I humbly thank you all for pointing me to the error in my ways and the source of my confusion. I submit the following: #!/usr/bin/perl; package Round;

use strict;

sub new {

my $self = {};

$self->{CODE} = undef;

$self->{ROOM} = undef;

$self->{TYPE} = undef;

$self->{JUDGE} =undef;

$self->{ROUNDNUM} =undef;

$self->{CONTESTANTS} = [];

bless($self);

return $self;

}

sub roundnum{

my $self=shift;

if (@_) {$self->{ROUNDNUM}=shift }

return $self->{ROUNDNUM};

}

etc...

which does exactly what I want it to do. I know enough object code to get it to do what I want it to do, which is hide data and provide for a convenient storage. This place is wonderful! I am truly enlightened