The 1970 British Commonwealth Games: Scottish reactions to apartheid and sporting boycotts

Abstract The 1970 British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh is widely thought to have been a barnstorming success and an excellent advertisement for Scotland. Recent research by the authors, however, shows that the event was a deeply politicized one: reflective of Scotland’s status as a “stateless nation,” of Westminster politics during the era more generally, and of the politics surrounding apartheid South Africa’s sporting contacts with the outside world. The games managed to avert a mass boycott organized by the South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee (SANROC), in retaliation for the Marylebone Cricket Club’s recent invitation of the South African national cricket team. This article will explore Scotland’s place as a nonstate actor within the 1970 crisis. Attention will be given to the domestic political response from Scottish members of Parliament, members of local Scottish councils (particularly within Edinburgh itself), and Scottish National Party (SNP) activists, angered that Scotland should pay for the crimes perceived to be made by an English sporting body. However, our piece goes beyond these discourses, to examine the broader sporting relationship that Scots had with South Africa and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), governed by white supremacist regimes during the period. Policy documents, housed in the National Records of Scotland, express UK Cabinet-level concerns about the actions of individual sporting clubs’ tours of the countries. This article will also look at how cabinet ministers, most notably Labour’s Minister for Sport Denis Howell, intervened to shape Scotland’s devolved sporting councils’ policies on contacts with South Africa and Rhodesia.</jats:p

Design and Construction of a Reflectron Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer for Multiphoton Ionization and Vibrational Spectroscopic Studies of Mass-Selected Clusters

Mass spectrometry is typically employed for the elucidation and identification of elements and compounds. Its ability to select and isolate specific molecular clusters makes it an ideal tool for the fundamental spectroscopic study of the photophysical and geometric properties of molecules and molecular clusters. The design and construction of a reflectron time of flight mass spectrometer (reflectron TOF-MS) as well as its implementation for electronic and vibrational spectroscopic studies of various molecules and molecular clusters is discussed. The first chapter introduces basic theory related to electronic spectroscopy, multiphoton ionization, and vibrational spectroscopy. The second chapter entails the theoretical aspects of mass spectrometry required for the creation of molecular ion beams involved in TOF-MS. The third chapter contains the technical details of the construction and implementation of the many required components in a reflectron TOF-MS. The fourth chapter reports multiphoton ionization spectra of methyl iodide and data obtained while exploring the vibrational study of molecular ion clusters

The Falkland Islands, international sporting competition, and evolving (post-Brexit) paradiplomacy

This article examines the Falkland Islands’ participation in international sport. Argentinean opposition has frustrated the Falklands’ attempts to join bodies such as the IOC and FIFA, but the Islands themselves are nevertheless participants in the Commonwealth Games, Island Games, and other tournaments. First, this article discusses how sport reflects changes in post-1982 Falklands society. It also examines challenges related to personnel and logistics. Next, it interrogates why the Falklands participate in tournaments, including asserting “Britishness” and sovereignty. Finally, this article discusses prospects for new facilities, the likelihood of hosting an Island Games, and Pan-American competition. These developments are driven largely by Falkland Islanders themselves. Aside from the purported health and social benefits of sport, in the era of ‘Brexit’ they represent a means through which paradiplomacy is performed.peer-reviewe