Lighting ideas turned upside-down
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QUT Central Administration 2 George Street Brisbane 4000 Telephone (07) 3864 2111 Registered by Australia Post – Publication No. QBF 4778
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Fun galore at anniversary party
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Eggs have a soft landing
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Queensland University of Technology Newspaper • Issue 190 • May 18, 1999
By Amanda O’Chee
A
mini-musical by QUT honours student Sarah Woulahan and graduate Sean Gilligan scooped almost half the recent Queensland New Filmmakers’ Awards.The couple won seven awards for their five-and-a-half minute film Stanley Ovation PI, a black comedy about tap dancing and a 1940s private investigator’s efforts to solve a series of murders.
In a phenomenal performance by the university’s film and television students, QUT students clinched 12 of the 19 prizes from 200 entries – a record number for the awards.
But nothing touched the performance of Ms Woulahan, 21, and Mr Gilligan, 24, whose awards included best overall production, best producer, most popular film and best independent drama.
The independent production was written, produced and directed by the dynamic duo, who were also responsible for the production design.
Costing just $2,000 “in real money”, Ms Woulahan said the pair relied on the generosity and goodwill of tap dance
ensembles Raw Metal and Dancelots, as well as 50 extras, all of whom performed free of charge
“As an independent production, we had to get everything as cheaply and freely as possible,” Ms Woulahan said.
“People just gave freely of their time.
It’s amazing what people will do for short films.”
To ensure the authenticity of the film, which was shot over five days at Brisbane CBD locations including Brisbane City Hall, the pair scoured St Vincent de Paul’s second-hand clothing stores for 1940s costumes.
Both have been recognised for their work before. Ms Woulahan received two awards for her film Stomping Ground at the awards in 1997. In 1998 Mr Gilligan won a prize for Eyes Squared.
•QUT Film and TV production graduate Mairi Cameron had her film screened at the Cannes International Film Festival. The graduating film she produced for the Australian Film, Television & Radio School’s directing course was accepted for screening at a special session of international film schools’ productions.
Film duo dominate Awards
Sarah Woulahan and Sean Gilligan excelled at the Queensland New Filmmakers’ Awards.
Peter Garrett … humanity, environment must come first.
Australia produces as much carbon dioxide as Indonesia despite having an eleventh of its population, Midnight Oil singer and Australian Conservation Foundation president Peter Garrett told an audience at QUT recently.
More than 400 students and staff packed a lecture hall to hear his free public lecture which formed part of National Science Week activities.
Mr Garrett condemned Australia’s record on vegetation clearing, per capita greenhouse gas emissions and carbon
Garrett warns of catastrophe
dioxide production.
“This country of 18 million people produces as much carbon dioxide as Indonesia with 200 million,” Mr Garrett said.
“We’ve got two-thirds of the world’s biological wealth and we’re destined to lose nearly a fifth of that in the next 20 years if clearing continues at its current rate.
“For your information, Australia clears more land, more bush, more vegetation than any other developed
country in the world and clears as much, if not more, than Brazil and most of it happens in Queensland,” he said.
While “good Australians” used money from the National Heritage Trust to regenerate their land, the Queensland and Commonwealth Governments
“simply allow the clearing of three, to four, to five thousand hectares of bushland to escape with a $300 fine”.
Mr Garrett called on scientists to put humanity and the environment at the forefront of new technologies.
QUT’s award-winning students
Jeffrey Hayes award for best producer:
Sarah Jane Woulahan and Sean Gilligan for Stanley Ovation P.I.
Village Roadshow/Australian Film, TV, Radio School, David Copping Memorial Production Design Award:
Stanley Ovation P.I.
Scope Post Production Award best sound design:
T’fer Newsome for Stanley Ovation P.I.
Australian Cinematographers’ Society encouragement award:
Kasha Heaney for Fabric Obsessions.
Atlab/Kodak award for outstanding cinematography:
Tony Luu for Aurora’s Lantern.
Hoyts award for best male actor:
David Megarrity for Aurora’s Lantern.
Warner Roadshow Movie World Studios best overall production:
Stanley Ovation P.I.
School of Media & Journalism QUT best director:
Sarah Woulahan and Sean Gilligan.
PFTC award for best tertiary drama:
Aurora’s Lantern, directed by Michael Baddorek
PFTC award for best tertiary documentary:
Bodies, directed by Kelly Allen.
PFTC award for best independent drama:
Stanley Ovation P.I.
Brisbane International Film Festival most popular film:
Stanley Ovation P.I.
Page 2 INSIDE QUT May 18, 1999
From the Inside ... From the Inside ... by David Hawke by David Hawke
A word from the Vice-Chancellor
Bridging the divide
Overseas recruitment campaigns planned
Smiles all round at Singapore graduation
QUT Chancellor Dr Cherrell Hirst congratulates Mechanical Engineering graduate Kian Sing Chia at a recent graduation ceremony in Singapore. Ceremonies were also held in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.
Tom Cochrane … QUT Virtual offers convenience to students.
QUT has officially launched QUT Virtual, the successor to Data Warehouse, which offers expanded interactive intranet services.
Accessing QUT Virtual with a password from home or on campus 24 hours a day, students are able to enrol, browse subjects, check what’s in the Library, stay in touch with lecturers and classmates, find out about assessment and assignments, submit assignments, and get basic subject learning materials.
Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Information and Academic Services) Tom Cochrane said QUT Virtual was about ultimate student convenience.
“We want to be able to provide all of the things that are part of being a student – that are part of a student’s life – in a convenient way appropriate to the next millennium,” he said.
“We can all relate to frustrations a student can experience in getting the material needed for a course, finding out when classes are, finding out about exams, and so on, from different sources.”
QUT Virtual launched
In future, students will be able to construct “what if” scenarios to experiment with the impact of different choices or timetables, completion times and so on.
QUT Virtual will be developed further over the next five years, in line with plans for more flexible teaching.
By Amanda O’Chee
Q
UT needs recruitment campaigns aimed at specific oveseas countries and cities, and should ensure curricula and research projects have a greater international focus, says QUT Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake.In a paper prepared for the University’s Academic Board and Council, Professor Coaldrake outlined the university’s priorities for internationalisation over the next three years.
The globalisation of knowledge and the workforce heightened the need for universities to strengthen ties with overseas partners and to prepare graduates for the new global workforce, Professor Coaldrake said.
“The forces of globalisation and the impact of technology are driving an increasing internationalisation of knowledge. All universities must therefore be international institutions in some respect,” he said.
“At a broad level, QUT must ensure that it reflects international perspectives and standards across the full range of its teaching, research and service activities,”
he said.
The university’s main priorities and strategies are to:
• build on the existing international recruitment programs by developing marketing strategies for specific countries and even cities;
• continue developing an international perspective within curricula;
• continue fostering internationally- relevant attributes among graduates;
• undertake more research projects with international partners;
• establish closer international links through alumni and staff activities, as well as Study Abroad and other exchange programs; and
• boost applied research and service activities to selected countries.
Professor Coaldrake said that as well as boosting the number of international students studying in Brisbane, QUT should expand its on-line offerings to overseas students who wanted to study from their home countries.
More measures were also needed to enhance the quality of on-campus life for international students.
For the full paper, QUT’s Internationalisation: Issues, priorities and key see http://www.qut.edu.au/ltd/qut/
chan/dvc/intl/intl.htm
Leading academics from QUT fly to Singapore later in May to participate in a major seminar and exhibition demonstrating the university’s strengths.
QUT On Show Singapore will showcase courses to prospective students and educators at The Oriental Singapore on Saturday May 22 and Sunday May 23.
Exhibition co-ordinator Laurel Bright said visitors would be able to access comprehensive details about undergraduate and postgraduate courses, advanced-standing arrangements, university preparatory programs and English-language courses.
“QUT is Australia’s fourth-largest university and we’re a very popular choice for Singaporean students because
University courses to be showcased in Singapore
of Brisbane’s warm climate, our relaxed and friendly atmosphere, our proximity to this region but, most of all, our wide array of ‘real world’ courses,” Ms Bright said.
Presentations will be made by senior staff from Media & Journalism, Communication Design and Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering, as well as senior staff from the Faculties of Business and Information Technology.
A program of seminars and displays about undergraduate and postgraduate courses will be held focusing on the Faculties of Arts, Built Environment and Engineering, Business, Health, Information Technology and Law.
The State Government’s go-ahead for the pedestrian and cycle bridge between South Bank and QUT’s Gardens Point campus is a great fillip both for the university and for the people of Brisbane.
For the university, the bridge will provide another means of access for staff and students coming to the campus.
More significantly, the bridge will be a physical and symbolic link between the cultural and recreational facilities of South Bank and the performing arts centre and those in the central business district.
QUT plans to be a major contributor to these facilities on our side of the river – the renovated theatre and the new QUT Art Museum will be venues for exciting arts events while the campus itself will provide attractive spaces to explore.
The bridge will mean that the cultural tourist, or interested local resident, will easily be able to follow a cultural circuit that might include, for example, the Queensland Art Gallery, the Queensland Museum, the
Maritime Museum, the QUT Art Museum and the Brisbane City Hall art gallery. Others will walk from South Bank, through the Botanic Gardens, on to the CBD.
The development of QPAC and its adjoining cultural venues, and some years later of the expo site that eventually became South Bank, were great moments for Brisbane. The new bridge will help to make us see the river as a source of delight as well as to lessen the sense of the river as a physical barrier.
Professor Dennis Gibson
Semester 2 1999 timetables are due to become available this week, with students expected to be able to view their
QUT timetables are on the way
subject timetables on campus noticeboards and the QUT web pages by Friday, May 21.
“See, that proves it! You can’t stop can you?
You and your generation
really enjoyed clearing our
forests, didn’t you?”
By Colleen Ryan Clur
D
r Ian Edmonds is blazing a trail as he continues to develop radical natural and electric lighting systems for major Queensland buildings.A senior lecturer in QUT’s School of Physical Sciences and leader of the Daylight Research Group in the Centre for Medical and Health Physics, Dr Edmonds will receive a university award for Outstanding Academic Contribution at a Faculty of Science graduation ceremony later this month.
Last year, his innovative lighting system, using inverted pyramids of laser- cut panels and light-guiding shades to optimally distribute natural light and conserve electric energy, was installed at the Department of Environment Herbarium at Mt Coot-tha.
The Daylight Research Group has now been commissioned to install a further development of this lighting system in the new Multimedia Learning Centre at the Moreton Institute of TAFE. The project is due to start construction in December.
“Our lighting system for this building is quite radical. While we have previously used the inverted laser-cut panel pyramids to efficiently distribute natural light from skylights, we are now attempting to use the same system to
also distribute the light from a few very intense and highly efficient electrical sources” Dr Edmonds said.
“This system saves money in three ways by using a combined distribution system for free natural light and for light from super-efficient electrical sources when natural light is not sufficient.”
The elimination of conventional forms of lighting in a major building was a radical proposal, so the Department of Public Works requested the construction of a full-scale model of the system to test the idea.
With support from their Built Environment Research Unit, a system was constructed at QUT’s Gardens Point campus, and the results convinced the department to proceed with the project. Dr Edmonds has led the Daylight Research Group in the application of new types of optical materials and systems to illuminate buildings for six years.
He has successfully worked with Australian industry to produce efficient viable products which enhance energy conservation and workplace health. Some products won National Energy Awards in 1996 and 1997.
Dr Edmonds’ research group is also associated with the Co-operative Research Centre for Renewable Energy at QUT .
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Radical light designs earn accolades
Dr Ian Edmonds with the lighting model created for the Department of Public Works.
Law lecturer Fiona Martin will be presented with the University Award for Outstanding Academic Contribution at a graduation ceremony later this month.
Ms Martin has been recognised for her teaching performance and leadership.
Over the past five years, she has made a strong contribution to the flexible delivery of law subjects.
As external studies facilitaor for the Law Faculty, she introduced Internet-
Lecturer recognised for oustanding contribution
based discussion forums, improved study guides and cases, and had a leading role in the writing of computer-based learning modules.
She has also published a taxation law text book which is used in several Australian universities.
Ms Martin wrote a multimedia computer module to teach the law of succession as part of the Crimson Parrot project that received a Queensland IT Telecommunications Award in 1995.
By Amanda O’Chee
An actor’s life doesn’t get much better than it has been for two QUT drama students who have just finished their first feature film.
Ryan Johnson, 19, and Megan Dorman, 20, were chosen for their debut film appearance at their first audition.
The pair won two of just six principal roles in Bored Olives – the first feature film to be written, produced, directed and shot in Queensland for many years.
The comedy-drama is shot in Brisbane and features an often wild night in the life of six teenagers working at a pizza store.
Mr Johnson, who described Bored Olives as an “Australian brat pack movie”, plays Misha, a pizza delivery boy desperate to lose his virginity.
He went to extraordinary lengths to understand his character, taking a job as a delivery driver at Pizza Hut for six weeks. Filming took five weeks with only a week of rehearsals.
“None of the scenes is rehearsed like the way they are in theatre, so you have to rehearse the character instead,” Mr Johnson said.
Ms Dorman said her character, Stacey, is a “speed freak” who hides
Drama students complete filming of first feature film
QUT students Ryan Johnson and Megan Dorman have completed their first film.
her emotional frailty behind a mask of rebellious behaviour.
“Stacey is a vulnerable, wounded character who uses rebellion, sex and anger to cover up how she feels,” she said.
Flushed with the thrill of completing their first feature film, the couple said they would like to forge a career in films – but only in Australia.
Bored Olives, which cost $1million, was written by local playwright Stephen Davis and was produced by Brisbanite Bruce Redman.
Audiences won’t see Bored Olives on the big screen until about March 2000, but keen viewers may be able to catch an early showing at one of the film festivals running after September.
A submission to a Senate Committee claims the Federal Government’s proposed Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU) legislation will have a
“catastrophic impact on the welfare of QUT students and the wider south-east Queensland community”.
The QUT Student Guild submission was made to the Senate Education Legislation Committee.
The Senate Committee hearing on May 7 in Canberra attracted more than 250 submissions on the issue from a cross-section of Australians.
Student Guild warns on VSU
The committee will report on May 25, and the issue is expected to be debated in the Senate next month.
The submission said the income base of the QUT Student Guild would be seriously eroded and 140 jobs could be jeopardised.
The detrimental economic impact of such legislation would be exacerbated by the fact that the Student Guild currently had commercial relationships with over 250 organisations.
The Guild said last year it collected about $3,1million in student fees.
It noted that if VSU was introduced, this funding base would drop to about
$315,000 a year .
The consequences of this funding shortfall would seriously impact on the welfare of the QUT student population, the Guild said.
The Guild listed a number of student services that would be placed at risk if VSU went ahead.
It said the arguments for introducing voluntary payment of student union fees were flawed.
Noel Gentner
Page 4 INSIDE QUT May 18, 1999 Dance training at QUT’s Academy of the Arts turns 21 this year, and as part of the celebrations the annual production of Dance Collections features six works from leading choreographers.
Four new and two classic works will be presented by dance students at the Woodward Theatre on the Kelvin Grove campus from June 15 to 19.
Head of Dance at the Academy of Arts, Professor Sue Street, said the works covered a wide range of styles.
One of the new works, The Ugly Duckling, is a collaboration between Dale Johnston, a Master of Fine Arts student and other Academy students.
Professor Street said the Academy was pleased to have had Brazillan dancer Tarcisio Teatini-Climaco as a guest choreographer for the The Brazillian Suite.
The two classic works to be performed are Leigh Warren’s Never mind the Bindies and Harold Collins’ Strange
Dance Collections has Latin flavour
Pilgrims, while the other new works are A Love of Subtle Deceit by Academy dance lecturer Joh Utans and Professor Street’s Going Numb.
“People have come to expect a varied and interesting program from our Collections season, and 1999 will live up to expectations with an exciting Latin element alongside the ballet and contemporary dance,” Professor Street said.
”Dance Collections has been running for over a decade and has been very successful in demonstrating that the dancers we produce are versatile and highly skilled in a wide range of dance styles,” she said.
Evening performances are at 7.30pm with an extra matinee performance on Saturday June 19 at 1.30pm.
Tickets: $16 adults, $14 concession or a group of six or more and $8 for school groups. General enquiries and bookings can be made by calling the QUT Academy on 3864 5998.
Midnight Oil’s Peter Garrett had the crowd transfixed when he spoke at QUT’s Gardens Point campus as part of National Science Week recently.
The audience was enraptured by his moving address on environmental destruction in Australia. His point seemed to be reinforced by a cricket
which flew into the lecture theatre.
The insect’s wings reverberated through the sound system as the singer urged people to take responsibility for saving the bush. It was as if Jimminy Cricket, the bug who is supposed to serve as our conscience, had made a guest appearance at the meeting.
Dance students Genevieve Osbourne and Dejan Jovanovic will appear in the Academy of Arts’ Dance Collections, featuring six works from leading choreographers, at the Woodward Theatre on the Kelvin Grove campus fromn June 15 to 19.
Up against teams from some of the world’s most prestigious business schools, a group of four QUT MBA students placed third in a global entrepreneurial challenge held in the United States earlier this month.
The part-time Brisbane Graduate School of Business students – Anthony Guy from PriceWaterhouse, Stephen Chant from Ernst & Young, Paula
MBA team excel in global competition
Mobray from the Department of Main Roads and Michael Carter from Spinal Sensor Technologies – had earlier won the Australia-New Zealand MOOT CORP Entrepreneurial Challenge which was held at QUT in late April.
When they competed in Texas with their business plan for Gold Coast-based company Jetfan Technology Ltd, the foursome made their way through a
series of elimination finals before being placed third and were praised for their business acumen and entrepreneurial vision.
The MBA students developed a plan to capture the global market for compact electronic equipment cooling systems.
Jetfan has designed a revolutionary fanblade system created by Gold Coast inventor Terry Day.
About 1,000 QUT staff members joined in the fun at the 10/150 Anniversary party held at Kelvin Grove Campus in May.
The occasion marked the university’s celebration of 10 years as a university and 150 years of service by predecessor institutions.
Party-goers also celebrated the opening of the new courtyard, the Quad, and the new coffee shop, Beadles on the Quad. To
symbolise the three strands to the festivities, three staff members, senior lecturer in the School of Professional Studies Merv Fogarty, Carseldine campus manager Elaine Harding and ceremonies officer “Beadle” Jim Clayden, cut a special birthday cake. (The beadle is the leader of the academic procession.)
QUT staff celebrate big anniversary in style
By Amanda O’Chee
E
ducation Queensland’s Reading Recovery tutors from across the State recently met at QUT for a week- long program to share knowledge and the latest research on improving the literacy skills of young children.Figures just released by Education Queensland reveal that 85.7 per cent of young children who completed the program in 1998 were able to read and write at the average level of their Year Two class after approximately 20 weeks of teaching.
The State Reading Recovery Centre of Education Queensland, located at QUT, provided professional development for Queensland’s 26 tutors and five tutors-in-training in the Reading Recovery program.
Reading Recovery is an early intervention and prevention program for six- and seven-year-olds who have difficulty learning how to read and write.
Education Queensland estimates that about 4,700 children will complete the Reading Recovery program this year.
Some 570 teachers from 420 state schools have been specially trained in the program.
State Trainer for Reading Recovery Mary Rosser, who is based at QUT’s School of Language and Literacy Education, said research showed the vast majority of children who completed the program caught up to their peers and became successful readers and writers.
“Reading Recovery is an early intervention and prevention program aimed at children who, after one year at school, are not making the average progress of their peers,” Ms Rosser said.
“After approximately 12 to 20 weeks students catch up with their peers and then continue to learn by themselves so that they no longer need additional literacy help.
“Children develop an independent, self-extending system of literacy learning which means that when they discontinue from the program they are able to continue learning for themselves.”
Reading Recovery tutors train selected early childhood teachers throughout Queensland in a year-long professional development program.
Teachers then provide a one-on-one program of accelerated literacy learning to students most in need of support.
By Amanda O’Chee
Parents should read to their children from birth to adulthood to improve their literacy, urges a QUT academic.
In a book recently published by Choice Books, Dr Julie Spreadbury, from QUT’s School of Language and Literacy Education, calls on parents to take a more active role in their children’s reading.
Dr Spreadbury said that parents who regularly read to their children and discuss the books’ plots, characters and underlying messages, tend to raise children with better literacy .
However, she said most parents stop reading to their children too early, sometimes as early as five years of age.
Reading to older children, even until they reach adulthood, stimulates children’s reading interest, forms stronger family relationships, extends their vocabulary and also encourages children to read materials beyond their current reading age or interest.
“My research shows that once children can read themselves, most parents stop reading to them, and that may be at the end of Year 1. That’s far too early,” Dr Spreadbury said.
“But my doctoral research also showed that when parents read to their children and talk with their children about the book, then the children develop better literacy.
“Parents should read aloud to children not only because it gives children a good
start at school but more so because this is often the only time in a busy day when a parent and child make real time just to be together.”
She said children will open up and often talk to parents about what is worrying them or what they are celebrating in their everyday lives.
“This closeness may well be the key to children not only being able to read but who also have a passion for reading itself.”
The book gives suggestions for improving children’s vocabulary and literacy skills, and features tips for teachers and parents on how to build closer relationships between school and home to strengthen reading and progress in literacy.
QUT has pledged to redraft its landscape master plan to incorporate the South Bank parklands pedestrian and cycle bridge.
Following State Government approval, the bridge will cross the Brisbane River from the southern end of QUT to the Maritime Museum.
QUT already has plans to build a performing arts theatre and an art museum on its Gardens Point campus to create an exciting new cultural precinct for Brisbane. A major revamp of the Maritime Museum is also planned.
The bridge has received strong support from the QUT community, many residents and the South Bank Corporation, but there has also been vocal objection to the plan, especially from residents in apartments close to South Bank.
QUT Vice-Chancellor Dennis Gibson welcomed the Queensland Government’s approval for the
$13million bridge.
South Bank Corporation CEO Bill Grant said community support for the pedestrian and cycle bridge, to be opened in late 2000 or early 2001, had been strong during a community consultation phase last year.
A QUT conference plans to prepare women for the 21st Century workplace.
Futurist Richard Neville is keynote speaker – a choice which has been questioned by one women’s group.
Millennium Women: Action Planning Your Work Future takes place on June 11 at the Mercure Hotel in Brisbane.
Organiser Laurel Bright said the organisers wanted the conference to include both men and women.
Minister for Women’s Policy, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy, and Fair Trading Judy Spence will also address the conference.
For registration details, contact Maria Lamari at [email protected] or call 3864 2915 or 3864 2822.
Recovery program success
‘Keep reading to your children’
South Bank bridge gets green light
Middle managers offered training opportunity
QUT Middle managers are being given the opportunity to boost their skills for coping with the increasingly complex university environment.
The University Management Development Program for HEWA 9- 11 general staff and academic staff who are course co-ordinators, offers middle managers development in their management proficiency and career- advancement skills.
The program is jointly co-ordinated by Jill Borthwick (TALSS) and Greta Dabrowski (Human Resources) and all costs are met by those two sections.
Dr Borthwick said the program offered staff members the chance to fulfil their potential by further developing their leadership abilities.
Project Manager for Planning and Strategy (Information Technology Services) Robyn Daniel, who was a participant in the program last year and has since been promoted several times, will be a presenter at this year’s event.
Ms Daniel said the program had tailored her knowledge of management theory to the specific culture, processes and politics of the QUT workplace.
“There are a range of ways to study management theory and application.
However, to be successful, an effective transition of learnings to the culture, processes, and politics of each workplace needs to occur,” Ms Daniel said.
“Certainly, the program minimises the risks associated with transition in a significant way.
“It offered me the opportunity to consider management theory in light of this particular workplace and to further my understanding of how this particular organisation functions.”
Nominations for the University Management Development Program,
“Building and Sustaining an Effective Performance Culture”, close on June 7.
The course begins on June 24 and sessions run through to October. For applications please phone Tanya Needer on 3864 9605.
Students come to grips with maths
As part of National Science Week, the School of Mathematical Sciences held a symposium on
mathematics futures for Grade 12 students. The event was attended by 220 people, including these St Paul’s students (from left) Aaron Findlay, Kelly Gray, Nathan Andersen and Mitchell Bradley.
Year 2 student Vincent Joy with State Trainer for Reading Recovery Mary Rosser, who is based at QUT’s School of Language and Literacy Education.
Millennium
conference
Page 6 INSIDE QUT May 18, 1999
Angry drivers see cars as ‘home’
M
any drivers take strong exception to other people’s driving habits because they relate to their cars as home territory, according to researchers from Queensland University of Technology’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety (CARRS-Q).When things go wrong, frustration and anger are often expressed in the form of gesticulating, giving advice to other drivers, swearing and flashing headlights.
CARRS-Q researcher Graham Fraine said at the extreme end of the spectrum, these tendencies could result in violence, coined by the media as “road rage”.
The research was presented by Mr Fraine, fellow QUT academic Dr Sandy Smith, and University of Southern Queensland academic Dr Lucy Zinkiewicz at the Third National Conference on Injury Prevention and Control at the Carlton Crest Hotel held recently.
“Tension is created between your desire to use the car how you like and having to conform to a detailed set of road rules,” Mr Fraine said.
“What you’ll find is that when other people on the road intrude upon your space by tailgating, or hold you up by their ‘slow’ driving, you get quite frustrated.
“You’ll find it’s a common reaction for people to either swear, give gestures, honk their horns or flash their headlights, all sorts of things that communicate to others that they are frustrated and angry.”
Mr Fraine said luxury and modified cars could easily become “primary territory” (equivalent to our homes), complete with home-features such as lounge-room comfort chairs, telephones, dashboard televisions and drink holders.
He said parking could also trigger territorial behaviours.
One study found drivers took longer to leave a parking place if they knew another driver was waiting.
On a passage to Italy
QUT researchers Graham Fraine (left) and Sandy Smith (right) and USQ academic Lucy Zinkiewics say drivers’ anger and frustration boils over because they regard their cars as part of their territory.
Postgraduate law student Constance Johnson (left) – pictured with QUT law lecturer Frances Hannah – will study international law of the sea and straits passage at the University of Milan. She has been awarded the Italian Government Scholarship for 1999.
A student’s perspective on the requirements and demands of nursing in the 21st century will be the theme of a national conference to be held at QUT in July.
The first Australasian Undergraduate Nursing Conference will be held at the School of Nursing, Kelvin Grove, from July 5 to 7.
The conference, Nursing in the Third Millennium: A Student’s Perspective, is a student initiative, and their committee will organise and conduct the conference with the assistance of lecturers from the School of Nursing.
Committee spokesperson Rae Goldsworthy said students would
Students present views on 21st century nursing
prepare and present papers on topics of their choice.
Ms Goldsworthy said that outside interest had already been shown in the nursing conference and that presentations were expected from students in other states, as well as students from universities and TAFE institutions around Queensland.
She said the committee was also seeking organisations which might be interested in sponsoring sections of the conference.
For more information please contact Ms Rae Goldsworthy on email [email protected], or call 3396 3660.
Computer buffs reach world final
A QUT computer programming team has recently returned from an international competition which “crams one year’s worth of programming prac into five hours”.
The annual ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, which is sponsored by IBM, is open to university students from around the world who engage in a “race against the clock” to solve problems using their programming skills.
QUT was one of 62 teams from more than 20 countries which made the final held in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Though the QUT team was not ranked in the final placings, it received an honorable mention for reaching the world finals.
The team consisted of James Moody, Owen Griffiths, and Michael Mason.
They were accompanied by computing science lecturer Dr Chris Ho-Stuart.
Dr Ho-Stuart said Facilities Support Services at QUT arranged the use of laptop computers for the team and Star Systems, a local Brisbane company, helped to cover the cost of the trip.
Dr Ho-Stuart said it was a good achievement for QUT to have reached the final.
There has been a slow response from QUT staff members to select a plan for their contributions to the Superannuation Scheme for Australian Universities (SSAU) – and the deadline is fast approaching.
Members have until June 30 to elect to stay in the Defined Benefit Plan or transfer to the Investment Choice Plan.
QUT superannuation officer Martin Moore said he believed a reason for the slow response was that many members were still confused about what was best for them, and what the difference was between the two plans.
Mr Moore said the election had to be made by about 1,300 staff who were SSAU members prior to July 1 last year.
He said new members, those who joined the plan after July 1 last year, would have 12 months from their “start date” to make a decision.
SSAU introduced the option after feedback from staff and employers nationwide that the Defined Benefit Plan was not the best plan for everybody.
He said the offer of choice had immediately appealed to those who understood the implications.
Slow staff response to super scheme choices
“But, I would say a majority of people really don’t understand, and are more confused than anything about what it means to make a choice,” he said.
“There certainly is an argument that the Investment Choice Plan is a more equitable plan in that the benefits from it are derived direct from investments and these returns are put straight back into the individual members’ accounts.
“To date, staff that have shown most interest in changing to the investment choice plan have been those who believe their salary will not increase significantly during their tertiary career and those who are planning significant breaks from the workforce.
“In the Defined Benefit Plan, the return is defined by a formula based on years of service and average salary over the last three years of service.
“Therefore, the benefit is optimised if your salary has grown substantially in the past three years.”
Members can approach Mr Moore initially to clarify the differences in the plans, but he strongly suggested people obtain independent financial advice.
Noel Gentner
Study needs volunteers
surgery in which they complete simple tasks involving problem solving, time responses, mental calculations and spatial processing. The test is repeated five days and three months after surgery.
Forty patients have already participated in the study, but Mr Raymond hopes to recruit another 160 patients over the next two years.
Mr Raymond is conducting the research as part of his PhD study, which is being supervised by School of Life Sciences Associate Professor Neville Marsh. The work is being carried out at the hospital’s haemostasis laboratory.
The study will also try to determine which mechanism is responsible for blood clotting during surgery.
By Amanda O’Chee
Cardiac patients are being sought for a QUT study to determine the prevalence of temporary lapses in attention, memory and cognitive skills after heart bypass surgery.
QUT PhD researcher Paul Raymond said previous studies had suggested that between 30 and 80 per cent of heart bypass patients suffer some temporary, minor loss in cognitive functioning.
With funding from The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation, Mr Raymond plans to determine precisely how many patients suffer temporary neurological difficulties and investigate ways to minimise the damage.
Mr Raymond said information from the study would help patients better prepare for their post-operative recovery and would help carers understand any temporary changes in patients’
behaviour after the operation.
“There’s a reasonably recognised decline in neurological functioning after surgery, such as loss in attention and memory,” Mr Raymond said.
“Fortunately, most of the damage is temporary and the problems usually resolve themselves within three to six months. But patients’ quality of life can be affected in the months after surgery and some people find that frustrating.”
Patients in the research project are given a one-hour test a week before
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There was mayhem, madness and scrambled eggs galore when 50 high school students launched home-made rockets carrying “live eggstronauts” at QUT for National Science Week.
The rockets exceeded all expectations, blasting further than four times the predicted distance.
Runcorn State High School’s rocket shot a staggering 45m in distance, clinching them the Year 12 honours. A lucky landing on the organisers’ tent arguably cushioned the landing, leaving the eggstronaut with its shell safely intact.
St Thomas Moore students won the Year 11 and Year 10 awards, travelling 5.36m and 14.9m respectively.
Students in Years 8 to 12 built rockets from plastic softdrink bottles, carrying raw eggs as astronauts.
To ensure the “live” eggstronauts survive the blast-off and landing with shells intact, the students have had to design a “cushioning” system like those used in NASA missions.
Australian Students Space Association (ASSA) project co-ordinator Neal Fennell said the creation of a cushioning system to protect the egg mirrored the process used by NASA engineers to protect the Sojourner Rover during the the landing of the Pathfinder on Mars in 1997.
The “Eggs in Space” race was funded by grant from the Department of Industry Science and Resources, and was organised by the ASSA, which was founded by, and is based, at QUT.
Sunny Queen Eggs donated the eggs.
Rocket mayhem a blast
By Amanda O’Chee
C
ommercial, industrial and farming land owners could be slugged with a GST bill and valuation costs worth thousands, under “hidden” details of the GST, a QUT academic has warned.Senior law lecturer, barrister and accountant Alastair MacAdam said residential landowners, whose property is sold to developers who do not intend to use the property for residential purposes, would also have to pay a GST.
Mr MacAdam said the Government had failed to publicise the effect of a GST on the sale of real property and called on the Government to explain the full GST implications.
According to the fine details of the GST which are just emerging, he said that the sale of new and existing commercial and industrial property, as well as many farms, would attract a GST.
A GST would even apply to farmers who sold their land after it had been in the family for generations, he said.
GST on the sale of real property would be in addition to any Capital Gains Tax. But unlike CGT, which is indexed to inflation, the GST would apply to the full sale price of a property even if any increase in value was solely attributed to the CPI, he said.
“For example, if a property is purchased for $200,000 in July 2000, is
sold 20 years later for $400,000 and the CPI over that period has increased by 100 per cent, then there is no real increase in the property’s value,” Mr MacAdam said.
“In this scenario, no Capital Gains Tax is payable, however a GST of one eleventh of the sale price of $400,000, that is $36,363.63, is payable by the seller.”
Although property owners could apply for the “margin scheme” – under which GST would only be payable on the increase in value after the introduction of the GST – owners would need to spend thousands on valuation costs to utilise the scheme, Mr MacAdam said.
“Any sensible owner would want to take advantage of the margin scheme and thus, for commercial, industrial and farming properties, they will have to arrange and pay for a valuation at the GST date,” he said.
“Thus the margin scheme is virtually identical to the proposal of Labor’s Gareth Evans to include pre-1985 assets in the CGT net from their 1999 value.
“You will recall the Government argued against this proposal during the last election. A central aspect of their argument against the Evan’s proposal was the unreasonableness of the cost imposition on taxpayers in having their pre-CGT assets valued.”
QUT students and staff have designed innovative solutions for better use and conservation of water.
The designs were developed as part of the international workshop Interdesign 99 Water, which was held simultaneously over two weeks via videoconferencing and electronic links in Mexico, South Africa and Australia.
Co-ordinator for Industrial Design in the School of Architecture, Interior and Industrial Design Associate Professor Vesna Popovic said the work was an important contribution to the global pool of water conservation solutions.
The 15 staff and students investigated and recommended solutions addressing the problems of clean harvesting of water and storage/accessories for saving water consumption; payment for water; distribution and transportation; and conservation.
Their proposals included the design of:
• a “management interface” (in the form of an electronic panel) located in high water- usage areas of the home, such as the bathroom and kitchen, enabling residents to switch between using mains and rainwater supplies;
• a water-monitoring device located in the house to track water consumption and costs;
• a 1,000 litre collapsible, transportable water tank which could supply water to 500 people a day in emergency situations or arid areas;
and
• a membrane to cover arid areas of land and prevent evaporation.
The proposals will be exhibited at the international congress Sydney Design 99.
The workshop is run by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design.
Designers tackle world water conservation
Year 12 students Alistair Gayler (left) and Sang Pham from St Laurence’s College at South Brisbane get ready for blast-off during one of the National Science Week events held at QUT recently.
Hidden GST slug to cost thousands
Azerbaijan, a former Soviet Union-bloc country, is being assisted by a QUT senior lecturer to move into Europe’s free-market system.
Earlier this year, the World Bank selected Dr Hitendra Pillay from the School of Learning and Development to consult in a major educational reform project in Azerbaijan.
Dr Pillay, who spent five weeks in Azerbaijan, said he concentrated on education sector reform, with a special focus on curriculum development, teacher education programs and organisational restructuring.
He said he had identified some of the areas that needed to be reviewed and
had made recommendations to the World Bank.
“I visited a number of schools in cities and rural centres, spoke to teachers, visited colleges and universities and had meetings with the Minister for Education and other government officials,” Dr Pillay said.
He said he worked with a team of specialised consultants from the World Bank who analysed the country’s existing educational policies and priorities.
“The country has a controlled, regimented mentality, but it now wants to move towards a new social, education and economic system, and become part of a united Europe.”
QUT expertise aids Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was an under-developed country with huge oil reserves, he said.
A recommendation to be implemented is a pilot project in curricula providing funds for writing new text books, teacher education and refurbishment of some schools.
The pilot project would be reviewed in three years, and the project could lead to some Azerbaijan officials visiting Australia, including Brisbane, he said.
“Because these people have lived within the Soviet system, they have been isolated. One of the recommendations was for some to inspect educational systems in other countries,” he said.
Noel Gentner
Dr Hitendra Pillay reviewed the educational system of Azerbaijan as part of a World Bank reform project.
Vesna Popovic ... water workshop made an important contribution.
Page 8 INSIDE QUT May 18, 1999
May 25 The Case of Mary Dean – Sex, Poisoning and Gender Relations: The Challenges of Writing Fictionalised Biography.
2 – 3pm. B509, GP.
TEACHING AND LEARNING SUPPORT SERVICES
May 21 PowerPoint for Advanced Users. For QUT staff to develop their visual communication skills.
9am – 3pm. V121, GP.
May 25 Using Flexible Teaching Techniques to Improve Student Learning.
1 – 2pm. S303, GP.
May 28 Internationalisation in Action – Inside QUT.
Noon – 2pm. B119, GP.
Jun 1,2,7 Planning for Online Teaching. Jun 1: 11am – 1pm, V220, GP. Jun 2:
11am – 1pm, K101, KG. Jun 7: 11am – 1pm, R203b, Car.
Jun 3,4 Understanding the Learning Needs of International Students.
Jun 3: Noon – 2pm, B222, KG. Jun 4: 11am – 1pm.
Z607, GP.
Jun 8,10 Designing an Online Component for Your Unit. Jun 8: 9am – Noon, V121, GP or 1– 4pm, K101, KG. Jun 10: 9am – Noon.
R203b, Car.
Jun 10 Postgraduate Research Supervision. 9am – Noon.
S305 and S303, GP.
For information on TALSS Seminars phone Catherine Haritonoff 3864 2697.
STAFF & STUDENT COURSES May 16 QUT Duke’s Award Club
Rockclimbing Night.
6pm. Kangaroo Point Cliffs.
Contact Naomi Searle at [email protected].
Jun 24 University Management Development Program – Building and Sustaining an Effective Performance Culture. Runs until October.
Nominations close June 7.
Contact Jill Borthwick, TALDU, on 3864 2551.
Check out What’s On at http:// www.qut.edu.au/pubs/02stud/whatson.html Send your What’s On entry to [email protected] or (07) 3210 0474.
STUDENT GUILD
May 31 Getting What You Want – A Peer Guide into Healthy Relationships. A free workshop run by young women for young women.
10.30am – 12.30pm. B201, GP. To book, call Student Guild Women’s Area on 3864 5528.
FROM THE ACADEMY Jun 16-19 Dance Collections.
7.30pm. Woodward Theatre, KG. Contact Karen Willey at [email protected] or on 3864 3453.
Aug 9-21 Cosi by Louis Nowra.
Contact Karen Willey at [email protected] or on 3864 3453.
SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS, CONFERENCES EQUITY SECTION
Jun 15, 17 Career Moves: Valuing Skills, Planning Futures.
Two-day couse for female general staff at HEWA 3–5.
9.15am – 4.15pm. Z413, GP.
To register contact Lilijana Simic on 3864 5601.
HEALTH SERVICE
Jul 13 Managing Headaches.
Free seminar by consultant neurologist Dr Dan McLaughlin and KG Campus physiotherapist Chamanthi Weerasinghe.
9.15am – Noon. N519, KG.
To book phone Christine on 3864 3161.
SCHOOL OF HUMAN SERVICES AND CENTRE FOR CROSS-CULTURAL STUDIES
May 26 Reforming Child Protection Responses.
Seminar on the Child Protection Bill (1998). Noon – 2pm. C320, Car. Contact School of Human Services on 3864 4697.
CENTRE FOR MEDIA POLICY &
PRACTICE
May 25 Multiculturalism and Popular Television.
Noon – 1pm. B509, GP.
Inside QUT is published by QUT’s Corporate Communication Department.
Readers includes staff, students and members of the QUT community.
Corporate Communication address: Level 5, M Block, Room 514, Gardens Point or GPO Box 2434 Brisbane 4001. Opinions expressed in Inside QUT do not necessarily represent those of the university or the editorial team.
Colleen Ryan Clur (editor) (07) 3864 1150.
Andrea Hammond (07) 3864 4494.
Noel Gentner (part-time) (07) 3864 1841.
Amanda O’Chee (07) 3864 2130.
Fax (07) 3210 0474.
Photography: Tony Phillips, Suzie Prestwidge Ads: David Lloyd-Jones (07) 3880 0528.
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By Noel Gentner
T
hird-year QUT civil engineering student David Halsall has been selected for the Australian team to compete in the World Ironman Championships in Hawaii in October.Mr Halsall’s performance in the Australian Ironman Triathlon at Forster in New South Wales earlier this month qualified him for the world event. He finished in 9hours, 55minutes, which Mr Halsall said was nearly half an hour better than what he recorded in the race last year.
Mr Halsall became interested in triathlons in late 1995, competing in “short distance” events around Brisbane.
However, he said he found the short distances were too demanding, “having to be spot on in every discipline to be up near the front”.
“I decided to go for distance because my strength was in endurance,” he said.
He admits the sport competes with his studies.
“It’s a fairly big drain as I have to fit everything in,” Mr Halsall said.
“I train generally about 10 times a week for about 30 hours overall, doing swimming, cycling, running, gym work, you name it – everything has to go into it.”
Competition in the Hawaiian World Ironman Championship is divided into sections and Mr Halsall will compete in the 18 – 24 years age group. The championship consists of a 3.8km swim, a 180km bike ride and a 42km run.
Depending on the result, Mr Halsall said he would consider turning professional.
“It’s a matter of getting more experience and training,”
he said.
“If you jump up into the top level straight away, you generally get injured or have various other problems.
“There is also the need for more sponsorship to assist in everyday living costs, as it does get fairly expensive.”
Engineering ironman to take on world’s elite sports stars
David Halsall will compete in the World Ironman Championships in Hawaii after his impressive performance in the Australian Ironman Triathlon at Forster in New South Wales in May.
Swimmers lap Australia for charity
QUT Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake and Ms Elizabeth Fairbairn from Queensland Asthma Foundation (pictured left) check the progress of students and staff attempting to “Swim Around Australia for Charity” earlier this month.
The event, at the Gardens Point Sports Centre, was one of the activities for Health Week and was organised by the QUT Student Guild Recreation Department.
The swim raised more than $860 for the Queensland Asthma Foundation. QUT matched the donations raised by swimmers on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
A total of 247 swimmers took part in the event, completing nearly 12,000 laps.
