Take politics out of prison –
academic
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IT student moonlights as popstar
P 5␣
Queensland University of Technology Newspaper • Issue ... • Month, 1999
Security research makes ‘e-parking’
a reality
P 5
Queensland University of Technology Newspaper • Issue 209 • November 21, 2000-February 13, 2001
Rhodes scholar steps in
to assist landmine victims
by Noel Gentner
A
QUT medical engineering student who has been working to help landmine victims in Cambodia was last month named the 2001 Queensland Rhodes Scholar.Twenty-one-year old Tom Ward was selected from 20 candidates for the award and will study for his PhD at Oxford University’s Orthopoedic Engineering Centre late next year.
Mr Ward’s final-year project at QUT involved the development of a device which, he hopes, will make life “a little easier” for many rural Cambodians who have lost limbs as a result of landmines – as well as benefiting people recovering from knee operations.
Statistics show that, in Cambodia, one in almost 250 people is an amputee, and 87 per cent of the population live in rural areas which are isolated from urban health services.
A Queen’s Trust grant recipient, Mr Ward visited Cambodia earlier this year to conduct an assessment of what type of rehabilitation technology could assist rural amputees.
He then returned to QUT to design a device that monitors how people walk after major surgery and tracks their recovery progress.
by Margaret Lawson
Magistrates now have another alternative when sentencing drink-drivers, with the trial of an “ignition interlock device”
starting in Queensland this month.
The interlock device is similar to a hand-held breathalyser which is wired into a car’s ignition, preventing drivers with a measurable blood alcohol content (BAC) from starting their cars.
The Queensland trial of the device is the first Australian attempt to install ignition interlocks as part of the judicial process and is being co-ordinated by QUT’s Centre for Accident Research
Drink-driver ignition interlock on trial in Qld
“This information has not been available for people in the rural areas because it was impractical for them to come back into the city,” Mr Ward said.
“The device consists of two sensors mounted on the legs which provide information that includes how a person is walking, their gait and joint angles.
“It was a necessity to make the device simple, portable, robust and inexpensive.”
Mr Ward plans to return to Cambodia at the end of this year to assist in the design of new schools to ensure adequate disability access for students, and to illustrate the potential of his device to the relevant authorities.
While the device could have a tremendous impact, Mr Ward said, the paradigm for rehabilitation would have to be changed.
“Some hurdles will have to be overcome because, at present, doctors and health authorities expect their patients to go to the cities for treatment,”
he said.
“There will have to be a shift in that expectation, and for doctors and patients to accept an alternative such as telemedicine which will enable patients to be diagnosed from information and data transmitted via the Internet to a centralised clinic.”
and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q).
CARRS-Q project manager Dr Diane Guthrie said magistrates could recommend in probation orders that convicted drink-drivers participate in the trial, which began on November 13 and will run for three years.
She said the Queensland trial combined use of the interlock device with the “Under the Limit” rehabilitation program, also devised by the QUT team.
“Offenders complete the rehabilitation program during their licence disqualification period, which teaches them how to make better
decisions about their driving and drinking behaviour,” Dr Guthrie said.
“Then, when it comes time to be relicenced, they use the interlock device and can implement what they have learned in a controlled way.”
Dr Guthrie said participation in the interlock trial was voluntary and would cost offenders around $900 for use of the device and a place in the rehabilitation program.
“We are hoping that magistrates will waive or decrease the fines they would normally give offenders to make participation in the program more affordable and attractive.”
The project has been funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Strategic Partnerships in Industry Research and Training (SPIRT) grant, and has been co-ordinated in partnership with the Motor Accident Insurance Commission and interlock device manufacturer Drager Australia.
Drager Australia’s Asia Pacific Manager (Drug and Alcohol Group) Rod Tattersall said he hoped the trial of the device would have an impact in reducing the number of road accidents caused by alcohol-impaired driving.
He said designers had devised a special technique for drivers to learn before they
could use the interlock, as well as several mechanical safety features.
“We have programmed the interlock to require the driver to provide further breath samples at random times after starting the vehicle,” Mr Tattersall said.
“Attempts to tamper with the electrical circuit or circumvent the interlock … are detected by the interlock and recorded as a violation.”
The trial has received support from the Queensland Chief Stipendiary Magistrate, Community Corrections, Queensland Transport, Queensland Police Servce, RACQ and the Department of Justice and Attorney General.
QUT medical engineering student Tom Ward heads to Oxford University next year after winning the 2001 Queensland Rhodes Scholarship. This year, he has been working with amputees in Cambodia.
Page 2 INSIDE QUT November 21, 2000-February 13, 2001
From the Inside ... by David Hawke
A word from the Vice-Chancellor
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QUT has once again performed well in the most recent round of ARC Grants.
The university scored eight Large Grants worth a total of $1,076,368; 20 Strategic Partnerships with Industry – Research and Training Scheme (SPIRT) grants worth
$2,109,428; a Research Infrastructure Equipment and Facilities grant worth
$140,000; and an ARC Fellowship worth $41,960.
QUT researchers will also be partners in three other Large Grant research projects totalling $387,200 that will be conducted by the Australian Catholic University, the University of Wollongong and Monash University.
For full details of the winning projects, visit Inside QUT on-line at http://
w w w . c o r p c o m m . q u t . c o m / i n s i d e q u t / index.html
Latest ARC round grants success for QUT projects
Head of the Oodgeroo Unit at QUT Penny Tripcony has been named the Outstanding Educator 2000 by the Australian College of Educators.
Ms Tripcony was presented with the award on October 27 by Education Minister Dean Wells.
Mr Wells applauded Ms Tripcony’s
“outstanding and significant contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education in Queensland”.
The minister acknowledged Ms Tripcony’s work with the Government
prior to joining QUT, saying she had worked “tirelessly” for many years in the Department of Education.
“All those who have come in contact with Ms Tripcony say she is a highly respected indigenous educator and authority on many indigenous issues,” he said.
Earlier this year, Ms Tripcony was announced as chair of the State’s new Indigenous Education Consultative Body which provides independent advice to the Government on strategic issues impacting on indigenous education.
Tripcony outstanding
Short bouts of activity as good as intense exercise
by Margaret Lawson
P
eople who feel guilty because they do not exercise the recommended 30 minutes a day, three times a week, can now feel better about their health.New QUT research has shown that people who do short bursts of physical activity – like walking and climbing stairs – several times most days, experience equal, and sometimes better, health benefits.
Human movement studies lecturer Dr Tom Cuddihy studied two groups of 25 inactive men and women, allowing the first group continuous exercise for 30 minutes, three days a week. Members of the second group were asked to undertake “lifestyle- based” exercise for just six minutes, five times a day, at least four days each week.
Dr Cuddihy said when the group members had a physiological assessment two months later, both groups’ health and fitness levels had improved.
He has concluded that the lifestyle approach of accumulating exercise during people’s daily routines can be just as beneficial to health as long blocks of high-intensity exercise.
“This is a workable alternative to the three-times-a-week, 30-minutes- a-day model, and probably comes as a relief to the 80 per cent of people who do not like hot, sweaty, intense exercise,” Dr Cuddihy said.
“Some studies have shown that multiple bouts of low-intensity exercise trigger the body more often to use stored body fats, therefore decreasing cholesterol.”
Human movement studies researcher Dr Tom Cuddihy has shown that daily activities such as taking the stairs can be just as effective as intense exercise in improving health and fitness.
Cost-cutting measures at Queensland’s aged-care facilities are having a negative effect on the morale of nursing staff and the quality of care they provide to residents, a QUT researcher has found.
Lecturer at QUT’s School of Management Dr Leisa Sargent completed her PhD research on the effect of job changes on nurses around the State.
She said deregulation of the aged-care sector had resulted in fewer staff and lower
Aged-care nursing in decline
standards, and reduced funding had forced even private, not-for-profit organisations primarily run by churches, to be driven “by the bottom line”.
Dr Sargent found that staff had become casualties of the changes.
Half of nurses surveyed had experienced a change in job title, becoming “team members” or “aged carers”, and were expected to perform extra tasks and more menial jobs.
Dr Sargent said this status-stripping made staff feel that their identity was
threatened, with many reporting that quality of care to residents was suffering.
“When you start to change people’s job titles and hollow out their jobs and de-value them, it really impacts on the way in which they do their work,” she said.
Dr Sargent said with 23 per cent of the population expected to be older than 65 by 2041, it was imperative that aged-care facility operators consider more closely the way they conducted restructuring.
This week the Australian Vice- Chancellor's Committee considered a discussion paper – Our Universities, Our Future – which has been prepared in response to the continued refusal of either political party to address the issue of realistic funding for higher education.
The Government has made much of finding additional funding for research in targetted areas such as medicine; and, in the wake of reports such as that recently released by Robin Batterham and the Innovation Summit Implementation Group, the university sector is anticipating additional research funding across the board.
Whereas this move is to be applauded, the Government is still not acknowledging the issue of adequate funding for the bread and butter, core business of universities – that of education and training for students.
No increase in resourcing is forecast to meet the need of new technologies.
And no increase in funded student load is forecast to meet the need for more higher education in a state with a growing population. This scenario needs revisiting.
Our students, through HECS and fee paying postgraduate courses, are already
major contributors to the funding of their institutions in Australia.
It appears that the flow of money from HECS contributions is sufficient to allow the Commonwealth to decrease payments to universities even further. This is why the AVCC has launched its latest push.
Here in Queensland, if we are to have any hope of living up to the label of the Smart State, we must make next year, a Federal election year, one in which we campaign for more Federal funding for universities.
– Professor Dennis Gibson
Call for realistic funding
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The quality of the Federal Government’s Job Network services to long-term unemployed people in Australia is being jeopardised by psychological distress among case-management staff, a new QUT study suggests.
Learning and development associate lecturer Richard Goddard has just completed a PhD project identifying that, during 1999, 57 per cent of the Job Network’s case managers were experiencing levels of work stress, depression and emotional exhaustion that were higher than those reported by many of their clients.
Mr Goddard said the number of people reporting serious levels of psychological distress in his sample of 86 Job Network case managers was twice that expected among an employed population.
He said significant numbers of the case managers were also reporting burnout, a condition that ultimately resulted in sufferers
“depersonalising” and becoming less sympathetic towards other people.
“Part of the reason behind the Australian services industry introducing case managers in 1995 was to give the long-term unemployed a more personalised service,” Mr Goddard said.
“My research calls into question whether the long-term unemployed are receiving the personalised service that was envisaged for them when case management was introduced.”
Mr Goddard found the level of psychological distress was significantly lower among those case managers who received formal skills training, but only one third of the staff surveyed had received this training.
He found that although the managers were
“generally highly-motivated and caring professionals”, it was almost inevitable that some would suffer high stress without training.
“When you put people under daily stress without appropriate training some will, in time, become distressed, exhausted and feel like they are incapable of helping their clients,” he said.
Mr Goddard said his study highlighted issues that needed to be addressed by the Federal
Unemployment service staff stressed
Government and individual Job Network members which offered the “intensive assistance”
case-management service.
“Australia’s case-management system for the long-term unemployed is relatively new, and the Government and its Job Network are still learning how to work effectively for all concerned,” he said.
“But it is still the responsibility of individual Job Network members to implement human resource practices that promote the wellbeing of their staff.
“It is also the responsibility of the Federal Government to ensure the services provided to the unemployed are of the highest quality.
“If case managers are still experiencing the distress and burnout levels indicated by my study, there may be some serious issues for the Government to address.”
Mr Goddard presented his findings at the International Congress on Behavioral Medicine on November 17, and has an article forthcoming in the Journal of Employment Counseling.
Australian farmers’ incomes could fall to zero by 2017 if the current rural decline is allowed to continue, a QUT academic predicted at a seminar this month.
Business lecturer Dr Mark McGovern addressed QUT’s Business in the Bush:
Advancing the Agenda one-day forum on November 8 about the increasing problems facing people doing business in rural and regional Australia.
“The net farm return is shrinking in a trend that has been continuing since the 1950s,” Dr McGovern said.
“If their income keeps decreasing at this rate – and research suggests that the situation is only getting worse – the average income for Australian farmers will be zero by 2017.”
Dr McGovern said an alternative to this scenario was the emergence of an underclass that just survived on a very low income, and that the Government’s hopes that the problems would be solved by farmers exiting the industry – or by market forces – were “folly”.
He said Government and industry also needed to address the way other rural businesses were suffering through inferior access to labour, capital and services including banking, telecommunications, health and education.
“All Australians should have a reasonable quality of access no matter where they do business, yet in some areas and industries profits are unsustainably low in part because of the higher costs of doing business,” Dr McGovern said.
“Government and other businesses need to reconsider their policies, especially about how they impose inappropriate costs on good businesses and some parts of the country.”
He called for the Federal Government to undertake an assessment of the conditions under which rural businesses operate, and to make a commitment to long-term development, sensible policies and appropriate support.
“The Government needs to stop pretending that a few training programs or a few tens of millions (of dollars) here and there are going to provide real solutions,” Dr McGovern said.
“We need to work – not welfare – our way forward, by removing impediments to the prosperity of rural business.”
Dr McGovern said rural and regional businesses needed to be part of their own solution, which was the reason for the Business in the Bush forum.
– Margaret Lawson
Farm incomes may hit zero by 2017
Computer games development, rugby studies and astrophysics are just some of the new course options QUT has in store for students in 2001.
The next wave of games developers from Sony, Nintendo or Microsoft could be graduates from the new four-year Bachelor of Arts (Communication Design)/Bachelor of Information Technology degree.
This program will give students the creative, technical and professional skills and resources necessary to enter the games development and entertainment industries.
Meanwhile, sports professionals, teachers and coaches can upgrade their knowledge and develop new insights as part of the Graduate Certificate in Sports Studies.
This course offers students practical experience in their chosen sport as well as subjects in sports sciences and related areas.
Rugby will be a strong option for specialised study because of QUT’s
existing links through the Centre for Rugby Studies with Queensland Rugby Union.
Also new is an astrophysics co-major offered as part of the Bachelor of Applied Science (Physics).
Colliding galaxies, black holes and exploding stars are just some of the subjects covered.
The Faculty of Health is also offering new study areas in risk management, environmental health, health promotion and health services management with its Graduate Certificate in Health Science.
The Graduate Certificate in Nursing also has new study areas: aged care;
cancer nursing; community practice;
intensive care nursing; medical/surgical nursing; paediatric, child and youth health nursing; and women’s health.
Visit Inside QUT on-line at http://
www.corpcomm.qut.com/insidequt/
index.html to see the full range of new course offerings.
– Amisha Patel
New course options are fun and games
by Toni Chambers
T
he State Governmentshould close prisons and channel more money into alternative programs, rather than celebrating its record rate of imprisonment and increased length of sentences, according to a QUT academic.
Lecturer in QUT’s School of Justice Studies Richard Hil will present his views on the ineffectiveness of prisons at the Inside the Warehouse: Young Adults in Queensland Prisons conference on Tuesday, November 28.
Mr Hil said the conference aimed to highlight issues facing prisoners aged between 17 and 25 who made up the largest number of Queensland inmates, but who were also the most vulnerable.
He said while there were dangerous prisoners who needed to be contained, the majority of inmates were vulnerable members of society with problems that could not be solved by incarceration – in fact, many problems worsened as a result.
“Prisons are comprised of people with a whole range of problems, from illiteracy right through to addictions, psychological and long-term psychiatric problems, and social and employability problems,” Mr Hil said.
“The programs in prisons aimed at overcoming these issues aren’t working.
It’s my view that some prisons need to be shut, a significant number of prisoners amnestied and others put into alternative programs where they’ll be given the support they need to improve the quality of their lives.”
Mr Hil said that, in its recent report on crime prevention, the State Government lauded its record number of imprisonments and increasing number of long sentences handed out to offenders.
Queensland now has one of the highest rates of imprisonment in the western world.
Take politics out of prisons – academic
Queensland’s record imprisonment rate is nothing to celebrate, says justice studies lecturer Richard Hil.
“Prisons are still the most symbolically visible means by which our society seeks to punish people and it is in this way that prisons and politicians gain political legitimacy. In other words, politicians use prisons to placate community concern over crime,” he said.
“But instead (the Government) must reverse its commitment to longer sentences and rethink its approach to financing the building of new prisons and consider a more creative, humanitarian and imaginative response.”
QUT proving popular for 2001
With the majority of applications for university study commencing in 2001 now registered with the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC), QUT has been receiving the most first preferences for undergraduate study in semester one.
technology, law, science and double- degree programs have produced this result.
Earlier this year, QUT also topped the tally of first preferences for students wanting to begin their studies in July 2000.
QUT has improved its position slightly on the past year’s results and already attracted more than 10,500 first- preference applications for around 7,000 places expected to be offered next year.
Stronger numbers wanting to study in QUT’s business, information
Page 4 INSIDE QUT November 21, 2000-February 13, 2001
by Noel Gentner
A mandatory curriculum in Queensland State preschools has not received the full support of teachers, according to an investigation carried out by QUT academics.
As a result of the Wiltshire Inquiry into Education, Education Queensland has introduced a preschool curriculum for State preschools to be implemented by the end of next year.
Interviews conducted by senior lecturers in QUT’s School of Early Childhood Dr Sue Grieshaber and Dr Nicola Yelland show that nearly half of teachers interviewed had not used the curriculum document.
Prior to its introduction, preschool teachers prepared their own curriculum which took into account their specific children’s needs, abilities and interests.
The interviews involved 36 State preschool teachers who were asked whether or not they used the curriculum document – 17 said they
“didn’t use it at all”.
Dr Grieshaber said that, of the others, seven said they rarely used it, and 12 said they used it regularly.
She said Education Queensland had stated that teachers in their State preschools were required to use the document.
“I believe if teachers were going to use it, they would have started using it
by now because most of them have undertaken professional development activity,” Dr Grieshaber said.
“I think the interview data reflect that experienced teachers have been able to create and enact their own curriculum and will continue to teach as they have in the past.
“Many also think their curriculum is similar to what is in the document.”
Dr Grieshaber said there was a need for a “little more flexibility” in the way the curriculum had been written.
“I would like to see a better blend between what we have from the central curriculum-making authority and the opportunity for teachers to contribute from the local community perspective as well,” she said.
Mandatory curriculum not used
(l-r) Child-care centre director Kylie Kingston with researcher Dr Sue Grieshaber whose study has found that preschool teachers need more flexibility in implementing their new curriculum.
T
eenagers are not using the Internet as much as previously assumed, a new QUT study has revealed.Media and journalism researchers Jason Sternberg, Christina George and Joshua Green have found most young people do not use the Internet for more than one hour a day, and that they use the Net mainly for educational purposes.
An associate lecturer in media studies, Mr Sternberg said the findings were initially surprising given that the teenage audience was widely considered as one of the most technologically aware.
“Teenagers we surveyed used the Internet mainly as a research tool for doing school assignments, and most spent no more than one hour after school using the Net,” Mr Sternberg said.
“This suggests that all the hype from new media organisations about teenagers surfing the web for entertainment is just that – hype.”
However Mr Sternberg said the study’s findings – which also found that teenagers’ Internet usage did not increase significantly on weekends – may be a result of the age group’s technological sophistication.
“Just because teenagers are technologically aware doesn’t mean that they’ll use technology a lot,” he said.
“It may be that they have a greater understanding of its benefits and are more sophisticated and efficient, rather than heavy users.”
Mr Sternberg said the pilot study of more than 200 Queensland teenagers
found this group was more likely to participate in social activities than to spend time on the Net.
“We found teenagers generally still spend their time doing what they have always done, like hanging out and playing sport,” he said.
“At this age, maybe they have better things to do than sit in front of a computer screen.”
Mr Sternberg said the research findings had implications for web-based promotions, which were gaining popularity with advertisers targeting young people.
“This study challenges the stereotypes of young people and their use of new media,” he said.
– Margaret Lawson
Teenagers log off
QUT will have the rare opportunity to help develop guidelines and management strategies for international air quality after entering into a “working relationship” with the World Health Organisation.
Within two years, QUT could become a WHO collaborative centre – one of just a few organisations working with the international body on air pollution.
Researchers at QUT’s Centre for Medical and Health Physics have been engaged in an increasing level of joint activities with the WHO for the past two years.
Now a letter of agreement has been signed by the two parties, paving the
way for QUT to help develop WHO guidelines and legislation designed to improve international air quality.
Director of QUT’s Environmental Aerosol Laboratory Associate Professor Lidia Morawska said QUT’s unique area of expertise made the university a logical partner for the WHO.
One of QUT’s first jobs within the scope of the agreement will be to provide a picture of air pollution in the Asia- Pacific region, and also to determine the effect of cooking with fuels such as wood and coal on the health of women and children in India and South America.
It will also provide training in areas such as vegetation fires.
Uni may join WHO’s few
Dean seen as Qld No.1
Dean of the Faculty of Health Professor Ken Bowman has been named Queensland Optometrist of the Year for 2000.
Professor Bowman was presented the award earlier this month from the Queensland Division of the Optometrists Association of Austrailia (OAA), in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the profession of optometry.
Prior to becoming dean, Professor Bowman worked in QUT’s School of Optometry.
The OAA lists more than 95 per cent of Australian optometrists as members.
QUT’s One Teacher School Museum curator Graham Nimmo called attention recently to the contribution of teachers working in one- teacher schools throughout Queensland. As part of last month’s World Teachers’ Day celebrations, Mr Nimmo took part in the re- enactment of a turn-of-the-century teacher taking students through their “good manners chart” and other traditional activities.
Efforts of teacher-
principals celebrated
A university for the real world
QUT’s Summer Program gives you the opportunity to complete whole subjects in three months so you can get a head start on a new course, accelerate your studies, or catch up. It is open to current QUT students, students of others universities, international students and the public. The program has been expanded to over 230 subjects, giving you a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate units in Business, Law, Health, Built Environment and Engineering, Information Technology, Science, Education, and Arts. The summer program runs from November 20, 2000 to February 18, 2001. For more information phone (07) 3864 2000 or email [email protected] and for a list of
subjects offered visit qut.com
Real opportunity to get ahead
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R E L O C A T I O N S for her feature story, but said she was
more excited to have her work recognised within the industry.
“It is lovely to get good marks for stories, but to have other people in the industry read it and say ‘wow, this story’s worthy of an award’ was something that got me most,” Ms Gillespie said.
“With three weeks of my course to go, it couldn’t have come at a better time.”
Ms Gillespie also received a prize for her feature writing at the School of Media and Journalism awards night on October 20.
The awards were held to recognise achievements in student journalism, and prizes were presented in more than 20 categories for excellent print, radio, television and on-line journalism.
Julia Wilkins won the award for best overall first-year student journalist; Ian Watson was named the best second- year student journalist; and Elizabeth Petrovic was the best third-year student journalist.
– Margaret Lawson
Student wins State journalism award
A
story about the human side of drug␣ addiction has won a QUT journalism student the award for “most outstanding journalism student in Queensland”.
Third-year student Kylie Gillespie wrote the story, A drug addict’s opinion, for a feature-writing subject last year, inspired by debate at the time about the New South Wales drug summit.
“I wondered if anyone had asked the people who take drugs about the issues,”
Ms Gillespie said.
She went out in search of drug addicts, finding people through acquaintances and local clinics.
“It wasn’t a world that I’m at all familiar with so I felt really naive, but learned a lot,” Ms Gillespie said.
“Despite all the negatives of the drug addicts and despite the havoc they might cause in society, they are actually real people and often don’t choose to be where they are.”
Ms Gillespie received a certificate from the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), along with $500 cash
Journalism student Kylie Gillespie received the prestigious MEAA “Most outstanding journalism student in Queensland” award for her story about a Brisbane drug addict’s views on addiction.
by Margaret Lawson
An enterprising information technology student is using what he learns in class to pave his way to fame and fortune in the music industry.
Eden James – who prefers to be known just as “Eden” – has recently released his debut music video and a solo album titled My Only Universe.
He recorded the electronic pop album using digital technology, which allowed him to sing the vocals, do the backing, play the instrumentals and mix the CD himself.
He also used his IT expertise – with some help from friends in communication design – to create and publish the CD’s cover and an interactive multimedia presentation.
Eden, who does most of his creative work in his bedroom, said the reaction to his work from radio stations and the music industry had been positive.
Eden finds his own universe
“My friends have told me that they heard one of my songs played on TripleJ and I’ve also had some airplay on 2Day FM and a station in the United Kingdom,” Eden said.
“I’m hoping that it will eventually lead to a contract with a recording label.”
He said producing his own music gave him the chance to combine his two loves – music and technology – into what he hoped would be a successful career.
“I like technology whether it is inside or outside music, and doing the IT degree gives me something I enjoy doing while waiting for my music career to take off,” he said.
“I’m really optimistic about my prospects … because I am very persistent.”
My Only Universe is available now through most major music stores, and clips from the album are available on Eden’s website at http://
www.powerup.com.au/~eden
Visiting expert cautions stock market investors
by Noel Gentner
The man who foreshadowed the world stock market crash of 1996 will be the guest speaker at the annual QUT Faculty of Business Public Lecture next week.
An expert on stock market volatility and professor of economics at Yale University, Professor Robert Shiller will deliver the free lecture – titled Irrational Exuberance – during his one-day visit to Brisbane on Monday, November 27.
Irrational Exuberance is also the title of Professor Shiller’s latest book, on the jacket of which his publisher cautions
“if the stock market collapses and doesn’t recover for many years, don’t say you weren’t warned”.
Professor Shiller is also the author of two other books – Market Volatility and Macro Markets.
In 1996, the professor warned the US Reserve Board of Governors and its chairman, Alan Greenspan, that the US stock market was a “dangerous bubble based on investor irrationality”.
Two days later, Greenspan queried whether “irrational exuberance” had unduly escalated asset values and stock markets immediately slid around the world.
In Irrational Exuberance, Professor Shiller cautions that the stock market is overvalued by historical standards and is being supported by an unusual combination of factors.
He writes that investors suffer from serious delusions about their own judgment and the market’s apparent strength.
Professor Shiller’s lecture will begin at 5.30pm in lecture room 411, Level 4, Z Block, Gardens Point campus.
A future star ... first-year information technology student Eden has just released his debut solo album and music video titled My Only Universe.
Research makes ‘e-parking’ secure
F
ridges that order and pay for your groceries, and parking stations that do not require a ticket for payment may sound like time-saving technologies, but they are fraught with security problems.QUT-based researchers at the Distributed Systems Technology Centre (DSTC) has devised a way to bring the same level of security to computers in these appliances as that used for e-commerce transactions on the Internet.
R e s e a r c h s c i e n t i s t D r M a t t h e w Davey said computers in cars, washing m a c h i n e s a n d f r i d g e s w e r e e x a m p l e s o f e m b e d d e d d e v i c e s t h a t w e r e traditionally tucked away and performed single tasks.
“In the past, embedded devices have typically not been networked, they just had a single job to do. But with the rise of the Internet, people are predicting everything from in-car web radio to on-line fridges that do the shopping,”
he said.
“Although some of this is fanciful we can, in principle, connect all sorts of devices, but it brings challenges of security that weren’t there before.
“If you were to let your fridge make a payment for you, you’d want to make sure it was secure.”
The research team at DSTC have developed technology for such devices written in the user- friendly and portable Java language.
The team demonstrated the technology at the recent Embedded Systems Conference in
Dr Matthew Davey is bringing high-level security to computers in applicances.
San Jose in the form of an application of
“e-parking”.
E-parking technology would involve a computer installed into a car dashboard that could make an electronic payment and activate the parking station boom gate without the need to wind down the window.
“The technology also has the potential to prevent car theft as the car is recognised
electronically and won’t be let out of the car park unless the driver supplies the correct PIN or swipes a smartcard,” Dr Davey said.
DSTC researchers are now working on comprehensive C and Java security libraries suitable for the challenging environment of embedded devices, paving the way for networked fridges, clothing and furniture of the future.
– Toni Chambers
Page 6 INSIDE QUT November 21, 2000-February 13, 2001
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AQ award-winning student fashion designer Monique Daiga can sew stunning skirts or a terrific top, but she has a small problem with pants.Marketing student takes out RAQ fashion award
Queensland student design award last month, that it was for an eye-catching top and skirt combination.
While studying full-time at QUT, Ms Daiga designed and made her “wearable art” entry – a layered green and white, off-the-shoulder creation – at TAFE night classes over 10 weeks.
“I decided to do the TAFE class to give me a creative outlet outside uni, and it was really just for fun,”
Ms Daiga said.
“The RAQ awards are always something everyone dreams about, not something you expect to win first time.”
Ms Daiga has harboured an interest in fashion design since she studied the subject in high school and said her long-term goal was to design for her own label.
“I decided to study business because I knew I needed (to know about) that side of things, that the fashion itself isn’t enough,” Ms Daiga said.
“I like to have the creative outlet, and I also like the entrepreneurship side of business.”
Ms Daiga said she aspired to the work of international couturiers Karen Walker and Akira Isagowa (she wore an Isagowa design to accept her award), and felt more confident about her own design ideas since winning the RAQ award.
“I had always wondered whether my designs were just for me or whether they had some worth,” she said.
“They never seemed good to me, and I guess it was surprising to have someone else recognise it.”
Ms Daiga said she would like to study more design when she completed her marketing degree, before venturing out into the competitive fashion world.
“I’d like to do some more study,” she said. “Because I still need to learn how to design pants.”
– Margaret Lawson
New research has predicted greenhouse- induced climate change will cause a breakthrough of the spit at the northern end of Bribie Island within 20 to 50 years.
Researchers at the School of Natural Resource Sciences have been working with the Caloundra City Council and the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service to determine how quickly and why the spit is eroding.
Detailed results of the study – which is part of a larger, three-year investigation into Pumicestone Passage – are being presented this week at the PASSCON 2000 Conference being held at the university’s Carseldine campus.
Associate lecturer Dr Brendan Brooke said there had been an increase in the rate of erosion of the eastern shore of the spit since 1972 due to increased storm activity and a slight rise in sea level.
“A single storm event in April this year cut the spit back by as much as four metres,” Dr Brooke said.
“While it’s usual for beach systems to erode by several metres during one storm event, the sand will usually build back,
QUT study predicts continued erosion of Bribie Island spit
so in the long term the beach system doesn’t change much at all.
“But on the ocean side of Bribie Island the sand is being lost from the beach system, the shoreline is not recovering, and the spit is gradually eroding away.”
Dr Brooke and honours student Jared Lester have found that if erosion continued at its current rate there would be a breakthrough of the Spit within 50 years, but if it sped up – as it has since 1972 – erosion could occur in more like 20 years.
“If the Southern Oscillation Index remains positive, as predicted for early next year, we can expect more severe storms and another major phase of shoreline erosion,” Dr Brooke said.
The geoscientists have found that a breakthrough is likely to occur at a number of sites adjacent to Golden Beach and Bells Creek, with implications for Golden Beach.
“The spit protects Golden Beach from the full force of the ocean,” Dr Brooke said.
“At the moment, Golden Beach is an estuarine beach so there’s not a lot of erosion. If the beach is exposed to wave energy from the ocean, this could impact on the shoreline.”
Students will benefit from several new scholarships in 2001.
Barclay Mowlem Construction Limited will offer two $5,000 scholarships with offers of work experience.
The Barclay Brothers Scholarships will be offered to a second-year student and a third- year student studying in either the construction management or quantity surveying course.
Baulderstone Hornibrook Pty Ltd will offer a $5,000 scholarship plus work
New scholarships for 2001
experience to a construction management student in their third year of study.
The Faculty of Information Technology will introduce a new scholarship scheme, the Software Engineering Australia (Queensland) Women Undergraduate Information Technology Scholarships.
The scholarships are worth $4,000 each, with SEAQ contributing half of the cost.
SEAQ will also contribute $5,000 for an honours scholarship in software engineering.
Teams show business acumen
Seven teams from four universities around Queensland battled it out at QUT earlier this month at the Faculty of Business’ Acumen:
The inter-university case study competition.
A team from The University of Queensland took out the top prize of $3,000 over others from Griffith University, Bond University and QUT.
Teams were challenged to recommend how Australia’s leading diamond sales organisation should decide if it had the independent marketing power to “go it alone”.
Presentations were judged by business leaders from Golden Casket, Hart Larwill, Execroundtable, SunSuper and Credit Suisse First Boston. The event was sponsored by Business Queensland.
News in Brief
Guests to hear
‘real’ Olympic story
The final Business Leaders’ Forum of 2000 on November 28 will celebrate the success of the Olympic Games with two special guest speakers.
Sydney Olympic Village Mayor Graham Richardson will join the co-writer and producer of the ABC television series The Games Ross Stevenson to give guests the real story behind their Olympic experiences before taking each other on in a debate.
Tickets are $93.50 and are available from the Hilton Box Office on (07) 3231 3231.
Price sounds right
Film and television graduate Liam Price was nominated for an Australian Film Industry award in the “Best Sound in a Non-Feature Film” category for her film, Drunken Bath.
Mr Price, who graduated in 1998, received the nomination for work on the film Intransit.
Meanwhile, film and television student Maxine Williamson won third prize in the drama category at the National Film and Video Festival in Sydney last month.
Best heads east
Accountancy associate professor Peter Best was one of just 26 people selected to join the recent IT Auditors Delegation to China as part of the US People-to-People Ambassador Program.
Professor Best explored developing curricula for university units dealing with IT auditing.
With many obstacles facing the development of e-commerce in China and slow growth in the use of IT in accounting, Professor Best said he found some deficiencies in current university curricula.
Grant dishes up hit
Drama graduate Grant Thompson can be seen on the big screen in the Australian box-office smash The Dish currently showing around the country.
Mr Thompson, who graduated from the Academy of the Arts in 1994, plays former Australian Prime Minister John Gorton’s advisor in the film.
Construction duo wins QUT awards
The founders of Transfield Queensland Pty Limited and the John Holland Group have received Distinguished Constructor Awards from QUT in recognition of considerable contributions to the State’s construction industry.
John Panizza OBE and Sir John Holland were inducted into QUT’s new Construction Hall of Fame on November 7.
Lecturer rewarded
Psychology lecturer and Australian Defence Force army reserve Leith Baird received a Prince of Wales Award in Hobart earlier this month.
An Adjutant of 21 Psychology Unit in Brisbane, she will use the award to visit the Human Dimensions Research Team at the US Army Medical Research Unit in West Germany.
Careers kick start
Thanks to the generosity of 13 companies, QUT will offer 14 new bursaries in 2001 to aid students wanting to specialise in industrial chemistry.
School of Physical Sciences head Professor Jim Pope said new industrial chemistry students could apply for one of the bursaries via the school’s website before the end of January, 2001.
Successful candidates will be chosen on the basis of merit and will each receive $3,000 over three years from their bursary as well as on-site mentoring by sponsor companies.
That is, she has not yet learned to design them.
So it was no surprise that, when the first-year QUT marketing student won the Retailers’ Association of
Marketing student Monique Daiga with her skirt and top design which won a Retailers’ Association of Queensland award.
Staff fund brings joy to needy
Ms O’Leary said the pressure on the organisation had increased in many areas without a corresponding increase in funding – rental payments alone have increased by 127 per cent in two years.
An Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) study has made similar findings – two thirds of welfare agencies reported an increase in demand, but 80 per cent were already operating at maximum capacity.
It also found government funding reduced by an average of 4 per cent – as a result, 48 per cent of agencies were unable to meet demand, and a further 37 per cent were forced to use up their financial reserves.
Ms O’Leary said the biggest increase in demand came from women and young people living on the streets.
“I think the reasons for children being on the streets are mixed – some come from abusive homes and they really are better off to leave, but others just play up,” she said.
“They don’t like restrictions from parents, and decide to teach their parents a lesson by staying away for a night.”
However, she warned, there were unforeseen dangers with some teenagers trusting people who approached them – they would often go to stranger’s houses where they were forced into using drugs.
One 16-year-old girl who needed food and was also choosing some clothes at the 139 Club during our visit there said the service was invaluable.
“It’s a haven – if it wasn’t here I’d be out in the rain doing what I was just a few hours ago – crying on the street,” she said.
Staff can make contributions to the fund via payroll deductions by advising the finance manager (at [email protected]).
T ␣
his year, the university’s staff contributed $22,000 to the QUT Staff Welfare Fund and this money was distributed among 15 charity organisations.Inside QUT journalist Toni Chambers visited one recipient organisation – the 139 Club – to get the inside story for staff on what a difference their weekly donations are making.
There was just $6.21 left in the 139 Club’s food parcel fund when QUT’s cheque for $2,000 arrived in the mail.
It could not have come at a better time, according to the organisation’s welfare co- ordinator Nikki O’Leary.
“QUT’s donation is a wonderful help – it probably means a lot more than a donation of $2,000 and it’s a pity the donors won’t actually be able to see the looks on people’s faces when they receive their food,” she said.
This year the 139 Club was one of 15 recipients of the QUT Staff Welfare Fund which raised $22,000.
The agency is based at Fortitude Valley, but first opened its doors at 139 Charlotte Street in 1975 – hence its name.
It offers emergency relief to people by paying their rent, electricity, gas and some medication bills – it also provide clothing, meals, healthcare and showering, laundry and recreation facilities.
M s O ’ L e a r y s a i d w h i l e t h e organisation received funding from the Federal Government for these services, providing food parcels did not attract public funds.
This year the 139 Club distributed food parcels to almost 22,500 families and individuals – an increase of 40 per cent on last year.
A satisfied 139 Club client carries his food parcel home – the club is just one beneficiary of the QUT Staff Welfare Fund.
Staff at QUT now belong to the largest superannuation industry fund in Australia worth $8.5billion.
Last month, SSAU and TESS merged to form UniSuper with an Australia-wide membership of 250,000 of which there are about 4,100 members from QUT.
The Chief Executive of UniSuper, Ron Champion said the growth of SSAU and TESS had been the result of generous employer contributions, above average investment returns and a growing membership base.
Mr Champion said SSAU had been in the top quartile of the InTech survey of market-linked pooled funds over the past five years which averaged a 14.2 per cent return, and TESS credited 15.6 per cent to member accounts for the 1999-2000 financial year.
There are several benefits for staff as a result of the merger, according to QUT superannuation officer Martin Moore.
“The major beneficiaries will be the short-term and casual staff who do not qualify for SSAU membership,”
Mr Moore said.
“Although the level of QUT’s contribution won’t change they will get access to more retirement products that were formerly reserved for SSAU members.
“TESS members will be able to access the retirement products such as the Indexed Pension and the Allocated Pension that were formerly reserved for SSAU members.”
He said extra investment strategy choices would be available to members and administration fees would lower.
– Noel Gentner
QUT’s Carseldine community was treated to a display of humour, wit and reminiscence at last month’s celebrity debate.
The affirmative team of (l-r) arts graduate Sally Clifford, Democrats Senator Andrew Bartlett and author Mary-Rose MacColl challenged author Nick Earls, comic Ian McFadyen and playwright and author E.C. Brown on the topic of “Sex, Lies and University: Is this the education I had to have?”.
ABC Stateline’s Lisa Millar moderated the teams’ discussion, which was so well received that an audience vote was unable to separate a winner from the two teams.
Sex, lies and university – the debate we had to have
QUT now has one of the largest student-computing facilities in Australia following a recent upgrade at the Gardens Point campus, which took more than four months to complete.
The “Vlab” facility, located in the library, will be officially opened by the State Director-General of Education, Jim Varghese, on November 27.
Vlab is the nerve centre for two service points, the Library Information Desk and the Student Computing Helpdesk.
Division of Information and Academic Services’ supervisor for the Vlab project Robyn Smith said the entire second floor of V block was
New student computer facility now operating
rebuilt around the information desk and the helpdesk, which were kept operational throughout the project.
Ms Smith said floor space had doubled and now provided 320 computer workstations, printing facilities, plug-n-play for laptop users, student lounge, courtyard and 24- hour access.
Architectural firm Powell Dods and Thorpe used several design elements to break the space into different activity levels.
Their design incorporates flashes of colour and directional lines on the floor and ceiling to draw the eye from one point to another.
The university’s new biotechnology degree, which promises to produce Australia’s first generation of business- focused biotechnologists, recently received a $200,000 funding injection from the State Government.
The Federal Government has already made $1.4million available for the Bachelor of Biotechnology Innovation under the Science Lectureship Program.
State Development Minister Jim Elder took the opportunity to visit the School of Life Sciences facilities and also handed over the State Government’s contribution.
Head of QUT’s School of Life Sciences Adrian Herington said the three-year biotechnology degree with honours was the most innovative in Australia because it was the first time subjects had been re-written specifically for the biotechnology industry.
“Industry has requested this course to fill a knowledge gap that has been created by biotechnology discoveries both in Australia and around the world,” he said.
“The industry has been going ahead in leaps and bounds, resulting in a skills shortage that isn’t being filled at the moment because universities are only offering science degrees with separate business components or double majors.”
Professor Herington said the course would combine a deep understanding of science with other business specialities such as marketing, product commercialisation, communication, intellectual property and entrepreneurship.
The course will have an initial intake of 30 students next year.
– Toni Chambers
Biotechnology degree gets new funding
QUT’s School of Media and Journalism is offering you the chance to develop an interest and learn new skills, get a head start on a new course, accelerate your studies, or catch up. You can complete whole subjects in just three weeks through our summer school program taught by full-time staff members who are also industry professionals. Classes run in intensive mode from January to mid February 2001.
Journalism Information Systems (MJB101)
Journalists are facing rapid technological changes in their working environment. This unit covers how to use spreadsheets and databases, internet research, email and on-line publishing.
Informational Production/Digital Documentary Production (MJB185) This unit covers principles of single camera film and video production; conversion of script to mediated form; budgeting and production management; and principles of directing, editing, camera, sound, lighting and design crafts.
Feature Writing (MJB224)
This is a practically based unit focusing on researching and writing techniques for print and on-line feature stories. It covers human interest feature stories, personal columns, arts reviews and business aspects of freelance writing.
New Media Technologies (MJB336)
This unit considers the historical development of technologies such as the internet and the impact of new media forms upon cultural practices and social interaction. It also looks at the impact of new media in traditional media industries.
Creative Writing and Publishing (MJB350)
This unit explores the acquisition of skills in professional creative writing. It provides techniques in creative writing and editing, including some guidance
in publishing and marketing.
For admission details phone (07) 3864 2000 or for course information phone (07) 3864 1729, fax (07) 3864 1810 or e-mail: [email protected] Alternatively, visit: qut.com
Real Head Start
A university for the real world
Queensland University of Technology GPO Box 2434 Brisbane QLD 4001 Website: qut.com
ARTS42
in Media & Journalism Summer School
Super merger
has benefits
Page 8 INSIDE QUT November 21, 2000-February 13, 2001
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 e-mail [email protected]. The Corporate Communication address: Level 3, G Block, Room 318, 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.
Carmen Myler (editor) 3864 1150
Noel Gentner (part-time)/Amisha Patel 3864 1841
Margaret Lawson 3864 2130
Toni Chambers 3864 4494
Fax 3210 0474
Photography: Tony Phillips, Suzie Prestwidge
Advertising: Rachel Murray 3864 4408 or 3864 1840 Our web address: http://www.corpcomm.qut.com/
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Check out more What’s On and post your entries at http://www.whatson.qut.edu.au/
ARTS EVENTS
Nov 23- George Gittoes: World Diary. Contemporary Jan 21 Australian figurative artist George Gittoes presents striking images of the plight of humanity in various parts of the world. QUT Art Museum, QUT Cultural Precinct, Gardens Point campus. Open 10am-4pm (Tues-Fri), Noon-4pm (Sat-Sun), closed Mon. Free. E- mail [email protected] or call 3864 5370.
Nov-Dec Academy Showcase Season. QUT Academy of the Arts students, on the eve of their progessional careers, will showcase their talents through performance, exhibitions and events. Gardens Point & Kelvin Grove. Call 3864 5998.
SEMINARS, EVENTS, CONFERENCES Nov 27 Spiritual Wellness. An open forum panel
discussion including QUT School of Public Health postdoctoral fellow Dr Pam McGrath, and visiting QUT Chaplain Father Neal Salan.
A $5 donation on entry will contribute to the Karuna Hospice Service. S Block, Level 12, Gardens Point campus, 9am-Noon. E-mail [email protected] or call 3864 9704.
Nov 27 Faculty of Business annual public lecture.
This lecture will be delivered by the man who foreshadowed the world stock market crash of 1996, Yale University professor of economics Professor Robert Shiller. Room 411, Z Block, Gardens Point campus. 5.30pm.
Free. E-mail [email protected] or call 3864 2975.
Dec 1-2 Manning the Next Millennium conference.
This conference will be of interest to a wide range of professionals including teachers, public servants and social workers. The conference will cover issues including gender studies, education, history, literature, sexuality and discrimination. Legends Hotel, Surfers Paradise. Standard registration is $325. E-mail [email protected] or call 3864 4514.
Dec 6 School of Nursing annual public lecture.
Cherrie Lowe, Director of Nursing Support, Trend Care Systems Pty Ltd, will discuss
“Challenges in measuring patient acuity in Australian hospitals”. N Block Room 515, QUT Kelvin Grove campus, 5.30pm. Free. E-mail [email protected] or call 3864 3897.
Read Inside QUT on-line at http://www.corpcomm.qut.com/
insidequt/index.html
T
he future of golf could be less painful for its millions of followers – professionals and particularly amateurs – because of a QUT project.As part of his final-year project, medical engineering student Cameron Mercer has developed a device which measures golf club vibration following contact with the ball.
He said he was prompted to investigate the problem of vibration following approaches from the golfing industry and physiotherapists.
Many golfers suffer injuries, particularly of the back, wrists and upper extremities.
Project targets golfers’ pain
“These problems are on the increase, with more people turning to golf for a sport,” Mr Mercer said.
“It is thought that vibrations could be a factor in injury rates, as any golfer will tell you how much it hurts when a shot is badly hit.
“Amateurs hit bad shots all the time with the ball being hit off the toe of the club or the leading edge, causing pain sensations in the hands and arms.”
Mr Mercer said his development was not so much a stand-alone device but a measuring device.
The golf club is instrumented using strain gauges and accelerometers to measure vibrations experienced in the shaft.
“The main idea of the project was to compare two clubs that had different properties – one with a damper and the other without,” he said.
“Both clubs were identical 5 irons that had the same swing weight.”
Mr Mercer said the differences between the clubs were noted with the manufacturers’
claims of up to 50 per cent dampening.
– Noel Gentner Engineering student Cameron Mercer prepares to tee off while monitoring the golf club’s vibration with his new device.
A group of 13 final-year education students from QUT helped make Australia’s first indigenous games festival on October 27 a success.
More than 150 Anglican students from southern Queensland schools took part in the inaugural Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Traditional Games Festival at West Moreton Anglican College, Karrabin.
Nahrij* 2000 involved students from Years four to eight, playing nine traditional indigenous sports.
QUT’s education students acted as umpires and games co-ordinators after an intensive in-service training exercise two weeks before the festival.
Education student Amanda Plumb said the festival had “started small, but it’s a good start”.
Ms Plumb said the festival helped the students think outside the circle in terms of curriculum and raised their awareness of the importance of indigenous issues.
“The non-competitive aspect of (the festival) – the emphasis on fun and co-operation – is very important,” she said.
Anglican Indigenous Education Officer Paul Paulson said it was the first time in Australia that a traditional indigenous sports festival had been run and he was very pleased with the outcome and hoped it would become an annual event.
“Traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies had a rich diversity of games, which were used to help enhance physical fitness and improve co-operation between people,” Mr Paulson said.
He said organisers had harnessed the expertise of elders who remember these activities as well as research by QUT’s Dr Ken Edwards, an expert on traditional games and author of the book Choopadoo: Games from the Dreamtime.
(*Nahrij is a Yugembeh language word for
“games”, “play” and “dance”. Yugembeh is a traditional Aboriginal language from the Gold Coast and Logan regions.)
Students join in indigenous games
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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 QUT triathletes returned triumphant from the Australian
University Triathlon Championships held at Raby Bay on October 15, bringing home titles in both the men’s and women’s sections.
Faculty of Health student Glen Barltrop out-classed the rest of the field, crossing the line first in a time of 0:56:05 minutes, nearly three minutes faster than his next competitor.
Miranda Carfae, also from the Faculty of Health, performed brilliantly in the women’s race, coming in second in a time of 1:03:58.
Completing the QUT domination of the race, strong performances from Caroline Amyot and Kathy Francis ensured that QUT took out the Champion University – Women’s category.
– Toni Chambers
Triathletes triumph
On-line extras
Plenty more news can be found in Inside QUT’s on-line edition, including stories on:
• Prestigious win for creative writing student
• Arts can revitalise rural Australia
• New insight into job satisfaction
• Students score silver at national awards
• Industrial designers show their talents
• Tony Lee delivers inaugural WA Lee Equity Lecture
• Staffer to address Library of Congress
• New major thinks global
• Cathryn Porritt to represent Australia in Indonesia On the pictorial front:
• Images from Out of the Box children’s festival and QUT’s Postgraduate Information Evening.