War Correspondents

At its outbreak, newspapers in the Allied and neutral democracies hoped to present vivid descriptions of the First World War. They were soon frustrated. Censorship obstructed the adventurous style of war reporting to which readers had grown accustomed. Belligerent governments wanted journalists to encourage enlistment and maintain home front morale. Many newspapers in Britain, France and America were content to behave as patriotic propagandists. All were constrained by rules and circumstances. War correspondents downplayed misery and extolled victory. Soldiers found their behavior hard to forgive. War reporting promoted the belief that newspapers could not be trusted to tell the truth

Iraq war body counts: reportage, photography, and fiction

This essay explores the representation of the Iraq War dead. There is, as yet, no official count of those killed in Iraq. US military policy established a moratorium on representing the American dead, meaning that any images became contested. This essay examines the debates around this fraught question as it emerges in newspaper reportage, photography, confrontational art, and the fiction of the war. It ends with an exploration of fiction by non-American writers Sinan Antoon, Saad Hossain, and Ahmed Saadawi, in whose work there appears an attempt to reinscribe the absent bodies of the Iraq War

Effect of shape anisotropy on the phase diagram of the Gay-Berne fluid

We have used the density functional theory to study the effect of molecular elongation on the isotropic-nematic, isotropic-smectic A and nematic-smectic A phase transitions of a fluid of molecules interacting via the Gay-Berne intermolecular potential. We have considered a range of length-to-width parameter $3.0\leq x_0\leq 4.0$ in steps of 0.2 at different densities and temperatures. Pair correlation functions needed as input information in density functional theory are calculated using the Percus-Yevick integral equation theory. Within the small range of elongation, the phase diagram shows significant changes. The fluid at low temperature is found to freeze directly from isotropic to smectic A phase for all the values of $x_0$ considered by us on increasing the density while nematic phase stabilizes in between isotropic and smectic A phases only at high temperatures and densities. Both isotropic-nematic and nematic-smectic A transition density and pressure are found to decrease as we increase $x_0$. The phase diagram obtained is compared with computer simulation result of the same model potential and is found to be in good qualitative agreement.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure

The introduction of ICT in fieldwork to enhance student learning

Report of a CELT project on supporting students through innovation and researchThe aim of the project was to introduce a dedicated ICT package into the fieldwork experience in order to enhance student learning in the field at a range of levels and in a number of subject areas. The field kit consists of a laptop computer, digital camera with multi-card reader, global positioning system (GPS), video camera, portable scanner and printer. The kit is kept in a waterproof portable case specifically for student fieldwork use (Plate 1). A digital microscope and video camera is also separately available. The students have been able to use the equipment in the field in order to produce supporting materials to enhance their fieldwork. For example the IT package has been used in conjunction with a data-logger on mapping equipment allowing maps to be printed in the field for detailed recording of field sites. Also the use of digital and video cameras has allowed students to take responsibility for identifying and recording aspects of fieldwork for their reports