Registered by Australia Post – Publication No. QBF 4778 QUT Central Administration 2 George Street Brisbane 4000 Telephone (07) 3864 2111
Q u e e n s l a n d U n i v e r s i t y o f T e c h n o l o g y N e w s p a p er ■ I s s u e 181 ■ September 1–14, 1 9 9 8
Students join revegetation
project
Page 7␣
Filming in Bosnia a challenging
experience
Page 5␣
QUT Fun Run to help paralympic
fundraising
Page 8␣
▼ ▼
Vice-chancellors:
reverse the cuts
On the campaign trail at QUT’s Gardens Point . . . Vice-Chancellor Professor Dennis Gibson explains
the AVCC’s campaign against the higher education funding squeeze By Phillipa Hanrick
Findings from research into sensitive issues such as sex, drugs and mental illness are often viewed with fascination by the public and scepticism by the scientific community.
QUT public health senior lecturer Dr Michael Dunne has been examining how, when and why some aspects of research into sensitive health problems are unreliable.
“When people are asked to participate in research about sexual assault for example, some will volunteer but many others do not and I want to find out if there are any differences between the two groups,”
Dr Dunne said.
“Even among those who do volunteer for a survey, some people are open and willing to talk about their experiences, while others find it difficult to discuss their private lives.
“Self-disclosure is an interesting personality trait because it strongly influences what we can learn about early life experiences that may predispose to mental illness and a lot of physical diseases.
“It is also important to consider the real limitations of people’s memory,” Dr Dunne said.
Student Eddie Nona was one of 13 artists to show work at an indigenous exhibition held last week … see story Page 4
Reliability of
sensitive research probed in survey
Oodgeroo displays artwork
▼
QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Dennis Gibson was in action at the Gardens Point campus this week, handing out leaflets in support of the Australian Vice- Chancellors’ Committee (AVCC) initiative which aims to reverse Government cuts to student and research funding.
Professor Gibson greeted students as they arrived at the entrance to the Gardens Point campus in George Street earlier this week, and urged them to support the AVCC’s unprecedented political campaign against cutbacks to higher education.
Speaking on behalf of Brisbane vice- chancellors, Professor Gibson, who is an AVCC board member, said access to universities in Queensland was even more difficult that in other states.
“Universities are under-funded throughout Australia, but the position is worse in Queensland where low per- student funding and a rapidly growing young populaton will put great pressure on our universities in the next few years,”
Professor Gibson said.
Vice-chancellors across Australia launched simultaneous campaigns this week to draw attention to the Government’s failure to provide adequate funds to students.
The AVCC has launched a national press and radio advertising campaign which proposes a 10-point plan to produce a strong university system.
The president of the AVCC, Professor John Niland, who is vice-chancellor of the University of New South Wales, said in a statement that if Australia was not careful, it risked becoming a follower and not a leader.
Professor Niland said the AVCC’s campaign — the first undertaken by the nation’s universities — would ask Australian voters to support candidates who looked beyond the headlines.
In the leaflets handed out by Professor Gibson, the AVCC warns that the per- student funding from the Commonwealth Government — net of students’ own contribution through HECS — will have fallen by nearly a quarter between 1990 and 2000.
Money from the increased student contributions through HECS, which
was introduced by a Labor government and subsequently modified by the present coalition government, has not gone back into universities, Professor Gibson said.
The AVCC’s 10-point plan suggests improved equity and access to unviersities be achieved by:
• increasing the number of publicly funded places;
• allowing students in low paid or casual jobs to delay repaying their HECS debts until they can afford to do so;
• allowing education costs to be claimed as a tax deduction;
• giving private fee payers access to HECS loans;
• creating a teaching quality fund to support effective teaching;
• increasing funds for research;
• strengthening links between universities and industry through better tax treatment;
• adjusting Government grants to match economy-wide wage cost changes to enable universities to invest in high quality staff;
• helping universities broaden their international focus; and.
• changing the tax system to encourage private bequests.
In two recent studies, Dr Dunne examined differences between volunteers and “refusers” in a broad, national survey of adult twins which asked questions about sexuality.
“It seemed pretty clear that volunteers for (the) sex research typically were curious, sensation-seeking people who liked new experiences — they were more likely to admit to smoking tobacco and marijuana, and drank alcohol more than did people who refused the sex survey.
“We also found some evidence that volunteers for sex research have more diverse sexual histories than (refusers).
“These insights were only possible because we had a great deal of other information on all of these people before we asked them to do the sex survey,” he said.
He said openness in research of this kind was strongly influenced by culture.
“We also find volunteers tend to be more highly educated, with middle- class backgrounds and are more likely to be employed. All this means that there are a lot of factors that can influence findings.”
You can learn a lot about the distance between objective facts — what the health survey data says is real
— and subjective reality, (which is) what actually occurred,” he said.
Page 2 INSIDE QUT September 1–14, 1998
Higher education and Australia’s future
A word from the Vice-Chancellor
The editorial deadline for next issue (Sept 15–Oct 5) is September 4.
About your newspaper
M Block, Gardens Point, GPO Box 2434 Brisbane 4001.
The opinions expressed in Inside QUT do not necessarily represent those of the university or the editorial team.
If you know of a story which should be told in Inside QUT, contact one of the communication officers in the department:
Colleen Clur (editor) 3864 1150 Andrea Hammond 3864 4494 Noel Gentner (p/t) 3864 1841 Phillipa Hanrick 3864 2130
Fax 3210 0474
E-mail [email protected] Photography: Tony Phillips
Advertising: David Lloyd-Jones 3880 0528 Internet site: http://www.qut.edu.au/
publications/05news/iqut.html Inside QUT is published by QUT’s
Corporate Communication Department and has a circulation of 15,000.
Readership includes staff, students, and members of the QUT community.
The newspaper is delivered to s p e c i a l l y - m a r k e d b o x e s i n community areas at the university’s Gardens Point, Kelvin Grove and Carseldine campuses.
It is also circulated to business, industry, government and the media.
Media may reproduce stories from Inside QUT. Each story has been checked with the source prior to publication.
Letters to the Editor are welcome via mail or e-mail (maximum of 250 words).
The Corporate Communication Department address is Level 5,
From the Inside… by David Hawke
This edition of Inside QUT publishes material developed by the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee in the lead-up to the Federal election.
The material makes a simple but dramatic point about Government support for universities in this country — that per-student funding f r o m t h e C o m m o n w e a l t h Government, net of students' own contribution through HECS, will have fallen by nearly a quarter in the decade from 1990 to 2000.
In other words, money from the increased student contributions t h r o u g h H E C S , w h i c h w a s introduced by a Labor Government and subsequently modified by the present Coalition Government, has not gone back into universities.
These funding pressures have resulted in worsening staff-student ratios, pressure on services to students as well as declining real research funding.
They have also limited the ability of universities to pay competitive salaries to staff.
While funds from private sources have, to some extent, compensated for the shortfall in Government funding,
there are still significant impediments to the expansion of private funding.
The AVCC 10-point plan suggests some changes to the taxation system to address this issue.
T his A V C C ' s p r e - e l e c t i o n campaign is an overdue signal to our political leaders that not only those directly involved in higher education, but also any parent whose children might one day attend university, are demanding a better deal for universities and for Australia's future.
QUT human services student Shane Lewis was one of four finalists in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student of the Year Award at the recent Department of Training and Industrial Relations Awards.
Co-ordinator of Human Services in the School of Social Science Dr Tricia Fox
Proud to be a finalist in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student of the Year Award … Shane Lewis
Shane shines in disability studies
said Mr Lewis had devoted his education and professional work to disability studies.
She said she hoped his efforts would attract other indigenous people to study in the human services field.
“Mr Lewis’ achievement of being a finalist against 3,000 nominees across
Queensland is a wonderful accomplishment and the School of Social Science and the university as a whole are extremely proud,”
Dr Fox said.
Mr Lewis will complete his studies in 1999 and pursue a career in government.
— Phillipa Hanrick
Brisbane businesspeople were enlightened and encouraged by the opportunities presented at a recent research and development seminar addressed by a member of QUT Council and the Industry Research and Development Board, Dr Carrie Hillyard.
Dr Hillyard outlined the board’s R&D START program is administered by AusIndustry and provides grants for industry and university partnerships to undertake research activities.
In the past, QUT has been highly successful in applying for the grants for graduate-based research and development- related projects which are part of the program.
One project has recently been approved for the School of Computing Science in conjunction with an industry partner and the school has completed two projects this year with Textor Metal Industries and Index Computer Solutions.
QUT’s Faculty of Science has successfully undertaken two, three-year START Collaborative R&D projects.
Seminar promotes links
Professor Dennis Gibson␣ ␣ ␣ ␣ ␣
by Noel Gentner
Australia’s superannuation regulatory system has been criticised by a QUT lecturer.
Accounting lecturer Dan Scheiwe said superannuation funds were required to report their investment returns but, in many cases, these were very different from the returns that were passed on to members.
“Investment returns are simply the income earned from investing, less any direct investment expenses,” Mr Schiewe said.
“However, the investment return ignores the operating costs of the fund (including death and disability cover) and, if applicable, reserving and cross- subsidisation.”
Superannuation system ‘unfair’
(Cross-subsidisation occurs in certain plans within supperanuation funds which, as a result, allocate higher returns to some members at the expense of other fund members.)
In previous research, Mr Scheiwe compared the rights of superannuants with those of other investors, namely the owners of units and shares listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. He found that superannuants had far fewer rights and, so, less protection.
“An example of this is while company auditors are appointed by and report to shareholders, superannuation auditors are appointed by and report to the trustees — the very people whose work they audit,” Mr Scheiwe said.
“If auditors or the Government regulator find mismanagement in a
fund, they are not permitted to tell the members. Similarly, while other investors can choose if and where they invest, most superannuants have no such choice. They are compelled to join particular funds because of the awards under which they work.
“Compounding the problem is the fact that superannuation funds do not hold annual general meetings and so members are denied the relevant rights enjoyed by shareholders — that is, electing the board, determining their remuneration and benefiting from the synergies of a forum.”
Mr Scheiwe said relatively few people understood the complexities of superannuation and legislators were relying heavily on advice from the industry they were meant to regulate.
At the seminar, Dr Hillyard encouraged industry leaders to take up the opportunities for research and development provided by the scheme.
“The R&D Start program will provide more than $700million during the next four years which is aimed at increasing the number of projects undertaken by companies t h a t h a v e a h i g h c o m m e r c i a l potential,” she said.
“They also aim to foster innovation in Australian business; greater commercialisation of outcomes from R&D projects; and projects between companies and research institutions.”
QUT’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Research and Advancement, Professor John Corderoy, also addressed the seminar and said that, QUT was a real-world institution, it was important for industry and the university to co-operate to generate wealth for the future.
The seminar was co-ordinated by QUT’s Office of Commercial Services.
QUT student Laith Wark has won a trip to the UK with a futuristic design scheme for Brisbane’s “last CBD eyesore” — the stretch of land under the South-East Freeway between Victoria Bridge and the expressway.
Mr Wark, a third-year landscape architecture student, won first prize in the competition jointly organised by Gillespies Asia Pacific, the QUT School of Architecture, Interior and Industrial Design, and the School of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Surveying.
He will spend two weeks with some of Europe’s leading urban designers based in Gillespies UK’s Glasgow office.
by Andrea Hammond
A smaller Research Management Committee will operate from 1999 to steer the direction of research at QUT along more strategic and industry- linked paths.
The University Academic Board has approved the establishment of new membership and fresh terms of reference for the committee, which will be renamed the University Research Committee.
The University Research Committee will see membership numbers whittled from 20 to seven and will focus on policy and strategic issues in research.
Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Research and Advancement, Professor John Corderoy, who will chair the new-look committee, said the university had
“followed to the letter” the recommendations relating to research management in the 1998 Pitman review of research at QUT.
Professor Corderoy, pictured above right, said the existing Research Degrees Committee — under a yet- to-be-appointed Director of Postgraduate Research Studies — would shoulder much of the day-to- day operational issues formerly tackled by the Research Management Committee.
“The old Research Management Committee was, unfortunately, completely bogged down with all the operational issues such as approval of PhDs, approval of grants, approval of university centres, annual reviews of
Vision for CBD eyesore
Advertisement
Gillespies Asia-Pacific managing director Mark Fuller said the standard of entries from 30 students from the two schools was “extremely high”.
He said the three-member judging panel had been so impressed with the quality and imagination shown in the entries that they had opted to award three commendation prizes as well.
“We threw down the gauntlet to QUT students to challenge them to come up with a use for what is Brisbane’s last CBD eyesore,” Mr Fuller said.
“We felt it was a good project to throw to students who, historically, come up with radical solutions to problems: things
centres and annual reviews of grants,”
Professor Corderoy said.
“The appointment of a Director of Postgraduate Research Studies will help improve the quality of our postgraduate supervision and improve the experience that our postgraduate students have when they are studying for higher degrees by research.
“This person will be able to work much more closely with the faculties and the centres to facilitate and improve the quality and supervision — to help both the supervisors and the students.
“I think — and the Pitman report recognised this too — that the number of research students and the amount of research going on in the university has got to the stage where we just need more management of the processes.”
QUT postgraduate research students have trebled in the past five years to reach the 1998 figure of 541 PhD students, 91 professional doctorates and 266 masters by research students.
Professor Corderoy said the new University Research Committee
would have the opportunity to address strategic issues in the allocating of QUT’s annual $5million central research budget.
“We’ll be looking closely at how to develop research in all the faculties, how to get closer links with industry and to develop those links in order to attract more support for our research and (employment) opportunities for our graduates,” he said.
Professor Corderoy said that the Pitman review, commissioned last year after media criticisms of QUT’s research culture, had highlighted structural problems mostly due to the university’s rapid growth since 1991.
“The two main (problems) were that we had outgrown the Research Management Committee — it was just too operational rather than strategic, and that we needed more direct management supervision of the quality of our postgraduate students,” he said.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with the quality, it’s just that we had got to the stage where we should have been putting more effort into that because there were so many of them (students).”
“Pitman also noted that the research culture across the university was variable and that this too was symptomatic of very rapid growth in research. He recommended that QUT try to consolidate that research culture more evenly across the university.”
Professor Corderoy said the Pitman review had made useful recommendations designed to bring QUT into line with other universities in Australia.
Research procedures made more strategic
that people often don’t think of that can really be used, or stimulate other ideas.
“And who knows, maybe one day people will take Laith’s ideas and say ‘well, let’s go with them’.”
Mr Fuller said Mr Wark’s entry proposed to demolish the tangled stretch of the South- East Freeway entirely.
His design included leaving the white support pylons on the site and incorporating winding water lily gardens, a heritage court, ferry platform and cafe terraces with all of them designed to blend in with the Southbank Parklands.
Other QUT students whose entries received highly commended book prizes were Craig Christensen, Michael Mitchell and Jenny Bopp.
(l-r) QUT lecturer Alex Cohn with competition winner Laith Wark and Gillespies Asia Pacific director Mark Fuller
␣ by Noel Gentner
The treatment and recovery rate of burns patients could be significantly improved through a pilot study being carried out jointly by QUT and the Royal Brisbane Hospital (RBH).
Project co-ordinator and lecturer in physics at QUT’s Centre for Medical and Health Physics Dr Bruce Cornish said the study was being compared with two established treatment techniques.
Working with Dr Cornish on the project are RBH physician Dr Michael Muller and medical physics postgraduate student Raniero Guarnieri.
“We are trialing the application of ‘bio-electrical impedance’ to measure muscle mass in burns patients,“ Dr Cornish said.
“This procedure involves passing an extremely small electric current through the body and measuring the tissue impedance (resistance) to this current.
“The measured tissue impedance is then directly related to the quantity of fluid and tissue in the body.
“One of the major problems for burns patients is monitoring and maintaining levels of hydration.”
Dr Cornish said one of the other two current treatment techniques involved measuring the water compartment volumes in the body using “tracer dilution”, which involved blood sampling.
He said this treatment was quite invasive and could not be repeated on a regular basis.
The other technique gave a measure of the muscle mass which was accurate and valid, but involved an X-ray procedure which delivered radiation which should not be regularly repeated.
“The bio-electrical impedance technique can be repeated as often as you wish and can give the same information as the other costly and invasive procedures,” Dr Cornish said.
“It should prove a great diagnostic tool for the physician in monitoring the progress of burns patients.
“The treatment of a patient of a severe burn continues over many months and one of the issues a physician has (to consider) is whether the patient’s muscle mass is increasing.
Dr Cornish said a number of burns patients were involved in the pilot study.
He said to fully validate the bio- electrical impedance technique for burns patients would require an extensive study conducted over several years and involve a large number of patients.
“The purpose of the pilot study is to, firstly, investigate the feasibility of the application in burns patients, but also to determine estimates of the sensitivity and specificity of the bio-electrical impedance technique,” Dr Cornish said.
“To date, only seven patients have been monitored using all three procedures (tracer dilution, the X- ray and bio-electrical impedance).”
Dr Cornish said preliminary results were very promising and indicated that the technique was capable of providing the clinical information required by physicians.
Technique to aid
burns treatment
Page 4 INSIDE QUT September 1–14, 1998
␣by Phillipa Hanrick
Like many artists, Ellen Thompson has to juggle work priorities to support her art practice, but the QUT library assistant is managing well and has just launched her third major exhibition.
A graduate of the Brisbane College of Advanced Education Faculty of Arts and QUT, Ms Thompson’s exhibition will run at the Doggett Street Studio, New Farm until September 8.
Ms Thompson describes herself as a painter, although she also dabbles in modelling and drawing.
“My training is in oil painting but it is a rather awe-inspiring medium so I have this love-hate relationship with it. I also slide off into other things to give me a break from the academic and traditional aspects of painting.
Work and art merge to exhibit Ellen’s talent
smaller they get. They are about an inch and half long; I make figures for them, set them on painted wood or set them in shells, attach them to a flat painted surface and make a scene around them.
“The modelling is a really good discipline which takes me back to the academic discipline of life-drawing, which I still grapple with.
“In my training there was a great emphasis on life drawing techniques which is important because it underpins your craft,” Ms Thompson explained.
QUT Library is supporting Ms Thompson’s next career move, an international job exchange with a librarian from the National Library of Wales, in the Welsh coastal town of Aberystwyth.
“My favourite piece at the moment is done on a preprinted Pre-Raphaelite postcard which I have covered with black crayon and scratched back to reveal the arms of the original painting, but I have distorted the rest to create a
‘monster mermaid’.
“It is kind of like subverting the image already there which I find is a good foil for the academic oil painting where you are creating an original image.
“It’s a bit of a ‘brain break’ to start off with something and to manipulate what is already there — to use the limitations that you already have with the postcard and see where you can take it.
“I have also been doing lots of self- portrait modelling with putty and the more I work in this medium the
QUT library assistant and visual arts graduate Ellen Thompson is hosting a major exhibition of her work … her next move will be to Wales for an international job exchange
The alternative entry scheme seminar was just one of several popular spots for visitors to QUT Carseldine’s Course and Careers Day last month.
Organisers were happy with the number of mature age entry enquiries and the strong interest that was shown in the humanities and social science courses.
Interested members of the public took full advantage of the information sessions which explained the university’s arts and business study options.
The aim of the Courses and Careers Day was to inform people living in the An octopus emerges from a shell in a
vibrant undersea surprise. That’s a scene from an artwork by Eddie Nona depicting his own life of pearl diving in the Torres Strait Islands.
The work is among exhibits showcased in an exhibition of indigenous student artists from QUT’s Oodgeroo Unit.
“I visualise these things for my art, and use the gouache technique which has many layers,” he said.
A QUT Academy of the Arts education student, Mr Nona plans to either sell his work or use it in classes, including art workshops at the Morningside College of Arts.
Third-year humanities student Robert Stuurman received permission from the Noongyar people of South- West Australia, where he comes from, to use their style of traditional dot painting for his work Spearhead Dreaming.
“The red veins in the painting are like the blood of God and they are there to woo people in an outreach sense,” he said.
His imposing work addressed Christianity, spirituality, Australian and Aboriginal people and change.
A close up of crow feathers highlights postgraduate student Leah
Carseldine opens its doors
northern corridor of Brisbane about university and career choices, and the exciting campus life at their doorstep.
Organisers were also keen to let people know that life and work experiences are recognised when applications are evaluated for university entrance and that many people who do not meet the conventional entry requirements become successful students.
A brass band from QUT’s Academy of Arts added to the atmosphere of the day.
—Phillipa Hanrick
QUT marketing co-ordinator Tony Wilson (right) discusses course options with a visitor to the Carseldine Course and Careers Day by public relations student
Michelle Carfrae
More than 1,000 potential students, their families and members of the community visited QUT’s Kelvin Grove campus recently to learn more about the courses and careers on offer through the Faculty of Health.
Appropriately named Hands on Health Day, the event was held on Sunday, August 16 and involved information sessions, campus tours, demonstrations, workshops, displays and presentations.
Dean of the Faculty of Health Professor Ken Bowman said the attendance numbers had exceeded all expectations.
“The day was a remarkable success.
We are very proud of what we are doing in the Fauclty of Health and are pleased we had the opportunity to show potential students what is available,”
Professor Bowman said.
As well as providing information about courses, the day aimed to inform the general public about the clinics which are located on campus.
“Many people are not aware of the facilities we have available in our clinics,”
Professor Bowman said.
“Final-year students, under the supervision of their lecturers, are able to see and treat patients in the areas of optometry, podiatry and human movement studies.”
Health community day a huge success
King-Smith’s dialogue between nature and science.
“Up until this point I’ve been working with layers in photography, but this particular work is done through computer and has, most recently, been on show in Melbourne,” Ms King- Smith said.
These varying styles were found in an exhibition called Hands on Cultures, which was held recently as part of Student Guild Arts Week at the Oodgeroo Unit at Kelvin Grove campus.
The exhibition featured work from 13 students, with almost 30 pieces of art and craft on view, including photography, pottery, etchings and paintings.
Organised by visual arts student Kathryn Farrell, in collaboration with lecturer John Synott from the Oodgeroo Unit, the exhibition was opened by Aboriginal artist and director of the Fireworks Gallery Michael Eather.
Acting student Maria Tusa presented a stunning dance performance at the opening, emphasising the strong connections between different forms of art in Aboriginal culture.
— Gina Pickering QUT student Robert Stuurman with his work Spearhead Dreaming
Art brings culture alive
School kids make beeline for faculty day
More than 150 high school students had a “hands on” experience of what might be in store if they decide to go to university when they attended a Built Environment and Engineering Faculty Day on August 21.
Students enjoyed ingenious sessions run by schools, including the School of Architecture, Interior and Industrial Design’s Egg Crash Tests where students were challenged to design paper constructions to hold raw eggs dropped from a height of three metres.
The School of Mechanical, Manufacturing and Medical Engineering ran a balloon game where balloons, string and boards simulated fluids within human joints, as well as tribology (the science of friction) experiments to show how roads are constructed efficiently.
The School of Civil Engineering put imaginations to the test with Paddle Pop Sticks and Super Glue bridge building, while the School of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Surveying showed students map-making and simulated landscape design.
The School of Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering demonstrated the latest in automated technology, including Sparky the robot.
Student affairs officer Joanne Allbutt said the faculty day was designed to give students from 14 high schools a one- day sample of university life.
Advertisement
Anne spreads hope on Daffodil Day
QUT’s Queensland Nurse of the Year entrant Anne Dawson helped spread a message of hope on Daffodil Day on August 21.
Anne was among a group selling daffodils at Toowong Village to raise money for the Queensland Cancer Fund. Daffodils are one of the first spring flowers and have become a symbol of hope for all people touched by cancer.
Daffodil Day strives to promote the message that there is hope after a diagnosis of cancer.
Selling took place from August 20 to August 22.
Film and television students Kiri Lumsden (left) and Kayt Douglas found Bosnia challenging
Filming in
Bosnia gives students taste of sad reality
by Phillipa Hanrick
When it comes to real-world experience, it would be difficult to upstage filming a refugee documentary in Bosnia in the middle of winter, which is what two intrepid QUT students did earlier this year.
Film and television students Kiri Lumsden and Kayt Douglas are putting the finishing touches to their documentary that was filmed in Bosnia in February.
With the help of $3,000 from QUT, the pair made a documentary about a Bosnian refugee, Australian citizen Mila El-Hendawi Tipura, and her return to her homeland.
“Mrs El-Hendawi Tipura wanted to return to Bosnia to reclaim her property that had been taken by the Serbian people during the war,” Ms Lumsden said.
“They (the locals) told us that Mrs El-Hendawi Tipura, who owned a house and a beauty salon, wasn’t forced at gunpoint to give up her property, but rather she was forced to sign a document saying that she should relinquish her property and if she did they would let her go peacefully and take her chances. So, legally, she doesn’t own her house or salon and she had problems trying to reclaim them.”
Ms Lumsden and Ms Douglas said Mrs El-Hendawi Tipura found returning to Bosnia difficult and she would often get too upset to allow them to film.
“Everyone wanted money from her. It was depressing inside and outside and she would get very angry,” Ms Lumsden said. “This made it hard for the two of us because when she got upset one of us would have to try and settle her down and the other one would try to keep filming.”
The greatest challenge for Ms Douglas, who was the location sound recordist and co-producer of the documentary, was the effect of the severe weather conditions on the equipment.
“Sound was a big problem. The mini-disc recorder hardly ever worked ... it just froze. It got to the point where I had to virtually pull it apart, take the batteries out and put them with the microphone in my trousers against my skin to keep them warm enough to make them work. I had to put the recorder in my sleeping bag at my feet to keep it warm at night,” Ms Douglas said.
The highlight of the trip was in the Muslim town of Gradacac where the two women said it was safe for them to stay.
“A lot of Mrs El-Hendawi Tipura’s friends lived in Gradacac and she was a lot happier when we were there.
The atmosphere was more informal and we got on marvellously with them,” Ms Douglas said.
The pair have formed differing opinions on their futures as documentary makers after working in Bosnia.
“We couldn’t speak the language, it was so cold the equipment wasn’t working and Mrs El-Hendawi Tipura was often unco-operative — really I think drama is much more my thing,” Ms Douglas said.
Ms Lumsden plans to continue with documentaries. She said she loved the unplanned element even though it was the hardest type of film to edit.
Page 6 INSIDE QUT September 1–14, 1998
Advertisement
by Noel Gentner
Termed a “gimmick” by some people when they were introduced, corporate credit cards have saved QUTnearly $400,000, t h e u n i v e r s i t y ’ s f i n a n c e m a n a g e r said recently.
F i n a n c e D e p a r t m e n t m a n a g e r P e t e r S u l l i v a n s a i d c o r p o r a t e c r e d i t c a r d s , introduced in 1995 on a trial basis, had proven so successful there were plans to expand their use.
After introducing a ‘Master Card’ for goods and service purchases under $500, the university’s Finance Department has since adopted the National Purchasing System using the Visa purchasing card.
Mr Sullivan said there had been “huge savings” in various university cost centres in the past two years and there was great potential for future savings.
“We could easily reach the figure of
$500,000 in savings by the end of this year as more people use the system,” he said.
“Previously, people had to put an order into the computer-based Oracle system and this had to be electronically approved. An order then had to be issued and, when the goods were received, they were receipted by the cost centre and matched, and then invoice payments were made by finance.
“The system is now fully electronic, with virtually no paperwork.”
Mr Sullivan said the department would like to review university expenditure to see if there were more areas where people could use the card.
He said the department was now looking at further ways to expand the system.
“At the moment the purchase price level is
$1,000 and I see no reason why we couldn’t increase that further.”
There were also plans for the system to be extended to cover travel expenses for certain university staff on a trial basis, he said.
“What we are proposing to do in the next couple of months is issue about 12 travel cards for people who travel regularly o v e r s e a s a n d s e e h o w i t w o r k s , ” M r Sullivan said.
“We can then iron out any problems before we consider further distribution.”
M r S u l l i v a n a d m i t t e d t h a t “ l i k e a n y o f t h e s e s y s t e m s , t h e y c a n b e a b u s e d a n d I t h i n k w e h a v e s e e n t h a t i n t h e p u b l i c s e c t o r b o t h a t t h e S t a t e a n d F e d e r a l l e v e l ” .
However, Mr Sullivan said, the use of t h e c a r d f o r t r a v e l w o u l d e l i m i n a t e t h e r e c o n c i l i a t i o n s a n d p a p e r w o r k generated through the current system, a n d c r e a t e f u r t h e r c o s t s a v i n g s f o r the university.
Plastic proves cost-effective
Back in 1973, the first 13 students enrolled in Queensland Institute of Technology’s new computing degree course.
Two-and-a-half decades later, more than 5,000 students have graduated with a bachelor or higher degree in information technology from the institution which is now known as QUT.
Energex senior systems analyst Pat Dancer was in that first intake of computing degree students.
At that time he was studying part-time and working at the TAB. By the time he completed his studies in the middle of 1986, he was so busy with his blossoming career as a computer programmer, he was unable to attend his graduation ceremony.
Next Friday, September 4, as the Faculty of Information Technology begins to celebrate the important anniversary with a special cocktail party, Mr Dancer will finally have the chance to catch up with his peers from 1973.
At the cocktail party, to be held at Level 1, The Pier, in Eagle Street at the Riverside Centre, graduates from that first group will be presented with a special memento to acknowledge their place in the university’s history.
One of the State’s largest employers of IT graduates, Mincom, is the primary sponsor of the 25-year anniversary celebrations.
The company recently finalised an agreement for a three-year, $1million research program into component system architecture.
The research has also attracted a $250,000 Australia Research Council grant under the Strategic Partnership with Industry Research and Training Support (SPIRT) program.
Star Systems and Drake are the other sponsors of the celebrations.
IT graduates to celebrate 25th anniversary
QUT’s School of Nursing has launched the Joan Penridge Nursing Scholarship fund as part of its 20th anniversary celebrations.
Almost 4,000 graduates have passed through the school since the 1978 foundation class studied nursing in a tertiary institution for the first time.
The new scholarship fund was established at a special function on August 14 in honour of Dr Joan Penridge, a founding staff member of the school.
Dr Penridge lost her battle with cancer four years ago and is remembered for her contribution to the development of Queensland’s tertiary nursing education.
Nursing associate lecturer Linda Mungomery said the aim of the new scholarship was to financially assist a promising final-year, pre-registation student.
“Students in their last year undertake a lot of prac (practical experience in the field) and the scholarship will ease the burden of doing other paid work, enabling them to focus on their academic and professional development,”
Ms Mungomery said.
In November, the School of Nursing will continue to celebrate 20 years of education with an official two-day convention at Gardens Point campus entitled Nursing the Future.
— Gina Pickering
Joan Penridge remembered in scholarship
Joan Penridge’s daughter Samantha Warby with her four-year-old son Mitchell
8-Ball Comp — QUT Cup. Sept 4. Campus Club, GP.
QUT Clubs Forums and Awards. Sept 9. City Rowers Nightclub.
QUT Sports/Fitness Centres Open Day. Sept 10.
Ski Trip. Sept 26 - Oct 3.
QUT Fun Run. 10km run/walk. Sun, Sept 27. GP.
AUSF Games, Sept 27-Oct 2.
Oktoberfest, Oct 15, GP campus.
AUSF Reunion, October 15, GP campus.
Soccer Comp-QUT Cup, Oct 23.
Sports Awards Dinner. Oct 29.
QUT Ball, Friday Nov 27.
Recreation Courses - everything from Carlton United Brewery Tours to whale-watching. Further details in the Semester 2 Recreation Handbook. Kirsten Fraser on (07) 3864 5536 or Natalie Mulvihill on (07) 3864 2928.
NB: Unless otherwise specified, contact Recreation Department on (07) 3864 1213.
• Division of Administrative Services (Equity section) Grievance Management 1: Introduction. Sept 22. Free workshops on resolving discrimination and harassment grievances for QUT managers and supervisors. 9am-1pm.
S1215 (OJW), GP.
Grievance Management 2: Conciliation. Nov 4. 9am- 1pm. Z413, GP. Leanne Zimmermann in (07) 3864 3653 or [email protected]
Two-day planning workshop for women in secretarial, clerical and administrative positions. Free. Oct 7 and 9.
9am to 4pm. K108 (staff training room), KG. Leanne Zimmermann in (07) 3864 3653 or [email protected]
Check out What’s On at http:// www.qut.edu.au/pubs/02stud/whatson.html Send your What’s On entry to [email protected] or via fax on (07) 3210 0474.
STUDENT GUILD
COURSES, SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS, CONFERENCES
• QUT Secretarial Network (SecNet)
Second National Conference for Executive Secretaries and Personal Assistants. Oct 15-16. Hilton International Hotel, Brisbane. QUT Continuing Professional Education Unit on (07) 3864 2915 or [email protected]
• School of Nursing
Nursing the Future — Convention and Trade Expo. Nov 3-4. GP. (Preceded by reunion, see Alumni Events). Helen Keown on (07) 3864 3820 or [email protected]
• School of Public Health
Fifth International Health Summer School. Nov 16-27.
Short courses and presentations on current and emerging public health issues. Julie Joughin on (07) 3864 3523 or [email protected]
Information Technology Reunion. Fri, Sept 4. The Pier (City). 6.30pm. Errolyn Walker on (07) 3864 1917.
Education Reunion for 1968 Graduates of Kedron Park Teachers College. Sept 19. Kedron State High School. 3- 6pm (informal event) $10; 7.30pm onwards (dinner) $20.
Grant Fraser on (07) 3297 0139.
Legal Practice Reunion. (Sept) Liz Clark on (07) 3864 2211 or [email protected]
Nursing Reunion. Mon, Nov 2. Gala dinner celebrating 20 years of nursing education at QUT. Sheraton Towers Brisbane.
Helen Keown on (07) 3864 3820 or [email protected]
Free lunchtime concerts at 1.05pm. M Block Music studio.
KG. Jazz Improvisations (Sept 4); the Trevor Hart (jazz) Quartet (Sept 11); Latin Jazz with Yoboso (Sept 23);
Australian contemporary music with pianist Carson Dron (Oct 7).
Designing Workplace Orientations. Sept 8. 9am-1pm. KG.
Dora DeLaat on (07) 3864 9605 or [email protected]
ALUMNI EVENTS
ACADEMY OF THE ARTS
STAFF COURSES
Top students help in revegetation project
Getting their hands dirty for a good cause ... QUT students James Moody and Beth Crase at a tree-planting site in Kenmore
She said this year more than 750 trees had been provided by the Brisbane City Council.
“Last Sunday students from QUT, Griffith University and the University of Queensland assembled at the Rafting Ground Reserve off Moggill Road, Kenmore and, following the tree planting they enjoyed a barbecue and refreshments after a hard day’s work,”
Ms Crase said.
“The project is part of a nationwide Golden Key Society exercise by university students in each State.”
Ms Crase said Greening Australia also assisted the tree planting by preparing the area in the clearing of weeds and by providing mulch.
She said this year, for the first time, a number of secondary school students also took part in the project.
by Noel Gentner
Top university student achievers were getting their hands dirty on August 30, all in the name of revegetation.
The Golden Key Honour Society was conducting a tree-planting project with the help of more than 100 students.
Golden Key members are drawn from the top 15 per cent of student achievers in universities and, at QUT, the society has around 1,800 members.
Project co-ordinator Beth Crase said it was the second year that students had participated in the tree-planting project.
The project was first implemented last year when about 500 trees — mainly rainforest species — were planted.
Ms Crase said last year’s planting had been a great success, with most of the trees now more than one metre high.
By Andrea Hammond
President of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) Augusto Morello spoke on Design as a Strategy for Culture and Economics during a visit to QUT this month.
Mr Morello is a strategic planning consultant and lecturer in the Faculty of Industrial Design at the Milan Polytechnic in Italy.
He told School of Architecture, Interior and Industrial Design staff and students that design was “the principal agent of the humanisation of technologies and markets”.
“It is a lateral and independent form of research, aimed to respect, enhance and promote the quality of life of different segments through material culture,” Mr Morello said.
Mr Morello is a member of the Presidency of the Commission of the Non-ruled Professions at the Consiglio Nazionale dell’Economia e del Lavoro in Rome, and a Member of the Scientific Committee for the Design Collection at the Triennial of Milan.
He has published two books: Material Culture and Culture of Materials, 1984;
and Sergio Pininfarina (1996).
Designer has human touch
QUT finds first ‘friends’
undertaken by Mr Veal and Mr Williams that focused on enhancing relations with the school’s alumni.
“Initially it is hoped to establish a comprehensive and up-to-date database highlighting, in particular, distinguished professional attainments by graduates of the school and its antecedents,”
Professor Gardiner said.
Mr Veal has also been involved on many professional executive committees and advisory bodies.
Mr Veal’s association with the university goes back to the days of the Central Technical College from which he gained his Diploma in Town and Regional Planning, and from QIT where he received his Postgraduate Diploma in Town and Regional Planning.
Friend ... Basil Veal Friend ... George Williams
By Noel Gentner
QUT is on the look out for “friends”
and has just officially appointed its first two.
The search is part of a new initiative called the QUT Friends program, where people are offered opportunities to contribute meaningfully to the current and future activities of the university in a voluntary capacity.
Program co-ordinator Emeritus Professor Ron Gardiner said the functions of those people appointed might include organising alumni and former staff reunions, compiling alumni-related databases, contributing to course development, mentoring students and assisting those with special problems.
Professor Gardiner said the aim of the program — the brainchild of Vice- Chancellor Professor Dennis Gibson — was to match the skills, interests and availability of participants with a range of university activities.
Close associates of the university, architect and town planner Basil Veal and landscape architect George Williams have become the first of the newly accredited QUT Friends.
Professor Gardiner said he was delighted that the head of the School of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Surveying, Associate Professor Brian Hannigan, had proposed tasks to be
Guild offers tax return help
It is tax return time again and, to help students, the Student Guild has arranged for Tax Help Program volunteers to be on Gardens Point campus during September.
Volunteers, all QUT accounting students who have completed the Tax Office’s training course, will be available from 10 am to 4 pm on weekdays in the Kim Beazley Room, Y block, at Gardens Point near the help desk.
The volunteers cannot lodge students’ forms, but they can make sure forms are filled out correctly, and that students have claimed all their deductions.
To make use of this free service, sudents should bring their Tax Packs, filled out as fully as possible beforehand, group certificates and any other relevant documents. Contact Darryl Greensill in the the Student Guild’s welfare department on (07) 3864-5512.
Mr Williams joined QIT as a part- time staff member in 1970, and later became a senior lecturer, establishing the landscape architecture strand of the Bachelor of Applied Science (Built Environment) course.
He has also been involved with the university’s civil engineering and architecture schools and served on many QIT/QUT committees.
Professor Gardiner said his role was to create a bridge between Friends a n d u n i v e r s i t y m a n a g e r s w h o identified tasks that needed to be carried out.
More information on the program can be found at http://www.qut.edu.au/
draa/friends or by phoning (07) 3864 2821.
Page 8 INSIDE QUT September 1–14, 1998
Advertisement
QUT Fun Run to support State’s paralympians
by public relations student Megan Geraghty
Two dollars from every participant’s entry fee in the 1998 QUT Fun Run will help support Queensland Paralympians in their pursuit of gold at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games.
Queensland Paralympic Committee executive officer and paralympian Gerrard Gosens urged students and the general community to run, not only for fun, health and fitness, but to help recognise and raise awareness about the efforts of Queensland Paralympians in the lead up to the games.
“Just over 780 days remain until the start of the Sydney 2000 Paralympics. It is now urgent that we provide these 55 Queenslander paralympians, who will strive for gold in 10 of the 18 events, with the best possible support in their preparation for the games. This will help them to realise the power of their dream,” Mr Gosens said.
As well as offering an opportunity to support the paralympians, the event also offers students, families and others in the
community a chance to experience the benefits of health and fitness in a fun and relaxing environment.
After the race, a healthy, hearty breakfast including yoghurt, fruits, juices and muesli bars will be provided for participants by SSL Education Services.
The QUT Fun Run, held in association with QUT Student Guild Fitness Centres and the university, will start at 7am on Sunday, September 27 on the Kidney Lawn at Gardens Point campus.
The 10km circuit will take participants down Alice Street through the City Botanic Gardens onto the river bikeway, up over Victoria Street bridge along the bikeway to the West End rowing sheds and finish back at Kidney Lawn.
The entry fee is $13 per person, which includes a QUT Fun Run T-shirt. There is also a special family rate of $26 if paid before September 24.
Entry forms and additional details a r e a v a i l a b l e f r o m Q U T S t u d e n t Guild Fitness Centres or by calling (07) 3864 2945.
Gearing up for the QUT Fun Run on September 27 … (l-r) QUT graduate and paralympic marathon contender Gerrard Gosens with his dog, Anchor, and the Student Guild’s Rachael Creese and Sandra Larsen
What’s on at QUT?
See Page 7 or go to http://www.qut.edu.au
Arts Week at QUT has just finished and already there are plans to make it an annual event.
The inaugural Arts Week began on August 24 on all three campuses.
Organised by the QUT Student Guild, the festival proved to be a smorgasbord of student talent across a wide spectrum of art.
A festival production manager, Jane Jennison, said the week had been a great success and more than 150 people had been involved in the presentation.
Ms Jennison said the event had offered something for everyone, ranging from visual arts, dance, drama, to music and film.
“The week was instrumental in establishing a foundation for emerging artists to create networks between the different disciplines,” Ms Jennison said.
“It provided a forum for students to present experimental work outside of course requirements.”
The performances were not restricted to campus venues, and two major events were held at the Warren Street Theatre and The Zoo in Fortitude Valley.
Ms Jennison said these performance opportunities had helped to build a bridge between university life and the professional world.
The week began with an opening ceremony at the Woodward Theatre
where The Body of Knowledge, a group-devised performance piece deconstructing the human body through the ages, was performed.
All three campuses were involved in presenting night performances and day attractions.
These included Play-a-Day, a short, one-act play performed each day, and a Sunset Slot which featured a combination of dance, communication design and film.
Ms Jennison said the week h i g h l i g h t e d t h e t a l e n t w h i c h existed within QUT’s Academy of the Arts.
— Noel Gentner
Arts Week showcases success
Animal lovers in the School of Nursing have witnessed the death of several plovers in recent years, and so have decided to do something about it.
The birds have been nesting on the roof of the school’s building and — in order to get their chicks from the roof to the ground — the parent plovers have
been sliding the chicks down a drain pipe.
Ingenious but, sadly, most of the chicks suffer broken bones and don’t make it.
A kind-hearted lecturer, who also happens to be a registered wildlife keeper, came to the rescue when the latest batch of chicks hatched last month. She removed them from the roof and carried them safely to the ground.
