For 1, I have a branch I should submit that has a better fix for that I think. Instead change that line to
my $c = MODES(HTML => chr(0x1F), TeX => chr(0xD), PTX => chr(0xD));
(note that in the develop branch that part is on its own line without the "my $rh_hash = shift" part).
Thanks for pointing out the issue with essay questions. I will look into that.