Tracking community cohesion
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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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Singapore graduate going places
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Blue Stocking Week
celebrations
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Queensland University of Technology Newspaper • Issue 194 • August 31, 1999
Feel as though your life is out of balance?
Does your body, mind or spirit feel a little sluggish?
If so, help is now at hand for QUT staff, thanks to the new QUT Staff Wellness Program.
The Wellness Program and Centre were launched earlier this month by Chancellor Cherrell Hirst to provide a one-stop centre and service to improve staff’s overall wellbeing.
The program also aims to boost the six dimensions of wellness: physical, spiritual, emotional, social, intellectual and occupational.
“There’s more to being happy, healthy, fit and well, than just running around the block and eating celery sticks,” program co-ordinator Sheree Richmond said.
“Wellness is about balancing your life and feeling good in all six dimensions of the mind and body.
QUT hosts world child art show
Staff wellness program launched
By Andrea Hammond
M
ore than 40 QUT arteducation and early childhood education students are cataloguing, mounting and hanging artworks, and training as tour guides for Brisbane’s largest children’s art exhibition.
The QUT-sponsored Children’s Global Vision: A World of Art will feature 400 pieces of children’s art from 20 countries.
It will be held during the 30th International Society for Education through Art (InSEA) World Congress, in Brisbane in September.
The exhibition is being co-ordinated by School of Early Childhood academic Dr Barbara Piscitelli and Visual Arts Associate Professor David Hawke.
Dr Piscitelli said many QUT students were contributing more than 40 hours a week to the massive task of organising the exhibition.
Some were being assessed on their efforts, others would get community service credits which counted towards their degrees, while others were working solely out of professional interest.
“For some people, this could mean improving their social lives, the way they handle stress or time management, their fitness and diet, or maybe looking after their spiritual side.
“Hopefully QUT managers will recognise the need for their staff to take the time to consider their wellbeing.”
The Wellness Program incorporates the “walking for wellness” program which was trialled last year. It will also include a range of seminars, programs and activities to be devised in response to a needs analysis which Ms Richmond will circulate to all staff members via email in the coming weeks.
Program members will pay an annual membership fee. This will include a wellness assessment, a follow-up consultation to discuss their results, referrals to relevant activities or programs throughout the year, reassessments, bi-monthly newsletters
and discounts to QUT and community services. Services are also offered on a user- pays system.
The QUT Staff Wellness Program is an initiative of the School of Human Movement Studies and is funded through a QUT grant.
Based on a 20-year history of similar programs in US universities and organisations, Ms Richmond said the program offered benefits to both individuals and the university.
“In the US, they’ve found wellness programs improve the quality of life of staff and boost staff morale, job satisfaction, and health status,” she said.
The program will provide practical opportunities for students.
For further information about the program, please email Sheree Richmond on [email protected] or call her on 3864 9704.
– Amanda O’Chee
“These are third- and fourth-year double degree Bachelor of Visual Arts and Education students, as well as Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) students,” she said.
Dr Piscitelli said children who painted pictures for Children’s Global Vision: A World of Art were asked to paint or draw their view of the world.
Many had also focused on a UNESCO conference theme: Learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together, learning to be, she said.
“What we have here is a really diverse range of work from around the world representing children’s views of their life realities, their political realities and their social realities,” she said.
The free public exhibition runs from September 22 to 26 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
About 1,000 delegates are expected to attend the five-day InSEA congress which aims to promote co-operation and research in the visual arts.
Professor Hawke is co-director of the 1999 congress and is convening the pre- congress research conference.
• See Page 3: Art reflects feelings on human rights.
Graduate Deborah recognised for excellence
Actress Deborah Mailman (left) was last week awarded the Faculty of Arts Outstanding Alumni Award for 1999 at a breakfast hosted by QUT Chancellor Dr Cherrell Hirst and Vice-Chancellor Professor Dennis Gibson (right). She also received a Professional Excellence Award. More reports on Page 5.
Art students Amanda Peckham, Natalie Keogh and Allie Cameron with School of Early Childhood senior lecturer Dr Barbara Piscitelli (second from left) work on the upcoming art exhibition.
Page 2 INSIDE QUT August 31 – September 13, 1999
From the Inside ... From the Inside ... by David Hawke by David Hawke
A word from the Vice-Chancellor
College awards fellowship
By Amanda O’Chee
Q
UT and TAFE Queensland will offer the State’s first integrated program to meet the growing demand for high school business teachers.The Diploma of Business Administration/Bachelor of Education (Secondary), which was launched this month, will be available next year.
Staff and students are reminded of new university-wide parking laws that include a $30 minimum fine for parking and traffic infringements.
The parking penalties, which came into effect in July, are the same across all three campuses for the first time.
Carseldine campus manager Elaine Harding said it should be noted that a permit for one campus did not automatically allow parking elsewhere.
TAFE accord signed
Students will complete the diploma and bachelor degree in four years – the same time it takes to complete the bachelor degree on its own.
They will attend classes at both QUT and TAFE for the first 18 months and complete the remainder of their studies at QUT. By working together, the two institutions will ensure manageable timetables with a minimum of travel.
QUT project officer Linda Clay said the employment prospects for graduates were high.
“The Education Department often had trouble meeting demand for high school business teachers,” she said.
The joint program will enable students to access teaching, computing, audio-visual and library services at both institutions.
Chair of the TAFE Directors’ Executive Rachel Hunter and Dean of Education Professor Alan Cumming sign the new QUT-TAFE agreement.
University-wide parking laws now in force at QUT
“People need to remember that unless it is marked ‘AC’ for All Campuses they must only park in the specific parking areas designated for their permits,” Ms Harding said.
Any queries about the new laws should be directed to the three campus managers: Paul Abernethy (Gardens Point) 3864 2693, David Spann (Kelvin Grove) 3864 3214 or Elaine Harding (Carseldine) 3864 4572.
Team focus on survey
Postgraduate fees for incoming Master of Business Administration (MBA) students will rise by 33 per cent from March next year.
The tuition fees for new students will increase from $90 to $120 per credit point. Students who are already enrolled in the MBA program will be covered by a “grandfather clause” that will see their fees increase from $90 to $100 per credit point.
Head of the Brisbane Graduate School of Business Professor Evan Douglas said the fee increase was necessary to reflect the costs of delivering a high-quality program.
“At present we are effectively subsidised by the rest of the university – we obtain university services, including teaching services from other schools at less than their real costs,” Professor Douglas said.
“Recent changes in the MBA program have also increased the cost of delivery.
The six entry points per year and the introduction of half-semester units have substantially raised the administrative costs of the school.
“We have also improved the quality of course advice and service to our students which has required more and better people at the interface,” he said.
Professor Douglas said some expenses currently paid by QUT MBA students would be covered by the new fees.
“Course manuals will be issued free to all enrolled students and a range of other ‘co-curricular’ events are planned
MBA fees set to
increase next year
An eight-member staff group was formed last week to recommend a series of actions and strategies to the Vice-Chancellor in response to the recent staff climate survey.
The Climate Survey Advisory Group to the Vice-Chancellor consists of academic and general staff across different areas of the university and from all three campuses.
Registrar Ken Baumber will convene the group.
Other members are Charles Patti, head of the School of Communications; Jane Williamson-Fien, humanities lecturer;
Lexie Smiles, part-time lecturer in architecture, interior and industrial design; Jenny McCarthy, Kelvin Grove branch library manager; Joseph Van Der Maat, audio-services coordinator in
TALSS; Susan Smith, school administration officer in the School of Electrical and Electronic System Engineering; and Leanne Gill, senior HR officer.
The group will discuss the issues raised in the staff survey and will be seeking further input from staff.
“The Vice-Chancellor has deliberately chosen a group that is representative of staff,” Mr Baumber said.
The group will deliver its report to Professor Dennis Gibson by the end of the year.
The Have Your Say survey, QUT’s first employee opinion survey, was conducted by consultants Sicore International.
Education senior lecturer Dr Roy Lundin has been awarded a Fellowship of the Australian College of Education for his pioneering work using communication technology in education.
The prestigious fellowships are awarded to people who have made an outstanding contribution to education.
Only three fellowships were awarded to Queenslanders in 1999.
The citation highlighted his work in the use of communication technology for open learning, distance education, business and industry, and for continuing professional education, training and management.
Last week saw the launch of the QUT Staff Wellness program, one of the first programs of its kind at an Australian university.
QUT has invested in improving staff satisfaction through measures such as the recent employee opinion survey and our strategy to respond to the results of the survey.
While the opinion survey is a good measure of attitudes to things like management issues and role definition, the fundamental questions of physical and emotional health can have an even greater impact on staff satisfaction.
The new Wellness Program acknowledges the mutual obligations of the university and its staff in improving health and contentment in the workplace – it gives staff members the information they need to improve their individual health, leading to improved morale and decreased absenteeism for the whole organisation.
This type of program is increasingly common among private sector employers, but a university such as
Making staff wellness a priority
QUT is in some ways in an even better position to offer the program.
I am particularly pleased that the facilities and expertise of our School of Human Movement Studies, which have been used by some very high profile people in the sporting world, will now be available to our staff.
I hope that the Staff Wellness Program will become a significant way in which QUT fulfils its responsibilities as a caring employer.
Professor Dennis Gibson
that will bring added value for our MBA students,” Professor Douglas said.
“Another beneficial outcome is that the current dissonance between our fees and our quality will be eliminated. QUT currently has the cheapest MBA in town, yet the quality of the program is arguably the best in town.”
Currently domestic students pay a total of $12,960 for an MBA from QUT, compared to $14,400 for an MBA from Griffith. Prices for an MBA from the University of Queensland start at $18,000.
“The fee increase will mean that from March 2000 new students will pay
$17,200 for a QUT MBA, while continuing students will pay somewhat less than $14,000 depending on how far they have progressed through their program,” Professor Douglas said.
– Andrea Hammond Professor Evan Douglas ... MBA still good value for money
By Amanda O’Chee
Optometrists at QUT’s Optometry Clinic may be able to detect glaucoma more easily and possibly at an earlier stage thanks to two new eye-testing instruments.
The QUT Optometry Clinic will be conducting free glaucoma screenings during September.
Public announcement of the new equipment comes as Australia recognises National Glaucoma Awareness Month in September.
The QUT Optometry Clinic is based at the Kelvin Grove campus and is free to the public.
QUT School of Optometry Associate Professor Peter Swann said glaucoma was one of the leading causes of blindness and was extremely difficult to detect in its early stages.
The new equipment helps optometrists detect glaucoma in its
Art reflects feelings on human rights
Drawings, paintings and linocuts by Brisbane school children that show their understanding of human rights will be exhibited in the city next month as the highlight of a two-year Queensland tour.
Children Have Rights has toured dozens of local galleries, libraries and shire halls in regional and central Queensland since it was first
organised by QUT’s Faculty of Education in 1987.
The collection of 28 works by children from throughout Brisbane state schools will be held during the 30th International Society for Education through Art (InSEA) World Congress.
The show of works collected from schools and art programs at
Rainworth, Woodridge, Petrie Terrace and Bardon has never been seen in Brisbane before.
Children have Rights is free and runs from September 22 to 26 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. It runs concurrently with the Children’s Global Vision exhibition.
(See Page 1)
– Andrea Hammond Optometry student Simon Kelly, Associate Professor Peter Swann
(centre) and Clinic director Vicki Shuley test out new equipment.
earliest stages by either measuring a person’s field of vision using new and advanced technology or by measuring the thickness of the nerve fibres of the retina which glaucoma attacks.
“Glaucoma is a serious eye disease which can cause blindness if left untreated,” Professor Swann said.
“It is most common in older people but can strike people at any age. Patients are treated with eye drops or sometimes they need surgery to stop any further deterioration in eyesight.”
Professor Swann said glaucoma was best diagnosed using a combination of four methods: looking at the back of the eye, measuring the visual field, measuring the thickness of the nerve fibre layer and measuring the pressure inside the eye. This enabled optometrists to screen for all types of glaucoma.
QUT Optometry Clinic director Vicki Shuley said one of the new eye- testing instruments, the GDX Nerve
Fibre Analyser, measured the thickness of the nerve fibres in the retina at the back of the eye.
“By measuring the thickness of the nerve fibres in the retina we can determine if the layer is getting thinner and then either refer the patient or monitor them over time,” Ms Shuley said.
She said the test was painless, required no eye drops and took a few minutes.
The second testing device, the FDT visual field instrument, measured a person’s “field of vision” using new and precise technology. If affected by glaucoma, a person would start to lose sight firstly from the sides and then around the centre of their field of vision.
The Optometry Clinic is open to the public, as well as university staff and students. Eye examinations are conducted by optometry students under close and direct supervision by qualified optometrists.
By Amanda O’Chee
Q
UT researchers are developing a new medical technique to improve the success of angioplasties, which have saved the lives of millions of cardiac patients worldwide.Lecturer in the Centre for Medical and Health Physics Clive Baldock is leading the research team from QUT, The Wesley Hospital and the University of Queensland in a project funded by the Wesley Research Institute.
The technique could enable doctors to accurately measure and safely deliver radiation doses to patients’ coronary arteries to prevent life-saving angioplasties from failing.
Angioplasties are used to widen narrow or constricted arteries. A catheter is inserted into the artery and a balloon
Research may save lives of many cardiac patients
on the end of the catheter is inflated to expand the artery. However, studies have shown that 40 per cent of patients suffer
“post-angioplasty restenosis”, where the artery constricts again because tissue builds up on the inside.
Research shows that irradiating the artery after an angioplasty – a treatment known as cardiovascular brachytherapy – prevents post-angiorestenosis.
The research team will be developing techniques whereby the radiation doses could be more accurately measured to avoid damaging the surrounding tissue.
This new technique uses radiation- sensitive polymers to simulate the artery.
When irradiated, the polymer changes.
These changes are then measured using magnetic resonance imaging and optical imaging techniques, to provide a three-dimensional map.
Lecturer Clive Baldock is leading research to develop a new medical technique to improve the success of angioplasties.
Glaucoma detected more easily
A recent Freedom of Information application for details of the QUT Vice-Chancellor’s salary package is the latest in a spate of FOIs during the past year for similar information from universities around the country.
The FOI requests from journalists and unions have been prompted by a focus on the workings of the FOI process itself, by a strong interest in CEO salaries and by the current university industrial environment.
QUT Chancellor and chair of QUT Council Dr Cherrell Hirst, whose post is honorary (unpaid), said QUT been more open than many universities in providing such information.
She said that with the exception of the Vice-Chancellor and Deputy
VC salary details requested
Vice-Chancellor whose packages were negotiated by a committee of Council, staff salary scales were published internally.
The QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Dennis Gibson receives an annual salary of $231,669 (including 15 per cent salary loading for accepting a contract in lieu of tenure).
In addition, he receives standard superannuation benefits which apply to QUT staff, a housing allowance of $25,000 a year (net of tax), and the private component of a motor vehicle lease (Fairmont Ghia) valued at $9,500 a year.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake receives an annual salary of $175,077 (including 15 per cent loading for accepting a
contract in lieu of tenure). His benefits are standard superannuation and a motor vehicle allowance similar to the Vice-Chancellor.
Dr Hirst said that while QUT was one of Australia’s largest universities, the Vice-Chancellor’s salary was in the median range for Australian universities.
“A chief executive in private enterprise or large government enterprise with a job as big and complex as his would be earning much more,” she said.
“We have been very fortunate to retain Dennis Gibson as our Vice- Chancellor. His experience and reputation in higher education nationally and internationally make him excellent value for money.”
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Page 4 INSIDE QUT August 31 – September 13, 1999
Migration
laws change for students
By Noel Gentner
International graduates trained in occupations where there is a skills shortage will be able to apply to immigrate earlier than was previously possible after amendments to Australia’s immigration laws.
Student Administration associate director Helen Cook said the Federal Government had reviewed workforce requirements and identified a number of disciplines in which Australia was not meeting the needs of employers.
Graduates in particular disciplines, including information technology, accounting, law, teaching, engineering and nursing will now be able to apply to migrate to Australia on completion of their course soon after they returned to their home country.
She said international student graduates applying for immigration on the basis of the revised targeted occupation lists could now apply within six months of graduating.
In the past graduates had to have one or two years’ relevant work experience before an application to return to Australia could be made.
The new amendments came into effect in July.
“The people we are talking about in many cases have completed a masters degree in Australia, already have a bachelor degree and they have international experience and in the globalisation of the economy. Many businesses are looking for varied experience,” Ms Cook said.
“In some countries students prefer to go back to their own country to be with their families and pursue their careers there,” she said.
The government of Singapore, for example, actively encourages students to come back to Singapore.
Ms Cook said study in Australia was an attractive option.
“Australia is a cheaper destination than the United Kingdom or the United States, and when you balance that with the quality of education students receive, you can see why a lot of students see Australia as a very attractive destination.”
International student enrolment at QUT increased significantly in semester one this year compared with the same period last year. A smaller rise was recorded in semester two.
By Andrea Hammond
Using sand dunes for sand boarding, jogging and walking may have little impact on their long-term stability, QUT research has found.
Dr Sue Buzer from the School of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Surveying has studied changes to Stradbroke Island sand dunes over the past 54 years.
She found dunes behind the beach, where children had been sand boarding for generations and where there was unrestricted access for people with bicycles and dogs, were developing the same way pristine areas would be expected to.
The findings had enormous implications for planners, landscape managers and local authorities unsure of the wisdom of allowing access to beaches through coastal sand dune areas, Dr Buzer said.
“These results are not what we expected. I would have thought the dune areas would have shown a lot more evidence of disturbance such as bare wind-blown areas and dead or damaged vegetation,” Dr Buzer said.
“That hasn’t happened at all. We found the sorts of changes that had occurred within the vegetation and the sand blows are exactly the same sort of processes that would have occurred had there been no people.
“The area we studied even appears to be more stable now than it was in the 1940s when it was a huge, unstable sand sheet, despite sections of it being (since) mined and revegetated and all the human activity.
“I suspect the reason is that the dunes
Dynamic dunes able to survive through the sands of time
are so dynamic that over time the types of disturbance people cause at this level is inconsequential,” she said.
The study concentrated on an area south of Point Lookout. Patterns of vegetation regrowth and sand blow activity since 1944 were mapped and measured using computer image analysis of a temporal series of air photos, and intensive field surveys.
The results were compared to Dr Buzer’s PhD model, based on Fraser Island, of how pristine sand dunes to which the public had no access could be expected to change over time.
The research team included final year students from Surveying, Landscape Architecture and Planning. The project was funded by a QUT grant.
Dr Buzer presented the results at an International Association of Landscape Ecology Congress held in Colorado.
MBA group to help businesses become ready for investors
Communication experts have a ball
A QUT researcher will investigate why the Brisbane suburbs of West End and Highgate Hill have preserved a strong sense of community spirit while neighbourhood ties in many other Australian suburbs have died.
Research assistant at QUT’s Centre of Applied Ethics Vikki Palmer will explore why and how the residents have fostered close-knit bonds, as well as study the role of “mutual aid” groups, food and housing co-operatives and other
Study probes West End community
alternative social systems developed by residents.
“In many Australian communities people feel a loss of belonging, they feel isolated from their neighbours and displaced in their own neighbourhoods,” said Ms Palmer, who is completing the study for her Master of Arts.
But in the area of West End/
Highgate Hill, there appeared to be a tradition of co-operation, she said.
Local residents will be interviewed by Ms Palmer to create an oral history of community initiatives in the two inner- city suburbs.
“However, we’re yet to see if this long- lasting sense of community will survive the recent transformation of the area into a ‘trendy’ locale, with its hordes of coffee shops,” she said.
Ms Palmer will also study the levels of “social capital” in the area.
– Amanda O’Chee
QUT senior lecturer Patsy McCarthy is congratulated by her daughters Chaya (left) and Maya after she was presented with a
“Drama Queen” award at the School of Communication Silver Anniversary Ball on August 20. Ms McCarthy has been teaching speech and drama for 23 years in the QUT school and is a recognised expert in her field.
Research assistant Vikki Palmer is exploring how residents in West End and Highgate Hill have bucked the modern social trend by maintaining community cohesion.
Dr Sue Buzer ... focus on dunes.
MBA students at QUT will adopt companies and help make them
“investor ready” under a unique joint alliance launched this month.
The Brisbane Graduate School of Business is a partner in the Global Access Program to link students studying entrepreneurship with businesses needing strategic planning expertise.
The Global Access Program has been formed by the Queensland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and a Gold Coast venture capital fund.
Professor Evan Douglas, head of the Brisbane Graduate School of Business, said the alliance was another visible part of QUT’s tangible connection to the business community.
“The Global Access Program will bring in companies that are looking for
money that will take them to their next stage of growth or development,”
Professor Douglas said.
“They need to be made ‘investor- ready’, which requires not only a formal business plan but adjustments to their organisational structure, assets and human resources so they are primed for the expansion that an injection of funds is likely to bring.”
He said QUT’s new MBA was the only one in Australia to offer a major in new venture management and it also offered a concentration in this area.
“Students are encouraged to apply their learning to the situation of a local company. Companies involved in this project will in effect be getting free consultation, not just from the students but from the QUT instructors.
“A student can take on an adopted company and work with that company throughout their course, doing assignments in their marketing, finance and other units in the context of that company.
“Ultimately they put all the pieces together in a business plan for the company and make a formal presentation to the venture capital community.”
Professor Douglas said the alliance would also give companies a positive experience of MBA graduates and what they had to offer the workplace.
He said alliances like this went a long way towards convincing businesses about the value of employing business and MBA graduates.
– Andrea Hammond
QUT Webmaster/Web consultant Stuart Wider wanted to have a morning tea discussion session with the university’s Web developers, but word soon got around and he ended up hosting a packed mini-Web conference at Gardens Point campus last week.
Outsiders might have suspected the hard-core designers of weaving a conspiracy. Software prizes drawn at the morning tea were all won by staff from departments involved in major Web production – except for one prize which went to the Registrar’s office.
Information Technology Services officer John Perkins graciously returned his software prize for a redraw, but it was promptly won by colleague Avril Grant!
QUT honours Outstanding Alumni
At 26, Allan Brackin took a $30,000 gamble and started his own business.
Two businesses and 13 years later, his company AAG Technology Services Pty Ltd – which specialises in computer product sales, IT recruitment, systems integration and IT strategy consulting – employs more than 260 people and boasts an annual turnover of $270 million.
AAG is one of only two companies to have been ranked in the top 100 fastest growing Australian companies by Business Review Weekly for the past seven years and is one of those rare companies in which employees share in the profits.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Applied
Science (Surveying) from QIT in 1981.
After graduating, Allan worked as a salesman and then manager for a survey instrument firm, before founding Queensland Laser and Survey Supplies.
QUT has named Bachelor of Applied Science graduate Allan Brackin as the overall winner of its 1999 Outstanding Alumni Awards. He is also the Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering’s 1999 Outstanding Alumni Award winner. The awards aim to recognise the professional achievements and contributions of graduates to local, state, national and international communities.
Faculty of Arts Outstanding Alumni and Professional Excellence Award for 1999:
Deborah Mailman
Deborah Mailman’s highly-acclaimed film and theatre work has seen her emerge as a leading Australian actor.
Since graduating from the Academy of the Arts in 1992, she has achieved extraordinary success as an actor, writer and producer. In 1998 she won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Nona in Radiance, a film written by Louis Nowra.
Over the past 12 months Deborah has performed in two works by Shakespeare, appeared in the ABC’s Playschool program, completed a second film and has received numerous invitations for work.
Deborah continues her involvement with the Brisbane-based Kooemba Jdarra Theatre, which she co-founded with fellow graduate Wesley Enoch.
She is currently developing indigenous content for a QUT Academy of the Arts project.
Faculty of Business Outstanding Alumni: Rosemary Vilgan
Last year, Rosemary Vilgan was named by a leading US superannuation magazine as one of the world’s top 25 movers in the global superannuation industry.
As the executive director of the Queensland Government’s Superannuation Office, Rosemary oversees
$15billion in Government employees’ superannuation- funded assets. Nationally, as president of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, she represents 85 per cent of the assets in the country’s superannuation funds, worth a staggering $300billion.
She studied part-time at QUT for her Bachelor of Business (Marketing) degree. Rosemary started in the superannuation industry in 1988 as a research assistant at the Queensland Government’s Superannuation Office.
Tim Carmody has had a distinguished legal career which included a key role in Queensland’s Fitzgerald Commission of Inquiry.
He was appointed inaugural Commissioner of the Queensland Crime Commission in January 1998.
In 1987 he worked as counsel assisting the Fitzgerald Commission of Inquiry which investigated State corruption.
From 1996 to 1997 Tim acted as counsel assisting the Connolly-Ryan Inquiry into the Criminal Justice Commission.
Tim graduated from QUT with a Bachelor of Laws in 1982 and was admitted to practice as a Barrister-at-Law at the end of that year. He was awarded a Master of Laws with Honours from QUT in 1997.
Faculty of Law Outstanding Alumni: Timothy Carmody
Faculty of Information Technology Outstanding Alumni: Adrian McCullagh
Adrian McCullagh has successfully combined his academic studies at QUT with solid legal and IT experience.
Graduating from QIT in 1980 with a Bachelor of Applied Science in computing, Adrian returned in 1982 to study for a law degree for which he received honours in 1986.
He is one of the first students in the world to undertake a doctoral program in electronic commerce and is national director of e-commerce with Gadens Lawyers in Brisbane.
A member of both technical and legal associations, including the Australian Computer Society and the Queensland Law Society, Adrian is widely acknowledged, nationally and internationally, as a leader in the field of technology and law and its interface with e-commerce.
Faculty of Science Outstanding Alumni: Walter Robb
Walter Robb has made a major contribution to the development of several national and state statistics systems, including implementation of the Queensland Criminal Justice Information Integration Strategy.
Walter is director of Qstats at the Treasury and assistant Government statistician.
He has demonstrated professional knowledge, leadership and management in handling large research and planning projects. He has a rare ability to give meaning to statistics.
Walter is responsible for securing commercial clients for Queensland Treasury’s Office of Economic and Statistical Research.
Walter graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science (mathematics) from QIT in 1975.
Excellence in Contribution to the Community Award, 1999:
Joseph Kwan
Hong Kong architect Joseph Kwan has won QUT’s Excellence in Contribution to the Community Award for a range of initiatives.
He has been recognised for his work in designing and promoting “barrier- free” buildings for the disabled, for his work as founder and president of the Federation of Australian Alumni Associations, Hong Kong – and for his involvement with Rotary International.
Joseph graduated from QIT with a Diploma in Architecture in 1976.
He worked and gained experience as a general architect in Europe and Hong Kong. For the past 11 years he has concentrated on designing and teaching about creating “barrier-free” buildings for the disabled.
Joseph visited QUT last year, and took time to build on his already excellent alumni links with the university.
Faculty of Health Outstanding Alumni: Judith Gay
Wesley Hospital’s Director of Patient Care Services Judy Gay has had a role in developing nursing education at three universities. She is a member of two national nursing associations and oversees a staff of 1,000 nurses.
Judy introduced the State’s first hospital graduate nursing transition program at The Wesley Hospital and oversees a number of alliances with universities, including a long- standing program with QUT.
She is a fellow of both the Royal College of Nursing Australia and the Australian Institute of Management. Judy is currently completing her PhD. She is an associate fellow of The Australian College of Health Service Executives and an evaluator with the Australian Quality Council.
Faculty of Education Outstanding Alumni: Ian Healy
Ian Healy has become a household name throughout Australia and other cricket-playing nations of the world.
Ian graduated in 1985 with a Diploma of Education in Physical Education from the Brisbane College of Advanced Education, a QUT-predecessor institution. Sport was a focal point in his life from an early age.
His early ambition had been to become a good PE teacher yet he has achieved enormous success as a cricketer.
As captain of the Queensland Bulls and a senior member of the Australian Test Team, Ian has made more than 100 test appearances for Australia and has captained a number of Australian teams. He has more than 4,000 runs to his credit. During cricket’s off-season, Ian is kept busy with business and family commitments.
In 1986 Allan, with fellow surveyors Ian Petherbridge and Andrew McNicol, founded Applied Micro Systems (Australia) Pty Ltd. The company has grown to become AAG Technology Services, made up of five businesses.
The father of four said he attributed his success to hard work, constant learning and
“surrounding myself with good people”.
Allan has provided educational opportunities for staff and has a company share program.
“We have 150 staff with shares in the company and we’ve financed staff to buy shares. Others have chosen to invest in the company by buying shares themselves, he said.”
He plans to publicly float AAG Technology Services in the next 12 to 24 months.
Allan has also made a significant contribution to the community and has sponsored four foster children through Plan International.
He is involved in sports coaching and fund raising at his children’s school and has also done volunteer work with homeless young people in Brisbane.
His company recently established an undergraduate and graduate employment program with QUT.
Allan Brackin ... Outstanding Alumni Award winner.
Page 6 INSIDE QUT August 31 – September 13, 1999 By Andrea Hammond
D
iscussions about genetically modified foods had focused on a few applications by multinational companies, Head of the School of Life Sciences Professor James Dale said this week.Public debate and a spate of recent m e d i a a t t e n t i o n h a d c e n t r e d primarily on herbicide resistance and insect resistance based on BT toxins b e i n g a p p l i e d b y m u l t i n a t i o n a l c o m p a n i e s s u c h a s M o n s a n t o , Professor Dale said.
“In stark contrast, most of the applications being developed in A u s t r a l i a – a n d p a r t i c u l a r l y i n Queensland – are directed towards disease resistance, improved fruit quality, and characteristics such as drought and salt tolerance,” he said.
“Importantly, these applications are – or will be – based on naturally o c c u r r i n g p l a n t g e n e s a n d mechanisms to which humans have been exposed in one form or another for eons.
“In most instances, we have been e x p l o i t i n g t h e s e g e n e s a n d mechanisms for considerable periods of time through conventional plant breeding and mild strain protection.
With the advent of biotechnology, we can simply do this more efficiently.”
Professor Dale said there were enormous benefits for consumers, farmers and the environment in the use of the applications based on naturally occurring plant genes and mechanisms.
‘No room for
hysteria in GM food debate’
“The direct outcomes will be increased production per hectare, vastly reduced pesticide usage and reduced health risk to producers as well as reduced residues and spoilage of produce,” he said.
“ T h e s e b e n e f i t s o f p l a n t biotechnology are far too important to Australia, world food production and our environment, to be lost because the discussion on genetically modified foods has centred on a few applications and has been confused with concerns over multinational ownership of some technology.
“Perceived and actual risks must be assessed on an individual application basis and this assessment must be b a s e d o n r a t i o n a l c r i t e r i a n o t hysteria,” Professor Dale said.
Professor Dale ... rational criteria.
Haney Alhadad has used her QUT Bachelor of Business degree to gain a foothold in the high-profile world of television in Singapore.
At just 25, Ms Alhadad has spent the past 15 months working as a presenter, director and producer for Television 12’s Morning Show which is broadcast on Sundays.
She will maintain her links with the station to do occasional guest presenting when she takes up an overseas marketing and events job later this year.
Ms Alhadad said she had enjoyed working on the Morning Show, despite gruelling hours and working on 37 episodes without a weekend off.
“It has been very hard work. From Monday to Friday I might have been out on an outdoor shoot, on Saturday I would have been packaging the program and then on Sunday I was d i r e c t i n g a n d p r o d u c i n g , ” M s Alhadad said.
“I have enjoyed it very much. My studies at QUT have helped give me confidence for presentations and public speaking and helped me work
Business graduate gains foothold in Singapore TV
as a producer in situations where team members have different levels of experience and expertise.”
M s A l h a d a d w a s o f f e r e d t h e Television 12 job from a pool of more than 200 applicants after several rounds of interviews and aptitude tests.
Before that, she had been working for Prime12 as a presenter/interviewer on a 13-episode program about children and marriage called The Harmonious Family.
She was invited to apply for this job while working in the Singapore o f f i c e o f t h e M a l a y s i a n - b a s e d Bernama News Agency, her first job after she returned home.
Ms Alhadad graduated with a Bachelor of Business (organisational communication) in 1996.
“Studying at QUT and the need to give presentations – which scared me to bits at first – built up my confidence so that today I feel very comfortable with lots of presenting and public speaking in my work,”
she said.
“The university’s ‘real world’
emphasis also meant that for many of my subjects I had to work with real companies to do research and produce reports, which was really valuable.
“My experience in Australia and in dealing with Australians has made me more comfortable and confident when I work and deal with people.”
Haney Alhadad (fourth from left) on the set of Singapore Television 12’s popular Morning Show.
Haney Alhadad ... studying at QUT boosted confidence.
The new book detailing QUT’s history A Class of its Own: A History of Queensland University of Technology, is filled with fascinating facts.
Written by QUT academics Professor Noeline Kyle and Catherine Manathunga and Sunshine Coast University academic Joanne Scott, the book includes anecdotes like:
• The Brisbane School of Arts’ first geometry class – launched with much fanfare in 1872 – did not attract any students. Other classes in algebra and trigonometry, Latin and writing, drawing and chemistry attracted a total of only 30 students.
• The Central Technical College’s art department trained some of Queensland’s most important artists during the 1920s and 1930s including Daphne Mayo, Bessie Gibson and Lloyd Rees.
• Distinguished students of the 1910s and 1920s included Douglas Annand, Harold Parker, Annie Alison-Green, F.
Pickford Marriott, Richard Randall, Robert P. Cummings, H. B. Harrison, Frank Payne, William Leslie Bowles, and
Sewing classes of yesteryear held behind closed doors
Llewellyn Isles. Later graduates included Kathleen and Leonard Shillam, Francis Lymburner, John Rigby, Verlie Just, Betty Quelhurst, Will Smith and Margaret Ollie.
• Sewing classes at the Queensland Teachers Training College in the early 1940s were conducted with all the doors and windows locked to ensure stray male students did not see the knickers of the doll that was used for sewing practice.
• During the war years female students very daringly requested that they go without stockings, which laddered on the rough wooden seats. They maintained their coupons soon ran out if they had to spend them on luxuries when they needed them for basic food and clothing.
• The students of 1941 were the last to be housed in the old Turbot Street building (where classes for the teacher training college were held) which rattled as the trains went through the tunnel underneath and shook bits of plaster off the ceiling.
• During teacher shortages during World War II, the college relaxed its strict policies to re-employ married
women and also allow widowed women – or women whose husbands were incapacitated – to be re-employed.
Women teachers were required by Regulation 71 (1902) and Regulation 61 (1934) to resign upon marriage.
• The principal of the Teacher Training College James Alexander Robinson was a champion boxer in his day and built a boxing ring ‘at the side of the plateau’ on what is now the Kelvin Grove campus.
• The Brisbane College of Advanced Education cancelled drama performances of Lysistrata, an ancient Greek comedy, and Don’s Party by David Williamson, in 1975 fearing bad publicity after attacks from the right- wing community standards organisations Society To Outlaw Pornography and Campaign Against Regressive Education.
• In 1976 the BCAE administration issued a press release – after considerable debate – saying it would not interfere with the formation of the Kelvin Grove Homosexual and Lesbian Student Teachers’ Group on campus.
• In 1989 QIT students staged a sit-in inside the Chancellery building at Gardens Point campus to support the retention of the Faculty of Built Environment (as a separate faculty). Protesters dressed in Ku Klux Klan garb, carried a coffin with QUT Bachelor of Engineering student
Suhail Mahadevan has been awarded a Shell Coal Scholarship.
Mr Mahadevan is majoring in electronics and information technology, and is vice-president of QUT’s Electronics Engineering Club.
He was one of six 1999 recipients
Shell Coal awards scholarship
chosen from a 75-strong pool of applicants from Australian universities.
The annual scholarships give recipients $5,000 a year, 12 weeks work experience at Queensland and NSW mine sites and direct contact with Shell Coal senior technical staff for advice and information.
“Death of the Faculty of Built Environment” painted on the side.
To order the book, go to http://
www.qut.edu.au/draa/10-150/order.html and print out the order form provided.
– Andrea Hammond At the launch of A Class of Its Own ... Former Director General of Education Clyde Gilmour with QUT’s Professor Noeline Kyle.
By Andrea Hammond
Q
UT researchers are investigating how people’s upbringing and childhood experiences may have affected their present-day bread and cereal consumption.PhD student Rosemarie Brown is exploring how people’s consumption of different breads and cereals changes during their lives.
She is hoping to construct a picture of factors that determine good bread and cereal eating habits through interviews with 20 three-generational families in South-East Queensland.
“The nature of the research is to develop propositions concerning bread and cereals – for example if you have pleasant experiences as a child in terms of your association with bread and cereals, you are more likely to consume those sorts of foods as an adult,” Mrs Brown said.
“My pilot study found that people have very pleasant memories of cakes and biscuits being home-baked during their childhood.
“As they’ve grown up that has disappeared out of their lives and therefore the memory of home-baked products is one which they are very fond of. Many years later they consider home-baked products to be somewhat of a treat.”
Mrs Brown said she was searching for indicators as to why Australians’
consumption of breads and cereals was decreasing.
The ideal number of serves of breads and cereals per day is seven, but latest National Nutrition Surveys indicate that
Research will explain why
bread consumption is falling
on average Australians only eat three serves of cereals.
“The Federal Government recently urged consumers to eat more breads and cereals because there is some evidence to suggest that people who have a high fibre diet are at a lower risk of coronary heart disease and different types of cancers – particularly bowel cancer and diabetes mellitus,” she said.
Mrs Brown said the cereal family included wheat, rye, rice, sorghum, corn, maize, barley, oats and triticale.
“Many people automatically associate the term cereals with breakfast cereals and do not realise the full range of products covered by the term,” she said.
“Bread wheat, for example, is used in crumpets, noodles and porridge, while Durum wheat is used in pasta and couscous. Many people may be eating rice, tortillas or oatcakes without realising they are actually eating a cereal.”
Mrs Brown said she hoped her research would contribute towards
developing dietary intervention campaigns.
“Obviously I would like to see consumers increase their consumption of breads and cereals primarily for the health reasons previously mentioned – we need to understand consumers and why their eating habits are changing,”
she said.
Mrs Brown’s Phd Life Course Influences on Bread and Cereal Trajectories is being done through QUT’s Centre for Public Health Research.
Rosemarie Brown ... building a picture of factors that determine good bread and cereal eating habits.
By Noel Gentner
A QUT legal team will test their advocacy skills in Kuala Lumpur next month.
Two law graduates and an undergraduate will be representing QUT and Australasia in the Commonwealth Mooting Competition which is held every three years in conjunction with the Commonwealth Law Conference.
The team consists of Law Faculty graduates Gabrielle Nikodem and Christopher Podagiel with undergraduate Adam Cooper as reserve.
They will be accompanied by law school lecturer Ros Macdonald.
The trio will be up against teams from Commonwealth countries including Zimbabwe, India, West Indies, Canada, Malaysia, Hong Kong and England.
Law Faculty Dean Professor Malcom Cope said the team was being
Team primed for mooting competition
Faculty of Law Dean Malcolm Cope with keen mooters Adam Cooper and Gabrielle Nikodem.
sponsored by his faculty. QUT’s group is representing the Australasian region because they won the Australasian Law Students Association moot in Perth last year.
“It is a very prestigious mooting competition and is judged by delegates attending the Commonwealth Law Conference,” Ms Macdonald said.
Ms Nikodem said she expected “stiff competition, particularly from England and Canada”.
Ms Nikodem, who graduated last year, said she had been involved in moots throughout her law degree at QUT.
Undergraduate Mr Cooper, who is in his third year of study said his ambition was to become a barrister.
“The mooting program gives a lot of experience in going before a court in arguing and advocating a problem and I have done as many moots at QUT as possible,” he said.
A business degree from QUT has helped father-of-four Lex Akers establish a “church with a difference”
in the rapidly growing Northern Corridor region of Brisbane.
The swelling congregation of the Riverside Community Church is tr ea ted to tr a d iti ona l Chr i sti a n messages delivered in innovative ways.
The church is based in Krugher Hall in Kallangur.
The church organ has been replaced with a full-piece band and sermons r e p l a c e d b y t h o u g h t - p r o v o k i n g dramatisations and life-related talk.
Video clips and state-of-the-art P o w e r p o i n t p r e s e n t a t i o n s a r e r e g u l a r l y u s e d t o c o m m u n i c a t e with the diverse congretation.
Lex Akers, 34, is the associate pastor in this brave new secular world.
He has been awarded one of 12 QUT Northern Corridor Community Achiever Awards.
T h e a w a r d s a r e d e s i g n e d t o recognise Carseldine Faculty of Business and Faculty of Arts students/
graduates who have made a significant contribution to business, the arts or the local community.
Mr Akers said the vision he had mapped out with senior pastor and church co-founder Troy Beer had been very positively received.
Young people who had never been to church before were particularly keen about the new church, he said.
“ O u r w h o l e p h i l o s o p h y o f ministry is to take people who don’t know God,” he said.
“We aim to introduce them to Him in a modern and friendly way that is relevant to their lives.”
Mr Akers said the church had chosen its base in Kallangur and Mango Hill – the fastest growing area in South-East Queensland – very carefully.
“We feel that if you don’t have a commitment to reach out to people in these new suburbs you actually have a lot of houses and streets but no community,” he said.
Mr Akers lives in Bald Hills.
He left a cleaning job to enrol in a Bachelor of Business (Management) at QUT’s Carseldine campus in 1994.
The Riverside Community Church – and its methods – have been endorsed by the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia.
“The premise of what a church is built on has not changed.
“We teach and preach the life- changing message of the Christian f a i t h . W h a t ’ s c h a n g e d i n t h e medium.”
– Andrea Hammond
High-tech pastor
delivers the Word
Lex Akers ... Powerpoint sermons.
QUT film and television graduate Mairi Cameron is celebrating a double victory after the recent Cannes Film Festival.
As well as winning a prized spot to air her 15-minute film at the prestigious event, Ms Cameron, returned home with interest from several international film companies to produce a feature film.
While cautious to publicly celebrate until a deal is confirmed in writing, Ms Cameron said she and her producer Jane Keneally had gone to Cannes
Mairi celebrates Cannes Film Festival success
armed with several ideas to pitch to overseas film financiers.
“I went to enjoy the chance of being at Cannes, which is a once-in-a- lifetime experience,” said Ms Cameron, “but I was obviously aware that I could meet people who could offer us work in the future.”
“We took a few strong feature projects with us, and had the opportunity to pitch them to top European film companies.
“We talked to many international film companies like Pandora, Le Studio
Canal Plus and Gaumont. All have expressed interest in working with Jane and I in the future.
“I imagine that working with international companies will give m e t h e c h a n c e t o e x p l o r e h i g h concept film ideas on a scale that may not be possible with the money available here.”
Ms Cameron, who graduated from QUT with a Bachelor of Business (film and television) in 1994, directed the short film MILK which was shown in the Cinefoundation division at Cannes.
It was her final-year project at the Australian Film School.
Fellow QUT graduate Damon Escott was cinematographer.
“MILK is a story about loneliness, isolation and the demise of an awkward and sometimes funny relationship between two neighbours desperate to forge a relationship,” Ms Cameron said.
The film will also be shown at the Brisbane International Film Festival, Montreal Film Festival and the British Short Film Festival.
– Amanda O’Chee
Page 8 INSIDE QUT August 31 – September 13, 1999
QUT TRAIN – SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ON THE MOVE
Aug 9 – Statewide tour of QUT’s interactive educational train.
Full of hands-on activities and information about the worlds of s c i e n c e , h e a l t h , i n f o r m a t i o n technology, business and built environment and engineering. For more information visit the QUT Train web address http://
www.train.qut.edu.au, or email sci- [email protected] or call 3864 2025.
QUT PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PART-TIME ACADEMICS
Oct 2 Third annual PAPTA
Conference for part-time academic staff at QUT. Free.
8.30am-3.30pm, Z303, Gardens Point campus. For further information email Pam Belbin on [email protected] or call 3864 5277.
SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND FINANCE
Oct 1 Queensland Finance
Conference 1999. Cost is $A150 for academic delegates and $A250 for commercial delegates. 9am, Z304 and Z308, Garden Points campus. Email Ralf Becker on [email protected] or call 3864 4228
STAFF & STUDENT COURSES Sep 7 - Walking for Wellness Program.
Staff and students are invited to join the Staff Wellness Program and Student Guild for guided walks on all campuses. Qualified guides will lead walkers through an appropriate warm up, walk and cool down and provide valuable information to ensure walks are enjoyable. Walks start from Guild gyms on each campus. Free for September.
For further information email Sheree Richmond on [email protected] or call 3864 9704. Carseldine campus - C block, Monday, Noon-1pm;
Gardens Point campus - Y block, Monday and Wednesday, 5-6pm;
Kelvin Grove campus - C block, Tuesday and Thursday, 7-8am.
Sep 8 Well-Woman Seminar II: Body Image and Eating Issues for Wellbeing. Speakers include Sheree Richmond, Staff Wellness Co-ordinator; Joanne Blair, Eating Disorders Association; and Grace Concannon, ISIS – Centre for Women’s Action on Eating Issues.
Free. Includes late lunch.
Noon–3pm. N519, KG.
STUDENT GUILD
Sep 2 Band Competition. 1pm.
Campus Club, GP.
Sep 4 AUS-North Board Riding Championships. 9am. Gold Coast.
Sep 6–8 Safe Sex, Drug and Alcohol Awareness Week. 11am–2pm.
Information stalls, freebies and food. Y Block, GP (Sep 6), A Block, KG (Sep 7), C Block, Car (Sep 8).
Sep 6–9 Eating Disorders Week. Noon.
Various activities on GP (Sep 6), K G ( S e p 7 ) , C a r ( S e p 8 ) . Sep 12 QUT Fun Run. 6am. Botantical
Gardens.
Sep 14 Fitness Centre and Sport Centre Open Day. 8am. Gym and pool, GP.
Recreation Courses. Everything from winery tours, surf camps to women’s car maintenance and belly dancing. Further details in the Semester 2 Recreation Handbook.
Contact Kirsten Fraser on [email protected] or call 3864 1213.
FROM THE ACADEMY
Sep 3–11 Angels in America. A cutting- edge millenium drama directed by acclaimed Broadway director Mel Shapiro. Contact Karen Willey at [email protected] or call her
Oct 1–9 A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
A classic Shakespearian romp.
Contact Karen Willey at [email protected] or call her on 3864 3453.
SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS, CONFERENCES
BRISBANE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Sep 21 QUT Business Leaders’
Forum. Guest speaker Janet Holmes A Court discusses the Republic. Noon–2.30pm. Ballroom, Brisbane Hilton. Costs $85. For further information email June Pearson on [email protected] or call 3864 4499.
SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTANCY
Sep 8 The Regulators’ Dilemma:
International Frauds, Y2K and the Big 5. National accounting advisor of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Paul Moni. For further information email [email protected] or call 3864 4316.
Check out the expanded What’s On at http://www.whatson.qut.edu.au Post your What’s On entry at this site
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. Email [email protected]
Corporate Communication address: Level 5, M Block, Room 514, Gardens Point or GPO Box
2434 Brisbane 4001. Opinions expressed in Inside QUT do not necessarily represent those of the university or the editorial team.
Colleen Ryan Clur (editor) (07) 3864 1150.
Andrea Hammond (07) 3864 4494.
Noel Gentner (part-time) (07) 3864 1841.
Amanda O’Chee (07) 3864 2130.
Fax (07) 3210 0474.
Photography: Tony Phillips, Suzie Prestwidge Ads: David Lloyd-Jones (07) 3880 0528.
Our Internet site: http://www.qut.edu.au/
publications/05news/iqut.html
About your newspaper
By Noel Gentner
Q
UT student hotline officer Stephen Gapsa has been kept busy addressing student concerns in the past few months.From the launch of the student Complaints Hotline in Orientation week until early August the hotline has received 100 complaints from students across the university’s eight faculties.
He said the hotline had streamlined and simplified the administration of student complaints within the university.
“The hotline provides confidential information, advice and support to students so they can make informed choices about action regarding academic and non-academic complaint matters,” Mr Gapsa said.
“The largest number of complaints registered to date have come from Gardens Point students with 44, then Kelvin Grove 34, Carseldine 21 and there was one complaint not registered to any particular campus.”
Hotline addresses student concerns
“A further breakdown of the figures shows female students lodged about 65 per cent and males 35 per cent of all complaints registered, and that most complaints are lodged by undergraduate students.”
Mr Gapsa said the hotline was an anonymous service. University staff strived to be helpful and courteous when assisting with inquiries.
“Staff often recognise the importance of student complaints as a means of improving student services and making services more responsive to students’
needs,” he said.
“If a complaint is unable to be settled to the satisfaction of the parties concerned an appeal can be submitted to the University’s Student Ombudsman Dr Rodney Wolff for investigation,”
Mr Gapsa said.
“Since the logging of complaints has begun we are pleased to be able to report that no such referrals have needed to be made.”
Mr Gapsa can be contacted on 3864 3864 or fax 3864 5412.
QUT will be buzzing with creative energy when its six arts disciplines across three campuses join forces to celebrate ARTS WEEK 1999.
Students studying Visual Arts, Communication Design, Film and Television, Dance, Drama and Music will showcase their talents to other QUT students from August 30 to September 3.
Students will be exposed to live music, dance and theatre performances, play and poetry readings, art exhibitions, street theatre and market stalls.
Non-art discipline students are invited to join workshops in an eclectic mix of activities that include groove dancing, belly dancing, poetry writing, physical theatre, clowning and an introduction to knitting.
Every night during ARTS WEEK an ‘event extraordinaire’ will be held which will include theatre and comedy as well as the QUT finals for the National Campus Band Competition.
This is the second year that the QUT Student Guild has held the popular festival.
Festival artistic director Kate Fell said the Guild began ARTS WEEK as a way to expose non-art students to the creative capabilities of their peers.
“ARTS WEEK is a great forum for artistic expression and celebrates the depth and diversity of arts at QUT,” Ms Fell said.
“I am pleased to say that this festival is entirely organised by students – a celebration of the arts presented by students for students.”
The major events for the week include:
• Monday August 30 Sharing Cultures, 5pm,
‘Kurrulba’, level 2, C Block, Kelvin Grove campus.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student art exhibition opening in the new Student Guild Gallery Space. Project Pod, 7pm, Woodward Theatre, Kelvin Grove campus. ARTS WEEK’s opening night launch.
• Tuesday August 31 Café A Go Go, 7pm, Beadles on the Quad, Kelvin Grove campus. A combination of comedy and entertainment.
• Wednesday September 1 The Campus the World Forgot, 7pm, Visual Arts Studio, Merivale Street, South Brisbane. A collage of sound, light, music and visual images in an exhibition by visual arts students.
• Thursday, September 2 National Campus Band Competition Finals, 4pm, Gardens Point campus.
• Friday September 3 Sink, 5.30pm, H Block Gallery, Kelvin Grove campus, Grand closing of the second year Visual Arts Exhibition.
Celebration in the Sky, 7.30pm, Kelvin Grove Campus Club, Art, music and performance as students celebrate the success of ARTS WEEK.
All events are free. To book – or for a copy of the ARTS WEEK program – call the QUT Kelvin Grove Student Guild Help Desk on (07) 3864 3704.
– Andrea Hammond
Campuses buzz with
energy for ARTS WEEK Singing the Stocking Blues
Brisbane band Ophelia’s Attitude ... Emma-Jane Wellington (left) sings with her mother Fiona Wellington as part of the entertainment line up for Blue Stocking Week this month. Intellectual men of the 18th century branded women with academic aspirations as “Blue Stockings”. Modern-day feminists have appropriated the term to focus on issues of freedom, liberty and choice.
Dec 16 Sep 17
on 38643453.
