3 1%·~~---~~---~---~
103 QUT
Issue No 132
Queensland University of Technology Newspaper May 16-29, 1995
Info tech first in PhD
Stephanie Ewart (left) and Laura Saperstein - top client counsellors
Law students win wo rld c o mp
QUT law students Laura Saperstein and Stephanie Ewart have handed Australia its second consecutive win in an international law competition.
Last month Laura and Stephanie won the International Client Counselling Competition final held at Florida's oldest law school, Stetson University
College of Law, in Saint Petersburg.
In last year's final in Glasgow, Scotland, the Australian repre- sentatives from Wollongong University Law School took the title.
This year, the competition at- tracted teams from law schools in the United States, Canada,
Australia, Malaysia, England- Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
Client counselling competitions have been running in the United States since the 1960s as a way to help law students learn the complexities of communicating with clients.
• Continued page 4
Software success secures new deal with top company
The world's first successful re- verse compilation computer pro- gram has been developed by QUT PhD graduate Cristina Cifuentes.
The technique has attracted world- wide interest and brought a joint re- search project with Sun Microsystems Laboratories into a software transfer program capable of saving the indus- try millions of dollars.
Reverse compilation is the transfor- mation of computer software into a form readable by humans.
Most software is written in high- level programming languages and then transferred via a compiler to the low- level binary format used by comput- ers.
"Reverse compilation is very diffi- cult because you're going from a lower-level program to a high-level one and so there is a lot of information missing which you have to recreate,"
Dr Cifuentes said.
"A lot of people have attempted it but they haven't been able to generate the final, high-level code."
Dr Cifuentes' research concentrated on a Microsoft MS-DOS system suit- able for IBM-compatible 286 comput- ers.
"We have been able to show that, in
some programs, it is possible to recall all the information; in others we have been able to recall only part of it,'' she said.
The PhD project had two specific aims-to prove, in theory. that reverse compilation was possible and to ex- amine whether the technique could be used to detect computer viruses.
"At the time I started, there were a lot of viruses in 286s," Dr Cifuentes said.
"We were interest::d in seeing if re-
verse compilation techniques could detect software infected by viruses.
"That part of the project was par- tially successful- it could give a warn- ing about where there might be a virus but it was up to the operator to go and check."
Once her thesis was accepted, Dr Cifuentes released it on the Internet.
It attracted a lot of interest, includ- ing from Sun Microsystems, the world's largest manufacturer of Unix systems.
"We're now doing collaborative re- search, using some of the methods and·
theory of my thesis more as a migra-
By
David Kiefertion tool to transfer low-level code from one machine to another without having the high-level code." she said. The aim is to develop a program which can transfer programs from, say, a Windows system to a Macintosh sys- tem without having to rewrite it as high-level code.
"It wi II mean that people who
develop software will save on costs because they will not have to develop programs for each type of system,"
Dr Cifuentes said.
"It will also mean that users won't
· have to buy different programs for separate machines."
Dr Cifuentes graduated at the Fac- ulty of Information Technology cer- emony last night and is the faculty's first female PhD graduate.
Dr Cristina Cifuentes
Dean resigns for research
Professor Dennis Longley has stepped down from his position as Dean of the Information Technol- ogy Faculty to undertake a three- year research project with the National Australia Bank at QUT.
Professor John Gough, Director of the Research/Distributed systems Technology Centre, is acting dean.
• See full story pS
NEWS INSIDE Enterprise Bargaining: SPORT NEWS
• Cyber City Cabaret starts Mareh 31 -page 3
• Y oong-fdm makers scoop prizes- page 4
• Graduation wrap.up -page 7
A QUT and NTEU perspective
• Debate- page 6
• Diving for Olympic gold
• See page 10
OUT Central AdrT]inistration 2 George Street Brisbane 4000 Telephone {07) 864 ?111 Registered by Australia Post- Publication No. OBF 4778
Vice-Chancellor's comment
New places for Queensland
The Commonwealth Budget includes 4200 new higher education places for Queensland for the 1996 to 1998 triennium.
In a difficult budgetary environment, State and Federal Governments are recpgnisi11g the.strategic importance of higher education in economic development and the special situation of Queensland where population growth is rapid and demographically loaded towards the 18 to 24-year-old group.
Queensland has characteristically high unmet demand for higher edu- cation. S.outh-east Queensland is one of the fastest growing population areas in Australia.
In 1996, there will be 1750 new places in Queensland, with 1500 planned for 1997 and 950 in 1998. This will represent over $100 million a year to Queensland in additional funding and over 70 per cent of the total national growth planned for the triennium of 5850 places.
This is good news for Queensland.
It's also good news for QUT where preparing graduates for the world of work is our primary responsibility.
QUT will be able to offer more places in its high demand courses, continue to develop initiatives and meet community needs.
Ked ron's final bash a reun1on •
A final bash for Kedron Park campus is being planned for July to celebrate the end of teaching there.
Anyone who has had anything to do with the campus - from its days as Brisbane College of Advanced Edu- cation and Kedron Teachers College through to its status as a QUT campus - is invited.
"It will be a mix of nostalgia, a touch of regret, a chance to get together and a toast to the future," said campus reg- istrar Sarah Howgego.
"We're going to invite ex-heads of school, ex-deans, current and past staff and students, local community groups and businesses.
The university will be able to do much to alleviate unmet de- mand, particularly among the State's school leav~rs. The new places will include a capital com- ponent which will allow us to develop facilities to accommo- date new students.
The Commonwealth Budget also includes an additional $109 million for research infrastruc- ture and $40 million for Austral- ian Research Council competi- tive research grants.
Given the budgetary setting, this is a very good result for higher education in Queensland and for QUT.
We look forward to detailed discussions with the Common- wealth in the next few months.
Prof Peter Coaldrake (acting)
Update on new Business heads
The following people have been appointed to acting Head of School positions in QUT's restructured Fac- ulty of Business from July I:
• Accountancy - Professor Scott Holmes, from current School of Ac- countancy;
• Economics and Finance - Professor Allan Layton, current head of School of Economics and Public Policy;
• Marketing and International Busi- ness- Mr Peter Carroll, currently a senior lecturer in the School of Eco- nomics and Public Policy;
• Management - Dr Sandra Harding, currently a senior lecturer in the School of Communication and Or- ganisational Studies;
• Communication- Ms Lyn Simpson, currently a senior lecturer in the School of Communication and Or- ganisational Studies.
~~m~.
·~n'\·
@
~-
..
~~~~
•"*' 't\
~r-'~
..~.
1(l
•'¥•
Senior lecturer Dr Joanne Wood and the new eye chart
~ +'"'"•'
~ ~·· ·~
~ .. r
~s:J~
" -#
~\
• •
#w~
~~·
~
.
~H ~ ~.
\,g_.
I•>
'
~"··
~~••
-~•
'~+;t
.,
.. ~ ~<j~~ ,, .
,_,. . 4'\.'-~~
'
#'::<\.
t
>l
-..,-'\, ..
~-
---~J
#
~. ... ~
~-::;(:'~');.::
+
~--~.Aboriginal eye chart breaks down barriers
A unique eye chart featuring a tur- tle symbol has been designed es- pecially for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to replace the standard optomet- ric letter test.
It was developed by School of Optometry senior lecturers Doctors Joanne Wood and Christine Wildsoet and Torres Strait Islander art and educa- tion student Douglas Watkin with the help of a Brisbane City Council Community Grant worth almost $5000.
Doctors Wood and Wildsoet said they viewed the chart as a way of trying to break down barri- ers for patients who could read quite well, as well as a way of examining children or adults who were illiterate.
"Having an eye examination can be daunting for anyone, but es- pecially to many Aboriginal people, so we believe that using a chart that is culturally famil- iar will make patients feel more
at ease," Dr Wood said.
Featuring a turtle with a symmet- ric head, two white eyes and a tail, the chart is being used at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community
Health Centre at
Woolloongabba.
The School of Optometry operates a weekly clinic at the centre.
'J;he.teaching clinic is supervised by Dr Wood on Friday morn- ings.
The clinic offers a complete opto- metric service to Brisbane's in- digenous community and pro- vides reasonably priced specta- cles for those who need them.
Doctor Wood said the eyechart required the patient to identify which of four directions the tur- tle was facing.
"The chart has been primarily de- signed for children because, of- ten, they can't read letters," she said.
"For children we also will be us- ing a turtle puppet to familiar-
ise them with the 'game' being played."
Doctors Wood and Wildsoet said the new chart had received a positive response from the clin- ic's health workers and pa- tients.
"We have also received interest from an optometrist who is planning to open a clinic for the Aboriginal community o Woorabinda, near Rock- hampton," Dr Wood said.
To further promote indigenous eye care, the doctors recently received a Queensland Health Promotion Council grant worth nearly $20,000 to design bro- chures and posters.
"This will not only compliment and extend our research but will extend the scope of promoting eye care and easier access to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people," Dr Wood said.
"The promotional material will in- volve a cartoon version of the turtle."
"There are many people who worked and studied at this campus, so we're expecting a large turn-out."
The Kedron Park Final Reunion, to be held on-site, has been tentatively
set for July 15.
·tbfii.'liislilt···~~., . by David Hawk· Book maps
cities' role
Drinks and light refreshments will be served and entertainment provided.
Old photos, memorabilia and Kedron Park's first art collection will be displayed, and a book on the his- tory of the campus will be for sale.
"The Kedron Park Final Reunion is intended as a time for reminiscing about the campus, celebrating the con- tributions of staff and students to higher education, and looking towards the future," Ms Howgego said.
Running in parallel with the on-cam- pus party will be a night-time social at Friday's Nightclub in the city.
It will be held on the same day as the party and is being organised by Student Guild recreation officer Jo Lester.
Ms Lester said one of her tasks was tracking down famous people who had attended the Kedron Park campus at any time in its history.
People with suggestions should con- tact Ms Lester on 864 1683.
Further information is available from Ms Howgego on 864 4031 or Barbara Ewers on 864 4224.
"Any information, suggestions memorabilia or a good anecdote would be much appreciated," Ms Howgego said.
P~ge 2 INSIDE OUT May 16-29, 1994
~~~~tiNt ~~1)~1011\ .JITI\.t4
. ~~ J.i4 "h4»L ./AM ..
~ ~~":A~~"!\ JrV~- f/'1!'-: iv\ .f\\A~ ~tJti ~· ~ r.ea'!!,e;."m'~~
(of w.ttlA._. .:f"Niu 1
Deputy Prime Minister Brian Howe has launched a book on The Economic Roles of Cities: Economic Change and City Development in Australia 1971-1991.
The book is co-authored by QUT Professor in Urban Studies Bob Stimson and was launched as part of the Better Cities: Urban Change in Action conference held by the Depart- ment of Housing and Regional Devel- opment on March 27-28.
Research for the book was commis- sioned by the department as part of its urban futures research program.
Professor Stimson and co-author Dr Kevin O'Connor. from Monash Uni- versity, argue that Australia's cities, and capital cities in particular, are play- ing an increasingly leading role in the operation and change of the nation's economy as Australia becomes inte- grated into the global community.
,-Last issue--,
I
The next edition of InsideI
QUT (May 30) is the last for this
I
semester. Deadline extended toI
~~n ~ May__:_2:_ _ _ _ _j
7
•
c
p A aj
U!
si
Sl
bt ht
U!
tb Q G m
M
01
en pu Dl
SOf
fot en> wi of fee
Me
I Ze1 on OgJ
1
co~
ba1 Inf tee ess
anc 1 tiOJ I I Ch.
fc
\\
e
C; tc st
0
e1 rr 2 ((
ter a!-
1-
~c-
an to
in
·'
tiC 1er
liD
l'n
nt IS.
·e- n- IT
nt :y Je 1e 1e
I h n
I- I-
1e
·-
rt 0
I
n n 0
s
.. , .. ,. ... ,. • • • • ' • ' . . . .. . . f( ' ••
Cyber City ready for cabaret action
Mus1c, dance, drama. film and com- puter art will be combined for the first time in an Academy of the Arts productiOn when Cyber City Cabaret opens on May 31 for a limited season.
It also marks the academy's first- pro- ductiOn for Brisbane's Biennial In- ternatiOnal Mu~1c Fesuval.
Cenrre for lnnovauon m the Arts head and the show's artistic director Profes or Rod Wissler said three separate venues would be set-up within the Woodward Theatre to present 40 different performances and installallons featuring compu- ter-based technology.
"The event sits somewhere between s1de-show alley and a live record- mg sessiOn m a teleVISIOn studio."
he sa1d.
"The aud1ence will v1ew a phantas- magona of electromc mus1c.
soundscape. large screen v1deo and computer ammauons
"Computer technology IS the way of the future but hov. many t1mes IS the future actually delivered m a contemporar) r• expenence , ..
Professor W1ssler .ud that apart !rom Cyber City Cabar£1 represenllng a first for the academy. 11 would also be used as a model m the ef- fective combination of teaching research and commumty serv1ce
"Mus1c program lecturer Andrew Brown and l established a Teach- ing. Reflection & CollaboratiOn (TRAC) group looking at Learn- ing in ln1erdisc1phnary Projects:·
he sa1d.
"We are examming how students from across the academy are com- mg together for th1s show. how teachmg input IS 1nvolved and the assessment 1ssues which have been raised.
"It is the first t1me that this sort of teachmg and creauve process has been planned mto such a large . cale public presentation.
"This is feedmg into our current five- year!) re ac-credllation of under- graduate degrees which. m future.
wtll mvolve co\laborallve arts proJects w11hm those degrees.
Cabaret duo-Bachelor of Arts th1rd-year students Ky/Je Rose (vtsual arts) and Kurt J Hams (drama)
"It has implications for the entire
academy ...
Professor Wissler said seven masters students were also currently con- ducting an ethno-graph1c study of Cyber City Cabaret.
"Our hope IS that the study wlil be published in artf. education jour- nals which will alert other teach- ing instituuons to a new concept of teaching." he said.
Professor Wissler said the produc- llon · s research strand mvolYed drama program semor lecturer Dr Jacqueline Marlin.
"Dr Marun ts wnting a paper on the
production v. hich she will present at the International Thea- tre Rt::search Associauon s confer- enct' tn Montreal later thts month,"
he satd.
"She wtll also present a paper at the ustralastan Theatre Tra1mng Conference bemg hosted by the cademy of the Arts between June 7 and 10 ..
Profes. or Wissler aid he hoped shows like C1ber Cit\ Cabaret would present the commumt\, par-
icula.rlv young people. wtth new posstbthues m the arts.
The si1e of this e\ ent the number
of participants and the technologi- cal resource. that on! a umver- slly of this ~ize can provide go well beyond the reach ot the arts pro- ducing commumty 1n Bnsbane."
he sa1d.
"Perhaps these may mspire young people to want to learn more about the way the arts function ..
Cvbrr Citv Cabaret will be per- lormed at the Woodward Theatre, Kehm Grove campus between May 31 and June 3
To purchast:: uckets contact Dull n Charge on 846 4646
- Laura McDonald
Homeless youth research targets support in schools
Teachers could pia)" a vital role in preventing their ~tudents from one day joining the ranks of homeless young Australians, a Q T research project has found.
The research team. led by School of Cultural and Policy '>tud1es lecturer Dr Jillian Brannock and School of Social Science lecturer Phil Crane, has rece1ved a $55,000 grant from the ational Youth Alfa1rs Research Scheme to prepare a report on how to prevent homelessness among 12-18 year olds.
The scheme is run by the Common- wealth Department of Employment.
Education and Training.
Dr Brannock said the number of homeless young Australians remained at an unacceptably h1gh rate.
"There . eems to be no uniform fig- ure. but the pubhshed literature mdt- cates the problem IS pers1stant and will not be addressed unless 1ssues of pre- ventiOn and early intervention are ad- dressed." she sa1d.
During the mne-month proJect, due to end in November. Dr Brannock, her fellow umversuy researchers and so- cial and welfare workers from through- out Australia w1ll orgamse three focus conferences.
One has alreadv been held in Bns- bane. a second st~s today in Sydney and the final conference IS planned for Melbourne m nud-June.
The delegates hope to understand and identify the factor leadmg to homelessness and identify and review current intervention/prevention pro- grams.
By Laura McDonald Dr Brannock said researchers and field workers had already identified schools as a cruc1al area for early in- tervention.
"Some social workers believe that the factors wh1ch contribute to home- lessness appear very early on 1n a young person· s 11 fe." she aid
"They believe. w1th a Lertam de- gree of confidence. they can pick a child who is at risk
"These s1gns may include a pattern of abuse and neglect which starts as an infant.
''For many children a lack of home is a psychological tate which begins a long time before they physically leave home."
Dr Brannock said many conference delegates had recommended the intro- ducuon of proper intervenuon/preven- tion programs in schools and closer liaison with welfare groups.
'Schools currently see themselves primarily as transmitters of knowledge and skills,'' she said.
"Whereas soc1al workers believe they have a responsibility to help in the hves of student too.
"Oxley Secondary College IS one school whtch has already taken up the challenge by 1mplementmg a program to help keep its homeless students at school"
Dr Brannock said the research team would conduct case studies involving intervention/prevention programs m Queensland, New South Wales and Vtctona
"We want to identify -.ucces~ful
models and understand what ts con- Jdered a succes~ful outcome. ·he said.
"Does it mean getting the young person back home or puttmg them on to the path of stable living?"
Dr Brannock said more than 40 former homeless young people a well a their parents or guardians would be mterv1ewed for the proJect.
What is umque about th1s aspect of the proJect 1s the four tramed re- searchers who will conduct the Inter- view hnve all expenenced homeles.- ness.·· she satd.
Dr Brannock said she hoped th1~
research would h1ghhght the differ- ences between homeless young peo- ple and the stereotyped 1mage of " treet k1ds.
' ot every homeless person lives on the streets," she said.
'Being homeless can mean moving between hostels and shelters or from fnend to friend.
'There are many factors mvolved in young people leavmg home. These Include parenting problems, family conflicts and crisis. alcohol and drug abuse and mental illness.
"We want to understnnd why ~orne
leave home and others don't."
The research team will present its report to the atwnal Youth Affairs Research Scheme in November.
Right: Dr Jillian Brannock (top) and Mr Phil Crane - research trying to prevent youth homelessness
.. .... , .. ,. ... • • • ' • • • f t . . .
Jobs missed in Budget:
economist
The Federal Government's 1995/
95 budget has produced a projected surplus but has missed the most im- portant issue, according to Profes- sor Allan Layton in his medium term perspective on the statement:
" s usual. the post-budget commen- tary has. 1n the main, focused on the extent of the 'smoke and mirrors' used to get to the final deficit figure, the react1on of the financial markets and the implications for the hkely future d1rection of mterest rates. whether the hudget I'> cymcall\ poht1cal with o many trymg to d1v1ne the date of the next election. the usual coverage of w1nners and ]o,ers, and so on
But unt::mplo~ ment arguably re- mains the most. erious JmmedJate eco- m,mic and oc1a challenge fac1ng
\uqraha and It policy maker Th1s ha. rated ·ery liule mentu>n m the po t budget rounc •P bUL he fact ts the ptcture oamted bv the !!Ov- anment s o"n tu:unng is bleak. to say the least.
' n the early part of last vear, I \Hole h,ll he likelihood ol Khie ·1ng the target set in Wo1 1ng at on of , 1\ e percent unt::mplovment rate b\ 1999/
:!000 was vtrtuallv ml
Th1s budget onl; remforce' th1.·
asse-..·ment
''The revised t do" nward<. J !!TO" th .:untamed in the budget ftH tht years 1995/96. "96/97 and '97/98 is three and three-quarter percent m each) ear.
'Employment growth for these yean, is now projected at ~. :! _ and 2.5 percent respectively.
·'What then are the Implications of these forecasts for the rate of unem- ployment?
"Currently. unemployment stand-. at 8.3 percent. However, with a modest increase 1n the partlc1pa11on rate. It IS hkeiy to end the financ1al year at up to 8.5 percent.
'The government foreca t: .., percent growth in output and 3 per- cent growth in unemployment during 199'i/96
'lntere<,Lingly. th1' 1mpl1es a mt>a- gre growth 1n labour productJvlly of only 0. 75 percent for the year
"'The employment fo1t::cast for I 'J~51
46 1 proJected to only 'llarunal ' 1 e- duce unemployment to . percent h June 1996.
"The reason for the mode. t reduc- tion IS. of course workforce grm\lh wh1ch e\ en ·or an unchan." ng par- llclpatwn rate avera~:e. around I 5 percent a •ear
·'Thus. th1s rate of JOb~ gn v.th "
w,ually needed before we see any dent
tn the unemployment rate
'If partJClpatJon of the population tn the workforce increases. the growth rate need., to be even larger.
"What all this adds up to IS that the government figures for unemployment growth m the following two years may JUSt reduce unemployment down to 7 percent by the end of 1997/98.
"We would then need two more vears of \lmilar output and employ- ment growth to get the rate dov.n to 6 percent by the end of the decade
"Th1s wa~ the rate I sugge ted la'>t year would be the hest "e could most likely hope for by then.
··ot
cour,e, e\·en th1 ,, umt·s no.,igm ficant downturn m the rate ot .:co- nomic growth and only \eT) modest productivity gro"th
''If labour productiVIty should grow more quickly than about one percent per year on average. and/or Australia experiences just one '>lgnll 1cant 'ilowdown in act1vity, then even th1s will not be achieved. much less the 5 percent the government set ns the tar- get in Working Nation.
"The bottom line is that just a' av- erage unemployment was ratcheted up from 2 percent m the 1960s to per- cent in the 1970s. and then over 7 per- cent in the 1980s, ll looks ver hke it will a\erage over~ percent 1n the final decade of the century, a sombre pros- pect indeed."
- Professor Allan Layton Head. School of Economics and Public Policy.
INSIDE OUT May 16-29, 1994 Page 3
{
I \.
'
t )
_! Articulate legal duo Student film-making team
talk their way. into takes the critics by storm
a new world t1tle
• From page 1
This year about 600 teams in the United States competed for the right to represent the country in the com- petition.
Laura and Stephanie won the QUT client counselling competition against about 15 other teams last year and then took out the national finals at Monash University in Mel- bourne in February.
Teams in the international title compete in two rounds from which two teams with the highest point score contest the final.
This year the scenario for the first round dealing in family law matters was a "client" played by an actor who had a bigamy problem having married twice.
The second round concerned a·
family custody matter where a child had been sent out of the country by one of the parents.
The scenario for ·the final was a client without English with all ques- tions and answers being made through an interpreter.
"The interpreter was also making improper commentS about the client which was all done as a test," Ms Saperstein said.
"On top of all that, the outcome was the client did not really have a legal problem, her husband was hav- ing an affair.
"It was extremely difficult to get out of her what she wanted us to do about it."
Ms Saperstein said involvement in the competition had been an ex- tremely beneficial exercise.
"Before I participated in the com- petition I had no idea how to ap- proach a legal interview with a cli- ent," Ms Saperstein said.
"I discovered by talking to a number of professionals that many solicitors don't know how to con- duct an effective client interview.
"However, it's something you can learn in a relatively short space of time given the opportunity.
"We learnt a lot of skills such as how to use silence, how to listen ef-
fectively and how to motivate the client.
"We tried to be very up-front, set- ting out for the client what our rela- tionship with them was and that we are there to help them.
"In competition, you have to be straight forward and caring but also keep control of the situation."
Ms Ewart said it was an unusual final as they had to deviate a lot from what they would normally do, change their approach and become more flexible.
She said the competition had been an an experience which was com- pletely lacking from tl-te academic curriculum for law students.
Ms Ewart said she believed there was insufficient emphasis placed on client contact in the academic sub- jects.
"Its something talked about in vague general terms but no one gives specific guidelines as to how to put it into practice," Ms Ewart said.
She said there was no magic se- cret to their win and put it down to a lot of practice and the fact that they worked together well as a team.
"There was a good amount of preparation undertaken beforehand including practice on various client scenarios," Ms Ewart said.
"We had practised the interpreter scenario with the help of Malaysian and Fijian students in Brisbane."
Ms Ewart said overall it was re- ally a team effort, particularly with the assistance from QUT Legal Prac- tice Course lecturers, Ms Judy Smith and Mr Allan Chay who were also at the final.
The International Client Counsel- ling Competition finals will be held in Australia next year at the Bond University on the Gold Coast.
It will be interesting to see if Aus- tralia can win the title three years in a row.
Countries, including Australia, have won the competition in two con- secutive years but as yet no country has been able to take out the final three years running.
-Noel Gentner
~ ~ ~
• Qualty Assurance Certificate 501
• GITC No 121
• Education Contract 005
• Novell Reseller
WHOLESALE & RETAIL
WE SELL, WE REPAIR, WE UPGRADE:
• Computer Systems • Mutimedia Products
• Controller Cards • Mother Boards
• Hard Drives
+
VGA Cards• Monitors • Printers
A large range for you to choose from :
ACCTON * CTM * CANNON* EPSON * HP * IBM * MAXTOR*PROLAB*SAMSUNG
(07)830 5516
QUT students have scooped the pool at the ninth Queensland New Filmmakers A wards.
The Lotus Room, a production in- volving about 20 students, won five awards, including best over- all film - the second year in a row the title has been won by QUT students.
Another QUT student, Belinda Cassidy, won best editing and best documentary with Watching the Watchers.
The Lotus Room is the brainchild of co-producers Julie Angel and Stephen Lance.
Lance picked up best new filmmaker for his work as director.
".We only started making it a couple of months ago, so we've come a long way in a short time," Ms An- gel said.
"We now get automatic entry into the Brisbane International Film Festival in August.
"If we get a good response there,
we're hoping to show it at other film festivals, including overseas.
"It generally takes a prize to be able
to afford the copyright to take it overseas."
The 13-minute film was shot over four days at the Golden Crown Chinese restaurant in Ashgrove, with well-known Brisbane actors John Batchelor and Geneveive Thackwell-James playing the leads.
It is set in a restaurant, centring on the female lead's fantasy of what reality could be.
Magically, she is transported into her fantasy.
"Fantasy seems more attractive than reality but, by the end of the film, she's aware that life is as perfect as she ever hoped," Ms Angel said.
The success of The Lotus Room has justified the producers' decision to use a full production crew.
"Many short film producers go out with a camera on the weekend and get what they want that way," Ms Angel said.
"But by having a crew, we were able to get the quality which we would have missed.
"We're hoping quality will encourage theatres to start showing short films by in- dependent producers as shorts before the feature movies."
Riding high on their suc- cess, the producers are working on a second film.
1J'i!~;:Ji'Q? ~I ITEIJ~ teTr.,,Jm~n? IDl!.~J:~tl CTM
*liE
! :<$:0-"Jllll~nEIDlfil~' .!'J1lB, ~¥tl~1l"JB91~lf7U~ftl\!. ~~i§:~lll!~r.,,Jm.,f*illfn:5~.
Producers Julie Angel and Stephen Lance
"We've got a really good writer working on it now and Stephen Lance will co-write an adaption with former Dendy A ward win- ner David Glazier," Ms Angel said.
"We'd like to use all of the same people who helped in The Lotus Room."
Other awards won by The Lotus Room at the Young Filmmaker A wards are best production de- sign (sisters Mairi and Fleur Cameron), best original score (Andy Parslow) and joint best drama (Stephen Lance).
The awards are staged annually by Film Queensland.
6 Masters Street. Newstead
The Lotus Room success team - Fleur Cameron, Stephen Lance, Mairi Cameron, Damon Escott and Julie AngelPage 4 INSIDE OUT May 16-29, 1994
~ ·
(
J
' c
j Iglo we sea I pia tim net tior ,, the1
the ~
ate su sail
~l
frot So~ lie
I
frot
bal]
to, lite1
E cu Tej
enl
:~j '
cu po serl
CIS I
su j
t~
w A
pr m
ha,
ern;
is 1
m
amJ
wai m~
ca
acq
CUD
IO\j lati opl
pr~
w~
use to I avl
M~
I stai aro use Grt
>m- to ad- :ia- nat
Dr
)St-
ted
;he ni- tre- the
on 1ia.
ted ia- :m, ide
he
tet
!f.
he ng ts.
nd ve i,"
·o- e :at ge er
Bank pi-oject . lures Lorlg . ley Board
honours the best
Professor Dennis Longley has stepped down from his position as QUT's Information Technol- ogy Dean to undertake a three- year research project with the National Australia Bank at QUT.
Professor Longley, Ms Alison Anderson and Dr Zahir Tari have received a 1995 Australia Research Council Collaborate Research Grant worth $243,000 to develop an information security model for the banking industry.
Dean steRS aside
for NAB research
Information Security Research Centre.
In the meantime, Research/Distrib- uted Systems Technology Centre research director Professor John Gough has taken up the duties of acting Dean until the position is permanently filled.
Professor Longley will work on the project three days a week and also continue his research, teaching and postgraduate student super- vision.
He and his research colleagues will develop a computer-based risk model of the banking information processing systems.
"Banks are now wholly dependant upon their information process- ing systems and face risk due to potential loss of cdpfidentiality or integrity of their data or loss of availability of their computer and communication systems,"
he said.
I
"Natural disasters such as fire or flood, or man-made security at- tacks could have a major impact upon the banking system.
"The purpose of the risk model is to store all the information on the potential sources of risk to assist management to develop the most cost-effective countermeasures.
"If a water pipe burst it could flood
a computer room, which in turn closes down a network and all the banks' A TMs could be out of busi- ness on a Saturday morning.
"The model will help to highlight such risks."
Professor Dennis Longley - taking up research for National Australia Bank
Professor Longley said his work on risk models started some years ago when he helped to develop one for Germany's largest banking group, Sparkasse Organisation.
"The consultancy project involved the Sparkasse Informatik Zentrum, a development unit set- up to ensure the most effective use of information technology in the banking group," he said.
The centre's director, Dr Dr Heike Von Benda, will visit QUT later this month to discuss areas of fur-
Conference to tackle priva y
Privacy on the information superhighway will be explored by international experts at a confer- ence at QUT in July.
Professor John Gough - acting Dean of Information Technology Faculty
ther co-operation. She will also hold a seminar on May 30 at 2pm in the Owen Wordsworth Rooms on the use of information tech- nology in the banking sector.
For more information telephone 864 5358.
Dean's position
Professor Longley's contract at QUT officially expires on Decem- ber 31.
In January 1996, he will be appointed as the director of the
Professor Longley had held the po- sition of Faculty Dean since 1986.
He was the Head of the School of Computing Studies between 1984 and 1986.
He said the faculty had grown enor- mously over the past nine years.
"We started with a couple of hundred students," Professor Longley said.
"Now we have about 1600.
"It's clear that information technol- ogy is vital to nearly every aspect of society.
"I think QUT has always been very forward looking in seeing what the needs will be.
"In the 1980s we were cognisant of the link between computers and information technology and were one of the first universities in Aus- tralia to establish a Faculty of Information Technology."
Acting Dean Professor Gough said Professor Longley had led the faculty by example in teaching, postgraduate supervision and research.
"I don't know of any other dean in the university who has achieved the same level of research output as Dennis," he said.
"He managed the faculty as dean and at the same time was heavily involved in teaching, po<;tgradu- ate supervision, consultancy and his own ~esearch."
- Laura McDonald
A ceremony earlier this month
J
saw the unveiling of the Faculty of _ Information Technology's new - honour board.
The honour board unveiled by the faculty's former Dean Profes- sor Dennis Longley was held in conjunction with the prize presen- tation ceremony for the 1994 aca- demic year.
The honour board is in recogni- tion of the faculty's most outstanding graduate students since
1987.
The latest name on the list is Mr Christopher Pavlovski (Computing) for 1994 with a grade point aver- age of 6.95.
Mr Pavlovski along with Mr Clyde Torkington ( 1987), Ms Eliza- beth Bilsborough ( 1992) and Mr Brian Meilak ( 1993) attended the ceremony.
The other names on the honour board are:
Mr Glenn Wright ( 1988), Mr Lance Beggs and Ms Charlotte Brooks ( 1989), Mr Peter Elliott- Green ( 1990) and Ms Narinder Sahota and Mr Peter Scalia ( 1991 ).
Mr Pavlovski completed the Bachelor of Applied Science (Com- puting) last year and is currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Infor- mation Technology (Honours) course offered by the Faculty of Information Technology.
He is now employed by Pacific Star Technologies in Brisbane.
Cryptography: Policy and Algorithms will cover issues set to affect all people in coming years.
"The move towards electronic commerce and the information superhighway has increasingly pointed to the need for secure means of communications,"
said Professor Ed Dawson.
Professor Dawson, from QUT's Information Se- curity Research Centre, said cryptography was the only way to truly secure electronic information.
However, its use had opened a pandora's box of legal, ethical and social issues.
"Over the past two years there has been a three- way dichotomy over cryptography," he said.
Just Graduated and Can't get the Management Training
that you Need?
"The issues include the US government's export bans on cryptographic software and hardware, de- bate on the clipper chip, and on the rights of indi- viduals to secure communications versus the needs of law enforcement agencies."
The conference will be held at QUT on July 3-5.
It will include discussions on the legal, ethical and social issues of the use of cryptography as well as related technical aspects.
A public forum will also be held on the Monday night, Cryptography, personal freedom and law enforcement: is it possible to get agreement.
The conference will consist of both invited and refered speakers. Invited speakers include:
• William Ware, chair of the US Computer System Security and Privacy Board - Security and pri- vacy policies for the national and global informa- tion structure;
• Mark Ames, 25 years in computer and network security-The insecure bottom line: how to reduce intelligence costs with technology export controls;
• Ross Anderson, research fellow at Cambridge Uni- versity Computer Laboratory - Crypto in Europe - markets, law and policy;
• Gilles Brassard, professor at Universite de Mon- treal in Canada-Quantum computing: the end of classical cryptography?;
• Bill Caelli, head ofQUT's School of Data Commu- nications - Commercial key escrow: an Austral- ian perspective;
• Dieter Gollman, reader in computer science at Royal Holloway College, University of London - Cryptographic AP/s; and
• Steve Orlowski, assistant director of security man- agement, Federal Attorney-General's Department - Encryption and the global information infra- structure: an Australian perspective.
The Royal Military College, Duntroon, gives its people the skills that they require
to succeed in the Managerial world.
Vacancies now exist for suitable applicants to train as leaders in the Australian Army.
If you are over 18 and under 23 years of age (25 years of age for degree qualified person) and are interested in a career with real challenges then this may be the opportunity you've been waiting for. A career as an Officer in the Australian Army
requires leadership, management and professional skills that money can't buy.
After 18 months of fully paid training at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, you will graduate as a Lieutenant with the opportunity to pursue a wide variety
of careers within the Army.
You will need to have passed Year 12 or better and be able to satisfy our citizenship, medical and aptitude requirements.
If you are interested, contact your Army Career Adviser on
13 19 01
and allow us to give you a better start to your career.
INSIDE OUT May 16-29, 1994 Page 5
..
·'Enterpt:i~e < bargaining- where are Wf:?9'2ing?
The enterprise bargaining process is slowly proceeding . within the Australian higher education sector. QUT's Deputy Vice-ChanceUor, Peter Coaldtake and the National
Tertiary Education Union put their respective views regarding progress to date.
Talks force re-think on work approach
both cost-cutting and revenue-generating options. It needs to be added, moreover, that - consistent with the enterprise bar- gaining principle - the 1995 QUT budget includes no provision for this salary increase.
As with other univer- sities, the progress of enterprise bargaining at QUT over recent months has been slow and difficult. The im- mediate explanation for this is the difficulty the higher education sector is having in adjusting from an historical sys- tem of relatively guar- anteed nationally-de- termined wage in- creases to one in which future salary move- ments will be funded by productivity improve- ments occurring in in- dividual institutions.
A QUT perspective
It is somewhat dis- appointing that the academics' union (the NTEU) has not re- sponded to enterprise bargaining in the way many other unions have across other sec- tors of the economy.
NTEU seems slow to acknowledge the ex- tent of the pressures From the outset QUT
has acknowledged the difficulty of finding productivity items
By Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Goa/drake
which, by generating
additional revenue or delivering cost savings, would fully fund salary increases under enter- prise bargaining. However, it has also been the university's conviction that if there was not such a link between productivity improvements and salary gains established at the outset, the process would go nowhere.
While having doubts about whether in the long term the current model of enterprise bargaining will be seen to have worked, QUT also has taken the view that enterprise bargaining provides something of a circuit-breaker allowing all of us the opportunity to seek significant improvements and efficiencies in how we do our work.
In reality we have no option but to do so, despite the concerns of some about the demands for better performance, greater efficiency and more accountability on the part of all taxpayer- funded organisations. The latest federal budget only reinforces this requirement on all of us.
At a practical level, the enterprise bargaining environment should encourage us to look not only at the implications of performance, account- ability and funding, but also at the much wider challenges affecting the teaching and learning environment of higher education. These include the impact of technology upon teaching, and the particular strategies we must devise to cope with multi-campus teaching delivery and quality and, more broadly, the increasing size of the higher education student population. There is little doubt, in fact, that some of our existing policies and practices are no longer affordable.
The university recognises that the process of change and adjustment will be difficult for eve- ryone. And that is why, in relation to the current union claim for a two percent salary increase, we have taken some care to investigate a range of
facing the higher edu- cation sector. For ex- ample, rather than forwarding ideas which would generate savings or deliver cost efficiencies, the NTEU has proceeded in the opposite direction by lodging a new log of claims which, in net terms, would conserva- tively cost several million dollars.
For its part, the university has sought to identify a combination of revenue-generating and cost-cutting measures to help fund the requested two percent salary increases. As far as possible we have sought to identify rela- tively pain-free options. One measure that the university has identified for discussion is the possible abolition of the recreation leave loading. As compensation for this equivalent loss of three days pay, however, the univer- sity has offered to declare two additional uni- versity holidays between Christmas and the New Year (people are currently required to take these two days as recreation leave) and also offered an additional one days annual recreation leave credit.
In simple terms, the university's offer would involve using the savings generated by not having to pay recreation leave loading toward funding the bid for a two per cent salary in- crease. While the recreation leave loading is dear to many, the university's offer does in- volve an equivalent trade which is otherwise painfree.
Up until now enterprise bargaining has in- volved only a relatively small central negoti- ating group. However, as the agenda proceeds so too will the university be looking directly to our academic and general staff to provide ideas which can help us preserve the worthy aspects of University tradition while coping with contemporary realities.
Cooperation urged to strike better deal
0
n October 6 last year the NTEU initiated a formal bar- gaining period at QUT and served a log of claims seeking, among other things, a two per cent increase in pay rates, five days family leave, better regulation of contract and ses- sional employment, pay equity, recognition of union delegates, regulation of work-~ ~
pay equity, better im- plementation of the QUT affirmative ac- tion plan and aborigi- nal education strategy, improving access and equity for students and establishing measures to assist staff from non-English speaking backgrounds. To date, QUT management has not responded to any of these equity issues.
In our view the ne- loads and greater in-
volvement of union members in techno- logical change and in- stitutional governance.
To date little progress has been made on sub- stantive issues in nego-
A NTEU perspective gotiation and joint management of change to create a productiv- ity pool should be the centre-piece of enter- prise bargaining. This should be directed at By Carol Windsor, Donna Mogg,
Terry Farrand Howard Gui/1/e
tiations between man-
agement and union representatives. Under the new system productivity improvement is to be distributed within QUT and not through national wage cases or sectoral agreements.
This means that the myriad of ways in which staff become more efficient have to be counted towards real wage increases. If enterprise bar- gaining is to be conducted on a mutual basis there has to be much more joint scrutiny of work and organisation methods and much less reliance on managerial prerogatives.
In this round of bargaining increases in pay have to be funded out of existing institutional budgets without supplementation from the Com- monwealth. The NTEU believes that pay in- creases are justified by past productivity im- provements such as larger classes and increas- ing student to staff ratios. In addition, in July and November 1994, we put a comprehensive proposition to management about creating a 'productivity pool' by negotiating organisational change through consultation between manage- ment and union members at university, faculty and school levels. We suggested that substan- tial improvements could be made to the organi- sation of teaching and learning, reduction of the top-down direction of research and by improved management practices to reduce current control hierarchies and allow greater self-direction and delegation to smaller work and organisational units.
Nonetheless, enterprise bargaining is about more than productivity and QUT and the NTEU are committed to negotiations about "achieving ongoing improvements in productivity and in efficiency, effectiveness, quality, flexibility and equity''. The NTEU has taken the references to quality and equity very seriously and the pro- posals ratified by members include a review of
cultural change and finding equitable ways of improving organisational practices. The re- sponse of management is deeply disappointing and it has proposed performance management, giving up the 17.5 per cent annual leave loading for three extra days leave, ending accumulation of recreation leave and co-operation of staff in outsourcing and greater use of teaching tech- nology. Giving up leave loading is the major part of what management terms 'cashable off- sets'. We believe that this means staff paying for their own wage increase and it has been rejected by union delegates. More significantly and unlike the proposals put by the union, it is a 'one-off way of obtaining a pay increase and does nothing to establish a sustainable basis for better ways of teaching, learning and managing QUT.
We feel that QUT management is taking a narrow and negative approach and is belittling staff in its attacks on tenure. The very large pay increases made late last year to senior manage- ment scooped the productivity pool and could have funded around half the pay increase we have sought.
Also, an 'efficiency dividend' of two per cent has been placed on faculties and organisational units so further reducing resources and pre- empting enterprise bargaining.
We are aware that management and union at some other universities are close to agreement on pay increases, consultative procedures, fam- ily leave and other improvements. We fear that unless QUT management changes its attitudes and actively works for co-operation rather than conflict, QUT staff will soon be lower paid and have inferior conditions and less opportunities for involvement than at other universities. This would be a lasting consequence of manage- ment's approach.
Karpin Report provides guide for proposed graduate school
The recent Karpin Report into business and management education in Australia would be a helpful guide in formulating proposals for the es- tablishment of a Graduate School of Business at QUT.
portant organisational initiative by QUT to enable it to focus more di- rectly on the key challenges identified by the Industry Task Force," Profes- sor Grigg said.
ness schools with MBA programs when, with a few exceptions, business schools around the world are involved in a wide range of both undergraduate and pbstgraduate activities.
"After all there are some tens of thousands of such students and this is certainly where the bulk of resources are currently allocated within the higher education system for business and management studies.
doing reasonably well in equipping individuals with technical skills, though this is somewhat different from the types of knowledge and concepts which are typically targeted in under- graduate business programs."
QUT' s Dean of Business, Professor Trevor Grigg, made the comments in response to the findings of the Karp in Report released toward the end of last month.
The report was the result of a three- year $A6 million federal study by the Industry Task Force on Leadership and Management Skills.
The taskforce, headed by CRA ex- ecutive David Karpin, handed down an overview of management educa- tion in Australia.
"The plans that I have for the for- mation of the Graduate School of Busi- ness, subject to the approval of QUT Council, I believe will provide an im-
"There is no doubt that the manage- ment education, training and develop- ment needs of individuals and of or- ganisation would be well served by an academic unit at QUT with a direct interest in this particular education task."
Professor Grigg said a most pleas- ing aspect of the report was that it rec- ognised the importance of diversity of business programs within the (higher education) sector.
"I agree with the Task Force's phi-
losophy of market driven postgradu- ate education in business and manage- ment," Professor Grigg said.
"However, l think the Task Force has made an error in equating busi- Page 6 INSIDE OUT May 16 - 29, 1994
"Limiting the focus to MBA pro- grams ignores the importance of a wider university context for business and management education and, in particular, the importance of the con- tributions that can be made to busi- ness and management courses from such faculties as Engineering, Law, Information Technology and Arts."
Professor Grigg said the report did not adequately address the contribu- tion made by undergraduate business study programs throughout Australia to the development of business and management skills and knowledge.
"I was disappointed that the report seems by and large to have spent little time addressing this issue," he said
"One can only conclude that the Task Force either did not recognise the significance of the contribution of these programs or was satisfied with the current activity in this area but chose not to make any specific com- ments or recommendations on them.
"In many respects, I cannot help but feel that the focus of the Task Force's inquiries somewhat overemphasised management skills per se to the exclu- sion of an adequate consideration of the functional competencies which are so important to underpinning those skills.
"In fairness to the Task Force, they did acknowledge that we seem to be
Professor Grigg gave reserved sup- port to the report's recommendation for the development of a national man- agement school of recognised world class standing.
"While I believe that Australians deserve the best management educa- tion development and training that we can provide, the reality is that the geo- graphic spread of Australia will always ensure an ongoing importance for busi- ness schools of some note in each of the major capital cities of the nation, ..
Professor Grigg said.
Professor Grigg supported the Karpin Report recommendation for an external accreditation process.
~· ·
$
.
the na! cei· Un I Sta ton at t em 1 rna hor sio ti01 I Fac 8. a up< ab1 l kn' Qu l rec uni
r
ity I ard me aC Ch;
