making plans. Tourism is of prime importance, for during the mild winter months (May to September) thousands flock to the town, which has become an exploration base for the Centre. They may also attend such celebrations as "Henley on the Todd" (a boat race on the dry riverbed in which boats are carried by runners). Alice Springs, which was the capital of the short-lived Territory of Central Australia (1926–31), is a regional headquarters for the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the School of the Air (public education by radio). Its original telegraph station has been designated a national park. Pop. (1971 prelim.) 11,118. 23°42' S, 133°53' E.

map, Australian External Territories 2:433
map, Australia 2:400
temperature, vegetation, and services 13:243a passim to 244h
urban geographic location map 2:425

alicyclic compound, in chemistry, any of a large class of organic compounds in which three or more atoms of the element carbon are linked together in a ring. The bonds between pairs of adjacent atoms may all be the type designated single bonds (involving two electrons), or some of them may be double or triple bonds (with four or six electrons, respectively); six-membered rings for which a system of alternating single and double bonds may be envisioned, however, belong to another important class (aromatic compounds; q.v.), distinguished from the alicyclic compounds by a characteristically different pattern of chemical reactivity.

Those alicyclic compounds in which the ring contains three, four, or five carbon atoms are less stable than the compounds having larger rings, because the angles formed by adjacent covalent bonds are smaller than is necessary for maximum effectiveness. In the larger rings all the bond angles have the preferred value (about 109.5°); consequently, the atoms in the ring do not lie in one plane. Similar restrictions on the angles in double and triple bonds affect the stability of alicyclic compounds containing such bonds.

heterocyclic comparative chemistry 8:832h

alidade, an accessory instrument used in plane-table surveying.

components and use 17:830g

alien, in national and international law, a foreign-born resident who is not a citizen by virtue of parentage or naturalization and who is a citizen or subject of another country. In early times and in various "dark ages," the tendency was to look upon the alien as an enemy and to treat him as a criminal or outlaw. Such attitudes were ameliorated in the time of such civilizations as the Roman Empire, when the jus gentium, the Roman law that applied both to citizens and foreigners, tended to favour the idea that aliens had rights; humanity toward aliens was also fostered, in theory at least, by the Christian idea of the unity of mankind. The legal and ideological expression of humanity toward the alien, however, is generally a relatively modern development.

As sovereign national states began to develop in modern times, founders of international law asserted that natural rights were vested in all persons, without regard to citizenship or allegiance—rights of which they ought not to be deprived by civilized societies or their governments. There was no general agreement on the content or scope of these rights as they affected aliens, but the existence of some minimum standard of civilized treatment was asserted. The minimum standard, it was conceded, did not include the right of the alien to own realty or to engage in gainful professions. To meet this situation, states entered into treaties that provided that each of the contracting states would treat the nationals of the other state on an equal footing with its own nationals in the admission to trades and professions, ownership or possession of property, access to courts, enjoyment of liberty of conscience, and freedom of worship. Some treaties do not purport to extend to aliens, however, rights that are by municipal law reserved exclusively to nationals of the country; thus, municipal law, rather than conventional international law, is actually controlling. In particular, the desire of nations to protect citizens in their jobs, professions, and businesses against unemployment and competition is a strong force restricting the latitude of aliens.

Common economic needs of nations, on the other hand, have had some liberalizing effects on the status of aliens. The treaty constituting the European Common Market, for instance, provides that citizens of member states shall be free to reside in any signatory country that offers them employment; wages and working conditions are to be the same for citizens and aliens. This treaty may in time serve as a model to raise the so-called minimum standards in the treatment of aliens.

Roman legal status 15:1055c

Alien and Sedition Acts (1798), series of four laws passed by the U.S. Congress restricting aliens and curtailing civil liberties in an attempt to silence criticism of the Federalist Party. Following the republican revolution in France (1789), many conservative European governments passed repressive laws in fear of domestic subversion. In the U.S. the Federalist Party, at the height of its power in 1798, feared war with France and the possible electoral success of its political opponents, the Jeffersonian Republicans.

The three alien laws, adopted in June and July, were aimed at French and Irish immigrants, who were mostly Jeffersonians. These laws raised the waiting period for naturalization from 5 to 14 years, permitted the detention of subjects of an enemy nation, and authorized the chief executive to expel any alien he considered dangerous. Though the last provision was never applied, it frightened many Frenchmen into leaving the country and threatened to grant arbitrary power to the president.

The Sedition Act (July 14) outlawed the publishing of false or malicious writings against the government and the inciting of opposition to any act of Congress or the president. This law evoked strenuous opposition and Anti-Federalists, who termed it unconstitutional in violation of the First Amendment, and triggered such state denunciations as the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions (q.v.). Under the Sedition Act, 25 arrests were made, resulting in ten convictions; the extent of censorship was much greater than indicated by these figures, however. Enforcement ceased because many of the Sedition Act's victims became martyrs or heroes in the public eye. Congress refunded a number of the fines 40 years later. All the Alien and Sedition Acts either expired or were repealed between 1800 and 1802.

Clay's opposition and political effects 4:699a
Jefferson's reaction 10:129f
Kentucky opposition and leadership 10:419f
newspaper publishing and censorship 15:239e
Republican political opposition 18:959g

alienation 1:574, in general terms, the estrangement of a person or his affections. In philosophy, theology, psychology, and the social sciences, the term has been used variously but usually with emphasis on either personal powerlessness, meaninglessness, normlessness, cultural estrangement, social isolation, or self-estrangement.

The text article covers the history of the term and its current definitions, as well as the causes, manifestations, and proposed remedies relating to the problem of alienation.

Buber's delineation of relationships 3:359c
bureaucracy and political processes 3:489c
Camus's theme of post-war isolation 3:711g
drug abuse effects and causes 5:1051c
Durkheim study of causes 5:1094d
Marx's adaptation of Hegelian concept 14:271a
mass society communications overload 15:42a
millennialism as dissidence expression 12:203b
minority groups in society 12:260h
mystical intuition in and character 12:786a
neighbourhood breakdown and crime 5:267d
prison's effect on personality 14:1101d
psychoses as mental estrangements 15:173g
religious movement cause 18:698g
sectarian religion and church authority 15:606b
social movements psychological appeal 16:978e
subjectivity, love, and otherness 15:597f
totalitarianism cause theories 11:602g
youth violent expression 19:1097c
RELATED ENTRIES in the Ready Reference and Index: alienation of labour; anomie; inner-directed and other-directed

alienation effect, also called A-EFFECT, German VERFREMDUNGSEFFEKT, or V-EFFEKT, idea central to the dramatic theory of German dramatist-director Bertolt Brecht. It involves the use of a variety of techniques all designed to "distance" the audience from the play and to jolt it into realizing that it is watching a theatrical performance; thus, the audience's degree of emotional identification with characters and events is strictly controlled, and it can more objectively and clearly perceive the "real" world reflected in the drama.

Brecht's anti-illusionist techniques 18:232a
epic theatre staging 17:551d

alienation of labour, Marxian theory holding that the industrial labourer under capitalism is estranged from the products of his work. According to the theory, not only does the extreme and elaborate division of labour prevent the worker from identifying himself with the final product but capitalist exploitation also prevents him from possessing it. Class division and revolutionary sentiment are understood as expressions on the social level of the individual labourer's alienation and dissatisfaction. Critics of the theory have argued, however, that the worker's loss of dignity is redeemed by the additional wealth and leisure won through the division of labour. The concept of alienation has given rise to an extensive philosophical, psychological, and sociological literature, both Marxist and non-Marxist.

critique of capitalist society 11:554f
economic and social analysis of labour 11:554d
theory of social organisms 11:552e

Aliens Act (1705), measure passed by the English Parliament that prohibited all Scottish imports to England if the Scots would not accept the Hanoverian succession.

Alienus, Aulis Caecina: see Caecina Alienus, Aulus.

alif, first letter of the Arabic alphabet. It has no equivalent in English, but is often transcribed with the diacritic hamzah. Islamic symbolic and numerical value 9:951d

Aligarh, administrative headquarters, Aligarh district, Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, southeast of Delhi. The town itself is usually called Koil or Kol; Aligarh is the name of a nearby fort. The town is an agricultural trade centre; the processing of agricultural products and manufacturing are also important. Aligarh Muslim University (1875) and its affiliated colleges are located there, as are a number of other degree colleges. Another old fort, the Dor fortress (1524), lies at the town's centre; now in ruins, its site is occupied by an 18th-century mosque. The town also contains the tombs of several Muslim saints. Aligarh district, 1,941 sq mi (5,027 sq km) in area, is a largely level region crossed by the Ganges Canal and several rivers. Wheat, bar-