IQ inside
>> Global IT boss at QUT - Page 2 >> Mystery of universe - Page 3 >> What’s On - Page 8 >>
Queensland University of Technology Newspaper Issue 257 August 30 - September 19, 2005
www.news.qut.edu.au George Street Brisbane 4000 Telephone (07) 3864 2361 Registered by Australia Post – Publication No. QBF 4778. CRICOS No 00213J
Law
A QUT law student could be excused for dancing around campus after winning this year’s Grand Australasian Highland Dancing Championship.
It’s an unusual combination, but 20-year-old Craig Johnston said his passion for dancing complemented his studies.
“It’s a fantastic form of fi tness and great for relieving stress,” he said.
Originally from Toowoomba, Craig has been dancing competitively since he was four years old and recently moved to Brisbane to study law.
He has continued to compete in dancing championships throughout his studies.
Last month, he won in the Grand Australasian Highland Dancing Championship in Sydney
and he currently holds Australia’s top title of the ‘Champion of Champions’.
In the past two years, he has won more highland dancing championships than any other highland dancer in the world, claiming about 12 or 13 championships a year.
Craig said he enjoyed the competitive aspect of dancing, being able to travel and perform, as well as the social side.
“I have performed in productions and
travelled to Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand.”
Craig works part-time, studies, and dances four to fi ve hours a week, but he said it’s a good balance.
“My university studies are my highest priority at the moment and I will continue to dance competitively until I graduate. After that I will just dance for recreation until I can’t do it
anymore!” - Amanda Walker
Craig leaps into law and dancing crown
Justice studies
AUSTRALIA’S police need to re-focus on preventing terrorist attacks on home soil rather than just dealing with the aftermath, according to a QUT national security expert.
Dr Mark Craig said state police forces should be the “frontline” in detecting and preventing terrorist activity, rather than leaving intelligence responsibilities in the hands of federal agencies such as ASIO.
The national security researcher and consultant – who also served 10 years with the Queensland Police – aid stronger police leadership, new definitions of police roles and more interaction with the community were urgently needed.
“When it comes to counter-terrorism strategies, the primary focus of Australia’s state and territory police is public relations and managing and containing the fall-out,”
he said.
“Emergency response is important but
Terror attack alert
Dr Mark Craig will present a paper on Australia’s counter-terrorism strategies in Prague next week.
prevention is vital.
“More assault capabilities are not the answer – stronger commitment to intelligence-driven policing is.”
Dr Craig will present a paper on the issue at the 12th Annual International Police Executive Symposium in Prague in the Czech Republic from September 5 to 9.
He said policing strategies considered by Australian authorities in the wake of the London bombings had been reactionary.
“The British have success with electronic surveillance systems therefore they are put on the agenda here; the New York City Police Department introduce random bag searches on their transport systems, therefore we again react and consider such policies here … this reactionary style needs to be augmented with some originality.”
Dr Craig said the police “culture” could sometimes be an enemy in itself.
“Traditionally police organisations tend not to seek advice from outside of their own closed environment ... it could be
argued the sum total of their knowledge in reality emanates from their own experience,” he said.
“This is very problematic if we are to expect police to be proactive and intelligence-driven in the new age of multicultural risk society.
“Our police, it would seem, are simply too slow to respond to a rapidly evolving world environment and terrorist events are moving faster than decision makers can comprehend. Terrorists have time on their side, the authorities don’t.”
And it seems storing and accessing intelligence information is as big a problem as fi nding it in the fi rst place.
“As far back as the early 1970s, The Stanford Research Institute published a thorough evaluation showing that police departments owned 95 per cent of the information they needed to solve crimes, but they couldn’t fi nd the information in a timely fashion,” Dr Craig said.
- Mechelle Webb
Creative writing
Q U T c r e a t i ve w r i t i n g students have been told they have to be original if they want to get published.
This advice came from Adelaide-based children’s book publisher and writer Dyan Black lock, pictured left, who recently spent three weeks in Brisbane and gave some of her time to
speak to creative writing and publishing students at Kelvin Grove campus.
Ms Blacklock’s company Omnibus Books was responsible for the original release of the Australian children’s classic Possum Magic.
Her visit was par t of the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust program which offers Austr alian authors and illustrators a
chance to concentrate on their creative work, as well as help with students at selected universities around the country.
The successful publisher, who reads thousands of manuscripts ever y year, told the students Australia had an ageing publishing hierarchy which meant job opportunities for young publishers in the writing
industry.
“ I t p r e s e n t s a g r e a t opportunity for students who have a fi re in their belly about publishing to position themselves in that area,” Ms Blacklock said.
She said when reading manuscripts she was always looking for originality.
“I see the same ideas recycled over and over again but in order to be published it
has to be an original idea.”
C o u r s e c o o r d i n a t o r for Creative Writing and Cultural Studies, Dr Sharyn Pearce, said the university had a very strong program for youth writing and it was exciting for the students to be taught by visiting writers.
“We will have two visiting writers per year under this program,” Dr Pearce said.
- Amanda Walker
COMMENT
AS the world and its societies become more populous and complex, so too do the problems that need to be solved.
Issues and challenges that are gener ated by the advance of science and technology require new approaches.
Fortunately the rapid development of tools and techniques to do this is also occurring, particularly with the advent of more sophisticated c o m p u t i n g c a p a b i l i t y a n d communications.
New capability variously described a s e - Re s e a rc h , e - S c i e n c e , o r
“cyberinfrastructure”, is attracting the attention and support of many national governments and higher education systems.
Thus we see the e-Science initiative in the UK; related developments in the United States, some under the auspices of the National Science Foundation; signifi cant investment in developed economies in Asia and in Europe; and greater attention by the Australian Government.
Q U T i s m o n i t o r i n g a n d c o n t r i b u t i n g t o t h e s e developments.
It responded to the Feder al Government’s current consideration of an e-Research str ateg y for Australia, and is also a partner in consortium arrangements for the sharing of advanced computing and support of research at both the
Queensland and national levels.
The research agenda at QUT is accelerating, our contribution at state, national and international levels visibly improving.
Our new institutes are gathering momentum, and their success will in part depend on the access of teams of researchers to new and powerful techniques for investigating and solving problems.
Although, like many issues involved with information technology, there is a tendency to be captured by jargon and inaccessible terminology, no one should underestimate the importance of these new ways of doing research.
As the President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute put it last year, what we are seeing develop is a new “support system for human thought and human creativity.”
Further, … “since human thought and creativity are the currency of higher education, proper utilisation of the ever-growing capabilities of this exceptional support system can be the means of transformation.”
As we develop our research capability and quality, QUT intends to be centrally placed in these changes.
Tom Cochrane Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Technology, Information and Learning Support)
Business / honours
QUT recognised Narayana Murthy’s i n t e r n a t i o n a l a c h i eve m e n t s i n information technology and education last week when he was made a Doctor of the University.
Mr Murthy is the founder of Indian- based IT giant Infosys and serves on the boards of leading education institutions in Asia and America.
He was presented with his honorary doctorate by QUT Chancellor Major- General Peter Arnison at the QUT Gardens Theatre on August 26, following a sold-out appearance as guest speaker at the QUT Business Leaders’ Forum at the Brisbane Hilton the previous day.
Mr Murthy is a key international f igure in the IT industry and was named by TIME Magazine as one of 10 leaders helping change the future of technology.
He is the chairman and chief mentor of
Honour for Infosys boss
Be original, advises leading publisher
Science
QUT scientist Dr Dennis Arnold has been awarded a prestigious Doctor of Science (DSc) from the university for his original and substantial contribution to research on the compounds that make blood red and grass green.
The degree, which is awarded for outstanding original research achievement spanning an individual’s career, has been presented to Dr Arnold for his work on reactions involving porphyrins.
QUT has previously conferred only three Doctors of Science.
Porphyrins play a crucial role in life itself. Without them it wouldn’t be possible for cells in plants to capture light from the sun, which they use for energy.
Porphyrins combine with iron to carry oxygen in our blood.
Dr Arnold’s research achievements include studying new ways in which porphyrins can be combined – work that has applications in the development of nano-scale electronic devices.
“Apart from the elegant symmetry of their chemical structure, porphyrins exhibit a magnifi cent array of colours ranging through hues of red, pink, purple, green and blue depending on what nature or chemists have done to them,” said Dr Arnold, who lectures at QUT’s School of Physical and Chemical Sciences.
“The natural porphyrin compounds are of fundamental importance to life on earth; the green of plants and the red of our blood are the constant reminders of the relevance of these substances.
“It is no wonder that scientists have been engaged in discovering their wide-ranging chemistry for over 100 years,” he said.
A colourful odyssey is rewarded
T W E N T Y m e m b e r s o f QU T ’s academic team have been recognised in the university’s latest round of promotions to Professor and Association Professor.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake congratulated the 2005 cohort and said the promotion panel
had viewed the field of applicants as very impressive by national and international standards.
“The relatively large number of successful candidates this year refl ects this very favourable view of the applicant pool,” he said
The successf ul candidates are:
Professorial promotions
PROMOTION TO PROFESSOR Professor Ray Frost, Science Professor Philip Neilsen, Creative Industries
Professor Vesna Popovic, Built Environment & Engineering Professor Rodney Wolff, Business Professor Joanne Wood, Health
PROMOTION TO
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
Associate Professor John Aaskov, Science
Associate Professor Steven Bottle, Science
Associate Professor Laurie Buys, Humanities and Human Services Associate Professor Duncan Campbell, Built Environment &
Engineering
Associate Professor Belinda Carpenter, Law
Associate Professor Susan Danby, Education
Associate Professor Terry Flew, Creative Industries
Associate Professor Philip Giffard, Science
Associate Professor Caroline Hatcher, Business
Associate Professor Alan McKee, Creative Industries
Associate Professor Rod Nason, Education
Associate Professor Peter O’Shea, Built Environment &
Engineering
Associate Professor Pamela Rowntree, Science
Associate Professor Rod Walker, Built Environment & Engineering Associate Professor Terry Walsh,
Science Dr Dennis Arnold in the lab.
Infosys Technologies Ltd, which he co- founded in India in 1981.
In addition, he is a director of Singapore’s
DBS Bank, serves on the central board of the Reserve Bank of India, is a member of the Indian Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry, and a board member for New Delhi Television Ltd.
Mr Murthy is also an IT advisor to several Asian countries and has strong education links.
H i s p o s i t i o n s i n c l u d e b e i n g a member of the Yale University President’s Council on International Activities and the Advisory Council of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
He also chairs the governing body of the Indian Institute of Information Technology and the Indian Institute of Management.
Mr Murthy addresses the Business Leaders’ forum, above top, and receives his honorary doctorate at Gardens Point, above.
High performance computing
QUT is using the next generation of computer technology to overcome the divide of time and space and connect cultures from across the world.
The technology, known as the access grid, allows people from across the globe to share a virtual environment in real time, utilising multimedia displays.
QUT’s High Performance Computing and Research Support (HPC) installed the university’s fi rst access grid node at Gardens Point Campus and the group has supported the expansion of the technology to other campuses.
HPC manager Dr Joseph Young said its possibilities were endless.
“The access grid is being used a lot now for research collaboration,” Dr Young said.
“Researchers from anywhere in the world can get together and talk together about their research – it’s like a virtual workspace.”
Dr Young said by incorporating technology like multi-media displays, c a m e r a s a n d v i d e o re c o rd e r s, researchers could share and interact in real time.
He said QUT was also trialling a cross-campus teaching program between Gardens Point and Caboolture using the access grid.
To put it in perspective, the access grid is about 7000 times more powerful than the household broadband connection and enables the same amount of content to be displayed as 100 DVDs being played simultaneously.
I n t h e l a s t m o n t h QU T h a s demonstrated the capabilities of this technology by participating in two worldwide events showcasing international communication on a broad scale.
To show how this technology could be used in every-day life QUT recently took part in the Australian Science Festival’s “Class of a Million”.
This event saw students from all over the world gather at diff erent locations including QUT’s Gardens Point campus to take part in an interactive class made up of one million students.
Earlier this month QUT utilised the access grid to participate in the world’s largest computer art and interactivity conference hosted in Los Angeles.
Researchers within HPC, the Australasian Co-operative Research Centre for Interaction Design (ACID) and students from Film and TV put on daily performances which formed part of a global production.
Local QUT performers included didgeridoo player Michael Connelly, Taylar-Jo Connolly and Indigenous Elder Mick Huddleston.
QUT’s central high-tech access grid node is located on the top fl oor of the library at Gardens Point and is available for staff collaboration and research.
- Sandra Hutchinson
Connecting QUT to the world
Creative industries
AT a time when viewers sat glued to the television dialling en masse to “elect” the Logan twins 2005 Big Brother winners, visiting UK Professor Stephen Coleman says politicians too should make way for the SMS vote.
Professor Coleman presented a free public lecture at the Creative Industries Precinct on his research into the need to use the internet and mobile technologies to engage Big Brother voters, who are among
the least active in the democratic process.
This lecture marked the f irst public event for QUT’s newly formed Institute for Creative Industries and Innovation (ICI).
During the 2005 UK election Professor Coleman surveyed the political views of 10 panels of Big Brother voters – those who are often thought of as politically apathetic or uninterested.
What he found was that rather than being disengaged from politics Big Brother voters approached the
questions of political power from a different viewpoint than those promoted by politicians or the media.
QUT ICI director Professor John Hartley, who is a media expert and has previously done research into Australian Big Brother, said Professor Coleman’s studies revealed the importance of using interactive technologies in a democracy.
“Professor Coleman is talking about how disenfranchised voters can be engaged in the political process by using interactive technologies and
voting techniques that have been pioneered in the entertainment world,” Professor Hartley said.
“Coleman is not about blaming people for being disengaged from the political process but rather blaming governments for not engaging with them.”
“Professor Coleman has been urging governments around the world to open up the democratic process.”
“The methods used in game shows like Big Brother can bring the public closer to government, and
public policymaking is improved by including the expertise and experience of the public.”
Professor Coleman is Cisco Professor of E-Democracy at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford. He received his PhD from London University. He has worked at the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Hansard society, and is renowned for pioneering online consultations for the UK Parliament.
- Sandra Hutchinson
Make way for the SMS vote in politics
Engineering
A QUT eng ineering g raduate is dedicating 20 years of his life to help develop the world’s largest radio telescope and fi nd the answers to ‘life, the universe and everything’.
For the past four years, Aaron Chippendale, 27, has been involved in the early design phase of an enormous next-generation radio telescope at the CSIRO.
The US$1 billion dollar project, cur rently being developed by a consortium of more than 15 countries, is expected to be operational by 2020.
“I’ve set out on a diff erent path to most engineering students because I’m inspired by basic science,’ Mr
Chippendale said.
“This telescope, called the Square Kilometre Array, will have a million square metres of collecting area and will enable us to see the formation of the early universe, including the fi rst stars, galaxies and other structures.
“It will have a collecting area 100 times greater than the largest telescope ever built and will reveal the dawn of galaxy formation,” he said.
Australia, along with China, South Africa and Argentina, is one of the four candidate sites with a proposal being put forward for a remote site in Western Australia.
The telescope will be equivalent to 300 Parkes dishes, half of them packed as close as possible within a 5 km radius
and the other half spread out up to a 3,000 km radius.
“Australia is renowned for building precision instruments and has taken a leading role in technical telescopes,’
Mr Chippendale said.
“This will enable us to see far back in time and fi ll in the blanks of what happened after the ‘big bang’ 13 billion years ago.”
Construction of the Array is expected to start in the year 2014.
Mr Chippendale, who graduated with fi rst class honours and is currently completing a PhD in astrophysics at University of Sydney, is also this year’s winner of the 2005 QUT Outstanding Young Alumni Award.
- Amanda Walker
Aaron probes the
mysteries of universe
Aaron Chippendale has high hopes for Australia’s next- generation radio telescope
Far left: Didgeridoo player Michael Connelly and Elder Mick Huddleston.
Left: Balmoral High Year 11 students Nicola Beyer and Andrea Dos Santos.
Top: Teaching and reaching across borders in the digital age.
Public health
WO M E N r e c o v e r i n g f r o m gynaecological cancer are making an eff ort to live a healthier lifestyle but many need added support to help improve their diet and physical activity levels and to deal with the uncertainties of survivorship, a major study has revealed.
The joint QUT-Queensland Cancer Fund sur vey of more than 800 Queensland women diagnosed with a gynaecological cancer found most coped well with their condition.
However, a large number of survivors could use more support to improve their quality of life and address concerns about the risk of cancer recurrence.
T h ey a l s o r e q u i r e d m o r e information about the debilitating lower limb swelling condition lymphoedema, a complication which can arise as a result of treatment.
The survey of 802 gynaecological patients three months to fi ve years post-diagnosis was conducted by Vanessa Beesley from QUT’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation who is exploring the supportive care needs of survivors for her PhD thesis.
Of the 700 Queensland women d i a g n o s e d e a c h ye a r w i t h a gynaecological cancer, uterine,
ovarian and cervical cancers were the most common and Mrs Beesley said it was vital support services met the specific needs of these survivors.
The survey revealed half the survivors accessed a support service or organisation and that young women in particular were more in need of assistance than older women.
“The top category of needs reported was psychological but others included physical and daily living needs, sexuality needs, care needs and information needs,” Mrs Beesley said.
“Each age group has specific needs which we have to meet. For example, a younger woman may not be able to have children as a result of treatment and thus may require help to deal with the situation but an older woman may not need that kind of support.
“On the other hand, older women tend to have higher rates of co- morbidities and may require support such as respite care more often than a younger person.”
Mrs Beesley said women who develop lymphoedema are another g roup that have very specif ic needs.
“While there has been extensive re s e a rc h i n t o ly m p h o e d e m a development in the upper limbs following breast cancer treatment,
there needed to be more research into how it aff ected the lives of gynaecological cancer survivors.”
A b o u t 1 0 p e r c e n t o f a l l gynaecological cancer survivors are diagnosed with lymphoedema but many more remain unaware of the condition. The survey found that another 15 per cent were symptomatic of undiagnosed lower limb swelling.
“It does not develop straight away and women can go undiagnosed and these patients are hard to reach.”
The survey also looked at lifestyle behaviours as a means of support and revealed a third of survivors don’t meet fruit recommendations, more than 80 per cent don’t meet vegetable recommendations and half don’t meet the physical activity guidelines.
Australian guidelines for adults recommend two serves of fruit and fi ve serves of vegetables a day and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days.
Complementary therapies are another form of supportive care that women are turning to. The sur vey found that more than one in four women repor ted using complementary therapies, particularly meditation, naturopathy and massage to help cope or reduce the risk of the cancer spreading or returning.
- Heath Kelly
Cancer survivors need more support
Mathematics / optometry
PEOPLE who wear glasses and shun contact lenses because they dry out their eyes could be helped by research underway at QUT.
The study, which is being led by Dr Malcolm Jones of QUT’s School of Mathematics, is investigating the mechanism that ensures the surface of the eye is constantly bathed in a delicate, lubricating fi lm of tear.
The work could eventually help develop smarter biomaterials for contact lenses that would aid those who don’t produce enough tears, or
those whose tears have a chemical composition that causes them to evaporate too quickly.
It could also help bring relief to the one in four of us who suff er from dry eyes.
According to colleague Dr Michael Collins in QUT’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation dry eyes can cause varying levels of damage depending on the underlying cause.
In the worst case scenario it can lead to blindness.
While there has been signifi cant research on the behaviour of tear f ilms between blinks, the eye’s
constant motion has made it diffi cult to study the fi lm’s stability during blinking.
“One of the diffi culties in studying the tear fi lm is it’s so thin and has three distinct layers; an outer layer of oils (lipids), a middle watery layer and inner mucin layer for lubrication,”
Dr Collins said.
“The fi lm is about three microns in thickness - so it’s even tiny when compared with a human hair which is about 100 microns thick.
“The three layers of the tears are separate and are remixed every time you blink, which on average is around
ten times a minute.
“On top of this the mix has to be just right or your eyes become dry.”
Using numerical and analytical methods applied to a lubrication model, the team is investigating the physics that underpins the motion of the tears.
Results reveal the importance of the speed of the eyelid, movement of the outer lipid layer and storage of the tear fi lm under the lids.
The next step is to further model how instabilities develop in the tear fi lm under varying conditions.
- Judith H. Moore
Law
AUSTRALIA’S privacy legislation needs to be tightened before a national ID card can be seriously considered, according to QUT’s Dean of Law, Professor Michael Lavarch.
Professor Lavarch, who is a former federal attorney-general, said ID cards would not prevent terrorist attacks on our soil, but would assist investigators if an incident did occur.
QUT will host a debate on the merits of a national ID card system this Thursday, September 1, at Gardens Point campus.
The free event is open to the public and will pit Queensland Council for Civil Liberties vice p re s i d e n t Te r r y O ’ G o r m a n against Liberal MP Peter Dutton – the Minister for Workforce Participation.
Professor Lavarch, pictured above, said the jury was still out on ID cards.
“There are strong arguments that can be made in favour for a consolidated national identifi cation system,” he said.
“But such a system should only be proposed if done within a framework of very extensive extensions to the protection of personal privacy and controls on the use of personal data held on individual citizens.
“ C u r re n t ly, fe d e r a l p r iva c y legislation provides protection on the use of data held on individuals by government agencies, credit providers and larger businesses.
“There are, however, substantial gaps in this regime relating to smaller businesses and the type of information which is protected.
“An ID card would not in itself prevent terrorist attacks but would assist policing authorities in investigating terrorist incidents.
“A government would need to have systems in place to safeguard against identity fraud if there was to be a uniform national identity system.”
The free QUT debate will be held on Thursday, September 1, from 5.30pm to 7.30pm in the OJW Room on Level 12 of S Block on the Gardens Point campus.
Interested guests can book a seat by contacting Sian Haigh on 3864 2712 or [email protected].
The ID card debate is part of the faculty’s ongoing commitment to public debate of various legal community issues such as security, right to life, bullying and the role of the Senate.
ID card debate heats up
Ditching the eye drops
Researcher Vanessa Beesley believes women need more support after battling cancer.
Family tradition
A Brisbane family’s love of books and education has encouraged seven siblings to study at QUT.
Alumni
PETER Ryan reckons he was the black sheep of the Ryan family.
He watched his 10 brothers and sisters all graduate from uni before he decided to take the plunge by “formalising” and expanding his industry knowledge with a university degree.
By the end of this year he will have completed a Bachelor of IT and created a clean sweep for parents Brendan and Patricia …
all 11 of their children will have university qualifi cations and seven will be graduates of QUT.
The couple met as arts students and have fi lled their lives with education and filled their rambling country house near Brisbane with books.
Five thousand books, give or take.
They fi ll the walls of the home’s library and study, and spill into the living area.
“I always liked the picture books – that’s why I’m in the art fi eld!”
says daughter Barbara.
A talented artist, she is also a qualified primary teacher after studying at QUT’s Carseldine campus.
Sister Margaret is also a QUT teaching graduate, Catherine is a QUT law graduate, Judith has an MBA from QUT’s Brisbane Gr aduate School of Business and Rebecca is a QUT-educated radiographer.
Their brother Tim obtained his optometry degree from the same
uni, while Peter will fi nish his IT degree at the end of this year, after his studies were happily delayed by the birth of twins in February.
Mrs Ryan said she was happy – but probably not surprised – that all of her brood had made it through uni.
“I suppose in a way I took it for granted that they probably would,”
she said.
“I grew up with an assumption that I’d go to uni – which in those days was unusual. Education and arts were strong in our family.
“But Brendan was the fi rst one in his family to go to uni.”
Mr Ryan, a historian and author, said he was very proud of all his children’s achievements and had been inspired to contact the Inside QUT and Links team to let the university know about its seven QUT graduates.
“It was the lesser of two evils – I threatened to contact QUT and off er to speak at Peter’s graduation,”
he laughed.
- Mechelle Webb Pictured from left are Barbara
Ryan, Rebecca Ryan, Margaret Brough, Peter Ryan, Judith Ryan and Catherine Barker in their family library.
Visual arts
EKKA patrons flocked to see one of Brisbane’s most intriguing art exhibitions this year – The Art of Sheep – thanks to the work of a QUT graduate.
Exhibition curator Libby Woodhams is a Brisbane artist and woolgrower’s daughter who recently completed her PhD at the university.
Dr Woodhams spent 10 days in the Ekka’s Sheep and Wool Pavilion with the display, talking to visitors about Australia’s wool industry – and its infl uence on art.
The Art of Sheep featured the work of 16 visual artists, including Dr Woodhams’ and two other QUT graduates – artist Margaret Haselwood and writer Trudie Plaschke.
The exhibition was exactly what
the name suggested - work inspired by Australia’s iconic sheep and our wool industry.
Dr Woodhams said it included everything from paintings of shearers to life-size knitted sheep.
“I’d like people to think, laugh and perhaps even cry,” she said.
“There’s a portrait of me – a wool grower’s daughter – that was done by Margaret Haselwood, there are landscapes of the country, there are paintings of shearing.
“Tom Spence from Stanthorpe has a work called Old Cracker Ewes (Dressed to Kill) and I’ve done a painting of maggots.
“Sandra Gray from Texas has made some embroidered woolly knickers and Julianne Doonar from Blackall has knitted a life-size sheep called Polly.”
Dr Woodhams said the wool industry
was not often a subject explored by artists.
“There are very few paintings of sheep in contemporary art,” she said.
But she said art could convey m e s s a g e s t o p e o p l e t h r o u g h unconventional means.
In this exhibition, some of those messages include information on farmers’ involvement in landcare groups and the issue of suicide and depression in the bush.
Dr Woodhams grew up on a sheep station and said the exhibition idea was inspired by her family’s own connection with the industry.
“A lot of my family are still wool growers – I have a sister at Cunnamulla and there are other relatives at Gore, where I grew up, near Warwick,” she said.
- Mechelle Webb
Crowds fl ock to see ‘sheep art’ at the Ekka
Dr Libby Woodhams checks out Julianne Doonar’s life-size knitted sheep at the Ekka exhibition.
in BRIEF...
New home for phys ed students
QUT’s physical education students have a new home base following the completion of the oval pavilion (J Block) at Kelvin Grove. The pavilion provides much needed teaching space and has been specifi cally built to cater for both theoretical and practical classes. The venue will also provide an undercover and open area to run human movement studies programs aimed at children who have co- ordination diffi culties or dysfunction due to physical, sensory or intellectual impairment. The pavilion was recently opened by Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning), Professor David Gardiner, at a barbecue attended by staff and students.
e-Grad School QUT will lead the development of a new national “e-Grad School”
to provide virtual graduate school services to
universities and research
providers in Australia and overseas. The services will focus on generic capabilities and include employment and research-related skills for postgraduate research students. The project has been generated by the Australian Technology Network – a network of fi ve technology universities, including QUT. The e-Grad School was one of two ATN projects to receive a combined $487,000 in funding from the Federal Government’s Collaboration and Structural Reform Fund.
Immunology researcher joins QUT council Professor Anne Kelso has been appointed to the QUT Council. Professor Kelso is the director/
CEO of the Cooperative Research Centre for Vaccine Technology and a
Senior Principal Research Fellow at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research. She has an outstanding record in research, and specifi cally in cellular and molecular immunology.
Queensland University of Technology GPO Box 2434 Brisbane Q 4001 qut.com
GEN-05-609 CRICOS no. 00213J
The Community of Former Staff QUT is looking for former staff of QUT and its predecessor institutions to join their group.
Members meet three times a year and aim to:
encourage ongoing fellowship and enjoyable social contact among former staff members
help former staff stay in contact with activities and developments assist former staff who wish to contribute their time and expertise to projects supportive of QUT and its students.
Upcoming event
Early Christmas lunch and talk from Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor Date: Thursday, 3November Time: 11:30am-2pm Venue: Gardens Theatre foyer, Gardens Point (city) campus More information For further details email [email protected] or [email protected], or visit www.alumni.qut.edu.au
make contact with former staff
QUT staff and students can access free or low-cost health clinics at the Kelvin Grove campus in O Block (B wing) – just a short walk from the new Kelvin Grove busway.
Podiatry Clinic
Services include general foot care, diabetes management, surgery, children’s foot care, acute foot problems and orthoses.
Examinations are carried out by Podiatry students under the direct supervision of fully qualified Podiatrists.
Cost (per consultation): $20, or
$15 for students/health care card holders
To make an appointment, phone Cathy Fowler on 3864 5652.
Optometry Clinic The clinic provides all general optometry services and eye examinations, as well as specialist services including contact lenses,
children’s vision, and vision rehabilitation for visually impaired people. Examinations are either free or bulk-billed.
To make an appointment, phone 3864 5743 or 3864 5695.
Human Movement Studies Clinic: QUT Staff Fitness Program
Take advantage of low-cost personal exercise programs and fitness assessments by qualified physiologists and Human Movement Studies students.
Costs: Fitness assessment – $35;
10 session pass – $45; 20 session pass – $80
To make an appointment, phone 3864 5819.
free &
low cost health clinics
on campus
Queensland University of Technology Victoria Park Road Kelvin Grove Q 4059 qut.com HLT-05-535
CRICOS no. 00213J
Journalism
A QUT teaching and research trip to Madang in Papua New Guinea has resulted into a valuable humanitarian project.
Journalism lecturer Dr Lee Duffi eld and eight of his students are sending cartons of much-needed medical supplies and books to the region this month.
“We went to Papua New Guinea as part of a journalism reporting fi eld trip and some of the students did stories on the Madang Hospital and the Divine Word University,” Dr Duffi eld said.
He said these stories revealed problems with hospital equipment and an absence of healing drugs, medical supplies, and basic accommodation for patients – and struck a charitable chord with the group.
Back home, drawing on assistance from his brother, Mr Gale Duffi eld, who works through the Rotary International Program, Dr Duffi eld said a special consignment of eight cartons of medical equipment was consequently organised for dispatch to Madang Hospital and the university.
In addition, masters student Celia Jones arranged a generous supply of antibiotics and other much-needed pharmaceuticals from her employer, Alphapharm.
And fi nally it has agreed that part of the bequest from the late journalism head, Len Granato, which involved the donation of his professional library of journalism or communication books and journals, could be shared with the Divine World University.
Dr Duffi eld hopes the generous donations will become an ongoing annual arrangement.
A benefi cial fi eld trip
Graduate success
HE’S the star of QUT’s new TV campaign, has a double degree in law and IT, works for a leading law fi rm and is an accomplished musician – but Andrew Cameron says he’s actually very shy.
The 24-year-old (pictured above) grew up with his family in Coff s Harbour in New South Wales and came to Brisbane by himself to study as an 18-year-old.
Andrew said he tossed a coin to help him decide whether he should follow a career in law or sports medicine.
“I decided I probably couldn’t give people needles anyway,” he said.
“The IT boom was in full swing so I decided to mix my law studies with information technology.
Brisbane was the only place off ering the combined degree.”
He graduated in 2003 and landed a job as an intellectual property lawyer at multinational law fi rm Allens Arthur Robinson after working there as a paralegal in his fi nal two years of study.
Andrew said he was trying to juggle his legal career with his musical aspirations.
“I often work pretty long hours so sometimes it’s hard to fi t it all in.”
Andrew said he and his three younger siblings were all quite musical growing up and he played piano and the drums.
“Even my dad played the drums,” he said.
“But I stopped playing piano before high school and decided to concentrate on my studies.
“I became passionate about music again in my
last year of school after listening to a Ben Folds Five song and went and bought the sheet music,”
he laughs.
Andrew asked for a guitar from his parents for his 18th birthday.
“I decided the guitar was more portable than a piano or a drum kit,” he said.
“I started playing piano again and taught myself guitar and now enjoy writing and recording my own songs. I am playing at venues and bars around Brisbane when I have time.”
Andrew plans to take some time off at the end of the year to record an album.
“I can always be a lawyer when I’m 50. I’m not averse to taking risks at my age,” he said.
“Now is the time to see if I can make it in the music industry. It’s more than a hobby. I could give the legal career away if the music took off .”
But Andrew said he still gets pretty nervous performing in front of an audience.
“I practice at home a lot but I don’t have a lot of experience as a performer. When I explain to the audience the themes behind a song I’ve written, I usually end up warning them it might be crap! I am pretty shy and self-deprecating actually.”
Andrew said his colleagues have all been really positive about his profi le as a QUT graduate in the advertisements and on billboards.
But he said he showed a web page ad to some people at work and someone actually said ‘don’t they normally get someone cool for these ads?’
Andrew told them he was going to get that line put into the TV ad – and he did.
- Amanda Walker
Shy guy rocks law
Education
MIDDLE years school students are shunning science because it is out of step with the needs and motivations of adolescents, according to QUT researcher Warren Copping.
Mr Copping, a science teacher for more than three decades, is hoping to arrest the slide and spark interest in the subject by trialling a more student- centred approach to teaching as part of his Doctor of Education thesis.
“Once students leave primary school and move into high school they see the environment as less relevant to their needs and this can result in disenchantment with learning,” Mr Copping said.
As part of his EdD, Mr Copping, who teaches at a northern New South Wales high school, will be using one of his science classes to trial the student- centred method he is developing.
“Currently high school education is
more about teaching the subject than teaching the student – kids learn about it, regurgitate it then forget about it,”
he said.
“I want to make science applicable to their lives. I don’t want them to leave it at the classroom door.”
Mr Copping said the student-centred approach gave the students more freedom within the context of the subject, was more hands on and gave them a chance to create new scientifi c knowledge.
“I am not surprised when students become disengaged when they are thrown into a science subject and just told, for example, that they will be going to learn about forces and Newton’s theories,” he said.
“In our class we take off our shoes and experience the frictional forces that are acting on them or look at how Newton’s theories can be applied using examples more relevant to their lives.”
A teacher exchange to the United States in 2001 convinced Mr Copping that the student-centre approach was an effective way to engage middle
school students and that it could be adopted more broadly in Australia.
A survey of fi rst year high school students at his school in which one- third of respondents said they did not experience any positive activities in their fi rst 10 weeks also made him realise change was necessary.
He said a mismatch between students and educators became apparent during the transition from primary to secondary school which contributed toward disengagement.
Mr Copping said he was not being critical of teachers because all were part of a system where it was inferred that if your students did not perform in the standardised test then you were considered a lousy teacher.
“Teachers want change,” he said.
“They are in a quandary between doing their best and doing what they have to do. But we want kids to learn for the sake of learning – not just because they have to pass it in an exam.
“It’s time we engaged these kids otherwise we’ll lose them.”
Teach the student, not the subject
Business
QUT business scholarship winner Naomi Bastin says swapping her books for a job with Queensland Rail has given her a career kick-start even before fi nishing her studies.
The 20-year-old student from Lawnton is her fi nal semester of a Bachelor of Business degree majoring in marketing and public relations, and has just completed a 14-week stint working with Queensland Rail.
Naomi is a recipient of QUT’s Faculty of Business Corporate Partners in Excellence (CPIE) scholarship, which gives QUT business students the opportunity to undertake full- time work placements as part of their university degree.
The CPIE program matched Naomi with corporate partner Queensland Rail for two semesters of full-time
work placements, while allowing Naomi to continue her studies with part-time university classes in the evenings.
“The parts of my course I enjoy the most are the real world applications,”
Naomi said.
She said working at Queensland Rail had provided an insight into the business industry and allowed her to apply the marketing and public relations skills she gained at QUT.
“What I liked most about my work placement was the responsibility and ownership I had for my work.
“A lot of work experience involves assisting other employees with tasks but never having the full responsibility for a task, so this was a g reat opportunity.”
Applications for the 2006 Corporate Partners in Excellence Program open mid September. Visit www.bus.qut.
com/cpie for details.
Naomi’s career is on track
Cultural precincts
A BUGLE-blowing white rabbit might be the last thing you’d expect to fi nd in an art gallery ... but that’s just what’s waiting at QUT Art Museum for visitors over the next month.
This extraordinary carved rabbit is among works showcased in a new exhibition by Brisbane artist Stephen Hart, who uses it as one of his metaphors for the contradictions of life.
The free exhibition, A Silent Walk:
The Sculpture of Stephen Hart, is on at QUT Art Museum on Gardens Point campus until October 23.
Hart, pictured right, is a QUT graduate who has a studio at Newstead and has forged a reputation as an artist whose labour-intensive works revive the aura of the handmade.
His creations are all the more amazing when you consider that most of them are made out of native
Australian hardwood – an unforgiving material not usually associated with carving.
Hart’s local supply includes timber from wharf demolitions along the Brisbane River in the early 1990s.
The sculptor’s exhibition features several pieces that incorporate white angora rabbits.
One of the most striking is called Memento mori and depicts a carved white rabbit wearing red sports shoes and triumphantly playing a bugle while on top of a skull and Book of Answers.
According to exhibition co-curator Simone Jones from QUT Art Museum, there is great depth to Hart’s work, as well as irony and humour.
“He uses the recurring fi gures of the ‘Everyman’ and a white angora rabbit as metaphors to investigate ideas about the contemporary plight of humanity, the passage of time and life, the isolation of the individual and the
complex range of human emotions,”
she said.
“For Hart, sculpture is a way of making sense of our existence.”
A Silent Walk: The Sculpture of Stephen Hart is on at QUT Art Museum until October 23.
A free public forum on sculpture will be held at QUT Art Museum on September 21 from 6pm to coincide with the Hart exhibition.
T h e m u s e u m opens from Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 5pm, Wednesdays from 10am to 8pm, and on Saturdays and Sundays from 12noon to 4pm.
C a l l 0 7 3 8 6 4 5370 or visit www.
culturalprecinct.qut.edu.
au for information on all QUT Art Museum exhibitions.
White rabbit leads visitors to Art Museum
Visiting school students receive a physics lecture in a QUT lab.
Naomi Bastin in on track for a great career in marketing and PR.
Inside QUT is published by QUT’s Marketing and Communication Department.
Our readership includes staff, students and members of the QUT community. The paper is also circulated to business, industry, government and media.
Opinions expressed in Inside QUT do not necessarily represent those of the university or the editorial team.
about IQ
Art exhibition
Somewhere in the City
There’s something “unsettling” about Noel McKenna’s art, according to those in the know. See for yourself at QUT Art Museum during his Somewhere in the City exhibition, where innocent images take on sinister overtones. The exhibition opens September 8 and continues until November 6. The gallery is on Main Drive, next to the City Botanic Gardens. Entry is free.
Events
AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 8 QUT actors and technical production students feature in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night – a comedy about love, mistaken identity and gender – at the loft in the Creative Industries Precinct, Kelvin Grove. Tickets cost just $10 for adults and $5 for students. To book, call 3864 5495.
Info at www.ciprecinct.
com.au
SEPTEMBER 8 Get your coff ee fi x when the National Tertiary Education Union hosts a “fair trade” tea and coff ee tasting in the OJW Room on Level 12, S Block, Gardens Point, from 12noon to 2pm.
Entry is $6 ($5 for students) and includes a free “Make Poverty History” armband.
SEPTEMBER 9 – 11 Remember “the other son”, Robert, in TV’s Mother and Son? He was played by Henri Szeps who is now starring in the Hitchcock- style drama President Wilson in Paris at QUT Gardens Theatre. This thriller about power fantasies also stars Henry Nixon (Sterling McCormack on All Saints). Book on 3864 4455.
NOW – SEPT 4 You’re running out of days to see the International Digital Art Awards exhibition so be quick. Prints are on show at QUT Art Museum at Gardens Point (U Block) until September 4, with the rest of the works featured at the Creative Industries Precinct at Kelvin Grove until September 3. www.
ciprecint.com.au
Seminars
SEPTEMBER 1 QUT’s Faculty of Law hosts a free public debate on the arguments for and against a national ID card – civil libertarian Terry O’Gorman in one corner and Liberal MP Peter Dutton in the other. It runs from 5.30pm to 7.30pm in the OJW Room in S Block. Please book your seat on 3864 2712.
Conferences
SEPTEMBER 22 – 23 QUT is running the 12th National Conference for Offi ce Professionals at the Carlton Crest. www.
op2005.qut.edu.au
Visit www.whatson.
qut.edu.au for more event listings and to submit your upcoming event.
WHATS on...
Sport
FOR QUT counsellor Dr Elizabeth Tindle playing basketball has been a lifelong passion and she has no plans to give up the game she loves despite her age of 66.
Having just returned from the World Masters Games in Edmonton, Canada, where she played for an American team in the over 60s competition, Dr Tindle said she would love to compete at the 2009 games to be held in Sydney.
“It comes down to what people expect of themselves as they get older, you can still enjoy the competition but you just play the game in a diff erent way,” Dr Tindle said.
She said the Edmonton Masters, which involved more than 21,000 competitors from 96 countries, was a wonderful experience and her fellow American players had lived up to the motto “passion qualifi es you”.
Dr Tindle, who has played basketball for more than four decades and well before it became popular in Australia, said the team quickly adjusted to rules that sped up the game and spent more time on court than she had planned.
“I ended up playing four games in four days,” Dr Tindle said.
Despite her own remark able achievements, Dr Tindle left Canada inspired by those she had met.
“We played a team called ‘The Retreads’ who were from Canada and half the team was aged over 70. They were tall, statuesque and fi t and were absolutely brilliant.”
Amongst others she met was Dr Tom Amberry, who is in the Guinness Book of Records for landing 2750 consecutive free throws, and was on the coaching staff of the Chicago Bulls.
“You meet some fascinating people at events like this,” she said.
Dr Tindle said older people often faced barriers due to negative stereotypes about what they were capable of and added that “ageism” was prevalent throughout society.
“You can enjoy and play sport at any age. People my age are not playing for fi tness or to win, we play because we love it,” Dr Tindle said.
“The place I am most at home is on a basketball court.”
- Heath Kelly
For the love of it ....
QUT’s Singaporean students have celebrated their national day at Gardens Point campus with lots of food, music and fun.
The university has 487 students from Singapore this year, making the group one of our biggest representations of international students.
This year marked the 40th Singapore National Day and QUT’s celebrations included lion dancing, food stalls, music, pledges and a tourism display by the Singapore Tourism Board.
The event was organised by the QUT Student Guild and the QUT Singapore Students Association.
Visit www.guildonline.net for more information on SSA and other student associations at QUT.
Singapore students fl y the fl ag
Education
PRIMARY education students from QUT’s Caboolture campus have donated $1000 worth of sporting equipment to Caboolture East State School on behalf of QUT.
The QUT students visited the school this month to hand over equipment including cricket bats, baseball bats, basketballs, footballs and tennis balls.
Twelve QUT education students are regularly visiting the school this semester to help take health classes and physical education activities as
part of prac work for their teaching degree.
The university students are studying to become primar y school teachers and will graduate with a Bachelor of Education (Primary) from QUT.
They are in the second year of their four-year course.
QUT education students also worked with Caboolture East State School last semester when they took part in science classes.
Caboolture kids get sporty with QUT
Janne Rayner (Editor) 07 3864 2361
Sandra Hutchinson 07 3864 2130 Amanda Walker 07 3864 1150
Mechelle Webb 07 3864 4494 Erika Fish / Jason Weeding (Photography) 07 3864 5003 Rachel Murray
(Advertising) 07 3864 4408 Richard De Waal (Design)
Caboolture East State School student Jennifer Sultana, 12, tries out the new sport equipment with QUT second- year education student Glenn Burton.
Pictured right: QUT students Monica Wong and Desmond Teo celebrate Singapore National Day.
Dr Elizabeth Tindle gets in some quick practice on campus.
