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378.9431 103
ISSUE N0.14
QIT's unique new master's degree in business, specialising in manage- ment, was launched at an evening function on November 26 and will have its first intake in February, 1986.
It is described by course con- venor, Dr Gill Palmer, principal lecturer in management at QIT, as an unusual and exciting degree.
"There is nothing else like it in Queensland," she said. "Other available degrees are postgraduate in time but not necessarily in con- tent. This is an authentic higher degree because we will only take people who have their first degree or equivalent in management and who also have at least two years' practical management experience."
The first year will only be available part time and intake is limited to a quota of 15. Duration of the course will be two years full time or four years part time.
"It is likely to be particularly useful to people in personnel management, marketing, man- agerial economics and people in- terested in the relationship between government and business," Dr Palmer said.
I N S T I T U T E NEWSPAPER •
Queensland Institute of Technology, George Street. Brisbane 4004). Telephone 223 2111. NOVEMBE 29, 1985.
Special provisions allow extended periods for P.E.P., study leave
The requirements and limitations governing P .E.P. and study leave are more flexible than most people realise, according to QIT Deputy Director, Dr Tom Dixon, who is concerned that QIT academic staff may not be utilising the schemes to their fullest advantage.
P.E.P. is for applied research purposes, for updating professional and vocational knowledge, and for obtaining practical experience in industry. Study leave is for improving qualifications in preparation for teaching in specialised areas. The maximum period of absence for both programs is normally six months.
However, Dr Dixon said that in special circumstances, which occurred quite frequently, the time allowed for P.E.P. or study leave could be extended up to a year.
An example of a special circumstance was someone involved in applied research who needed to gather data over a period longer than six months.
"Traditionally, sabbaticals were for universities and study leave was for colleges of advanced education," Dr Dixon said. "And then in 1978 a CTEC committee, at the request of the government, carne up with a far more rigid set of parameters. The term 'sabbatical' was dropped and new categories were suggested: universities would
have leave for research and scholarship and institutes of technology and colleges of advanced education would have leave only for studies of professional practice. The committee also halved the amount of time generally allowed from one year to six months," he said.
"These somewhat Draconian measures produced a strong reaction and much lobbying resulted in some modification of the committee's proposals. The problem is that while most people remember only too clearly the first version of the report, they never got around to reading the final version."
Dr Dixon said study leave could also be used for retraining purposes or to upgrade qualifications, "for instance if the Institute had someone teaching at an associate diploma level and wao1ed ..that ,persoa teac 1 at ·!!gree vel.
"In the case where staff are not located conveniently close to a university that offers the higher degree they want to do, they may have to go to another state to complete their studies. It is also possible that if QIT introduces a course in a specific area, we will ' need to upgrade the qualifications of staff in that area. If there is no course available locally then we have to send our staff interstate or overseas, as was the case in landscape architecture and with the
nursing course."
Dr Dixon said the flexibility of the P .E.P. and study leave programs had not been fully realised in the way special provisions recommendations had been implemented so far. ·
Applications for extended P.E.P.
leave are considered by the P .E.P.
Committee for recommendation to Council. All study leave applications are submitted to the Director for recommendation to Council.
"Where staff have been aware they could ask for it, we have sent people overseas and approved extended leave. However, this
The Queensland surveying industry is poised to export land information technology valued at millions of dollars to Thailand, following presentation last month of a pilot study and proposal to the Thai
involved making a case to QIT Council," Dr Dixon said.
"I believe we should handle extended leave through the P.E.P.
Committee and take advantage of their accumulated experience and
knowledge. The Committee should handle the exceptional as well as the usual cases, without the need to refer to Council."
The P.E.P. Committee is chaired by Mr Kevin Davies who is also Deputy Chairman of Council.
"The Director is still in the best position to consider special study leave requests, consulting with the P.E.P. Committee on leave conditions," Dr Dixon said.
"More than 50 participants at- tended the seminar which was a ma- jor promotional success for the Queensland surveying industry,'' Dr Clerici said.
QIT designs bus shelters for BCC
· Government by Head of Depart- ment of Surveying at QIT, Dr Enrico Clerici.
The project - the setting up of a computerised urban land informa- tion system for the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority - was iden- tified by Dr Clerici more than a year ago. A special consortium of Queensland surveying interests call- ed the Queensland Association of Consulting Surveyors, Overseas Projects Pty Ltd (QACS) was form- ed to coordinate the project submission.
Postgraduate industrial design students at QIT are contributing their ideas to the Brisbane City Council for new look inner city bus shelters.
Four first year students presented detailed designs and models to Council Transport and Works representatives on November 18.
The Council's brief to the students was for a coordinated bus shelter system which uses a minimum number of components.
Requirements to be considered in their designs included provision for
passenger comfort, protection from sun, wind and rain, seating, low maintenance and protection against vandalism.
The designs were to be in keeping with the functional, environmental and aesthetic needs of the Central Business District and not to impede pedestrian traffic flow.
The best designs may be built as prototypes for trial use in Anzac Square and King George Square in Ann Street and outside MacArthur Chambers in Queen Street early next year.
"These are extremely busy areas in the inner city that need addi- tional shelters. They will be good testing grounds for the chosen designs," the Council Transport Route Officer, Mr Geoff Howard said.
Below: BCC Works Engineer, Mr John Purcell (left) examines a possible bus shelter design with student, Peter Lynch. Fausto Carvazan (right) shows an alterna- tive design model.
;I
The consortium has the techno- logical support of the State Depart- ment of Mapping and Surveying
QACS commissioned Q Search, using the expertise of QIT's Survey- ing Department, to conduct a pilot study and prepare a proposal for submission to the Thai Government.
"The pilot project required aerial photographs, mapping and collec- tion of attribute data for the land information system," Dr Clerici said.
"The total project covers an area of 1600 square kilometres, but the pilot study covered only five square kilometres of Bangkok."
This involved Dr Clerici in a number of visits to Thailand over the last 12 months, culminating in a major seminar presentation in Bangkok to a Thai Government steering committee, and demonstra- tions of the digitised data output on sophisticated interactive CAD/
· CAM systems in Singapore.
Dr Enrico Clerici
"Her Royal Highness, Princess Maha Chakri Siridorn was present at the seminar in her function of mapping adviser to the King, and the seminar received wide publicity
· 1 the Thai press."
The Australian Government pro- vided financial and diplomatic sup- port for the proposal.
"The Department of Trade pro- vided us with financial backing and the project has been coordinated through the Australian Embassy,"
Dr Clerici said.
"We are competing with French and Canadian consortiums with the backing of their respective govern- ments," he said.
A decision on the successful pro- posal is expected at the end of 1985.
.
'•Director's Comment
REVIEWS WELCOMED
The QIT Law School has just completed two intensive days with three visiting distinguished law professors as part of a CTEC review of all law ~chools (about twenty) in Australia. The review was thorough, lookmg at course programs, staff, students, facilities resources research, links with the profession and so on. ' '
The report is due in March 1986. QIT's Law School is one of only two C~E based law schools in Australia and the only one offering a full su1te of courses. QIT will be particularly interested in the report recommendations.
~not~~r imminent CTEC review is that of engineering schools in un1vers1t1es and colleges throughout Australia. Parameters for the review are now being established and QIT's Head of School of Engineering, Dr John Corderoy, is one of four CAE representatives on the steering committee. The report on this review is due late in 1986.
In both of these areas, I believe QIT is strong and will stand up ex·
tremely well in national comparisons.
In addition, the Federal Minister for Education recently announced a broad efficiency review of higher education.
If the calibre of people involved in these reviews is anything to go•
by, _CTEC and t_he g<;>ver.nment will be facing some tough recommen·
dat1ons for rat1onahsat1on of some course areas and expansion of others. Let us hope these recommendations are acted upon and are not allowed to gather dust.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
W~ile it may seem early for Christmas greetings, I am told by the ed1tor that this is the last edition of Inside QIT for 1985.
I believe 1985 has been a productive year for QIT. While others are still talking about efficiency reviews, I think we have been down that road. All departments have been involved in the process of identify·
ing opportunities and rationalising areas which are no longer cost ef·
fective. We know where we are going.
There have been a number of successes and initiatives in 1985, but the foundations laid in the year will ensure we contin•Je to move from strength to strength.
On behalf of the executive, I thank staff for their efforts during what has not been an easy year.
To students, to staff and to other readers who take an interest in QIT activities, I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Dr Dennis Gibson
Biotech products now on world market
Details were announced this month "MAbCO will be the of the purchase of MAbCO Ltd, biotechnology and biomedical arm the sponsor of QIT's Centre of Ap- for the three venturing com- plied Immunology, by Australian panies," Dr Watson said ..
Genetic Engineering Ltd (Agen). "The Centre for Applied 1m- Formerly a division of Fielder munology in the School of Health Gillespie Davis Ltd, MAbCO was Science at QIT will remain our established in 1982 to develop and research unit, with the commercial market monoclonal antibody based side of the operation at Spr- products in collaboration with QIT. ingwood," he said. "We have
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Counci I Profile: Kenneth Pearson
Thirty-six years' experience in medicine provides Dr Kenneth Pearson with thirty-six years' ex- perience in human relations - a
valuable skill which he brings to QIT Council.
Dr Pearson, who graduated in medicine at the University of Queensland in 1949, has spent most of his working life in Maryborough as a general practitioner. He joined the Accident and Emergency Department of the Royal Brisbane Hospital seven years ago and is now Senior Medical Officer in that department. He has been a member of QIT Council since June, 1983.
and developing from the old Technical College, QIT has over- come this image problem.
"The practical approach to courses is what differentiates QIT from other institutions. QIT graduates are far more practical than their counterparts who have graduated elsewhere," he said.
Dr Pearson cites as an example the QIT radiography students with whom he comes into contact at the Royal Brisbane Hospital. He said that the training in cooperation with the hospital prepared students for any situation they might face in the profession.
"The excellence of the course can
\n financial partnership with CP about 10-12 products in the pipeline
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Techniche Ltd 11!1
based Agen is now selling MAbCO's products in America through a subsidiary Agen USA, and world-wide through MAbCO International.
and other centres such as Stockholm and Tokyo. I believe it's quite an achievement for an Australian group to have achieved this level of success in product development and international marketing. Receiving approval for sale of medical tests by the US authorities was a major hurdle overcome."
describes himself as pragmatic and admits to a dislike of what he calls 'waffle'.
He says he regards QIT as a developing and worthy organisa- tion with an extremely practical orientation to its courses.
"While it may originally have suffered from its genesis, sited on
While he was interested to see more college based education in nursing, Dr Pearson said he was disappointed that the QIT nursing course had not been expanded as anticipated.
"There is a bigger move from hospital-based training to college- based training in other states and
Dr Kenneth Pearson The first six MAbCO products
on sale, developed at the company sponsored Centre for Applied Im- munology in the School of Health Science at QIT, are under the brand names Dimertest and Dirokit.
Dimertest is based on the medical test for blood clotting and Dirokit
is based on a veterinary heartworm
Schools involved in debating
budget _ priorities ·
some potential educationalists may have been lost in Queensland to those other states due to that de- mand," he said.
One area of education which Dr Pearson feels is neglected is what he calls 'Education for Leisure'.
test.
MAbCO Managing Director, Dr Richard Watson said the company would continue as a Brisbane based and managed enterprise, with board representation from Techniche Ltd and· CP Ventures Ltd.
Conference aimed at individual goal setting
A weekend QIT senior staff con- ference at the Gympie Forestry Training Centre from November 1-3 focussed on staff development as a key aspect of forward planning for the Institute.
The conference was attended by heads of schools, departments and support units, and administration chiefs.
Professor Hollis Peter from Queensland University and Mr Brian Delahaye from QIT's Management Department guided theory, discussion and skill development sessions.
Department heads were asked to establish or modify existing development programs to suit their particular needs. However, in- dividual, participative goal setting arrd review interviews with academic and other staff were favoured by the conference.
Page 2 Inside QIT, November 1985.
QIT's budgeting process was more participative in 1985 (for 1986) than ever before, the QIT Bursar, Mr Murray Creyton said as the academic school budgets were being finalised this month.
Mr Creyton said the formation of the Financial Advisory Group (FAG) by the Director in 1984 was a definite move toward more autonomy for schools in deciding where funds were used within schools.
FAG comprises the heads of schools, the Director, Deputy Director, Registrar, Bursar, Ac- countant-and Budget Officer in a more democratic split up of QIT's
$37 million recurrent budget.
"Formerly, we had an unofficial committee mvolving the Director, Registrar, Bursar and Accountant allocating the funds," Mr Creyton said.
"It's no Ionge; just a yes/no pro- cess. The schools are really getting involved in debating priorities," he said.
"FAG allocations are made on a school basis and decisions on the breakdown within schools are made within the schools.
"The larger we grow, the more appropriate it is that answers are sorted out at the coal face."
However, this also implied greater accountability.
Mr Creyton said the staff establishment, which represented 85"7o of the total budget, was now finalised, along with essential non- salary items such as rates, electrici- ty, fire service levy and insurance.
(Electricity alone would cost over
$1 million in 1986.)
This followed completion of budget questionnaires and a subse- quent visit to the Bursar's area by each school.
Recurrent and capital funds come directly to QIT from the Federal Government. However, equipment funds are allocated to _Queensland CAEs through the
Board of Advanced Education and according to its priorities. Within QIT, equipment funds are divided on the basis of decisions of the Equipment Committee, chaired by the Deputy Director and with representation from all schools.
A 1986 QIT budget breakdown, with 1985 actual comparisons, will be published in the February issue of Inside QIT.
QIT and QEC look at short circuit lab
A joint investigation will be carried out by QIT and the Queensland Electricity Commission into the feasibility of establishing a short circuit laboratory in Brisbane.
The Electricity Commissioner, Mr Neil Galway said the investiga- tion would assess the viability of a short circuit testing centre in the Brisbane area by examining alter- native laboratory configurations and methods of financing and management of such a centre. ·
Director of QIT, Dr Dennis Gib- son said the Department of Elec- trical Engineering had established expertise in heavy current engineer~
ing artd the development of a short circuit laboratory would be a natural extension of the research and development and commercial testing which is already going on in the department.
Mr Galwey said that one concept to be studied could allow for development in stages up to a test
current ot the order ot 63 000 Amps at 440 Volts.
"The laboratory's principal ob- jectives would be teaching, research and development and it would com- plement the Sydney Country Coun- cil's short circuit test facility at Lane Cove in Sydney. However there is a need to ensure financial viability for the centre and its possi- ble role in commercial testing would have to be closely examin- ed," he said.
The investigation would be lead by Mr Doug Mercer, the Commis- sion's Chief Engineer - Transmis- sion and QIT's Mr David Birtwhis- tle, Senior Lecturer in the Depart- ment of Electrical Engineering.
Mr Galwey added that the in- vestigators would call upon the diverse specialised expertise available within the Queensland Electricity supply industry. The electrical manufacturing industries would also be consulted.
"Our working hours are becom- ing shorter and technology is assuming many of the roles in which people were previously employed. As a result there is a need for education on how to use leisure time and for research on what effect increased leisure has on people from a psychological point of view,"he said.
"So far no one is coming up with any answers on how people will spend their increased leisure time, particularly the unemployed and those in retirement."
Dr Pearson suggested that this in- crease in leisure time could be a contributing factor in some grow- ing social problems, such as alcoholism.
"All educational institutions, from primary . to tertiary, should have some input towards solving this problem," he said.
Acknowledgements
'Inside QIT' is published by the Public Relations Office, QIT (U Block), George Street, Brisbane, phone 223 2386.
Postal address: G.P.O. Box 2434, Brisbane 4001.
Production by Press Etching Pty Ltd.
Printed by Sunshine Coast Newspaper Co. Pty Ltd.
Senior lecturer helps local govt across the computer minefield
Town clerks and shire clerks from all over Queensland recently found themselves confiding their doubts and misgivings over computerisa- tion to Mr Bob Smyth, senior lec- turer in business computing at QIT.
Mr Smyth gave a formal paper, 'Some Trends in Local Government Computing' at the State Con- ference of the Institute of Municipal Management held at Coolangatta from October 14 to 18. He said that the informal discussion following the paper was extremely productive and brought to light the problems the councils face in computerising.
"One shire clerk dared to voice his worries about a newly installed computer system and it was like opening the floodgates. There was an avalanche of commiseration and agreement," he said.
"Because they had never
bothered to get together, they had all been busy re-inventing the wheel and recommitting the same crimes - being misled by suppliers who underconfigured the systems need- ed. Because it is such a competitive market, suppliers are offering low- priced items that are sometimes inadequate.
"Councils have been buying computers in the same way they buy graders and trucks. Because they are not used to using them like pro- fessional tools they are often operated by staff who have only a modicum of knowledge about computers.
"It's a pity they had not taken a leaf out of South Australia's book.
Down there, 10 or 12 municipalities got together and asked suppliers to tender. They were then able to pick
the best and have programs tailored to their needs."
Mr Smyth said that he hoped he had been able to turn around a tide of misinformation.
"They were very conscious that educated use of computer systems was going to be very important to them and that they needed to come to terms with it. The concensus was that following our discussion, they would be able to make productive changes in the way they bought and used computer systems," he said.
Q SEARCH forum to mould Govt
infotech policy
Q SEARCH has been successful in securing a consultancy from the State's Queensland Science and Technology Council (QSTEC) to examine the problems of the com- puter software and hardware in- dustries in Queensland and to develop proposals for possible government policy.
In the second phase of the con- sultancy, Q SEARCH will take the options that emerge from the forum, as well as a great deal of background information including a study done by UniQuest in the same area, and prepare a paper that recommends policy options for the Queensland Government.
The emotional highlight of the senior staff conference at Gympie earlier this month was a night-time doubles ping- pong elimination tournament. (There's not much to do after dark in Gympie.)
Registrar, Mr Brian Waters and Head of ERDU, Mr Derick Unwin teamed to pip Director, Dr Dennis Gibson and Head of Counselling, Dr Brian Whitelaw in a final that attracted ping by pong commentary of true Gillies Report standard and left the winners in c more than enthusiastic embrace.
In the Director's closing remarks at the conference, he cited the tournament as a great example of the kind of staff team work which the planning conference was trying to engender!
Students were advised prior to commencement of the November-December exam period that stiffer penalties would be considered for anyone found cheating in examina·
tions, such as fail results in all subjects for the semester or exclusion from the Institute.
The notice from the Registrar said methods of cheating were becoming more sophisticated and there was clearly a blatant disregard of ethics by a small number of students.
*
Directors of the Centra/Institutes of Technology in Australia (D.O. C./. T.), met at QIT on November 19 and 20 to discuss common problems and strategies for overcoming them. They included Dr Don Watts, WAIT Director; Dr Ron Werner, NSWIT President; Prof: Alan Mead, O.B.E., SAlT Director; and Dr Dennis Gibson, QIT Director. The RMIT Director, Dr Brian Smith had to withdraw from the meeting at short notice, adversely affecting the chances of the D.O. C./. T. group being pictured in these pages.
Electronic Systems patents
Q SEARCH was one of three in- stitutions invited to tender for the consultancy, which is worth
$13 350.
The work will be handled in two phases.
In the first segment, Q SEARCH will create and manage a two and a half day forum to be held at the Chevron Hotel, Surfers Paradise, from December 5-7.
CYSS video directed by communication lecturer
tape
Authenticator
Work is well underway in QIT's Department of Electronic Systems Engineering on the production of an 'authenticator', which will pre- vent anyone tampering with a tape recording.
The prototype has been con- structed and a provisional patent has been taken out. The final pro- duct should be complete within 12 months.
Dr Miles Moody, Head of the Electronic Systems Engineering . Department, who designed and developed the prototype, has been involved in audio tape forensic work in criminal trials over the past year.
Dr Moody said that with audio tape recordings it was relatively easy to tamper with a tape but dif- ficult to detect that it had been done.
In the case of the Parkinson murder trial in Mackay in May, Dr Moody was asked by the defence to examine records of interview that had been taped by the police without the interviewees' knowledge. It was the first time the authenticity of police tapes had been challenged in Queensland.
Dr Moody's findings were that, while it was not possible to establish whether or not the tapes had been tampered with, the poor quality of the tapes indicated that they may have been unreliable. The Crown case against two of the accused was finally thrown out of court by the trial judge.
In the more recent Purchase case in Bowen, involving sexual harrass- ment, it was the police who ap- proached Dr Moody when their tape was challenged by the defence.
In this case the accused eventually pleaded guilty.
"The Lucas Inquiry of 1978 into police records of interview recom- mended that police interviews should be recorded on videotape.
However, it appears that the Queensland Police do not have ade- quate finance to do this. As a result, audio tape recordings will probably go on being used," Dr Moody said.
"There is a clear need for a device which will make audio recor- ding foolproof."
The forum, which will be ad- dressed by Mr Mike Ahern, Minister for Industry, Small Business and Technology, will look at the problems facing the informa- tion technology industries in Queensland and will recommend options the government might pur- sue to help those industries. About 50 key representatives of indu trY and government are expected to attend.
Speakers will include Mr Stuart Macdonald from the University of Queensland, who will talk on the general problems of adopting ad- vanced information technologies in the community and a director of l.B.M. Australia, who will talk on advances in technology in software, hardware, communications facili- ties and government policies throughout the world generally and specifically in Australia.
A rationalisation ·of some existing courses at the QIT effective in 1986 will provide resources for expansion of high demand programs and introduction of new course initiatives.
The Associate Diploma in Business will be discontinued, giving way to 100 additional places in the very high demand Bachelor of Business degree.
No enrolments will be accepted in the Graduate Diploma Mechanical Engineering and the Graduate Diploma - Library Science (External) due to uneconomic student numbers.
In addition, a number of courses will be restructured for greater teaching economy and broader subject appeal. These include the offering of strands in a more general applied science degree and associate diploma, rather than specialist courses in particular sciences;
widening the field of the Graduate Diploma in Automatic Control to computer control systems and upgrading the health surveying course to a degree in environmental health.
New courses in 1986 include the Master of Business (Management), a degree in Nursing, a new interior desi~n strand in the Built Environment degree and a Graduate Diploma in Building Project Management.
'When you finish school . . . when you walk out that gate for the last time . . . what are you going to do?'
These are the opening lines of a video, One Jump Ahead, produced by the Ipswich Community Youth Support Sc . .;;hterm,._-.,e~~1flrtl;p:ift<_,~~il'l di ed r:
munication, Ridley Williams.
The fifteen minute video will be used state-wide in high schools and CYSS centres to show high school students what services are available to the unemployed.
"We show, through a study of the unemployed, ways in which the CES and CYSS help young people get jobs," Mr Williams said.
"The CYSS functions as an ex- tended family and often provides the only friendly advise available to unemployed youth," he said.
The script, written by Brisbane screen writer Rick Searle, creator of the ABC children's series, Butterfly Island, involved 45 different camera set-ups and 22 major locations.
Mr Williams said the video was shot over a period of seven days, some of the main locations in- cluding the Ipswich T AFE College, RedbanK- Plains Tavern and Bun- damba High School.
The script was built around the
Wheeled bins popular: survey
A survey undertaken by an Admin.
Research class in QIT's Business Studies School indicated that 930Jo of Brisbane householders were satisfied with the wheeled bin system and more than 83% of those yet to receive the bins believed they would be advantageous.
The findings, released in a report in September, revealed that the ma- jor benefits of the wheeled bin system were perceived to be greater capacity, manoeuvrability, freedom from maintenance, cleanliness, and trips to the refuse tip and backyard burning were reduced.
The major perceived disadvan- tages were the untidy appearance of bins left on footpaths or in front yards and the need to pre-position the bins on footpaths for collection.
The survey was carried out as a class assignment under the direction of management lecturer Mr Ted Duhs. The report was presented to the Brisbane City Council's Health Committee chairperson, Alderman Dulcie Turnbull.
music of a Brisbane rock band, RISQUE, who composed the music for the theme song, also called One Jump Ahead.
Mr Williams in action for CYSS.
The video was edited at Channel 9 in preparation for the premiere, screened at Redbank Plains Tavern on November 19.
ommi ee o review higher ed. efficiency
The Minister for Education, Senator Susan Ryan, last month an- nounced the establishment of a committee to assist the Com- monwealth Tertiary Education Commission (C.T.E.C.) in a major review of efficiency and · effec- tiveness in higher education.
The committee comprises Mr Hugh Hudson, Chairman of C.T.E.C. (Chair); Dr Graham Allen, Chairman of the Victorian Post-Secondary Education Com- mission; Mr Edward John Barker, Chairman of the Australian Com- mittee of Directors and Principals in Advanced Education Limited;
Professor Peter Karmel, Vice- Chancellor of the Australian Na- tional University; and Dr Brian
Scott, Chairman, W.D. Scott, In- ternational Development Con- sultants and Chairman of Manage- ment Frontiers.
Senator Ryan said that the com- mittee, which would complete its report by April 1986, would be ex- amining the scope for further im- proving efficiency and effectiveness during a period in which. the Government was committed to achieving increased participation in higher education.
It would consult with the States, higher education institutions and bodies representing their interests, appropriate staff associations, other Commonwealth departments, and professional and business organisations.
Inside QIT, November 1985 Page 3
New manual for Health Dept
"like rewriting the Bible"
Mr Jim Wrigley, senior lecturer in business and technical writing in QIT's Communication Depart- ment, has taken on a job for the State Health Department which he admits is in the same league as
"rewriting the Bible".
Commissioned via Q SEARCH, the Department of Health's brief is for Mr Wrigley to rewrite and edit the six volumes of their manual of procedures. They needed someone with the skills in assessing and understanding this kind of material and who could then put it into plain English. With his experience in writing instruction manuals, specifications, proposals, reports and formal literature of this type, Mr Wrigley was the ideal choice.
"The documents that make up these volumes have built up over the past 40 or 50 years and have been contributed to by hundreds of different people with different styles," Mr Wrigley said. "The range of the material is also enor- mous - it even lists procedures for washing nappies!"
More work for Tribology Lab
Work undertaken for outside in- dustry by the Tribology Laboratory at QIT has increased by 50o/o in the past twelve months.
The Tribology Laboratory, a sec- tion of the Terotechnology Centre in the Mechanical Engineering Department, has been undertaking tests for Mobil, Esso, Castro!, Bougainville Copper and many other local and interstate manufac- turers and lubricant users since its inception.
In its present form the manual has become unwieldy. It is hard to keep up to date and to find relevant information quickly. Mr Wrigley will be putting it into a form of videotext which is page and colour coded for ease of use. The colour coding will differentiate between categories of policy, procedure and guidelines.
When it is completed it will be the first major use of the AUSSAT satellite into the Telecom system.
The present manual has many in- consistencies in style and spelling of technical terms which Mr Wrigley is standardising. It also has to be metricated.
The work is expected to take a minimum of four months but Mr Wrigley submits the work he has done each week to the Health Department and they distribute it to their own experts for · final
checking. tJr Jim Wrigley
Surveyor's Board inspects projects
Members of the Surveyors' Board inspected projects by QIT final year . students in the surveying degree course on October 11.
The board was conducting a regular general meeting, held for the first time at QIT.
Prior to registration as surveyors, graduates must complete six pro- jects for approval by the board, as well as a professional assessment segment involving liaison with clients and authorities.
Four of the required six board projects are included as part of the 'sandwich' surveying degree and students may complete the remain- ing two projects in their own time while at QIT. The professional assessment segment is completed after graduation and may in future be undertaken as part of the pro- posed two year part time Graduate Diploma in Surveying Practice.
Also in the presence of the board, the Head of Department of Survey- ing ·at QIT, Dr Enrico Clerici
_Student project work inspected, left to right: student Shane Long, former Surveyor General Mr Mac Serisier and present Surveyor General Mr Kevin Davies, both of the Surveyor's Board, and students David Cock and Angus Watson.
received on behalf of the Queensland Centre for Surveying and Mapping Studies, four framed
sepia prints of historic Brisbane from the State Department of Map- ping and Surveying.
QIT staff in BCC committees
Communic'n students
research success of no smoke advertising
QIT's links with the Jacko ('lm an Individual') anti-smoking commer- cial are still going strong - student findings on its impact will be used to modify it for future use.
Part of the commercial made by the advertising agency of Lloyd Graham and Thomson, was filmed on campus. Public Relations firm Burson-Marsteller employee Ms Chris Kelly (a QIT graduate) ap- proached communication lecturer, Ms Pam Byde with a request for a foll(')w-up survey.
This survey has now been carried out and the results have been analysed and tabled to the clients, the Queensland Children's Smok- ing Prevention Campaign.
Before commissioning the original commercial, the Council for Cancer Prevention conducted a large survey in Queensland schools that indicated recruitment to smok- ing was occuring between the ages of ll and 12. From the 3 600 children they surveyed, the hypothesis was that there could be up to 40 000 smokers in schools between the ages of 12 and 17 years.
It was as a result of these findings Two members of QIT staff, Mr Ray wide range of community groups, Anglia in the U.K. and in Toronto, that the council decided to launch Bange and Mr Phil Heywood, from industry to the disabled. Canada. In Toronto it was a the first-ever children's anti- According to Principal Lecturer
in Terotechnology, Dr Will Scott, QIT is the only independent body which can do the tests for the oil companies.
The main areas of research in tribology are surface texture which looks at how to characterise, pro- duce and measure surface roughness; testing of solid and li- quid lubricants; wear studies and the design of tribological systems.
recently accepted invitations to join An enthusiastic supporter of this mechanism for ending a decade of
+
new riSbanellly ·
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. . . .~~
tees being set up by Lord Mayor, eywoo sat 1t re
e
Alderman Sallyanne Atkinson. Brisbane City Council's new will- road construction and urban on for 20 years, it is important to
''Most mechanical engineering · breakdowns occur through unfore- seen circumstances, where there is relative movement in bearings, clut- ches and the like. This is the con- cern of the tribologist," Dr Scott said.
According to Dr Scott, a major benefit of the work of the
!rib_ology Laboratory is the train- mg tt offers students.
"Oil companies are now in- terested in enlisting our graduates because of their specialised knowledge," he said.
Cataloguing old books
Private holders of books published before 1800 will be asked to cooperate in an international cataloguing project coordinated in Queensland by QIT.
The short title cataloguing of the historic books in all states is to be completed by the Bicentennial year.
It will contribute to an international pre-nineteenth century data base set up by the British Library.
The cataloguing in Queensland will be funded by an Australian Research Grants Scheme grant to QIT of $20 500 in 1986.
Lecturer in the Department of Library and Information Studies at QIT, Ms Christine Tilley said the work involved moving around all libraries in the State with historic book collections and the recording of private collections.
"There are some good private collections but we will need the help of the media to flush. them out,"
Ms Tilley said. "It's a huge task and has never been attempted before.
"We will be giving the books a ti- . tie of a few words rather than the
lengthy titles typical of pre-1800 books."
Page 4 Inside QIT, November 1985
Mr Bange, Manager of Q ingness not just to listen to ideas- development. keep track of the impact it is mak- SEARCH, is a member of the from the community but positively ing on its target audience.
Economic Development Steering to seek them out. "I see my role as being to com- QIT was asked by Burson- Committee which the Lord Mayor "It is definitely their wish to bine academic concern with ideas in Marsteller to undertake a 'straw in describes as "bringing together the reflect citizens' priorities and to the field worldwide with my local the wind' type of survey which best management minds to provide adopt innovations," he said. involvement with various com- would give some indication of me with advice on economic "This same open government ap- munity groups to suggest innova-
development and on the financial proach has been tried with great tions in physical planning that may children's response.
management of the city's affairs." success in places as far apart as East . be worth examining." Ms Byde said that although the
The Lord Mayor sees the Steering QIT survey was a much smaller one
Committee as being a partnership.
L t t -
some 300 children rather than 3between Brisbane City Council, the
ec u re r prom 0 es
000- it was encouraging to find thatprivate sector and the various their sampling was accurate enough
organisations representing business to echo the quantitive findings of
in the city. the original survey.
Some of the areas on which the
t h
Id t d
I "We chose schools in variouscommittee will provide advice are:
e n I C U n e rs a n I n g
socio-economic status areas and the• the conduct of a major study of
Brisbane's economic base which children were interviewed in grades
is being undertaken by the 6 and 10. The interviews were con-
Council's Corporate Planning ducted in groups of ten and away
Unit; Many migrants have no concept of paying a fine. Quite often they are from the classroom. This provided
• the preparation of a strategy the Australian legal system and unaware that a court appearance is an atmosphere of confidentiality
·d b h h br draft Commonwealth legislation required. The provision of multil-
pladn t? gut e ot · the· pul IC does not provide adequate protec- ingual pamphlets in the important and informality which encouraged a!l prftvatehsectfors m t eu p a~- tion for racist defamation, accor- community languages and qualified honest responses," she said.
mng or t e uture economic ding to lecturer in legal practice at legal interpretors would help ex- A new finding emerged from this
~~~~~ c~~y~
financial prosperity QIT, Mr Steve Karas. Mr Karas, plain such differences,"he said. survey that will have a bearing on• ways and means of attracting Chairman of the Ethnic Com- Mr Karas said that he would also the reworking of the commercial. It busl.ness to Brt'sbane·, munities Council of Queensland, J'k 1 . f . . was shown that there was a big dif-
k h h 1 e to see pena ties or mc1tement
• matters affecting industry in was a wor s op convenor at t e to racism and racist defamation in- ference between boys and girls. The
seventh national conference and an- b · d · h k'
achieving sound investment; eluded in the proposed Com- oys expenmente wtt smo mg
d I d nual general meeting of the Federa- 1- (b 11 d 13) · d
• the proper eve opment an tion of Ethnic Communities' Coun-, monwealth Racial Discrimination ear 1er etween an an
marketing of Brisbane; and cil of Australia. Act of 1985. mentioned that peer group pressure
• Council revenue raising and f was a strong influence. On the
fi "al "This would mean protection o
manct management. The conference, held at the ethnic communities from other hand, the girls experimented Mr Bange is also vice chairman University of Western Australia d f d b later (at around 13) but fewer of of the Economic Base Study Work- from November 22-24, discussed e amatory statements rna e Y
ing Group, which carries the major specific problems of ethnic com- members of the general public," he them remained non-smokers.
responsibility for establishing the munities in Australia. said. "It appears there are two target
committee's functions. At the annual general meeting of groups: the 6oys, to whom the
"We will be developing the data Mr Karas will convene the the Queensland Ethnic Com- tough image appeals, and the girls and resource budget and the detail- workshop discussing legal systems munities' Council held on October who need another image," Ms Byde
d k. b · f f th t · and legal aspects of community d'd bl' h
e wor mg ne or e s eermg 16, discussion centred on the possi- said. "However, we 1 esta IS
· h 1 " h ·d relations.
comm1ttee as a w o e, e sat · ble amalgamation of the SBS and that they all liked the ad and it has
"We will later identify further He hopes that such workshops the ABC TV services. Mr Karas hit the target among the young boys areas of specialist development and will help bring about greater said the thrust of the meeting was particularly well."
provide a framework within which understanding and assistance to strongly against any such d 20 QIT addl.tt'onal commt'ttees wt'll be put into operation." ethmc mmonttes m ustra ta. · · · · · A 1· amalgamation. stu ents were mvo ve Ms Byde sai d · some 1 d · m th e Mr Bange said the steering com- "There are differences in the "The ABC has not b.een sym- survey. "Eight conducted the inter- mittee faced an enormous task but concept of our legal system and that pathetic to ethnic groups in the past views and the remainder ·were in- was composed of the type of people of other parts of the world," he and we don't think it will be now," volved in analysing the results," she
who made things happen. said. he said. said. "It was a very worthwhile stu-
Mr Heywood, Head of Depart- dent project both from the point of
t f PI · d L d e "For example 1'n some parts of He sat'd amalgamation would
men o anmng an an scap • view of gaining experience and
Architecture at QIT, has joined the Europe, there is no concept of bail. submerge the multicultural from the point of view of making a Lord Mayor's Ct'tt'zens' Advt'sory Many migrants misunderstand the significance of the present SBS pro-
contrl.bution to an important Committee. He is one of 16 com- system of bail in Australia and gramming and this was not
mittee members who represent a think that paying bail is the same as desirable. campaign."
I r
FEATURES
Windsor study an example of co·operative urban planning
by Phil Heywood
Mr Phil Heywood, Head of the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture at QIT, has pioneered an experiment in participatory plann- ing that has involved planning students, local residents and Council plan- ners. He suggests this same approach could be used throughout all of Brisbane's pressurised inner suburbs.
When the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Alderman Sallyanne Atkinson, paid her second official visit in less than three months to meet local residents in one of Brisbane's less fashionable suburbs, she received a welcome as warm as any given to her by the In- ternational Olympic Committee.
She made the visits in response to a request from the Windsor Residents Action Group, to view and discuss proposals produced over the previous six months in con- junction with students and staff of the QIT's Graduate Diploma in Ur- ban and Regional Planning, for the improvement of the area bounded by the heavily trafficked Lutwyche Road, the largely derelict western bank of Breakfast Creek and the Albion railway line.
Windsor is a particularly good laboratory for such new par- ticipatory approaches because its problems, though more acute than many other areas at the moment, are typical of those facing Brisbane's inner city suburbs.
Six and more lanes of heavy traf- fic pour down one side of the locali- ty on its way to and from the city centre, and a fair proportion cuts through its middle <Wer the Albion Overpass, or filters through residential streets.
Noisy and offensive industries, such as wreckers' yards and con- crete hatching plants, looking for convenient and relatively cheap locations close to the city centre, settled here on land zoned for in- dustry in the past. Major sporting clubs take over local parks and fence them, restricting use by local people, and build club houses which inevitably generate problems of traffic and late night revelling.
Open land adjacent to local creeks changes ownership and nobody bothers to maintain it in usable states so that it becomes an eyesore and a potential source of danger to children and old people.
Road proposals result in the large-scale acquisition of land by government departments, and its holding in limbo for decades while decisions about whether or not to proceed to construction are put into the 'too hard' basket. As a result, good houses are held out of the pur- chase market and neighbouring dwellings are blighted.
to improve the area in November 1984.
My discussion with the residents and the university social workers suggested that the key need was some general view of the area's future character and urban role, to prevent it continuing to be used as a kind of receptacle for activities un- wanted elsewhere.
The then Lord Mayor, who was acting as the area's alderman, was sympathetic to the idea of prepar- ing an area action plan, but in the event it was decided that this would have to _await reconsideration of zoning in the 1986 review of the Town Plan.
Since many of the problems were not to do with zoning, and there was in any case little chance of the kind of down-zoning that might have removed the threat of mass unit construction, I agreed to undertake the necessary study with a group of graduate planning students in the first half of 1985.
This developed into a scheme which was carried out as an experi- ment in participatory planning. It involved students drawn from a variety of first disciplines (including surveying, engineering, geograpHy, economics, design, building, law and environmental studies) who were undertaking the QIT course to obtain professional qualifications in urban and regional planning.
A professional response to the ob- jectives of local people
We spent the first month of the study talking with residents and col- lecting relevant information from the mass of government and private agencies having an interest in the area.
As a result of this, we were able to prepare a draft set of 32 objec- tives, which we amended after reporting to a further public meeting. These, together with our survey information, formed the basis for the subsequent policies and proposals which we presented to the residents in May and which they in turn presented to the Lord Mayor in August.
We see the scheme as being im- portant for two reasons:
Firstly, the proposals are a pro- fessional response to objectives identified by local people at a series
of working meetings and on-site meetings in the district. This ap- proach could be adopted throughout Brisbane's pressurised inner suburbs, and could be written into the forthcoming Town Plan Review as a provision for local ac- tion area or improvement plans.
Secondly, the proposals are all low to medium cost and are based on creative problem-solving. They would coordinate the work of the city's own departments with that of particular State and Com- monwealth ones, give confidence back to declining localities and en- courage local residents and employers to undertake private ac- tions to upgrade their areas.
None of the solutions produced by the QIT study require the expen- diture of much capital, but most in- volve different council, State and Commonwealth departments to cooperate with each other.
The banks of Breakfast Creek would be developed as a low maintenance, open space in con- junction with the action group and the Men of the Trees, linking ex- isting derelict land and half-derelict parks, by means of a riverside path and bikeway.
The vehicle access to Mayne Football Club would be reorganised to divert traffic away from residen- tial areas. Traffic flow throughout the area would be rearranged to protect residential areas from heavy industrial vehicles from the hat- ching plants, and to diminish the opportunities for 'rat-running' through traffic. Selective street closures would assist this, and pro- vide spaces for children's play and old persons' seating, as well as for amenity tree planting.
An unused Commonwealth Government drill hall would be taken over as a community centre for meetings and activities. Land owned by the Main Roads Depart- ment (which we established will not be needed for roads for at least 12 years, if ever) would be planted and developed for open space.
Brisbane City would be asked to join the Federal Government in supporting the local housing cooperative in acquiring cheap dwellings for maintenance • and rental.
Screening and beautification of the industrial sites in the area would be done in cooperation between the industrial concerns, the residents and the Brisbane City Council's Department of Recreation and Leisure.
'Invasion and succession'
Increases in personal mobility and in the numbers of small households cause demands for medium-priced units, and the very large reservoirs of land zoned Residential B, R4 (three plus storeys) by the last Town Plan, threaten a flood of demolition, followed by medium-rise unit con- struction and consequent tidal social change.
Q SEARCH takes on ensilage study
Meanwhile local people lose heart, houses decay, public services such as maintenance of roads, drains and open space are neglected, and a downward spiral commences whose ultimate out- come is the destruction of a living community. The sociologist's elegant euphemism for this process is 'invasion and succession'.
These kinds of problems are often first identified by social workers and it was Mr Maurice O'Connor of the Social Work Department of the University of Queensland who first contacted us about carrying out a study of ways
Q SEARCH was commissioned in October by a commercial agricultural company to investigate new ways of packaging native grasses to produce silage.
Mr Cec Maddox, Project Development Officer with Q SEARCH, said that current methods of producing silage involv- ed digging a pit in the ground, toss- ing in crop residue with urea and molasses, covering it with plastic and soil and allowing it to ferment.
"Possibly several years later, in time of drought, it is cut out of the ground and used as fodder," he said. "However, it needs specialis- ed equipment and can only be done at certain times of the year". "On most Australian farms, particularly those in the temperate region, the
native grasses are available all year round and even though they are slightly lower in nutritional value, they can be harvested and used for making silage."
The great advantage of using native grasses is that harvesting can be done at any time when the farmer and his equipment are not used for working the soil or harvesting crops. Q SEARCH will use the expertise of QIT staff Mr Bob Nicol (mechanical engineering) and Dr Ernie Pallister (chemistry).
Mr Maddox said that if an economical method could be established for farmers in temperate regions to create silage, Q SEARCH would then be com- missioned to design a harvesting machine to allow economic recovery of native grasses._
An action plan would be prepared for the area, integrating these proposals and indicating precisely where they would take place. This would be accompanied by a critical path diagram in- dicating which department would undertake which action at what time, and who would liaise with whom.
We decided it would be presump- tious of us to attempt to prepare the overall action plan or the critical path schedule, since Brisbane City's forty-odd highly qualified and ex- pert town planners were in a far better position to do this.
Finally, it was suggested that Brisbane City should prepare design guidelines for residential development in the area, limiting all new accommodation to two storeys, including garaging, and laying down landscape provisions, that Would maintain the character of a family area suitable for the rearing of children.
Public participation feasible in small local schemes
These proposals have had an im- mediate effect, even before they have been adopted by the council:
The industrialists are now seek- ing to cooperate directly with the action group in a beautification scheme; negotiations with the Com- monwealth Government are going ahead for the leasing of the old drill hall for a community centre; and the Men of the Trees are making a start on planting and improvement of derelict land along parts of Breakfast Creek.
Mr Phil Heywood
Even Mayrie Football Club is reported as having drastically reduced the level of noise from its club house on Saturday nights, though it is still not repling to let- ters requesting discussions on solv- ing the problems arising from its location in the middle of a residen- tial area.
Finally, a responsive and well- informed Lord Mayor has lived up to her election promise to bring government closer to ordinary people.
As one of the local residents observed to me recently, "I never thought people in power would do anything like this for us."
And this could be just the beginning.
Low cost action plans of this sort could be produced for stressed districts throughout the inner areas of Brisbane and beyond, involving people directly in the replanning-Of their own areas. Public participa- tion is inherently more feasible in such small local schemes than in large strategic or city-wide ones.
And, if planning is to be for people, it should also be with them.
Our city's future depends on yours!
Cities like Brisbane are growing and
'
changing quickly. At OIT, we're teaching people how to plan cities as better places tb live in.
QIT's Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture offers a
Graduate Diploma in Urban and Regional Planning for graduates of diverse
disciplines interested in gaining professional membership of the Royal Australian Planning Institute.
The two year full-time (3 years part-time) course involves students in a teamwork approach to real planning projects with lecturers, practising professionals and local communities.
For further information on this rewarding course, telephone Phil Heywood, Head of Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture at QIT, on (07) 223 2390.
