Spring 2003

Reflections is an official publication of Avondale College, published biannually for alumni and friends Editor: Kevin Judge Associate Editor: Heather Potter Consultant: Joan Patrick Layout and Design: Heather Potter Avondale College Alumni Association President: Calvyn Townend Avondale Administration Acting President/President Elect: John Cox Acting Vice President Academic: Eric Magnusson Vice President Finance: Rob Ellison Vice President Planning, Development & Public Relations: Bruce Youlden Development & Alumni Relations Office Director: Kevin Judgehttps://research.avondale.edu.au/reflections/1000/thumbnail.jp

Summer 2004

Reflections is an official publication of Avondale College, published biannually for alumni and friends Editor: Kevin Judge Consultants: Joan Patrick, Andrea Steele Layout and Design: Ann Stafford Photography: Gilmore Tanabose Alumni Association President: Calvyn Townend Avondale Administration President: John Cox Vice President Academic: Vivienne Watts Associate Vice President Academic: Harwood Lockton Vice President Finance: Rob Ellison Assistant to President (Advancement): Allen Steele Development and Alumni Relations Director: Kevin Judgehttps://research.avondale.edu.au/reflections/1002/thumbnail.jp

Marx at the Arcade: Consoles, Controllers, and Class Struggle by Jamie Woodcock

First paragraph: At the heart of this text is an in-depth exploration of how videogames have become tightly bound into the political and social fabric of popular culture. It is a tale of empowerment, exploitation, globalisation, independence, relationships, and resistance. Historically, it is the story of hobbyists, passionately developing games and honing skills, that have nurtured the global industry of videogaming. Presently, it is a movement for change by addressing exploitation and underrepresentation within an industry that needs players’ input more than ever

Marx at the Arcade: Consoles, Controllers, and Class Struggle by Jamie Woodcock

First paragraph: At the heart of this text is an in-depth exploration of how videogames have become tightly bound into the political and social fabric of popular culture. It is a tale of empowerment, exploitation, globalisation, independence, relationships, and resistance. Historically, it is the story of hobbyists, passionately developing games and honing skills, that have nurtured the global industry of videogaming. Presently, it is a movement for change by addressing exploitation and underrepresentation within an industry that needs players’ input more than ever

Sexual dimorphism in the badlands cricket (Orthoptera, Gryllinae, Gryllus personatus)

Sexual dimorphism (SD) is a common phenomenon in sexual species and can manifest in a variety of ways. Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is commonly investigated, but it can be confounded with sexual shape dimorphism (SShD) if multivariate measures of size are not used. Univariate studies may also overestimate the prevalence or direction of SSD when the sexes are strikingly different in shape, which may be an issue in taxa such as Orthoptera and other terrestrial arthropods where maximum body size is strongly constrained. Here we tested for the occurrence of both SSD and SShD in the badlands cricket Gryllus personatus (Orthoptera, Gryllinae). We measured four body size dimensions—maxillae span, head width, pronotum length, and mean hind femur length—and used multivariate methods to test whether male and female adult badlands crickets were sexually dimorphic in size and/or shape. All the univariate dimensions were sexually dimorphic, with males having wider heads and maxillae than females and females having longer pronota and hind femora than males, which indicates SShD. However, multivariate methods failed to detect SSD, instead confirming that the sexes primarily differ in body shape. We show how a simple ratio of head width to pronotum length captures SShD in badlands crickets and apply it to iNaturalist, a citizen science platform, to broaden our findings. We propose that orthopterists studying SD minimally measure head width, pronotum length, and hind femur length as a standard that will allow a more repeatable and generalizable assessment of the prevalence and direction of both SSD and SShD

Analysis of the separation angle between the thorax and pelvis, and its association with performance in the hammer throw

The hammer throw is perhaps one of the most misunderstood and difficult events to learn in track and field. Improvements in technique are focused on strategies designed to increase implement release velocity. The purpose of this cross-sectional investigative study was to examine the association between the angle of separation between the thorax and pelvis and performance in the hammer throw. Two male and four female throwers were used to assess positional data of the hammer, thorax, and pelvis. Hammer positional data were used to determine linear hammer speed at release, release angle, and release height. Thorax and pelvis positional data were used to determine thorax rotation relative to the pelvis (separation angle). The association between values of separation angle at key instances and performance was examined. Performance was determined by distance thrown (55.69 ± 3.42 m). Release speeds (24.32 ± 0.70 m/s) were also examined as a contributory factor towards performance and were included to account for instances where throwers released the hammer using sub-optimal release heights and angles which negatively affected distance thrown. The separation angle at its smallest within each turn was found to have a strong negative association with the performance indicators, especially in the first two turns (significant correlates ranged from −0.82 to −0.97). This finding indicates when throwers reduced the separation to a smaller value, performance was enhanced. Separation angle was at its smallest in double support. This suggests that throwers may improve performance by reducing the separation angle during double support phases

EVIDENCE FOR SHEET-LIKE ELEMENTARY STRUCTURES IN THE SUN'S ATMOSPHERE?

Narrow, thread-like structures in the Sun's chromosphere are currently understood to be plasma guided along narrow tubes of magnetic flux. We report on 1 s cadence imaging spectroscopic measurements of the Hα line with the IBIS Fabry-Perot instrument at the Dunn Solar Telescope, obtained +0.11 nm from line center. Rapid changes grossly exceeding the Alfven speed are commonly seen along the full extent of many chromospheric threads. We argue that only an optical superposition effect can reasonably explain the data, analogous to striations of curtains blowing in the wind. Other explanations appear to require significant contrivances to avoid contradicting various aspects of the data. We infer that the absorbing plasma exists in two-dimensional sheet-like structures within the three-dimensional magnetofluid, related perhaps to magnetic tangential discontinuities. This interpretation demands a re-evaluation of basic assumptions about low-β solar plasmas, as advocated by Parker, with broader implications in astrophysics and plasma physics. Diverse, high-cadence observations are needed to further define the relationship between magnetic field and thermal fine structure