Transnational Lives: Colonial Immigration Restrictions and the White Australia Policy in the Riverina District of New South Wales, 1860-1960

In Australia the historical debate on the effects of immigration restrictions on the Chinese people has focused largely on the White Australia Policy. By contrast, in this paper I focus on the relatively neglected topic of intercolonial migration and compare the impact of the colonial immigration restrictions of the 1880s and the White Australia Policy, using as an example the Riverina district of New South Wales. Many Chinese people were severely disadvantaged by the colonial immigration restrictions, particularly if they had strong commercial links on both sides of the NSW�Victorian border or needed special assistance from their compatriots. The local reaction in the Riverina to the tightening of anti-Chinese restrictions in 1888 in particular sits at odds with the popular impression of unrelenting animosity towards Chinese people in the pre-Federation period. Many white residents of the Riverina viewed the legislation with disdain and pleaded the case for change. Federation solved the problem of intercolonial migration, but it created many other difficulties for Chinese residents and this time the Riverina press was silent. With the same resilience and initiative of their forebears, however, many Chinese worked around these new impositions. Influence, money and friendship were, however, critical and those less well connected or affluent were at a much greater disadvantage. Intimidation from officials with its attendant risks of resentment and bitterness may have been of little concern in the colonial and post-colonial period, but today it should be, for the stakes are much higher

Senate Subcommittee Hears Mix of Views on Bill to Ban Import of Sweatshop Products

Coverage of Senate trade subcommittee’s consideration of the proposed Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act, which would bar the import or sale of sweatshop products in the United States

Hydrogen bond based noncovalent association in the semi-fluorous solvent perfluorobutyl-methyl ether: Host-host and host-guest association of the host 1-(3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,9,9,10,10,10-Heptadecafluoro-decyl)-3-pyridin-2-yl-urea

A fluorous pyridyl-urea, 1-(3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,9,9,10,10,10-heptadecafluoro-decyl)-3-pyridin-2-yl-urea, was prepared to act as a host and analyzed by 1H NMR inCD2Cl2 and perfluorobutyl-methyl ether (HFE7100). Crystals were analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The host molecules were found to form pillar-like structures in the crystal. There is an intramolecular bond between the pyridyl nitrogen and one urea hydrogen. 1H NMR spectra demonstrated that the urea hydrogens’ positions shift as the concentration of the host changes. The dependence of the shifts on concentration are consistent with the formation of a trimer of hosts with a logKeq for formation of trimer from monomer approximately 6. Association of the host with guests octanoic acid, ethyl acetate, N-ethylacetamide, N,N-dimethylacetamide, and acetone, was analyzed by titration of the host with individual guests in HFE7100 solvent. Downfield or upfield shifts of the urea hydrogens were used to indicate hydrogen bond formation with the guest. Acetone and ethyl acetate were unable to overcome the self-association of the host and form host-guest complexes. Octanoic acid binding caused shifts in the 1H NMR spectra of one hydrogen of the urea group. N-ethylacetamide and N,N-dimethylacetamide induced shifts in both urea hydrogens. The results indicate that the host monomer’s favored conformation contains an intramolecular hydrogen bond. This bond is not broken upon association with octanoic acid, but it is broken upon association with the two acetamides

Not just another ball game : young adult and adult football fictions are different

Current media attention on the crossover novel highlights the increasing permeability of the boundaries between young adult and adult fiction. This paper will focus upon some of the difficulties around definitions of young adult fiction before considering the fiction of football, or soccer as it is more commonly known in Australia. The football genre exhibits a number of discrete and identifiable differences between young adult and adult readerships including, for example, the role of the protagonist, and the narrative’s distance from the game. This paper will use Franco Moretti’s Mapping as Distant Reading model of abstraction to highlight and unpack these and other characteristic differences in the narratological and stylistic techniques employed across adult and young adult texts. Close reading analysis of the adult football fiction Striker (1992) by Hunter Davies and young adult football fiction Lucy Zeezou’s Goal (2008) by Liz Deep-Jones’ will further illustrate the range of tensions and divergences as they are reflected across those readerships. The texts have been selected because they speak to themes of fear and safety; Joe Swift (Striker) is driven by a need to move away from childhood poverty and insecurity, while Lucy Zeezou shelters a homeless friend. With both protagonists being kidnapped for ransom for example, the texts have also been selected for their striking similarities in form and content

Forensics’ Fight: A Need for Aggressive Strategies Against Confirmation Bias

In 2009, the National Academy of Sciences produced a lengthy report illuminating significant weaknesses present within the forensic community. One complex fault found in forensics was conformation bias. Since it is within human nature to make decisions based on contextual information, assumptions, and pre-held opinions, confirmation bias is an issue that will continue to persist. Therefore, stronger efforts must be made to recognize and abate the problem of bias within the field of forensics in order to preserve the notion that forensic science exists to serve principles of both truth and justice. Accordingly, this paper argues for the fight against bias to return to the forefront of forensic concern while providing a list of viable suggestions to help battle these unwarranted biases