBS Corporation (the Gannett Company purchased Atlanta affiliate WATL from Tribune shortly after Fox confirmed it as a MyNetworkTV affiliate, with the sale being finalized on August 7, 2006). The Tribune Company sold its stake in The WB, in exchange for long-term affiliation contracts with The CW (Time Warner and CBS jointly own the network instead).


title: MyNetworkTV

text: On March 6, 2006, the Sinclair Broadcast Group announced an agreement to affiliate 17 of its stations with MyNetworkTV (consisting mostly of stations that were set to lose their WB affiliations when The CW launched, as well as a few that were affiliated with UPN or operated as independent stations). This occurred despite the widespread presumption that affiliations with The CW, which at that point was in the process of signing affiliates in most markets, would be more valuable; however, Sinclair implied that MyNetworkTV was more financially attractive for the company (of the Sinclair stations that initially affiliated with MyNetworkTV, San Antonio affiliate KMYS has since disaffiliated from the service; its August 30, 2010 affiliation swap with Fredericksburg-based CW affiliate KCWX was the first and so far only known affiliation switch between same-market affiliates of the two outlets since their formation in 2006). One day later on March 7, Raycom Media announced that its WB and UPN stations (including WUAB/Cleveland, Ohio, KFVE/Honolulu, Hawaii and WBXH-CA/Baton Rouge, Louisiana) would also become charter affiliates of MyNetworkTV.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: One of the stations named in a list of newly signed MyNetworkTV affiliates that Fox Entertainment Group released on April 26, 2006, was KNVA in Austin, Texas, which The CW had also added to its own list of confirmed affiliates one week prior. On May 1, 2006, another previously-confirmed CW affiliate, KWKB in Iowa City, Iowa, signed on as a MyNetworkTV charter affiliate. Until October 2009, these two stations were the only ones to be aligned with both new networks (KNVA has since become an exclusive CW affiliate as parent station KXAN-TV converted its semi-satellite KBVO into a standalone MyNetworkTV affiliate); KNVA branded its MyNetworkTV lineup under the banner "MyNetworkTV on The CW Austin," while KWKB's website features station logos labeled as both "KWKB The CW" and "My KWKB". In May, WAWB in Huntsville, Alabama officially announced that it would become a MyNetworkTV affiliate, and subsequently changed its call letters to WAMY.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: On July 12, 2006, the network announced affiliation agreements with seven additional stations (including WBFS-TV/Miami, KTVD/Denver, WUPL/New Orleans and WAWS/Jacksonville, Florida (WAWS, along with WSYX/Columbus, Ohio and WHP-TV/Harrisburg, Pennsylvania carry MyNetworkTV on digital subchannels). The deal with CBS Television Stations to have MyNetworkTV affiliate with stations that were left out of The CW's affiliation deals with the group came as a surprise in the broadcasting industry, especially after the icy reception between CBS and News Corporation (which became 21st Century Fox through the July 2013 spin-off of the company's publishing unit and Australian television properties) that began after both it and The CW came into the picture, as they refused to allow WBFS, WUPL and Boston's WSBK-TV to affiliate with MyNetworkTV as a response to pulling UPN branding from that network's Fox-owned stations.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: In August 2006, MyNetworkTV filled in its remaining gaps within the top 100 television markets. On August 11, the network announced affiliations with WNAC-TV in Providence, Rhode Island (as a secondary affiliate) and WNGT-LP in Toledo, Ohio. Additionally, on August 22, MyNetworkTV added KAUT-TV in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and WRGT-TV in Dayton, Ohio (the latter of which would carry the network on a digital subchannel) to the affiliate list on its website; also that month, WZMY in Derry, New Hampshire was announced as the network's Boston area affiliate (WBIN – the former WZMY – disaffiliated with MyNetworkTV in September 2011, at which time WSBK (which had shunned MyNetworkTV at its formation in 2006) took over the MyNetworkTV affiliation in Boston; KAUT became an independent station in September 2012, with MyNetworkTV moving to former independent KSBI).


title: MyNetworkTV

text: From its inception as a network until July 2010, Mobile, Alabama was the largest city where MyNetworkTV did not have an affiliate, although Fort Walton Beach, Florida-based WFGX serves as the affiliate for the Mobile–Pensacola–Fort Walton Beach market. This was due to WFGX's weak analog signal, which was not receivable west of Pensacola, and the lack of a must-carry agreement with Comcast's Mobile system, most likely a remnant of the station's former status as a low-rated Jewelry Television affiliate prior to MyNetworkTV's launch); WFGX has since relocated its digital transmitter to Robertsdale, Alabama (where the Mobile-Pensacola market's other television stations maintain transmitters), providing an over-the-air MyNetworkTV affiliate in the Mobile area proper for the first time. On September 28, 2009, three stations owned by Ion Media Networks (WPXX-TV in Memphis, Tennessee and WEPX-TV, along with satellite station WPXU-TV, in the Greenville-New Bern-Washington, North Carolina market), due to an affiliation agreement made by their previous owners, dropped their MyNetworkTV affiliations to become full-time Ion Television owned-and-operated stations as they had been prior to September 2006 (the affiliation in the Greenville-New Bern market was taken over by NBC affiliate WITN-TV, which carries the network on a digital subchannel).


title: MyNetworkTV

text: Memphis CW affiliate WLMT – which picked up MyNetworkTV for the sole purpose of carrying "SmackDown", and due to the conversion into a programming service – elected to not carry the remainder of the network's schedule; eventually, after "SmackDown" moved to Syfy, WLMT began carrying the remainder of the MyNetworkTV lineup as a secondary affiliation (to the Retro Television Network) on its second digital subchannel.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: Also in September 2009, Des Moines, Iowa affiliate KDMI disaffiliated from MyNetworkTV, replacing it with programming from the station's existing This TV affiliation. CW affiliate KCWI-TV picked up the local rights to "SmackDown", and for nearly a year afterward, aired it in a manner very similar to its scheduling on WLMT. Until October 3, 2011, when KDMI rejoined the service, Des Moines was the largest television market without a MyNetworkTV affiliate – either over-the-air or on cable (CBS affiliate KCCI took over the MyNetworkTV affiliation from KDMI in December 2014, carrying it as a primary affiliation on its third digital subchannel). On September 19, 2011, Cedar Rapids, Iowa affiliate KWKB dropped the service, while retaining its existing CW affiliation; ABC affiliate KCRG-TV later picked up MyNetworkTV for its second digital subchannel.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: On February 10, 2014, St. Louis affiliate WRBU disaffiliated from MyNetworkTV, and converted into an Ion Television O&O, as a result of its sale to Ion Media Networks through Roberts Broadcasting's gradual sale of its television stations in order to raise money to pay off creditors in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings; this resulted in St. Louis temporarily displacing Spokane, Washington as the largest market without a MyNetworkTV affiliate until November 17, 2014, when CBS affiliate KMOV began carrying it on a digital subchannel.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: Due to the availability of "instant duopoly" digital subchannels that are likely easily available on cable and satellite, and the overall lack of a need to settle for a secondary affiliation with shows aired in problematic time slots, both The CW and MyNetworkTV launched with far greater national coverage than that enjoyed by UPN and The WB when those networks started in January 1995. For several years, UPN had affiliation gaps in several of the top 30 markets, and by 2005 managed to reach only 86% of the population. This resulted in that network having to settle for secondary affiliations with stations that were already affiliated with other networks. In those markets, programs (such as "" and "") were either shown out of their intended timeslots or not at all, leading to many viewer complaints. There are a handful of smaller markets, however, where MyNetworkTV holds a secondary affiliation – even on digital subchannels – because those markets are home to only a very small number of stations, and want to place more emphasis on programming from ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox – which may have previously lacked affiliations in those markets – on those subchannels.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: Nevertheless, because MyNetworkTV was announced after the formation of The CW and therefore got most of the "leftover" stations shut out by The CW, there are still availability issues in some markets. Also, the network is mostly relegated to low-powered stations in some smaller markets, which do not have must-carry status. The arrival of "WWE SmackDown" to the network has made this issue the most visible, as wrestling fans complained about the lack of availability for MyNetworkTV in several markets that have CW affiliations. This was most evident in Lexington, Kentucky, where local "SmackDown" viewers actually protested that they could not watch the program because low-powered MyNetworkTV/Retro Television Network affiliate WBLU-LP lacked carriage on cable providers in the market, and as an Equity Media Holdings station with no local presence outside of engineering staff, had no communication with the station to speak of. That was solved shortly afterward when ABC affiliate WTVQ agreed to move its weather forecast service to digital subchannel 36.3 and convert the 36.2 subchannel into a MyNetworkTV affiliate, stripping WBLU of its affiliation in the process.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: On September 19th, 2022, WSBK-TV in Boston, Massachusetts and WBFS-TV in Miami, Florida both dropped MyNetworkTV and returned as full-time Independent stations, leaving Boston and Miami as the largest markets without a MyNetworkTV affiliate.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: In the months leading up to MyNetworkTV's launch, several of its charter stations changed their on-air identities in preparation for joining the network, including all of the network's owned-and-operated stations under sister company Fox Television Stations. Affiliates also began to air network promotions featuring the theme, "Entertainment you can call your own." At first, many Fox-owned charter stations branded their soon-to-be MyNetworkTV O&Os with the "My" moniker (for example, WWOR-TV was branded as "My 9"). However, by the third week of October 2006, at least one station, Los Angeles O&O KCOP-TV, went to a two-column brand – verbally identifying as "MyNetworkTV Channel 13," and using a logo combining that used by the network (on the left side) and the station's channel number, 13 (on the right); KCOP switched to the simpler "My 13" branding in May 2007.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: While "My [channel #]" is the conventional branding style for MyNetworkTV's stations, some stations use the network's logo style with different names, such as WSTR-TV (which formerly branded as "My 64", but revived its former brand "Star 64" in 2009). Especially after its shift in business model, some affiliates began to drop the "My" branding and logo in favor of local brands, such as KZJO (which re-branded from "myQ²", in reference to its sister station KCPQ "Q13 Fox", to "JoeTV", following similar moves by Tribune Media-owned The CW stations to adopt local brands), WTTA (which switched its branding from "My TV Tampa Bay" to "Great 38" in September 2013), WPMY (which switched from "My Pittsburgh TV" to "22 the Point" in August 2015 and even changed their call sign to WPNT to fit the new branding), former affiliate KAUT-TV (initially "OK43", but later "Freedom 43" as part of its efforts to appeal to Oklahoma's military community), and various Nexstar Media Group-owned affiliates (which use similar brands derived from their call letters and channel numbers, such as KARZ-TV "Z42").


title: MyNetworkTV

text: In 2017, Fox began to re-brand some of its MyNetworkTV O&Os to closer associate them with their parent Fox stations, such as WDCA, which became "Fox 5 Plus". Meredith emulated this approach on KPDX and WNEM-DT2, which similarly re-branded as "Fox 12 Plus" and "WNEM-TV 5 Plus". As it had recently become a MyNetworkTV O&O, KZJO was brought under this scheme in 2021 replacing "JoeTV" with "Fox 13+" (as part of the discontinuation of the "Q13 Fox" branding). Meanwhile, KCOP simply rebranded under its call letters after moving MyNetworkTV to an overnight schedule.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: At the time plans for MyNetworkTV were announced, there was at least one station that was using a similar moniker. WZMY-TV in Derry, New Hampshire filed a trademark for the "MyTV" name on July 6, 2005, and for a short time there was speculation that the station would file a lawsuit against Fox for the use of "MyTV". The concerns were rendered moot in July 2006, when WZMY announced that it would be Boston's affiliate for the new network.


title: MyNetworkTV

text: MyNetworkTV does not display an on-screen logo bug in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, although its affiliates are inclined to display their own logo bug during the service's program lineup if they choose to incorporate it. However, on November 13, 2006, it began to incorporate a translucent logo of the program currently being aired on the bottom left side, but it discontinued this practice in March with the beginning of the third telenovela cycle.


title: Macha

text: Macha () was a sovereignty goddess of ancient Ireland associated with the province of Ulster, particularly the sites of Navan Fort ("Eamhain Mhacha") and Armagh ("Ard Mhacha"), which are named after her. Several figures called Macha appear in Irish mythology and folklore, all believed to derive from the same goddess. She is said to be one of three sisters known as 'the three Morrígna'. Like other sovereignty goddesses, Macha is associated with the land, fertility, kingship, war and horses.


title: Macha

text: Proinsias Mac Cana discusses three Machas: Macha wife of Nemed, Queen Macha wife of Cimbáeth, and Macha wife of Crunnchu who caused the debility of the Ulstermen. Gregory Toner discusses four, with the addition of Macha Mong Ruad.


title: Macha

text: The name is presumably derived from Proto-Celtic *"makajā" denoting "a plain" (genitive *"makajās" "of the plain"). In modern Scottish Gaelic, the etymologically related term "machair" refers to a fertile grassy plain that is maintained by continuous trampling and grazing of livestock.


title: Macha

text: In the Dindsenchas Macha is called "Grian Banchure", the "Sun of Womanfolk" and is referred to as the daughter of Midir of Brí Léith.


title: Macha

text: A poem in the "Lebor Gabála Érenn" mentions Macha as one of the daughters of Partholón, leader of the first settlement of Ireland after the flood, although it records nothing about her.


title: Macha

text: Various sources record a second Macha as the wife of Nemed, leader of the second settlement of Ireland after the flood. She was the first of Nemed's people to die in Ireland – twelve years after their arrival according to Geoffrey Keating, twelve days after their arrival according to the "Annals of the Four Masters". It is said that the hilltop where she was buried was named after her: "Ard Mhacha", "Macha's high place". The surrounding woodland was cleared by Nemed's folk and named "Magh Mhacha", "Macha's plain". She is described as the daughter of red-weaponed Aed, as the raven of the raids and diffuser of all excellences.


title: Macha

text: Macha, daughter of Ernmas, of the Tuatha Dé Danann, appears in many early sources. She is often mentioned together with her sisters, "Badb and Morrigu, whose name was Anand". The three (with varying names) are often considered a triple goddess associated with war. "O'Mulconry's Glossary", a thirteenth-century compilation of glosses from medieval manuscripts preserved in the "Yellow Book of Lecan", describes Macha as "one of the three "morrígna"" (the plural of "Morrígan"), and says the term "Mesrad Machae", "the mast of Macha", refers to "the heads of men that have been slaughtered". A version of the same gloss in MS H.3.18 identifies Macha with Badb, calling the trio "raven women" who instigate battle. Keating explicitly calls them "goddesses", but medieval Irish tradition was keen to remove all trace of pre-Christian religion. Macha is said to have been killed by Balor during the battle with the Fomorians.


title: Macha

text: Macha Mong Ruad ("red hair"), daughter of Áed Rúad ("red fire" or "fire lord" – a name of the Dagda), was, according to medieval legend and historical tradition, the only queen in the List of High Kings of Ireland. Her father Áed rotated the kingship with his cousins Díthorba and Cimbáeth, seven years at a time. Áed died after his third stint as king, and when his turn came round again, Macha claimed the kingship. Díthorba and Cimbáeth refused to allow a woman to take the throne, and a battle ensued. Macha won, and Díthorba was killed. She won a second battle against Díthorba's sons, who fled into the wilderness of Connacht. She married Cimbáeth, with whom she shared the kingship. Macha pursued Díthorba's sons alone, disguised as a leper, and overcame each of them in turn when they tried to have sex with her, tied them up, and carried the three of them bodily to Ulster. The Ulstermen wanted to have them killed, but Macha instead enslaved them and forced them to build Emain Macha (Navan Fort near Armagh), to be the capital of the Ulaid, marking out its boundaries with her brooch (explaining the name "Emain Macha" as "eó-muin Macha" or "Macha's neck-brooch"). Macha ruled together with Cimbáeth for seven years, until he died of plague at Emain Macha, and then a further fourteen years on her own, until she was killed by Rechtaid Rígderg. The "Lebor Gabála" synchronises her reign to that of Ptolemy I Soter (323–283 BC). The chronology of Keating's "Foras Feasa ar Éirinn" dates her reign to 468–461 BC, the "Annals of the Four Masters" to 661–654 BC.


title: Macha

text: Marie-Louise Sjoestedt writes of this figure: "In the person of this second Macha we discover a new aspect of the local goddess, that of the warrior and dominator; and this is combined with the sexual aspect in a specific manner which reappears in other myths, the male partner or partners being dominated by the female."


title: Macha

text: Macha, daughter of Sainrith mac Imbaith, was the wife of Cruinniuc, an Ulster farmer. Some time after the death of Cruinniuc's first wife, Macha appears at his house. Without speaking, she begins keeping the house and acting as his wife. Soon she becomes pregnant by him. As long as they were together Cruinniuc's wealth grew. When he leaves to attend a festival organised by the king of Ulster, she warns him that she will only stay with him so long as he does not speak of her to anyone, and he promises to say nothing. However, during a chariot race, he boasts that his wife can run faster than the king's horses. The king orders Cruinniuc be held on pain of death unless he can make good on his claim. Although she is heavily pregnant, Macha is brought to the gathering and the king forces her to race the horses. She wins the race, but then cries out in pain as she gives birth to twins on the finish line; a boy named Fír ("True") and a girl named Fial ("Modest"). For disrespecting and humiliating her, she curses the men of Ulster to be overcome with weakness—as weak "as a woman in childbirth"—at the time of their greatest need. This weakness would last for five days and the curse would last for nine generations. Thereafter, the place where Macha gave birth would be called "Emain Macha", or "Macha's twins".


title: Macha

text: This tale, "The Debility of the Ulstermen" ("Noínden Ulad") explains the meaning of the name "Emain Macha", and explains why none of the Ulstermen but the semi-divine hero Cúchulainn could resist the invasion of Ulster in the "Táin Bó Cuailnge" (Cattle Raid of Cooley). It shows that Macha, as goddess of the land and sovereignty, can be vengeful if disrespected, and how the rule of a bad king leads to disaster.


title: Macha

text: This Macha is particularly associated with horses—it is perhaps significant that twin colts were born on the same day as Cúchulainn, and that one of his chariot-horses was called Liath Macha or "Macha's Grey"—and she is often compared with the Welsh mythological figure Rhiannon.


title: Macha

text: Macha is named as the wife of Nemed, son of Agnoman, or alternately as the wife of Crund, son of Agnoman, which may indicate an identity of Nemed with Crund. Macha is also named as the daughter of Midir and Aed the Red.


title: Elvis Presley Enterprises

text: Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. (EPE) is a corporate entity created by "The Elvis Presley Trust" to conduct business and manage its assets, including Graceland. EPE's business extends far beyond the Graceland operation, however, and includes worldwide licensing of Elvis-related products and ventures, the development of Elvis-related music, film, video, television and stage productions, the ongoing development of EPE's Internet presence, the management of significant music publishing assets and more.


title: Elvis Presley Enterprises

text: After Elvis Presley's death from polypharmacy on August 16, 1977 at Graceland, his will appointed his father, Vernon Presley, as executor and trustee. The beneficiaries of the trust were Vernon, Elvis' grandmother Minnie Mae Presley, and his nine-year-old daughter Lisa Marie Presley. After Vernon's death in 1979, Elvis' ex-wife Priscilla Presley, as Lisa Marie's legal guardian, began co-managing the trust along with the National Bank of Commerce in Memphis, which was the bank Elvis and Vernon had done business with, and Joseph Hanks, who had been Elvis and Vernon's accountant for a number of years, and formed EPE in 1979. With Minnie Mae's passing in 1980, Lisa Marie became the only surviving beneficiary named in Elvis's will.


title: Elvis Presley Enterprises

text: Following Elvis' death, his manager "Colonel Tom" Parker had set up a licensing operation with Factors Etc. Inc, to control Presley merchandise and keep a steady income supporting his estate. Due to an ill-advised agreement between Parker and Elvis which gave RCA sole ownership of all his recording royalties prior to 1973, the estate was relying heavily on the income from Factors Etc. Inc. However, because Parker was still entitled to 50% of all Elvis' income, and after taxes were taken off, the overall amount going towards the upkeep of the estate was less than $1 million a year.


title: Elvis Presley Enterprises

text: By 1980 the cost of running the estate was estimated to be as much as $500,000 a year. Priscilla and the Trust weren't prepared to let Parker continue to handle Elvis's business affairs, and petitioned the court to that end. However, Judge Joseph Evans, aware that Lisa Marie Presley was still a minor, appointed attorney Blanchard E. Tual to investigate Parker's management. His preliminary finding was that Parker's management deal of 50% was extortionate compared to the industry average of 15-20%. He also noted that Parker's handling of Elvis's business affairs during his lifetime, including the decision to sell off past royalties to RCA for $5.4 million in 1973, were "unethical" and poorly handled. During a second, more detailed investigation, all earnings were paid directly to the Trust instead of Parker. By this time, with the IRS demanding almost $15 million in taxes, the estate was facing bankruptcy.


title: Elvis Presley Enterprises

text: On August 14, 1981 Judge Evans ordered EPE to sue Parker for mismanagement. In response to this, Parker countersued. The case against Parker was settled out of court in 1983, with the estate paying him $2 million, and the termination of his involvement in any Elvis related earnings for five years. He was also ordered to hand over any Elvis audio recordings or visual images that he owned.


title: Elvis Presley Enterprises

text: During the court case Priscilla was advised to sell Graceland to avoid bankruptcy. She decided against this because she had no plans to sell off her daughter's first home. In late 1981, the estate hired Jack Soden, at the time a Missouri investment counselor, to plan and execute the opening of Graceland to the public and oversee the total operation. Graceland opened for tours on June 7, 1982.


title: Elvis Presley Enterprises

text: Interest in Graceland was such that EPE decided to expand its operation. In 1983, they acquired the shopping center plaza across the street from Graceland. The plaza was built in the sixties, and had been a typical suburban strip shopping center. However, after Elvis' death, it became filled with Elvis souvenir shops, which carried mostly bootleg items not licensed by the Presley Estate. In 1993, Graceland purchased the property and all the shops and attractions in what is now known as Graceland Plaza are owned and operated by EPE.


title: Elvis Presley Enterprises

text: By the mid-1980s EPE was interested in securing the rights to Elvis' image and intellectual property. Following many court cases against business and private parties, EPE helped to push through new copyright and trademark legislation in the United States.


title: Elvis Presley Enterprises

text: In 1991, Graceland was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1999 EPE purchased and redeveloped what became "The Elvis Presley Heartbreak Hotel".


title: Elvis Presley Enterprises

text: According to Sean O'Neal, "Elvis is a cultural icon today, but he didn't become that way simply because of his talent and good looks. There was money to be made ... so a company was founded to create this icon, and it has controlled his image ... " The author describes EPE as a "well-run marketing machine" that runs on tight regulation of Elvis's images and lawsuits, when necessary. EPE, for instance, "absolutely refuses to license a product picturing an overweight Elvis." Since 1979 "EPE has filed more than a hundred lawsuits to assert the estate's exclusive right to Elvis's name and likeness."


title: Elvis Presley Enterprises

text: Later, EPE was wholly owned by the "Elvis Presley Trust" and Elvis' daughter, Lisa Marie Presley until February 2005, when Robert F.X. Sillerman and his new media and entertainment company CKX acquired an 85% interest in Elvis Presley Enterprises, including its physical and intellectual properties. In November 2013, the company sold its 85% interest in EPE to Authentic Brands Group. Lisa Marie Presley retains a 15% ownership in the company and continues to be involved, as does her mother Priscilla Presley. Lisa Marie retained sole ownership of the mansion itself, as well as her father's personal effects.


title: Elvis Presley Enterprises

text: The company endeavors to turn Elvis Presley's former estate into an international tourist destination.


title: Omega-6 fatty acid

text: Omega-6 fatty acids (also referred to as ω-6 fatty acids or "n"-6 fatty acids) are a family of polyunsaturated fatty acids that have in common a final carbon-carbon double bond in the "n"-6 position, that is, the sixth bond, counting from the methyl end.


title: Omega-6 fatty acid

text: One review found that an increased intake of omega‐6 fatty acids has been shown to reduce total serum cholesterol and may reduce myocardial infarction. The same review found no significant change in LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. A 2021 review found that omega 6 supplements do not affect the risk of CVD morbidity and mortality.


title: Omega-6 fatty acid

text: Vegetable oils are a major source of omega-6 linoleic acid. Worldwide, more than 100 million metric tons of vegetable oils are extracted annually from palm fruits, soybean seeds, rape seeds, and sunflower seeds, providing more than 32 million metric tons of omega-6 linoleic acid and 4 million metric tons of omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid.


title: Poet laureate

text: A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) of Arezzo were the first to be crowned poets laureate after the classical age, respectively in 1315 and 1342. In Britain, the term dates from the appointment of Bernard André by Henry VII of England. The royal office of Poet Laureate in England dates from the appointment of John Dryden in 1668.


title: Poet laureate

text: In modern times a poet laureate title may be conferred by an organization such as the Poetry Foundation, which designates a Young People's Poet Laureate, unconnected with the National Youth Poet Laureate and the United States Poet Laureate.


title: Poet laureate

text: The office is also popular with regional and community groups. Examples include the Pikes Peak Poet Laureate, which is designated by a "Presenting Partners" group from within the community, the Minnesota poet laureate chosen by the League of Minnesota Poets (est. 1934), the Northampton Poet Laureate chosen by the Northampton Arts Council, and the Martha's Vineyard Poet Laureate chosen by ten judges representing the Martha's Vineyard Poetry Society.


title: Poet laureate

text: In ancient Greece, the laurel was used to form a crown or wreath of honour for poets and heroes. The custom derives from the ancient myth of Daphne and Apollo (Daphne signifying "laurel" in Greek), and was revived in Padua for Albertino Mussato, followed by Petrarch's own crowning ceremony in the audience hall of the medieval senatorial palazzo on the Campidoglio on April 8, 1341. Because the Renaissance figures who were attempting to revive the Classical tradition lacked detailed knowledge of the Roman precedent they were attempting to emulate, these ceremonies took on the character of doctoral candidatures.


title: Poet laureate

text: Since the office of poet laureate has become widely adopted, the term "laureate" has come to signify recognition for preeminence or superlative achievement (cf. Nobel laureate). A royal degree in rhetoric, "poet laureate" was awarded at European universities in the Middle Ages. The term therefore may refer to the holder of such a degree, which recognized skill in rhetoric, grammar, and language.


title: Poet laureate

text: Australia has no official poet laureate scheme, despite past suggestions. In 1818, former convict Michael Massey Robinson was paid by colony governor Lachlan Macquarie for services as poet laureate. Over the years, other poets have been nominated as worthy of such a title, including James Brunton Stephens (1835–1902), Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Paterson (1864–1941), and Les Murray (1938–2019).


title: Poet laureate

text: The first Poet Laureate of Belgium, Charles Ducal, was chosen in 2014. He was followed by Laurence Vielle, Els Moors, Carl Norac, and Mustafa Kör.


title: Poet laureate

text: The Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate is appointed as an officer of the Library of Parliament. The position alternates between an English and French speaking laureate. Candidates must be able to write in both English and French, have a substantial publication history (including poetry) displaying literary excellence and have written work reflecting Canada, among other criteria.


title: Poet laureate

text: Currently, only the provinces of Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and Yukon have appointed a poet laureate.


title: Poet laureate

text: The Commissioner of Yukon established the Story Laureate of Yukon role in 2020. The inaugural position was held by Michael Gates.


title: Poet laureate

text: Officially designated Laureate includes Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin. Tsegaye's award was granted by His Majesty, Haile-Selasie II.


title: Poet laureate

text: Malek o-Sho'arā Bahār was the poet laureate of Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar. He was born in Mashhad in 1884 (died 1951) and was a conservative figure among the modernists.


title: Poet laureate

text: The Kingdom of Ireland had a poet laureate; the last holder of the title was Robert Jephson, who died in 1803.


title: Poet laureate

text: The closest modern equivalent is the title "Saoi" ["wise one"] held by up to seven members at a time of Aosdána, an official body of those engaged in fine arts, literature, and music. Poets awarded the title include Máire Mhac an tSaoi, Anthony Cronin, and Seamus Heaney.


title: Poet laureate

text: Thomas MacDermot was the first poet laureate of Jamaica during colonial times, followed by Je Clare McFarlane. Mervyn Morris was the first poet laureate of Jamaica upon its independence, followed by Lorna Goodison. The current poet laureate of Jamaica is Olive Senior.


title: Poet laureate

text: The unofficial Poet Laureate of Netherlands is Tsead Bruinja as "Dichter des Vaderlands" (Poet of the Fatherland). The previous laureate was Ester Naomi Perquin. Gerrit Komrij was the first "Dichter des Vaderlands". The title was created by Dutch media.


title: Poet laureate

text: New Zealand has had an official poet laureate since 1998. Originally sponsored by Te Mata vineyards and known as the Te Mata Estate Poet Laureate, the award is now administered by the National Library of New Zealand and the holder is called New Zealand Poet Laureate. The term of office is two years. The symbol of office is a Tokotoko, a carved wooden ceremonial orator's staff.


title: Poet laureate

text: The first holder was Bill Manhire, in 1998–99, then Hone Tuwhare (2000–01), Elizabeth Smither (2002–03), Brian Turner (2004–05), Jenny Bornholdt (2006–07), Michele Leggott (2008–09), Cilla McQueen (2009–11), Ian Wedde (2011–13), Vincent O'Sullivan (2013–15), C. K. Stead (2015–2017), Selina Tusitala Marsh (2017-2019), and David Eggleton (2019-2021).


title: Poet laureate

text: Beginning around 1994, North Korea had 6 active poets laureate who worked in the epic genre. Epic poetry was the chief vehicle of political propaganda during the rule of Kim Jong-il, and the poets worked according to the requests and needs of Kim Jong-il. Some of the poets are Jang Jin-sung (pseudonym), Kim Man-young and Shin Byung-gang.


title: Poet laureate

text: Mehmet Akif Ersoy was the Poet-Laureate, born in 1873 and died on December 27, 1936, famous Turkish poet. He composed the poem to be the National Anthem of the Turkish Republic that written in 1921. Original name of the poem is "İstiklal Marşı"


title: Poet laureate

text: In England, the term "poet laureate" is restricted to the official office of Poet Laureate, attached to the royal household. However, no authoritative historical record exists of the office of Poet Laureate of England.


title: Poet laureate

text: The office developed from earlier practice when minstrels and versifiers were members of the king's retinue. Richard Cœur-de-Lion had a "versificator regis" (English: "king's poet"), Gulielmus Peregrinus (William the Pilgrim), and Henry III had a "versificator" named Master Henry. In the fifteenth century, John Kay, a versifier, described himself as Edward IV's "humble poet laureate".


title: Poet laureate

text: According to Wharton, King Henry I paid 10 shillings a year to a "versificator regis". Geoffrey Chaucer (1340–1400) was called Poet Laureate, being granted in 1389 an annual allowance of wine. W. Hamilton describes Chaucer, Gower, Kay, Andrew Bernard, John Skelton, Robert Whittington, Richard Edwards and Samuel Daniel as "volunteer Laureates".


title: Poet laureate

text: John Skelton studied at the University of Oxford in the early 1480s and was advanced to the degree of "poet laureate" in 1488, when he joined the court of King Henry VII to tutor the future Henry VIII. The title of "laureate" was also conferred on him by the University of Louvain in 1492 and by the University of Cambridge in 1492–3. He soon became famous for his rhetoric, satire and translations and was held in high esteem by the printer William Caxton, who wrote, in the preface to (Modern English: "The Book of the Aeneid, compiled by Virgil") (1490):


title: Poet laureate

text: But I pray mayster John Skelton, late created poete laureate in the unyversite of Oxenforde, to oversee and correct this sayd booke.


title: Poet laureate

text: The academic use of the term laureate became associated again with royalty when King James I created a pension for Ben Jonson in 1617, although there is no formal record extant. He was succeeded by William Davenant.


title: Poet laureate

text: The royal office Poet Laureate was officially conferred by letters patent on John Dryden in 1668, after Davenant's death, and the post became a regular institution. Dryden's successor Shadwell originated annual birthday and New Year odes. The poet laureate became responsible for writing and presenting official verses to commemorate both personal occasions, such as the monarch's birthday or royal births and marriages, and public occasions, such as coronations and military victories. His activity in this respect varied according to circumstances, and the custom ceased to be obligatory after Pye's death. The office fell into some contempt before Robert Southey, but took on a new lustre from his personal distinction and that of successors Wordsworth and Tennyson. Wordsworth stipulated before accepting the honour that no formal effusions from him should be required. Due to his age, he became the only laureate to write no official poetry. Tennyson was generally happy in his numerous poems of this class.


title: Poet laureate

text: On Tennyson's death there was a considerable feeling that there was no acceptable successor. William Morris and Swinburne were hardly suitable as court poets. Eventually the undesirability of breaking the tradition for temporary reasons, and severing the one official link between literature and the state, prevailed over the protests against allowing someone of inferior genius to follow Tennyson. Abolition was similarly advocated when Warton and Wordsworth died.


title: Poet laureate

text: The salary has varied, but traditionally includes some alcohol. Ben Jonson first received a pension of 100 marks, and later an annual "terse of Canary wine". Dryden had a pension of £300 and a butt of Canary wine. Pye received £27 instead of the wine. Tennyson drew £72 a year from the Lord Chamberlain's department, and £27 from the Lord Steward's "in lieu of the butt of sack". The modern annual salary is £5,750. On 10 May 2019 Simon Armitage was appointed after the end of Carol Ann Duffy's ten-year tenure.


title: Poet laureate

text: There are other, non-official, laureate titles, such as the commercially sponsored "Children's Laureate" for an "eminent writer or illustrator of children's books to celebrate outstanding achievement in their field", and the Poetry Foundation's Young People's Poet Laureate.


title: Poet laureate

text: Scotland has a long tradition of makars and poetry. In 2004 the Scottish Parliament appointed Professor Edwin Morgan as the first Makar or National Poet for Scotland. On his death in January 2011 he was succeeded by Liz Lochhead.


title: Poet laureate

text: Wales has had a long tradition of poets and bards under royal patronage, with extant writing from medieval royal poets and earlier. The office of National Poet for Wales was established in April 2005. The first holder, Gwyneth Lewis, was followed by Gwyn Thomas.


title: Poet laureate

text: The United States Library of Congress appointed a Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1937 to 1984. An Act of Congress changed the name in 1985 to "Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress".


title: Poet laureate

text: Poets laureate receive a US$35,000 stipend and are given the responsibility of overseeing an ongoing series of poetry readings and lectures at the library, and a charge to promote poetry. No other duties are specified, and laureates are not required to compose for government events or in praise of government officials. However, after the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001, the then poet laureate, Billy Collins, was asked to write a poem to be read in front of a special joint session of Congress. Collins wrote "The Names", which he read on September 6, 2002, and which is available in streaming audio and video. The original intent of the stipend was to provide poets laureate with a full income, so that they could devote their time entirely to writing poetry. The amount has not been adjusted for inflation and is now considered a moderate bonus intended to supplement a poet's already existing income. Most Poets Laureate earn the bulk of their income through university employment.


title: Poet laureate

text: Ada Limón is the current poet laureate. Previous poets laureate include Joy Harjo, Tracy K. Smith (two terms), Juan Felipe Herrera, Philip Levine, W. S. Merwin, Kay Ryan, Charles Simic, Ted Kooser, Louise Glück, Billy Collins, Rita Dove, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Frost, Karl Shapiro, Allen Tate, Robert Penn Warren, Richard Wilbur, Joseph Brodsky, Stanley Kunitz, Robert Hass, Donald Hall, Robert Pinsky (three terms), Mark Strand, Audre Lorde, and Maxine Kumin.


title: Poet laureate

text: A number of American state legislatures have also created an office of poet laureate. The holders may be locally or nationally prominent. The U.S. states of New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Pennsylvania do not currently have a state poet laureate position.


title: Poet laureate

text: The United States' capital, the District of Columbia, created the position of Poet Laureate of the District of Columbia in 1984 during the mayoralty of Marion Barry. The position is filled by appointment from the mayor of the district the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. The District of Columbia's poet laureate program is currently stalled.


title: Poet laureate

text: Only two poets laureate have been appointed since the creation of the position. Sterling Allen Brown was appointed by Mayor Marion Barry, serving from 1984 until his death in 1989. Dolores Kendrick was appointed by Mayor Anthony A. Williams, serving from 1999 until her death in 2017.


title: Poet laureate

text: The office of Poet Laureate of Alabama was created for Samuel Minturn Peck in 1930. The post has been continuously filled since 1954 on a four-year renewable basis. Poets laureate serve at the pleasure of the governor. Successors include Helen Norris, Sue Walker, and Andrew Glaze.


title: Poet laureate

text: Originally created as the position of Poet Laureate in 1963 (House Resolution 25). The official name was changed in 1996 to recognize and honor all genres of writing. The position is selected by the Alaska State Council on the Arts.


title: Poet laureate

text: The state of Arizona established a state Poet Laureate position in 2013, appointing Alberto Ríos as the inaugural Poet Laureate.


title: Poet laureate

text: The state of California established a state Poet Laureate under Governor Hiram Warren Johnson and appointed Ina Donna Coolbrith on June 30, 1915. Coolbrith was later acknowledged as the "Loved Laurel-Crowned Poet of California" by a 1919 state Senate resolution, retaining the title until her death in 1928. Juan Felipe Herrera was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown in March 2012. The position is currently vacant. It was last held by Dana Gioia from 2015 to 2018.


title: Poet laureate

text: Colorado Poets Laureate are currently appointed to four-year terms. They are nominated by Colorado Creative Industries and Colorado Humanities & Center for the Book, and chosen by the Governor. Alice Polk Hill was the first poet laureate of Colorado serving from 1919 to 1921. Successors include Thomas Hornsby Ferril, Mary Crow, David Mason and Bobby LeFebre. The State of Colorado also appointed singer/songwriter writer John Denver in 1974.


title: Poet laureate

text: The Poet Laureate of Connecticut was established in 1985 by Public Act 85-221 of the Connecticut General Assembly. Five-year residents of the state with a demonstrated career in poetry are eligible for the honorary appointment as an advocate for poetry and literary arts. James Merill was the first poet laureate of Connecticut, serving from 1985 to 1995. His successors include Leo Connellan, Marilyn Nelson, John Hollander, Dick Allen, Margaret Gibson. Antoinette Brim-Bell is the current poet laureate for Connecticut.


title: Poet laureate

text: Poets are appointed to the position by the governor. The first poet laureate of Delaware was Edna Deemer Leach appointed in 1947. Nnamdi Chukwuocha and Albert Mills—twin brothers who are known as the "Twin Poets"—were appointed 17th Poets Laureate of the State of Delaware on December 13, 2015. According to the Library of Congress, they are the first co-laureates appointed by a state and the first siblings to share the position. Predecessors include Fleda Brown and JoAnn Balingit.


title: Poet laureate

text: Poets Laureate of Florida are appointed by the governor and the Division of Arts and Culture. They first served lifetime, unpaid appointments, until June 20, 2014, when HB 513 established a four-year term. The first poet laureate of Florida was Franklin L. Wood, appointed in 1929 and died soon after assuming office. Vivian Laramore Rader was appointed in 1931 and served until her death in 1975. Edmund Skellings was appointed in 1980. A stroke that impaired his speech and limited his ability to do all of his official duties. He died August 19, 2012, leaving the post vacant. Peter Meinke currently holds this position and was appointed on June 15, 2015.


title: Poet laureate

text: Frank Lebby Stanton served from 1925 to 1927 as Georgia's first poet laureate. Successors include Ernest Neal, Conrad Aiken, David Bottoms, Judson Mitcham, and Chelsea Rathburn.


title: Poet laureate

text: Prior to statehood Don Blanding, originally from Oklahoma, was unofficially referred to as the poet laureate of Hawaii. In 1951 Hawaii Territoral Senator Thelma Akana Harrison in concurrent resolution 28, declared Lloyd Stone, who was originally from California, poet laureate. When the modern program was established, Native Hawaiian Kealoha was appointed on on May 3, 2012 by Governor Neil Abercrombie., and he is the first poet laureate for the state of Hawaii, serving through 2022.


title: Poet laureate

text: Irene Welch Grissom served from 1923 to 1948 as Idaho's first poet laureate. Sudie Stuart Hager served as the second poet laureate from 1949 to 1982. After 1982 the title was changed to Writer in Residence.


title: Poet laureate

text: Illinois appointed its first poet laureate, Howard Austin, in 1936, followed by Carl Sandburg (1962–1967), and Gwendolyn Brooks (1968–2000), all with lifetime appointments. The post is now a four-year renewable award. The poet laureate from 2003 to 2017 was Kevin Stein. In 2020, Angela Jackson was named Illinois Poet Laureate. Singer songwriter John Prine was posthumously named an Honorary Poet Laureate.


title: Poet laureate

text: The position was created July 1, 1999 by Subchapter 303.89 of the Iowa Code with a two-year renewable term. Marvin Bell was Iowa's first Poet Laureate, from 2000 to 2004, followed by Robert Dana from 2004 to 2008, and Mary Swander from 2009 to 2019. Debra Marquart is the current Poet Laureate of Iowa. Her two year term started in May 2019.


title: Poet laureate

text: Emma Wilson Emery served as Louisiana's first poet laureate from 1942 to 1970. The current poet laureate of Louisiana is Mona Lisa Saloy appointed in April 2021. Predecessors include Ava Leavell Haymon, Julie Kane, Peter Cooley, and John Warner Smith.


title: Poet laureate

text: Kate Barnes served as Maine's first poet laureate from 1996 to 1999. The current poet laureate of Maine is Julia Bouwsna. Predecessors include Wesley McNair, Baron Wormser, and Betsy Sholl.


title: Poet laureate

text: The state of Massachusetts does not currently have a poet laureate position. However, many cities in Massachusetts have appointed poets laureate.


title: Poet laureate

text: Edgar A. Guest served as Michigan Poet Laureate from 1952 through 1959 having been appointed Poet Laureate through Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 38 (1952) of the Michigan Legislature. State lawmakers made three separate unsuccessful attempts to reinstate a poet laureate position in 2000, 2005, and 2019.


title: Poet laureate

text: In May 2007, Gov. Pawlenty reversed his opposition and signed Section 4, Chapter 148 of the Minnesota Session Laws 2007, establishing the state poet laureate. Robert Bly was appointed the first Minnesota poet laureate on February 27, 2008, succeeded on August 23, 2011 by Joyce Sutphen. Dr. Gwen Westerman was appointed as the third Minnesota poet laureate on September 9, 2021 by Governor Tim Walz.


title: Poet laureate

text: In 1963, Governor Ross Barnett appointed Mississippi's first Poet Laureate, Maude Willard Leet Prenshaw. In 1973, Louise Moss Montgomery was named laureate by Gov. William Waller. Gov. Cliff Finch appointed Winifred Hamrick Farrar laureate in 1978. All three poets laureate served lifetime terms. Beginning in 2012, Mississippi poets laureate now serve four-year terms. Natasha Tretheway served as the Poet Laureate of Mississippi from 2012 to 2016. On August 10, 2016, Beth Ann Fennelly assumed the position.


title: Poet laureate

text: John G. Neihardt was appointed as Nebraskas first poet laureate in 1921, and served until November 3, 1973.


title: Poet laureate

text: Paul Scott Mowrer was appointed as New Hampshire's first poet laureate, and served from 1968 to 1971. The current poet laureate of New Hampshire is Alexandria Peary, appointed October 2019. Predecessors include W. E. Butts, Richard Eberhart, Patricia Fargnoli, Cynthia Huntington, and Jane Kenyon.


title: Poet laureate

text: New Jersey had a poet laureate program until from 2000 to 2003, appointing poet Gerald Stern followed by Amiri Baraka. The position was eliminated in 2003.


title: Poet laureate

text: The position of New York State Poet Laureate (official title: State Poet) was established by a special mandate of the New York State Legislature on August 1, 1985. Willie Perdomo is the current New York state poet laureate. Predecessors include John Ashbery, Billy Collins, Jane Cooper, Robert Creeley, Richard Howard, Marie Howe, Stanley Kunitz, Audre Lorde, Sharon Olds, Alicia Ostriker, and Jean Valentine. In 1988 New York also established position for other genres of writing entitled New York State Author. In 2016, Governor Andrew Cuomo also named Joseph Tusiani Poet Laureate Emeritus. In 2004, Ishle Yi Park became first female and the first Korean American poet laureate of the New York City borough of Queens.


title: Poet laureate

text: The 1935 General Assembly created the office of state poet laureate and empowers the Governor to appoint a North Carolina Poet Laureate. Jaki Shelton Green has been North Carolina's Poet Laureate since 2018.


title: Poet laureate

text: The state of Ohio created the position of Poet Laureate in 2014. Dr. Amit Majmudar of Dublin, Ohio was named the first state Poet Laureate by Gov. John Kasich, for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2016. Kari Gunter-Seymour is the current Poet Laureate of Ohio. Her term began on June 10, 2020.


title: Poet laureate

text: The state of Oklahoma named Violet McDougal its first poet laureate in 1923. Joe Kreger who first served from 1998 to 2001 has received a second term as Oklahoma's poet laureate from 2021 to 2022.


title: Poet laureate

text: The position of Oregon Poet Laureate was established in 1923, appointing Edwin Markham as the first poet laureate. Anis Mojgani was appointed to the position in 2020.


title: Poet laureate

text: Samuel John Hazo served as Pennsylvania's first and only poet laureate from 1993 to 2003 before Governor Bob Casey eliminated the position. Florence Van Leer Earle Coates was elected poet laureate of Pennsylvania by the state Federation of Women's Clubs in 1915.


title: Poet laureate

text: The State Poet of Rhode Island, established in 1987, is codified in Chapter 42-100 of the State of Rhode Island General Laws. The five-year appointment by the Governor carries an annual salary of $1,000.


title: Poet laureate

text: "Pek" Gunn, a native of Bold Spring, Tennessee and a close friend and politically ally of former Governor of Tennessee Frank Clement, was the first Tennessean given the title of State Poet Laureate, in the 1970s. Margaret Britton Vaughn is the current Poet Laureate, she is serving her lifetime appointment since 1999.


title: Poet laureate

text: The state of Texas established a Poet Laureate in 1932 (historical list of Texas poets laureate). The term as of 2016 is one year.


title: Poet laureate

text: The state of Utah has appointed a Poet Laureate since 1997. The first was David Lee (January 24, 1997, to December 2002), followed by Ken Brewer (January 24, 2003, to March 15, 2006), Katharine Coles (October 27, 2006, to May 2012), Lance Larsen, appointed May 3, 2012, by Governor Gary Herbert, and Paisley Rekdal, appointed by Governor Gary Herbert in May 2017. The current Poet Laureate in Utah is Lisa Bickmore appointed in April 2022.


title: Poet laureate

text: The Commonwealth of Virginia has appointed a Poet Laureate since December 18, 1936. The first was Carter Warner Wormeley, appointed for life. Appointments from 1942 until 1992 were for one year, with many reappointed for multiple terms. In 1992, the term was increased to two years. Since 1998 appointments are made from list of nominees presented by the Poetry Society of Virginia, established at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1923. The current Poet Laureate is Luisa A. Igloria.


title: Poet laureate

text: The State of Washington has officially appointed a Poet Laureate since 2007, though Poets Laureate have been unofficially appointed by the Washington State Federation of Women's Clubs since 1931, when Ella Rhoads Higginson was named as the State's first Poet Laureate.


title: Poet laureate

text: Samuel Green was named as Washington's first official Poet Laureate in 2007, and served until 2009. Poets Laureate of Washington are appointed for a two-year term by the Governor of Washington.


title: Poet laureate

text: The current Poet Laureate of Washington is Rena Priest, a member of the Lummi Nation, and the first Indigenous person appointed to the post. She was appointed in 2021, and will serve until 2023.


title: Jim Tressel

text: James Patrick Tressel (born December 5, 1952) is an American college football coach and university administrator who is currently the president of Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio. Before becoming an administrator, Tressel was the head football coach of the Youngstown State Penguins and later the Ohio State Buckeyes in a career that spanned from 1986 until 2010. Tressel's teams earned several national championships during the course of his career, earning him numerous accolades.


title: Jim Tressel

text: Tressel was born in Mentor, Ohio and attended Baldwin–Wallace College, where he played football as quarterback under his father, Lee Tressel. Tressel succeeded Bill Narduzzi as Youngstown State's fourth head football coach in 1986 and remained there until 2000. In 2001, he was named John Cooper's successor as the head coach of Ohio State. During his tenure as Ohio State's 22nd head football coach, Tressel's teams competed in three BCS National Championship Games, and his 2002 squad won a national title, achieving the first 14–0 season record in major college football since 1897 Penn Quakers.


title: Jim Tressel

text: Tressel's tenure would, however, come to an abrupt end with his resignation in May 2011 amidst an NCAA investigation into improper benefits violations involving OSU football players during the 2010 season. The investigation resulted in OSU self-vacating victories from the 2010 season including the 2011 Sugar Bowl. Tressel finished his career at Ohio State with an official overall record of 94–22 (), including six Big Ten Conference championships, a 5–4 bowl record, a 4–3 mark in BCS bowl games, and an 9–1 record against the arch-rival Michigan Wolverines. Tressel's eight wins against the University of Michigan place him second in school history to Woody Hayes, who had 16, and he is tied with Urban Meyer as the only Ohio State head coaches to win seven consecutive games against the Wolverines. Tressel's success as a head coach led to him being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.


title: Jim Tressel

text: From September 2011 until February 2012, Tressel was a consultant for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). From 2012 to 2014 Tressel served as Vice President of Strategic Engagement for the University of Akron, before being named as Youngstown State University President on May 9, 2014.


title: Jim Tressel

text: Tressel was born on December 5, 1952, in Mentor, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. His father, Lee Tressel, was the coach at Mentor's high school. After a 34-game winning streak at Mentor, Lee was hired as head football coach for Baldwin–Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. Baldwin–Wallace won the 1978 NCAA Division III National Championship under Tressel's father. Tressel attended many of his father's games and practices, and developed a friendship with neighbor (and former Cleveland Browns player) Lou Groza. Tressel's mother Eloise Tressel worked as the athletic historian at Baldwin–Wallace while his father was the head coach.


title: Jim Tressel

text: After graduating from Berea High School in 1971, Tressel played quarterback under his father at Baldwin–Wallace. As quarterback, he earned four varsity letters and won all-conference honors as a senior in 1974. Tressel also joined the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity while attending Baldwin–Wallace. In 1975, Tressel graduated from Baldwin–Wallace with a bachelor's degree in education.


title: Jim Tressel

text: Tressel and his wife Ellen, a Youngstown State graduate, are actively involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Athletes in Action, the OSU Thompson Libraries and The Ohio State University Medical Center, particularly the James Cancer Center. Tressel has three children from a prior marriage: Zak, Carlee, and Whitney; Ellen has one, Eric. He currently lives in the Youngstown, Ohio area. Jim's brother, Dick Tressel, served as his running backs coach at Ohio State for seven seasons after serving as the head coach at Hamline University for 23 seasons. Dick's son, and Jim's nephew, is Mike Tressel, the defensive coordinator at the University of Cincinnati.


title: Jim Tressel

text: After graduating from Baldwin-Wallace, Tressel became a graduate assistant at the University of Akron. He coached the quarterbacks, receivers, and running backs, while earning a master's degree in education. In 1978, he left to become quarterbacks and receivers coach at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. By 1981, he had left to become the quarterbacks coach at Syracuse. In 1983, he was hired at Ohio State to be the quarterbacks and receivers coach. That year, OSU had a 9–3 record, including a 28–23 victory over Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl; a 39-yard pass from quarterback Mike Tomczak to wide receiver Thad Jemison clinched the win with 39 seconds remaining in the game. In 1984, he was given the added responsibility of coaching the running backs. That year, the team became Big Ten champs, played in the Rose Bowl, and tailback Keith Byars finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting. In 1985, OSU defeated BYU in the Citrus Bowl.


title: Jim Tressel

text: At the end of the 1985 season, Jim Tressel left Ohio State to become head coach at Youngstown State University. In Tressel's first season as coach, Youngstown State finished with a 2–9 record. In his second season, Youngstown State finished the season with an 8–4 record and won the Ohio Valley Conference championship. From 1991–1994, Youngstown State would play in the Division I-AA National Championship game four times. In 1991, Tressel won his first national championship, defeating Marshall; the victory made him and his father the only father-son duo to win national championships in college football at that time (Vince and Larry Kehres have also won national championships).


title: Jim Tressel

text: Youngstown State won two more national championships in the following three years: against Marshall in 1993 (who had defeated them in 1992) and Boise State in 1994. 1997 brought Tressel his fourth national championship with a 10–9 victory against McNeese State. He earned his 100th win against Indiana State. 1999 marked Tressel's ninth visit to the Division I-AA playoffs, but the team lost to a Paul Johnson coached Georgia Southern in the title game. 2000 presented Tressel with more success, leading Youngstown State to a 9–3 season and its 10th playoff appearance. During the 1990s, Youngstown State had a record of 103–27–2, the most wins by any Division I-AA team and fourth most of both Division I-A and I-AA combined. Tressel's overall record at Youngstown was 135–57–2. He was also named Division I-AA Coach of the Year in '91, '93, '94, and '97.


title: Jim Tressel

text: In 1998, Tressel's reputation was blemished when it emerged that Ray Isaac, quarterback on his first national championship team, admitted to accepting massive benefits from Mickey Monus, the founder of Phar-Mor and former chairman of the Youngstown State board of trustees. The NCAA had been tipped off about the violations in 1994, but dropped its inquiry after a cursory internal investigation by Youngstown State. The nature of the violations only came to light when Isaac admitted to tampering with a juror in Monus' first corporate fraud trial. It later emerged that Tressel had never met with Isaac during the initial 1994 investigation. Monus subsequently testified that when Isaac initially came to Youngstown State in 1988, Tressel called Monus and asked him to work out a job for Isaac. Youngstown State subsequently admitted to a lack of institutional control and docked itself scholarships. The NCAA ultimately faulted Tressel and Youngstown State for their cursory 1994 investigation, but did not cite them for wrongdoing. Youngstown State was also allowed to keep its 1991 title since the NCAA's statute of limitations had run out.


title: Jim Tressel

text: On July 9, 2007, Jim and Ellen Tressel, along with Frank and Norma Watson, donated $1 million to Youngstown State University for the building of an indoor athletics facility named the Watson and Tressel Training Site. The facility opened for use in the fall of 2011. This was the second major donation the Tressels and Watsons made to YSU. In 2003, they donated a combined $250,000 to the campaign for the Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center, which opened in 2005.


title: Jim Tressel

text: When John Cooper was dismissed as Ohio State's head football coach following a loss to unranked South Carolina in the 2001 Outback Bowl, Tressel returned to Ohio State and became Cooper's successor. While addressing the Ohio State community during halftime of a basketball game just after being hired as head coach, Tressel declared, "I can assure you that you will be proud of your young people in the classroom, in the community, and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the football field."


title: Jim Tressel

text: Tressel coached the Buckeyes to two 19-game winning streaks, one which spanned the 2002 and 2003 seasons and the other which spanned the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Tressel's winning percentage at Ohio State of 81.0% (maintained over an extensive 10 seasons/116 games coached) is tied with John B. Eckstorm (29 games coached) for the second best in school history, behind only Carroll Widdoes' 16–2 (88.9%, 18 games coached) mark in the 1944–1945 seasons.


title: Jim Tressel

text: As Ohio State's head coach, Tressel was known for a conservative style of play calling (dubbed "Tresselball"), winning games with just enough scoring, strong defense, and "playing field position." Tressel often referred to the punt as the most important play in football. He is sometimes referred to as "The Senator" (most notably by ESPN's Chris Fowler), because of his composure on the sidelines during play and his diplomatic way of interacting with representatives from the media. He is also referred to as "The Vest" for his penchant for wearing a sweater vest on the sidelines.


title: Jim Tressel

text: Until his retirement, Tressel was one of only two active coaches with five or more national championships in any division (only Larry Kehres of Division III Mount Union College has more with 10). He is the third Tressel to reach 100 wins, joining his father (155 wins) and his older brother, Dick (former OSU running backs coach), who coached at Hamline University (124 wins). As a family, with Jim's 229 wins: Lee, Jim and Dick have won 508 games.


title: Jim Tressel

text: During Tressel's first year (2001), Ohio State had a 7–5 record. Ohio State returned to the Outback Bowl, where the Buckeyes once again fell to South Carolina. Although the Buckeyes lost on a last-minute field goal, the team battled back to tie the game at 28–28 after being down 28–0. Despite a second consecutive bowl loss and a 5-loss season, Tressel had coached the Buckeyes to a 26–20 upset victory over Michigan, fulfilling the promise he had made 10 months earlier.


title: Jim Tressel

text: The following year (2002) Tressel and the Buckeyes became the first team in college football history to finish 14–0, defeating the heavily favored University of Miami Hurricanes in double overtime to win the 2003 Fiesta Bowl and the 2002 National Championship. It was Ohio State's first national championship in 32 years. That success made him the first coach in NCAA history to win the AFCA's Coach of the Year award while at different schools; he is also the first to win the award in two different divisions.


title: Jim Tressel

text: They were able to earn the national championship through close wins on a defensive-minded scheme that relied on field position. With a combination of senior leadership with Michael Doss and freshman Maurice Clarett, Tressel was able to pull out many close games during the season. Seven of their 14 victories were within 7 points including one overtime game against Illinois, and a double overtime game coming in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl.


title: Jim Tressel

text: Coming off the national title season, the Buckeyes earned an 11–2 record in 2003, but the team lost to Michigan in the 100th meeting between the two teams 35–21. The Buckeyes finished the 2003 season with a 35–28 victory over Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl on January 2, 2004.


title: Jim Tressel

text: In 2004, the team finished 8–4, closing out the season with a 33–7 victory against Oklahoma State at the Alamo Bowl and upsetting Michigan in the annual rivalry game. Ohio State was unranked and Michigan was ranked 7th and the final score was 37 to 21.


title: Jim Tressel

text: During 2005, the Buckeyes had a 10–2 record which featured an early season loss to eventual BCS National Champion Texas and another in Happy Valley versus Penn State, who finished the season ranked third in the BCS. However, the season ended with the Buckeyes defeating Notre Dame 34–20 in the Fiesta Bowl.


title: Jim Tressel

text: The 2006 Ohio State Buckeyes football team went undefeated in the regular season—including a 42–39 victory over Michigan which saw the first ever meeting between the two teams ranking numbers 1 and 2, respectively, in the national polls. Ohio State finished second in the final AP and Coaches polls after losing the 2007 BCS National Championship Game to the University of Florida, 41–14.


title: Jim Tressel

text: In the 2007 season Jim Tressel led the 11–1 Buckeyes to a third consecutive Big Ten Championship and second consecutive National Championship berth, played January 7, 2008 against the LSU Tigers, in the Superdome. However OSU was beaten 38–24 by LSU, becoming only the second team to lose two consecutive BCS title games (the first being the University of Oklahoma).


title: Jim Tressel

text: In 2008 Ohio State won their fourth straight Big Ten title. The Buckeyes played Texas in the Fiesta Bowl, coming back from an 11 point second half deficit to take the lead with just over 2 minutes to play, only to lose when Texas scored with 16 seconds remaining.


title: Jim Tressel

text: The 2009 team won its fifth straight conference title and earned a berth in the Rose Bowl against Oregon, winning the game 26–17.


title: Jim Tressel

text: The 2010 OSU football season finished with the team posting a 12–1 record. However, as a result of NCAA violations from Tressel knowingly using ineligible players, the 2010 season was vacated, leaving the team's official record for the campaign as 0–1.


title: Jim Tressel

text: The Tressel family continued the tradition of supporting the campus where Jim coached. As co-chairs on the contribution campaign, Coach Tressel and wife Ellen made a sizeable donation toward the renovation of Ohio State's $109 million William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library. The fourth-floor outdoor Tressel Terrace honors them for their contribution. Tressel also promised continuing donations to the library through royalties from his book, "The Winners Manual." The Tressel family also teamed with Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute by establishing, promoting and donating to the Tressel Family Fund for Cancer Prevention Research. Both of Jim Tressel's parents died of cancer. Further, the Tressels donated a monument titled "Traditions," erected in 2011 in a park near OSU's ROTC center. Remembrance park honors more than a thousand Ohio State alumni who, as military personnel, lost their lives in service to the United States.


title: Jim Tressel

text: On March 8, 2011, Ohio State suspended Tressel for the first two games of the 2011 season and fined him $250,000 for failing to notify the school of NCAA violations involving Ohio State football players. The players had a financial arrangement with Edward Rife, owner of a local tattoo parlor, who was at the time under investigation by the FBI for drug trafficking. The arrangement, which resulted in five Ohio State football players being suspended, involved trading championship rings, jerseys, and other football-related awards for tattoos. That arrangement was a violation of NCAA rules, and would have rendered the players, including star quarterback Terrelle Pryor, ineligible to play for portions of the 2010 season.


title: Jim Tressel

text: Tressel was first notified of the arrangement in April 2010 when he received several e-mails from Chris Cicero, a local attorney and former Ohio State walk-on football player. Tressel never forwarded the e-mails, nor the information contained in them about potential violations, to his school's compliance office or the NCAA. Although Tressel had held the position of Athletic Director at Youngstown State, Tressel's excuse was that he did not know whom to contact when he learned of the alleged violations. Tressel also later claimed not to have acted because of concerns about the confidentiality of the information, yet he immediately forwarded the first e-mail to Terrelle Pryor's mentor.


title: Jim Tressel

text: On December 7, 2010, Ohio State was notified by the Department of Justice that it had in its possession many items of Ohio State sports memorabilia seized from Edward Rife's tattoo parlor. In the ensuing investigation, Tressel was questioned by Ohio State on December 16 concerning his knowledge of the activities disclosed by the Justice Department (the sale of rings, jerseys, and football memorabilia to Rife). Tressel denied any specific knowledge of the violations, and claimed that he could not remember who had given him the vague information. A week later Tressel exchanged text messages with Cicero, the attorney who had originally notified him of the activities back in April. Tressel verified that the Justice Department matter involved the same players and issues as the April e-mails. Tressel remained silent, his long-time knowledge of the violations (and his subsequent intentional fielding of ineligible players throughout the season) revealed only when Ohio State inadvertently discovered the April 2010 Cicero e-mails in an unrelated search in January 2011.


title: Jim Tressel

text: On March 17, 2011, it was announced that Tressel requested Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith that he extend his own suspension to the same number of games as his players. Smith accepted the request, and, as a result, Tressel would have missed the first five games of the 2011 season.


title: Jim Tressel

text: Ohio State President Gordon Gee assured the public that Tressel would not lose his job over the matter. On April 25, 2011, the NCAA accused Tressel of withholding information and lying to keep Buckeyes players on the field. In a "notice of allegations" sent to Ohio State, the NCAA charged that Tressel's actions were considered "potential major violations" which had "permitted football student-athletes to participate in intercollegiate athletics while ineligible." The report also said he "failed to comport himself ... (with) honesty and integrity" and that he lied when he filled out a compliance form in September stating that he had no knowledge of NCAA violations by any of his players. Tressel later stated that he lied about the violations because he didn't want to jeopardize the FBI's investigation against Rife and also feared for his players' safety. Despite his stated safety concerns, Tressel only briefly spoke with two players, never inquired of the two if other players were involved and also in danger, nor in his discussions with players ever mentioned Mr. Rife, the tattoo parlor, or the selling of Ohio State merchandise. The NCAA's report explicitly refuted the credibility of this excuse.


title: Jim Tressel

text: Tressel resigned as Ohio State's head football coach on May 30, 2011. Three days earlier, "Sports Illustrated" reported that it had found evidence that the memorabilia-for-tattoos scandal dated back to at least the 2002 national championship season, and as many as 28 players were involved. Early on the morning of Memorial Day, Gee and Smith called Tressel back from his vacation in Colorado and asked for his resignation. "The Columbus Dispatch" reported that Gee had appointed a special committee to examine the scandal's impact on the school. It also reported that Ohio State had been looking to cut ties with Tressel for several weeks. Tressel said in a statement released by the university, "After meeting with university officials, we agreed that it is in the best interest of Ohio State that I resign as head football coach. The appreciation that Ellen and I have for the Buckeye Nation is immeasurable." Luke Fickell, previously co-defensive coordinator and assistant head coach, served as head coach for the 2011 football season.


title: Jim Tressel

text: Tressel left Ohio State as the third-winningest coach in school history, behind Woody Hayes and John Cooper. However, on July 8, 2011, Ohio State vacated all of its wins from the 2010 season and placed the football program on two years' probation.


title: Jim Tressel

text: On December 20, 2011 the NCAA placed Ohio State on an additional one year's probation and banned it from postseason play in 2012 for numerous major violations under Tressel's watch. It also imposed a five-year show-cause penalty on Tressel, which means any NCAA member that wants to hire him would have to "show cause" for why it shouldn't be sanctioned for hiring him, and could face severe penalties if he commits any further violations during that time. The order stood until December 19, 2016; given past precedent, this likely had the effect of blackballing Tressel from the coaching ranks until the 2017 season. Had Tressel coached during this period, he would have been suspended for the first five games of the regular season, plus any conference championship game or bowl game.


title: Jim Tressel

text: On September 2, 2011, Tressel was hired by the Indianapolis Colts as a game-day/replay consultant. Tressel was suspended by the Colts until the 7th game of the season due to his involvement in the NCAA violations during his tenure as head coach at Ohio State.


title: Jim Tressel

text: On February 2, 2012, Tressel accepted a non-athletic-department position where he started his coaching career, the University of Akron. His title was Vice President of Strategic Engagement.


title: Jim Tressel

text: In January 2013, various media reports stated that Tressel would possibly return to Youngstown State to replace retiring university president Cynthia Anderson as the next president of the university. While Tressel is still revered in the area (a new athletic training complex bearing his name, the Watson and Tressel Training Site, opened on campus in 2011), Tressel's highest level of education is a master's degree; a doctorate is virtually a prerequisite for any university president position in the United States. Combined with the show-cause penalty that was in effect for Tressel until 2016, on paper it would have been a tough sell for YSU to bring back Tressel. Supporters for bringing back Tressel also cited this, but mentioned that as university president, his primary job would be for fundraising, in which Tressel had previously excelled over the years as head coach at both YSU and Ohio State.


title: Jim Tressel

text: On May 10, 2013, Randy Dunn was chosen as successor to Anderson but only stayed on the job for seven months ultimately leaving for Southern Illinois University. After Dunn's sudden departure, Tressel's name again came up for the position, with Tressel officially applying for the position on April 13, 2014, while simultaneously still being one of 19 candidates for the University of Akron president's job. Nearly a month later, on May 9, 2014, the YSU Board of Trustees offered Tressel the university president position after a unanimous vote, after which Tressel accepted the position as YSU's new president and announced he was officially retired from coaching. On June 23, 2022, Tressel announced his retirement effective February 1, 2023.


title: Religion in Brazil

text: Christianity is the largest religion in Brazil, with Catholicism being its largest denomination. In 1891, when the first Brazilian Republican Constitution was set forth, Brazil ceased to have an official religion and has remained secular ever since, though the Catholic Church remained politically influential into the 1970s. The Constitution of Brazil guarantees freedom of religion and strongly prohibits the establishment of any religion by banning government support or hindrance of religion at all levels.


title: Religion in Brazil

text: Brazil possesses a richly spiritual society formed from the meeting of the Catholic Church with the religious traditions of enslaved Africans and indigenous people. This confluence of faiths during the Portuguese colonization of Brazil led to the development of a diverse array of syncretistic practices within the overarching umbrella of Brazilian Catholicism, characterized by traditional Portuguese festivities. Until recently Catholicism was overwhelmingly dominant. Changes in the 21st century have led to a growth in secularism (no religious affiliation), and to Evangelical Protestantism, at 31% of the population. A 2020 poll indicates that around 50% of Brazilians consider themselves Catholic, down from 90% in 1970. Despite falling in most of the country, Catholicism remains strong in most of the Northeast. Some analysts have projected Protestants to possibly outnumber Catholics around 2030, with the Catholic Church membership dropping to 38.6%, the Protestant membership in hundreds of independent denominations rising to 39.8%, and the non-Christian population (including the non-affiliated) rising to over 20%. In the 2010 census, 64.63% of the population declared themselves as Catholic, 22.2% as Protestant, 8% as non religious, and 5.2% as followers of other religions (mostly Spiritists or Kardecists who follow the doctrines of Allan Kardec, Umbandists, Candomblers, Jehovah's Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and minorities of Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, and other groups).


title: Religion in Brazil

text: Brazilian religions are very diversified and inclined to syncretism. In recent decades, there has been a great increase of Neo-Pentecostal churches and in Afro-Brazilian religions, which has decreased the number of members of the Roman Catholic Church. The number of Umbandists and Candomblers could be significantly higher than the official census figure, since many of them continue to this day to disguise their religion under "Catholic" syncretism. About ninety percent of Brazilians declared some sort of religious affiliation in the most recent census.


title: Religion in Brazil

text: Although the Federal Constitution guarantees religious tolerance to all its citizens (see article 5, item VI), it expressly prohibits all entities that make up the Federation to found and finance public cults and state churches controlled and coordinated by the Government - (see article 19, I), since until now the Brazilian State recognizes the "peculiar character" of the Catholic Church under the other religions in its legal system (see Article 16 of Decree 7107/2010), which is why the law recognizes the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, as the "patroness of Brazil" (see Article 1 of Law 6,802 / 1980); the Constitution is sworn "under the protection of God" (see Preamble of the Federal Constitution); Catholic holidays (such as the day of Our Lady of Aparecida and the day of Our Lord's birth) are recognized as national holidays by law (see Law 10.607 / 2002, Law 6.802 / 1980); the Catholic religion has an exclusive Law regulating its relationship with the State (see Decree 7107/2010); cities and states bear the name of Catholic saints; Catholic statues are exposed in public offices; the expression "God be praised" is present in all real notes; and religious teaching exclusively Catholic in public schools is permitted in the country (see ADI 4439).


title: Religion in Brazil

text: Brazil has the largest number of Catholics in the world. Catholicism has been Brazil's main religion since the beginning of the 16th century. It was introduced among the Native Brazilians by Jesuits missionaries and also observed by all the Portuguese first settlers.


title: Religion in Brazil

text: During colonial times, there was no freedom of religion. All Portuguese settlers and Brazilians were compulsorily bound to the Catholic faith and were bound to pay tithes to the church. After the Brazilian independence, the first constitution introduced freedom of religion in 1824, but Catholicism was kept as the official religion. The Imperial Government paid a salary to Catholic priest and influenced the appointment of bishops. The political-administrative division of the municipalities accompanied the hierarchical division of the bishoprics in ""freguesias"" (parishes). There was also some hindrances to the construction of temples and cemeteries that belonged to the Catholic Church. The first Republican Constitution in 1891 separated religion from state and made all religions equal in the Codes of Law, but the Catholic Church remained very influential until the 1970s. For example, due to the strong opposition of the Catholic Church, divorce was not allowed in Brazil until 1977 even if a separated couple observed a different religion.


title: Religion in Brazil

text: The Catholic faith practiced in Brazil is full of popular festivities rooted in centuries-old Portuguese traditions, but also heavily influenced by African and Native Brazilian usage. Popular traditions include pilgrimages to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida ("Nossa Senhora Aparecida"), the patron saint of Brazil, and religious festivals like the ""Círio de Nazaré"" in Belém and the ""Festa do Divino"" in many cities of Central Brazil. Areas that received many European immigrants in the last century, specially Italian and German, have Catholic traditions closer to that practiced in Europe.


title: Religion in Brazil

text: The largest proportion of Catholics is concentrated in the Northeast (59%) and South (53%) regions. The smallest proportion of Catholics is found in the Center-West region (49%). The State of Piauí has the largest proportion of Catholics (85%) and the State of Rio de Janeiro has the smallest one (45.19%). Among the state capitals, Teresina has the largest proportion of Catholics in the country (86.010%), followed by Aracaju, Fortaleza, Florianópolis and João Pessoa.