title: Study Intention Survey 2010: Research Report May 2011

authors: Foroutan, Yaghoob

abstract: The Secondary School Study Intentions Survey is now in its seventh year. The main objectives of this research are to identify secondary school students’ choice of programme, the level of qualification that students aspire to and the extent to which students would study in Tauranga. This report presents the results for nine secondary schools of Western Bay of Plenty, and where relevant compares the 2010 results with previous years.

text: Study Intention Survey 2010: Research Report May 2011 The Secondary School Study Intentions Survey is now in its seventh year. The main objectives of this research are to identify secondary school students’ choice of programme, the level of qualification that students aspire to and the extent to which students would study in Tauranga. This report presents the results for nine secondary schools of Western Bay of Plenty, and where relevant compares the 2010 results with previous years.

year: 2011-05

title: Further studies on the coordination chemistry of [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄] towards indium(III) substrates

authors: Henderson, William

subjects: Platinum complexes

abstract: The reactivity of the metalloligand [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄] towards a variety of indium(III) substrates has been explored. Reaction with excess In(NO₃)₃ and halide (KBr or NaI) gave the four-coordinate adducts [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄InX₂]⁺[InX₄]⁻ (X = Br, I). An X-ray structure determination on the iodo complex revealed a slightly distorted tetrahedral coordination geometry at indium. In contrast, reaction of [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄] with indium(III) chloride was more complex; the ion [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄InCl₂]⁺ was initially observed in solution (using ESI mass spectrometry), and isolated as its BPh₄⁻ salt. Analysis of [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄InCl₂]⁺[BPh₄]⁻ by ESI MS showed the parent cation when analysed in MeCN solution. However in solutions containing methanol, partial solvolysis occurred to give the di-indium species [{Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄InCl(OMe)}₂]²⁺ (proposed to contain an In₂(μ-OMe)₂ unit with five-coordinate indium) and its fragment ion [Pt₂ (μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄InCl(OMe)]⁺. Reaction of [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄] with InCl₃•3H₂O, 8-hydroxyquinoline (HQ) and trimethylamine in methanol gave the adduct [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄InQ₂]⁺, isolated as its PF₆⁻ salt. The same cationic complex is formed when [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄] is reacted with InQ₃ in methanol, but in this case the product is contaminated with the mononuclear complex [(Ph₃P)₂PtQ]⁺ formed by disintegration of the trinuclear complex [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄InQ₂]⁻ with byproduct Q⁻. [(Ph₃P)₂PtQ]⁺BPh₄⁻ was independently prepared from cis-[PtCl₂(PPh₃)₂] and HQ/Me₃N, and is the first example of a platinum 8-hydroxyquinolinate complex containing phosphine ligands.

text: Further studies on the coordination chemistry of [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄] towards indium(III) substrates The reactivity of the metalloligand [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄] towards a variety of indium(III) substrates has been explored. Reaction with excess In(NO₃)₃ and halide (KBr or NaI) gave the four-coordinate adducts [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄InX₂]⁺[InX₄]⁻ (X = Br, I). An X-ray structure determination on the iodo complex revealed a slightly distorted tetrahedral coordination geometry at indium. In contrast, reaction of [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄] with indium(III) chloride was more complex; the ion [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄InCl₂]⁺ was initially observed in solution (using ESI mass spectrometry), and isolated as its BPh₄⁻ salt. Analysis of [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄InCl₂]⁺[BPh₄]⁻ by ESI MS showed the parent cation when analysed in MeCN solution. However in solutions containing methanol, partial solvolysis occurred to give the di-indium species [{Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄InCl(OMe)}₂]²⁺ (proposed to contain an In₂(μ-OMe)₂ unit with five-coordinate indium) and its fragment ion [Pt₂ (μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄InCl(OMe)]⁺. Reaction of [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄] with InCl₃•3H₂O, 8-hydroxyquinoline (HQ) and trimethylamine in methanol gave the adduct [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄InQ₂]⁺, isolated as its PF₆⁻ salt. The same cationic complex is formed when [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄] is reacted with InQ₃ in methanol, but in this case the product is contaminated with the mononuclear complex [(Ph₃P)₂PtQ]⁺ formed by disintegration of the trinuclear complex [Pt₂(μ-S)₂(PPh₃)₄InQ₂]⁻ with byproduct Q⁻. [(Ph₃P)₂PtQ]⁺BPh₄⁻ was independently prepared from cis-[PtCl₂(PPh₃)₂] and HQ/Me₃N, and is the first example of a platinum 8-hydroxyquinolinate complex containing phosphine ligands.

year: 2011

title: Contextualising Māori writing: a study of prose fiction written in English by Witi Ihimaera, Patricia Grace, Keri Hulme and Alan Duff

authors: Calvert, Julia Helen

abstract: All prose fiction written in English by Māori is political on one level or another. The authors considered in this thesis, Witi Ihimaera, Patricia Grace, Keri Hulme and Alan Duff, choose to identify as Māori, but for each writer exactly what this entails implies something different. The diverse range of Māori characters represented in their work illustrates the heterogeneity of contemporary Māori identity. Whilst bearing in mind that there is no fixed Māori identity, this thesis proposes that all fiction written in English by Māori is motivated by a belief that Māori are a disadvantaged group within New Zealand society. 

Three of the four writers, Ihimaera, Grace and Hulme, write against a background of colonisation. Their fiction confronts grievances based on perceived injustices committed against Māori in the past by European colonists and is concerned with the restoration of Māori rights pertaining to land, language, identity and political voice. While all three engage with these issues in their fiction, this thesis specifically considers the way in which Ihimaera treats the theme of land, Grace focuses on issues of education and Hulme explores Māori mythology.

Alan Duff stands apart from the other three writers in his belief that colonisation is not to blame for contemporary Māori disadvantage. Rather, Duff considers the situation to be the result of inherent flaws within Māori society. Through his often didactic writing he proposes that improved Māori socioeconomic levels can only be achieved through a radical structural and economic re-evaluation of Māori culture.

This thesis contextualises the work of the four authors and explores the ways in which their fiction engages with historical and contemporary issues of “race relations” and cultural identity in New Zealand. A sociological approach has been applied to the texts. This approach derives from the Māori writers’ own insistent reading of contemporary Māori identity as the product of historical encounter between Māori and Pākehā. The authors work in a dialectical relationship to previous Pākehā representations of Māori in literature, are historically revisionist, and are frequently adversarial. 

Despite the differences in personal and political perspectives held by the authors, their fictions share a common goal in their search for Māori pathways to empowerment. This thesis argues that prose fiction written in English by Māori writers contributes to the political activism of the Māori people and helps to foster an environment in which new perspectives on Māori culture and bicultural relations can be articulated.

text: Contextualising Māori writing: a study of prose fiction written in English by Witi Ihimaera, Patricia Grace, Keri Hulme and Alan Duff All prose fiction written in English by Māori is political on one level or another. The authors considered in this thesis, Witi Ihimaera, Patricia Grace, Keri Hulme and Alan Duff, choose to identify as Māori, but for each writer exactly what this entails implies something different. The diverse range of Māori characters represented in their work illustrates the heterogeneity of contemporary Māori identity. Whilst bearing in mind that there is no fixed Māori identity, this thesis proposes that all fiction written in English by Māori is motivated by a belief that Māori are a disadvantaged group within New Zealand society. 

Three of the four writers, Ihimaera, Grace and Hulme, write against a background of colonisation. Their fiction confronts grievances based on perceived injustices committed against Māori in the past by European colonists and is concerned with the restoration of Māori rights pertaining to land, language, identity and political voice. While all three engage with these issues in their fiction, this thesis specifically considers the way in which Ihimaera treats the theme of land, Grace focuses on issues of education and Hulme explores Māori mythology.

Alan Duff stands apart from the other three writers in his belief that colonisation is not to blame for contemporary Māori disadvantage. Rather, Duff considers the situation to be the result of inherent flaws within Māori society. Through his often didactic writing he proposes that improved Māori socioeconomic levels can only be achieved through a radical structural and economic re-evaluation of Māori culture.

This thesis contextualises the work of the four authors and explores the ways in which their fiction engages with historical and contemporary issues of “race relations” and cultural identity in New Zealand. A sociological approach has been applied to the texts. This approach derives from the Māori writers’ own insistent reading of contemporary Māori identity as the product of historical encounter between Māori and Pākehā. The authors work in a dialectical relationship to previous Pākehā representations of Māori in literature, are historically revisionist, and are frequently adversarial. 

Despite the differences in personal and political perspectives held by the authors, their fictions share a common goal in their search for Māori pathways to empowerment. This thesis argues that prose fiction written in English by Māori writers contributes to the political activism of the Māori people and helps to foster an environment in which new perspectives on Māori culture and bicultural relations can be articulated.

year: 2002