IQ inside
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Queensland University of Technology Newspaper Issue 251 March 8 - April 4, 2005
Film
KISSES can mean a lot or not much at all: in some countries kissing is taboo and in others it’s an integral part of the culture.
Three QUT fi lm graduates are setting off on a round-the-world trip to fi nd the origin of the kiss and what it means to diff erent people in diff erent cultures.
The idea of a kissing documentary was the brainchild of Norwegian student Maida Hals who originally submitted it as part of her uni assessment.
“I was planning to travel over land back to Norway after the end of my degree because I don’t like fl ying when my two friends wanted to travel with me and we decided to mix travelling with my idea of doing a documentary on kissing,”
she said.
The trio offi cially started fi lming in Melbourne on Valentine’s Day and plan to leave Australia from Sydney on March 14, travelling through 18 countries in four months.
“We want to show a world without borders, show that kissing is part of a universal language,” Maida said.
“In places like Japan where kissing is not acceptable in public, we want to look behind closed doors to see whether they do actually kiss to show affection or do something else.
“We also want to look at the less glamorous side of the kiss. We’ll be going to red light districts to talk to prostitutes about why they don’t kiss.”
The trio are in talks with several d i s t r i b u t i o n a n d p r o d u c t i o n c o m p a n i e s , a n d h o p e t h e documentary will launch their careers.
“All three of us want to get into travel documentaries, and when we started out it sounded a lot more glamorous. The reality is that we’ll be working 24 hours a day seven days a week for four months and then we’ll be straight into post- production,” she said.
“We won’t be drinking, we won’t be partying, we won’t be doing the touristy things but we enjoy doing this sort of thing. Rather than an excuse to travel this is a chance to get into the industry hopefully.”
- Toni Chambers
Trio go
mooching to study
smooching
Educational psychology
C H I L D R E N w h o e x p e r i e n c e motivational problems from an early age are the focus of a new study being piloted at QUT.
The project is an initiative of QUT’s Learning and Development Clinic which is looking for “lazy” school children to understand why some are more motivated than others.
Senior lecturer in educational psychology Dr Linda Gilmore said most previous studies had centred on high school and university students but there was evidence that motivational problems began earlier and persisted.
“We know that children’s intrinsic motivation for learning drops off sharply in the fi rst years of schooling and that it often continues to decline but we don’t really understand well
enough why this happens,” she said.
Dr Gilmore said parents of seven-to- nine year old children who have had one or more school reports saying, for example, that their child ‘must try harder, needs to make more eff ort, or does not apply themselves’ were invited to take part in the project.
Understanding the causes of low academic motivation was important as it was often associated with under- achievement at school, she said.
“We believe that all children are born with an inherent motivation to master their environment and to learn but that over time for various reasons some of this motivation is undermined,”
she said.
Such children seem uninterested in many aspects of school learning and are diffi cult to engage in the learning process, Dr Gilmore said.
It’s hoped the results of the study will help both parents and teachers on how they might help children to be more motivated.
“Increasing children’s motivation is likely to also increase their academic success at school,” Dr Gilmore said.
“There is a demonstrated relationship between high levels of motivation and high achievement.”
Each family participating in the project will receive an individualised assessment of their child with suggestions on ways to improve their motivation.
Families who are interested in further information about the study are urged to contact Linda Gilmore at QUT on 07 3864 9617 or email l.gilmore@qut.edu.au.
- Debra Nowland
A new QUT study will look at why some children are less motivated than others.
Study asks, why are children lazy?
QUT fi lm graduates (l to r), Maida Hals, Lyn Kardany and Rachael Kimberly pictured at the Brisbane Transit Centre on their way around the world to make a ‘kiss-and-tell’ documentary.
www.news.qut.edu.au George Street Brisbane 4000 Telephone (07) 3864 2361 Registered by Australia Post – Publication No. QBF 4778. CRICOS No 00213J
QUT is gearing up for a comprehensive audit by the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) scheduled for April.
As part of its ongoing Reality Check in support of the QUT Blueprint, the university has prepared and submitted a written portfolio outlining the university’s self-assessment of its performance across its key areas.
Project leader Professor David Gardiner said the portfolio included more than 100 actions that QUT would take to improve quality.
“Through the Reality Check, staff across the university identified a great many things we can do better to improve the quality of our teaching, research and community engagement,”
Professor Gardiner said.
“From the list of 100 we have focused on 10 main areas where academic and professional staff at all levels can make a real contribution.
“These 10 areas are featured in a brochure to be sent to staff in mid- March. To encourage people to take time to think about the improvements we have included a voucher for a free cup of coff ee at the various campus cafes.
“We will also be holding a series of 2-hour work shops on each
campus to help staff engage with the improvements fl owing from the review so far,” he said.
“The workshops will be highly interactive and will see small groups applying the AUQA audit approach to the QUT portfolio with a strong focus on the future improvements.”
Professor Gardiner said the AUQA audit panel, which will be at QUT between April 18 to 21, could ask to speak to anyone, so it was important that all staff took time to peruse the portfolio (available online at www.
realitycheck.qut.edu.au).
“The panel will likely speak with more than 200 people in small-group interviews of about 30 minutes,” he said.
“In addition to the structured group interviews, there are a small number of 10-minute individual sessions where interested staff can address the panel directly. To express an interest email realitycheck@qut.edu.au.”
Staff can register for a two-hour portfolio familiarisation workshop by phoning Laura King on extension 8301 or emailing realitycheck@qut.edu.au.
Details of times and locations can be found at www.realitycheck.qut.edu.au.
- Tony Wilson
Uni revs up for audit
QUT’s governing council has also approved a contribution of up to
$250,000 to the community TV station Briz 31 at the council’s February 23 meeting.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake said the fi nancial contribution was subject to a n u m b e r o f c o n d i t i o n s , including a business plan which demonstrated the long-term viability of the station.
“QUT has carefully considered t h e b e n e f i t s o f a c c e s s t o a community TV station for QUT students, and the possible injection of funds to Briz 31 for the acquisition of a new transmitter that is integral to its fi nancial viability,” he said.
QUT backs
Briz 31
Q U T ’s g ove r n i n g c o u n c i l has approved the admission o f d o m e s t i c s t u d e n t s t o undergraduate courses on a full- fee basis from 2006.
The decision follows council approval in February 2004 for the university to charge HECS top-up fees of up to 25 per cent.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake said three- quarters of the nation’s public universities had now opted to take additional local students into degree courses where the student paid full fees.
Professor Coaldrake said only a small number of QUT degree courses would admit full-fee Australian students in 2006 - students at the margin of OP cut-off for the course.
“These places will be additional to government-sponsored places in those courses, and full-fee students will be able to access the Government’s FEE-HELP loan scheme and defer repayment through the tax system,” he said.
Full-fee places offered
BBC creative archives expert visits QUT
V-C takes up Fulbright post
Suzuki
speaks out
QUT’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake has been elected as Chair to the Board of the Australian-American Fulbright Commission for 2005.
A two-time Fulbright scholar, Professor Coaldrake has extensive executive management experience spanning both the university and government sectors and has published widely in the fields of politics and higher education policy and practice.
P r o fe s s o r C o a l d r a k e s a i d that he was honoured by the appointment.
“The Fulbright Commission is integral to Australia-US relations, ensuring Australia’s academic, s c i e n t i f i c a n d p r o fe s s i o n a l development,” he said.
“Fulbright scholarships provide exceptional opportunities for Australia’s fi nest scholars.”
The Fulbright Program is one
of the largest and most prestigious educational scholarship programs in the world.
Established in 1946 through the initiative of U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright and the support of the U.S. government, it now operates between the U.S. and over 150 countries in the world.
Its primar y pur pose is to promote mutual understanding through international education and cultural exchange.
E s t a bl i s h e d i n 1 9 4 9 , t h e Australian-American Fulbright Commission awards over 50 scholarships annually and is jointly funded by the Australian and U.S. Governments along with corporate sponsors.
Th e Au s t r a l i a n - A m e r i c a n Fulbright Commission’s Board is appointed by invitation of the US Ambassador and the Australian Minister for Education.
Professor Peter Coaldrake
Law
THERE’S no information like open information.
That was the key message of a recent lecture by BBC Creative Archives co- director Paula le Dieu at QUT.
In the not-too-distant f uture everyone will be able to freely access the enormous volume of works held in archive by the British Broadcasting Cor poration whether it is David Attenborough’s nature documentaries or Winston Churchill’s speeches.
Ms le Dieu, pictured at right, is currently visiting Australia in response to the global attention sparked by the BBC’s Creative Archives project.
The BBC has been at the forefront of releasing its archived material under Creative Commons-styled licences and its model could be followed across the world.
Her lecture provided an opportunity
to the tricky and often complex issue of digital copyright.
QUT has become the lead agency for the uptake of Creative Commons
COMMENT
FOR the last eight months, QUT has been engaged in a wide-ranging review of quality across its key areas of teaching, research and a community engagement.
This Reality Check was timely given the aspirations in the new institutional plan, the QUT Blueprint, and the pending audit of QUT by the Australian Universities Quality agency (AUQA).
Students, staff and external members of the community all contributed to the review, the results of which were collected and reported in a performance portfolio submitted by QUT to AUQA in December 2004.
The portfolio includes more than 100 actions QUT plans to take to maintain or improve quality.
March and April are crunch time for QUT as AUQA systematically tests the university’s self-assessment of quality and performance through site visits to QUT in Brisbane and an off shore audit in Hong Kong and Singapore.
While the attention is now mainly on AUQA, we should not lose sight of QUT’s primary goal for the review, which is to gain long-term value from our self- assessment and the opinion of auditors external to us.
Following through on the actions promised in the portfolio will go a long way toward achieving this goal (see story on this page).
But we should also be mindful of what we do about quality once AUQA has been and gone.
We must think about how to make systematic attention to quality a defi ning characteristic for QUT in the long term to safeguard our reputation as a university for the real world.
Professor David Gardiner Deputy Vice-Chancellor
(Academic) and Chair, QUT AUQA Steering Group
Business
THE earth is on a path to destruction if it continues to put the economy ahead of the environment, internationally renowned scientist and environmentalist Dr David Suzuki said during a recent trip to Brisbane.
Dr Suzuki was the special guest speaker at the fi rst QUT Business Leaders’
Forum for 2005 with almost 650 people attending the dinner at the Brisbane Hilton on March 1.
Dr Suzuki criticised the refusal of both the United States and Australia to ratify the Kyoto protocol and said Prime Minister John Howard failed to take the environment seriously.
He said if the western world failed to set the example of reducing dangerous greenhouse gases, countries like India and China would not have any reason to do so either.
“What could happen in China and India is terrifying – they have had phenomenal growth,” he said.
Dr Suzuki said as long as we continued to “bludgeon” nature we were going to run into serious problems.
“We’ve bought the idea the economy is the source of everything – we no longer think we are part of the natural world.”
“The problem is the primary goal of the CEO is to maximise profi ts and everything else is secondary – the system is fundamentally fl awed.”
Dr David Suzuki at the Business Leaders’ Forum.
Science
AN incredible dual eff ort by two science graduates to achieve top marks throughout their entire honours degrees in physics has been rewarded with top academic awards.
And while you may think Sarah Beavan and Kristy Vernon could have been rivals on their path to win prestigious science medals at a recent QUT graduation ceremony, the brilliant graduates say nothing was further from the truth.
“There was absolutely no rivalry between us - in fact it was extremely handy to have someone to check answers with,” Sarah laughed.
A s b e s t f r i e n d s, S a r a h , 2 1 f r o m Rockhampton and Kristy,19, a former Dean’s Scholar from Narangba, both completed their bachelor degree of applied science with a major in physics achieving the maximum possible grade point average (GPA) of 7.00.
They both then went on to complete an honours degree last year, also with an overall GPA of 7.00.
For their honours projects, Sarah and Kristy worked in the emerging area of nano-optics and photonics.
“Photonics, as opposed to electronics, is being heralded as the next big thing in the
development of even faster computers,”
Sarah explained.
“It’s great to be f inished because, honestly, the last year has been the most diffi cult of my life, ” she said.
For Kristy, physics is truly a labour of love.
“Ever since I was invited to watch a rocket launch at Woomera in Year 11, I knew physics was what I wanted to do,” Kristy said.
“It’s a very challenging area, always something new and exciting, which is what I really enjoy.”
On presentation of their medals, Vice- Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake said Kristy had demonstrated exceptional ability in mastering the diffi cult theoretical concepts necessary to fulfi l the aims of her project.
And he said Sarah’s breakthrough fi nding could have important new applications in the development of essential photonic devices necessary for the next generation of optical computers.
“Sarah and Kristy have been outstanding students, demonstrating very high ability throughout their entire course of study,”
Professor Coaldrake said.
Further study and research, including PhDs, are now on the future agenda for the medallists.
- Janne Rayner
All 7s at science
Education
THE f irst g roup of Malaysian student teachers to study at QUT under a $5 million contract with the Malaysian government has arrived in Brisbane.
The 24 students will spend two years at QUT learning how to teach English, before returning to Malaysia for a fi nal year of study and then moving into the classroom.
Malaysian schools now teach mathematics and science in English rather than the national language.
QUT’s Director of International Development for the Faculty of Education, Associate Professor Bob Elliott, said the university was pleased to welcome its newest international students.
“QUT is one of fi ve universities internationally to be selected by the
Malaysian Ministry of Education to offer a Bachelor of Education Studies (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) program to Malaysian students,” he said.
“This fi rst cohort of students will be followed by another four groups over the next six years.
“QUT will also be providing p r o fe s s i o n a l d eve l o p m e n t fo r Malaysian teacher educators who teach these students for the fi rst and fourth years of the course in Kuala Lumpur.”
The Malaysian student teachers were welcomed to Brisbane at a special lunch function at QUT’s Kelvin Grove campus, where they are studying.
The Faculty of Education has more than 5000 students at the Kelvin Grove campus.
- Mechelle Webb
Malaysians
arrive to study
Health
IMPORTANT messages about the early detection of melanoma may have failed to reach those in the 50 and over age bracket even though they are at the greatest risk of dying from the cancer.
QUT and the Queensland Cancer Fund, in one of the largest community surveys of sk in screening habits ever undertaken in Australia, found that decades of public education campaigns had dramatically improved the awareness of melanoma.
But the over 50s were less likely than younger people to conduct a self-examination of their skin to check for changes in appearance, according to the survey of more than 3000 people in 18 Queensland regional communities.
It found the majority of people had heeded melanoma warnings with almost four out of fi ve respondents reporting they or somebody who was not a doctor had checked a part of their skin for signs of cancer in the 12 months preceding the survey.
But when the fi gure was broken down into age groups it found men and women aged 30-49 were more likely to do a skin self-examination than those over 50.
QUT and QCF research fellow Monika Janda said younger people were confi dent of detecting a change in their skin and treated skin cancer as a priority health matter.
“We don’t know why older people are not as confi dent, it may be due to the fact that skin changes are more likely the older you get and several things develop that are not cancers,”
Dr Janda said.
Results also showed that when advised by a doctor, people were 50 per cent more likely to conduct their own skin examinations, reinforcing t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f d o c t o r s i n delivering preventive messages to their patients.
The survey was conducted prior to the start of a community-education and screening program introduced on a trial basis into nine of the 18 regional towns surveyed.
Researchers are investigating whether regular self-examination followed by presentation of suspicious lesions to doctors helps reduce the thickness of melanomas at diagnosis.
“The aim of the trial was to promote sk in examination – we want to know whether people take up the opportunity to be examined if it is actively promoted and will it lead to melanomas being diagnosed earlier,
when the tumour is thinner,” Dr Janda said.
“Mortality is related to the thickness of a melanoma. If a lesion is 0.7mm or less when detected then there is a 99 per cent chance of recovery if it is excised.”
Currently there is no conclusive scientific evidence that population screening for melanoma reduces mortality and the Cancer Council Austr alia does not recommend screening for melanoma due to a lack of evidence of benefi t.
Melanoma ranks as the fourth most fatal cancer in Australia behind colorectal, breast and prostate.
Queensland has the highest recorded incidence of melanoma in the world.
- Heath Kelly
Over 50s ignore melanoma warnings
Star physics graduates Kristy Vernon (left) and Sarah Beavan.
Education faculty’s Bob Elliott with Malaysia students (l-r) Ms Lee Poh Lin, Muhammad Hazwan bin Kayun and Ms Noor Azma binti Mohd Othman pictured in the historical One Teacher School on Kelvin Grove campus.
Clockwise from above, (l to r) Cassie Hansen, Sarah Cornwall, Chloe Browne- Beck and Cameron McRae at Carseldine campus; Megan Fordham, Chris Fraser and Alyse Page enjoy pizza at Caboolture campus; Nathan Harding plays DJ; (l to r) Michael Balladeo, Siobian Oldham and Tim Muller at Carseldine; and Kirsty Pullman and Alan Underwood.
At left, Whitney Foster (creative industries) gets a ride from Christian Jack (creative writing).
Above top, Aaron Kerley (education) has fun with mate Mick Holzheimer (paramedics), above. Above right, Deanna Borland Sentinella (at right) giving advice to Alison Gercken (social science). At right, international students (from left) Indra Mertens (Germany), Irene Vinnicombe (Germany) and April MacInnes (Canada) with Rosa Monsour from Boonah.
O-Week
celebrations
What are you looking forward to most about uni life at QUT?
“The social things, the parties,
and getting to know people.
I hear that the people you make friends with at university stay with you for life.”
- Jessica Gipps, fi rst-year medical engineering
“Finishing! I’m also looking forward to things being a lot less restrictive than school – the freedom.”
- Nathan Cotton, fi rst-year double degree in business and law
Party, party, party and more partying!
I’ve worked so hard to get where I am now and now I can follow my dream which is law. I had to work all through high school and then did a year of justice studies at Kelvin Grove so that I could be here.”
- Marie Burns, fi rst-year law
Growing up and fi nding out who I am – and being independent.
I love learning and I love the law, so I’m looking forward to seeing where I can go.”
- Josh Duffy, fi rst-year double degree in business and law
I love the weather so I chose
Brisbane to study.
I would like to have fun, meet friends, get very good grades and get the whole Australian experience. Then I go back to Colombia and work for the family business.”
- Paola Bayter, fi rst-year Master of Business Administration
I’m here to learn, I like the course, and I want to make Australian friends. Two years ago I came to Brisbane to study English and I liked it. Then I came back to work and now I am studying to be a chartered accountant.”
- Najung (Judy) Choi, fi rst-year Master of Business (Accounting)
At left, Terence Otto and Naomi Mayberry are happy to catch up with Shane Bunning at Kelvin Grove campus; below, dance students (l to r) Kailyn Cole, Ilaria Brophy, Renee Campbell and Andy Brown relax; and far below, friends Carina Larsen, arts/education and Amy Thomson, drama/education take time out for lunch.
At left, fi rst-year business students Krystle Cotterill (left) and Kate Holmes at Gardens Point campus;
above, architecture tutor Stephen Cameron plays frisbee on the Kidney Lawn; at right, Rebecca Beveridge, Laura Tanner and Nicole Ford at Caboolture campus.
Q:
Early childhood
A MAJOR QUT study of Queensland teachers has found abused or neglected children may be going undetected by authorities because of signifi cant shortcomings in child abuse reporting systems within Queensland schools.
The Abused Child Trust commissioned Dr Kerryann Walsh and Associate Professor Ann Farrell from the School of Early Childhood and Associate Professor Robert Schweitzer from the School of Psychology and Counselling to do the study.
They surveyed more than 250 teachers from state primary schools around south-east Queensland.
Dr Walsh said although an overwhelming majority of teachers indicated that they wanted to report abuse, the study suggested they lacked vital support which was necessary to adequately protect the safety of their students.
“Teachers are key professionals who are particularly well-placed to identify and report child abuse and neglect,”
she said.
“While they’re doing their best to manage the delicate matter of child abuse, they’ve told us through this research that they don’t feel confi dent about doing it.
• Teachers involved in the study were generally unsure about their ability to accurately identify child abuse and neglect.
•Three in four teachers surveyed have suspected child abuse or neglect
at some stage in their careers, but ten percent have decided not to report their suspicions at one time or another.
• A number of teachers believed the negative consequences of reporting
abuse may outweigh the benefi ts, with respect to both children and themselves.
• The teachers surveyed had an overall average of only 2.8 hours of formal child protection training.
Teachers unsure on child abuse
Business
KEEN to make a mark in the business world, new QUT student Rakith Senanayake is already on the path to success.
Rakith, 19, has just been awarded a Faculty of Business scholarship through the highly successful Corporate Partners in Excellence (CPIE) program which gives high- achieving school leavers a head start to their careers.
Rakith, who graduated from C r a i g s l e a H i g h S c h o o l , i n Brisbane’s norther n suburbs, will participate in an accelerated learning program which will also include two semesters full-time work experience with a major corporation.
This industry placement helps CPIE students such as Rakith make connections with top employers, as well as staff who act as mentors
throughout their study.
Since its inception in 2001, the CPIE program has been a big success and scholarships worth more than $1 million have been awarded.
Corporate partners, such as Ernst & Young, Coca Cola and Bank of Queensland, provide both work placement with their companies and money towards CPIE students’ study costs.
Rakith, who migrated from Sri Lanka with his family three years ago, said although the next few years will be intense at times, he is looking forward to the challenges ahead and still plans to indulge in his other passion of cricket and continue his work with Amnesty.
“It’s going to be quite hectic but work has never been a problem at all, I’m ready for it,” said Rakith, who will be studying accounting and economics.
Rakith profi ts from $1M biz outlay
Physical and chemical sciences
A GROUP of bright Brisbane schoolboys from St Laurence’s College has started the school year with a crash course in astrophysics at QUT.
The School of Physical and Chemical Sciences hosted 45 students from Years 8 to 10 for the
“Space Day” at Gardens Point campus.
As well as learning about the history of astronomy, they got to experiment with a black hole simulator, f ind out how an exploding cola bottle resembled a supernova, see some spectacular space photos, and even take home a Mars Bar.
QUT astrophysics expert Dr Stephen Hughes, who specialises in astronomy education, said the day aimed to encourage young people to choose careers in science – particularly physics.
“These young people are really interested in what’s ‘out there’ and there’s some incredible statistics involved,” he said.
“There are more stars out there than there are
Space Day takes off
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Dr Hughes said St Laurence’s College asked QUT to run the popular Space Days each year.
“What I try to do is show the relationship between astrophysics and everyday backyard physics – that’s what makes it interesting for them,” he said.
High-achiever Rakith Senanayake has joined the CPIE scholarship program.
Researcher Dr Kerryann Walsh, left, has presented fi ndings of a new QUT study to Abused Child Trust’s Fred Gravestock, pictured at right.
in BRIEF...
Old Government House gets new roof
Renovation work has begun on the most historic building on QUT’s Gardens Point campus – Old Government House. The fi rst part of the project will involve replacing the entire roof and is expected to be complete by the end of April. Internal renovations will follow and be funded by QUT and public donations.
Fitness funding
The fi ve universities that make up the Australian Technology Network are pooling their resources to set up a Centre for Metabolic Fitness. The unis, including QUT, have pledged an initial
$2 million for the centre, which will focus on fi nding ways to improve the health of Australians through diet and lifestyle changes.
The new centre will also investigate ways to alleviate depression and lack of motivation when it comes to getting fi t and healthy.
Gardens Theatre’s season debut
The curtain lifted on the fi rst professional season at the Gardens Theatre last week when The Sit Down Open- Mic Comedy Club brought some laughs to campus.
Although the theatre has hosted professional productions in the past, 2005 marks the fi rst year of a themed season of drama, comedy and children’s theatre. For details on upcoming shows, visit www.
whatson.qut.edu.au or www.
culturalprecinct.qut.edu.au.
Help needed to collect refugee stories
A new QUT community project needs volunteers to help refugees and
asylum seekers write stories, poems, recipes and memories. These works will be published in a book funded by a QUT Community Services Grant. QUT staff interested in helping can email h.wilkinson@qut.edu.au or m.kelly@qut.edu.au.
Technical Aid to the Disabled
The Techical Aid to the Disabled charity has thanked QUT for its support over the past two years at a special Brisbane function. The event was co-hosted by TADQ president John Frith and Professor Myles McGregor- Lowndes – the director of QUT’s Centre of Philanthropy and Nonprofi t Studies and the fi rst TADQ Patron.
New online services for researchers
QUT is introducing two new online services for its researchers. AIRS Online provides a facilitator-driven, student-focused learning environment, while PORTIA allows supervisors to plan their students’ tasks and goals while providing the quality control to central administration.
Abu Dhabi education Five QUT students got a taste of the Middle East last month when they visited Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for the E-ducation Without Borders 2005 conference. Three of the students delivered papers while at the event.
All welcome at graduations All staff are welcome to attend the upcoming round of graduations from March 29 to April 5. Register your interest online through QUT Virtual.
The study found:
Psychology
A QUT researcher’s own family history has prompted her to embark on a major international study into the impact of the Holocaust on survivors, as well their children and grandchildren.
The Holocaust was in the headlines recently as survivors gathered to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the infamous German death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, responsible for the deaths of up to 1.5 million prisoners – most of them Jews.
Janine Beck’s PhD thesis will focus on how survivors adjusted to post-war life and the fl ow-on eff ect to subsequent generations. Ms Beck herself is the daughter and grandchild of survivors of the World War II atrocity.
Her father was born in a concentration camp in Austria but had to be thrown over the camp’s fence to give him a chance at survival.
Her grandmother also spent a brief period in Auschwitz.
As part of her psychology research, Ms Beck is sending questionnaires to survivors and their families throughout the world including Israel, Europe, the United States and New Zealand. She is also receiving assistance from survivor organizations.
“The main aim of my research is to determine the key factors that infl uence post-Holocaust adjustment and the degree to which psychological symptoms are passed on to future generations,” Ms Beck said.
While an event of the scale of the Nazi Holocaust is unique in many ways, uncovering its lasting impact may be partially relevant to survivors of more recent events such as the genocides in Rwanda and Kosovo and civilians living in war zones such as Iraq.
Ms Beck said existing research showed the main psycholog ical effects of the Holocaust on survivors were higher levels of depression, anxiety, paranoia and relationship diffi culties.
“When I read through the research though, I found it insulting that survivors were often classifi ed as one homogenous group”
“Certainly some survivors remained deeply affected by their experiences, but others managed to adjust relatively well and I want to know why that is,” Ms Beck said.
She said many children of survivors suff ered from psychological issues similar to their parents, and that recent evidence suggested survivors’ grandchildren might also have higher levels of these problems.
Apart from gender and age, Ms Beck
said much of the current psychological research failed to take into consideration other demographics when assessing the Holocaust’s impact.
“There are so many diff erent factors that aff ected how survivors of the Holocaust adjusted and how they responded and communicated to their children,” Ms Beck said.
Ms Beck said factors she will be focussing on included the survivors’ country of origin, cultural background, reason for persecution ( Jewish, gypsies, homosexual etc.), nature of Holocaust experience (in a concentration camp or in hiding), loss/
survival of family members, and post-war settlement location.
She said preliminary analysis of previous research showed that survivors who had children immediately following the Holocaust did not allow themselves valuable grieving and adjustment time before having to focus their attention on child-rearing.
As a consequence the children born in this immediate post-war period are more likely to have problems with anxiety and depression than those born after a longer delay.
Ms Beck’s own family background has had a profound aff ect on her life.
During WWII, her Polish Jew grandmother,
Josefa Lurie, was transferred via Auschwitz to a concentration camp in Austria.
While there she gave birth to Ms Beck’s father, Alec Lurie, and kept him for a number of months but was forced to throw him on to the other side of the concentration camp fence when it became apparent his life was in danger.
An Austrian lady picked him up and raised him as her own until her grandmother was released at the end of the war.
Her father mistakenly ended up in a French orphanage while Ms Beck’s grandmother went to look for her husband who she eventually located in a displaced persons’
camp. He had been fi ghting with the Russian army during the war.
Three years later through the aid of the Red Cross she found her son and the family migrated to Australia. They now live in Melbourne.
“It might have happened 60 years ago but we still feel the eff ects of World War II and the Holocaust,” Ms Beck said.
She said she hoped her research would be used to help minimise the effects of traumas such as this not only on the survivors themselves but their descendants.
- Heath Kelly
Certainly some survivors remained deeply aff ected by their experiences, but others managed to adjust relatively well and I want to know why that is.
Holocaust’s hold
It may have happened 60 years ago, but the impact of the
Holocaust on people around the world has still not been fully realised, says a QUT researcher.
Janine Beck has drawn on her own family history in her Holocaust research.
Creative Industries
REGIONAL promoters need to take the “mystery” out of live theatre if they want to boost audiences, according to the preliminary results of a QUT study.
Researcher Dr Rebecca Scollen has spent the past year taking “theatre virgins” to plays, musicals and dance productions at reg ional theatres in Queensland and the Northern Territory to fi nd out what they like and dislike.
The three-year “Talking Theatre”
study aims to find out why some people choose not to attend live performances and what their reactions are when they do.
Dr Scollen said the fi rst half of the study was now complete and had found non-theatregoers stayed away because they didn’t know what to expect, and thought tickets would cost too much.
But, on the plus side, she said most people loved the shows they attended during the study and were pleasantly surprised by the prices.
She said the challenge for venues
and promoters was to provide regional audiences with more information about shows’ content and style (eg, if it’s a family show, etc), and to advertise their prices.
“When you don’t know what a show is going to be like, you don’t know anyone who’s been to see it, and there’s not much advertising to tell you what it’s about, then it really seems too risky to go,” she said.
She said many study participants also thought tickets were going to be far more expensive than they really were.
“In some cases, people were expecting prices that were three times the reality,” she said. “I think that’s partly because if they have been to the theatre, it’s involved saving up to see something like an Andrew Lloyd Webber show in Brisbane or Sydney – so they think all theatre is that price.”
The six theatres already studied are:
Mount Isa Civic Centre; Nambour Civic Centre; Caloundra Cultural Centre; Townsville Civic Theatre;
Araluen Centre (Alice Springs); and Darwin Entertainment Centre.
During 2005, another eight will take
part including theatres in Toowoomba, Ipswich, Logan, Rockhampton, Mackay, Ayr, Cairns and Charters Towers.
Dr Scollen said her research was encouraging because it had found that the theatre newcomers loved it once they got there.
“They want fun entertainment that provides a good night out, a high quality show and great atmosphere,”
she said.
“My results also indicate that venues need to brand themselves a little diff erently to stand out from the crowd. It is important for theatres to promote upcoming shows, but it seems just as vital to promote themselves as places where friends can socialise and have fun.”
Dr Scollen is a postdoctoral fellow at QUT’s Creative Industries Research and Applications Centre.
The“Talking Theatre” project is funded by the Australian Research Council, Ar ts Queensland, Ar ts Northern Territory, QUT and the N o r t h e r n Au s t r a l i a n Reg i o n a l Performing Arts Centres Association.
- Mechelle Webb
‘Mystery’ of theatre keeps seats empty
QUT sport promises to be bigger than Bec Cartwright’s engagement ring in 2005 with the Australian University Games returning to Brisbane for the fi rst time in over a decade.
The Games have not been held in Brisbane since the inaugural event in 1993 and have grown from strength to strength to become the highlight of the university sporting calendar.
Preparations are already underway for the sporting extravaganza which is being held across a number of Brisbane venues from September 25-30.
To c o m p e t e a t t h e G a m e s, competitors fi rst have to qualify at the Northern University Games in
Cairns in July where they must fi nish in the top three.
For more details about both events visit www.guildonline.net/sport.
For those interested in the social side rather than the competitive side of sport, QUT off ers an extensive program.
Anyone interested in playing mixed touch football, outdoor netball, soccer and volleyball should contact the student guild sport offi ce. Learn to row classes are also on off er as are weekly tennis fi xtures.
The guild is also employing convenors on a casual basis as well as referees.
Aust. uni games on the way
Cherbourg’s sporting gift to China
CHERBOURG State School and QUT are joining forces and taking the
“Strong and Smart” message into an impoverished rural district in China to help make a diff erence to the lives of the local primary schoolkids.
Children at the Fanchong Primary School in the Anhui province have just taken possession of new sporting equipment donated by Cherbourg State School including Aussie Rules footballs, basketballs, soccer balls and netballs.
Despite having 110 students, the only sporting equipment at Fanchong Primary School had been a dilapidated table tennis table that currently can’t be used due to the poor state of the
Cherbourg State School principal and QUT Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus Chris Sarra said the donation to Fanchong Primary was the start of what would hopefully become a long term relationship in both a friendship and learning capacity.
The involvement of Cherbourg is part of an aid package instigated by QUT researcher Lucy Montgomery and fellow academic Graeme Smith from ANU with the assistance of QUT’s Creative Industries faculty.
For more information about the school and student sponsorships c o n t a c t L u c y M o n t g o m e r y a t a.montgomery@qut.edu.au.
Creative industries researcher Lucy Montgomery accepts sporting
Researcher Dr Rebecca Scollen in Toowoomba’s Empire Theatre.
Inside QUT is published by QUT’s Marketing and Communication Department. Our readership includes staff, students and members of the QUT community.
The paper is also circulated to business, industry, government and media.
Opinions expressed in Inside QUT do not necessarily represent those of the university or the editorial team.
Janne Rayner (Editor) 07 3864 2361
Heath Kelly 07 3864 1841 Judith Moore 07 3864 2130 Debra Nowland 07 3864 1150 Mechelle Webb 07 3864 4494 Tony Phillips/Erika Fish
(Photography) 07 3864 5003 Rachel Murray (Advertising) 07 3864 4408
about IQ
Art exhibition
- Kindle and Swag
This “jellyfi sh chandelier” by Timothy Horn is just one of the fabulous works currently on display at the QUT Art Museum at Gardens Point (U Block, entry off Main Drive).
Kindle and Swag: The Samstag Exhibition is a multi-media collection by recipients of the prestigious Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarships. It runs until April 24.
Events
MARCH 9 Find out how to become an exchange student at the QUT Exchanges Fair on the Kidney Lawn at Gardens Point from 11am to 2pm.
MARCH 14 Potential employers will visit QUT for the Careers & Futures Fair in Main Drive from 11am to 3pm.
The event will off er all students the chance to meet representatives from private
companies, government departments and other organisations from Queensland and interstate.
MARCH 16 - 19 QUT’s second-year acting students will perform the timeless romantic tragedy Camille for a limited season at Gardens
Theatre. Book with GardensTix on 3864 4455.
Seminars
MARCH 14 The Faculty of Education’s Provocation 6 symposium has the intriguing title “The Deadly Habits of Teaching” and will be held at Kelvin Grove from 9am to 12.30pm. Places are limited so reserve a seat by emailing c.doherty@qut.edu.au.
MARCH 24 Learn some marriage tips from Dr Sue Osgarby during a seminar entitled
“The Way We Were: Positive reminiscence in marital relationships”
at Carseldine (room E125) from 12noon to 1pm. The talk is part of the Centre for Health Research seminar series.
Conferences
MARCH 30-APRIL 1 The creative industries will be put in the spotlight during the Speculation and Innovation Conference at the Creative Industries Precinct. The event is hosted by CIRAC and ACID and open to researchers, academics, industry professionals and students. For info, call 3864 2220.
APRIL 4 The School of Early Childhood will host the Evaluation of the Prep Year Trial conference at Brisbane’s Sofi tel Hotel. Call 3864 2916 for delegate registration information.
Visit www.whatson.
qut.edu.au for more event listings and to submit your upcoming event.
