text:
What limited the use of the 6809 CPU in personal computers?
Why did manufacturers of home computers avoid using the 6809 CPU? I realize that the Z80 and 6502 had a 3- or 4-year head start in availability. But once it did become available in 1978, I don't understand why designers of new computers didn't choose it. I can only think of the TRS-80 Color Computer (home market) and the Commodore SuperPet (educational market) as mass-produced computers which used it.
It doesn't surprise me that it was not used in any business computers. New = unnecessary risk to many of those potential customers. But most home users didn't care much about having a well-known operating system and large preexisting library of professional applications.
The 6809 had inherent advantages. From the Wikipedia:
The 6809 was, by design, the first microprocessor for which it was possible to write fully position-independent code and fully reentrant code in a simple and straightforward way, without using difficult programming tricks. It was also one of the first microprocessors to implement a hardware multiplication instruction, and it features full 16-bit arithmetic and an especially fast interrupt system.
It seems strange to me that the engineers of manufacturers would not have been attracted to these advantages, and striven to build machines utilizing it.
RichFRichF
The Dragon 32/64 also; almost exactly like the CoCo but I think because both are based on the support chips provided directly by Motorola (and, especially, the 6847) rather than because the one is based on the other. – Tommy Feb 18 '18 at 23:02
"Couldn't run CP/M" was not helping. – Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen Feb 19 '18 at 0:57
It was used a lot. By french company Thomson, at least. They sold a lot of computers (MO5, TO7) all using the 6809. Thet were cheap, and found a way in a lot of homes and schools. – dim Feb 19 '18 at 5:17
The following is not exactly an answer to your question, but might be of interest. There was a real-time multi-tasking operating system "OS-9" that started with a 6809 version (what gave it its name) and became quite successfull later when ported to the 68000 family. Personally, I only used OS-9/68000, so I have to guess a little what the predecessor looked like. OS-9 as a real-time OS needed low interrupt response times, so the 6809 probably was a good match. The OS made use of position-independent, reentrant code, by having the software organized in "modules" containing code and read-only da – Ralf Kleberhoff Feb 19 '18 at 9:50
In comparing to the Z80, you have to consider that most Z80 based systems were treated by at least application software as being 8080's - the hardware design became simpler, but software efforts could continue an already proven and supported heritage. – Chris Stratton Feb 19 '18 at 18:17
Why did manufacturers of home computers avoid using the 6809 CPU?
I can't really see that anyone 'avoided' it. There have been many successful machines using the 6809. Beside the mentioned Tandy's CoCo there where other computers for the general audience, like
(Not exhaustive, there might be many more, as it's just from memory)
Hitachi MB6890 of 1980 and the later
Hitachi S1 series.
Canon CX-1 business system of 1981.
Fujitsu FM8 and FM-11 series (1981) as professional desktop machines and
Fujitsu FM7 series (1984) for the semi professional/home market
They were quite successful in Japan throughout all of the 1980s, and somewhat strange, the FM7 also in Portugal. The Fujitsu machines even featured two 6809, the second one operating as independent graphics subsystem.
Then there was Thomson as a major French player with the
Thomson TO7/8/9 series (starting 1982), and
Thomson MO5/6 series, a somewhat low cost version of the TO7(*1).
These machines had good sales and a strong following (still today) in French speaking countries. In other places they were rather rate (*2). The MO6 was also OEM'ed by Olivetti as Prodest PC128.
(For all these machines it might be more useful to read the corresponding French/Italian/Japanese Wiki pages than the English ones :))
Another successful machine was the British Dragon 32/64 series of 1982. They are often attribute as Tandy clones, but that's rather due the fact that both use Motorolas SAM chipset. Compared to the CoCo, they offer a better Keyboard and an on board parallel interface.
And lets not forget the Vectrex (1982), and the fact that the MacIntosh prototype, developed around the same time, was also 6809 based.
I realize that the Z80 and 6502 had a 3- or 4-year head start in availability. But once it did become available in 1978, I don't understand why designers of new computers didn't choose it.
For one, above examples do show that it has been used, but it takes some time to decide, design and market a new machine. So while the raw CPU may have been available in late 1978, above examples show that it took roughly 3 years for computers to show up using this new CPU. Comparable to the Atari Series, only showing up 4 years after the 6502 CPU was available.
It might be less simple here. Professional users don't care about the machine or its CPU. They care about certain application. If a manufacturer supports its applications after switching the CPU, they gladly buy the new, incompatible one.
Now, with third party software it becomes more complicated. If a manufacturer can convince them about the new system and its future sales, they will support it and users will follow. Otherwise it's playing safe and make the new machine compatible. Back in the 1970s and early 1980s, professional software was rather closely tied to computer manufacturers, so switching CPUs wasn't uncommon. Their decisions were hardware driven and supported by good profit margins, allowing them to spend large amounts on software ports.
On the fast moving home computer market, margins were rather small, and changing a machine design that would result in a complete rewrite was unaffordable. That's why Commodore stayed that long with the 6502. It was less expensive to patch some parts of the Kernel for a new video controller while keeping the same old CPU.
Pagetable has just released a nice work showing how Commodore kept reusing code in the Kernal.
The 6809 had inherent advantages. From the Wikipedia [...]
I guess that and for sure the usage of full 64 KiB where the main reasons for the University of Waterloo Computer Systems Group's development of a 6809 daughterboard for the PET - what later became known as SuperPET after Commodore bought the design in 1981 (*3).
In fact, the SuperPET has been one of many 6809 add on cards for existing machines. Like The Mill for the Apple II or the 6809 Tube Modul for the BBC.
It seems strange to me that the engineers of manufacturers would have been attracted to these advantages, and would have striven to build machines utilizing it.
At the time the 6809 became available the game was no longer played by some lone engineer starting a new computer, but bigger companies and driven by much more than just curiosity for a new chip. Still, a wide usage of 6809 systems as CPU in other systems, from knitting machines to street lights and telephone systems does show that engineers did appreciate the additional abilities.
Also, and maybe even more important, 16-bit CPUs (8086, 68k, 32k) became available about the same time as the 6809. And the Mac is a great example, that switching over to 16-bit did bring even more advantages, especially in terms of memory, than just using a more advanced 8-bit unit. Kind of a 'too little, too late' case.
Conclusion: I don't think the 6809 was avoided. There have been many successful systems. But it was already too late to successfully compete with upcoming 16-bit systems.
*1 - Thomson somewhat screwed their own success by making the MO5 not fully compatible. While the Hardware is quite similar, they mixed up the memory map, thus making exchangeable programs less common.
*2 - Keep in mind, most machines had their home markets and respective companies were rather niche players in other parts of the world. For example Tandy was a big number in the US, but never really a thing in continental Europe. Much like Thomson machines were big in France, Belgium and Italy, but exotic in other parts of Europe. Interestingly they were somewhat successful in Britain. Similarly, Japan had a complete separate ecosystem.
*3 - Reading the SuperPET history reveals that the original 6809 choice even came from IBM(!) as part of the MICROWAT program they developed for the University of Waterloo CSG.
quark67
Thank you for this well-researched and point-by-point response. With my North American perspective, I was only aware of your list's Dragon computer. I guess the Vectrix was sold in the USA, but I don't remember it, not having much interest in game consoles. I'm glad the rest of the world was more open to a broader spectrum of home/office machines. – RichF Feb 19 '18 at 15:25
I wouldn't call it more open. Just different markets with comanies beliving to have a chance. In case of Thomson, try to imagine if GE had come up with a home computer in 1982 to match some government recomendation for a nation wide school system. That might give a comparable picture. – Raffzahn Feb 19 '18 at 18:44
Vectrex. I had one of those. :) – Almo Feb 19 '18 at 20:38
Nice answer! Shame the question's closed, but The Mill card would've been a great answer for "What early home computers have more than one CPU, where both could be used by the programmer?". It looks like it was a fully independent 6809 that could interact with the 6502 in the Apple //. – scruss Feb 20 '18 at 2:03
@scruss The 6502 wasn't independant, as they could just work interleaved. The same mechanics are true for the Z80. Then again, there have been real independant cards for the Apple II where the additional processors had seperate Memory and could realy work in parallel. – Raffzahn Feb 20 '18 at 6:17
While I don't know the answer to this, I'll hazard a few guesses:
It was quite an expensive CPU. For example, in 1983 retail price in the UK was £6.50 for the 6809 or £12 for the 68B09, versus £3.20 for the Z80A or £5 for a 6502A.
Its performance didn't exactly set the world on fire. With most instructions taking 3-7 cycles at 1MHz, the base 6809 would be somewhat slower than either of those alternative processors, except for applications that used a lot of 16-bit operations. The 68B09 at 2MHz may have been a little faster, but probably not enough faster to be worth the cost, especially given that an 8088 was only another 50% more expensive and gave a much larger leap in performance.
The advantages cited in the Wikipedia article weren't generally seen as particularly important for PC/home applications at the time. It was only when more demanding applications started to be used on micros that they became relevant, and by then the 8088 had already achieved a dominant position.
JulesJules
Also the Motorola 6809 was not a drop-in replacement for the MOS 6502 or even the 6800. Later, the 68000 line experienced similar backwards compatibility issues that Intel's x86 line never had, and I think this contributed to Motorola's demise. – snips-n-snails Feb 19 '18 at 6:28
I just found the 6809 difficult to program. It had these combination commands that required an extra level of thinking, very much like Data General Assembler where you had to do a couple of commands in parallel. – cup Feb 19 '18 at 8:45
well, for electrical engineering students just learning microcomputer hardware and software and DSP, the 6809 was sexy. it was the first microporicessor CPU with a multiply instruction that i am aware of. and the orthogonal addressing modes with post-increment and pre-decrement were also quite cool. – robert bristow-johnson Feb 20 '18 at 4:44
@traal The 68000 was wildly successful. It didn't contribute to Motorola's demise in any way. – JeremyP Feb 20 '18 at 9:29
@Blrfl: I think that's over-simplifying quite a bit. Motorola made some pretty major changes in how the MMU worked in the 68040 vs. 68030. Then they changed things again in the 68060. Yes, it was possible to detect the processor and use code that worked on each. It's still a lot different from Intels where code written for a 386 in 1987 will still work just fine on a 2018 Skylake X. – Jerry Coffin Feb 21 '18 at 17:25
While the 6809 had (and still has) technical applications, it lost out badly in the consumer market in the "mug's eyeful" department: if you were buying your kid a computer for Christmas and didn't know any different, why buy the Dragon which only had 0.89 megahertz when the ZX Spectrum came with 3½ of them?
While folks here know that processor speed isn't remotely comparable, to people buying and selling computers without a technical background, it mattered. That's why Alan Sugar was so fond of his mug's eyeful, the extra bits that make it look to the buyer that they're getting a lot for their money.
scrussscruss
This is a fascinating subject, IMHO, and a fun one to find searching Google for a Z80/6502/6809 showdown. I think one of the areas that people in here haven't addressed - aside from cost - is the ability to license the 6809 core vs, say, the 6502.
Let's take for example, Atari. Both Atari Inc and later Atari Corp. Atari Inc. did end up using the 6809 somewhat in a few of their arcade games, but their consoles and 8-bit computers remained using the 6502. Atari didn't own their own fab like Commodore did - MOS/CSG - but they worked closely with Synertek, Rockwell, and others. They designed their own 6502 variant, the 6502C SALLY, and had those companies manufacture it for them. Could they have done the same with a 6809? Doubtful. And they would've had to have purchased all of the 6809s from Motorola and possibly later from Hitachi. It's actually a shame Atari did take to manufacturing even further 6502 enhancements they came up with in-house like adding 16-bit instructions to it back in 1979.
Flash forward all the way to 1988/89 when the successor Atari Corp was acquiring what became the Atari Lynx from Epyx. Despite its powerful 16-bit graphics chip, it still had a 6502 as its main CPU. Why? Because the 6809 and 68000 weren't available to license for customized cores, according to the development team. For whatever reason, they also didn't go with the 65816 from WDC either. But that's a different story...
MC6809 did have a lot of instructions however (to be compatible with 6800 most one byte instruction codes were unavailable) to access them required multiple bytes (multiple instruction fetches) and the internal microcode (Motorola didn't improve the internal microarchitecture of the CPU) took many more CPU cycles to execute those instructions. Basically for the same clock speed other processors executed the same program function faster and with less code (memory was costly).
Steve JSteve J
That fits with something I remember. Well IIRC that is. What one would think should be one of the simplest and quickest operations, copy register A to B, was actually executed as Push A, Pop B. Apparently the registers had no internal path, so one of them had to be pushed onto the stack and popped into the other register. That said, I still like the assembly language of the 6809, even if the actual implementation of those instructions was less than ideal. – RichF Aug 1 '18 at 5:40
@RichF - While you're correct that it's a surprisingly inefficient implementation, the MC6809 datasheet shows that TFR and EXG generate dummy bus cycles rather than stack accesses, suggesting the use of internal temporary storage of some kind. – Jeremy Nov 2 '18 at 10:02
One of the missed opportunities, in the United Kingdom, was the BBC Micro.
In 1979 Acorn was selling 6502-based eurocard kit computers, and quickly brought out a successor based on the 6809 -- often omitted from descriptions of Acorn, but you can see one here http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/8bit_Upgrades/Acorn_6809_CPU.html
It was vastly better board: CAD designed while the previous 6502 was hand-drawn, and the 6809 obviously gave access to professional operating systems Flex and OS/9.
The specification for the BBC Micro was being drawn up, and my understanding was that the discussions were between Best (68000 or whatever) and Current (Z80/6502), with not much credence for Good (6809). As the 68000 products would take too long, Acorn won with developments on its existing 6502 experience. I have heard it rumoured that the design was done right up to the deadline and the 6809 team at Acorn lost out for very ordinary internal reasons.
If the BBC had chosen a 6809-based design, I think it would have had enormous impact on the wider deployment of this CPU.
jonathanjojonathanjo
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged 6809 or ask your own question.
What early home computers have more than one CPU, where both could be used by the programmer?
Why was the 6809 so expensive?
Calculating the time for a CPU cycle
How useful were the 6809/6309's indirect addressing modes?


"I was so scared on the boat. I had my little brother in my arms when we fell into the water. I held him in my arms and cried. I prayed to God that I would go to paradise. I thought I was going to die. Death was so close." Farah is 10 years old. She fled Syria with her family.
"On our journey we had to stay in a Bulgarian refugee camp for five months, it was awful there. We were beaten by the guards," says Namir. He is 12 years old. His family is Christian and lived in Damascus before having to flee Syria. Some of his relatives were even forced to convert to Islam. "On the way to Germany we were running through a very dark forest. I lost a shoe there and my feet were covered in blood because of all the twigs and thorns. My father had to carry me and my sister. I was hungry and thirsty."
"My little brother was separated from us during our flight. We couldn't find him for three days. We cried and cried," says Walid. "Nidal* was traumatised. He never speaks about it. When we finally found him three days later he cried and laughed at the same time - it was indescribable. If it had happened to me it would have been OK, but Nidal is just a child," says his 17 year old brother.
Walid was forced to grow up during the course of his journey. He fled Syria with his mother and his two younger brothers. His father had to stay behind. "Sometimes my mother breaks down. We all have nightmares. We saw fighters kill two people one night while we were sleeping on the floor of a schoolhouse. I will never forget it. My brother saw it happen too. Sometimes Nidal seems to try to injure himself." Walid says his happiest day would be the one when he could finally see his father again.
Farah, Namir and Walid's experiences are moving. They are the kinds of experiences that parents try to protect their children from ever having. The desperation of refugee parents is immeasurable. They all have the desire to make a better future possible for their children. According to the German government, one third of all refugees are children and teenagers.
"We hear stories of terrible suffering," says psychologist Andreas Mattenschlager. He heads a psychological family and life counselling project in the southern German city of Ulm. There, he and his team offer psychotherapeutic support for traumatised refugee children and unaccompanied underage refugees.
"Small children do not experience feelings of security in a specific place, but rather in relationship to their parents," explains the family therapist. "At home, children experienced their parents as strong. If their parents break down on the journey, or are forced to remain behind, the children lose their security."
The experiences of war, imprisonment and torture in their homeland, as well as months of being on the run while fleeing to Europe, are a tremendous burden on the children. The isolation and discrimination that are so much a part of the situation in refugee camps just add to that psychological strain. "Sometimes families are forced to spend days and months crammed into small rooms at reception camps with as many as 1,500 other people. That is extremely stressful," says Volker Mall, chair of social paediatrics at the Technical University of Munich and medical director of the Munich Children's Centre.
Mall says that in order to better integrate these traumatised children into German day-care centres and schools, psychotherapeutic help must be developed in a quick and uncomplicated manner. "Our structures are good. We have institutions that can deal with these problems. But some asylum requests take years to be approved," says Mall. German health insurers will not cover psychotherapeutic treatment until the person in need of that treatment has legal residency.
Andreas Mattschlager and his team have taken a decisive step. Once a week, a psychologist offers open consultation hours in a collective accommodation in Ulm. "The children and the unaccompanied youths have a lot of broken relationships behind them. They have lost their parents, or people with whom they had contact while fleeing. The most important thing for them right now is a reliable contact person," says Mattschlager.
Yet families are often sceptical at first. Mattschlager says that he quickly sensed the fear that information from conversations would be forwarded to the immigration office. Only when a level of trust and a safe atmosphere are established can traumatised children begin to talk about the unspeakable.


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Free Stock Comic Strips - Page 35
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View 341 - 350 results for free stock comic strips. Discover the best "Free Stock" comics from Dilbert.com.
Tags #budget, #coffee, #suggestion, #anger, #firing, #meeting, #business
the boss says, "I need ideas on how we can cut spending." Wally says, bring back free coffee." the boss says, "That's the opposite of cutting spending." Wally says, "It seems that way if you're short sighted." Wally says, "When I buy my own coffee, I don't drink as much." Wally says, "That make me less alert and about half as productive." Wally says, "If you give me free coffee, you can fire Ted and come out ahead." Wally says, "I rest my case." The boss says, "I'm sorry Ted. Wally makes a compelling argument." zzz
Tags #use open source, #emergency, #trade publication, #no one gets hurt
The Boss: From now on, I want you to use open source software for everything we do. It's free. Dilbert: I'll be right back." "It's an emergency. I think he's been reading. Alice: We know you have a trade publication in here. Hand it over and no one has to get hurt."
Tags #stock holder meeting, #gadflies, #stock price dropped, #sleep at night
Stockholder meeting CEO: Do we have any questions from Gadflies? You earned 72 million dollars while our stick price dropped nine percent. How can you sleep at night? CEO: ZZZZZ
"Hi, handsome. Are you free for lunch?" "Are you selling something, or do you have a horrible defect that isn't apparent?" "Is it so hard to believe that a hot, intelligent, sane woman would be attracted to a man like you?" "Gaaa!!! It's worse than I thought!" "Maybe we could just drink coffee and talk about the last episode of Battlestar Galactica." "GAAA!!!" "Get away from me, you perfect monster!" "There must be a guy in the engineering department who will date me." "Hi." "What's wrong with you?"
Tags #take the chair, #don't sell chairs, #sell hope, #hope of chairs, #ship in 2 months, #call and yell, #buy a chair
SALE "I'll take that chair." "Excellent choice." "Now sit there quietly and try not to ask the one question that will kill this sale." "Is the chair in stock?" "GAAA!!!" "The truth is that we don't sell chairs at all. We sell the hope that a chair will someday be made for you." "How long will that take?" "If I could answer that question, it would be the same as selling you an actual chair." "How about if I tell you it will ship in two months, and you call and yell at me every three months for eternity?" "Did you buy a chair?" "There's no way to know."
Tags #lost id badge, #security offcie, #sneak, #angel with bacon, #looks around
Dilbert: I lost my ID besiege. Security: Report to the security office and get a new one. Hold it where do you think you're going? Dilbert: To the security office? Security: No one is allowed past this desk with out an ID badge. Dilbert: Okay....how do I go to the security office if I can't go to the security office? Security: Good question. I guess you'll have to steal past me. Dilbert: Look over there! Its an angel and she's giving away free bacon! Security: well well It seems Ive found a worthy adversary.
Tags #product development, #two thirds, #Features, #reduce scope, #change request, #stacks of paper, #mean, #unethical, #passive agressive
Dilbert: Our budget won't cover all of the product development. We can only do two thirds of the features for that amount. The Boss: reduce the scope of the project by one third. Dilbert: Okay. The boss: but theoretically.... Dilbert: No...dear lord, no. The boss: Id I later give you a change request to add one feature could you do it for the same budget. Dilbert One? sure. DATA GOES IN : MANAGEMENT COMES OUT. One sure changes are free, Carol: where do I put the change requests?
Tags #despartment, #normal scope, #over loaded, #flexible, #client driven, #outside of scope, #avoid projects, #cheerfully accept assignments
A business associate asks The Boss, "Can your department do this for us?" The Boss responds, "No problem." The business associate says, "Really? It's outside of your normal scope of work and I know you're over-loaded." The Boss exclaims, "We're a flexible, client-driven organization!" Asok asks Wally, "Wally, how can I avoid projects that are outside of my scope of responsibility?" Wally responds, "Cheerfully accept the assignments and then never work on them." Wally continues, "It bolsters your claims of being overloaded while leaving you free for work that matters." Asok asks, "Work matters?" Wally replies, "Well, not to us." The Boss hands Asok an assignment and says, "I'm not even sure what they want." Asok responds, "I'll start ignoring it immediately."
Tags #technology strategy, #not written yet, #doesn't exist, #duh, #duh to infinity
The Boss comes into Dilbert's cubicle and says, "Dilbert, write up our technology strategy." Dilbert replies, "Okay." He pauses and then asks, "What's our strategy?" The Boss says, "How should I know? It's not written yet." He pauses and then adds, "Duh!" Dilbert turns and says, "How can I write about something that doesn't exist?" He pauses and then adds, "Duh!" The Boss replies, "It will exist, as soon as you write it." He pauses and then adds, "Duh!" The Boss and Dilbert exchange "Duhs:" The Boss says, "Duh!" Dilbert responds, "Duh!" The Boss says, "Duh!" Dilbert responds, "Duh!" The Boss says, "Duh!" Dilbert responds, "Duh!" The Boss turns to leave and says, "Just do it." The Boss thinks to himself, "Double duh." Dilbert responds, "Whatever." Dilbert thinks to himself, "Duh to infinity." Dilbert faces his computer and thinks, "If my company stock had any value, I'd be selling it right now."
Tags #frequent grocery club, #memebership, #Card, #engineer spittle, #carry card, #inconvienced, #junk mail list, #charge me same
Dilbert is at the checkout line of a supermarket. The cashier asks him, "Are you a member of our frequent grocery club?" Dilbert responds, "No, what is it?" The cashier replies, "You get a membership card that entitles you to discounts." Dilbert says, "Let's see if I have this straight..." Dilbert continues, "I'll be inconvenienced by having to fill out a form and carry your stupid card around..." Dilbert continues, "And in return, you'll put me on a junk mail list, and charge me the same as the grocery store across the street?" Dilbert yells, "AND YOU EXPECT ME TO BE HAPPY ABOUT IT?!!" The customer in line behind Dilbert says, "But it's free!" The cashier says into the intercom, "Cleanup on register two.. it's engineer spittle."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
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text:
Annie Roshak leads unbeaten Ashland women's basketball, Chris O'Connor stars on No. 1 Texas swim team
Bill Arsenault
Special to The Canton Repository
Annie Roshak is wrapping up her career as one the top performers in the history of Ashland University women's basketball.
The 6-foot-1 senior forward from Hoover High School currently stands eighth all-time in scoring with 1,487 points, having moved up four spots since the start of the season.
Roshak and the Eagles are off to a 12-0 start and stand in first place in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference with a 6-0 league record. The team is ranked No. 2 nationally in Division II in the Women's Basketball Coaches of America's latest poll.
Roshak leads Ashland in scoring with a 13.7 average and has hit 10 of 20 3-pointers. She also averages 5.8 rebounds a game with 16 assists, 10 steals and eight blocked shots. Along with her point total, she has 476 rebounds, 135 assists, 119 steals and 83 blocked shots in 92 career games.
The Eagles also are getting solid play from sophomore Hayley Smith (St. Thomas Aquinas). The 6-1 sophomore is averaging 12.5 points, third on the team, and is tops on the squad with 8.1 rebounds a game.
Andrew White (GlenOak) The senior opened the indoor season with a big effort for the Wake Forest men's indoor track team. White finished first out of 28 entrants in the weight throw at the Visit Winston-Salem College Kick-off, Dec. 3, in Winston-Salem, N.C. He had a heave of 66 feet, 5 inches. It was his fifth individual title in both indoor and outdoor track and his second in the weight throw. His personal best in that event is 69-5, which he set when he finished fifth in the Atlantic Coast Conference Indoor Championship last February.
Chris O'Connor (Hoover) The junior is the top backstroke performer on the No. 1-ranked Texas men's swim team and he proved that by posting his first victory of the season in the 200 back at the Minnesota Invitational prior to the break, Dec. 3, in Minneapolis. O'Connor posted a time of 1:40.65 which currently stands eighth in Division I. He also finished third in the 100 back with a personal-best 46.31 and swam the backstroke leg on the team's 400 medley relay which came in second in 3:06.20.
Taylor Anthony (Perry) The senior is the top sprinter for the John Carroll women's indoor track team. She won the 60 meters and took second in the 200 at Case Western's ninth annual Spartan Holiday Classic, Dec. 3, in Cleveland. Her time in the 60 was 7.89 while her time in the 200 was 27.53. Anthony's personal best marks in the two events are 7.76 for the 50 and 25.48 for the 200. She also competes with the 4x100 relay during the indoor season.
Victor Marcelli (Jackson) The fifth-year senior is competing with the Virginia wrestling team. He opened the season by finishing third at 174 pounds at the Southern Open, Nov. 5, in Roanoke, Va. He is currently 6-4 overall and is 0-1 in dual meets after dropping a 12-3 major decision in the Cavaliers' 20-13 loss to No. 15 Northwestern on Nov. 20. He has two major decisions of his own and has a 32-30 career record. Marcelli was a Division I qualifier in 2021.
Peyton Alazaus (West Branch) The 5-10 junior guard has started all 10 games for the Pitt-Johnstown women's basketball team (6-4, 3-1 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division). In two recent wins, Dec. 18-19, Alazaus had 16 points against West Chester and scored 15 against Millersville. On the season, she's tied for first in scoring with a 13.2 average. And she's averaging 4.9 rebounds with 18 assists.
Sarah Roth (Jackson) The freshman kicked off her college career with the Goucher (Md.) women's indoor track team by finishing eighth out of 16 entrants in the weight throw at the College of New Jersey Indoor Opener, Dec. 3, in The Armory in New York City. Roth had a toss of 36-11.75. She posted the best effort by a freshman. The Gophers return to action Jan. 13 when they compete in Lebanon Valley's Dutchmen Invitational in Lebanon, Pa.
Erin Hahn (Louisville) The 5-11 senior forward leads the Marietta women's basketball team (7-4) in scoring and rebounding. Hahn scored a team-high 13 points in a win over Kean (N.J.) in the Puerto Rico Classico, Dec. 20, in San Juan. On the season, she is averaging 10.9 points and 8.2 rebounds with two double-doubles. She was named first-team All-Ohio Athletic Conference as a junior after averaging 9.9 points and 8.0 rebounds a game.
Ted Kinney (Jackson) The sophomore is one of the top performers on the Edinboro (Pa.) men's swim team. He swam the leadoff leg on the Fighting Scot's winning 200-yard freestyle relay at the Wooster Invitational prior to the break on Dec. 3-4. The unit posted a time of 1:24.93. He also finished fourth in the 100 freestyle with a time of 47.25. Kinney won the 50 freestyle in a 124-71 victory over Allegheny on Nov. 5 with a time of 21.74. It was his second victory in that event this season.
Kamaria Montgomery (GlenOak) The junior opened the season with the Baldwin Wallace women's indoor track team by finishing second in the 500 meters at Case Western's Spartan Holiday Classic, Dec. 3, in Cleveland. She ran 1:29.69. Her personal record is 1:27.57, recorded when she finished sixth in the OAC Elite Meet as a freshman in 2021. Montgomery also ran a leg on the 1,600 relay, which finished fifth in 4:30.72.
Reece Leone (West Branch) The 5-10 junior guard is averaging 11.0 points a game for the Westminster (Pa.) men's basketball team. He had a season-high 24 points, aided by four 3-point baskets, and five assists in the Titans' 68-62 comeback win over Saint Vincent on Nov. 19. He shot 9-for-17 from the field. Leone also averages 4.4 rebounds a game and has a team-high 36 assists and 14 steals. He averaged 12.3 points a game as a freshman and 13.8 as a sophomore.
Anthony Mazzeo (Jackson) It was a big night for the 6-3 senior guard in Baldwin-Wallace's 85-84 non-league home win over Hobart (N.Y.) on Dec. 14. Mazzeo tied the game with a basket at the buzzer in regulation and then hit the game winner in the final seconds in overtime. He finished with 25 points to become the 44th player in program history to score over 1,000 points in a career. On the season, Mazzeo leads the Yellow Jackets in scoring with a 19.6 average. He's shooting 46.2% from the field, connecting on 28 of 72 3-pointers, and averaging 4.7 rebounds per game.
Breezie Williams (GlenOak) The 5-5 freshman guard has started all 12 games for the New Hampshire women's basketball team and leads the team in minutes per game (32.9). Williams is third on the team in scoring with a 9.8 average and has recorded double figures in nine of 12 games for the 5-7 Wildcats. She is also averaging 5.1 rebounds a game and leads the team in assists with 22 and steals with 25, ranking second in the America East in the latter category. She scored a career-high 17 points at South Florida in November and had her first double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds) against Stonehill in December.
Zach Schering (Jackson) The All-American had a big meet as his Clarion (Pa.) men's swim team topped Indiana 128-112 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference opener for both squads to wrap up the first semester on Dec. 10 in Clarion. Schering won the 1-meter (optional) with a score of 290.55 and the 1-meter (voluntary) with a 181.95 total. As a freshman, he earned All-American honors with a seventh-place finish in the 3-meter dive with a score of 466.20 at the Division II NCAA Championship.
Luke Reicosky (Hoover) The senior became the 11th wrestler in John Carroll history to record his 100th victory. He also earned his first Ohio Athletic Conference Wrestler of the Week honor of his career on Dec. 12 after going 4-0 and capturing the 165-pound title at the North Central Invitational in Naperville, Ill. Reicosky had a big junior season. Competing at 157 pounds, he went 29-6 and earned Division III All-American honors when he finished seventh at the NCAA Championships.
Josh Chandler-Semedo (McKinley) The 5-10, 230-pound graduate student was named Most Valuable Player on the Colorado football team. The linebacker led the team in tackles with 101, including 73 unassisted. He had three quarterback sacks and 10 others for losses, and made an interception. He played a team-high 734 snaps. It was his first season with Colorado after four solid seasons at West Virginia where he was a two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection.
Luke Laubacher (Perry) The sophomore kicked off the season with the Youngstown State men's indoor track team by winning the 60 hurdles at the YSU Indoor Opener, Dec. 2. He ran a personal-record 7.94. It was his first race since he won the 110 hurdles title in 14:32 at the Horizon League Outdoor Championship last May. Laubacher also finished third in the long jump, Dec. 2, going 7.08 meters.
Tye Hunt (Lake) The Youngstown State junior broke a school record in winning the long jump at the YSU Indoor Opener, Dec. 2. He jumped 7.74 meters.
Paige South (Hoover) The sophomore broke the school record in the 100-yard freestyle for the Niagara women's swim team at the Magnus Cup, Nov. 17-20, in Cleveland. Her time of 51.39 bettered the previous mark of 51.50. She finished fifth out of 40 swimmers. South also finished fifth in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.65 competing against 39 entrants. And she scored points with four relay teams.
JoJo France (Manchester) The 6-0 senior guard leads the Pitt-Greensburg men's basketball team in scoring at 22.0 points per game, highlighted by hitting 21-of-60 3-pointers (35 percent). He has scored 20 or more in the past six games with a season-high 28 in an 87-75 victory over Penn State Shenango on Nov. 22. He tied his career-best with seven 3-point baskets.
Nakyah Terrell (McKinley) The 5-6 sophomore guard has started all 10 games for the High Point (N.C.) women's basketball team, the Panthers 2-7 after a on Dec. 7. Terrell had nine points, five rebounds and six assists in just 22 minutes in a 74-38 win over North Carolina Wesleyan, Dec. 7. On the season, she is third on the team in scoring with a 10.7 average and is averaging 4.2 rebounds with 26 assists.
Brock Janowicz (Central Catholic) The Ashland sophomore finished first out of 22 entrants in the weight throw at the 2022 Oiler Opener, Dec. 1-2, in Findlay. He posted a personal-record 63-9.5. It is the third individual victory he has recorded. He finished 10th in the G-MAC Indoor Championship as a freshman last April with a mark of 59-4.


Alberta /ælˈbɜrtə/ is the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces. It covers nearly the same land area as the state of Texas, and had a population of 3.7 million in 2009. It became a province on September 1, 1905, on the same day as Saskatchewan.
Edmonton, the capital city of Alberta, is located just south of the centre of the province. Roughly 300 kilometres (190 mi) south of the capital is Calgary, Alberta's largest city and a major distribution and transportation hub as well as one of Canada's major commerce centres. Edmonton is the primary supply and service hub for Canada's oil sands and other northern resource industries. According to recent population estimates, these two metropolitan areas have now both exceeded 1 million people. Other municipalities in the province include Red Deer, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Camrose, Lloydminster, Brooks, Wetaskiwin, Banff, Cold Lake, and Jasper.
Alberta is named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848–1939), the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert. Princess Louise was the wife of the Marquess of Lorne, Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883. Lake Louise, the village of Caroline, and Mount Alberta were also named in honour of Princess Louise. Since December 14, 2006, the Premier of the province has been Ed Stelmach, a Progressive Conservative.
Alberta covers an area of 661,848 square kilometres (255,500 sq mi), an area about 5% smaller than Texas or 20% larger than metropolitan France. This makes it the fourth largest province after Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia. To the south, the province borders on the 49th parallel north, separating it from the U.S. state of Montana, while on the north the 60th parallel north divides it from the Northwest Territories.
To the east the 110th meridian west separates it from the province of Saskatchewan, while on the west its boundary with British Columbia follows the 120th meridian west south from the Northwest Territories at 60°N until it reaches the Continental Divide at the Rocky Mountains, and from that point follows the line of peaks marking the Continental Divide in a generally southeasterly direction until it reaches the Montana border at 49°N.
The province extends 1,223 kilometres (760 mi) north to south and 660 kilometres (410 mi) east to west at its maximum width. Its highest point is 3,747 metres (12,293 ft) at the summit of Mount Columbia in the Rocky Mountains along the southwest border, while its lowest point is 152 metres (499 ft) on the Slave River in Wood Buffalo National Park in the northeast.
With the exception of the semi-arid steppe of the southeastern section, the province has adequate water resources. Alberta contains numerous rivers and lakes used for swimming, water skiing, fishing and a full range of other water sports. There are three large lakes and a multitude of smaller lakes less than 260 square kilometres (100 sq mi) each. Part of Lake Athabasca (7,898 square kilometres (3,049 sq mi)) lies in the province of Saskatchewan.
Lake Claire (1,436 square kilometres (554 sq mi)) lies just west of Lake Athabasca in Wood Buffalo National Park. Lesser Slave Lake (1,168 square kilometres (451 sq mi)) is northwest of Edmonton. The longest river in Alberta is the Athabasca River which travels 1,538 kilometres (956 mi) from the Columbia Icefield in the Rocky Mountains to Lake Athabasca. The largest river is the Peace River with an average flow of 2161 m3/s. The Peace River originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows through northern Alberta and into the Slave River, a tributary of the Mackenzie River.
Alberta's capital city, Edmonton, is located approximately in the geographic centre of the province, with most of western Canada's oil refinery capacity located nearby, in proximity to most of Canada's largest oil fields. Edmonton is the most northerly major city in Canada, and serves as a gateway and hub for resource development in northern Canada. Alberta's other major city, Calgary, is located approximately 280 kilometres (170 mi) south of Edmonton and 240 kilometres (150 mi) north of Montana, surrounded by extensive ranching country. Almost 75% of the province's population lives in the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor, in and between the two major cities.
Alberta has a dry continental climate with warm summers and cold winters. The province is open to cold arctic weather systems from the north, which often produce extremely cold conditions in winter. As the fronts between the air masses shift north and south across Alberta, temperature can change rapidly. Arctic air masses in the winter produce extreme minimum temperatures varying from −54 °C (−65 °F) in northern Alberta to −46 °C (−51 °F) in southern Alberta. In the summer, continental air masses produce maximum temperatures from 32 °C (90 °F) in the mountains to 40 °C (104 °F) in southern Alberta.
Because Alberta extends for over 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) from north to south, its climate varies considerably. Average temperatures in January range from −8 °C (18 °F) in the south to −24 °C (−11 °F) in the north, and in July from 24 °C (75 °F) in the south to 16 °C (61 °F) in the north. The climate is also influenced by the presence of the Rocky Mountains to the southwest, which disrupt the flow of the prevailing westerly winds and cause them to drop most of their moisture on the western slopes of the mountain ranges before reaching the province, casting a rain shadow over much of Alberta. The northerly location and isolation from the weather systems of the Pacific Ocean cause Alberta to have a dry climate with little moderation from the ocean. Annual precipitation ranges from 300 millimetres (12 in) in the southeast to 450 millimetres (18 in) in the north, except in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where rainfall can reach 600 millimetres (24 in) annually.
In the summer, the average daytime temperatures range from around 21 °C (70 °F) in the Rocky Mountain valleys and far north to near 30 °C (86 °F) in the dry prairie of the southeast. The northern and western parts of the province experience higher rainfall and lower evaporation rates caused by cooler summer temperatures. The south and east-central portions are prone to drought-like conditions sometimes persisting for several years, although even these areas can receive heavy precipitation. Alberta is a sunny province. Annual bright sunshine totals range between 1900 and 2500 hours per year. Northern Alberta receives about 18 hours of daylight in the summer. The long summer days make summer the sunniest season of the year in Alberta.
In southwestern Alberta, the winter cold is frequently interrupted by warm, dry chinook winds blowing from the mountains, which can propel temperatures upward from frigid conditions to well above the freezing point in a very short period. During one chinook recorded at Pincher Creek, temperatures soared from −18.9 °C (−2.0 °F) to 3.3 °C (38 °F) in one hour. The region around Lethbridge has the most chinooks, averaging 30 to 35 chinook days per year, while Calgary has a white Christmas only 59% of the time as a result of these winds.
Northern Alberta is mostly covered by boreal forest and has fewer frost-free days than southern Alberta due to its subarctic climate. The agricultural area of southern Alberta has a semi-arid steppe climate because the annual precipitation is less than the water that evaporates or is used by plants. The southeastern corner of Alberta, part of the Palliser Triangle, experiences greater summer heat and lower rainfall than the rest of the province, and as a result suffers frequent crop yield problems and occasional severe droughts. Western Alberta is protected by the mountains and enjoys the mild temperatures brought by winter chinook winds. Central and parts of northwestern Alberta in the Peace River region are largely aspen parkland, a biome transitional between prairie to the south and boreal forest to the north.
After southern Ontario, Central Alberta is the most likely region in Canada to experience tornadoes. Thunderstorms, some of them severe, are frequent in the summer, especially in central and southern Alberta. The region surrounding the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor is notable for having the highest frequency of hail in Canada, which is caused by orographic lifting from the nearby Rocky Mountains, enhancing the updraft/downdraft cycle necessary for the formation of hail.
In central and northern Alberta the arrival of spring brings the prairie crocus anemone, the three flowered avens, golden bean, wild rose and other early flowers. The advancing summer introduces many flowers of the sunflower family, until in August the plains are one blaze of yellow and purple. The southern and east central parts of Alberta are covered by a short, nutritious grass, which dries up as summer lengthens, to be replaced by hardy perennials such as the prairie coneflower, fleabane, and sage. Both yellow and white sweet clover fill the ditches with their beauty and aromatic scents.
The trees in the parkland region of the province grow in clumps and belts on the hillsides. These are largely deciduous, typically aspen, poplar, and willow. Many species of willow and other shrubs grow in virtually any terrain. On the north side of the North Saskatchewan River evergreen forests prevail for hundreds of thousands of square kilometres. Aspen poplar, balsam poplar (or cottonwood), and paper birch are the primary large deciduous species. Conifers include Jack pine, Rocky Mountain pine, Lodgepole pine, both white and black spruce, and the deciduous conifer tamarack.
The four climatic regions (alpine, boreal forest, parkland, and prairie) of Alberta are home to many different species of animals. The south and central prairie was the land of the bison, its grasses providing a great pasture and breeding ground for millions of buffalo. The buffalo population was decimated during early settlement, but since then buffalo have made a strong comeback and thrive on farms and in parks all over Alberta.
Alberta is the only province in Canada—as well as one of the few places in the world—that is free of Norwegian rats. Since the early 1950s, the government of Alberta has operated a rat-control program, which has been so successful that only isolated instances of wild rat sightings are reported, usually of rats arriving in the province aboard trucks or by rail. In 2006, Alberta Agriculture reports zero findings of wild rats; the only rat interceptions have been domesticated rats that have been seized from their owners. It is illegal for individual Albertans to own or keep Norwegian rats of any description; the animals can be kept in the province by only zoos, universities and colleges, and recognized research institutions. In 2009, several rats were found and captured, in small pockets in Southern Alberta, putting Alberta's rat-free status in jeopardy.
The province of Alberta, as far north as about 53° north latitude, was a part of Rupert's Land from the time of the incorporation of the Hudson's Bay Company (1670). After the arrival in the North-West of the French around 1731 they settled the prairies of the west, establishing communities such as Lac La Biche and Bonnyville. Fort La Jonquière was established near what is now Calgary in 1752. The North West Company of Montreal occupied the northern part of Alberta territory before the Hudson's Bay Company arrived from Hudson Bay to take possession of it. The first explorer of the Athabasca region was Peter Pond, who, on behalf of the North West Company of Montreal, built Fort Athabasca on Lac La Biche in 1778. Roderick Mackenzie built Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca ten years later in 1788. His cousin, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, followed the North Saskatchewan River to its northernmost point near Edmonton, then setting northward on foot, trekked to the Athabasca River, which he followed to Lake Athabasca. It was there he discovered the mighty outflow river which bears his name—the Mackenzie River—which he followed to its outlet in the Arctic Ocean. Returning to Lake Athabasca, he followed the Peace River upstream, eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean, and so he became the first white man to cross the North American continent north of Mexico.
Most of Alberta's territory was included in Rupert's Land, transferred to Canada in 1870. The southernmost portion of Alberta was part of the French (and Spanish) territory of Louisiana, sold to the United States in 1803; in 1818, the portion of Louisiana north of the Forty-Ninth Parallel was ceded to Great Britain. Northern Alberta was included in the North-Western Territory until 1870, when it and Rupert's land became Canada's Northwest Territories.
Alberta has enjoyed a relatively high rate of growth in recent years, mainly because of its burgeoning economy. Between 2003 and 2004, the province had high birthrates (on par with some larger provinces such as British Columbia), relatively high immigration, and a high rate of interprovincial migration when compared to other provinces.
Approximately 81% of the population live in urban areas and only about 19% live in rural areas. The Calgary-Edmonton Corridor is the most urbanized area in the province and is one of the most densely populated areas of Canada. Many of Alberta's cities and towns have also experienced very high rates of growth in recent history. Over the past century, Alberta's population rose from 73,022 in 1901 to 2,974,807 in 2001 and 3,290,350 according to the 2006 census.
The 2006 census found that English, with 2,576,670 native speakers, was the most common mother tongue of Albertans, representing 79.99% of the province's population. The next most common mother tongues were various Chinese languages with 97,275 native speakers (3.02%), followed by German with 84,505 nativespeakers (2.62%) and French with 61,225 (1.90%).
Other mother tongues (in decreasing order) include: Punjabi, with 36,320 native speakers (1.13%); Tagalog, with 29,740 (0.92%); Ukrainian, with 29,455 (0.91%); Spanish, with 29,125 (0.90%); Polish, with 21,990 (0.68%); Arabic, with 20,495 (0.64%); Dutch, with 19,980 (0.62%); and Vietnamese, with 19,350 (0.60%). The most common aboriginal language is Cree 17,215 (0.53%). Other common mother tongues include Italian with 13,095 speakers (0.41%); Urdu with 11,275 (0.35%); and Korean with 10,845 (0.33%); then Hindi 8,985 (0.28%); Persian 7,700 (0.24%); Portuguese 7,205 (0.22%); and Hungarian 6,770 (0.21%).
Alberta has considerable ethnic diversity. In line with the rest of Canada, many immigrants originated from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, but large numbers also came from other parts of Europe, notably Germans, French, Ukrainians and Scandinavians. According to Statistics Canada, Alberta is home to the second highest proportion (two percent) of Francophones in western Canada (after Manitoba). Despite this, relatively few Albertans claim French as their mother tongue. Many of Alberta's French-speaking residents live in the central and northwestern regions of the province.
As of the Canada 2001 Census the largest religious group was Roman Catholic, representing 25.7% of the population. Alberta had the second highest percentage of non-religious residents in Canada (after British Columbia) at 23.1% of the population. Of the remainder, 13.5% of the population identified themselves as belonging to the United Church of Canada, while 5.9% were Anglican. Lutherans made up 4.8% of the population while Baptists comprised 2.5%.
The remainder belonged to a wide variety of different religious affiliations, none of which constituted more than 2% of the population. The Mormons of Alberta reside primarily in the extreme south of the province and made up 1.7% of the population. Alberta has a population of Hutterites, a communal Anabaptist sect similar to the Mennonites (Hutterites represented 0.4% of the population while Mennonites were 0.8%), and has a significant population of Seventh-day Adventists at 0.3%. Alberta is home to several Byzantine Rite Churches as part of the legacy of Eastern European immigration, including the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada's Western Diocese which is based in Edmonton.
Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus live in Alberta. Muslims constituted 1.7% of the population, Sikhs 0.8% and Hindus 0.5%. Many of these are recent immigrants, but others have roots that go back to the first settlers of the prairies. Canada's oldest mosque, the Al-Rashid Mosque is located in Edmonton, whereas the Canada's largest mosque, the Baitun Nur mosque is located in Calgary. Jews constituted 0.4% of Alberta's population. Most of Alberta's 13,000 Jews live in Calgary (7,500) and Edmonton (5,000).
The Calgary-Edmonton Corridor is the most urbanized region in the province and one of the densest in Canada. The region covers a distance of roughly 400 kilometres north to south. In 2001, the population of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor was 2.15 million (72% of Alberta's population). It is also one of the fastest growing regions in the country. A 2003 study by TD Bank Financial Group found the corridor to be the only Canadian urban centre to amass a U.S. level of wealth while maintaining a Canadian style quality of life, offering universal health care benefits. The study found that GDP per capita in the corridor was 10% above average U.S. metropolitan areas and 40% above other Canadian cities at that time.
According to the Fraser Institute, Alberta also has very high levels of economic freedom. It is by far the most free economy in Canada, and is rated as the 2nd most free economy of U.S. states and Canadian provinces.
Alberta is the largest producer of conventional crude oil, synthetic crude, natural gas and gas products in the country. Alberta is the world's 2nd largest exporter of natural gas and the 4th largest producer. Two of the largest producers of petrochemicals in North America are located in central and north central Alberta. In both Red Deer and Edmonton, world class polyethylene and vinyl manufacturers produce products shipped all over the world, and Edmonton's oil refineries provide the raw materials for a large petrochemical industry to the east of Edmonton.
The Athabasca Oil Sands have estimated unconventional oil reserves approximately equal to the conventional oil reserves of the rest of the world, estimated to be 1.6 trillion barrels (254 km³). With the development of new extraction methods such as steam assisted gravity drainage, which was developed in Alberta, bitumen and synthetic crude oil can be produced at costs close to those of conventional crude. Many companies employ both conventional strip mining and non-conventional in situ methods to extract the bitumen from the oil sands. With current technology and at current prices, about 315 billion barrels (50 km³) of bitumen are recoverable. Fort McMurray, one of Canada's fastest growing cities, has grown enormously in recent years because of the large corporations which have taken on the task of oil production. As of late 2006 there were over $100 billion in oil sands projects under construction or in the planning stages in northeastern Alberta.
Another factor determining the viability of oil extraction from the oil sands is the price of oil. The oil price increases since 2003 have made it more than profitable to extract this oil, which in the past would give little profit or even a loss.
Agriculture has a significant position in the province's economy. The province has over three million head of cattle, and Alberta beef has a healthy worldwide market. Nearly one half of all Canadian beef is produced in Alberta. Alberta is one of the prime producers of plains buffalo (bison) for the consumer market. Sheep for wool and mutton are also raised.
Alberta's Rocky Mountains include well known tourist destinations Banff National Park and Jasper National Park. The two mountain parks are connected by the scenic Icefields Parkway. Banff is located 128 km (80 mi) west of Calgary on Highway 1, and Jasper is located 366 km (227 mi) west of Edmonton on Yellowhead Highway. Five of Canada's fourteen UNESCO World heritage sites are located within the province: Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, Wood Buffalo National Park, Dinosaur Provincial Park and Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump.
About 1.2 million people visit the of Calgary Stampede, a celebration of Canada's own Wild West and the cattle ranching industry. About 700,000 people enjoy Edmonton's Capital Ex (formerly Klondike Days). Edmonton was the gateway to the only all-Canadian route to the Yukon gold fields, and the only route which did not require gold-seekers to travel the exhausting and dangerous Chilkoot Pass.
The province's revenue comes mainly from royalties on non-renewable natural resources (30.4%), personal income taxes (22.3%), corporate and other taxes (19.6%), and grants from the federal government primarily for infrastructure projects (9.8%). Albertans are the lowest-taxed people in Canada, and Alberta is the only province in Canada without a provincial sales tax (though residents are still subject to the federal sales tax, the Goods and Services Tax of 5%.) It is also the only Canadian province to have a single rate of taxation for personal income taxes which is 10% of taxable income.
The Alberta tax system maintains a progressive flavour by allowing residents to earn $16,161 before becoming subject to provincial taxation in addition to a variety of tax deductions for persons with disabilities, students, and the aged. Alberta's municipalities and school jurisdictions have their own governments which (usually) work in co-operation with the provincial government.
Alberta has over 180,000 km (111,847 mi) of highways and roads, of which nearly 50,000 km (31,069 mi) are paved. The main north-south corridor is Highway 2, which begins south of Cardston at the Carway border crossing and is part of the CANAMEX Corridor. Highway 4, which effectively extends Interstate 15 into Alberta and is the busiest U.S. gateway to the province, begins at the Coutts border crossing and ends at Lethbridge. Highway 3 joins Lethbridge to Fort Macleod and links Highway 4 to Highway 2. Highway 2 travels northward through Fort Macleod, Calgary, Red Deer, and Edmonton.
North of Edmonton, the highway continues to Athabasca, then northwesterly along the south shore of Lesser Slave Lake into High Prairie, north to Peace River, west to Fairview and finally south to Grande Prairie, where it ends at an interchange with Highway 43. The section of Highway 2 between Calgary and Edmonton has been named the Queen Elizabeth II Highway to commemorate the visit of the monarch in 2005. Highway 2 is supplemented by two more highways that run parallel to it: Highway 22, west of highway 2, known as "the Cowboy Trail," and Highway 21, east of highway 2. Highway 43 travels northwest into Grande Prairie and the Peace River Country; Highway 63 travels northeast to Fort McMurray, the location of the Athabasca Oil Sands.
Urban stretches of Alberta's major highways and freeways are often called trails. For example, Highway 2, the main north-south highway in the province, is called Deerfoot Trail as it passes through Calgary but becomes Calgary Trail(south) and Gateway Boulevard(North) as it enters Edmonton and then turns into Saint Albert Trail as it leaves Edmonton for the city of St. Albert. Calgary, in particular, has a tradition of calling its largest urban expressways trails and naming many of them after prominent First Nations individuals and tribes, such as Crowchild Trail, Deerfoot Trail, and Stoney Trail.
Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, and Lethbridge have substantial public transit systems. In addition to buses, Calgary and Edmonton operate light rail transit (LRT) systems. Edmonton LRT, which is underground in the downtown core and on the surface outside of it, was the first of the modern generation of light rail systems to be built in North America, while the Calgary C-Train has one of the highest number of daily riders of any LRT system in North America.
Alberta is well-connected by air, with international airports in both Calgary and Edmonton. Calgary International Airport and Edmonton International Airport are the fourth and fifth busiest in Canada respectively. Calgary's airport is a hub for WestJet Airlines and a regional hub for Air Canada. Calgary's airport primarily serves the Canadian prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) for connecting flights to British Columbia, eastern Canada, 15 major US centres, nine European airports, one Asian airport and four destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean. Edmonton's airport acts as a hub for the Canadian north and has connections to all major Canadian airports as well as 10 major US airports, 3 European airports and 6 Mexican and Caribbean airports.
There are over 9,000 km (5,592 mi) of operating mainline railway, and many tourists see Alberta aboard Via Rail or Rocky Mountaineer. The Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway companies operate railway freight across the province.
As with all Canadian provinces, Alberta provides for all citizens and residents through a publicly funded health care system. Alberta became Canada's second province (after Saskatchewan) to adopt a Tommy Douglas-style program in 1950, a precursor to the modern medicare system.
Alberta's health care budget is currently $13.2 billion during the 2008–2009 fiscal year (approximately 36% of all government spending), making it the best funded health care system per-capita in Canada. Every hour more than $1.5 million is spent on health care in the province.
A highly educated population and burgeoning economy have made Alberta a national leader in health education, research, and resources. Many notable facilities include the Foothills Medical Centre, the Peter Lougheed Centre, Rockyview General Hospital, Alberta Children's Hospital, Grace Women's Health Centre, The University of Calgary Medical Centre (UCMC), Tom Baker Cancer Centre and Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta, in Calgary; In Edmonton, the University of Alberta Hospital, the Royal Alexandra Hospital, the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, the Lois Hole Hospital for Women, the Stollery Children's Hospital, the Alberta Diabetes Institute, the Cross Cancer Institute, and the Rexall Centre for Pharmacy and Health Research in Edmonton. Currently under construction in Edmonton is the new $909 million Edmonton Clinic, which will provide a similar research, education, and care environment as the Mayo Clinic in the United States.
The Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society, a nonprofit organization, provides an air ambulance service to all but the most remote areas of Alberta, and some adjoining areas of British Columbia.
As Canada's head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state for the Government of Alberta. Her duties in Alberta are carried out by Lieutenant Governor Donald Ethell. Although the lieutenant governor is technically the most powerful person in Alberta, he is in reality a figurehead whose actions are restricted by custom and constitutional convention. The government is therefore headed by the premier. The current premier is Ed Stelmach who was elected as leader of the governing Progressive Conservatives on December 2, 2006. Stelmach was sworn in as the 13th Premier of Alberta on December 15, 2006.
The Premier is a Member of the Legislative Assembly, and he draws all the members of his Cabinet from among the members of the Legislative Assembly.
In the 2008 provincial election, held on March 3, 2008, the Progressive Conservative Party was re-elected as a majority government with 72 of 83 seats, the Alberta Liberal Party was elected as the Official Opposition with nine members, and the Alberta New Democratic Party elected two members.
The University of Alberta, established in Edmonton in 1908, is Alberta's oldest and largest university. The University of Calgary, once affiliated with the University of Alberta, gained its autonomy in 1966 and is now the second largest university in Alberta. There is also Athabasca University, which focuses on distance learning, and the University of Lethbridge, both of which are located in their title cities.
In early September, 2009, Mount Royal University became Calgary's second public university, and in late September, 2009, a similar move made Grant MacEwan University Edmonton's second public university. There are 15 colleges that receive direct public funding, along with two technical institutes, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.
Summer brings many festivals to the province of Alberta, especially in Edmonton. The Edmonton Fringe Festival is the world's second largest after Edinburgh's. The Folk music festivals in both Calgary and Edmonton are two of Canada's largest and both cities host a number of annual multicultural events. With a large number of summer and winter events, Edmonton prides itself as being the "Festival City". The city's "heritage days" festival sees the participation of over 70 ethnic groups. Edmonton's Churchill Square is home to a large number of the festivals, including the large Taste of Edmonton & The Works Art & Design Festival throughout the summer months.
Calgary is home to Carifest, the second largest Caribbean festival in the nation (after Caribana in Toronto). Edmonton has Cariwest, a smaller Caribbean Parade in the downtown streets. Both Calgary and Edmonton are also known for decent Film festivals.
The City of Calgary is also famous for its Calgary Stampede, dubbed "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth." The Stampede is Canada's biggest rodeo festival and features various races and competitions, such as calf roping and bull riding. In line with the western tradition of rodeo are the cultural artisans that reside and create unique Alberta western heritage crafts.
The Banff Centre hosts a range of festivals and other events including the internationally known Mountain Film Festival. These cultural events in Alberta highlight the province's cultural diversity and love of entertainment. Most of the major cities have several performing theatre companies who entertain in venues as diverse as Edmonton's Arts Barns and the Francis Winspear Centre for Music. Both Calgary and Edmonton are home to Canadian Football League and National Hockey League teams. Soccer, rugby union and lacrosse are also played professionally in Alberta.


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Fiona Bruce
Have your say about Fiona Bruce's episode of Who Do You Think You Are?
Warn user
by Admin » Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:26 pm
What did think of the Fiona Bruce episode?
Did it shed light on anything of interest to you?
Perhaps you suspect that you have a link to Fiona's family tree?
Or maybe you just enjoyed watching Fiona's reactions as she discovered her ancestors?
Whatever your comment, have your say here.
If you have any technical difficulties, email EdwardHerbert@magazine-services.co.uk
RE: Fiona Bruce
by Editor » Tue Feb 10, 2009 4:56 pm
I was so moved about the World War One bit. I know we've had a lot of programmes about the First World War recently but it never fails to get to me. Especially when you think about him wanting to go back to the Front as soon as possible.
Have a look at the unseen footage for Fiona Bruce on our website. It's quite sad about why her mother was put up for adoption. Fiona's great grandmother seems to have been quite a dragon - in fact I think Fiona is rather soft on her - but then I guess it is different standards for different times and perhaps we shouldn't judge her by our standards (still wouldn't want her as my great grandmother).
by worrals » Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:20 pm
I really enjoyed Fiona's episode. Interesting stories and records used.
I found the story about shell shock very moving.
I liked the language used in the Poor Law records, I 've come across that in my own research and they certainly didn't mince their words in those days!
Fiona, when using the census said it felt like spying amused me.
Did she get the original letter back kept in the school archives?
worrals
by pentre » Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:20 pm
I thought this was a much better episode than last week's. It showed the processes most of us have to go through while searching for our ancestors - not many people have it handed on a plate like Rory Bremner. It was interesting to see a bit of Scottish history too - and how ordinary people's lives were manipulated by the rich landowners. Fiona also came over as a very warm and likeable person, which always helps.
The episode left me wishing there was more. In particular I'd love to know a bit about her adopted mother - I know there's something on the 'unseen footage' but I don't have broadband and it doesn't work on my old PC.
Look forward to episode three!
pentre
by pre1837 » Tue Feb 10, 2009 8:00 pm
Will you please publish a link for the 'unseen footage'? Can't seem to find it on BBC sites. Thanks.
Interested in the surname SNELL circa 1910, Middlesex. and Claudia Vail nee Snell, living and married in Canada from about 1912/16.
Any information is Crown Copyright, from http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk"
pre1837
by FamilyHistoryAddict » Tue Feb 10, 2009 9:56 pm
Here you go pre-1837.
[link=http://www.bbcwhodoyouthinkyouare.com/stories.php?cid=50280]http://www.bbcwhodoyouthinkyouare.com/stories.php?cid=50280[/link]
There is a link to unseen footage on this page.
Cheers, FHA
FamilyHistoryAddict
by Annie08 » Wed Feb 11, 2009 2:40 am
I really enjoyed the section on the 1st World War especially as I could relate what was being said to my Great Grand Uncle who joined up and within 4 months had worked up the ranks from Private through to Sergeant. He had also seen service before the War. He was wounded and discharged 'no longer fit for war service' in March 1918 from the Queen Alexandra Military Hospital, Millbank. As an officer, like Fiona's ancestor I assume mine would have also had better care. So I found this episode interesting.
I liked the bit where it was explained that it would be easy to get all those children in the cottage as they were used to packing fish!
by FamilyHistoryAddict » Wed Feb 11, 2009 3:13 am
I enjoyed Fiona's story. It had a good mix. I was interested in the shellshock information; particularly the comments that shellshocked soldier's often took on a fatalistic viewpoint.
It was good to see Fiona taking an interest in her ancestral village/town. It was also interesting to see the Christ's Hospital School information and the workhouse records. Those parish worthies didn't hold back did they? Fancy calling Fiona's relative a drunken creature! I had a relative who got his poor relief docked because the parish worthies thought he spent too much of it on alcohol! [:D]
by cms » Wed Feb 11, 2009 5:10 am
Was anything found out about the artistic output of William Crouch? (I mean paintings)
Main family names:
BATE Cheshire;Lancs
DRURY Shropshire
McCOLL Argyll;Rothesay;Greenock
CHILWELL Warks;Staffs
BATHO, DICKEN Shropshire
REED Yorks
SMITH, ROULSTON Nuneaton
SMEDLEY Nottingham
by RichardCrane » Wed Feb 11, 2009 5:56 pm
Fiona Bruce was keen on searching her family history because, as a child, she and her family moved from place to place around the world. Also, whenever she was asked about the origins of her family, Fiona would explain that she simply doesn't know, considering her father's work involved moving his family as well. My mum's childhood was similar to Fiona's childhood as my grandfather's work involved moving his family too. However, in my grandfather's case, he was moving from the north to the south of England, and then back up north, and then back down south again!
RichardCrane
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