Thumbs up for eye clinic examinations
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http://www.corpcomm.qut.edu.au/insidequt/index.html 2 George Street Brisbane 4000 Telephone (07) 3864 2111 Registered by Australia Post – Publication No. QBF 4778
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Lange, Jones slam mediocrity of leadership
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Queensland University of Technology Newspaper • Issue ... • Month, 1999 Queensland University of Technology Newspaper • Issue 213 • April 24-May 14, 2001
Doco delves into uncharted waters
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by Noel Gentner
The problem of attracting female students to a career in the information technology industry is being tackled with some success at QUT thanks to a suite of initiatives.
Lecturer in QUT’s School of Computing Science and Software Engineering Ruth Christie said the challenge of attracting and retaining women was not only being experienced in Australia.
“It’s a worldwide problem as female numbers in IT and computer science have been diminishing since the mid- 1980s,” she said. “However, QUT has taken a number of initiatives and this year is implementing new strategies.”
Ms Christie said that, in industry, women tended to move into human resources, web development, artistic design and multimedia areas while avoiding the “hard-core computer science/software engineering/data communication areas, which are basically perceived as programming”.
She said some media organisations had created an erroneous stereotype of the IT professional –a colourless person who sat hunched up in front of a computer monitor all day, eating junk food and not communicating with others.
“We are trying to change that image,” Ms Christie said. “Besides special email lists for female staff and students as well as bursaries for female students, we have introduced strong
‘role models’ where students acting as female ambassadors visit schools for direct contact with school students.
“This year we have just introduced a program offering scholarships to female students which are separate to the bursaries.”
Women carve out stronger role in IT
Ms Christie said the scholarship program was a joint venture between QUT and the Queensland branch of Software Engineering Australia.
She said five scholarships were offered this year to female school-leavers who entered information technology courses at QUT.
“A pilot scheme will also be implemented later this year where Year 10 girls will be targeted,” Ms Christie said. “About 10 schools will be selected,
of which three girls from each school and their teacher will attend a three-day workshop on different aspects of IT covered at QUT.”
Nurturing more women in information technology ... first-year IT student Dianna Tsuji works on one of her faculty’s computer servers.
QUT students will soon be able to shop online for their textbooks a n d r e s o u r c e s w h e n t h e university’s bookshop launches an e-commerce “shopfront”.
The move will be a pilot for the university’s whole e-business strategy which, if successful, will eventually see other student services go online.
Bookshop manager Ana Gabiola said the new system would be integrated with QUTVirtual so students could click beside existing online booklists to generate an order.
“The system we have now on QUT Virtual for booklists is second to none,
Online bookshop sets pace for QUT’s e-business
so this will be a matter of using an effective arrangement as the basis for the new service,” Ms Gabiola said.
Ms Gabiola said she hoped online ordering would start by July, with a second stage incorporating full, secure encryption for online payments ready by December.
“Once students have placed their order on QUT Virtual, we will mail or courier the books out to them, so they don’t have to come onto campus if they don’t need to,” she said.
“We do this under our existing fax and phone order system, so it is really just taking that service one step further.”
S t u d e n t G u i l d e d u c a t i o n director Matthew Harrison said he s u p p o r t e d t h e b o o k s h o p ’ s e-commerce move because of the i n c r e a s e d a c c e s s t o s e r v i c e s i t would potentially offer students.
“More and more companies are offering their services online, and I definitely think QUT needs to move that way ... to offer that level of service,” Mr Harrison said.
“People who are geographically isolated or have trouble coming to campus will be able to access services and pay online, and I think that’s a good thing.”
Mr Harrison said the Student Guild would also be moving to offer more online facilities for students in the near future, with accommodation and employment services and online secondhand book sales already being planned.
The QUT Bookshop recently launched a revamped website which will update students and staff as changes happen, and provide information about sales and promotions, opening times and staff contacts. See http://www.qut.edu.au/
bookshop for more details.
– Margaret Lawson
‘Extreme’ van to visit schools
Schools in South-East Queensland will have access to a travelling exhibition of interactive displays and experiments when the Faculty of Science launches its “Extreme Science Van” on May 2.
Dean of Science Professor Graeme George said the van would show Year 5 to 10 students “the wonder of science and the excitement of discovery”, while becoming a valuable resource to teachers implementing the new science curriculum.
“Science touches our lives every day and through hands-on experiments in biotechnology, microbiology, physics, mathematics and chemistry we will rouse their curiosity.”
Continued Page 2
QUT Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake and Tongji University Vice-President Professor Yang Dongyuan sign the latest agreement while deputy director of international exchange and co-operation office Associate Professor Zhang Wenjie and the assistant to the Tongji University President, Professor Wu Jiang, watch on.
From the Vice-Chancellor
From the Inside by David Hawke
... ‘Extreme’ van to visit schools
MOUs enhance international ties
Closer ties have been forged between QUT and a Chinese university following an official visit to Brisbane earlier this month.
The delegation from Tongji University was welcomed by QUT’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Dennis Gibson and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake.
Their visit – co-ordinated by QUT’s International Relations Unit – included discussions on the progress of QUT/Tongji University collaboration, and investigations on further areas of mutual co-operation.
In 1999, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed A team of QUT researchers will help to improve the quality of public health education and training in Vietnam under a new agreement announced this month.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) between QUT and the Hanoi School of Public Health will see the two institutions collaborate to initially boost health information systems development and road accident prevention in the region.
Project leader Dr Michael Dunne said the agreement could have major benefits for public health programs in Vietnam, which were focusing on overcoming the high rates of accidents and chronic disease in the country.
Team strengthens Vietnam link
“It will provide us with the interesting challenge of further developing curricula that can help address these urgent health problems,” Dr Dunne said.
“The expertise of our group, which includes staff from CARSS-Q in the School of Psychology and Counselling, will be a valuable resource for addressing these issues.”
Dr Dunne, along with Faculty of Health dean Professor Ken Bowman, Queensland Premier Peter Beattie and other dignitaries were in Hanoi late last month for the signing of the landmark MOU, which is the first between the faculty and a Vietnamese institution.
Professor Bowman said the MOU followed several years of the faculty’s activity in Vietnam and would also see staff exchanges, study tours, collaborative research projects and the development of knowledge transfer between the two institutions.
“This will be a capacity-building exercise for Vietnam in their country’s development of public health education and systems,” Professor Bowman said.
“It will also increase our ability to develop staff by encouraging t h e m t o b e i n v o l v e d i n t h e s e innovative programs.”
– Margaret Lawson
between the two universities to encourage co-operation in a number of areas of mutual academic interest.
This month’s official signing extended the MOU agreement in specific areas, including a joint masters course (in international project management), which will be a QUT offshore course offered in Shanghai in China.
QUT and Tongji University staff will share teaching in the course and the course will enable its participants, upon successful completion of their programs, to receive QUT academic awards.
Meanwhile, students in the Brisbane Graduate School of Business (BGSB) will benefit from the increased international
exposure from a new exchange MOU with India’s top business school.
BGSB head Professor Evan Douglas said the agreement with the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) would allow students and staff from both institutions to swap schools for a semester, boosting the expertise and study options in the school.
“We have had more than 130 people from India graduate from our program in the past three years, and we see the importance of joining forces with one of Asia’s leading business schools to give our students more flexibility in their study choices,” Professor Douglas said.
– Noel Gentner & Margaret Lawson
From Page 1
“In many ways, this will build on our experience with the QUT Science Train in 1997 and the Science and Technology Train in 1999,” Professor George said.
He said the van’s first theme would be “Microscopy – The Playground Uncovered”, aimed at students in Years 5 to 7.
“This display will encourage children to explore the wonders that can be found just outside the classroom,” he said. “We have had a trial with some school groups and we found the response was overwhelming.”
Universities have traditionally provided a supportive environment for enterprising researchers to be able to cultivate new ideas.
One of the biggest obstacles faced by these researchers, however, can be that of knowing what steps to take to bring these ideas to fruition, whether this means starting a new business, or finding a market for a new product.
This week sees the launch of QUT Entrepreneur, an exciting new initiative at QUT, which is a practical attempt to address this obstacle.
QUT Entrepreneur aims to help its members to prepare for success i n b u s i n e s s b y p r o v i d i n g t h e i n f o r m a t i o n n e e d e d t o s t a r t o r expand their own business ventures, or to find the right networks to make the most of their research.
This information will be provided through a website – http://
www.entrepreneur.qut.com – seminars, regular workshops and newsletters.
Membership is open to all QUT students, staff, alumni and interested members of the business community who are keen to contribute their skills as well as to benefit from the service.
A small group of enterprising students has developed this initiative with the hope that others who join their venture will gradually strengthen the knowledge base that will then be available to help others.
I have been delighted with the response of the QUT community to initial promotion of the service, and have no doubt that QUT Entrepreneur will become a vital and active part of life at QUT.
Professor Dennis Gibson
Taking good ideas one step further
Dairy deregulation has given consumers an extra two cents a day at the expense of the milk industry’s viability, a leading academic told a crisis summit at the end of last week.
Marketing and international business lecturer Dr Mark McGovern addressed the Australian Milk Producers’
Association “Dairy industry crisis summit” on Friday, April 20, about the economic impacts of deregulation.
Dr McGovern told milk producers, suppliers, politicians and industry representatives that the $150 million in consumer gains an ACCC report found deregulation had provided was only
enough to put the price of milk back to 1999 levels.
“It seems fair to ask, when we consider all the costs, why we bothered with dairy deregulation in the first place,” Dr McGovern said.
“I have to ask how the dairy industry is supposed to achieve profitability under deregulation when there was scant profitability in dairying before deregulation.”
Dr McGovern discussed the choices available to bring the industry back to profitability and suggested some solutions.
– Margaret Lawson
Summit tackles dairy crisis
He said each science theme would operate for three months and schools would be able to book day visits from the van.
“In a whole day, we can offer up to six sessions of 45 minutes each, for 30 students at a time,” Professor George said.
The van – which is funded by a Vice-Chancellor’s special initiative grant and industry sponsorships – will be launched by Professor Gibson at Old Government House at 10am on May 2.
– Annette Fraser& Margaret Lawson
by Toni Chambers
The first year of QUT’s Bar Mentoring Scheme has been hailed as a success by both participating barristers and Faculty of Law students.
First established with the help of now Supreme Court Justice Anthe Philippides, the program is designed to give third- and fourth-year law students access to valuable legal contacts.
As part of the program, 23-year-old Fiona Pace spent almost 12 months working with barrister Dan O’Gorman, conducting research and attending court hearings.
But, after just two weeks, she found herself sitting at the Bar table alongside Mr O’Gorman in an anti-discrimination case.
Mr O’Gorman was acting for a wheelchair-using Year 12 school student who believed she had been discriminated against by her school.
Ms Pace was doing work experience with Dearden Lawyers at the time (she is now employed by the firm as an articled clerk) and the firm was also involved in the case.
She was responsible for the exhibits presented during the case and researched much of the background material.
Ms Pace said the court experience was the most valuable part of the program because of her interest in anti- discrimination law.
“It was also valuable to be part of the case from start to finish, to watch how a matter is prepared by a solicitor and barrister,” she said.
“However, I found the program as a whole extremely useful because I realised that university teaches you a great deal of academic material, but you also need practical experience.
Scheme opens doors to legal careers
Campus space shortages need capital injection, says V-C
“It helped me get an all-round perspective on the legal profession and how it works.”
Mr O’Gorman said the experience was beneficial for both parties – Ms Pace was a genuine help to him, while the experience allowed her to see the different roles solicitors and barristers play and how they interact.
It also provided Ms Pace with a valuable referee.
“A couple of potential employers called me to ask me about Fiona’s work.
This is particularly valuable for students without contacts in the law,” he said.
“It’s useful from an employer’s point of view to be able to contact people
outside the university system about a potential staff member to make sure the transition from university to practice is one a student can make.”
The chair of QUT’s Faculty of Law E q u i t y C o m m i t t e e , T e r r y Hutchinson, said it was important that female law students and those
w i t h in d i g e n o u s a n d r u r a l b a c k g r o u n d s w e r e p a r t i c u l a r l y e n c o u r a g e d t o t a k e p a r t i n t h e p r o g r a m d u e t o t h e i r u n d e r - representation at the Bar.
“This program aims to open doors for people who wouldn’t normally have that opportunity.”
QUT has a pressing need to invest in more, specialist building accommodation for its expanding teaching and research activities as well as student and community services, according to Vice-Chancellor Professor Dennis Gibson.
Professor Gibson said the university would continue to grow, despite Government cutbacks, and the trend toward flexible course delivery would not reduce demand for space.
He said QUT utilised its space efficiently, with day, night and in some cases weekend classes, efficient timetabling, a popular summer program and, increasingly, electronic delivery of materials.
However, Professor Gibson said, over the past decade, bricks and
mortar on the campuses had not kept up with QUT’s growth and changing profile.
“We have experienced significant enrolment growth and sub-degree programs have given way to a stronger postgraduate emphasis,” Professor Gibson said.
“We have added a research dimension with serious government and industry backing for our CRCs and SPIRTs.
“Also, our community service contribution has escalated – with the help of the renewed Gardens Theatre and the new QUT Art Museum.”
Professor Gibson said QUT’s useable floor area per equivalent full-time student had declined from 8 to 7sq meters in recent years.
This compared with an average of over 10sq meters for Australian universities and around 12sq meters for “comprehensive” universities internationally.
Just as important as the amount of space, Professor Gibson said, was the suitability of the area for its purpose and master plans had been prepared to guide the development of each campus.
“At Kelvin Grove, the Creative I n d u s t r i e s p r e c i n c t , w h i c h i s a t t r a c t i n g s t r o n g i n t e r e s t a n d funding from Government, will provide the purpose-built space to support QUT’s leadership in the e m e r g i n g c o m m u n i c a t i o n a n d multimedia disciplines to support
the information economy,” Professor Gibson said.
State Cabinet is expected to approve the urban village/creative industries master plan in the near future.
“At Gardens Point, (the Faculty of) Information Technology has o u t g r o w n i t s S B l o c k h o m e ; o u t m o d e d l a b o r a t o r i e s a r e unsuitable for teaching modern e n g i n e e r i n g ; e x p a n d i n g h i g h - t e c h n o l o g y r e s e a r c h r e q u i r e s specialist infrastructure; and the Community Building facilities are outmoded and inadequate to cater f o r t h e s t u d e n t p o p u l a t i o n , ” Professor Gibson said.
The Y, P, L Block area has been targeted for long-term redevelopment
to cater for these needs. Professor Gibson said a design competition had been initiated for broad concept planning of this project.
“At Carseldine, a new, state-of-the- art teaching building will be complemented with landscaping to make the campus more people-friendly,”
he said.
Professor Gibson said the campus d e v e l o p m e n t p l a n s w o u l d t a k e several years to fully implement and this timeframe was dependent on financial resources.
“The important thing to keep in mind is that we do have a big picture for necessary – and, in many ways, exciting – campus developments,”
he said.
A sign of success ... Fiona Pace goes through some case notes with her mentor – and now employer – Dan O’Gorman of Dearden Lawyers.
QUT has awarded an honorary doctorate to leading writer and online communication expert Dr Dale Spender.
Dr Spender, who received her honorary doctorate at a Faculty of Education graduation ceremony earlier this month, has worked extensively in the area of online learning delivery.
D e p u t y V i c e - C h a n c e l l o r Professor Peter Coaldrake told graduates that Dr Spender had made a n i m p o r t a n t c o n t r i b u t i o n t o scholarship and to the community.
“For many years, both as a writer and a teacher, Dr Spender has shared her extensive knowledge on equity, language, multimedia and c o m m u n i c a t i o n , ” P r o f e s s o r Coaldrake said.
“She has an international reputation a s a c h a n g e a g e n t , a c o n s u l t a n t i n
p r o f e s s i o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t a n d i n knowledge worker management.”
QUT honours leading writer and change agent
Dr Spender co-founded the Routledge International Encyclopedia on Women which goes online later this year.
She has given advice to governments, universities and schools in Australia and in many other countries on a range of development projects.
Dr Spender has written or edited more than 30 books, has made a variety of television programs and delivered more than 400 international keynote addresses based on her research.
She also had a lifelong commitment to enhancing life and learning opportunities of young women and was active on behalf of homeless women, Professor Coaldrake said.
– Colleen Clur Honours ... Dr Dale Spender recognised for her
extensive contribution as writer and teacher.
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by Barb Ewers
A collection of books about the ANZAC tradition and Australians at war – collected since 1916 by the ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee – is about to be donated to the QUT Library.
The honorary secretary of the ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee of Queensland, Arthur Burke, said his committee had been collecting books and official war histories for its members doing research for ANZAC Day events and publications.
“Recently, we realised how significant the collection was, not only to Australia’s military history but also to our national identity, so we wanted to make it available to the community,” Mr Burke said.
The collection covers material on Australia’s military history from World War I up to the Vietnam war and includes official histories as well as personal stories from soldiers, histories of battalions and histories of specific campaigns.
It also includes photo histories of the experiences of women in the armed forces and, at home, the work of Australian doctors and nurses, as well as war poetry.
S o m e o f t h e a u t h o r s a n d contributors will be well known to A u s t r a l i a n s , s u c h a s W W I w a r
Australians at war collection now available to all
c o r r e s p o n d e n t C . E . W . B e a n , Viscount Montgomery, Neville Shute, Sir Harry Chauvel and Patsy Adam-Smith.
“While the official histories are very important for the nation, it is the personal histories – such as Changi Photographer or the story of an
airman’s capture and escape in Turkey – which fuel our national pride and identity,” Mr Burke added. “The committee feels that no generation of
Australians should grow up without knowing the ANZAC story and the contribution of all service personnel.”
In accepting the collection, QUT Library director Gaynor Austen said the university was happy to make the collection available to the community, adding that members of the public have always been welcome to use any of the material in the university’s various libraries.
“Because QUT Library adds its local holdings to the national database, the collection will not only be accessible to the local Brisbane community of researchers and historians, but also nationally and internationally,” Ms Austen added.
“ R e s e a r c h e r s f r o m o t h e r libraries can search the database to locate and make use of this special collection.”
The collection will be housed at the Carseldine branch of QUT Library and a selection of the collection will be on display at the library until the end of April.
Ms Austen said that the timing o f t h e c o m m i t t e e ’ s g i f t w a s e n t i r e l y a p p r o p r i a t e w i t h tomorrow – Wednesday, April 25 – being ANZAC Day, a national public holiday.
* Barb Ewers is QUT’s Community Services Librarian
ADCC’s Arthur Burke examines some of the precious historical collection with QUT student Shane Perris.
Political heavyweights take a swing at current leadership
Prospective students are getting the message that accountancy is neither a limited nor boring career choice, according to the head of the QUT’s School of Accountancy.
Professor Peter Little said accountancy was not just about debits and credits and balancing the books, but offered a wide range of business opportunities and services.
He said the year had begun on a good note for the school.
“Demand for accountants is at an all- time high following a combination of factors including a strong economy over the past five years, the GST implementation and the flow-on from the Ralph tax reforms,” Professor Little said.
“We’ve also been working hard with our public campaign to inform potential students of the opportunities an accounting education offers, particularly if combined with fields such as law, IT, science, banking and finance.
Have accountancy, will travel
“We have sold the message that combined degrees represent the avenue to where the higher quality and highly paid work is emerging.”
Professor Little said a wide range of attractive options were available, such as working in merchant banking, in law firms or in major or mid-tier accounting firms
“Firms cannot get enough graduates at present,” Professor Little said.
“An example is in Brisbane where good-sized firms have been only able to attract half the graduates they are looking for, although they are offering attractive working conditions, workplace cultures and support for ongoing study.
“I think most employers looking for people with a double degree can’t get enough of them.
“Employers today are having to work much harder to attract the right sorts of students and certainly to retain them.”
Two former government and business leaders gave some scathing insights into Australia’s political situation when they met at the QUT Business Leaders’
Forum on March 29.
Former New Zealand Prime Minister David Lange and the Australian Labor Party’s immediate past president Dr Barry Jones took the opportunity to fire broadsides at the country’s political leadership as they tried to describe
“what makes a great leader”.
At a news conference after the l u n c h e o n , M r L a n g e – w h o introduced New Zealand’s GST in 1986 – criticised the complexity of the Australian Government’s goods and services tax policy and suggested it was responsible for the “kick in t h e c r o t c h ” t h e L i b e r a l Pa r t y suffered in the Ryan by-election.
He said he did not believe the A u s t r a l i a n G o v e r n m e n t w o u l d survive the antipathy caused by the GST.
“They’ve made it too complicated with so many exemptions and ‘hot chickens versus cold chickens’ that they
are always making someone unhappy,”
Mr Lange said.
“You can never win the public over on a tax.”
Dr Jones also took a swing at A u s t r a l i a ’ s p o l i t i c a l l e a d e r s , d e s c r i b i n g t h e n a t i o n ’ s p r i m e ministers to date as “mediocre”.
“ I f y o u l o o k t h r o u g h t h e r e c o r d o f A u s t r a l i a ’ s pr i m e mi n i s t e r s s i n c e t h e p e r i o d o f Federation, I think it’s fair to say t h a t t h e b u l k o f t h e pr i m e mi n i s t e r s … h a v e b e e n f a i r l y m e d i o c r e , ” D r J o n e s s a i d .
“They’ve often, perhaps, lived in mediocre times.”
The next QUT Business Leaders’
Forum will be on May 15, featuring retired Qantas boss and recently appointed chairman of Woolworths, James Strong.
He is credited with engineering the transformation of Australian Airlines, its amalgamation with QANTAS and the successful public float of the business.
– Margaret Lawson
The Australian Labor Party’s immediate past president Dr Barry Jones, moderator Kerry O’Brien and former New Zealand Prime Minister David Lange engage in a lively debate at the first Business Leaders’ Forum of the year.
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by Toni Chambers
When QUT masters student Cathy Henkel agreed to film her friend’s childbirth, it was without hesitation.
Sshe could never have predicted the project was going to lead to the production of a ground-breaking documentary and one of the most challenging journeys of her life.
“Vanessa Gorman, who’s been an ABC director, was very familiar with the concept of telling people’s personal stories,” Ms Henkel said.
“She decided to do a portrait of herself going through the struggle of w a n t i n g a b a b y a n d h a v i n g a reluctant partner and looking at the impact the baby was going to have on their lives.
“When she asked me to come in to film the birth of the baby, I was really thinking that I was going in for a one- or two-day filming sequence.”
No-one could have predicted what would happen – the baby girl, named Layla, died shortly after birth when her lungs burst after inhaling meconium in the womb.
And, as part of the grieving process, her parents kept her for five days before cremation, all of which was filmed and made into a documentary, Losing Layla.
“It was then that I became involved in something I never anticipated,” Ms Henkel said.
She became the producer of the ABC/FFC accord documentary which was completed nine months to the day after Layla’s death.
Also unanticipated was the overwhelming response from the public after Losing Layla went to air on the ABC.
A special website set up for the film became overloaded on the night of the broadcast.
More than 2,500 people made comments to the online forum and in the week of the broadcast, there were more than half a million hits.
But this, says Ms Henkel, was just the beginning.
Since then, people have hand-written long letters, sent emails and telephoned.
“I was just weeping while reading people’s responses – they were of extreme gratitude, that the film had really affected them and helped them either in their own experience of loss or just in appreciating their children,” Ms Henkel said.
“The film was a bit of a breakthrough in dealing with a topic
Powerful documentary tackles uncharted emotional territory
that has been closeted and difficult for people to talk about.
“And it is a topic that certainly h a s n ’ t b e e n f i l m e d b e c a u s e i t ’ s obviously an area where people want to close the doors and keep the media out.”
Ms Henkel hopes the film sparks a more open discussion about grieving, especially when parents lose a baby.
“I would like death to have more discussion in our society, for people not to be as afraid of it and this film does create that opportunity,”
she said.
Ms Henkel said it had also opened up the issue of what the limits of digital technology should be and to what extent the media should meet the public’s desire for more personal stories.
“I don’t think we can stop it, now that digital cameras are in the hands of just about anybody.
“You’re inevitably going to see more airing of issues that have been taboo,”
she said.
“People are responding to, and looking for, the personal – and digital cameras make that very possible and, as long as it’s done with honesty, it’s a very useful contribution.”
L o s i n g L a y l a h a s r e c e i v e d international interest and has already been picked up by an international distributor in Montreal that plans to launch the film at the Banff Television Festival in Canada in June and then later at the International D o c u m e n t a r y F e s t i v a l i n Amsterdam, Holland.
QUT Master of Arts research student Cathy Henkel reflects on her own journey when making the critically acclaimed ABC production
‘Losing Layla’ ... “I became involved in something I never anticipated.”
by Margaret Lawson
When QUT School of Life Sciences lecturer Neil Richardson, pictured above, ties up his students with string and covers them with sticky tape, it’s all in the name of education.
The anatomy lecturer – and winner of the QUT Student Guild Best Lecturer award for 2000 – said a sense of humour was important in the classroom and, when it helped to illustrate a point, all the better.
Hence the tying up.
Dr Richardson explained that his unorthodox teaching methods helped to break the ice with his first-year anatomy and physiology students, while at the same time demonstrating the link between connective tissue (the students), tissue fibres (the string) and ground substance (the tape).
“It looks a bit silly, but it gets a laugh,”
he said. “And it’s amazing how many students admit later that they actually understood the key points I was trying to get across.”
The trussed-up students obviously don’t mind too much, with more of them nominating a surprised Dr Richardson for the Student Guild’s teaching award than any other lecturer at QUT.
“At first I thought it was another lecturer having a bit of a laugh,” he recalled of the telephone call that told him he had won.
“But, when it sank in, I felt really gratified and thought it was amazing that the students thought it a positive enough experience being in the room with me to do that.”
But Dr Richardson – who was a research fellow in the Centre for
Teacher who ties up his students wins top award
Molecular Biotechnology and only began lecturing 18 months ago – said he didn’t want to take all the credit for his honour.
“The other academics who have mentored me deserve recognition, as does my school for fostering an environment that encourages good teaching ... and the tutors and technical support staff who make it all happen,” Dr Richardson said.
Three QUT lecturers – one from each campus, including Dr Richardson – received “best lecturer” awards this month.
Jeremy Davey – a School of Psychology and Counselling lecturer who said that “holding the students’
interest” was key to good lecturing – won the award for Carseldine.
Dr Jo Carr, a language teacher from the Faculty of Education – who agrees that a teacher’s “worst sin is to be boring”
– won the award at Kelvin Grove.
“To be interesting, we have to be interested ourselves,” Dr Carr said.
“To me, it’s really crucial that I’m talking with students about things that I’m still having new thoughts about myself, so we’re doing this together … rather than me delivering knowledge.”
Student Guild education representative Matthew Harrison said the annual “Best Lecturer” awards gave students a chance to acknowledge teachers who have helped or inspired them “through innovative practices or just being helpful and approachable”.
“I think there are a lot of lecturers at QUT who are deserving of awards, but we only see those names come across our desk if students actually go out of their way to pick up a form from the guild office and nominate their best lecturer,” Mr Harrison said.
Nominations for the 2001 awards open in second semester.
Dr Jo Carr from Kelvin Grove Jeremy Davey from Carseldine
The QUT Art Museum is displaying the work of four Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) graduates who have been judged as producing the most outstanding work for 2000.
Work from third-year students Gareth Donnelly, Chris Handren, Bianca Kindt and Natalya Hughes will be on display until May 6.
Gareth Donnelly’s work consists of photographs and paintings – entitled Floor and Boxes – won the Robert and Kay Bryan/Jack Manton Art Prize, awarded every year to a third- year student who produces the most outstanding work.
Mr Donnelly said the cash prize would allow him to travel overseas – to London, New York and Germany – to get a taste for international art which, to date, he had only been able to see in books.
“The range of experiences you can have in the Australian art scene is fairly limited,” he said. “It’s not until you go overseas that you witness really high-quality work and I’ve heard from colleagues that the experience really influences your own work.”
Mr Donnelly’s photographic work has been published in the prestigious Australian magazine Photofile.
Best graduates on show at QUT Art Museum
Best lecturer at QUT’s Gardens Point campus for 2000, innovative anatomy lecturer Neil Richardson ... ‘others deserve recognition’.
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Up to 90 tables of everything new and used to do with computers.
Very competitive prices with up to 25 vendors.
One on every Sunday from 10am to 1pm.
Phone 3265 2594 or visit www.sundaycomputermarket.com.au
for details.
Coast hosts long weekend of sport
For the first time, a “cluster event”, the Gold Coast Challenge, will be held as a joint initiative of AUS North, the QUT Student Guild and Griffith University Gold Coast Student Guild.
Incorporating the Northern University Championships for beach volleyball, surfing, swimming and triathlon, events will be held across the Queensland Labour Day long weekend of May 5 to 7.
For further details, call QUT Student Guild sport office on 3864 3708.
Sports elite rewarded
Following record nominations, the QUT Student Guild has awarded 14 students with sporting scholarships to help them complete their university education while still competing in their chosen sport.
Four “full” scholarships worth $1,200 each and 10 “half” scholarships of $600 were presented at a special ceremony on April 3.
Full scholarships went to: Olympic gymnast Damian Istria (Business), Olympic volleyballer Joshua Slack (Built Environment and Engineering/
Information Technology), the State’s number one women’s table tennis player Peri Campbell-Innes (Business) and Australian under 20s women’s water polo team captain Jodie Taylor (Health).
Half scholarships were awarded to:
triathlete Glenn Barltrop (Health), rowers Sam Kingston (Law) and Ben McGeachie (Built Environment and Engineering), water polo player Thomas Low (Built Environment and Engineering), volleyballer Luke Shorten (Health), swimmer Kate Corkran (Business), soccer player Joanne Butland (Education), Olympic softballer Brooke Wilkins (Education) and athletes Josephine Ngaluafe (Health) and Fiona Cullen (Business).
According to Guild sport officer Karen Bucholz, the scholarships also aim to foster the quality of QUT’s representation in inter-university sport.
Winners’ list grows
The tennis, swimming and beach volleyball events of the in-house Drake Training QUT Cup have been decided,
Sports News
The launch of QUT Entrepreneur today will see Eagle Boys managing director Tom Potter share his recipe for success with 150 or so guests when they gather in the Owen J. Wordsworth Rooms at Gardens Point.
Mr Potter, the founder and head of the $100 million pizza empire, quickly agreed to be guest of honour when initially approached by QUT Entrepreneur organisers.
Having built up 120 stores across Queensland, New South Wales, ACT, Victoria and Western Australia in the past 14 years, the Eagle Boys organisation and Mr Potter himself have won numerous business awards.
Poised to launch his business into the Asian market, the Eagle Boys chief
Sound business recipes put success on the menu
will have plenty of experiences to s h a r e w i t h t h o s e w h o h a v e entrepreneurial aspirations.
And already the popular new business network that he will officially launch has broken a few records of its own.
More than 650 staff and students registered to become members of QUT Entrepreneur within 24 hours of its initial announcement via email a few weeks ago.
Associated with the Brisbane Graduate School of Business, as well as a number of successful entrepreneurs and business professionals, the new network aims to encourage and support entrepreneurship at QUT.
In the near future, QUT Entrepreneur will offer seminars and workshops as well
as opportunities for members to meet and to exchange their expertise.
The brainchild of three keen students – Sam Penny (an MBA student in QUT’s Brisbane Graduate School of Business), Marie van Beijeren (a communication student in the Faculty of Business) and Peter McGregor (a PhD student in the Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering) – the initiative has the backing of QUT’s Vice- Chancellor, Professor Dennis Gibson.
Membership of QUT Entrepreneur is open to staff and students of the university, its alumni and the business community.
To learn more about QUT Entrepreneur, visit the network’s website at http://www.entrepreneur.qut.com
– Trina McLellan
with competition hotting up as the program of sports rolls on.
In mostly friendly rather than fierce competition, all participants earn 10 points for their faculty for competing and all six placed teams receive overall points towards the QUT Cup.
In the tennis, first place was snared by the Southern Cross team (comprising students from the Business and Education faculties), who outclassed the Business team, the IT team, Team Gold (Education), Cosmos (Education), Weakest Link (Health), Teaspoons (Health) and Dominators (Health).
The Science Faculty won the honours in the swimming pool, outstripping Education, Law, Health, Business and Information Technology, Engineering and Arts.
In the beach volleyball, Built Environment and Engineering took out first place, followed by Health (1), Health (2), Education (1), Law, Education (2).
On Friday, May 4, three-on-three basketball will be held at OzSports Lang Park Milton from Noon to 4pm, with chess competition scheduled for May 25 at the Gardens Point Campus Club from Noon to 4pm and the QUT Road Race to be held at Kelvin Grove on Friday, August 3 from Noon.
Exercise studio opens
Students, staff and the local community have begun using the exercise studio at QUT’s Kelvin Grove campus under the watchful eyes of qualified exercise physiologists.
A joint initiative of the QUT Staff Wellness Program and the Human Movement Studies Clinic, the studio is open for supervised activities on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4.30pm to 7pm, with a circuit class available on Tuesdays at 5pm.
Clinic administrator Ann Hanley said the studio featured state-of-the-art equipment, air-conditioning, showers and change facilities and discounts for QUT staff.
Ms Hanley said that, to use the exercise studio outside of these supervised times, participants would need a health appraisal done either by her or QUT’s Staff Wellness Program co-ordinator, Sheree Richmond.
For details, email [email protected] or [email protected] or call (07) 3864 5820.
Confidence to teach in Australia is one thing that Adivie Qyshka did n ot h a v e b e f o r e s h e s t a r t e d t h e M i g r a n t Professionals Program run by QUT’s Faculty of Education.
The year-long course provides teachers from other countries with the skills they will need to b e c o m e e l i g i b l e f o r registration to teach in Queensland schools.
QUT’s latest intake of 22 overseas teachers, from 15 different countries, is due to graduate in June.
From Albania, Ms Qyshka arrived in Australia two years ago, looking for a better life for herself, her husband and two children.
S h e h a d previously been a French teacher in Albania for 13 years.
“When I first arrived I wasn’t sure I had the confidence to teach in Australia, but the course has given me that confidence,” she said.
Program offers new hope to overseas teachers
Program co-ordinator Julienne Kerr said the Migrant Professionals Program course intake reflected the current conflicts in the world – Ms Qyshka was its first Albanian participant – and there were also teachers from Bosnia, Sudan and El Salvador.
“ M a n y o f t h e m a r e r e f u g e e s , s o i t ’ s a n example of how Australia is helping people who come here as a result of conflict to settle into a new life,” Ms Kerr said.
“It’s for this reason that we – as teachers in t h e p r o g r a m – g e t a s
“I’ve been able to learn the Queensland system, which is very different to t h e e d u c a t i o n s y s t e m in Albania.
“There the relationship between teachers and their students is authoritarian, whereas here it is friendlier and democratic.”
m u c h j o y f r o m t h e students as they get from the program.”
M s K e r r s a i d m a n y of the participants would n o w g o o n t o w o r k in Queensland schools a n d a d d t o t h e i r multicultural flavour.
– Toni Chambers Former Albanian teacher Adivie Qyshka, far left, with her Migrant Professionals Program classmates Eagle Boys managing director Tom Potter, second from left, with the three instigators of the new
business network QUT Entrepreneur, Sam Penny, Marie van Beijeren and Peter McGregor
With one of the largest and most enduring internal teaching and learning grant schemes in the country, QUT allocates around $650,000 a year to small and large grants.
Seminars to explain the purpose of the scheme, the process to apply for a grant under the scheme and the selection process are to be held on all three campuses next month – at Gardens Point on May 1 (9.30-11am), Kelvin Grove on May 22 (12.30-2pm) and Carseldine on May 29 (1-2.30pm).
For register for the seminars, visit http://
www.olt.qut.edu.au/int/taldu/workshops.cfm
Grant scheme explained
QUT Chancellor Dr Cherrell Hirst, pictured above, recently received a check-up from third-year student Kristi Lyons at the Kelvin Grove Optometry Clinic and gave the clinic the thumbs up.
It was Dr Hirst’s first visit to the facility as a patient, and she suggested all staff and students to regularly take advantage of the free consultations
Chancellor checks out service at eye clinic
News in Brief
Register for a
CEED industry project
for your final year or postgraduate thesis.CEED is a QUT program (established 1992).
Why register?
● You gain 24 or 48 credit points
● You receive a tax exempt scholarship
● Security – a QUT contract guarantees support from QUT and CEED
● Valuable industry experience and references for your CV
Register now – CEED Bulletin Board www.corptech.com.au
Search, register and forward your CV online New industry projects advertised regularly
Got a query?
Email Graham Willett: [email protected] or phone (07) 3273 2804
Industry Projects
with Scholarships
Engineering, Maths, IT Students Student journalists
taste life on the road
QUT’s School of Media and Journalism currently has nine students taking part in internships at the ABC.
Journalism co-ordinator Lee Duffield said the nine had been selected from a field of very strong applicants.
“Michael Best, Rachelle Chapman and Gillian Gout will be working on ABC Radio, while in TV there’s Jennifer Cook, Matt Levander and Jahda Swanborough and working with the ABC’s online team will be Elaine Ford, Rebecca Keating and Susan Woodford,”
Mr Duffield explained.
Mr Duffield also said journalism students this semester would have special assignments related to military and emergency drills as well as major sports events, while around eight students would be completing a reporting field trip to Malaysia and Singapore for 10 days from June 27.
Smoke clearing
Smokers wanting to quickly discern where they can smoke on any of QUT’s three campuses should look for the fixed blue cylindrical ashtrays. For maps and further details of the expansion of smoke-free areas on campus, visit http://www.corpcomm.qut.edu.au/
2001/mar2001/212iq10.html
Supercomputers lift processing power
QUT’s Information Technology Services area recently took delivery of the first components of a major upgrade to the university’s supercomputing capabilities.
T w o n e w S i l i c o n G r a p h i c s Origin3000 systems will increase the computational power available t o s t u d e n t s , r e s e a r c h e r s a n d teaching staff at QUT by more than 10 times.
Part of a three-stage upgrade, the systems are expected to be fully implemented by next month. Details of the more powerful system are available at http://www.its.qut.edu.au/hpc
Call for road safety award nominations
Nominations are being sought for the 2001 Queensland Road Safety Awards.
QUT’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland, (CARRS-Q) and the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ) launched the awards last year.
Part of an ongoing campaign against road deaths and injuries, the state- based awards are designed to recognise and honour the outstanding efforts of community groups, companies or industry groups, local government authorities and the media.
This year there will be four awards – similar to the one pictured above – and a further four plaques will be presented at a ceremony in Brisbane on Tuesday July 31 for proven/displayed commitment to road safety. Nominations close on June 8.
For more details call CARRS-Q on (07) 3864 4589.
Advertising students win Goldie
A team of QUT advertising students took home the prize for the Best Student Commercial at last month’s Queensland radio industry awards.
Marianne Harvey, Emma Salmon, Kalon Wall and Kaya Lobaczewski received a “Goldie” award for their
advertisement encouraging people to donate blood to the Red Cross.
Another QUT team – Nick San Marzano, Andrew Page, Katherine Davies and Marilyn John – was highly commended by Queensland’s Radio Time Club for their advertisement in the same category.
Nelson retires
After a long career with the university and two of its predecessor institutions, the acting head of QUT’s Division of Finance and Planning, John Nelson, has retired.
Mr Nelson was first employed at the North Brisbane College of Advanced Education as business manager in 1976.
He then became bursar of the amalgamated Brisbane College of Advanced Education in 1982 and, when BCAE merged with the new Queensland University of Technology in 1990, he was appointed director of finance and facilities.
New arrangements for blood donations
While the Red Cross recently acquired new vans for its mobile Bloodbank, access to QUT’s Gardens Point campus has become impossible because of their larger size.
The Bloodbank still desperately needs donations and donors have b e e n a s k e d t o c o m e t o i t s c i t y headquarters at 480 Queen Street (near Customs House).
A group of young QUT entrepreneurs has donated its time and expertise to create a gala fashion event early next month to benefit the Abused Child Trust (ACT).
The group is bringing together Brisbane’s young models, dancers, hairstylists and make-up artists, for one night only, in a dance-fashion production on May 4.
Brisbane City Hall’s Grand Ballroom will be the venue for the function which will feature the latest in winter fashion from RAQ award-winning designers Elio Moda and Bora Couture.
The young QUT entrepreneurs – known as Memodals – hope to raise
$10,000 for the ACT.
Memodals are not new to organising fundraising events, having been involved last year in the Queensland Arts Council’s Celebrity Auction Night and, previously, a successful fashion show for the Cerebral Palsy League of Queensland.
This year’s event co-ordinator and choreographer, Michelle Jones – who
Students orchestrate fashion gala for charity
is studying for a Bachelor of Business majoring in marketing – said fundraisers should never be mundane,
“an event has to explode – we want the audience to dance.”
Other Memodals members include Laura Jones (Faculty of Business), Meg Frisby (Law), Louisa Honan (Business), Jennifer Smith (Health), and Emily Heim (Business).
Also involved from QUT are Michael Keating (Built Environment and Engineering), and Nicole Fortunaso (Business/Health) and Adrian Pudlyk (Health) who have volunteered as models on the night.
The Charity Fashion Gala will be hosted by Channel Ten’s Marie-Louise Theile and special appearances will include Rio Rhythmics and Capoeira.
Tickets to the event will cost $15 and include a free B magazine and beauty product.
To book, call Ticketek on 13 19 31, visit http://www.ticketek.com.au or tickets can be purchased from the Abused Child Trust on (07) 3857 8866.
Brisbane Graduate School of Business lecturer Paul Davidson has won this y e a r ’ s J o h n W i l e y A u s t r a l i a Innovation and Excellence in MBA Teaching Award.
First awarded in 1999, the award has a value of $2,000 in cash and books.
A management specialist, Mr Davidson has been at QUT since 1991 and during
Management specialist wins teaching award
About your newspaper
Inside QUT is published by QUT’s Corporate Communication Department. Our readership includes staff, students and members of the QUT community.
This paper 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 email [email protected] or mail (Editor, Inside QUT, Corporate Communication Department, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, Qld, 4001). Inside QUT is located in Room 5.01, Level 5, M Block, at Gardens Point.
Opinions expressed in Inside QUT do not necessarily represent those of the university or the editorial team.
Trina McLellan (editor) ... (07) 3864 1150 Toni Chambers ... (07) 3864 4494 Margaret Lawson ... (07) 3864 2130 Noel Gentner (part-time) ... (07) 3864 1841 Fax ... (07) 3210 0474 Advertising - Rachel Murray .. (07) 3864 4408 or 3864 1840
Photography – Suzie Prestwidge, Tony Phillips QUT’s Corporate Communication Dept.
is online at www.corpcomm.qut.edu.au
that time has been involved in the successful development of courses for the BGSB’s high-profile corporate clients.
He has been nominated twice for the Best Lecturer Award at QUT.
The judging panel reported they were impressed by the strength of M r D a v i d s o n ’ s a p p l i c a t i o n a n d supporting documentation.
In particular, they recognised his on- going efforts in the Royal Australian Navy Staff College Graduate Certificate of Management program which went far beyond his teaching within that program.
His efforts encompassed program management and marketing as well as alumni follow-up.
– Noel Gentner
What current staff and students might see as everyday developments on both Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove campuses amazed and delighted more than 30 QUT alumni at a function in London recently.
At the April 17 reception at Queensland House, past students from most faculties – some of whom had not returned home for 10 years – remarked that the facelifts to the campuses looked great and the pedestrian bridge would be a good addition to Gardens Point.
QUT Vice-Chancellor Dennis Gibson, who hosted the event, showed images of the two campuses and gave an update on recent developments, including the Creative Industries project.
“The place is doing well and I’m indeed proud of it and I hope you are, too,” he told his guests.
As a special treat, Dick Smith’s TTs and his version of Vegemite were given to alumni.
Former QUT Council member Alan Baxter – now president of DMR Consulting – attended the evening function, as did the new Agent-General for the United Kingdom and Europe, John Dawson.
Mr Dawson was previously chief executive officer of the Bank of Queensland.
– Amisha Patel
London-based alumni get update from V-C
provided by supervised third- and fourth-year students.
The clinic is located on Level 5, O Block (B Wing) just off the ring road at the Kelvin Grove campus. Clinic patients can organise a permit to park nearby when making their appointments.
To make an appointment at the clinic, call (07) 3864 5743.
Check out a full list of What’s On at QUT and post new entries at http://www.whatson.qut.edu.au
STUDENT GUILD – SPORTS & RECREATION Apr 26 Free Movie. KG Campus Club. 11am, 1pm & 3pm
Apr 27 Free Movie. GP Campus Club. Noon & 2.30pm & 5pm (Kindler Theatre)
Introduction to fitness training for women. Course covers aerobic training, weight training and stretching. GP Fitness Centre, every Friday for five weeks. 2-3pm
Apr 28 Skydiving - ready to fly! Tandem jump ($220), free fall course ($395 for students) May 1 Lunchtime entertainment. KG Lawn. Noon-2pm
May 2 Welfare Day & Guide BBQ. CA Courtyard. Noon-2pm
May 4 QUT Cup (Basketball). Register at any QUT Fitness Centre. Noon-4pm
May 4-7 AUS-North Championships. Swimming, surfing, triathlon & beach volleyball events, Gold Coast May 9 Jazz Day at the CA Campus Club. Noon-2pm
Guild BBQ at CA. Courtyard. Noon-2pm
May 10 Women’s Self-Defence Workshop (part 1 of 2). KG Aerobics Room, 9am-1.30pm May 14 Lunchtime entertainment. GP Kidney Lawn. Noon-2pm
ARTS & CULTURAL EVENTS
Jan 19-Apr 30 QUT Graduate Survey 2000. This exhibition features the works of some of QUT’s finest graduates from the visual arts program of the Academy of the Arts. FREE. QUT Art Museum, U Block, GP. Opening hours:
10am-4pm Tues-Fri, Noon-4pm Weekends, closed Mondays. (07) 3864 5370
Feb 9-Apr 29 Brian Brake: Monsoon. From the National Gallery of Australia, Monsoon is a selection of works from Brian Brake’s world-renowned photographic essay on Indian life. FREE. QUT Art Museum, U Block, GP. Opening hours: 10am-4pm Tues-Fri, Noon-4pm Weekends, closed Mondays. (07) 3864 5370 Mar 22-May 6 Saltwater Country: Bark Paintings from Yirrkala. Acclaimed exhibition of bark paintings from north-
east Arnhem Land organised by the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre, Yirrkala. FREE. QUT Art Museum, U Block, GP. Opening hours: 10am-4pm Tues-Fri, Noon-4pm Weekends, closed Mondays. (07) 3864 5370 May 1 Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow 2001. The best acts of the 2001 Melbourne Comedy Festival for one show only. The Gardens Theatre, GP, 7.30pm. $30 for adults; $25 for concession (incl. QUT Staff) and $20 for QUT Students only. QTIX 136 246
May 4-Jul 1 Asia in Australia: Beyond Orientalism. A collection of works highlighting how regional interaction has affected the artistic intent of both Australian and Asian artists. FREE. QUT Art Museum, U Block, GP. Opening hours: 10am-4pm Tues-Fri, Noon-4pm Weekends, closed Mondays. (07) 3864 5370 May 13-Jul 15 Real world art: Art by QUT alumni. Works from QUT's most celebrated alumni will be showcased
in an exhibition curated by Bettina MacAulay. FREE. QUT Art Museum, U Block, GP. Opening hours: 10am-4pm Tues-Fri, Noon-4pm Weekends, closed Mondays. (07) 3864 5370
Traditional games to improve indigenous health
QUT has successfully contested the Australian University Windsurfing Championships held recently at Hamilton Island in North Queensland.
Within the first two days an early lead over the other competing universities was established during blustery and testing conditions.
Unfortunately the conditions eased, allowing the competition to regain lost ground and dominate the overall results with their larger teams.
Windsurfing duo does well at Hamilton Island
Benjamin Nitschke (Information Technology) brought home gold in the heavyweight division pentathlon, marathon and course racing disciplines. Mr Nitschke was also runner up in the open slalom and secured bronze in the freestlye event.
Nigel Belyea (Science) made a gallant effort but faced stiff competition in the medium-weight division once conditions eased.
The QUT Student Guild provided funding for both these athletes to attend the championship.
Buroinjin is an Aboriginal sport that can be likened to touch football. It originated in South-East Queensland, but it hasn’t been played in indigenous communities for a several decades.
But that’s about to change.
As part of the first health promotion program of its kind to be undertaken in Australia, researchers from QUT are developing partnerships with the Cherbourg and Stradbroke Island communities in Queensland to re-introduce traditional games.
Traditional games are being used for their potential to strengthen community participation in health-promotion activities and potentially increase physical activity and address health issues.
Lecturer in the School of Human Movement Studies Dr Ken Edwards said traditional games have been found to reduce the incidence of absenteeism among Aboriginal students in selected schools.
He said that, by providing culturally relevant activities, it was hoped student’s self-esteem could improve, making them more receptive to messages relating to diet and lifestyle and, in the long term, reducing the incidence of health complaints.
Dr Edwards said men’s groups and elders within communities would take a leading role in implementing and supporting the project and be specifically encouraged to take part in the games.
“Indigenous men have special health concerns – a higher incidence of alcohol misuse and heart disease are just two examples – and the traditional role and authority of elders in the communities have also been eroded,” Dr Edwards said.
“This contributes to a shorter life expectancy than experienced in the general population – 20 years lower for males.”
Lecturer in QUT’s Centre for Indigenous Health Education and Research Beryl Meiklejohn said the project would empower the communities to improve their health through participation in a range of activities.
“By using traditional games, we are bringing back lost cultural activities and something the community can relate to and take ownership of, to draw together families and communities and improve health.”
Queensland Health is funding the 15- month, $200,000 study.
Health Minister Wendy Edmond said the project was a good illustration of how Government, non-government and community-based organisations could work together to make a difference to the health of Queenslanders.
“Projects similar to this one undertaken in Canada and the United States resulted in improvements in people’s health and a stronger cultural identity,” Ms Edmond said.
Dr Edwards and his team will give a demonstration of Aboriginal sport and pasttimes at the QUT’s Kelvin Grove campus on Saturday, June 23, during the AlumniFest.
Toni Chambers
Human Movement Studies students take time out to play traditional Aboriginal games which will make part of a new research study.
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