Indonesian students reassured

Floating sculptures at Carseldine

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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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Train ends its remarkable journey

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1,000 turn out for QUT

Fun Run

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Queensland University of Technology Newspaper • Issue 196 • October 5, 1999

A

cting Chancellor Bob Grice has written to QUT’s 200 Indonesian students to assure them of the university’s continuing support during the East Timor crisis.

In his letter, Mr Grice said QUT remained committed to the welfare of its Indonesian students and to its other links with Indonesia.

Last week QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Dennis Gibson met Indonesian student representatives at which he offered support.

Earlier Federal Education Minister David Kemp reassured Indonesian students that the Government continues to welcome their presence in Australia.

QUT Indonesian Student Association president Aji Alowie said he had received no complaints from Indonesian students since the turmoil began in East Timor.

“The students haven’t been treated any differently,” Mr Alowie said.

Mr Grice said in his letter that QUT continued to co-operate with many Indonesian universities.

Indonesian students

reassured

“QUT also teaches Indonesian language and culture, and encourages local students to visit Indonesia as part of their study programs,” he said.

“Australian and Indonesian students have got on well and the university will continue to do all that it can to encourage these friendships.

“QUT support services, such as counselling, family support and emergency financial assistance, remain available at any time to international students.”

Head of QUT’s International Services Graeme Baguley said that despite reports of harassment of Indonesian students at other universities, Indonesian student representatives had assured him they had faced no problems at QUT.

“Feedback from Indonesian students has been positive,” Mr Baguley said.

Students are encouraged to see an international student adviser for confidential assistance if they face any difficulties.

Campus comes alive with dance

QUT’s Gardens Point campus was alive with dancers from across the world during the annual International Fiesta in September. Dressed in traditional costumes, students from Vietnam (pictured above) , Indonesia, Malaysia and the Ukraine, performed in a colourful celebration to the delight of the audiences. The university’s Oodgeroo Unit and the Brisbane Ethnic Music and Arts Centre also took part. The International Fiesta aims to promote better cross-cultural understanding.

Joan follows family footsteps

By Andrea Hammond

Member for Caloundra Joan Sheldon is embracing the student life as she follows in her family’s footsteps as a postgraduate student at QUT.

The former Queensland Deputy Premier and Treasurer has become the fifth member of her family to study at QUT since she enrolled in the MBA (Masters of Business Administration) course earlier this year.

Two of her grown sons are former QUT students and the youngest, Adrian, is studying for his Masters of Finance. Mrs Sheldon’s husband John recently graduated with a QUT Masters of Laws

and now tutors part-time in the Law Faculty.

Mrs Sheldon said she had decided to do an MBA because she thought it would be a good learning experience.

“I’ve been in positions where managers have done all these things for me and I wanted to get on the other side of the fence and see how it was done,”

she said.

“Things such as the restructuring of departments – I had reports on how it was being done, what the structure of management and the timetable was – but I wasn’t looking at the nitty gritty and I think it’s good to get that overall perception.

“I’m interested in business and some of the majors that are offered in the QUT MBA course, such as venture capital and Asian business, and I most probably will proceed along those lines.”

Mrs Sheldon said skills honed by doing an MBA were likely to prove useful should she decide to re-enter the business world.

In the meantime she is enjoying relearning a “few basic skills” such as using the library and computer laboratories.

“I think it’s been interesting coming back as a student and seeing life from that perspective – I’ve found people in the class very friendly and generally an intelligent group of people representing a cross- section of the community.”

Joan Sheldon ... postgraduate student at QUT.

Page 2 INSIDE QUT October 5 – November 15, 1999

From the Inside ... From the Inside ... From the Inside ... From the Inside ... by David Hawke by David Hawke by David Hawke by David Hawke

A word from the Vice-Chancellor

The Australian Industrial Relations Commission has ratified an innovative industrial agreement between QUT and its senior staff.

The agreement applies immediately to 123 senior academic and general staff at the university.

The agreement, which falls under Section 170LK of the Workplace Relations Act (1996), was reached through direct consultation between the senior staff group and the university.

While relevant unions were consulted, they did not have a negotiating role in reaching the agreement.

QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Dennis Gibson said both the senior staff – heads of schools, deans, pro-vice- chancellors and senior general staff By Amanda O’Chee

Y

ear 10 students from across Brisbane road-tested university life at QUT during the school holidays.

More than 70 students from schools serving Brisbane’s low socio-economic areas visited QUT for a special program to introduce students to university life.

Students dived in to high-tech labs, attended lectures, prepared a mini research paper and received first-hand advice from university students about the academic and social aspects of studying at uni.

The three-day Q-Step Spring School is part of QUT’s Q-Step program which provides special assistance to people from low-income families.

“The Q-Step Spring School gives students a taste of what university is all about,” said Q-Step Spring School co- ordinator Pathma Moodley.

“Many of the students are unfamiliar with the university environment or how uni is so different from school.

“It’s important Year 10 students at

High school students try out uni

least consider university, because if they decide they might want to go to uni at the end of school, they need to choose the right subjects for Year 11 and 12.

“We’re not telling students they should go to uni after school, we’re just telling them to consider it and to keep their options open,” Ms Moodley said.

Year 10 students (from left) Rebecca Robertson, Grant Ebbers and Michelle Quinteros enjoy QUT’s Q-Step Spring School.

QUT reaches accord with 123 senior staff

managers – and the university would benefit from the agreement.

Professor Gibson said staff covered by the agreement would receive salary increases totalling 6.9 per cent over three years.

“This increase includes an immediate three per cent rise, backdated to January 1999, in line with a similar increase granted to other staff under enterprise bargaining last year,” Professor Gibson said.

He said the agreement also included a new classification structure for senior staff and consolidated existing terms and conditions for this group.

In return for these benefits, he added, the university would gain a greater commitment by its senior staff to a performance culture.

“The agreement will allow the introduction of a performance pay scheme for senior staff,” he said.

“This is an important addition to our existing programs, such as the performance planning and review scheme, that align individual efforts with the university’s strategic objectives.”

The agreement was developed after extensive consultation with senior staff and a ballot in which 73 per cent of votes were in favour of the agreement.

More than three-quarters of senior staff eligible to vote took part in the ballot.

Professor Gibson paid tribute to the work of distinguished industrial relations consultant Helen Twohill who advised the university throughout the consultation and drafting process.

At a time of considerable national turmoil for both Indonesia and Australia, we do well to remind ourselves of the close links that we, as a nation and as a university, enjoy with Indonesia.

Indonesia is the largest source country for international students in Australia, with more than 17,000 students at secondary and tertiary institutions throughout the country.

QUT has 200 of these students.

Indonesia is also, of course, one of our closest neighbours and largest trading partners. QUT recognises the cultural and economic importance of Indonesia through its commitment to Indonesian language teaching and a range of exchange programs with universities and other institutions in Indonesia.

I recently met representatives of Indonesian students at QUT to assure them of the university’s continuing support. The acting Chancellor has also written to each Indonesian student at QUT.

At a national level, Education Minister David Kemp has made a statement of support to Indonesian students across the country.

Welcoming

Indonesian students

Australian and Indonesian students have always got along well at QUT.

The university will continue to do all that it can to encourage these friendships and to make Indonesian students feel at home here.

During these difficult times, we do well to keep in mind the fundamentals of our international situation. Central to both Australian foreign policy and the identity of our universities has been a close engagement with Indonesia, and its language and culture.

QUT will continue to enhance its already strong links with Indonesia as a key part of its internationalisation policy.

Professor Dennis Gibson

Leading business executives last week praised the calibre of student entries in a QUT competition designed to test strategic management thinking.

Woolworths human relations manager Peter Dunell said he would seriously consider implementing student recommendations from the Acumen competition to maintain company growth in the next decade.

Mr Dunnell was one of five judges in the inter-university case study challenge which attracted entries from 13 teams.

A team from The University of Queensland emerged triumphant in the final on Friday, October 1.

Business students Andrew Mayes, Paul Davies and Joyce Kwok competed with students from five universities to win prize money of $3,000, presented by Ernst & Young.

Acumen required students to come up with strategic management solutions to a realistic problem and present their recommendations to a panel of judges from the business community.

Business leaders praise student teams’ acumen

This year’s case study Woolworths — maintaining market leadership was judged by senior staff from ANZ Bank, Pratt and Co Marketing Associates, Ernst &

Young, Woolworths Supermarkets Queensland and Business Queensland.

In his closing remarks, Mr Dunell said many recommendations “struck a nerve” in highlighting what the company should be and is doing to maintain growth.

He said he was so impressed with the quality of case studies that he would like to employ all the students who competed as consultants.

The competition is an initiative of QUT’s Faculty of Business and was trialed here last year. This year it has been extended to include students from Griffith University, UQ, The University of Southern Queensland and Bond University.

Business Faculty support officer Anthony Scott said, following the success of the 1999 competition, the faculty would consider expanding Acumen nationwide.

ATN supports Government paper

QUT was a sponsor of the four-day international RiverSymposium held as part of the Brisbane City Council’s Riverfestival last month.

School of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Surveying lecturer Dr Richard Margerum was part of the RiverSymposium Advisory Committee

QUT backs RiverSymposium

which organised speakers and case studies from around the world.

The symposium explored possible solutions to worldwide river crises, including ways to restore degraded rivers and methods to evaluate river management systems.

– Amanda O’Chee

‘Apparently, the Queen won’t be offended if we vote for a republic.’

‘Hmm... it would be so much easier if the Queen would just resign.’ *

The Australian Technology Network (ATN) has announced its general support for the principles of reform outlined in the Government’s discussion paper on Research and Research Training.

The group of five technological universities said in a statement they

particularly supported the philosophical shift advocated in the paper.

ATN chair and Vice-Chancellor of RMIT University, Professor David Beanland, said the Network agreed there needed to be a greater focus on the economic output of research. The ATN also called for more research funding.

* Courtesy of an anecdote by Janet Holmes à Court at the QUT Business Leaders Forum

Tynan McKenzie 15x3

By Fraser Ross*

QUT Faculty of Law lecturer Frances Hannah has become the first lawyer to be appointed to the Marine Board of Queensland.

Ms Hannah will be one of six members on the board, which advises the Government on port operations, vessel regulations, navigational matters and marine pollution.

Ms Hannah said she believed it would be a challenge to balance operational matters with legal and theoretical issues.

“I think, however, that such a balance is critical to a proper perspective on marine safety issues in Queensland,” she said.

* Fraser Ross is from Craigslea State High School.

Lecturer appointed to Marine Board

Frances Hannah ... balance on marine safety is critical.

Senior associate with Minter Ellison Tom Bradley (left) with Janet Holmes à Court and QUT’s Professor Peter Little at the Business Leaders’ Forum.

The Australian Constitution could be open to more legal ambiguities under the proposed preamble, a legal expert has warned.

Courts have traditionally used preambles to interpret the intent of constitutions when ruling on legal questions, said QUT research fellow Dr Haig Patapan.

The proposed preamble will not be used to interpret the Constitution, raising questions over its purpose, he said.

By Andrea Hammond

M

any people saw the republican referendum as an “anti-British push”, Janet Holmes à Court has told the QUT Business Leaders’ forum.

Mrs Holmes à Court, one of the foremost proponents for a republic in Australia, is travelling around the country delivering her message.

She said the creation of a republic was an act of recognition, not rejection.

More than 400 business people attended the QUT forum – the last in the series for 1999 – at the Hilton Hotel last month.

“I get the impression that there are a lot of people who think we will in some strange way offend Queen Elizabeth, or indeed the British people themselves,”

she said.

Queen won’t be offended by yes vote, Forum told

“My own associations with Britain are very strong – associations with family, with history, culture, even sport.

I have a daughter, a full blue from Oxford, a grandchild who was born in Britain and a home in London.

“Being a republic does not mean being anti-British. It means being pro- Australian ... We are not going to offend Queen Elizabeth if we vote yes in November.

“I’m utterly, like a lot of you, a product of Great Britain.

“But I have inside me an invisible elastic – I’m like a bungy jumper – and no matter where I go on the planet I come flying back here to the smell of eucalyptus and the red dust and the salt spray of our ocean.”

Mrs Holmes à Court said the question of whether Australia became a republic

was a question of national maturity, national identity, national independence and national freedom.

“We respect freedom enormously in this country. At the moment we are thinking about it because we are sending our troops into Timor to protect people who have voted for freedom,” she said.

“Surely the ultimate freedom would be that any Australian, if asked, should be free to be Australia’s Head of State.

“To do anything else, to deny that freedom, is unAustralian. We believe in merit, rather than accident of birth and religion as the criterion of position.

“I feel very passionate about this issue of Australia having a Head of State who lives here, who’s one of us, who is exclusively ours, who we don’t share with anyone else, and who unequivocally stands for and symbolises our nation.”

Janet Holmes à Court ... Queen will not be offended by republic.

Expert warns of confusion

Dr Patapan explored aspects of the proposed preamble at a public seminar at QUT last month.

Given that the preamble will have no legal standing, Dr Patapan said its existence raised questions over the need and efficacy of what amounts to a “vision statement” about Australia.

“It suggests that there is a real need in the community for national unity and a strong desire to have a moral vision that transcends ordinary politics,” he said.

The fee system for international students at QUT has been revised for implementation in 2000.

At present full-time international students pay a flat rate per semester. While international students have always paid pro-rata fees for a part-time enrolment, this has not been the case for full-time study.

For example, students enrolled for 36 credit points (the minimum full-time load) paid the same fees as students enrolled for the standard full-time load of 48 credit points.

From next year all new international students will be charged on a pro-rata (credit point) basis.

Acting manager of Overseas International Services (OIS) Michelle Gasteen said students who were enrolled at QUT before 2000 had the choice of converting to the new system or remaining under the old system.

Changes to international fees

“Currently-enrolled students can choose the policy that bests suits them,” she said.

And, from next year, fees may be paid at the start of semester, rather than at an earlier time, which students found inconvenient.

“This is a sensible change as we found that most students are away during holidays and have difficulties in arranging payments in advance,” Ms Gasteen said.

Under the new refund policy, students who withdraw their enrolment before the start of classes will be charged 10 per cent of their semester fee, while students who withdraw within the first four weeks of lectures will be charged 50 per cent.

Students withdrawing after the first four weeks of lectures will not be eligible for a refund. This brings QUT closer in line with AVCC guidelines.

Page 4 INSIDE QUT October 5 – November 15, 1999

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E

nvironmental degradation in Australia is so serious that unless drastic action is taken soon, the country will not be able to feed a population of 20 million people in 20 years time, warns acclaimed writer and palaeo- environmentalist Dr Mary White.

Dr White, who was awarded an honorary doctorate from QUT last month, addressed a School of Life Sciences Friday Forum seminar where she outlined the consequences of land abuse of the world’s driest continent.

“At present we are producing food which feeds 80 million but this will not be sustainable for much longer,” Dr White said.

“I conduct ecotours across Australia and have seen land degradation on a shocking scale. There is no excuse for it.”

Dr White, who was born in Africa, has lived in Australia for 44 years, and

Australian eco disaster at hand, warns writer

for decades was consultant palaeobotanist to the Bureau of Mineral Resources in Canberra.

Later, as curator of plant fossils at the Australian Museum in Sydney, she established a collection of 12,000 plant fossil specimens and wrote many scientific articles on her discoveries.

She has published several highly- praised books recounting the 400 million-year history of Australian plant and animal life.

Dr White said the unique geological history of the continent had made it generally unsuitable for the northern- hemisphere-style farming practices, which were introduced by the European settlers.

Misreading of the capacity of the land to sustain unsuitable land use practices had caused widespread soil and water degradation, she said.

“Australia is fortunate in its geographical isolation and we have the rare privilege of still being able to make choices, but not for much longer.”

She received an honorary doctorate at a graduation ceremony for the Faculties of Science, Information Technology, Law and Built Environment and Engineering at the Queensland Performing Arts Complex.

Dr Mary White ... Australian soil is being degraded.

Queensland business leader Frank Haly has received an honorary doctorate for his contribution to the business world and to QUT.

The former Suncorp-Metway Chairman who is a consultant to Delloite Touche Tohmatsu, was awarded the doctorate at a graduation ceremony for the QUT Faculty of Business last month.

In his keynote address Dr Haly, a chartered accountant and company director, painted a positive future for Australia, citing export opportunities with Asia and burgeoning e-commerce.

Dr Haly said it was timely that Australia was returning to trade with Asia, noting that Asia had recovered from its economic woes more quickly than anticipated.

Australia’s export opportunities in goods, as well as services such as education, engineering, accounting, management and perhaps law were also outstanding, he said.

Dr Haly has held a number of directorships, including Suncorp-Metway,

QUT honours Frank Haly

Frank Haly AO ... awarded an honorary doctorate.

Bundaberg Sugar, and the North Queensland Newspaper Company. He was Chairman of Suncorp-Metway in 1995-96.

Dr Haly has also made an important contribution to QUT and was appointed a member of the QUT Council in 1998.

A former Senator for Queensland told a graduation ceremony that most governments, regardless of political ideology, preferred citizens to be complacent.

Retiring from politics only a few months ago, and now an Adjunct Professor, Margaret Reynolds was addressing the graduation ceremony for the Faculties of Arts, Education and Health on September 21. At the ceremony, Dr Reynolds received an honorary doctorate for distinguished service.

A Senator with nearly 16 years experience in the Upper House, Dr Reynolds said citizenship demanded more than the routine trip to cast a vote at local, state and national elections.

“Those who question and advocate alternatives are usually dismissed as stirrers or idealists who do not really understand the complexity of public administration,” Dr Reynolds said.

– Noel Gentner

Ex-Senator warns against complacency

A team of visual arts students have created sculptures of plexiglass and metal to hang master plans of Carseldine from the ceiling.

The sculptures were hung at eye-level with special lights and translucent signs to dramatically display the Carseldine Design Competition Exhibition plans.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Northern Corridor Development) Professor Adam Shoemaker said the sculpture solution had been led by second-year visual arts student May Tse and was a “model example” of cross-faculty collaboration.

Clear vision emerges at Carseldine display

Architecture student Cristina Chang collaborated on the Carseldine Design Competition Exhibition.

“This exhibition is the first of many to be conceived, produced and curated by QUT students which we plan to host at the Carseldine campus,” Professor Shoemaker said.

“When the new Carseldine Cybercafe is open, the venue will become a permanent gallery site for multimedia and electronic art.”

The Carseldine master plans were produced by QUT architecture undergraduates, and remained on show until September 22.

– Andrea Hammond

I refer to the article published in Inside QUT on August 17, about Vietnamese women’s access to doctors.

I disagree with the researcher’s comments that Vietnamese women are slow to seek help from doctors because of language difficulties, lack of transport and knowledge about the health system.

The article mentions help from

“Australian” medical professionals.

Vietnamese GPs are Australians as well, and the number of Vietnamese GPs has increased dramatically since the Vietnamese refugee influx.

The article mentions difficulties in accessing GPs, but these difficulties can easily be overcome.

There is no language barrier when seeing a Vietnamese doctor, and the local Vietnamese doctor is only a few minutes walk from where the Vietnamese community resides.

These doctors are professionally

Letter to the editor:

Vietnamese doctors are able to attend to community needs

trained to provide information concerning the health system, even to the most aged Vietnamese woman who cannot speak a word of English.

Family support is strong in every Vietnamese family as far as helping with transport; therefore, transportation cannot be a barrier to health services.

Translation/interpreting services can also aid aged Vietnamese women in the case of a shortage of Vietnamese female health professionals. I often act as a translator for my parents in the case of consulting a non- Vietnamese GP.

I’m amazed about the findings, considering the enormous help Vietnamese GPs have provided my family in the past few years.

Both my parents have fared well since consulting the family Vietnamese GP.

Tuyet-Trinh Do.

School of Physical Sciences, QUT

Associate Professor in the School of Public Health, Donald Stewart, who supervised the Master of Public Health study by student Bien Nam Do, replies:

Dr Bien Nam Do undertook a survey and reported the findings in terms of a representative population.

The problems faced by Vietnamese women in this area of Brisbane were identified by the sample and not by the researcher.

A tertiary-educated individual’s experience is unlikely to reflect that of the aggregated experience from the 212 sample (many of whom were aged and not English speaking).

“ A population survey is unlikely to mirror the experiences of every individual exactly, so while it is good to hear that for one person, at least, the problems are not so acute, for the population as a whole there are still major challenges.”

Brisbane City Councillor David Hinchliffe returned to Kelvin Grove’s refurbished community building under happier circumstances last month when he officially opened the building. He recounted how, in the 1980s, at a Labor Party State Council meeting, he was pipped at the post for a Senate nomination by the now- notorious Mal Colston. “History would perhaps have been a lot different if my ticket had won,” he mused.

Linkline Communications

15x2

By Carmen Myler

T

he QUT Train closed its doors to the public on Friday, September 17 after sharing the worlds of science and technology with 21,505 people around the State.

The dozens of displays were dismantled, train vests folded up and and colourful carriage fitouts removed.

It was an exhausting but exciting and worthwhile exercise for staff who worked on the train as they challenged minds young and old in 24 centres, exploring everything from business principles to DNA sampling.

One of six train managers who worked with staff and student teams throughout the 10,000km journey, Tim Strickland, said his team enjoyed the

“excursion from normal QUT life”.

Mr Strickland, whose team visited Mount Isa, Richmond, Charters Towers and Cairns, said staff were encouraged by the positive feedback and support from communities.

“We all said we would do it again in a heart beat,” he said.

“I cannot stress enough how great it was to be part of a team that involved people from all walks of life at QUT and who had an absolute enthusiasm and commitment to the job.

“We had very, very positive responses from the community, especially from the teachers, those who billeted us and the general public who visited us.”

Mr Strickland said he would remember the excitement in children’s faces and their “thirst for knowledge”.

Fellow-train manager Gary Rasmussen, whose shift covered Cairns, Ingham, Ayr and Proserpine, agreed.

“The young children especially were excited and obviously had fun,” he said.

“Students would frequently bring their parents back after school to show them the train, with a wonderful sense of sharing the experience of new discovery.

“Teachers and parents often complimented us on the activity and asked when we would be back.

Journey ends for QUT Train

“It was amazing to see, in a small town like Ayr, for example, 860 people visit in one day,” Mr Rasmussen said.

Staff enthusiasm was infectious, as Team Five’s Queensland Rail Attendant Noel Finch discovered when he pitched in to help out on a busy day in Mount Isa, donning a QUT Train jacket and cap to help out with platform activities.

The Train project was funded by a community service grant from QUT’s 10/

150 Anniversary Fund. Further funding and in-kind sponsorship came from Queensland Rail, State Development, Ansett Australia, Flight West Airlines, Coretech, ABC Radio, WIN Television, Rhône-Poulenc and Comalco.

Other companies which gave everything from computers, to chemicals for a magic show, were Sullivan Nicolaides, Telstra, Hewlett Packard, Medical Monitoring Systems, Sciencentre, Olympus Australia, Hastings Dearing and Merck.

Denison State School students Kelly-Ann Hutchinson and Zoey Winks investigate hydraulics on the

QUT train during its stop at Emerald. Photo: John Sturgeon

Des Orr of Toowoomba was one of many local residents to visit the QUT Train’s health carriage. Photo: John Holford

Healthy future predicted for genetically modified foods

By Andrea Hammond

Second- and third-generation genetically modified foods will be the “environmentally- friendly” foods of the 21^st Century, QUT Head of the School of Life Sciences Dr James Dale has predicted.

The genetically modified (GM) food label will become a highly desirable emblem when consumers understand the benefits better, Professor Dale said.

“These GM foods will have been sprayed with less – if any – pesticides, they will have been produced with less inorganic fertilizer and they will have been produced from less land,” Professor Dale said.

“The new genes and processes incorporated in these GM foods will, in most instances, have come from plants – that is, they will be natural genes and processes which humans and animals have been consuming in various forms for thousands of years.

“This practice of moving genes between plants to increase the quality and quantity of our food and fibre has been around for millennia through selection and plant breeding.

“Twenty years ago, avocados were only for the wealthy and then only for a few months of the year. Today, through new varieties and the control of root rot disease, high quality

avocados are available year round at a price well within the reach of most of us.

“Essentially, plant biotechnology simply provides a new set of tools to achieve the same or better outcomes more efficiently.

“While the multinationals may have been the first to market with early products, many of the traits going into the second and third generation GM products have already been or are being discovered and developed in Australia

with funds provided by farmers’ organisations and the State and Federal Governments.

“This is an investment in and for the future prosperity of Australian agriculture with major subsequent benefits for the entire community.

“Importantly, before these new GM products are released for commercial production, they will have passed stringent regulatory requirements designed to ensure the safety of all foods, not just GM foods.”

Professor Dale said there had been little discussion recently about the enormous future benefits of the technology underlying GM foods and plant biotechnology.

“With virtually all new technologies, the early products are usually less than user friendly with few obvious broad public benefits.

“I can still remember trying to get a ‘picture’

on a nine-inch black and white TV screen with a ‘rabbit’s ears’ antenna – a far cry from digital colour TV on a 68cm screen of today.

And it applies to food as well,” he said.

“The early products we are seeing in Australia have herbicide resistance and insect resistance and are imported. A confounding factor is that they all appear to be owned by large multinationals.

“For the end consumer, it is hard to see a benefit and therefore any perceived risk takes on a greater importance – even if there is no evidence of real risk, as is the case here.”

James Dale ... genetically modified foods will become desirable.

The Faculty of Business will hold a half- day forum on globalisation and its implications for Queensland this month.

Experts across the university will examine Globalisation: Critical and Strategic Issues for Queensland on October 7.

They will look at “real world”

questions of interest to government, the private sector and academia, such as what exactly globalisation is and whether it is an unstoppable trend.

Experts focus on globalisation

Construction management goes online

Costly and time-consuming progress inspections of building sites by construction managers could be eliminated in the future, according to a QUT researcher in the School of Construction Management.

Researchers at QUT are involved in a project investigating the use and combination of new technologies which could prove advantageous to the construction industry in Australia.

Benefits from the project could include lower design and construction costs on major building projects and improved industry efficiency and competitiveness.

The Online Remote Construction Management project aims to develop, trial and evaluate communication systems which will allow collaborative designs and construction to be conducted by various members of a dispersed building project consortium.

Joint research project leader and lecturer in the School of Construction Management Dr Stephen Kajewski said the $250,000 project was being funded by a number of Queensland Government departments. Further support had been received from Hutchinson Builders, CSIRO and QUT’s Office of Research.

Page 6 INSIDE QUT October 5 – November 15, 1999

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QUT251QUT251

Globalisation: Critical and Strategic Issues for Queensland

A university for the real world

Queensland University of Technology GPO Box 2434 Brisbane QLD 4001 www: http://www.qut.edu.au/

1/2 day workshop on Thursday, 7 October

QUT’s Faculty of Business presents a free 1/2 day workshop held from 2pm to 6pm on Level 4, S Block, QUT Gardens Point (City) campus.

The Myths of Globalisation Keynote Speaker: Professor John Quiggin Senior Research Fellow, Australian Research Council

Internationalising Strategies for Businesses:

Alliances and Micro-multinational Start-ups Keynote Speaker: Associate Professor Lars Bengtsson Department of Business Administration, Lund University, Sweden Please RSVP to Renee Brewer on phone (07) 3864 2532, fax (07) 3864 1313 or e-mail: r.brewer@qut.edu.au

QUT251

By Amanda O’Chee

A

ustralia could lose the right to mine the lucrative waters off East Timor if the Indonesian Parliament finally acknowledges the East Timorese independence vote, according to international law expert at QUT Rodney Pails.

The Timor Gap Treaty with Indonesia allows Australia to benefit from enormous mineral resources found off the coast of East Timor, said Mr Pails.

But if East Timor breaks away from Indonesia, the Treaty could be challenged and declared void, placing Australia in an “awkward legal position”, he said.

“We have been exploiting petroleum resources which may not have been able to be given away by Indonesia in the first place,” Mr Pails said.

The Treaty is void if it frustrates a fundamental international right, and this arguably includes the right of the East Timorese to self-determination,

Timor crisis puts Gap Treaty in grave doubt

and to exploit their petroleum resources, he said.

“After the Indonesian invasion, Australia quickly recognised Indonesian title to East Timor, and the economic

incentive to do so was powerful,” Mr Pails said.

“The Australian Government has restated its belief as to the validity of the Treaty in later international documents, but its validity is susceptible to challenge.”

Legal questions would also arise over whether Australia or Indonesia will be required to compensate the E a s t T i m o r e s e f o r t h e b e n e f i t s gained thr oug h the T imor Gap Treaty, he said.

“By entering the Treaty in the 1980s Australia was effectively saying to the East Timorese that ‘you do not have the right to form your own country, and we don’t have to enter a treaty with you about this’,” Mr Pails said.

“But there is no way Australia could now argue that East Timor is part of Indonesia, and that the Treaty has been left unaffected by events.

“Obtaining compensation will, however, be a great challenge, given the weak state of international legal and political systems.”

Rodney Pails ... mineral resource treaty at risk.

Growing numbers of dual-career couples mean bosses will have to consult with employees’ spouses before arranging transfers, new research has warned.

C o m p a n i e s w i l l a l s o n e e d t o change their reluctance to employ couples if they are to recruit and retain the best staff, according to a five-year study conducted by PhD student Jennifer Pierce.

Dr Pierce said the increasing number of ‘dual-career couples’ – where both partners work to pursue a career rather than simply earn a wage – would force a revolution of company human resources policies.

Unless businesses provided more flexible working conditions and more understanding transfer policies, as

Career couples bring change

well as greater spouse and child-care support, they risked losing thousands o f d o l l a r s i n s t a f f t u r n o v e r , r e c r u i t m e n t a n d t r a i n i n g , a n d creating low staff morale and stress, Dr Pierce said.

“If organisations want to recruit and retain the best people they need to be responsive to the needs of dual-career couples – because these couples are increasing in number a n d o r g a n i s a t i o n s c a n ’ t a v o i d them,” she said.

Dr Pierce surveyed more than 600 people in the retail, legal, banking and public sector industries.

She said the emergence of dual- career couples would also force companies to reassess the traditional view that women’s jobs were of

secondary importance, particularly in relation to transfer policies.

“Companies can’t simply transfer people around the country or the world at their whim anymore. If they want to transfer people they have to plan for it and take into consideration the career aspirations of the spouse,”

Dr Pierce said.

She said the legal sector was the l e a s t u n d e r s t a n d i n g a n d l e a s t f l e x i b l e f o r c a r e e r w o m e n , s t i l l exhibiting a ‘visibility culture’, where employees were expected to be seen at the office for 10 to 12 hours a day, regardless of whether they had work to do.

The public sector was the most accommodating, she said.

– Amanda O’Chee

Local golf pro Chris Graham is using science to take the frustration out of learning how to putt.

For his honours degree in psychology at QUT, Mr Graham is conducting a study to determine the most effective way for amateur golfers to learn how to putt.

The AAA-rated coach, who is the resident professional at Wantima Country Club in Brendale, will determine whether it is better for novice golfers to learn to putt by practising under constant or changing conditions.

“We’re looking at how people learn to putt using different distances and different slope conditions,” Mr Graham said.

Putting science in golf

Chris Graham ... researching how golfers learn to putt.

“We are interested in whether you learn skills better if you practice the same thing over and over again or if you practice under different conditions.

“As a specialist golf coach, it is important to conduct a scientific study to determine the best ways for people to learn new skills, rather than relying solely on anecdotes or gut feelings.”

The research is being overseen by psychology senior lecturer Dr Doug Mahar at QUT’s Carseldine campus and Dr Charles Worringham, a senior lecturer in human movement studies.

Mr Graham is one of only 200 AAA- rated golf coaches in Australia.

Hinchliffe opens new C Block

Brisbane City Councillor David Hinchliffe opened the newly-refurbished community building at Kelvin Grove on September 14. Originally built in 1979,

the community building has undergone a

$4.5million redevelopment. It houses the refectory, QUT Student Guild and International Student Service.

Sunrise computr systerms 9,5 x 7

‘Women often still underpaid’

Museums are introducing more hands- on exhibits as they realise the value of enticing young children through their doors, according to a QUT researcher.

School of Early Childhood senior lecturer Dr Barbara Piscitelli said museums were attracting parents and grandparents keen to introduce under- eights to a new learning experience.

She headed a QUT team that conducted what is believed to be the world’s first research into the experience and value of young children visiting museums.

The findings were presented at the five- day International Society for Education through Art (InSEA) World Congress held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in September.

Dr Piscitelli’s research at four Queensland museums found that durable hands-on exhibitions, more community collaboration and increased visitor research were the keys to better exhibitions for small children.

“Young children can learn things through museums that they can’t learn in conventional schools or backyards.

They acquire ideas that they cannot get out of books and computers,” Dr Piscitelli said.

“Our research found that children respond in a very different way when they see real artefacts, objects and installations in museums – they are fully engaged, and discuss ideas and concepts that may not ordinarily come up in their everyday life.

“Museums are increasingly realising if they enculturate young children into their venues they are introducing them to our social, cultural and artistic heritage.”

– Andrea Hammond

Hands-on exhibits attract children

Renee Ohmsen, 4, prefers a hands-on approach at the Queensland Museum.

By Andrea Hammond

W

omen often had more

qualifications, worked harder and were paid less than their male counterparts, academics, administrators, government officers and students attending the recent Clare Burton Memorial Lecture were told last week.

Associate Professor Rosemary Hunter delivered the lecture, The Beauty Therapist, the Motor Mechanic, the Geoscientist and the Librarian: Addressing the undervaluation of women’s work, at QUT on September 29.

Professor Hunter said while women had won the right to equal pay as early as 1969, they still did not have it. In February of this year women earned only 66 cents in the male dollar.

“We have reached a paradoxical situation in Australia with regard to pay equity,” Professor Hunter said.

“The institution with the greatest potential to give effect to the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value – the Industrial Relations Commission – has proved quite resistant to actually prioritising pay equity among its concerns.

“We have seen that attempting to piggyback industrial agendas in the cause of pay equity, as in the award restructuring and minimum rates adjustment process, has not been a particularly successful strategy.

“When the industrial system has adopted pay equity principles, as in

1969, 1972 and now under the Workplace Relations Act, they have either been severely limited in scope, or not exploited to their full potential by the industrial parties.”

Clare Burton, who died suddenly in 1998, was a leading gender equity advocate who fought for change and headed the NSW Equal Opportunity Employment Office before she was sought out for the position of Commissioner for Public Sector Equity in Queensland in 1992.

The memorial lecture focused on the impact of the 1998 NSW Pay Equity Inquiry at which Clare Burton was an expert witness.

The scope and depth of the inquiry’s investigation of equal remuneration and equal value went far beyond any previous cases in Australia.

It undertook case studies of female- dominated occupations including librarianship, childcare, hairdressing, seafood processing and clothing outworkers.

The inquiry recommended introducing significant legislative amendments to the Industrial Relations Act to facilitate bringing about pay equity claims.

The Clare Burton Memorial Lecture series is an initiative of the Australian Technology Network universities’

Women’s Executive Development program in the five ATN universities (RMIT, UTS, QUT, University of South Australia and Curtin University).

Authentic Chinese dancers, opera singers and martial arts experts will transform QUT’s Gardens Point campus into a mini-Chinatown on Friday, October 8.

A Celebration of Chinese Culture is a free festival aimed at recognising and celebrating the contribution of the Chinese community to Queensland and QUT.

Activities will take place between 10am and 4pm on the Kidney Lawn.

Activities range from karaoke to mahjong, acupuncture, calligraphy, herbal medicine and food stalls.

Students and members of the public are also invited to enjoy demonstrations of tai chi, feng shui, kung fu, Chinese opera singing, Chinese dance, Chinese flute and harp music, and a Taoist ceremony.

Invitation to

‘Chinatown’

QUT researcher Leigh Davis plans to assess mothers of premature babies to ascertain how they are coping with early parenthood.

Mrs Davis (pictured left) hopes to measure their levels of adjustment, depression and family functioning, and assess degrees of social support available.

“Families play a crucial role in the long- term developmental outcomes of these pre-term infants,” Mrs Davis said.

“Social factors and care-giving processes have been shown to be as significant as medical variables as predictors of long-term outcomes for premature infants. Often pre-term birth is sudden, unanticipated and fraught with emotional uncertainty.”

Parents and family faced an enormous amount of initial stress and uncertainty

New mothers quizzed on coping skills

about the severity of an infant’s medical condition and its chances of survival.

“Knowing how families respond in a

‘high-stress’ situation may provide a guide towards how we as health professionals can better assess families while the infant is still in hospital,” she said,

Mrs Davis is a part-time midwife at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Brisbane.

The research is towards her PhD in nursing through QUT’s Centre for Nursing Research.

She plans to focus on “high risk” infants in neo-natal intensive care units who are born at less than 32 weeks gestation and weigh less than 1,750grams.

Mrs Davis plans to interview mothers and assess how they are adapting when their premature babies are four weeks old and then again at six months.

Page 8 INSIDE QUT October 5 – November 15, 1999 STUDENT GUILD

Oct 12-14 Oktoberfest. Oct 12, Noon at KG. Oct 14,1.30pm at CA. Oct 14, 11am at Kidney Lawn and Club, GP.

Oct 15 QUT Cup Soccer. Noon. KG Oval.

Oct 28 Sports Awards. 7pm. Brisbane City Hall.

FROM THE ACADEMY

Oct 1-9 A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A classic Shakespearean comedy. The Gardens Theatre, GP. Contact Karen Willey on k.willey@qut.edu.au or call 3864 3453.

Oct 18 Deeply Radical Concert. Multimedia experience. New compositions and unique music performed by QUT music students. 8pm. The Gardens Theatre, GP. Contact the Academy on 3864 5998 or email k.willey@qut.edu.au Oct 19 Deeply Classical Concert. Jazz and contemporary classics performed by

QUT Choir, Wind Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble. 8pm. The Gardens Theatre, GP. Contact the Academy on 3864 5998 or email k.willey@qut.edu.au Oct 21 Deeply Physical Party. Rock and electronica interactive dance experience.

8pm. The Gardens Theatre, GP. Contact the Academy on 3864 5998 or email k.willey@qut.edu.au

SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS, CONFERENCES

Oct 8 A Celebration of Chinese Culture. Celebration to recognise the Chinese culture and heritage in Queensland and at QUT. Karaoke, mahjong, dance, food and films. 10am-4pm. Kidney Lawn, GP. Call Julie Jansen on 3844 0378.

Oct 14-15 4th National Conference for Executive Secretaries & Personal Assistants. Strategies to optimise professional strengths and prepare for the workplace of the future. Hilton International Hotel, Brisbane. Costs $225-

$425. Call Brett Coates on 3864 2822.

Oct 25-27 Career Move: Valuing Skills, Planning Futures. Course for female general staff at HEWA3-5. 9.15am-4.15pm. Room K108, KG. Free. Contact Lilijana Simic on 3864 5601.

Check out What’s On at http://www.whatson.qut.edu.au/

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Inside QUT is published by QUT’s Corporate Communication Department. Readership includes staff, students and members of the QUT community.

It is also circulated to business, industry, government and the media. Each story has been checked with the source prior to publication.

Letters to the editor are welcome via mail or email c.ryanclur@qut.edu.au. 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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More than 1,000 runners and walkers took part in this year’s QUT Fun Run.

R

ecords tumbled at this year’s QUT Fun Run, held on Sunday, September 26.

A record 1,013 people took part in official 10/150 anniversary event compared with 632 last year, and about 300 in 1997.

Organised by the QUT Student Guild, the Fun Run is conducted as a 10km run or 5km walk and starts on the Gardens Point campus, continues through the City Botanic Gardens and West End and finishes back on campus. Fitness Centre Co- ordinator Sandra Larsen said this year’s event raised a record $2,000 for the Queensland Paralympic Team.

Record turnout for

anniversary Fun Run

Ms Larsen said competitors this year ranged in age from a two-year-old to competitors in their mid-70s.

Alastair Stevenson took out the Open Male category for the run in the record time of 30 minutes, 33 seconds.

The open female category also saw a course record returned by Linda Fox with a time of 35:26.

Other category winners were: Student division male:

Steve Manning 34:46; Student division female: Linda O’Connor 44:55; Over 40 male: Graeme Holland 35:52; Over 40 female: Chris Jones 43:29; Junior male: Cameron Gough 42:57; and Junior female:

Novella Morsini 59:07.

The 1999 Seniors Games were such a success that organisers are planning to expand them next year.

H e l d a t t h e K e l v i n G r o v e ca m p u s o n September 24, the games attracted more than 500 participants drawn from respite centres from Beenleigh to Coolum.

Students from the School of Nursing and the School of Human Movement Studies helped at the games which were officially opened by the Queensland Governor, Major-General Peter Arnison.

QUT games committee representative Rob Thornton said next year’s games could run for two days. Mr Thornton said this year the Games had been a modified sporting event for the frail aged, but next year there

Senior Games might expand

could be two levels of competition to accommodate more active seniors.

Mr Thornton said a highlight of the games for many participants was the personal contact with the State Governor who met many of the participants and guests.

He said the Games, now in their fifth year, had received national and international recognition.

“The concept of an aged care community event in partnership with a university has been adopted by a Japanese nursing school in Osaka,” Mr Thornton said.

The event was sponsored by Home and Community Care (HACC), St Vincent’s Community Centre Windsor, Brisbane City Council and QUT.

Jack Birrer, 71, from the Windsor Respite Centre tries his hand at quoits at the 1999 games.

Campus Apartments