QUT bids farewell to Noel Preston
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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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We look back at 200 issues of Inside QUT
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Making no bones about healthy habits
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Queensland University of Technology Newspaper • Issue ... • Month, 1999 Queensland University of Technology Newspaper • Issue 200 • March 28 – April 10, 2000
By Margaret Lawson
R
ugby Union in Australia is entering a new stage of development with the launch of a research and educational centre dedicated to rugby studies at QUT.The Centre for Rugby Studies is the first of its kind in Australia and builds on the existing partnership between Queensland Rugby Union (QRU) and QUT through the Reds Rugby College.
Human Movement Studies head Professor Tony Parker said the centre would research issues including performance enhancement, nutrition, biomechanics, injury prevention, rehabilitation and talent identification.
“There is a growing interest in rugby research around the world, but sports science knowledge about rugby is less than in other sports,” he said.
“Research and increased knowledge in this area will help raise the level of
Year 1 students from Lowood State School were delighted with a computer presented recently by staff from QUT’s Centre for Public Health Research (CPHR), for participating in a mental health research project.
The PROMAS (Promoting Adjustment in Schools) project aims to identify children at risk of developing behavioural or emotional problems.
Some 1,600 children in 27 state schools are involved in the research project.
PROMAS assessments co-ordinator Sarah Dwyer said the computer was donated by Source Technology to reward a school which had achieved a 100 per cent teacher response rate during the first stage of research.
“In the first stage we surveyed teachers
and parents about children’s behaviour, family background and other factors that could potentially impact on mental health and development,” Ms Dwyer said.
“Lowood was one of nine schools that achieved a 100 per cent response rate and went into the draw for the computer.”
Lowood State School principal Greg Horrigan said the school had already benefited from the PROMAS project.
Rugby centre
launched
performance and the quality of sports science and sports medicine support at all levels of the game.
“This will enhance professional standards in rugby and contribute to Australia’s reputation as a leader in sports science research.”
Professor Parker said the centre would also distribute information to teachers, coaches and community and professional groups associated with rugby.
QRU chief executive Steve Thornton said the initiative would provide an enormous boost for rugby union.
“The Centre for Rugby Studies will help prospective teachers in QUT’s physical education degree develop an expertise in the game and take that expertise to schools throughout Queensland,” he said.
Professor Parker said the Centre for Rugby Studies planned to advertise internationally for a director and had appointed a coach-in-residence.
PROMAS gives children a helping hand
QUT Electrical Engineering student Anthony Chong tries out the new Virtual Workbench.
By Andrea Hammond
Undergraduate students from the Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering at QUT will have access to the very latest in computer graphics technology following the installation of a “Virtual Workbench”.
QUT is the only university in Australia to have a Virtual Workbench, which is commercially valued at
$400,000.
Its installation is the crowning glory in the faculty’s new synthetic environments laboratory.
Project co-ordinator Sam Bucolo said the Virtual Workbench and its associated graphic workstation had one
New workbench offers ‘total immersion’
gigabyte of memory and was one of the most powerful graphics computers in the university.
“This system offers you total immersion where you can actually get inside the data, rather than recreate it,”
Mr Bucolo said.
He said the technology was currently fairly expensive but, in time, these computers would become commonplace and QUT graduates would be able to use practical experience gained in their professions.
The two-metre screen of the Virtual Workbench shows three-dimensional data such as landscapes, buildings and prototypes with startling clarity and precision when viewed with special glasses.
It is several steps removed from CAD (Computer Aided Design)-based modelling because it has the capacity to include real-time data such as weather conditions and stress loads during a viewing session.
QUT’s synthetic environments laboratory has 15 graphic workstations and is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. QUT is the only university in Australia with such a facility dedicated to teach undergraduate students.
Undergraduate students from the faculty’s six schools have the opportunity to use the graphic workstations and the Virtual Workbench through an elective called ‘Fundamentals of Synthetic Environments’.
Lowood State School Year 1 students with a new computer presented by staff from QUT’s Centre for Public Health Research.
From the Inside ... From the Inside ... From the Inside ... From the Inside ... by David Hawke by David Hawke by David Hawke by David Hawke
A word from the Vice-Chancellor
QUT’s Careers and Futures Fair attracted thousands of students and more than 50 local and international employers to Gardens Point this month.
Recruiters from companies including Arnott’s, QANTAS, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Telstra and the Brisbane City Council lined main drive with displays and information about graduate career opportunities.
Head of QUT’s Careers and Employment Col McCowan said more than 3,000 students took advantage of the opportunity to ask potential employers about entry requirements and application procedures.
“One of the financial institutions had handed out more than 3,000 brochures
Careers and Futures Fair draws the crowds
within a few hours, which indicates the tremendous interest students showed in this event,” Mr McCowan said.
QUT’s eight faculties also participated in the fair and reported a high level of interest in postgraduate opportunities, he said.
“Feedback from students and employers has been very good and we look forward to making the fair an annual event,” he said.
Mr McCowan said the fair was part of a three-day series of careers events organised by QUT, the University of Queensland and Griffith University to provide students with information about employment and study opportunities.
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aculty of Built Environment and Engineering Associate Professor Doug Hargreaves is the first mechanical engineer in 25 years to be elected president of the Queensland division of the Institution of Engineers, Australia.His appointment is a highpoint in a career that has spanned more than two decades since he graduated as a mechanical engineer from QIT in 1976.
Professor Hargreaves said he planned to use his new role to promote awareness about engineering.
“Everyone takes it for granted that their lights come on when they flick the switch, without thinking about who designed the light bulb, where the power comes from and how the power was generated from coal in the first place,”
Professor Hargreaves said.
Institution of Engineers elects QUT academic
This is the 200th edition of Inside QUT, which in its 16 years has developed into a highly professional newspaper for the QUT community and others with an interest in the university.
The story of Inside QUT, as told in this issue by our Corporate Communication Department director Peter Hinton, is interesting in itself as well as reflective of the way in which our university has developed over the years.
Inside QUT plays an important role in bringing our community together.
It lets others know about the achievements of staff and students, by sharing significant moments in the life of the institution, and by giving information about events and activities.
Coinciding with this 200th issue landmark, QUT researchers have launched a new survey of Inside QUT, to help its editors keep in touch with the demands of the university audience. Staff and students can fill out the survey online on QUT Virtual.
When I read the newspaper, I am always astonished by the diversity of activities it reflects and very proud of the achievements it records.
In an institution that is so complex and diverse, and that has grown so much over the years, the role of a newspaper becomes even more important in instilling a sense of common purpose and belonging.
Congratulations to all who have contributed to writing and editing º. I hope that the newspaper will long continue as a record of our institutional life.
– Professor Dennis Gibson
Our newspaper has come a long way
As Queensland president he will represent the Institution of Engineers, Australia at a Government forum on Queensland’s future.
“I see engineering as having a pivotal role in developing Queensland as the
‘Smart State’, and the Institution as being responsible for rewarding initiative and innovation,” he said.
“Through continuing professional development programs and rewards for excellence, the Institution of Engineers is well on the way to helping Queensland achieve this goal.”
Professor Hargreaves is a specialist in tribology (friction, lubrication and wear) and is Director of the Tribology Research Concentration and the Fuchs Chair in Tribology.
– Margaret Lawson
Associate Professor Doug Hargreaves.
After attracting almost 70,000 visitors in Brisbane, the Everyone’s Business exhibition organised by QUT’s Faculty of Business and the Queensland Museum has opened at the new Museum of Tropical Queensland in Townsville.
Running from March 31 to September 31, the exhibition of business practice and culture from 1949 to 1999 is the first travelling display to visit the MTQ after the museum openedon March 8.
During its three-month run at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, Everyone’s Business showcased how far the business world had come in 50 years through oral histories, interactive displays and exhibits of older equipment alongside state-of-the-art technology.
Dean of the Faculty of Business Professor Sandra Harding said the exhibition was the first of its kind in Queensland and coincided with the faculty’s 50th anniversary of providing business education in the State.
Business exhibition moves to Townsville museum
“Business touches everyone’s lives and this exhibition was a way of demonstrating that to people in our community,” Professor Harding said.
“We had older people at the display revisiting the way things were, observing the valuable part they played in the development of business this past half century.
“Some of them even tried their hand at email for the first time.
“Many school children took delight in trying out their first manual typewriter and, while most of them would have no problem navigating the Internet on a PC, they struggled with the absence of a ‘delete’ button and the presence of a carriage return.”
Everyone’s Business was sponsored by the Department of State Development and The Courier-Mail, and supported by Collins Food International and Stanbroke Pastoral Company.
– Carmen Myler
Several building projects on QUT campuses are nearing completion, according to Finance and Facilities’
Capital Works manager Tom Moore.
Mr Moore said work on the Main Drive landscaping at Gardens Point would be completed next month.
Landscape architects are designing a
Campus building projects nearing completion
pedestrian walkway at Gardens Point to link Main Drive with the proposed South Bank pedestrian bridge.
Mr Moore said renovation work on level four of B Block, Gardens Point for the Graduate School of Business would be completed this month.
He said landscaping of the main
entry point at A Block at Kelvin Grove campus was continuing and was expected to be completed in April.
At Carseldine, work on the new student centre in C Block and construction of the cyberafé in R Block were to be completed later this month, he said.
Thousands of students, including (from left) Brooke Griffith, Ella Blackburn and Callista Punch checked out career options at QUT’s Careers and Futures Fair held at Gardens Point campus earlier this month.
Former Australian Broadcasting Corporation Managing Director Brian Johns, AO, will address the first QUT Business Leaders’ Forum for 2000 on March 30.
Mr Johns will discuss some of the dramatic changes he has seen during his five-year term as the head of the ABC.
He will also present his views on the future direction for the ABC and the ABC/Telstra Internet connection.
Mr Johns will join QUT’s School of Media and Journalism in April as an adjunct professor.
By Andrea Hammond
Q
UT academic, political commentator and erstwhile activist Associate Professor Noel Preston has had the satisfaction of seeing the causes for which he has lobbied and been arrested since the 1970s become almost mainstream by the year 2000.A firm believer that the role of academics is not only to teach but also to critique society, Professor Preston will wind down a 13-year career when he retires from the School of Humanities and Social Science this month.
Since the 1970s, nuclear disarmament, action against corruption in government, independence for East Timor and the protection of Aboriginal rights, have moved from the domain of radicals to become public policy.
On the academic front, Professor Preston has argued for bringing humanities into the very heart of QUT which – while still physically removed because of the School’s location at Carseldine campus – has resulted in the establishment of the highly-regarded Centre for Public Sector Ethics.
Other highlights of his academic career include the establishment of an applied ethics major within the Bachelor of Arts (Humanities) and the formation of the Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics, of which he has been president.
A string of public lectures, books, countless academic articles and a high public profile meant that when newly elected Queensland Premier Peter Beattie was looking for advice on his own pecuniary interests and potential conflicts of interest in 1998, he turned to Professor Preston.
In the last 12 months, however, the battles Noel Preston has been fighting have been of a far more personal nature.
The discovery of prostate cancer and a tumor in his kidney in 1999 signalled the start of a grim new campaign far removed from the glare of media attention and the public spotlight.
Brian Johns to speak at Business Leaders’ Forum
Noel Preston looks to new challenges
His doctors assure him he has won that crusade too, but the experience of his second joust with life-threatening cancer in 10 years, and the arrival of his first granddaughter Sophie Clare in June 1999, have made him look carefully at what he wants to do next with his life.
“Being a grandfather is a wonderful phase of life and I find it enchanting and fascinating. I ook at Sophie and all the rest of the world’s worries somehow get turned into hope by the presence of that little child,” Professor Preston said.
“Meanwhile I have a sense that the work that I’ve been able to do at QUT has come to a level of completion that makes me comfortable with retiring.”
He hopes to develop a part-time role involving community and public service and to continue his association with QUT’s Centre for the Study of Ethics and the Griffith University Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance.
“I don’t intend to disappear from public debate but I do intend to have more long weekends at the beach.
“QUT has been good to me and good for me. It’s given me an academic platform to make a contribution to higher learning, higher education and to society.”
Professor Preston’s journey to become the ‘voice of ethical behaviour’ in Queensland began as a clergyman. His spirituality, which has evolved over the years, is the major foundation stone for
the edifice of his professional, public and personal life.
He was appointed as Ecumenical Chaplain for the (then) Queensland Institute of Technology and the Brisbane College of Advanced Education (BCAE) 17 years ago. He was fresh from studying social ethics at Boston University in the US, against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, where Martin Luther King’s oratory still reverberated in the hearts and minds of the nation.
“When I came back into Bjelke Petersen’s Queensland in 1973 the Methodist Church gave me the responsibility for the social justice portfolio. In that role I had no option but to take on social causes,” Professor Preston said.
“Later, as chaplain, I quickly learned that to be effective I needed to develop a profile of relevance to the institution and I did this by continuing my
involvement in public issues and getting into the classroom.”
In this time Professor Preston founded “People for Nuclear Disarmament” in Queensland. Later in the 1980s, while a lecturer in the BCAE School of Teacher Education, he was the founding chair of “Citizens Against Corruption” during the Fitzgerald Inquiry.
Not one to shy from controversy, he has been arrested four times while on the campaign trail: protesting outside army bases (East Timor); during the Commonwealth Games (Aboriginal rights); at Brisbane Port (against nuclear warships); and in the Queen Street Mall (Bjelke-Petersen regime).
“The Fitzgerald Inquiry touched directly the very social justice issues that I had been involved in as a social justice, civil rights activist clergyman,” he said.
“By the Fitzgerald Inquiry, things were starting to switch and we were suddenly becoming mainstream: we had credibility on our side. If you trace the way The Courier-Mail has portrayed me over the years it’s a very interesting contrast between the 70s and early 80s and now.
“It’s been very satisfying to see, since then, a development of awareness about the importance of ethics in public life.
This trend has paralleled my academic work in public sector ethics in the past decade.”
Professor Preston’s parting concern is that education is gradually diminishing into skilling for jobs rather than focussing on what it is to be truly human in the contemporary world.
“The fact is a lot of academics have to compromise their integrity in the modern university. They are under a lot of pressure, for instance, to make money for the institution,” he said.
“What I see is a compromise of the true purposes of tertiary education.
Universities are losing their ethos of scholarly collegiality, whether that’s with the students or with other academics, and many have abandoned their capacity to critique society.”
‘QUT has given me an academic platform to make a contribution to higher learning, higher education and to society.’
Noel Preston with granddaughter Sophie Clare and his dog, Bazz, on the steps of his West End home.
Many students mistakenly believe that the QUT Student Guild is charging GST on this year’s union fees, Guild President Sophia Tagliapietra said this week.
Ms Tagliapietra said that while annual guild fees for a full year of study had increased by $30 to cover rising costs, the guild had nominated to absorb the $9 GST fee which comes into effect in July.
This year’s guild fee invoices had not made this clear and the Student Guild Office, University Student Centres and even the Australian Taxation Office had received complaints, she said.
“The truth of the situation is that the QUT Student Guild is paying the GST fee out of its own funds on students’ behalf,” Ms Tagliapietra said.
“There have been a considerable number of inquiries and complaints to the guild and to the university.
“We have decided to bear the cost of the GST because we are a non-profit organisation. We are here to help the students.
“Obviously the GST is going to affect students, particularly on food and educational expenses, but we did not want the guild fees to be another burden.
“All students should be aware that, of our full-time
$200 fee, $30 is contributed to our Community Facilities Fund, which is matched by the university for capital projects, like the recent renovations to C Block at Kelvin Grove.”
Ms Tagliapietra said the QUT Student Guild still had one of the lowest student organisation fees in Australia.
“In Queensland QUT’s $200 fee for full-time students compared well to the University of Queensland ($298), University of Southern Queensland ($260) and Griffith university ($223),”
she said.
Guild says GST is
not being charged
Peter Hinton, Corporate Communication Department director, reports on the first 200
issues of the University newspaper:
I
nside QIT had modest beginnings 16 years ago as QIT’s first corportate newspaper.Today it is a very professional university newspaper written and edited by journalists, and read regularly by 65 per cent of our 5,000 staff and 52 per cent of our 30,000 students.
It has aimed to be both a corporate mouthpiece and community newspaper for the QUT campuses – a seemingly impossible combination but one which has worked in the main (according to readership surveys) with very little management intervention over the years.
The first issue of Inside QIT, published in 1983, was written by communication students. I acted as chief-of-staff and editor. The students’ responsibilties ended when they had typed their edited hard-copy into a typesetting system.
I also helped Bob Prentice, who still teaches our communication students layout – albeit in modern context – to physically paste-up the pages after office hours.
The students were paid per hundred words published and Bob at an hourly rate, and we were able to use the services of the university photographer.
In the absence of more targeted publications, the newspaper was mailed extensively to the business and government community and helped draw media attention to some of our more interesting activities.
Prior to this, QIT had relied largely on the quality of its graduates to promote its reputation.
The first IQ staffer (part-time) was former ABC education reporter Barbara Ewart, who brought a professional tone to stories and the first full-time editor, in the late ’80s, was Liz Rivers who saw the newspaper through universityhood and amalgamation.
Other long-term editors were Jim Simmonds (now at Bond University), Anne Patterson and Trina McLellan (now Media Manager). Each brought new perspectives to the job.
Frequency increased from six-weekly in the early days to fortnightly during semester. It has always been a tabloid newspaper, printed at different times by Sunshine Coast Newspapers, The Queensland Times, Rural Press and most recently Northweb. Colour was used for the first time in the 100th issue.
The current editor (along with other publications), Colleen Ryan Clur, assisted by communication officers Andrea Hammond, Margaret Lawson (on secondment from Health Faculty) and Noel Gentner (part-time), and job-share photographers Suzanne Prestwidge and Tony Phillips do a highly professional job.
Of course they also work on QUT Links (the alumni magazine), write press releases and liaise with the media.
The newspaper has shared in QIT’s and QUT’s story over the years as these past issues indicate, and we’ve tried to keep a sense of humour with the regular cartoon and “campus quickies”, many of which have found their way into the mass media.
Certainly IQ has been available electronically for a few years now as a publication put on the Web, but we are moving to a proper Web-based newspaper this year, even though the take-up in this format is likely to be slow.
The hard-copy print version will continue.
We thank the many staff, students, alumni and others who have worked with us over the years – helping us promote their good work – and look forward to continuing to serve the QUT community with regular, informative, well-presented news.
Inside QUT looks back over 200 issues
First issue: September, 1983 September, 1984 April, 1987
September, 1988 September, 1989 August, 1991
February, 1994 April, 1993
August, 1997
May, 1995
October, 1998 International issue: 1999 Inside QUT cartoon: October 1985
By Keith Done
Inside QUT cartoon: October 1996 By David Hawke
Inside QUT Cartoon: October 1995 By David Hawke
Australian students could pay to do a degree overseas, but could not pay for a place in Australian universities.
By Andrea Hammond
B
risbane schoolgirls will be encouraged to build up their “bone bank” through a QUT-designed education package, to help avoid crippling osteoporosis in later life.The innovative package aims to encourage girls – aged 12 to 13 – at 10 Brisbane schools to participate in an education program focussing on increasing their bone mass through diet and exercise.
Program co-ordinator Dr Costin said the education program, which is funded by a QUT research grant, would initially involve 300 to 400 students. He said he hoped it would be expanded to boys, as well as girls, in schools throughout Queensland within the next 12 months.
Dr Costin said giving students the right information, attitudes and skills offered a chance to stave off the brittle bones and hip fractures that often came with the onset of osteoporosis.
“If you don’t take advantage of the accelerated bone development at that age you miss the opportunity to maximise the development of your skeleton,” Dr Costin said.
“The notion of ‘bone bank’ is that the more bone you can accumulate by the time you reach early adulthood (peak bone mass), the more effectively you can compensate for the natural bone loss associated with ageing.”
Dr Costin said osteoporosis was a significant issue of concern for
Project builds interest in ‘bone bank’
women because they lived longer and their rate of their bone loss doubled (from 1 to 2 per cent a year) during menopause.
“However, it’s a people issue, because in Australia we’ve got about 25 per cent
of women and 17 per cent of men aged over 65 who are osteoporotic,” he said.
“Potentially we are looking at substantial suffering and economic costs with the prediction that one in every three hospital beds in this country will
be taken up for problems associated with osteoporosis by the year 2020.”
Dr Costin said the key to building up a substantial ‘bone bank’ was physical activity and intervention in early adolescence.
“Evidence suggests that school girls’
involvement in physical activity such as sport starts to decline from early high school,” he said.
“If you don’t stress the bone by putting it under load, then there isn’t any stimulus for the bone to grow no matter what else you do.
“A high calcium diet is very important. However, you can eat all the calcium you like and if the body is not stimulated to use it for growth, the body will allow it to be flushed through the system and lost.
“Physical activity designed to load bone doesn’t have to be hot and sweaty. As part of the course we set u p a w h o l e r a n g e o f r e a l i s t i c , moderate intensity activities. In a d d i t i o n t o s p o r t , s t u d e n t s a r e encouraged to do dancing, weights, and activities when sitting or standing in front of the TV.”
Dr Costin said what was not widely known was how drinks such as coffee and soft drinks negated the benefits of a calcium-rich diet by interfering with the absorption of calcium into the bone.
“Coffee is a concern because it inhibits the action of bone formation and, like alcohol, accelerates urination thus increasing the amount of calcium that you wash out of the body in the process,”
he said.
“Soft drinks are a problem because the phosphates in them bind to calcium and make it difficult to metabolise.”
Dr Graham Costin ... the right combination of diet and exercise can help women avoid osteoporosis.
Developing new programs and establishing off-shore offerings are two priorities for QUT’s International College, according to its new director.
Elizabeth McDade, who took up the post in late January, said program development and quality were important to keep QUT’s s h a r e o f a n i n c r e a s i n g l y c o m p e t i t i v e international market.
“Prospective students are being given an increasingly wide range of pathway options to university,” Ms McDade said.
“The level of support and quality of programs QUT offers put us in a strong position, but we can’t afford to be complacent or ignore the changing needs of prospective students.”
Ms McDade said she was looking forward to working with faculties to broaden the range of programs offered by the college.
“The International College currently offers English language, foundation and bridging programs, as well as diplomas in business and IT and a certificate in health studies,” she said.
“I would like to see the faculty range expanded so we can offer a full suite of pathways.”
New college director focuses on development
Ms McDade said another option being explored was for selected programs to be offered off-shore.
“The college is looking at off-shore options for some foundation and diploma courses,” Ms McDade said.
“We are exploring possibilities that will support the quality of QUT’s programs and be attractive to prospective students.”
Ms McDade said that, under an offshore model, international students could complete up to their first year of study in their home country.
“Offshore delivery is very popular because it offers students financial savings and less time away from home,” Ms McDade said.
Ms McDade came to the International College after 20 years in the Faculty of B u s i n e s s , m o s t r e c e n t l y a s D i r e c t o r o f Undergraduate Studies.
“In the Faculty of Business I worked closely with the International College, and was involved in student recruitment and co-ordinating overseas twinning arrangements,” Ms McDade said.
“I see my role now to take this work further a n d d e v e l o p n e w o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r t h e
International College.” Elizabeth McDade with international student Vo Dinh Huy, winner of a Certificate of Excellence and an International Student Prize (top overall student).
Many mature-age students are achieving a high academic success rate in their first year of study, a QUT survey has found.
Counselling Services’ Dr Elizabeth Tindle said mature-age students who had attended an orientation week workshop were questioned at the end of the academic year.
“The average GPA of those who responded was 5.76, suggesting that many mature students are achieving a high level of academic success in their first year of study – one reason for this may be that mature students know what they want from their degree,” she said.
In 1999, almost half of QUT’s 29,000 students were aged 25 or older, and one in five was over 30.
Older students shine – survey
QUT’s contribution to older people was recognised at a special ceremony at the Parliamentary Annexe earlier this month.
Minister for Families, Youth and Community Care and Disabilities, Anna Bligh, presented a certificate of appreciation to QUT for its participation in International Year of Older Persons last year.
The certificate was accepted on behalf of the university’s Research and Design for Ageing International Network by Dr Malgosia Zlobicki.
Located within the School of Architecture, Interior and Industrial Design, the network recruits retired professionals to volunteer their skills and services.
Dr Zlobicki said the network’s associates volunteered their skills towards
Contribution to older people is recognised
research and design for ageing activities that were focused on improving the quality of life of older people.
She said the associates participated in a variety of tasks that included web site co-ordination, smart technology, course development and resources updates.
Meanwhile, QUT third-year nursing students helped launch a book titled Ageing is for Winning at the Kelvin Grove campus on March 14.
The book was written by members of Older People Speak Out Incorporated.
Chairperson Val French said it was written to counter the misapprehension that older people were inactive and that copies would be sent to all Queensland high schools and universities.
Research and Design for Ageing International Network’s Dr Malgosia Zlobicki (right) accepts a certificate from Minister for Families, Youth and Community Care Anna Bligh.
Brush with fame is no drama
2nd-year QUT acting students Anneliese Fegan (Mona), on left, and Johana Searles (Sissy) brush up on their lines during rehearsals for “Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean” a play about James Dean fan club members gathering for a 20-year reunion, running from March 22 to April 1 at the QUT Gardens Theatre.
By Noel Gentner
A
ustralian students who toured India and Nepal recently hope to help a community in north-western India overcome serious neglect of a major lake.The 22 students, including a large contingent from QUT, investigated the rejuvenation of the Sursagar Lake precinct in conjunction with students from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.
The student tour of India and Nepal, in January to February, was led by QUT School of Architecture, Interior and Industrial Design lecturers Peter Hedley and Dr Anoma Kumarasuriyar.
Students investigated a number of problem issues including land use, activity patterns, traffic conditions as well as social, cultural and ecological factors.
Mr Hedley said neglect and misuse of the lake had made what had once been the pride of the community of Baroda an “eyesore”.
“It was not only visual pollution we were dealing with, but also environmental pollution,” Mr Hedley said.
He said there was no natural water flow into the lake because inlets and outlets were blocked with silt.
Students take the sting out of lake ‘eyesore’
“The whole area had deteriorated and everyone could see what was happening, but nothing was being done,” Mr Hedley said.
“As designers we wanted to see if we could come up with a scheme to improve the area, bring it back to life and give it back to the people.”
Dr Kumarasuriyar said a report on the project team’s research had been presented to the Mayor of Baroda and a number of prominent professionals.
She said the students’ activites had been published on the front page of a supplement in the Indian Express.
“I think Australian students being there and becoming involved was a good experience for them,” Dr Kumarasuriyar said.
“This is the first tour organised by our school to the Indian sub-continent where there is a rich cultural and architectural heritage from which students can learn.”
Dr Kumarasuriyar said the school was awaiting feedback from the research findings before taking the report to the general community for consideration and possible implementation of its proposals.
Only a few months into the job and already the new head of the School of Mechanical, Manufacturing and Medical Engineering, Professor Joseph Mathew, is planning new directions.
A former Monash University Professor of Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering, Professor Mathew took up his position in January.
“The prospect of coming into an environment that I was comfortable with was very attractive,” Professor Mathew said.
His initial priorities include a focus on international education, then expanding and diversifying the school’s activities in teaching and research.
Professor Mathew said one of his immediate aims would be to consolidate the maintenance management and technology group within the school, to
“build them into a centre of national activity focused on engineering asset maintenance”.
“I see big opportunities in systems integrity and engineering asset
School’s course focus to include South-East Asia
maintenance research and QUT has an active Centre of Tribology and an industry-funded chair in maintenance and a vibrant industry activity,”
Professor Mathew said.
“There is a need to consolidate research activities as we have groups in medical and manufacturing engineering that need to be linked into external bodies like the Queensland Manufacturing Institute to gain the most benefit for the school.”
Professor Mathew said he also intended to develop the school’s courses in South-East Asia.
“We see the postgraduate off-shore program as a major thrust,” Professor Mathew said.
“We have a skeletal program in Indonesia and we’ll be taking that and r e d r a f t i n g i t t o m a k e i t m o r e consistent with Singapore and our newest operation in Shanghai. An opportunity has also just arisen in Malaysia.”
“The consolidation of the Singapore program with the Indonesian and Shanghai programs will create a consistent program right across South- East Asia and Asia.”
– Noel Gentner
A law book written by two QUT academics is thought to be the nation’s most detailed guide to Australia’s new Consumer Credit Code.
The 1,100-page Annotated Consumer Credit Code has been eagerly awaited by lawyers working in the financial sector.
The book, by Faculty of Law lecturer
Law pair release credit code book
Denise McGill and senior lecturer Lindy Willmott, outlines the changes the new code has produced and includes definitions and commentary.
Mrs McGill said publishers LBC Information Services had more than 200 back-orders from banking and credit lawyers before the book was released.
QUT law academics Lindy Willmott (left) and Denise McGill.
The rise of the One Nation party and f e d e r a l u n d e r - f u n d i n g o f multicultural activities have failed to undermine the strength of minority cultures in Australia, according to Professor Stuart Cunningham.
Professor Cunningham, head of Q U T ’ s S c h o o l o f M e d i a a n d Journalism, said “do-it-yourself c o m m u n i t y e m p o w e r m e n t ” , spearheaded by imported media, had helped ethnic communities withstand racism and political pressures.
“It’s no secret that multiculturalism in Australia has been under attack in recent years, from forces including the rise of One Nation and the decline of f e d e r a l f u n d i n g , ” P r o f e s s o r Cunningham said.
“As a result, public opinion is that multiculturalism is not in good shape.”
Multiculturalism defies neglect and rise of One Nation party
Professor Cunningham said that d e s p i t e t h e s e n e g a t i v e f o r c e s , multiculturalism in Australia was surprisingly healthy.
“Ethnic communities in Australia exhibit a high level of dynamism and confidence that defies the threat many have been put under,” he said.
“In part, this is a result of they way they use imported media and cultural products.”
Professor Cunningham has recently released a book, Floating Lives: The Media and Asian Diasporas, about the media practices of Asian communities in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.
“We found that technologies, ranging from satellite transmission to the humble video, have facilitated t h e w a y t h e s e c o m m u n i t i e s
negotiate their cultural, religious and political identities,” Professor Cunningham said.
“ I t ’ s a f o r m o f ‘ g l o b a l narrowcasting’, where people from China, Vietnam, Thailand and India participate in thriving popular fan cultures and crucial exchanges of information with counterparts around the world.
Floating Lives: The Media and Asian Diasporas was co-edited by J o h n S i n c l a i r f r o m V i c t o r i a U n i v e r s i t y o f T e c h n o l o g y , a n d supported by a three-year, $78,000 ARC Large Grant.
It is published by University of Queensland Press in association with t h e A u s t r a l i a n K e y C e n t r e f o r Cultural and Media Policy.
– Margaret Lawson Professor Joseph Mathew.
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Students’ specials
INDIA from NDIA1140
SRI LANKA from 999
KARACHI from 1150
DHAKA from 1140
NEPAL from 1199
SINGAPORE from 750
BANGKOK from 750
MALAYSIA from 750
HONG KONG from 780
TAIPEI from 780
CHINA from 905
NEW ZEALAND from 529
PREMIER TRAVEL & TOURS 83 Leichardt Street, Spring Hill Q 4000 Phone: (07) 3831 5866 Fax: (07) 3831 5877 TOLL FREE: 1800 633 827
Email: [email protected] Walking distance from Central Station
Helping hand for flood victims
QUT international students from Mozambique, Catarina Salite and Fredy Maderira, were on hand at the Gardens Point campus earlier this month to accept donations on behalf of victims of the
Mozambican flood disaster. About $300 was raised at a fund-raising barbeque organised by the QUT Student Guild. Donations can be made through UNICEF by calling 1800 815 847.
O
nly one week after learning that she had been accepted into the degree of her choice in the Faculty of Health, Jodie Taylor was selected by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) for a prestigious water polo scholarship.The AIS scholarship entitles Jodie to use training facilities at the Brisbane training centre, receive daily coaching and attend competitions and pre-Olympic training.
Despite these commitments, including four hours of training each day, Jodie is determined to continue with her studies.
“There was no question of doing one or the other,” Jodie said.
“I’m going to study health information management part- time and go to training before and after uni.
“I’m aiming to attend the 2001 junior world championships so I need to swim daily, have regular game practice and do lots of weight training to keep fit,” Jodie said.
At only 18, Jodie has already represented Australia internationally in water polo as part of the FILA Australian Junior Women’s team, which won the 1999 world championships in Catinia, Italy.
She is also the captain of the Queensland under-20s team which will contest the national championship in Perth in April.
“If I am selected for the Australian Junior Team at these championships I will go on a European tour to Greece and Spain in July, which will hopefully coincide with the semester break,” Jodie said.
“Managing my time will be a challenge, but I realise getting my health degree is important to set me up for a career.”
Jodie credits most of her success to coaches Sharyn Gist and Andy Enright, as well as her family.
“My parents have been the greatest support to me, from driving me to training at all times of the day, to providing financial support so I can compete overseas,” Jodie said.
“I don’t think anyone survives in our sport without their parents.”
Jodie catches the polo bug
QUT has recognised a number of staff members for their work on equity issues. Equity Award winners were recently presented with certificates and $2,000 grants to further their equity-related projects.
Awards went to: Robert Taylor, who initiated and developed Uni-Talk; Sandra Taylor, whose role as Education Faculty equity chair has led to the revision of the Faculty’s Equity Plan, and Professor Roger Scott who has consistently supported and implemented equity strategies in the Arts Faculty.
Award recipients in the group contribution category were the Development Office team for initiating an endowment fund to provide bursaries for low-income students, and a Faculty of Health team for significant contribution to indigenous health education. Phillippa Farley and Jillian Clare received an award in the Successful Project category for providing special tutorials for non-English-speaking background students.
Staff contribution to
equity issues recognised
Check out What’s On and post your entries at http://www.whatson.qut.edu.au/
STUDENT GUILD
Mar 30 Aussie Beer Fest. Gardens Point campus – 11am, Kidney Lawn.
FROM THE ACADEMY
Mar 22 –Apr 1 Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. Directed by Anatoly Frusin, this play is set in a small town in West Texas where members of a local James Dean fan club gather for a 20-year reunion. Contact Karen Willey at [email protected] or call 3864 3453.
Daily free lunch-time music at Beadles Café at Kelvin Grove.
SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS, CONFERENCES
BRISBANE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Mar 29 MBA Information Evening. Find out more about QUT’s innovative MBA, Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate programs. Bring certified academic records for immediate feedback, 6-7.30pm, Level 4 B Block, GP. Contact Christian Polglase at [email protected] or call 3864 1069.
TEACHING AND LEARNING SUPPORT SERVICES Mar 28 - 30 Free student learning seminars.
Active reading: Mar 28, 11am-12pm and 12-1pm, V771, Gardens Point; Mar 29, 12-1pm and 1-2pm, B304, Kelvin Grove; Mar 30, 12-1pm, R332, Carseldine.
Assignment Writing: Mar 30, 11am-12pm, R332, Carseldine campus.
Coursework postgraduate seminar – Higher level thinking:
Mar 30, 12-2pm, B225, Kelvin Grove campus.
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
Apr 5 Gonna take a sentimental journey. A nostalgic return to the good old days, recalling people and events which made our school days the best years, 3-5pm, The One Teacher School Museum and Theatre, KG. Contact Carol Partridge at [email protected] or call 3864 3424.
HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT
Apr 5 Introduction to Recruitment and Selection (Academic Staff). The role of selection panels, QUT’s policy and procedures on recruitment and selection and different methods of effective selection of staff, 8.30am-5pm, Level 2 Training Room, X Block, GP. Contact Dora DeLaat at [email protected] or call 3864 4120.
SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTANCY
Apr 11 Free Business Links Seminar, “The Ralph Proposals for Calculating Taxable Income”, 6-9pm, Owen J Wordsworth Rooms (Level 12, S Block), GP. Seminar presented by Mr Mark Reed, Director (Corporate Taxation), PricewaterhouseCoopers. Register with Trina Robbie at [email protected] or call 3864 4312 by April 6.
STAFF WELLNESS PROGRAM
Weekly Walking for Wellness. Carseldine campus – L Block, Monday, 5-6pm; Kelvin Grove campus – Wellness Centre (P102A), Tuesday and Thursday, 7-8am. For further information email Sheree Richmond at
[email protected] or call 3864 9704.
Inside QUT is published by QUT’s Corporate Communication Department.
Readership includes staff, students and members of the QUT community.
It is also circulated to business, industry, government and the media. Each story has been checked with the source prior to publication.
Letters to the editor are welcome via mail or email [email protected]. The Corporate Communication address: Level 5, M Block, Room 514, Gardens Point or GPO Box 2434 Brisbane 4001.
Opinions expressed in Inside QUT do not necessarily represent those of the university or the editorial team.
Colleen Ryan Clur (editor) 3864 1150.
Andrea Hammond 3864 4494.
Noel Gentner (part-time) 3864 1841.
Fax 3210 0474.
Photography: Tony Phillips, Suzie Prestwidge
Advertising: David Lloyd-Jones 3864 1840.
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