37B.~Jl 103 irdens Point elvin Grove Kedron Park Carseldine
Issue No 64
O.U.T. UBRAI
BP backs river ecology · research
One of Brisbane's dwindling number of fish breeding areas will stand a much better chance of sur- vival thanks to the QUT's Dr Peter Mackey and a BP post-doctoral fel- lowship.
BP has provided more than $44 000 for an environmental study of man- groves in Boggy Creek, to be carried out over three years by Dr Mackey through QUT's Centre for Biological Population Management, which will also contribute to running costs.
Boggy Creek, which is part of the Brisbane River and combines with the main stream to flank the BP refinery at Bulwer Island, contains a mangrove
area identified by a Brisbane City Council wetlands study as an impor- tant marine life breeding site.
Dr Mackey said BP should be strongly commended for initiating the study because the mangrove area was outside the refinery boundaries.
He said that while the BP refinery had been at Bulwer Island for 25 years and both the Ampol refinery and Luggage Point sewage outfall were close by, the Boggy Creek mangroves appeared to have re- tained their environmental integrity to a large degree.
Dr Mackey said his first year would be spent compiling baseline data on
the marine life present and water quality.
Water and sediment testing would have to be conducted over a long pe- riod to determine levels of such things as heavy metals, hydrocarbons and nutrients like ni~rogen and phospho- rous, as well as any variations in those levels.
Dr Mackey's final evaluation of the study will lead to a recommendation for an ongoing environmental man- agement plan of the Boggy Creek site.
Study findings may also have some application in managing other wetland areas in the Brisbane region.
Dr Mackey has just moved to QUT
Internal QUT grant leads engineers to tell tall tales
QUT Research and Devel- opment grants for 1991 have been awarded to support 33 projects.
Research Management Committee last month ap- proved the project grants, worth $351 500.
Office of Research manager, Dr Lyn Grigg, said the amount available for 1991 under the QUT Research and Develop- ment Scheme was $350 000.
She said 117 applications for
funding were receieved, repre- senting more than $1.35 million.
The faculty breakdown of grants were as follows: Built Environment and Engineering, eight projects ($91 400); Busi- ness, three projects ($28 500);
Education, five projects ($55 500); Science, 12 projects ($126 800); Information Tech- nology, three projects ($22 30'l);
Law, one project ($13 000); and Health, one project ($14 000).
See list of grants page 7.
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~~Professor John Corderoy (left) and Dr David Thambiratnam. (Photo:
Sue Burow)
A QUT engineering duo who set about developing a computer program to design safer sky- scrapers found the answer was blowing in the wind.
The program, when fully devel- oped, will equip engineers with sufficient information to design tall buildings which can withstand the stresses of high winds, cyclones and eart!>nuakt>s: -
Civil engineers Profcss01 John
Corderoy and Dr David
Thambiratnam received $14 000 from the QUT Research and De- velopment Scheme 1991 to produce the program, the first of its type.
They said their program gave a series of analyses on wind speeds or ground movement.
From this information calcula- tions were produced on how the load affected "unsymmetric"
buildings and then suggested the best building design based on the intepretation.
Many tall buildings are unsymmetric, meaning either an unequal number of columns form the foundations around which the building walls are erected or the lift shaft of the building lies off- centre.
Asymmetry can cause instability problems when buildings are sub- jected to extraordinary horizontal loads or stresses.
"We asked what was the dis- placement and what were the forces which acted on buildings when they were subjected to wind forces?"
Professor Corderoy said.
"From the answers we provided, the computer program predicts problems associated with these horizontal loads and offers ap- proximate solutions."
Dr Thambiratnam said: "At the moment there are no rigorous pro- visions for ensuring buildings will stand up to high winds and earth- quake loads. We're lucky that no high winds or earthquakes have struck under-designed buildings."
The program so far examined lesser wind loads although he said higher wind loads and earthquake resistance would be investigated in future programming.
OUT Central Administration 2 George Street Brisbane 4000 Telephone (07) 864 2111
after ten years as senior lecturer in aquatic biology at the University Col- lege of Central Queensland in Rockhampton.
Whilst there, his major projects in- cluded a study of the ecology of the Fitzroy River and heavy metal pollu- tion in the River Dee associated with
Mount Morgan mining operations.
Dr Mackey graduated from the University of Reading in the UK, be- fore working in Papua New Guinea for several years.
He then headed back to the UK to work with the Freshwater Biological Association.
Wave of students go for Hawaii-5-0 week
Student Guild recreation director, Mr Michael Gleeson, red-eyed after 0-week. (Photo: Sue Burow) More photos page 5.
Lectures began for most of QUT's 21 000 students today following ori- entation ceremonies last week for 8000 new first years.
However, entry into Queensland universities proved more difficult in 1991 and minimum TE scores were higher for most courses.
QUT Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dennis Gibson, said that extra gov- ernment funded places were not nearly sufficient to satisfy the market.
The State Government was hopeful of gaining federal funds for an extra 800 places for Queensland which would help relieve, but not eliminate, the situation.
Professor Gibson said the Queens- land population was growing rapidly, unlike other states, adding to a snow- balling backlog of applicants who had been unsuccessful in gaining a place.
QUT proved popular with students, attracting more than 30 percent of all first preference applications in the state for 1991.
"QUT is the most popular univer-
sity in Queensland in terms of students expressing a first preference for entry -there are two or three applicants for every available place," Professor Gibson said.
Reasons included an increase in to- tal applications, an increase in QUT's share of first preference applications, a change in university status and de- gree status for some courses including teaching, a decrease in some quotas to coincide with funding levels and a reduction in new state funded places from 495 to 220.
More than seventy first year QUT students gained a 990 TE score.
The university, now one of Aus- tralia's largest, took more than 5000 full-time and 3000 part-time commencing students into under- graduate and postgraduate courses this year. The break-up was about 6000 undergraduate and 2000 post- graduate.
The total enrolment at QUT's four Brisbane campuses includes700 stu- dents from overseas who pay full fees.
Registered by Australia Post- Publication No. QBF 4778
Vice-Chancellor's comment
New QUT in good shape for 1991
To new students and staff, welcome to QUT. In some ways, joining the university now is like joining a brand new organisation. Following Brisbane CAE's amalgamation with QUT on 1 May last year, a new structure was defined with eight faculties and three administrative and support divisions. This structure came into effect from the start of 1991. Most management positions in the new structure have been filled. Academic staff have been assigned to the schools and most administrative staff, to departments and sections.
There are four jobs left to do in the short term to finalise this restructuring. Appeals must be heard from two academic staff against their assignment to particular academic schools. While most of the 1300 administrative staff were invited to accept positions, 124 have been advertised internally -no staff will be stood down. The vacant head of school positions must be filled by external advertisement, and budget allocations must be finalised for faculties and divisions.
Overall, I am pleased to report that the schedule for the amalga- mation process has been achieved and we are in good shape to begin the academic year. In the longer term, the consolidation of re- sources and staff within the facul- ties and divisions will be assisted by an $80 million building pro- gram on three campuses over the next few years.
Student first preferences for QUT enrolment in 1991 were the highest of any university in Queensland which is the best en- dorsement we could have for the new university.
Professor Dennis Gibson
Management posit ion task almost complete
The new QUT organisational struc- ture of eight faculties and three major support divisions was effective from I January.
Most positions are now filled in the new structure which was brought about by amalgamation with Brisbane CAE in May last year.
Professor Jan Reid will take up her position as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic) in July and interviews have been conducted for the Pro- Vice- Chancellor (Research and Advance- ment). Professor Ron Gardiner has been appointed Associate Pro-Vice- Chancellor (Academic).
Confirmed dean of faculty and head of school positions are follows:
Business
Professor Bernie Wolff (Dean), Professor Bruce Molloy (Media and Journalism), Associate Professor Doug Blackmur (Human Resource Management and Labour Relations), Professor Lew Edwards (Account- ancy), Professor Spencer Thompson (Finance).
Information Technology
Professor Dennis Longley (Dean), Professor John Gough (Computing Science).
Science
Professor Tony Webber (Dean),
Vic gets AO
QUT Chancellor, Mr Vic Pullar, became an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) on Australia Day for his services to civil engineering and to education.
Mr Pullar was appointed chairman of QIT Council in 1987 and, then be- came QUT's first Chancellor in Janu- ary 1989.
He is also chairman of the South Bank Corporation, chairman of the major engineering firm, Connell Wagner Queensland, and chairman of the Gateway Bridge Company.
A Fellow of the Institution of Engi- neers Australia, Mr Pullar's career has included design, construction super- vision and project management for works including the Gateway Bridge, the common user coal export facility at Hay Point, and bulk sugar terminals at Lucinda, Townsville, Mackay and Bunda berg.
He was educated at Brisbane Grammar School and the University of Queensland.
Mr Pullar is recovering from a re- cent operation and is not expected to return to QUT for three months.
Professor Tony Pettitt (Mathematics), Associate Professor Stan Dyke (Chemistry), Associate Professor Brian Thomas (Physics), Associate Professor David Gust (Geology).
Health
Professor Ken Bowman (Dean), Professor Michael Clinton (Nursing), Professor Conor Reilly (Public Health).
Built Environment and Engineering Professor John Corderoy (Dean), Professor Bill Lim (Architecture In- terior and Industrial Design), Profes- sor Kurt Kubik (Surveying), Professor David Scott (Construction Manage- ment), Professor Walter Wong (Me- chanical and Manufacturing Engi- neering), Professor Miles Moody (Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering), Associate Professor Phil Heywood (Planning and Landscape Architecture), Professor Keith Wallace (Civil Engineering).
Education
Professor Alan Cumming (Dean), Professor Gerald Ashby (Early Childhood), Associate Professor Bill Corcoran (Language and Literacy Education), Associate Professor Rod Gerber (Social Business and Environ- mental Education), Associate Profes- sor Dr Tom Cooper (Mathematics Science and Technology Education), Associate Professor Gillian Boulton- Lewis (Learning and Development).
Law
Professor David Gardiner (Dean).
Interviews have been held for the Arts Faculty dean. A further 13 head of school positions are still to be filled by external advertisement.
Meanwhile, these areas will func- tion with acting heads.
Almost 900 academic staff have transferred to the new faculties and schools, half of whom were little af- fected by restructuring. Only a few staff have appealed against their school placement. Also, 1300 non-academic staff in faculties and divisions have been filled mostly by invitation; only 120 were advertised internally.
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Gibson, said the process of geographically re- locating schools and faculties on the four Brisbane campuses would begin this year but would take several years to complete.
Although schools within one faculty could be placed on different campuses, a school would not be geographically split.
He said an $80 million building program over the next few years would expedite consolidation of faculties.
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QUT EXPERT ANALYSES THE WORDS OF WAR (SEE STORY PAGE 3)
Ac cou ntin g pro fessor refu tes sma ll business money claim
Newly-appointed Professor of Accountancy, Dr Scott Holmes, re- futes the long-held argument that banks discriminate against small business.
At 29 years of age, he is the young- est academic to be appointed as pro- fessor to QUT.
Winner of the inaugural Small Business Research Award, Professor Holmes said his research did not identify any difference in the cost of debt between small and large busi- nesses.
His study, conducted last year, sur- veyed 4000 firms listed with the Metal Trades Industry Association.
Of the 900 respondents, 93 percent Professor Scott Holmes said banks did not refuse them a loan
when requested.
"Thirty-one percent of respondents said the main reason they refused the loan when offered was because costs were too high," Professor Holmes said.
"Those whose loans were refused, said the refusal was based on a per- ceived risk of the business."
He said trading bank overdrafts were the only debts where interest rates were significantly different for smaller and larger firms.
"Everyone wants to point the stick at someone and in a recession they like to point it at the banks," he said.
"In my research, I've tried to get away from the politics of the argument
and concentrate on hard, empirical facts."
Professor Holmes cites the lack of statistical data on small businesses in Australia as one of the greatest chal- lenges for business researchers.
He said a more extensive small business data base would improve government estimates and make for better government policy.
"Failure rates, for instance, are esti- mates based on firm bankruptcies which are then applied across the board," he said.
If more information was canvassed through annual tax returns, this data base could be developed compara- tively cheaply and effectively, he said.
New university centres to boost re search endeavour
QUT' s research base has been strengthened with the establishment of four new university centres.
They are the Centre for Physical Infrastructure, the Centre for Medical and Health Physics, the Information Security Research Centre and the Centre for Mathematics and Science Education.
Each wi II receive $1 00 000 per year for five years from the university's research budget.
Office of Research manager, Dr Lyn Grigg, said the new university centres were chosen from I 0 applications on the basis of past research achievement and future potential.
Dr Grigg said QUT policy insisted that research conducted by a university centre was of both national and inter- national reputation.
University centres also provide a focus for QUT's strongest research interests and for the development of strong postgraduate research pro- grams.
QUT now provides $1.1 million funding to a total of nine university
centres and two national key centres sponsored by the Federal Government.
Associate Professor Tom Cooper, newly-appointed Head of School of Mathematics, Science and Technol- ogy, is director of the Centre for Mathematics and Science Education.
It replaces the former Centre for Research and Learning in Mathemat- ics.
The other three centres were former faculty centres and will retain previous directors - Associate Professor Brian W. Thomas (Medical and Health Physics Centre), Associate Professor Gerry Brameld (Physical Infrastruc- ture Centre), and Professor Bill Caelli (Information Security Research Cen- tre).
Three new school centres have been established, bringing the total number of these centres to I 0. These are the Digital Signal Processing Research Centre (headed by Dr Sridha Sridharan), the Centre for Applied Studies in Early Childhood (Dr Di Catherwood), and the Centre in Sta- tistical Science (Dr Yo Anh).
"Some accountants would argue that tax information is not accounting in- formation, but if applied consistently year after year, it would provide a bet- ter comparative picture," he said.
Professor Holmes shared the Small Business Research Award with Uni- versity of Newcastle's Professor Alan Williams. Both received $6000 for research.
The award, sponsored by the De- partment of Industry, Technology and Commerce (DITAC) and the Bureau of Industry Economics, was introduced to encourage research to help develop small business policy.
Professor Holmes will extend his empirical study of small business into the retail and service sector this year.
He took up his position with the School of Accountancy last month af- ter a six-month professional leave program at the University of Arizona.
In 1988, he joined the University of Queensland as senior lecturer in ac- countancy.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University of Newcastle ( 1983) and a Doctorate of Philosophy from the Australian National University ( 1988).
He has also authored Accounting: A Students Handhook (released last month) and Taking the Plunge ( 1987) and co-authored Small Business and Accounting ( 1990).
VC j oins 13 on round table
QUT's Professor Dennis Gibson is one of 13 vice-chancellors who are members of the Business/Higher Education Round Table along with 24 of Australia's corporate chiefs.
The round table which will discuss ways the two sectors can work together more effectively met for the first time in December. It is chaired by Mr Eric Mayer, National Mutual's Group Managing Director.
Professor Gibson is also a member of the Australian Research Council which considers applications by re- searchers for federal grants. At state level, he is deputy chairperson of the Queensland Innovation Centre and a member of the Queensland Tertiary Education Foundation.
Meanwhile, IBM's chief executive, Mr Brian Finn who is also a member of the round table, is to head a major review of post-compulsory education and training nationally on behalf of the Australian Education Council (state, territory and federal ministers).
Page 2 INSIDE OUT, 18 February 1991
Genetic tests on koalas are first for Queensland
A technique often used in police forensic investigations has been successfully adapted by QUT to put Queensland koalas under genetic surveillance.
DNA profiling, a detailed blood sampling process also used to solve paternity disputes in humans, has enabled honours student, Ray Cocciolone, to provide the first genetic insight into the state's koala populations.
Supervisor and molecular biologist, Dr Peter Timms, said the study proved the effectiveness of the technique as a way to monitor breeding within koala populations.
He said it would be of particular benefit to monitor zoo breeding pro- grams and breeding in areas disturbed by urbanisation and farming.
Compared with results from a pre- vious study on Victorian koalas, the study suggests that the Queensland species is far more "out-bred" or ge- netically different.
Dr Timms said this was a signifi- cant finding because in-breeding may correlate with reduced survival rates and disease susceptibility.
The Victorian koala population was almost rendered extinct at the turn of the century when koalas were hunted for fur and also fell victim to the Chlamydia! disease at the time.
"As a result of this, the present population is very in-bred because it would have descended from a very small group of surviving koalas," Dr Timms said.
DNA profiling would also enable researchers to trace the dominant breeding male in a koala population.
"It certainly will save researchers
sitting around day and night watching koalas doing their thing," he joked.
"This has a very important impli- cation for urbanisation. To know how many females a dominant male is mating with will lead to more suc- cessful relocation programs.
"It will also inform those monitor-
Lecturer adds voice to Gulf war of words
A QUT speech expert has added her voice to the Gulf conflict's war of words.
Ms Patsy McCarthy said the rheto- ric of war could win or lose battles and was a vital ingredient in gaining and maintaining public support.
Ms McCarthy said President Bush's declaration of conflict address was considered sufficiently important that an army of speech writers debated every word. The final oration took three weeks to manufacture.
political leaders and journalists, showed tell-tale signs of tension which could also lead to poor health if left untreated.
Ms McCarthy said headaches, sore throats and nodules on the vocal chords could result from tension, bad breath- ing techniques or incorrect posture.
"Voice trainers can teach people to relax and overcome the constraints which inhibit correct use of the voice,"
she said.
"'By diagnosing the problems and assessing why they manifested, voice specialists can correct the difficulties."
ing breeding in zoos and sanctuaries as to how in-bred a koala can become before fitness declines."
The study began last February and has already produced sufficient results for scientific publication.
Field work involved the radio-col- lared koalas being studied by Mr Neil White in QUT's Centre for Biological Population Management.
Captive koalas came from the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.'The study will continue this year and will involve wallabies and dogs as well as koalas.
Testing carried out by Ray Cocciolone produced photographic images of DNA strands.
As in human genetics, a koala will inherit half its genetic information from its mother and the other half from its father.
Koalas can then be matched to a father or mother by identifying similar markings along these photographic bands.
The profiling process begins with a blood sample from each koala.
White blood cells from each sample are extracted and protein content re- moved by chemical solvents.
The remaining DNA strands are dissolved in water and "cut" into thousands of pieces by an enzyme.
The DNA solution from each koala sample is then poured into an agarose jelly mould and an electric current is then used to "push" the solution into a long band.
A nylon membrane is placed onto of these bands and a perfect imprint is formed.
A DNA probe, a very short piece of a DNA molecule, is introduced and made radioactive to locate its "part- ner" in each band.
After a 24-hour period an X-ray film is placed against the membrane to produce a photographic image.
Campus quickies
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tom Dixon, has put his foot down to save the university from embarrassment. During a ceremony to mark a student exchange agreement between Sonada Gakuen Women's College in Japan and QUT's Faculty of Education, a brave spider dashed across the presentation floor. Deciding to stamp out such insurgent behaviour, Professor Dixon put his best foot forward to rid the room of the attention seeking gate-crasher.
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The Adelaide Grand Prix circuit, constructed annually under the supervision of QUT civil engineer, Dr Rod Troutbeck, was voted by the drivers as the best Formula One circuit in the world for the 1990 season. It's the second time it has received such distinction.
With that kind of international praise in a high profile, multi- million dollar industry, you'd think he'd have some involvement in an upcoming Gold Coast event.
0
0 0Cars, people and tempers over-heated the Tuesday afternoon after the Australia Day holiday. A nose-to-tail procession, banked back to the Domain, snaked its way out the George Street exit during the course of an infuriating hour or more.
Closure of the Gardens Point Rd exit was to blame for the traffic snarl.
The problem was rectified the following day, leaving one to wonder how many of the university's big wigs were caught in the line-up.
0
0
0Communication and Organisational Studies senior lecturer, Dr Phil Neilsen, cannot be accused of acting in an off-beat manner on Australia Day. He was spotted indulging in a little beating of the drums - for a rock band which entertained crowds at Redcliffe.
0 0 0
The Department of Employment, Education and Training is apparently finding it hard to keep up with amalgamations. It sent a questionnaire to
"BCAE" this month offering a choice of regular information about DEET activities.
0 0 0
Two former Australian agricultural colleges, now affiliated with southern universities, produce some of the nation's finest wines.
However, it would appear the initial race to secure the colleges as part of amalgamation processes turned the fine vineyard produce into sour grapes.
Whispered rumours suggest many of QUT's southern counter- parts saw advantage in inviting the viniculturalists onto their patch of dirt.
She returned from Professional Experience Leave (PEP) in Britain late last year where she worked for OTMA Ltd, a leading business consultancy group.
At OTMA, she helped train execu- tives from some of the world's most powerful companies in speech pres- entation skills.
Lecturer publishes the riches of Chauvel
She said people were unaware of the complexities of verbal and non- verbal rhetoric strategies used by politicians.
Ms McCarthy said Bush ·s facial expressions. body language and tones of voice would have been well prac- tised before giving the speech. This would have ensured the desired un- derlying messages were broadcast to listeners.
She said that when debating the words to be used in the President's speech, his writers would have been conscious of the audience· s world view.
"They would have explored viable subjects for the speech, how best to transmit the specific and subconscious messages and identified the areas of doubt and concern for the audience,"
she said.
"The writers would have realised the importance of appealing to as many people as possible."
Ms McCarthy said the President, when unable to say what he had wanted, repeated the words of a US marine involved in Operation Desert Storm.
"Bush used the troop's words to bring out an argument he couldn't start himself," she said.
"This also gave him a human appeal and was intended to show that the American public was behind the war effort."' she said.
Ms McCarthy said people were unaware of the importance of voice training in conveying non-verbal messages.
"People imagine voice development is an automatic and unchangeable process, but rather the voice is an in- strument that often we have not been taught how to play," she said.
"The manner in which a person speaks - their voice - can alter the quality and tone of the message."
She said many speakers, including
A new book authored by film re- searcher. Dr Stuart Cunningham, could well be described as the good, the bad and the ugly of Charles Chauvel.
Featuring Australia. published last month, is not only the first detailed study of an individual Australian film maker.
It is also one of the few works to make a serious appreciation of Chauvel"s less-brilliant work along- side that which earned him a much- revered reputation as a visionary film pioneer.
Born in Warwick in 1897, Chauvel made nine feature films and many documentaries in a 30-year career cut short by a sudden death in 1959.
Dr Cunningham explores Chauvel's great classics such as Forty Thousand Horsemen, Sons of Matthew and Jedda, but does not ignore his lesser- films like Uncivilised.
Unlike many other critics and au- diences, Dr Cunningham does not gloss over or make excuses for such films.
Instead he uses them to extract a deeper appreciation of Chauvel's unique contribution to Australian film.
"Some of his films were really un- conventional. The plot-lines didn't work, the actors stood stock still and delivered their lines melodramati- cally," Dr Cunningham said.
"But I think these films are just as good in their own way as the great ones."
Dubbed once as an "unholy off- spring of Tarzan and Nelson Eddy", Uncil·ilised brings together a young female social-column journalist and an opera-singing wild white chief of a drug-peddling black tribe in nvrth-west Australia.
"The two fall in love at the end and presumably live happily ever after in a kind of half-way urban/rural utopia,"
Dr Cunningham said.
"Although conventionally speaking it was a 'bad' film, Chauvel was try- ing to address classic divisions in Australian culture - rural and urban, Page 3 INSIDE OUT, 18 February 1991
Charles Chauvel in action on the set of Uncivilised.
racism, sexism."
Dr Cunningham argues that instead of aiming for the Hollywood B-grade market, Chauvel took great film- making risks to produce big, splashy epics.
Jedda (1955), the first Australian film to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival in France, was also the first Australian film to explore racial divi- sion.
"Most courageously, it starred Aboriginal people drawn from every- day obscurity," Dr Cunningham said.
In the book, Dr Cunningham also identifies the similarities between to- day's Australian film industry and the battling industry of Chauvel's era.
He argues that Australia's cultural dependency on overseas influence
was just as real, then and now, as our economic and political depend- encies.
Chauvel, like many of today's great movie makers, was offered a lucrative directorship in Hollywood.
But unlike the Peter Weirs and the Bruce Beresfords of today, Chauvel declined the offers, resolving to remain an Australian director.
Dr Cunningham is a senior lecturer in the School of Media and Journalism.
He has also written a book on Aus- tralian cultural policy and has pub- lished more than 50 journal articles on film, media, cultural studies and broadcasting policy.
Featuring Australia is published by Allen and Unwin and retails for
$19.95.
Dr Stuart Cunningham with his new book. (Photo: Sue Burow)
Real World Theatre takes
off with Chekhov's Seagull PNG lecturers attend QUT to sharpen skills
QUT's reformed theatre company has injected new life in the comedy of Chekhov's 19th century Russian classic, The Seagull.
The play, which opened last week, is the first production for The Real World Theatre Company, formerly the
QUT Drama Society.
Chekhov's plays have often been rlescribed as "sombre" but, as director Mr Scott Collins says, the writer al- ways intended his work to have a comic interpretation.
"The sombre approach by English
director, Constantin Stanislavsky, was exaggerated in later productions and the plays became depressing and claustrophobic," Mr Collins said.
"The Seagull is quite a funny and ironic play but like every good com- edy it does have a dark and serious side."
When describing the plot Mr Collins said "although it sounds depressing it isn't if we look at it from Chekhov's point of view.
"Chekhov was a doctor as well as a writer so he had a very clinical out- look on life.
"If the audience can step back and take a more clinical approach to the play the humour will emerge."
Mr Collins said the play was com- parable to modem "absurd" drama in
tone, symbolism and theme.
"In The Seagull, the eharacters are
influenced by an unrealistic ability to predict future events," he said.
"There are some strange elements in all his plays."
Set in rural Russia 20 years prior to the re·;olution, the play examines one family's bizarre and intertwined rela- tionships.
The main character, Konstantin, finds his life thrown into turmoil when his girlfriend runs off with his mother's lover.
The Real World Theatre Company includes past and present QUT staff and students, staff and students from other universities and professional technicians and actors.
Performances are at the Woodward Theatre, Kelvin Grove, 7.30pm until 23 February. A Saturday matinee starts at 2pm. For bookings, contact QUT Activities Officer on 221 3144.
Nicole Dyer playing Polina and Michael/son playing Doctor Dawn in Chekhov's Seagull.
(Photo: Sue Burow)
Visiting Papua New Guinea teach- ers college lecturers unanimously agreed it was much easier to travel to their QUT lectures with a reliable bus timetable.
Twelve lecturers are studing one year of their University of Papua New Guinea course at QUT as part of the PNG Community Teachers College Lecturers Professional Development Project.
Visiting lecturer, Mr Joe Kiliawi, said: "At home if we miss one bus you never know when the next will arrive.
Here the bus arrives according to the schedule."
Sponsored by the Australian Inter- national Development Assistance Bu- reau (AIDAB), the five-year project aims to improve the educational standards of community teachers col- leges through the professional devel- opment of lecturing staff.
There are two major components to the project -coursework at QUT and in-service training in Papua New Guinea.
Project coordinator at Carseldine campus, Dr Bob Elliot, said QUT provided course work in areas that were not available in PNG including com- munity life, English as a second lan- guage, and health and physical educa- tion.
He said teams of QUT lecturers also visited PNG to conduct in-service training for teachers college lecturers.
The project, in its second year, is a major international Consultancy at- tracting a $2.25 million AIDAB grant over five years.
PNG community teachers colleges
have upgraded courses from two to three years, creating a need for teach- ers college lecturers to develop new courses and curriculum for teacher training, said Dr Elliot.
In brief
Director of the Rural Management Development Centre, Mr Peter Huthwaite, has been seconded to the Queensland Confederation of Industry this year. He will lead a task force aiming to make industry more envi- ronmentally aware. His appointment funded by Greening Australia began on 4 February and is expected to last about 18 months.
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The QUT-based Musica Antiqua Collegii chamber choir needs singers who are interested in renaissance to present day music.
Rehearsals are every Wednesday night at Padua College, Kedron.
Interested staff, students and mem- bers of the community can phone Mr Spencer Faulkner on 263 6222.
0 0 0
Scientists from eight countries gathered in Thailand last month to write the first volume of a series edited by QUT environmental scientist, Dr Jim Davie.
The first volume of the series, Planning and Management ofTropical Coastal Wetlands, is due for publica- tion in July.
Dr Davie said another five volumes would include implications for fisher- ies, forestries and nature conservation.
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Page 4 INSIDE OUT, 18 February 1991
Nick's award-winning idea Redcliffe survey
may reduce spinal injury orovides w~alth
:!:";"""""'""•"'''w;odowor, of student study
A QUT student may have found a way to greatly reduce acute spinal in- juries from car accidents.
While only at the conceptual stage, the Extraction Device, affectionately nicknamed ED, won the Australian segment of the General Electrics Plastics Pacific Design competition for industrial design graduate, Mr Nick Dobson.
He earned a windfall of $2600 plus second place in the Pacific Region competition.
He was prompted to explore ex- traction device design after discover- ing more than 50 percent of acute spinal injuries were caused by auto- motive accidents.
Mr Dobson said: "One in four vic- tims who have sustained spinal cord injuries suffer irreversible damage after being extracted from the vehicle.
This suggests a definite need for im- provement in existing extraction de- vices."
The most popular extraction device in use is a wood splint which is tight-
Student Nick Dobson ened around the stomach.
"This makes the spine flat rather than keeping it in a naturally curved position and internal injuries can be- come worse when the belts are tight- ened around the stomach," said Mr Dobson.
In contrast, ED is in three major sections-head, chest and lower back.
It is collapsible and made of flexible
"Theoretically, the device should be five to ten times quicker than those presently used because ambulance of- ficers don't have to move the person or wait for the car to be cut open to apply ED," Mr Dobson said.
While one ambulance officer holds the patient'~ head straight, another applies the fully adjustable head-piece.
The chest section can be altered to suit the shoulder width. The lower section of the brace has a waistband which expands across the stomach, forcing two plastic plates on either side of the spine to support the lower back muscles.
"This tightening of the muscles in the lower back supports the spine,"
Mr Dobson said.
ED is fully adju~table to suit all shapes and sizes.
Mr Dobson consulted the Queens- land Ambulance Services Board to identify existing problems and ideal equipment stand:1rds.
Agronomist joins MBA exchange
A global perspective on business is what research agronomist, Mr Dick Hearden, hopes to obtain as an MBA exchange student at Rensselaer Poly- technic Institute in New York State.
Mr Hearden is the first QUT student to take part in the exchange program established between the two institu- tions last year.
He and his wife, Jan, left in January and will reside at the institute's cam- pus accommodation for the six-month exchange.
Part of Mr Hearden 's study will
include a review of demand estima- tion and inventory control systems for a number of large US fertiliser com- panies.
Having worked for lncitec, the largest fertiliser company in Australia, for I 0 years, the research will have a direct application to his research po- sition within the organisation.
Born into a farming family based at Gunnedah, near Tamworth, Mr Hearden has blended his rural back- ground with a keen business sense.
"Farms have got to be businesses.
"The days of treating farming and grazing as a lifestyle are past. Farmers have to pay very close attention to their profitability and the nature of business was becoming more global in its out- look," he said.
"Business, however, is in a Catch 22 situation. It's not a time you can afford to think small but its not a time to take great risks either."
He has been studying an MBA part- time since 1989 and has three subjects to complete during the exchange be- fore graduating.
A community-based development strategy in Redcliffe has evolved into the most extensive consultancy ever undertaken by the School of Plan- ning and Landscape Architecture.
Head of the school, Associate Pro- fessor Phil Heywood, said it was the first time in Australia a tertiary insti- tution had applied a Consultancy based on one community throughout subjects and courses in one school.
More than ISO students wi II pro- duce 300 reports based on 14 projects this year.
Each Redcliffe project conducted by QUT students will not only study a specific need within the city, but will also serve as the practical content of 14 course subjects.
The consultancy is part of the Redcliffe Community Development Strategy, initiated by the Redcliffe Peninsula Chamber of Commerce.
Designed to address the economic decay of the bayside city, the strategy also aims to solve chronic unemploy- ment, crime, transport problems and population decline.
The projects will involve students in the Graduate Diploma in Urban and Regional Planning, the Bachelor of Applied Science (Built Environment) and the Graduate Diploma in Land- scape Architecture.
Between 20 and 36 students will work together on each project and some students will be involved in more than one.
In first semester, student projects will study urban policy and transport, site planning, beach front and city centre use, the Margate suburb as a
Smiles all round for 0-week
ABOVE LEFT: Mother and daughter duo, Delia and Samantha Rayment (centre) combine study and a tasty hamburger with Leith
McDougall (left) and Tony Bates (right) at Carseldine. (Photo: Phil Keefe-Jackson). ABOVE RIGHT: Enjoying a "few" beers at Kedron Park are (from left) Sonya Mattiazzi, Kerry Ford and Nicole Lipp. (Photo Sue Burow). LEFT: Student information officer, Ms Katie Curran, and second year Bachelor of Education student, Simon Wilson, cook up a sizzler at Kelvin Grove. (Photo: Sue Burow). CENTRE: Waiting for lunch at Kelvin Grove are (from left) Leezle Simons, Rebecca Webb, Karen Hanton and Kylie Pomplun. Photo: Sue Burow). RIGHT: First year business students Mechelle Webb and Nervada Smith chat with Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dennis Gibson, after the Gardens Point orientation. (Pho Sue Burow)
Page 5 INSIDE OUT, 18 February 1991
Associate Professor Phil Heywood
microcosm, and industrial potential.
Second semester projects will ex- amine housing needs and supplies, infrastructure, urban design, social development, strategic planning, policy implementation and public ad- ministration.
Professor Heywood said students producing the best assignment work would also be selected to conduct further paid Consultancy in conjunc- tion with academic staff.
"The students will be doing work in the way they would have to do in an office," he said.
"lt is an exciting way to have the
most talented young intellectuals working on a community project when their minds are the most open."
The Redcliffe Peninsula Chamber of Commerce first approached Pro- fessor Heywood to discuss strategic planning in a special meeting last September.
He and ten other staff and students were then invited to facilitate a com- munity summit meeting in December and a second earlier this month.
At the meetings, Redcliffe residents identified a number of priorities, forming the topics for the QUT student projects.
The QUT team will use the projects as the basis for a final repert detailing policy setting and action criteria.
The Redcliffe Peninsula Chamber of Commerce will provide $47 000 to fund staff and student time, printing and production of reports, student travel and community liaison.
Phone link-up now complete
Today marks the first day of full operation for the new million-dollar telecommunications network linking all QUT campuses.
The Carseldine campus was the la~t
to join the network at the weekend bringing an end to almost a month of changeover procedures.
The latest generation NEC 2400 series PABX system has been installed to allow direct extension contact across
campuses. .
Each campus telephone number now carries the same "864" prefix.
Kelvin Grove extensions now begin with 3, replacing 8 in the former ex- tension.
Kedron Park extensions are now four digit, with 4 added to the previous three-digit extension.
Carseldine numbers, also four digit, will retain the last two numbers of the previous extensions and carry a new prefix of 45 or 46.
New facsimile numbers are 864 1510 (Gardens Point), 864 3999 (Kelvin Grove resource centre), 864 3998 (Kelvin Grove central adminis- tration), 864 4499 (Kedron Park li- brary), 864 4498 (KP administration), 864 4497 (KP computing), 864 4999 (Carseldine library), 864 4998 (Carseldine administration).
/
New system streamlines rodent control on Downs
Rodents attacking grain crops stand less of a chance now that PhD candidate, Mr Steve Cantrill, has completed a three-year study on the Darling Downs.
Through QUT's Centre for Bio- logical Population Management, Mr Can trill has conducted the first attempt in Queensland, and probably Australia, to devise a systematic method of rodent control.
To be used by state organisations, Mr Cantrill's recommendations have been organised into a flow chart of various methods designed to better predict rodent plagues and control actual outbreaks.
According to Mr Cantrill, the same control methods have been used in all rodent outbreaks regardless of how appropriate.
"The new system will allow control procedures to be streamlined for each specific outbreak," he said.
The study, which started in mid-
1987, was funded through the research committees of the State Wheat and Barley Boards and the Rural Lands Protection Board.
It was based at the Robert Wicks Research Station at Inglewood.
Mr Cantril! said an outbreak on the central Downs in March last year caused a $5 million loss in navy and soya bean crops alone.
"If these outbreaks can be predicted at least six months in advance, that kind of damage can be avoided," he said.
Unlike other pests, rats and mice are not declared pests legally, there- fore control tends to be on an ad hoc basis.
Typically, a state authority will register one of about 30 baites for use during a two-month period.
Mr Can trill said it was often difficult to convince farmers of a problem until the rodents were actually visible in a crop.
"They are usually only visible in a crop by the time the population has reached a 200-300 mice per hectare density," he said.
"That is often too late and the dam- age is already being done. Ad hoc baiting then is often of little help."
Rats and mice tend to strike in summer crops which are planted in November and harvested in May.
Damage tends to occur between April and July.
"Higher than average population density in September is usually a good indication of a problem in the follow- ing year," Mr Cantrill said.
A major method of control was to simply reduce the amount of stubble and overgrowth around the crop.
The project was supervised by Mr John Wilson, a coordinator in the Centre for Biological Population Management.
Mr Cantril! will submit his PhD thesis this year.
Bev flies flag for job swap
Canadian secretary, Bev Moore. (Photo: Sue Burow)
Book collection marks new exch a nge deal with Japan
QUT students now have the oppor- tunity to gain academic inspiration from cherry blossoms, Shinto temples and Mount Fuji.
A formal exchange agreement has been signed between the Sonoda Gakuen Women's College in Japan and QUT's Education Faculty.
The two-year agreement will pro- vide two QUT education students an- nually with the opportunity to study humanities and teaching practices in Japan for six months.
Students from other faculties will be able to take six-week courses over the Christmas break.
Japanese students will also visit QUT.
At the signing of the agreement late last month, QUT Deputy Vice-Chan- cellor, Professor Tom Dixon, said the exchange was an extension of the economic intemationalisation sweep-
ing the world.
He said the agreement indicated how education had followed the global move towards internationalisation.
The Chairman of the Sonoda Gakuen School Corporation, Mr Ichitani, presented more than 200 Japanese books to the university.
He hoped the books would foster better understanding between the two country's youth and pledged to con- tinue sending an annual donation of books.
The books will reside in QUT's Kelvin Grove library. Until now the university h;;J a very limited Japanese collection.
The donated collection includes some intriguing subjects, such as comics, science fiction, weddings and their social context, women's speech, Kabuki drama, Samurai painters and cinema.
Queensland's local lingo and a baffling abundance of roundabouts have kept Canadian secretary exchangee, Ms Bev Moore, on her toes since she arrived in Brisbane last November.
Ms Moore, from the Mount Royal College in Calgary, is part of the first official six-month secretary ex- change between QUT and an over- seas institution.
Now working as acting secretary to the Dean of Education, Professor Alan Cumming, Ms Moore has traded places with QUT's Ms Judy Jakeman.
Coming from an English-speaking western culture, Ms Moore did not expect to stumble across unfamiliar concepts like "rugging up in a
doona". .
"I had no idea what a 'doona' was and another funny one was a 'biro',"
Ms Moore laughed.
"Once when I was being served in a shop and the man at the counter said 'you right, mate?', I just stood there with a blank look on my face!
"But I really am enjoying the changes and think this is the best way to experience a different coun- try.
"There's been something new every day and we have met some wonderful people."
The most obvious adjustment for Ms Moore and her husband Jim has been Brisbane's overwhelming hu- midity.
"Knowing it's 30 degrees below in Canada right now is really nice.
But I've never been anywhere as hot," she said.
Ms Moore initiated the exchange last year by writing to a number of colleges and universities.
Ms Jakeman, who was saving to visit Canada and the United States, jumped at the offer and the pair agreed to swap jobs, houses and cars.
They also spent three days to- gether at Mount Royal College sharing work tips before Ms Moore left for Australia.
Born in Edmonton, Ms Moore moved 300km south to Calgary in 1978 and has worked at Mount Royal College for the past ten years.
A seasoned traveller, she has toured throughout eastern and western Canada, parts of the United States, England, New Zealand, Fiji and Tahiti.
Having already experienced the delights of the Great Barrier Reef before Christmas, she and her hus- band plan to explore more of south- east Queensland.
Sydney and Melbourne are also on the agenda before returning to Calgary in April.
Anyone interested in the secretary exchange program should contact Staff Development personnel officer, Ms Penny Muller, on 864 3602.
Caboolture State High School student, Vikki Ashley, lending her hand to science. (Photo: The Courier-Mail)
All hands on science
The Australian Scientific Indus- try Association and two Brisbane universities spent a week late last month turning student recruitment into a science.
The association, together with QUT and Griffith, ran science sum- mer schools for more than 450 Queensland, Papua New Guinea and northern NSW students entering Year 10.
The association's Queensland chairman, Dr John O'Hagan, said the summer schools were designed to expose the novelty aspect of sci- ence.
He said students who discarded science were severely limiting their
career opportunities, and the sum- mer schools helped replace sci- ence's unflattering image with one of excitement and discovery.
Students participated in a wide variety of experiments, including mixing a chemical cocktail to form polyurethane. Vikki Ashley (pic- tured) from Caboolture State High School then poured her liquid foam into a rubber glove.
Other students diagnosed the chemical composition of food dyes and estimated the amount of food acids in soft drinks, learnt to reach for the stars in astronomy or gained an understanding of life through a microscope.
ritish singer unites body and voice in drama class
Body and voice were brought closer together in a drama workshop led by British singer and voice teacher, Frankie Armstrong, earlier this month.
She and her Adelaide-born husband, Darien Pritchard, teamed to give a week's pre-semester instruction to 14 dedicated third year drama students.
Both agreed the workshop was part of the QUT shift in drama education away from a "text-based declaring of the word" to a conscious connection of body and voice in acting.
Entitled "Voice of the Archetypes", the workshop incorporated masks of the archetypal devil, mother, child and huntress.
While the masks were an integral tool of the workshops, the most star- tling feature was Ms Armstrong's own penetrating voice and broad vocal range.
Students donned masks and inter- preted her singing through movement according to their assigned archetypal characters.
The masks, developed by English theatre director, John Wright, were brought to Australia specifically for the workshops.
"John Wright has a lovely saying that behind every moving voice is a dancing body," Ms Armstrong said.
"I like to turn that around and say that behind every dancing voice is a moving body."
Ms Armstrong not only seeks an integration of body and voice in drama.
Her own songs also explore social issues in terms of fragmentation, par- ticularly in relation to the environment, nuclear weapons and sexual discrimi- nation.
"There I see the same disconnection.
A disconnection between science and
the earth. Between women and men,"
she said.
Ms Armstrong has been losing her sight throughout her life - a cataract operation last June restored partial vision to one eye.
She started singing in 1957 when the folk boom first hit Britain and has since recorded six solo albums. She also pursued a social work career from
1963 to 1982.
Voice workshops for singers and non-singers alike have been a devel- oping interest since the mid-70s.
"I was doing voice and assertion workshops at the same time and real- ised they achieved much the same thing," she said.
Ms Armstrong and Mr Pritchard will visit Adelaide for the International Workshop Festival and National Folk Festival in April before returning to their home in Cardiff, Wales.
Singer Frankie Armstrong. (Photo: Sue Burow)
Page 6 INSIDE OUT, 18 February 1991
