Walking for fun at Kelvin Grove
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Q u e e n s l a n d U n i v e r s i t y o f T e c h n o l o g y N e w s p a p e r ■ Is s u e 184 ■ October 20, 1 9 9 8 - March 1, 1999
DNA project set to bite dealers in stolen animals
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QUT Central Administration 2 George Street Brisbane 4000 Telephone (07) 3864 2111 Registered by Australia Post – Publication No. QBF 4778
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Vietnamese dancers Thanh Lich Nguyen (left) and Minh Ha Tran performed a colourful cultural show at the Student Guild’s Festival of Unity, which celebrated
Brisbane’s rich multiculturalism in October
NATO’s threat to bomb Serbia over human rights violations in Kosovo is illegal and poses a serious foreign policy challenge for Australia, says a QUT Faculty of Law PhD candidate.
Rodney Pails’ thesis, International law on unilateral use of force and its cognition by the foreign policymaker, examines the legalities of world military action.
“NATO’s decision to bypass the UN Security Council and take unilateral military action breaches the UN Charter.
The end result, of forcing Serbia to back down in Kosovo, might be desirable, but this action nevertheless creates a dangerous precedent,” Mr Pails said.
Mr Pails represented QUT’s Faculty of Law at the world’s most prestigious international law meeting — that of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) — in Washington DC in April where the issue of foreign interventions came under the spotlight.
Speakers included judges of the International Court of Justice and members of world governments.
Mr Pails’ doctorate examines the use of force without UN authorisation, with the main focus being on the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. He also examines NATO’s actions in Yugoslavia.
“The challenge for Australia will come if NATO is censured by the international community, particularly Russia. Australia would like to support US-led initiatives, but in the process must examine the issue of a precedent for intervention which has been set by NATO’s activation order,”
Mr Pails said.
The decision taken by NATO was essentially a political one, he said.
Mr Pails, a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) graduate, spent two years practising with a Brisbane legal firm before deciding he was interested in the bigger picture.
“After spending a few months overseas in early 1996, I came back to Australia and decided to follow my dream of developing a career in international law,”
he said.
He won a scholarship to undertake a PhD with QUT’s Faculty of Law and is using the study to broaden his knowledge of international law and to redirect his future into a career in international diplomacy or foreign affairs.
Mr Pails’ thesis is expected to be completed by July 1999.
“The contention of my thesis is that when foreign policy is formulated, international law regarding the use of force should be an important consideration,” Mr Pails said.
He said he intended to publish his thesis in book form and that it could be used as a reference for policy makers in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Mr Pails said the support provided to doctoral candidates in law by QUT was excellent.
“From what I’ve seen, QUT is the best university postgraduate law faculty in Australia,” he said.
“The quality of teaching, the support and the opportunities QUT and its law faculty staff have provided me with are tremendous.”
Lawyer
questions
NATO order
Rodney Pails ... doctorate on unilateral military action
by Amanda O’Chee
Students would prefer to drive to university rather than use public transport because they believe cars are faster, cheaper and more convenient, QUT student research has found.
A survey of more than 430 students at QUT’s Garden Point campus found that car use would double if students could use their preferred mode of transport, thus raising pollution and traffic congestion.
Most students complained that it took too long to get to university, with a third of the students travelling 30 to 45 minutes each way.
Students wanted better bus and train links from the city stops to the campus.
Others called for better public transport to the suburbs and for an integrated system of buses, ferries and trains.
The study, by urban and regional planning students, is part of an environmental sustainability subject
Most students would drive – survey
being tested in the Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering, where students conduct a campus audit, researching the assets and impacts of the Gardens Point campus.
The four students examining access to the Gardens Point campus, Joe Armbruster, Anne Edmonds, Adam Nagel and Brett Stratford, found that half the students surveyed favoured changing their way of travelling to QUT.
But the researchers warned that with about 25,000 students pouring into Gardens Point each day, increased parking, traffic congestion and pollution would adversely affect the entire CBD.
“These preferred options would see more cars being driven to campus and less public transport use,” they said.
“If more people could drive to the campus and less would take public transport, the congestion and lack of space for parking on campus would need to be addressed.
“Also, issues of air and noise pollution caused by cars would be raised.
“This preferred use of cars relates back to the discussion on the desire to change transport mode, and that people perceive that cars are faster, cheaper and more convenient,” they said.
A third of students said they regularly drove to university, with 90 per cent of students choosing their mode of transport based on convenience.
Only 65 per cent considered the environment when choosing how to travel.
Other second-year student groups investigated electricity consumption and lighting efficiency, stormwater management, and urban ecology.
Lecturer Dr Richard Margerum, who ran the campus sustainability project, said it would be offered to students from other disciplines within the Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering next year.
The elective was part of the faculty’s year- long initiative on sustainability.
Students are inviting feedback from internal and external experts at http://
olt.qut.edu.au/int/selby/CampusSustainability.
Guild’s Festival of Unity a colourful affair
Showcase time for Academy
graduates
Page 3
See car pooling story, p 2.
A word from the Vice-Chancellor
About your newspaper
The editorial deadline for next issue (March 2 – March 15) is February 19 Inside QUT is published by QUT’s
Corporate Communication Department and has a circulation of 15,000.
Readership includes staff, students, and members of the QUT community.
The newspaper is delivered to specially-marked boxes in community areas at the university’s Gardens Point, Kelvin Grove and Carseldine campuses.
It is also circulated to business, industry, government and the media.
Media may reproduce stories from Inside QUT. Each story has been checked with the source prior to publication.
Letters to the Editor are welcome via mail or e-mail (maximum of 250 words).
The Corporate Communication Department address is Level 5, M Block, Gardens Point, GPO Box 2434 Brisbane 4001.
The opinions expressed in Inside QUT do not necessarily represent those of the university or the editorial team.
If you know of a story which should be told in Inside QUT, contact one of the communication officers in the department:
Colleen Ryan Clur (editor)3864 1150 Andrea Hammond 3864 4494 Noel Gentner (p/t) 3864 1841 Amanda O’Chee 3864 2130
Fax 3210 0474
E-mail [email protected] Photography:
Tony Phillips Suzie Prestwidge Advertising:
David Lloyd-Jones 3880 0528 Internet site: http://www.qut.edu.au/
publications/05news/iqut.html
From the Inside… by David Hawke
by Amanda O’Chee
Cutting-edge digital technologies that will revolutionise 21st century communications, making them faster, easier and more reliable, will be showcased in a unique demonstration lab at QUT.
Researchers and industry groups will feature frontier developments in virtual reality, voice recognition, security and personal communication systems using new mobile, satellite and digital technology.
QUT’s School of Electronic and Electrical Systems Engineering will open the Collaborative Teaching and Demonstration Facility for Digital Wireless Information Systems next March, to unite researchers, industry and students.
Two former QUT staff members have taken a leap into Federal Parliament.
Former QUT Justice Studies lecturer Brett Mason has been elected as a Liberal Party Senator. Mr Mason, 36, is an honours graduate in law and a barrister by profession.
He had worked at QUT since 1991.
Former Queensland Under-treasurer Dr Doug McTaggart has been appointed as an adjunct professor in QUT’s Business Faculty.
Dr McTaggart, who became chief executive officer of Queensland Investment Corporation earlier this year, has been appointed to QUT for one year.
The National Australia Bank has also sponsored a Chair in Finance,which was filled in June with the appointment of Professor Stan Hurn.
Electronic lab shows way with digital technologies
The head of the School, Professor Miles Moody, said the new wireless information systems would provide the backbone to all modern business and industry operations.
“The services presently available are at the equivalent stage of the first (Alexander) Bell telephone, in comparison to what is possible in the foreseeable future,” Professor Moody said.
“Speech, images and other data collected at one point will be freely available anywhere else in the world via mobile telephony or satellite links,”
he said.
Students will investigate case studies using mobile phones, Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, palm-top computers and image capture devices,
giving them a greater appreciation of the practical value of the theory they learn, Professor Moody said.
QUT had developed an industry reputation for researching and developing new digital wireless information services, including an intelligent scheduling system for Brisbane City Council buses, he said.
Voxson International will provide mobile phones and software, and Analogue Devices will provide digital signal processing (DSP) systems for application development.
Professor Moody said QUT was also involved in speech and image technologies.
The laboratory is being made available through a $230,000 grant from the Dean of Built Environment and Engineering’s major equipment initiative fund.
During this time he also served for nine months with the United Nations in Cambodia and was a visiting fellow at Oxford University for one semester.
Mr Mason said he regretted having to leave QUT after seven happy years, but that he was looking forward to his new role.
Former QUT Student Guild Welfare Director Bernie Ripoll has been elected to the Federal seat of Oxley for the ALP
Mr Ripoll, 33, worked for the Student Guild from 1990 to 1994, during which time he also completed a business degree.
More recently he was with the State Public Services Federation of Queensland.
Former staff launch political careers
Professor Hurn, who specialises in financial econometrics, came from Brasenose College in Oxford, where he was a Fellow in economics.
Dr McTaggart was Queensland Under-treasurer for two years, and before that he was an economics professor at Bond University.
Business dean Professor Sandra Harding said Dr McTaggart would provide advice on economics, finance and special Business Faculty projects, and continue on the Dean’s Advisory Board.
McTaggart is adjunct-prof
With parking being a major issue for students and staff at QUT’s Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove campuses, a new Queensland Transport initiative may be the answer to commuters’ problems.
Car Pool Connection offers commuters a chance to save on petrol and parking for anyone travelling between Brisbane and the Gold Coast or the corridor between the two.
Drive for more car pooling
Although Car Pool Connection is primarily for motorists to get together and drive on alternate days or weeks, those without a car who live in areas with poor public transport can also join as passengers.
For a Car Pool Connection registration form contact the QUT Student Guild or the registration hotline on 1800 687 344.
The Howard Government has been re- elected in an election dominated by economic issues, particularly the taxation proposals and economic management credentials of the major parties.
Although higher education was not much in the limelight during the campaign, public advertising by the Australian Vice-Chancellors’
Committee and the activities of some education unions in marginal seats have at least created the framework for a vigorous debate over higher education policy and funding.
Indeed, the much publicised resignation of former Opposition spokesperson on education Mark Latham, partly on the basis of differences with the party leadership on higher education issues, is an indication of the depth of passion that some of these policy debates can ignite.
The second Howard Government has a number of tasks ahead of it in the higher-education arena.
It has yet to respond comprehensively to the West report, including its radical recommendations on university funding.
It has also yet to decide on a possible replacement for the Higher Education Council as a source of independent advice.
From a funding perspective, urgent issues arise from the pressure on universities to grant salary increases through enterprise bargaining without adequate indexation of operating grants.
And universities in Queensland require further government-funded growth to match the tertiary participation rates of other states.
The new term will bring challenges for both government and universities.
I hope we can work together to give Australia the university system it deserves.
Professor Dennis Gibson
A new deal for higher education?
The head of QUT’s School of Architecture, Interior and Industrial Design has been promoted to professor.
Professor Gordon Holden (right) joins seven other academics who were successful in the annual round of personal promotions which were confirmed in October by the Vice- Chancellor.
Former senior lecturers Paul Burnett (School of Learning and Development), Doug Hargreaves (Mechanical, Manufacturing and Medical Engineering), Neville Marsh (Life Sciences), Lidia Morawska (Physical Sciences), Neal Ryan (Management), Joanne Wood (Optometry) and Abdelhak Zoubir (Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering) have all been promoted to associate professors.
This year, seven academics applied for personal promotion to professor and 21 to associate professor.
Personal promotions are awarded to those applicants who have demonstrated ongoing academic leadership; teaching performance and leadership; research, scholarship and other creative activity; and professional leadership.
Promotions announced
The QUT Centre for the Study of Ethics with other organisations is conducting an international conference entitled Government and Business: Integrity and Accountability in Parliament House, Brisbane on Feburary 12.
Centre director Dr Noel Preston said the conference would give delegates an opportunity to discuss the ethical issues confronting the public service, government and business undertakings of government.
For registration details, e-mail Dr Preston at [email protected] or call (07) 3864 4563.
Conference on business integrity
Founder of the Grameen Bank, Dr Muhammad Yunus, will give a special public lecture at QUT on November 26.
Dr Yunus will speak at Gardens Point campus from 6.30pm in Room Z411.
For further information, contact Cathy Stacey on (07) 3864 2975.
Yunus to lecture
Dr Schmid – an elected council member in the Queensland branch of the Optometrists’ Association of Australia (OAA) – said the research would strengthen the ties between QUT and the optometric profession.
Dr Schmid said she believed the consensus among Queensland optometrists was that they favoured the introduction of prescription medications into optometry practice, though a full survey had yet to be conducted.
The Ocular Therapeutic Drug Use in Optometry project has received a
$16,697 grant under QUT’s Scholarship in the Professions Scheme.
advertisement
by Noel Gentner
Encouraging results have been achieved by researchers at QUT in the early detection of lymphoedema of the arm in patients who have been treated for breast cancer.
Lymphoedema is an accumulation of fluid resulting from damage to the lymph channels which may occur after surgery or radiotherapy to treat breast cancer.
The condition of lymphoedema is i n c u r a b l e a n d d e b i l i t a t i n g , b u t treatment is available to control its progression.
Using a bio-electrical impedance analysis technique, researchers have been able, for the first time, to detect the early onset of lymphoedema before it can be diagnosed by conventional methods.
The bio-electrical impedance technique involves passing an extremely small AC current through the body and measuring the tissue impedance
The need to be aware of the threat of breast cancer was highlighted earlier this month with Cancer Action Week from October 5, followed up by Australia Breast Cancer Day on October 26.
Spokesperson for the Queensland Cancer Fund Alan Inglis said the organisation provided a number of support services for the early diagnosis
QUT’s summer program has been dramatically boosted with increased subject choice across all faculties and a slightly longer “summer semester”
during which the university will operate.
The 1998-99 program offers a choice of more than 100 subjects to enrolled and potential QUT students.
QUT’s new program is likely to be attractive to potential students looking to trial some subjects — and, in the process, notch up credit points
— before tackling full courses.
The broader range of subjects is also expected to draw increased enrolments from students from other universities keen to undertake cross- institutional study or to continue study without interruption.
A push by Queensland optometrists to have access to prescription drugs to treat eye disease may be helped by collaborative research at QUT.
The School of Optometry’s Dr Katrina Schmid and Associate Professor Peter Swann are members of a four- person team set to survey optometrists and the general public on the proposal.
Dr Schmid said Queensland optometrists had had access to diagnostic drugs since 1990 but were denied access to therapeutic S4 drugs to treat eye diseases such as bacterial conjunctivitis.
“We can put in eye drops to dilate the pupils so we can have a really good
Academy students showcase their talent
Nine graduating actors from QUT’s Academy of the Arts recently showcased their talents in Brisbane and Sydney. Those on stage at the QUT Theatre included (from left) Michelle Boyle, Steve
Bowers, Darren Weller and Mirin McLachlan
Optometry researchers join drive for drug reform
look in someone’s eye or we can put drops in to anaesthetise the front of the eye which is required for certain measurements,” she said.
“When we know someone’s got something wrong, we can’t prescribe a topical eye drop to fix that problem, even though we are diagnosing these serious conditions .”
Optometrists Leo Hartley from Mackay and Julie Albietz from Brisbane complete the research team.
The researchers will also examine optometry practice in the United States, where optometrists have access to therapeutic drugs.
Lymphoedema research
breakthrough
(resistance) to the flow of this current.
From these measurements the volume of extra-cellular fluid can be assessed.
In conjunction with the University of Queensland (Biochemistry) and the Wesley Clinic for Haematology and Oncology, QUT researchers have been successful in using the technique to monitor the treatment of lymphoedema.
Sensitivity of the bio-electrical impedance technique was shown to be much greater than with other conventional methods, and the researchers questioned whether it could be used to detect the early onset of the condition.
The research group — together with the Director of the Wesley Breast Clinic Dr Cherrell Hirst (who is also Chancellor of QUT) — designed a study to investigate the possibility of using the technique for early diagnosis of lymphoedema.
The study is being funded by the Wesley Research Institute. One of the chief researchers, Dr Bruce Cornish (pictured left), a lecturer at QUT’s Centre for Medical and Health Physics, said results had been very promising.
“At the moment we have recruited about 100 patients into the study,” Dr Cornish said.
“We take bio-electrical impedance measurements of patients before surgery and then every two months after surgery.
“Of the 100 patients, 12 have developed lymphoedema and many of those are receiving treatment; in almost every case of the 12 patients we have been able to use the technique to detect the early onset of the condition before it was clinically diagnosed.”
“The study will continue for 12 to 18 months,” he said.
of breast cancer and assistance for post-operative breast cancer patients.
Mr Inglis said the latest national statistics showed more than 430 people, the majority of them women, died from breast cancer in 1996.
The figures showed there was a one-in-12 chance of developing breast cancer over a lifetime, said Mr Inglis.
Summer program will give students an opportunity to fast-track studies
QUT’s Student Administration Department anticipates record enrolments from local and international QUT students.
The summer programs have proven popular with many students wanting to fast-track their degrees.
Enrolments manager Mark Ellings said QUT’s summer program would run for up to 12 weeks from November 30.
“I think this year’s bigger summer program will be even more attractive to both undergraduate and postgraduate students because they’ve got more to choose from,”
Mr Ellings said.
This year the Faculty of Business is again expected to draw most of the student enrolments, with 43
“In 1995, 1,617 people were diagnosed with breast cancer in Queensland,” he said.
“All women should take advantage of facilities which reduce the risk of breast cancer.”
Mr Inglis said mobile mammogram units visited country centres on a regular basis and the fund had an information service (where people could phone 1300 361 366).
summer subjects on offer across its six schools.
The Faculty of Arts has increased summer program subjects from four in 1997-98 to 16 in 1998-9. The Faculty of Information Technology has boosted subject numbers from three to 14, and the Faculty of Law from five to 12.
Mr Ellings said standard university services would be available during the summer program.
Students who would like a QUT summer program enrolment kit should mail in the “clip-out” coupon from Page 12 of Inside QUT.
Alternatively, e-mail QUT Student Administration Enquiries at [email protected], or telephone (07) 3864 5408.
October breast cancer awareness
by Amanda O’Chee
The Federal Government will consider a national wildlife DNA database following the successful launch of QUT’s Wildlife DNA Typing Project.
QUT’s School of Life Sciences is working with the State Government to create a database of genetic fingerprints from native wild animals and those bred by licensed keepers.
The database, which has attracted national attention, will enable authorities to determine whether an animal was bred legally in captivity or was stolen from the wild.
State Minister for Environment and Heritage and Natural Resources, Rod Welford, who launched the project, said the partnership between QUT and the State Government would help stamp out illegal trade in wildlife
National DNA wildlife record might be set up
Handler Kate Kraschnefski with Minister for Environment and Heritage and Natural Resources Rod Welford at the launch of QUT’s DNA typing project to stop illegal wildlife traders
DNA fingerprinting, coupled with electronic tagging and legislation, was an Australian-first and created Australia’s toughest measures against illegal wildlife trading, Mr Welford said.
Life Sciences’ Associate Professor Peter Timms, who heads up the project, said the database would enable authorities to determine the region from which animals were taken and this information could be used in court.
Mr Welford’s office said the department had been contacted by its Federal counterparts to discuss a possible national database.
Licensed breeders are being contacted this month to provide DNA samples.
Initially, researchers will concentrate on golden-shouldered parrots, and black, red-tail and yellow-tail cockatoos.
Green pythons will be added to the project at a later date.
by Noel Gentner
The first step to establish international anti-discrimination guidelines within the legal profession has been taken with the help of a QUT academic.
The International Bar Association (IBA), which met last month in Vancouver, Canada, adopted a resolution on ethical rules.
QUT’s Associate Dean of the Faculty of Law, Associate Professor Phillip Tahmindjis, is the chairperson of the Discrimination Law Committee of the IBA which has been working on this resolution for the past three years.
The IBA, which represents about 2.5million lawyers worldwide, is the premier global organisation of bar associations.
Professor Tahmindjis said the adoption of the resolution would establish global standards by which lawyers should conduct themselves in respect to each other, their employees and their clients.
“What it is saying essentially is that we should practice what we preach and
New ethical code for lawyers developed
not discriminate against people,”
Professor Tahmindjis said.
“It will set a global benchmark for how lawyers should behave and means the IBA has nailed its colours to the mast in this regard.”
He said part of the resolution called on the legal profession, “to treat all people with whom they come into professional contact without discrimination or harassment, such as on the grounds of race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, parenthood, pregnancy, language, disability, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, caste, birth or other status.”
Two years ago in Inside QUT, Professor Tahmindjis claimed that in Australia there was considerable discrimination in legal practices against women, blacks, people with disabilities and gay men and lesbians at the professional level.
The next step would be to get the law societies and bar associations world-wide to introduce the principles set out in the resolution to their members.
The results of a noisy, two-year revolution in music and sound production at the QUT Academy of the Arts will be showcased in the concert series The Radical, The Classical, and The Physical, from October 28 to 30.
Ring-leader of the change in music culture at the QUT Academy is head of music Andy Arthurs, who has a history of working with rock industry greats like George Martin and Paul McCartney and contemporary classical artist John Cage.
Mr Arthurs said study areas had been revamped and restructured to train musicians in the music fields where there is most employment demand.
“As multimedia technology is advancing, the demand for music and sound-based professionals in this new area is growing fast,” Mr Arthurs said.
He saied both students and graduates were being offered fantastic jobs.
Music culture set for radical remake
He said masters student Andrew Sorensen was now working full-time in Sydney in the multimedia field for games, entertainment and technology systems.
Graduating composition student Susan Hawkins will work in Disneyland as a composer/performer over the summer break, second-year new media student Andrew Troedson has been contracted to operate sound on a computer games for R3 software and masters student Leon Zadorin has been employed at Brisbane’s Grevillea Studios.
The Radical (October 28) will display cutting edge, innovative works in vocal, digital and acoustic forms. The Classical (October 29) will showcase students talented in repertoire-based wind, jazz and choir music. The Physical (October 30) will be a rock, pop and swing. All performances will be held at the QUT Theatre, Gardens Point at 8pm.
parents of Gujarati children to assist these parents to help their children,”
she said.
“In Gujarat I found the children had an increased involvement in domestic activities and the children’s development was focused on daily living skills, whereas in Australia the children had involvement in academic as well as domestic activities.
Stimulation ‘essential’ for vision-impaired children
by Andrea Hammond
Visually impaired children given encouragement and verbal stimulation from their parents have superior problem-solving skills, a QUT PhD study has found.
Leela Cherian studied groups of children in Brisbane and Gujarat, India, to explore the relationship between parenting styles of control as well as teaching styles.
The study drew attention to the role of culture in control and the teaching styles used to support the development of children’s creative problem-solving abilities.
“I found that early experience and familiarity with the (home and teaching) environment was an important factor in assisting children to generate creative solutions to problem-solving tasks,” Ms Cherian said.
“Children who came from families where encouragement, stimulation and independence were provided were in a better position to generate solutions to tasks.”
Ms Cherian found that firm parental control, involvement and encouragement were key factors in encouraging children with visual impairment to perform well in different activities. Children aged seven to 12 years were involved in her study.
Some interesting cultural differences between the group of 17 Australian and 13 Indian children had emerged.
“The difference in the parenting styles in Australia and Gujarat suggests the need for intervention programs for
Leela Cherian studied groups of visually-impaired children
“Parents in Australia tend to adopt a more encouraging style in helping their children, whereas parents in Gujarat tend to adopt an encouraging and directive style to help their children,”
she said.
She is doing her PhD through QUT’s Centre for Applied Studies in Early Childhood under the supervision of lecturer Dr Rod Campbell.
Q-Step equity program expands operations
same socio-economic group from Year 10 to encourage students to consider university enrolment.
The program has been increasing annually since 1992 when it started with 54 students. This year’s intake was 141 students and in 1999 the staff hope to accommodate more than 200 people.
“Since we began, Q-Step has assisted more than 750 students, of which 150 have graduated,” Mr Bland said.
the expanded service has two new staff members, administration officer Michelle Knowles and project officer Natasha Gordon. They join Q-Step Program co-ordinator Derek Bland and Nexus project officer Pathma Moodley.
Q-Step is a special access program to provide increased opportunities and support to people from low-income families who wish to enter QUT’s undergraduate courses. Nexus targets the QUT’s equity program Q-Step has been
moving up and out with a change of premises, new staff, a web page about to be launched, all while it has been expanding and piloting new projects.
After being located in K Block at Kelvin Grove campus for seven years, the Q-Step program has grown so much larger premises are needed.
Now in more spacious surrounds in Y Block (109) off Victoria Park Road,
of courses including double degrees and the most popular programs, and talk about life on campus.
At the briefing, each principal was told about the progress of their 1997 graduates, including current GPAs, prizes, other achievements and courses for which they have enrolled.
The breakfast is an annual event.
GPS, using satellites, can only plot a car’s position to about 100m of its location and with a 95 per cent success rate.
Drivers would be able to plot their car on an electronic street directory attached to the dashboard, which would also show the direction of the car, Mr Butler said.
“Civilian GPS systems are not accurate enough or reliable enough,” he said.
Another group of 14 final-year students is developing a micro satellite.
Weighing just 10kg, each side of the cube-shaped satellite is 23cm long.
Student Amool Prasad said the tiny satellite would carry a flight computer, data transmitter and receiver and power systems.
The launch is expected in two years, with funding being provided by the Australian Space Research Institute and the Co-operative Research Centre for Satellite Systems.
For more information about Expo
’98, see www.eese.qut.edu.au/project-expo
Vice-Chancellor Professor Dennis Gibson has hosted a breakfast for the principals of 20 prominent feeder schools from the Brisbane area.
Principals or their representatives dined in the Owen J Wordsworth Room, Gardens Point campus.
The information session allowed the Vice-Chancellor to detail QUT’s range
School heads at breakfast
by Amanda O’Chee
Pioneering students from QUT are developing new fingerprint technology to identify criminals faster and with more accuracy.
Engineering students are also developing a micro-satellite and an advanced car-navigation system.
These enterprising students from QUT’s School of Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering featured their research endeavours at the school’s Project Expo ’98 which was open to the public for two days in late October.
The new fingerprint system, being developed by Michael Mifsud and Linda Parker under the supervision of Dr Mohamed Deriche, will allow police to send fingerprints from a crime scene to head office at fast speed via computers using high-compression techniques.
Using research partly generated by past students, the pair has devised a new compression system reducing fingerprints to one-fiftieth of their size without losing
the major identifying features. This will make the data faster to transmit and easier to store on electronic databases.
At present, fiingerprints can only be reduced to one-tenth of their size.
The students have also developed a new identification system which is fully automatic, removing the need for human experts to mark, match and compare fingerprints.
Dr Deriche said the system, started three years ago by former PhD students, is expected to be completed within two years.
“They are devising robust technology to be able to extract the right features from the fingerprint and the person from a database,” he said.
Student Roger Butler has been developing a car navigation system which will improve on the current Global Positioning System (GPS).
Using three navigation sensors to enhance GPS, the system can plot a car’s position within15m of its location, with 99.9 per cent accuracy.
Technology on show at Project Expo ’98
Roger Butler ... his car navigation system upgrades the GPS system. His project was exhibited at Project Expo ’98
QUT sent three international graduates and Laurel Bright from the Office of International Relations to the inaugural Australian Universities International Alumni Convention, held in Adelaide in October.
The representatives were Joseph Lim (Singapore), Joseph Kwan (Hong Kong) and Bernard Chung (Malaysia).
Mr Chung, who helped establish the Student Guild’s international student director position before he graduated from law and accountancy in 1995, said alumni organisations were vital for keeping in touch with the university and for networking.
Alumni also provided opportunities for collaborative research, said Mr Kwan.
Mr Kwan graduated with a degree in architecture in 1976.
Banking and Finance graduate Joseph Li, said it was important to recruit graduates as active alumni members in their first and second years out of university.
The convention was the first time that all the universities of any country have joined together.
International graduates represent Uni
About 250 students met key employer groups to network and learn about clinching good jobs at this month’s employment expo for QUT students studying at the Carseldine campus.
P r o f e s s i o n a l associations and major employer groups, such as Andersen Consulting, Morgan & Banks and Queensland Treasury, met second- and third- year students.
Carseldine students absorb career tips at expo
by Andrea Hammond
QUT has awarded more than $126,000 to eight high-level artistic projects.
A member of the QUT Creative Works in the Arts and Design grant selection panel, Associate Professor Rod Wissler, said the new projects were expected to have a national impact on Australia’s creative industries.
“These projects are about publishing new work and publishing newly gleaned insights into the creative process.
“They are about the creation of new content and processes and the braiding of experimental, critically reflective
artistic or design work with published analysis — and it’s in that segment of creative arts work that we can see the possibility of equivalent parallels to research in the sciences or in the social sciences,” Professor Wissler said.
Professor Wissler, who is also director of the Centre for Innovation in the Arts, said creative arts had established a major formal presence in the university sector in the late 1980s after the amalgamation of Colleges of Advanced Education and universities.
“QUT has a major presence in creative arts and design and it has now claimed the high ground in supporting this kind of research and development for Australia’s creative industries sector.”
Successful projects in the 1998 application round include: a dance theatre work that will “explore the influence of text and new media on the relationship between movement and meaning”.
Another project will research and write a “Young Adult” novel set in the 1830s and 1840s dealing with Australia’s convict history and cultural formation.
A third project will prepare, rehearse and present a full professional production of QUT post-doctoral fellow Peter Copeman’s stage adaptation of Brian Castro’s novel After China for a Sydney cultural festival.
Boost for eight artistic projects
Senior Constable Julie Elliot (left), of Queensland Police Service talks to student Johnella
Aorangi at the jobs expo.
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A leading QUT engineering academic and manager, Professor Walter Wong, had the title Professor Emeritus conferred on him at a graduation ceremony in October.
QUT conferred the title on Professor Wong in recognition of his distinguished service to the university over more than 13 years.
During the period as head of the School of Mechanical, Manufacturing and Medical Engineering, Professor Wong developed a strong research culture in the school and attracted $900,000 in research grants and also secured many industry- funded chairs.
Recognised for his strong links with industry, Professor Wong has been innovative in course development.
He developed a scheme for industry sponsored projects for final year
Departing QUT engineering academic and manager, Professor Walter Wong (below), had the title Professor Emeritus conferred on him at a graduation
ceremony in October
Two-and-a-half decades after he started his computing degree, Energex senior systems analyst Pat Dancer finally formally received his award certificate at a recent graduation ceremony. One of the first intake of computing degree students at the then Queensland Institute of Technology, Mr Dancer studied part-time and worked full-time.
When he finally completed his studies in the middle of 1986, he was so busy with his blossoming career as a computer programmer, that he was unable to attend his graduation. This was rectified recently when Mr Dancer (right) received his degree from QUT’s Acting Chancellor Julie-Anne Schafer. Acting Dean of Information Technology Professor Bill Caelli led the applause.
IT graduate finally collects his degree
Wong urges life-long learning
undergraduate students, and was also responsible for the introduction of a number of highly successful courses (including the double degree in Manufacturing Engineering and Marketing, the degree in Medical Engineering, and the Masters in Engineering Management.)
Professor Wong, who delivered the graduation address, emphasised the importance of on-going training for professional development.
“I have always said this to my students — yesterday you were the best, today you are still the best, but tomorrow you will not be the best unless you continue to improve,”
Professor Wong said.
During the past ten years, as head of the school, Professor Wong emphasised the importance of research.
Professor Wong said he had three simple messages for graduates:
❥adopt an attitude of continual improvement and life-long learning;
❥develop management skills and promote leadership; and
❥ honour work commitments and value integrity.
Professor Wong encouraged those who had the opportunity to work abroad.
“Inevitably you will gain invaluable professional and cultural experiences,”
Professor Wong said.
“You will also discover how lucky we are to live in Australia. QUT graduates are marketable worldwide, but please do not forget Australia is your home.”
Early next year Professor Wong will take up the position of inaugural Vice- Chancellor at the University of Vudal in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea.
Brennan bats for Australia’s top scientists
by Andrea Hammond
Australia venerates its sportsmen and women and almost ignores equally strong performers in science, Professor Max Brennan told graduating Faculty of Science and Faculty of Health students.
Professor Brennan received an honorary doctorate for distinguished service to scholarship and the community, and was official guest speaker at a recent QUT graduation ceremony.
According to the former chair of the Australian Research Council, Australian industry underutilised science graduates compared to countries such as the United States.
“Australia contributes about 2 per cent of the world’s scientific research output — an enormous achievement for a country with a population of only 18 million people,” he said.
“Within that 2 per cent, we are outstanding performers in medical research, astronomy and agricultural science.”
Professor Brennan said that while the Australian media recently gave front page billing to the 90th birthday celebrations of cricketer Sir Donald Bradman, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Sir Howard Florey was “low key”.
“Florey was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1945, with two
other scientists, for the discovery and development of penicillin, a powerful anti-bacterial agent which revolutionised medical treatment and has saved the lives of millions of people,”
Professor Brennan said.
“Former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam described Florey as ‘easily the most important man ever born in Australia’.”
Professor Brennan
said Florey and Australia’s other Nobel Prize winners — including the most recent 1996 winner, Peter Doherty — were an elite group.
“But, as is the case in sport, this elite group is backed by scores of
‘medal winners’ who have made m a j o r c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o t h e a d v a n c e m e n t o f s c i e n c e , a n d c o u n t l e s s t h o u s a n d s o f o t h e r scientists who have provided the s t e p p i n g s t o n e s f o r t h e g r e a t advances,” he said.
Professor Brennan said some of the recent achievements of Australian science included:
●the atomic absorption
spectrophotometer — which enables researchers and industry to detect minute quantities of chemical substances and is regarded by many as the century’s most significant advance in chemical analysis;
●myxomatosis — which saved Australian agriculture from destruction by the rabbit plague of the 1950s;
● the bionic ear — which has restored hearing to more than 20,000 people worldwide; and
● gene shears technology — which has the potential to revolutionise agriculture through the production of higher-yield crops and reduced use of pesticides.
“These peak achievements are backed by hundreds, indeed thousands, of others that are reported in the international scientific literature.”
Professor Brennan said the role of universities, in addition to being major research performers in their own right, was to be the foundation on which the whole scientific endeavour was built.
“The universities are by far the major performers of pure basic research — the advancement of knowledge for its own sake; the advancement of our understanding of ourselves, the world and the universe in which we live,”
Professor Brennan said.
Universities also played the key role in the application of basic research to the solution of problems in a range of public-interest areas such as the environment and health, and to the development of new and improved products and processes in industry, Professor Brennan said.
A third role for university research was to provide a vehicle for research training — the production of graduates with masters degrees by research and PhDs, he said.
“Some would say that this really is the most important outcome of university research because these graduates are, quite literally, the country’s future. They are the foundation for our cultural, social as well as economic development,” he said.
Professor Brennan said that recent commitments by the Coalition to restore slashed research funding for universities and the Australian Research Council to pre-budget levels would not be enough.
“Although this is welcome, it won’t be good enough to ensure that Australia remains internationally competitive in research. In today’s fiercely competitive global environment, to stand still is to go backwards,” he said.
“We must encourage our politicians and public servants, particularly those in the Department of Finance, to regard expenditure on university research not as a cost, but as an investment in the future – one that pays handsome dividends.”
Professor Brennan ended his speech with an address to employers in the audience to use their science graduates.
“In the United States, the major destination for physics graduates is industry.
By contrast, in Australia there are very few physics graduates in industry and just a handful of PhD graduates,” he said.
“While this is explained, in part, by the different industry mix in the two countries, the lack of understanding among senior industry leaders of the role of science, and research and development more generally, is a major barrier to improving the competitiveness of Australian industry.
“So, no matter what your business is
— ma n u f a c t u r i n g , h e a l t h , information technology, agriculture, tourism, banking, or insurance — make sure you have some science graduates on your staff,” he said.
“They will make a difference.”
Professor Max Brennan
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by Trina McLellan
When it comes to understanding the connection between exercise and fitness, experts like QUT lecturers Dr Carolyn O’Brien and Dr Tom Cuddihy agree there is an important maxim at play:
those who do physical activity are rewarded with greater strength and health, and those who do not suffer the opposite fate.
And this, they contend, is particularly important for children who steer away from organised sport at school because it can bring on asthma attacks.
Dr O’Brien suggests the highly structured, high-achieving approach to school sports can be a strong disincentive to those children who tend to sit on the sideline or, worse still, back in the classroom.
The two QUT School of Human Movement Studies researchers are part of a team investigating the reasons behind this phenomenon.
“We have found the largest group of these children struggle with low muscle tone or what is known as ‘development co-ordination disorder’,” Dr O’Brien explained. “Once these children were described as ‘clumsy kids’.”
Dr O’Brien said QUT researchers were well advanced with helping children in this area overcome their aversion to sport with a special program to map individual needs and introduce less-demanding sports programs which aided in improvement of overall fitness and co-ordination.
“The next largest group — about a third of all children who do not participate in sport — are those who are chronic asthmatics and who are likely to experience exercise- induced asthma if they join in high-intensity activities,” she explained.
Dr O’Brien pointed to lifestyle changes in the past decade which had also contributed to the problem for children with chronic asthma.
“In the past, a child would probably have walked to school, gone for long walks with pets or friends and made frequent trips to the shops,” she said.
Today, she noted, with heightened concerns about safety and security, coupled with busier lives, parents often drove children to school and their activities tended to be more home- based.
“The literature shows us that moderate physical
activity is positive for children and it helps optimise their physiological profile,” Dr O’Brien said.
Dr O’Brien said that QUT research showed that, overall, one in three local school children declining to participate in sport were doing so because of concerns about the onset of an asthma attack.
“We looked at a group of students at eight schools in the metropolitan Brisbane area who fell into what you could say were the bottom 10 per cent as far as fitness was concerned.
“We discovered that, in Year One, low muscle tone problems were more common among those who did not participate in sport.
“But, by the time students reached Year Seven, asthma became the primary reason.”
Dr Cuddihy pointed out that such results could lead to serious, long-term concerns for such students.
“It’s a bit of a vicious cycle really, because these children fall into the bottom fifth percentile in terms of fitness,” Dr Cuddihy explained. “That is, 95 per cent of their peers are fitter than they are right now.”
If this lack of activity continued throughout life, they were three to four times more likely to experience stroke, coronary heart disease or diabetes.
“On the other hand, the lower their fitness level, the greater their chance will be of experiencing exercise-induced
asthma because high-intensity work is almost guaranteed to bring on asthma in these children.”
In their research Dr Cuddihy and Dr O’Brien have begun to challenge traditional fitness models which are underpinned by the perception that hard physical activity is necessarily good for you.
“Traditional models often depict maximum health outcomes only cutting in after sustained exercise (minimum of 20 minutes at 80 per cent maximum heart rate) at least three days each week,” Dr Cuddihy explained.
“This is fine for the healthy person, but we believe this sort of regime could not be tolerated by a child who had minimal fitness and chronic asthma.
“However, we do believe their overall health would begin to improve almost immediately if they followed a less strenuous program, say five blocks of six minutes at 50 to 65 per cent maximum heart rate.
“Over four or more days each week, this would deliver an accumulated fitness level that approached that achieved under a more strenuous program without the danger of triggering their asthma.
“What we need to do is prove this hypothesis and educate parents and teachers that children can get to the same point of fitness without strenuous exercise.”
After extensive groundwork, the QUT research team is now preparing to test its theory over the coming months with a group of up to 50 boys and girls aged between 8 and 12 years who live with chronic asthma and do not currently participate in sport.
“We’re looking to include children who regularly take medications like Intal Forte, Beclaforte, Pulmicort and Flixitide,” Dr O’Brien explained.
“All children participating in the study will be offered a comprehensive initial analysis — with a doctor and health services staff in attendance.
“This will include the ‘Rockport Walking Test’ where children will walk 1.6km and, as they progress, we’ll measure the changes in their pulse rate, the maturity of their movements and their lung capacity.
“After the initial analysis, the group will be split in two, with group A children attending a clinic at our Kelvin Grove campus for one hour each week where they’ll be offered a supervised program of activities over the 10-week study.
“Meanwhile, children in our control group — group B — will carry on as usual.
“When our group A has completed the program, we’ll then invite the group B children to participate in the same program so they don’t miss out on any of the benefits.”
If you have a child or know of one who could participate, please contact Dr Carolyn O’Brien on (07) 3864 3855 or Dr Tom Cuddihy on (07) 3864 5826 at QUT’s School of Human Movement Studies.
Asthma researchers seek young volunteers
The Aerospace Avionics Rocket Project has just gained a generous new sponsor in the form of Sales Distribution and Services (SDS), which has donated $1,000.
On January 17, Aerospace Avionics students will be launching four Sighter rockets from the Wide Bay Training Area located near Tin Can Bay.
The rockets are expected to attain a maximum speed of Mach 1.8, while travelling 7km down range and reaching
a height of 6km. The main purpose of this project is to design and manufacture an electronic tracking device which can be positioned on the rocket. A substantial amount of funding for this project has been provided by QUT, but outside sponsorship
A presentation on the ticklish question of balancing inner-city accommodation and public space in Australian cities has won QUT landscape architecture student Anne Reid a $3,000 bursary.
Ms Reid’s outline of a proposed masters thesis, Are We Creating Tomorrow’s Ghettos? was deemed a winner by judges in this year’s Australian Institute of Landscape Architect Queensland Project Design Awards.
The Karl Langer bursary will help Ms Reid, a final year graduate diploma student, continue her studies at QUT.
“Since winning the award I have decided my study will focus on Brisbane and will include the impact that inner city apartment life will have on the city’s existing parklands,” Ms Reid said.
“I’m also interested in getting feedback from interested parties such as developers, residents and local councils, which will guide the direction my masters ultimately will take.”
Masters study will focus on balance
Rocket project sponsorship boost
QUT researchers say moderate exercise programs can benefit children with asthma, such as
Ethics and politics are not mutually exclusive, despite deep cynicism in the electorate, according to a new book co- edited by QUT’s Dr Noel Preston.
Ethics and Political Practice:
Perspectives on Legislative Ethics was launched by Tony Fitzgerald, Commissioner of the Fitzgerald Inquiry into corruption in Queensland in the Bjelke-Peterson era, at Sydney’s Parliament House in September.
Dr Preston’s book argues long and loud that it is possible to regulate virtue in public office despite widespread cynicism among voters and politicians.
He said it was a very timely publication as increasing numbers of voters were expressing deep disquiet and diminished trust in the major political parties.
“Many voters and politicians are skeptical about whether political ethics exist in reality — the normal response is that they exist ‘only in theory’,” he said.
“Yet the growing number of exposed political scandals, the powerful role of the media in shaping public opinion and the public’s increasing demand for accountability by its public servants require something more.
“A major step taken here is a re- examination of that nebulous but crucial construct known as ethics in politics.”
Contributors include Meredith Burgmann (NSW Legislative Council Parliamentary Privileges and Ethics Committee), Bill Hayden (former Governor-General of Australia), Cheryl Kernot (former Parliamentary Leader of Australian Democrats), and Michael Beahan (former President of the Australian Senate).
Ethics and Political Practice:
Perspectives on Legislative Ethics is co- edited by Griffith University academic Charles Sampford and Carol Bois of The Federation Press.
Focus on ethics in politics
is also essential. CMA Painting Services is another sponsor.
For information about how to assist the students, visit the project’s site at http://
www.ozemail.com.au/~rossd1
Aerospace Avionics student Alex Hand accepted a $1,000 donation on behalf of project participants from SDS director
Amanda Watts at a recent function at QUT
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When Valentine’s Day comes around again, spare a thought for those who will still be mourning sister and brother Priya and Ajay D’Souza.
At the beginning of 1997, the pair of QUT students had everything to live for. The Indian students were both in Australia on student visas.
Priya had completed her Bachelor of Business in banking and finance and was contemplating study for a higher degree. Ajay was three years through his four-year Bachelor of Engineering in electrical and computer engineering.
Parents Edwin and Gracie, living in a quiet suburb in Bombay, were proud of their children. The pair worked hard at university, sent money home from their part-time earnings, and they also sent their parents precious photographs.
Priya had attended a local private school and, after completing her first year of a bachelor of commerce degree at RA Poddar College in Bombay, she had decided to apply to study in Queensland, while her younger brother Ajay had applied to study engineering at QUT.
After a year living in university residences at St Lucia and establishing a wide circle of student friends, the pair decided to share a townhouse in The
Treasured siblings will long be remembered
Gap. Their townhouse was one in a group which was home to several other uni students.
Priya had been working part-time in a local Indian restaurant and Ajay had been delivering pizzas. He played rugby and was popular with peers.
While studying in Brisbane, Priya had met and become engaged to an Australian business student and the pair had been home to India to meet her family during university holidays.
The sister and brother kept in touch with their family in Bombay by e-mail.
So, when e-mails from Priya, 22, and Ajay, 21, suddenly stopped one day in February 1997, family members in India were worried. Telephone calls went unaswered.
In Brisbane, Priya’s Australian fiance raised the alarm with police when he arrived at their townhouse and found it splattered with what he suspected was blood.
Another flatmate, Sri Lankan-born Singaporean Rhaajesh Subramaniam, reportedly told the fiance he had been in the night before but had seen neither of the siblings.
Two days later, on Valentine’s Day, 1997, police were informed of a grisly find on a bush track at Mt Nebo on the north-western outskirts of Brisbane.
Wrapped in blankets and sheeting, the pair had been brutally murdered with bolts from a crossbow.
By this time, Priya and Ajay’s father and their uncle were on their way to Australia.
The family’s first task upon arriving in Brisbane was to formally identify their beloved Priya and Ajay. At the same time, police were in the process of laying
formal charges of murder and theft against their flatmate Rhaajesh.
Police later told the court Rhaajesh had admitted he had forged a student identity card by pasting his picture over Ajay’s.
He also faced charges of stealing Ajay’s cash card in order to withdraw more than $9,000 in cash during five withdrawals from separate bank branches the day after their murder.
More details emerged in court.
QUT’s first international diploma students graduated at a ceremony in October.
Thirty-four students graduated with either the University Diploma of Business or University Diploma of Information Technology, delivered for the faculties by the QUT International College.
The students, who began their studies in February, have completed the equivalent of the first year of a bachelor’s degree.
QUT International College’s administrative officer for university entry programs, Barbara Hosegood, said the students began their second- year bachelor studies in October.
By the middle of 1999 they would have completed two years of a bachelor’s degree.
College director David Stent said the International College was preparing to develop other university diploma and certificate programs over the next four years.
by Andrea Hammond
Nurses are likely to deceive and, in some cases, lie to their patients if they believe it will do them good or prevent harm, a master’s study of the phenomenon of lying in nursing has found.
Australian Catholic University lecturer Anthony Tuckett interviewed 12 registered nurses in a qualitative study to gauge situations and reasons that might prompt nurses to be
“economical with the truth”.
He separated the phenomenon into five themes and created an ethical framework for truthful disclosure for his thesis, which was supervised by Associate Professor Dr Noel Preston in QUT’s School of Humanities.
“Firstly I was interested in the idea that if lying means to intentionally deceive someone, can we do that in ways other than speaking an untruth – I wanted to find out how these nurses felt about deceiving patients by being silent.
“The general feeling (among the nurses) was that, in order to lie, we have to make an intentional misleading statement.
“My second theme revealed their main intention: what motivated them at times not to tell the whole truth.
“Almost universally I discovered the nurses’ motivation, and the language that they used, was always aiming to do good, always trying to prevent harm,” he said.
“If we put that in ethical language:
they are responding benevolently or acting non- malevolently.”
Mr Tuckett, himself a registered nurse, said his third theme revealed the nurses’ role and the ethics of this role in the hospital situation, where doctors’ lies or deceptions were protected by therapeutic privilege.
“Within this theme I discovered there’s no statement to give nurses that
possibility (to mislead with impunity) so I found that what the doctors or senior nurses had told the patients, or the social order of the ward, might sometimes coerce nurses into being less than truthful,” he said.
“My fourth theme focused on institutional culture, and in part identified cover-up lies: when nurses make mistakes within their practice, and ties in ideas about ward social order.”
He said the fifth theme focused on relationships and place.
Mr Tuckett stressed that because his sample was so small, no sweeping statements could be made about how widespread the phenomenon of deception or lying was within nursing practice.
His thesis also included a conceptual ethical framework designed to allow nurses to deal with the dilemma of truthful honest disclosure versus some form of other response.
Mr Tuckett is now taking his research further with a PhD study Honesty in Geriatric Care under the supervision of Associate Professor Don Stewart in QUT’s School of Public Health.
‘Nurses may deceive for the good of their patients ’
PhD student Anthony Tucker at the Australian Catholic University
Under pressure from mounting gambling debts, Rhaajesh desperately sought ways to get money quickly, finally preying on his two young flatmates.
Last month the Supreme Court heard that Rhaajesh had waited in darkness before first shooting Ajay around 8.30pm and then, 90 minutes later, Priya as she returned from work.
After three hours’ deliberation a jury found Rhaajesh guilty of his crimes and Justice Glen Williams sentenced him to life imprisonment for both
“premeditated, cold-blooded and ruthless” murders.
The prosecutor in the case, Paul Rutledge, said the tragedy of Priya and Ajay’s murders was brought home when he saw a police photograph of the front door of their townhouse taken on February 14. It showed a bunch of roses ordered by her fiance earlier in the week for delivery on Valentine’s Day.
As family and friends have struggled to come to terms with their premature and violent deaths, many still cherish the memories they have of the beautiful young woman and her talented brother who has posthumously been awarded the degree he so desired.
Priya D’Sousa Ajay D’Souza
New range of graduate certificates in business
New graduate certificates in communication will be offered next year to equip professionals for modern business demands, according to communication lecturer Dr Caroline Hatcher.
Specialist communication skills have become key competencies for lawyers, engineers and other professionals as organisations try to squeeze more from their employees, Dr Hatcher said.
Four graduate certificates in Communication will be offered from first semester next year, specialising in public relations, advertising and organisational communication.
The four-unit courses will equip professionals with communication skills for their organisational and personal lives. These courses range from learning about corporate writing to presentation skills.
For more information about the certificates, please contact Dr Hatcher on (07) 3864 2891.
The School of Media and Journalism is offering intensive week-long film and television units this summer.
In just one week students can complete a 12-credit point unit in Community and Educational Video ( M J B 2 6 0 ) , M e d i a B u s i n e s s ( M J B 3 1 4 ) , o r S c r e e n w r i t i n g f o r C o m e d y a n d S h o r t D r a m a (MJB123). All units run December 7-13.
Contact summer program co-ordinator Colleen Jamieson at [email protected] or telephone (07) 3864 3771.
Television units offered Diplomas for international graduates
Diploma graduates (from left) Pauline Soh, Peter Luk and Gosia
Wolosiuk
