title: Profile descriptions of Quaternary basaltic volcanogenic soils of the Mount Gambier area, southeast South Australia

authors: Lowe, David J.

abstract: The volcanoes of southeast South Australia form the western extension of the Newer Volcanics province of Victoria, and comprise two distinct groups: a northern Pleistocene group of 15 eruption centres in the Mount Burr range, and a southern Holocene group of two isolated eruption centres at Mounts Gambier and Schank (Fig. 1). All the volcanoes are basaltic and are formed predominantly of explosively-erupted fragmental (pyroclastic) products including ash, lapilli, and scoria; lava is less common and is rarely soil-forming (Irving & Green, 1976; Sheard, 1978; 1983a, b; 1986; 1990). Mounts Gambier and Schank are aged about 4000-5000 years old and are the youngest volcanoes on the Australian mainland (Fig. 2) (Barton & McElhinny, 1980; Barbetti & Sheard, 1981; Blackburn et al., 1982; Sheard, 1990). They were erupted through consolidated calcareous sands of the Bridgewater Formation, and the resultant pyroclastic deposits may contain up to 25% of non-volcanic material, chiefly limestone fragments (Sheard, 1990).

text: Profile descriptions of Quaternary basaltic volcanogenic soils of the Mount Gambier area, southeast South Australia The volcanoes of southeast South Australia form the western extension of the Newer Volcanics province of Victoria, and comprise two distinct groups: a northern Pleistocene group of 15 eruption centres in the Mount Burr range, and a southern Holocene group of two isolated eruption centres at Mounts Gambier and Schank (Fig. 1). All the volcanoes are basaltic and are formed predominantly of explosively-erupted fragmental (pyroclastic) products including ash, lapilli, and scoria; lava is less common and is rarely soil-forming (Irving & Green, 1976; Sheard, 1978; 1983a, b; 1986; 1990). Mounts Gambier and Schank are aged about 4000-5000 years old and are the youngest volcanoes on the Australian mainland (Fig. 2) (Barton & McElhinny, 1980; Barbetti & Sheard, 1981; Blackburn et al., 1982; Sheard, 1990). They were erupted through consolidated calcareous sands of the Bridgewater Formation, and the resultant pyroclastic deposits may contain up to 25% of non-volcanic material, chiefly limestone fragments (Sheard, 1990).

year: 1992

title: The gendering of sports news: An investigation into the production, content and reception of sports photographs of athletes in New Zealand newspapers.

authors: Scott-Chapman, Susan

subjects: gender

abstract: This study investigates the selection, content, meaning and reception of photographs of sportswomen featured in New Zealand newspapers, in order to establish the relationship between media representations and cultural understandings of sportswomen and women’s sport. The study adopts a feminist cultural studies perspective and questions how photographs of sportswomen are constructed and perceived through dominant discourses of gender, sport and nationalism by media decision-makers and audiences alike, within contexts that are shaped by gender power relations and hierarchies.

The first component of this tripartite study comprises two periods of participant observation and interviews conducted at a New Zealand media organization. The insights gained reveal how discourses of (sports) journalism impact on the choices media workers make about what constitutes sports news. Media practices, newsroom dynamics, organizational protocols, freedoms and constraints, and taken-for-granted work routines were all found to inform media workers’ decision making. Thus, journalistic discourses play a decisive role in constructing perceptions of newsworthiness that privilege a few professional men’s sports whilst marginalizing women’s sports and sportswomen, who are frequently stereotyped in representations where physical appearance and aesthetic beauty are emphasized rather than athleticism. 
The second component of this research comprises a systematic analysis of 2,787 sports photographs featured in four New Zealand newspapers during two distinct sample periods. The three main themes that emerged demonstrate that: 
◙	Sports media reinforce an articulation of sport and masculinity; 
◙	When sportswomen are featured, the media reinforce an articulation of sportswomen and femininity; and
◙	When major international sporting events occur, dominant discourses affirming an articulation of sports are momentarily disrupted, as the articulation of sport and nationalism creates space for greater coverage of sportswomen. 
However, despite the increased focus on sportswomen during the context of a major international sporting event, the content of photographs continues to reinforce discourses of femininity, emphasizing potential or actual medal winners and/or their physical attractiveness as sportswomen. A number of representative photographs of sportswomen are subjected to further in-depth evaluation using Peircean semiotic analysis, to establish how sports photographs convey gender differences. This analysis demonstrates how media draw attention to gender by using close-up photographs of sportswomen in tight fitting, body-hugging sportswear that is culturally defined as gender appropriate for women, which accentuates their physical attractiveness and femininity.
The third component of this study involves in-depth interviews with seven elite New Zealand sportswomen, who describe their engagement with sports photographs and the challenges faced in determining what it means to be an athlete and a woman. Participants’ comments highlight how they often perceive photographs of themselves negatively, and in relation to the powerful discursive messages media convey about athleticism and gender, which associate sport with men and masculinity. Moreover, these media messages further result in sportswomen featuring in ambivalent and ambiguous ways, due to perceived contradictions in the articulation of sports with women and femininity. 
Conclusions are drawn on the powerful role discourses of sport play in media workers’ and audiences’ perceptions of sports newsworthiness, which are predominantly gender-based and gender-biased. Although discourses of nationalism encourage greater attention to medal winning sportswomen during major international sporting events, this focus continues to be constrained within discourses of femininity, and thus highlights those sports deemed appropriate for women, with emphasis given to sportswomen who embody idealized modes of femininity. Moreover, the findings of this research highlight the necessity for sports media studies to incorporate the voices of media workers and audiences, as their actions, reactions and perceptions reveal the real issues that they experience and what is important to them in producing and consuming sports news. This study therefore takes a step forward in highlighting crucial questions about the role of gender in shaping sporting representations as they are constructed and consumed in New Zealand.

text: The gendering of sports news: An investigation into the production, content and reception of sports photographs of athletes in New Zealand newspapers. This study investigates the selection, content, meaning and reception of photographs of sportswomen featured in New Zealand newspapers, in order to establish the relationship between media representations and cultural understandings of sportswomen and women’s sport. The study adopts a feminist cultural studies perspective and questions how photographs of sportswomen are constructed and perceived through dominant discourses of gender, sport and nationalism by media decision-makers and audiences alike, within contexts that are shaped by gender power relations and hierarchies.

The first component of this tripartite study comprises two periods of participant observation and interviews conducted at a New Zealand media organization. The insights gained reveal how discourses of (sports) journalism impact on the choices media workers make about what constitutes sports news. Media practices, newsroom dynamics, organizational protocols, freedoms and constraints, and taken-for-granted work routines were all found to inform media workers’ decision making. Thus, journalistic discourses play a decisive role in constructing perceptions of newsworthiness that privilege a few professional men’s sports whilst marginalizing women’s sports and sportswomen, who are frequently stereotyped in representations where physical appearance and aesthetic beauty are emphasized rather than athleticism. 
The second component of this research comprises a systematic analysis of 2,787 sports photographs featured in four New Zealand newspapers during two distinct sample periods. The three main themes that emerged demonstrate that: 
◙	Sports media reinforce an articulation of sport and masculinity; 
◙	When sportswomen are featured, the media reinforce an articulation of sportswomen and femininity; and
◙	When major international sporting events occur, dominant discourses affirming an articulation of sports are momentarily disrupted, as the articulation of sport and nationalism creates space for greater coverage of sportswomen. 
However, despite the increased focus on sportswomen during the context of a major international sporting event, the content of photographs continues to reinforce discourses of femininity, emphasizing potential or actual medal winners and/or their physical attractiveness as sportswomen. A number of representative photographs of sportswomen are subjected to further in-depth evaluation using Peircean semiotic analysis, to establish how sports photographs convey gender differences. This analysis demonstrates how media draw attention to gender by using close-up photographs of sportswomen in tight fitting, body-hugging sportswear that is culturally defined as gender appropriate for women, which accentuates their physical attractiveness and femininity.
The third component of this study involves in-depth interviews with seven elite New Zealand sportswomen, who describe their engagement with sports photographs and the challenges faced in determining what it means to be an athlete and a woman. Participants’ comments highlight how they often perceive photographs of themselves negatively, and in relation to the powerful discursive messages media convey about athleticism and gender, which associate sport with men and masculinity. Moreover, these media messages further result in sportswomen featuring in ambivalent and ambiguous ways, due to perceived contradictions in the articulation of sports with women and femininity. 
Conclusions are drawn on the powerful role discourses of sport play in media workers’ and audiences’ perceptions of sports newsworthiness, which are predominantly gender-based and gender-biased. Although discourses of nationalism encourage greater attention to medal winning sportswomen during major international sporting events, this focus continues to be constrained within discourses of femininity, and thus highlights those sports deemed appropriate for women, with emphasis given to sportswomen who embody idealized modes of femininity. Moreover, the findings of this research highlight the necessity for sports media studies to incorporate the voices of media workers and audiences, as their actions, reactions and perceptions reveal the real issues that they experience and what is important to them in producing and consuming sports news. This study therefore takes a step forward in highlighting crucial questions about the role of gender in shaping sporting representations as they are constructed and consumed in New Zealand.

year: 2012

title: Book Review: The Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand’s law and constitution

authors: Olivier, Morne

subjects: The Treaty of Waitangi

abstract: The Treaty of Waitangi occupies an unsettled place in New Zealand’s constitution, law and life. Although there is almost universal agreement that it is a foundation document, this is not reflected in the legal status of the Treaty, or necessarily in its treatment by government. The Treaty engenders strong emotions on both sides of the political divide. Many New Zealanders are ambivalent about it. For some, it is a private issue; for others, it is very public, and very political. Both the legal and constitutional status of the Treaty is uncertain and unsettled, and so is the question of who exercises public power in relation to it. Harris has described the Treaty as one ingredient of a ‘cauldron of quietly simmering constitutional issues’. In this well-researched book, Matthew Palmer confronts these issues head on, and argues his vision for settling the legal and constitutional position of the Treaty.

text: Book Review: The Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand’s law and constitution The Treaty of Waitangi occupies an unsettled place in New Zealand’s constitution, law and life. Although there is almost universal agreement that it is a foundation document, this is not reflected in the legal status of the Treaty, or necessarily in its treatment by government. The Treaty engenders strong emotions on both sides of the political divide. Many New Zealanders are ambivalent about it. For some, it is a private issue; for others, it is very public, and very political. Both the legal and constitutional status of the Treaty is uncertain and unsettled, and so is the question of who exercises public power in relation to it. Harris has described the Treaty as one ingredient of a ‘cauldron of quietly simmering constitutional issues’. In this well-researched book, Matthew Palmer confronts these issues head on, and argues his vision for settling the legal and constitutional position of the Treaty.

year: 2006