Water-based system targets toxic waste

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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 e r ■ I s s u e 166 ■ August 19-September 1, 1 9 9 7

Multiplex joins QUT in setting standards

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Arts pilots mentor scheme

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Tree-planting volunteers wanted

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QUT Central Administration 2 George Street Brisbane 4000 Telephone (07) 3864 2111 Registered by Australia Post – Publication No. QBF 4778 by Noel Gentner

Researchers at QUT have successfully developed a prototype waste treatment system — the first of its type in Australia

— for organic hazardous waste destruction.

Trials have proven the system to be a cheaper, more environmentally friendly way of destroying organic toxic waste than current methods which rely on incineration.

The system has already attracted attention from the Federal and State Governments and private enterprise.

Project leader and senior lecturer in the School of Civil Engineering Dr Abdullah Shanableh said initial results had shown

the treatment system was highly effective in the destruction of toxic waste materials.

“Basically, the treatment system is a reaction vessel where you mix toxic wastes with an oxidant, in this case oxygen, and you bring them to a condition where reaction takes place inside the vessel,” Dr Shanableh said.

Dr Shanableh said the process was versatile and could handle a wide range of toxic waste streams, including liquids and sludges.

“The energy requirements are low, because the reaction generates heat and can sustain itself when the organic content of the waste is adequate,” he said.

Interestingly, the basis of the technology is the use of water.

Under normal conditions, he said, water existed as a liquid, vapour or ice.

“However, when heated to temperatures above 374 degrees Celsius and pressure is maintained above 221 bars (3,200 psi), a new state emerges where water becomes a supercritical fluid that is neither a gas nor a liquid,” Dr Shanableh said.

“The fluid — or supercritical water — possesses unique characteristics that make it a powerful medium for the destruction of toxic organic chemicals.

“Supercritical water is an excellent solvent of toxic organics and oxygen where

the reaction converts the toxic organics into carbon dioxide and water.”

Dr Shanableh said the destruction of chlorinated organics resulted in the formation of chloride ions and the destruction of nitrogen-containing organics produced ammonia and nitrogen gas.

“We have developed a small reaction vessel to conduct experiments and for demonstration purposes,” Dr Shanableh said.

“At this stage, we will be able to demonstrate the effectiveness of the technology before the end of the year.

“We have just completed the development and construction of the small-scale unit — a static unit to maintain safety, where we can charge limited quantities of waste.

“A second unit — a continuous unit

— is now under construction which will be able to treat larger quantities of waste and we will invite representatives of various authorities and industries to observe demonstrations when this is complete.”

Dr Shanableh said inquiries had already been received from the public and private sectors interested in developing applications of the technology.

He said the Federal Government’s Environment and Protection Agency considered the process as appropriate emerging technology for the destruction of hazardous waste and had acknowledged QUT’s research in this field.

Dr Shanableh has been working on the project with two technicians, Paulette Watson and George Ramsay, and a PhD student, Samir Jomaa.

Water-based system targets toxic waste

Isotopes help trace source of Gatton water crisis

by Glenys Haalebos

Queensland’s “vegetable bowl” area of Gatton, which produces 40 per cent of the State’s vegetables, is likely to dry up completely unless swift action is taken to replenish local groundwater supplies.

This was the finding of a groundwater study conducted by QUT PhD student Jaya Dharmasiri.

Mr Dharmasiri’s research focused on the Crowley Vale irrigation area at Gatton which used to produce around 10 per cent of the region’s vegetable crop.

His study of the now-barren irrigation area has shown previous thinking on local recharge sources was erroneous.

“Until the findings of our investigation were determined, it was thought that the Crowley Vale irrigation area, like the alluvial aquifer in Gatton, was recharged by periodical flooding and leakage of creek water from Lockyer and Laidley Creeks,”

Mr Dharmasiri said.

He said his results have major implications for the future well-being of the entire Gatton region.

“The local farming population is largely dependent on groundwater for

QUT’s Carseldine campus is hosting a Course and Careers evening tomorrow night, August 20, to promote Arts and Business courses at the northside campus.

Already around 2,000 students study at Carseldine campus in areas such as

Carseldine to host information evening

humanities, social science, management and human resource management.

New bachelor-degree courses in Arts and Social Science will be offered in 1998, as well as a new honours degree in human services.

Arts and Business presentations at the Course and Careers evening begin at 7pm and 8pm. Campus tours will be conducted from 6pm onwards.

For Arts details, call (07) 3864 4776.

For Business, call (07) 3864 4605.

irrigation,” the Sri Lankan-born researcher noted.

“Stores have been drawn down at a rate exceeding replenishment and are almost completely depleted.

“We used innovative isotopic tracing technology to determine where the groundwater in the area was coming from.

“Using naturally occurring isotopic tracers like deuterium, tritium, oxygen-18, carbon-13 and carbon-14, we were able to identify sources and areas of recharge.

“We were also able to determine the time taken for water to move to the bores from recharge areas.

“We found the groundwater in Crowley Vale to be up to 4,000 years old, so that’s the time it would take for the groundwater to be replaced if left to recharge by natural means.

“Using the isotopic tracers, we discovered the Crowley Vale groundwater was not sourced by creek water leakage, but from rain water infiltrating through sandstone outcrops north and south of that area.

“The two sources of water carry distinctly different signatures of isotopic tracers, whose composition is determined by natural processes.

“Because it was previously assumed that creeks were the source of the Crowley Vale groundwater, dams and weirs have been built to boost recharge, but these would have had little effect either on water availability or replenishment.

“Sourcing the Crowley Vale recharge was a major finding.

“It will significantly change decision- making on what relevant authorities can

do to assist groundwater restoration and to provide appropriate supplementary recharge mechanisms.

“Ultimately, this should have considerable impact on future local farming prospects,” he said.

Mr Dharmasiri said the Crowley Vale region of Gatton had been specifically targeted for the research for several reasons.

“The Gatton area makes a big contribution to the local and State economies by producing around 40 per cent of Queensland’s vegetable products.

“The difference in quality and quantity of the crops between the Crowley Vale sector and the remaining Gatton area is clear to the naked eye.

Contined Page 3 Dr Abdullah Shanableh demonstrates the new system while Paulette Watson and George Ramsay look on

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From the Inside… by David Hawke

A word from the Vice-Chancellor

Professionals from all disciplines should learn how to find and evaluate information on the Internet in order to remain competitive, according to QUT reference librarian Ken Scott.

Mr Scott — who is running Internet training for the Royal Australian Planning Institute (RAPI) with another QUT reference librarian, Judith Matthews — said professionals had an obligation to keep up-to-date with new trends and developments.

He said, however, people should undertake formal training on navigating the Internet or they could get bogged down with “a lot of useless information”.

“You need to know how to evaluate information because there’s a tendency for people to think ‘If it’s on the Internet, it must be good’ and that’s not true,”

Mr Scott said.

“There are a variety of tools — such as search engines — which you can use to find things, but they’re often very broad so it’s important to know how to use them efficiently.”

Earlier this year, QUT Library won a contract to offer Internet training to RAPI because of the tailored approach of its course.

Mr Scott said it was the first time the library had offered the training.

QUT Library teaches Internet to planners

“As subject-specialist librarians working with the Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering, we were able to design the course specifically to meet planners’ needs,” Mr Scott said.

“We talked to them in their language and used planning examples whenever we could.

“We showed them how to find discussion lists, news groups and web sites that are useful for planners.”

He said the initial three courses were so popular, RAPI commissioned the QUT Library to conduct another four courses, which had brought the number of participants to date to 70.

Mr Scott said the library hoped to offer similar tailored courses to other professional associations as this sort of training became a niche activity.

— Carmen Myler

A senior engineering lecturer at QUT has developed a study guide plan which he claims has saved the university thousands of dollars and, at the same time, improved overall student marks.

Dr Martin Murray from QUT’s School of Civil Engineering said that, back in 1993, he “thought it was a bit silly spending two hours telling students what is already in the text books and only one hour on hands-on work”.

A year later, he said, he began to modify the structure of the first-year engineering units which directed the school’s funds from being centred on the “teaching” of the lectures, towards supporting the learning of students.

In 1995, Dr Murray incorporated the Peer-Assisted Study Scheme – which is also known as the Supplementary Instruction scheme – into the plan, but this did not involve all students.

Last year, Dr Murray kept the study sessions in their revised form and introduced computer-based education modules.

He said the results were significant, showing a full grade-point improvement overall in the students’ marks in the subject over previous years.

“The cost of running the show to the school in 1993-94 was about $52 per student and it is now down to around $42 a student, so it is costing us about 20 per cent less to run the unit,” Dr Murray said.

Engineering course lifts grades and retention rates

But, he said, the money saved by reducing lecture hours was spent on additional student support in the training and payment for supplemental instruction leaders.

Dr Murray said he was constantly fine-tuning the plan.

He said this year he had modified the supplemental instruction scheme involvement with better training and supervision.

This had occurred because students who had been leaders in the program had been able to share experiences with other students.

He said students were also being used as supervisors as well as leaders.

D r M u r r a y s a i d h e w a s constantly upgrading his 90-page study guide — at the beginning and end of each semester, with feedback from students (what they liked/ didn’t like and what suited/

didn’t suit them).

He said he had just completed an analysis of progression and re- enrolments of students, comparing drop-out rates with previous years.

“Over the two years 1995-96, if we hadn’t had the study plan in place, figures suggest we would have had 80 fewer students going through than we have now,” Dr Murray said.

“That’s a big difference in terms of attrition, thus retaining students in the system.”

by Noel Gentner

Two QUT students have lived up to the university’s “real-world” reputation, taking out a State-wide competition to redraft legal gobbledegook.

Final-year law students Stephen and Sharyn Durley, who are also husband and wife, last month took out first prize in the Queensland Law Society’s Plain English Drafting Cup.

Open to law students and Queensland solicitors, the competition attracted about 50 entries from across the State. These were narrowed down to a short list of eight for the judging.

One of the judges of the competition was David Colenso, a partner in the legal firm of Deacons Graham and James, Lawyers which also sponsored the Cup.

Mr Colenso said the standard of entries

was very good and the fact that the QUT students took out the prize spoke for itself.

“They attacked all the issues that we wanted and applied plain-English principles, and their entry stood out,”

Mr Colenso said.

He said it was his firm’s view that plain English was one of the greatest differentiators among law firms.

“There are those that can draft well and communicate well and there are those who are still operating in the dark ages, drafting in legalese,” Mr Colenso said.

“The latter is certainly not the case across the board amongst law firms and within law firms in Queensland. Drafting in legalese is for the dinosaurs, and drafting in plain English is the way for the future for lawyers to communicate.

“Plain English is probably the norm for about half the top 20 major law firms

in Queensland and, within those firms, there are varying degrees of application.”

However, having said that, Mr Colenso said a greater percentage outside the major law firms – the smaller firms in terms of employee numbers – were still drafting in legalese. There were numerous decisions, he said, where courts had criticised the traditional legalese style of drafting.

In one case a decision against a bank was made because its guarantee was written in such abominable terms the judge ruled the guarantors could not understand it, even if they had read it.

Mr Colenso said the judiciary had also said it was easier to interpret something that was clearly written, and most arguments about documents related to interpretation and that, if the meaning was clear, there could be no argument.

Law couple clean up at redrafting competition

Royal Australian Planning Institute member Gina Alexander, seated, picks up some valuable tips on using the Internet from QUT

reference librarians Ken Scott and Judith Matthews Many of those present at the

launch of QUT’s Science Train l a s t w e e k e n d b y D e p u t y P r e m i e r , T r e a s u r e r a n d Minister for the Arts Joan Sheldon must have shared with me the renewal of a youthful enthusiasm for both science and trains.

As a boy growing up in the north of England, I was like most of my friends — guilty of being a trainspotter. And, l i k e m a n y o f m y contemporaries, I also shared the optimistic view of science then prevalent in post-War Europe.

After the destruction of the Second World War, science represented to the popular mind of the 1950s and ’60s a way of rebuilding industries and cities, prolonging human l i f e a n d c r e a t i n g s o c i e t i e s based on reason and mutual respect.

S u b - a t o m i c p h y s i c s , f o r e x a m p l e , w h i c h h a d m a d e possible the atom bomb was seen in the post-War period as a means to a cheaper, cleaner power source.

When I went to university, I found that the best minds of my generation tended to enrol in science and engineering courses.

S c i e n c e ’ s r e p u t a t i o n h a s certainly changed since those days. However, the growth of the environmental movement since the 1970s has cast science as the villain rather than the

Science Train resets agenda

hero in the eyes of many young people.

C e r t a i n l y s c i e n t i s t s h a v e m a d e m i s t a k e s a n d t h e optimistic view of the 1950s m a y a p p e a r r a t h e r n a i v e today.

B u t , e v e n t h o s e w h o c r i t i c i s e s c i e n c e a r e a w a r e e v e r y d a y o f t h e c o u n t l e s s benefits it has brought to their lives.

E a r l i e r t h i s y e a r , t h i s u n i v e r s i t y s h o w e d i t s c o m m i t m e n t t o a m u l t i - disciplinary, socially responsible notion of science with the public launch of its reorganised Science Faculty.

T h e S c i e n c e T r a i n i s a n imaginative idea which, I hope, w i l l i n s p i r e y o u n g p e o p l e around Queensland with the kind of excitement that many of my generation felt for science a n d i t s t e c h n o l o g i c a l applications.

Professor Dennis Gibson

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Since his arrival at QUT from Cambridge University 18 months ago, associate professor Peter Davies has made his mark in the School of Human Movement Studies, with several major achievements.

He has broken new ground in his study of the effects of growth hormone (GH) usage in children with Prader- Willi syndrome, overturned some conventional wisdom regarding calorie usage in children with this syndrome and introduced new state-of-the-art technology in the school’s laboratory.

All three things are connected, but at the moment it’s the third about which Professor Davies is most excited.

“One of the reasons I came to Brisbane was to set up the school’s isotope ratio mass spectrometer,”

Professor Davies said. “It’s the only dedicated facility of its kind in the southern hemisphere.”

At a cost of around $250,000, the spectrometer is a major asset to the school.

“Its main function in our lab is in the measurement of stable isotopes in

clinical nutrition. By using urine samples, this technology provides a complete picture of an individual’s nutritional state.

“It measures fat mass, lean-tissue mass, can tell how many calories an individual has ingested, how the body has used those calories and much more. It’s an amazing piece of technology with a vast range of potential uses.”

So dynamic is the new technology that the American Society for Clinical Nutrition has invited eight users from around the world to address a symposium in Montreal and present data on what they have learned from it.

“I am honoured to have been one of the eight invitees. Among other things, I will be speaking about the complex analysis the technology enabled me to do in my Prader- Willi syndrome study,’’ he said.

The Prader-Willi study was undertaken in Great Britain and the results would be published in international journals by the end of this year, Professor Davies said.

“Prader-Willi syndrome is a rare complex genetic disorder affecting around one in 10,000 people, although

recent evidence indicates it may be more common than first thought,” he said.

“Sufferers have a broad range of symptoms, but the most serious is a continuous, uncontrollable urge to eat.

In turn, this results in obesity and obesity-related health problems.

“My study covered 30 Prader-Willi children aged between five and 10 years, over a 12-month period. For the first six

months, I just took measurements and developed a natural history of their growth, development and change in body fat.

“Over the last six months, daily injections of growth hormone were administered by the parents. At the end of that six-month period, the children had increased their linear growth, but, more importantly, on average had significantly reduced their amounts of body fat.

Study discovers new facts about Prader-Willi syndrome

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“Farming in Crowley Vale is literally

‘drying up’.

“Because I’ve had a lot of experience in isotope hydrology in Sri Lanka, the problems in the Crowley Vale area were obvious and I realised that the isotopic tracer technology could be useful in identifying recharge sources there.

“Our findings can be used to divert funds from creating unproductive

. . . Isotopes help trace source of Gatton water crisis

water recharge mechanisms to examining more successful methods,” Mr Dharmasiri said.

The systematic groundwater investigation got underway in 1993, initiated by QUT’s Centre for Medical and Health Physics and undertaken jointly with the State’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Mr Dharmasiri’s co-workers in t h e s t u d y w e r e h i s r e s e a r c h supervisor, QUT physicist Dr

L i d i a M o r a w s k a a n d D N R ’ s p r i n c i p a l h y d r o l o g i s t , J o h n Hillier.

“DNR will now have to develop alternative means of recharging groundwater stores, based on the results of this research,” Mr Dharmasiri said.

Dr Morawska said the findings of the study had not been expected by DNR.

“They were very impressed with the work we did,” she said.

From Page 1 Prominent Australian builders Multiplex Constructions have embarked on a joint industry research project with QUT’s School of Construction Management and Property.

The project — Management Competency Standards for Future Building Construction Projects — will analyse trends in the building construction market, particularly from a Queensland perspective.

Made possible through a successful APA (Industry) Award from the Federal Government and the input of Multiplex Constructions (Qld), the project’s aim is to provide a better understanding of likely construction industry trends over the coming decade.

The chief investigator for the project is Dr Keith Hampson, the director of research in the S c h o o l o f C o n s t r u c t i o n M a n a g e m e n t a n d P r o p e r t y . A f u l l - t i m e P h D s t u d e n t i n t h e school, Ali Shirazi, was recently a w a r d e d a s c h o l a r s h i p t o undertake the research.

Mr Shirazi has completed an MBA at James Cook University, with his research thesis Partnering in Construction Projects setting him up well for this project.

Building firm and QUT set standards

Multiplex general manager, Queensland, John Gaskin, left, recently visited QUT to discuss the joint industry research project with

Dr Keith Hampson and Mr Ali Shirazi, centre

“Since obesity in Prader-Willi sufferers is the major cause of illness and death, these findings have tremendous potential for their future treatment options.”

The study revealed findings overturning current thinking that people with Prader-Willi syndrome need considerably fewer calories than normal to maintain an appropriate weight.

“My results showed no difference in calorie requirements between Prader-Willi sufferers and the general population,” Professor Davies said.

“This makes proper management of food intake even more imperative.”

Professor Davies planned further work in the area on his return from Canada.

“ I a m n o w t r y i n g t o p u t together a study in Australia and N e w Z e a l a n d , w o r k i n g w i t h slightly older individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome to see if t h e G H t r e a t m e n t m i g h t b e beneficial for them because it enables them to do more and to live more normal lives.”

Associate professor Peter Davies . . . ‘tremendous potential’

Vale – Russell Healy

Family, friends and colleagues bade farewell to Teaching and Learning Support Services staff member Russell Healy last week.

Mr Healy passed away on Friday, August 8, after a short battle with cancer.

TALSS director Professor Gail Hart said Mr Healy was well-known to many staff at QUT and would be greatly missed by his colleagues.

“Russell started as a technician with the Kelvin Grove College of Advanced Education in 1973,”

Professor Hart said. “He was appointed lab manager for QUT’s Audio-Visual Services in 1991.

“And he was granted a Master of Technology Management from Griffith University in March 1993.”

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QUT has begun a cross-gender, cross- school, cross-campus mentoring scheme designed to shatter the glass ceiling and boost numbers of female senior lecturers.

The Faculty of Arts is running a pilot scheme with 11 female lecturers who have been linked to senior female and male academic staff to discuss research, promotion and teaching issues.

For film and television associate lecturer Jeanette McGown — who has had Visual Arts Head of School John Armstrong as a mentor — the scheme has given her firm footing on the path to promotion.

“I found it invaluable having an associate outside of my immediate area to discuss my work, goals for the future and the university system and culture,” she said.

“The pilot mentoring scheme has also put me in touch with other women in the faculty and it has been liberating to find they have some of the same insecurities and misconceptions as I had.”

Mr Armstrong, pictured above right with Ms McGown, said he believed the scheme should be extended across the university and offered to general as well as academic staff.

“I found it rewarding to be able to share some of the unwritten rules of the university processes and culture and help guide someone through the particular ways to proceed within the institution,” he said.

“As head of Visual Arts, I’ve been on a couple of promotion panels and I believe it’s good to be able to use the sort of information which the university demands of its senior staff in another way — to feed the requirements of the institution back into the institution through individuals.”

Pilot scheme targets glass ceiling in Arts

Latest Affirmative Action Agency figures show 31 per cent of tenured academic staff are women, which is slightly below the national average, and well below the overall proportion of female academic staff (40 per cent).

QUT Equity co-ordinator Mary Kelly said the pilot mentoring scheme was just one of a number of strong initiatives at the university to ensure women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, people with disabilities and people from non-English speaking backgrounds had equal access to education, employment and promotion.

The Faculty of Arts will continue the mentoring program for female academic staff through 1998. In addition, the second stage of the program, which includes female general staff, is in progress.

Faculty of Arts general staff (level 3-7) can join the program by calling Margaret Bodsworth on (07) 3864 4526 or (07) 3864 4616.

A study by a QUT planner of international best practice in city planning has highlighted major metropolitan problems — also experienced in Brisbane — which could be solved locally by applying some of the international techniques investigated.

Author and associate professor in planning Phil Heywood, said his recently completed investigation of best practice city planning — in Vancouver, Toronto, Portland, Seattle and Auckland — had left him optimistic that new-world cities (metropoles) like Brisbane could successfully manage the rapid population growth in store for them.

“It is no longer just roads, rates and rubbish,” Professor Heywood said.

“These metropolitan governments need to manage community and social life, the economy, the environment, education and transport as well as community consultation and public administration.

“We need to shape settlements that reflect the dispersion of people throughout the metropolis so that, socially, community organisations can provide a level of participation which allows people to identify with their city and not to lose interest and hope.

“There are real advantages in community organisations.

“I saw extremely good models in Portland, for example, which has 92 neighbourhood groups sponsored by the City Government and integrated into their processes.

“In New Zealand, too, community boards have been established which assist councillors in keeping contact with local communities.”

Recognising that metropolitan regions are economies in their own right could also have implications for Brisbane according to Professor Heywood.

Study shows how successful cities handle growth

“Metropolitan economic regions raise the issue that economies are no longer mainly national but regional and international as well,” he said.

“There is a Greater Brisbane economy, there is a Greater Sydney economy and these economies trade directly with others throughout the world with diminishing control from national government.

“We need to create metropolitan economic bodies to organise resources and to trade with other regional economies internationally.

“This requires stepping across the old local government boundaries.”

Environmental quality was inexorably linked with economic progress in a city like Brisbane, Professor Heywood said.

“Maintaining environmental quality is a major economic goal of successful metropolitan regions and was one of their major selling points.

“This involves both protecting scarce environmental resources and creating regional open-space networks.

“Modern metropolitan regions are moving towards environments where people can walk out of their homes, up pedestrian paths, to local creeks, through green corridors and into bushland, so there are integrated regional open spaces, defining urban areas and offering people accessible recreation.”

In all of these areas, the common potential factor for change was education, Professor Heywood said.

“Education plays a vital part in building understanding so that we can integrate minority groups and adopt good language-learning techniques, as well as understand our environment and economy.

“In many of the metropolitan study areas, university campuses are forming the hubs of new communities.

“This is happening in South-East Queensland on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts where new universities have been established as the centre of new neighbourhoods and city regions.”

One of the major logistical problems for any growing metropolitan area was transport and Brisbane’s size made this a major challenge, Professor Heywood said.

“There’s an absolute need for us to have public transport run at a metropolitan scale. It’s ridiculous to have buses which stop at council boundaries.

“Almost half of Brisbane’s workers come in from surrounding shires.

“We need to have a metropolitan- scale body running the entire transport infrastructure.”

Professor Heywood was quick to stress that such a wide-ranging concept of metropolitan planning is a big ask. But his metropolitan study areas had innovative answers, he believed.

“Advocating such overdue changes implies the ability to plan over entire metropolitan areas,” he said.

“In the most successful metropoles, two- tier regional governments have been created, designated from existing government.

“In Greater Vancouver, all 21 local authority mayors and their delegates are members of the Greater Vancouver District. This body is indirectly accountable to the 1.8 million people in the entire metropolitan area.

“It’s popular with the provincial government because it provides a body capable of passing State policy down to the regions.

“Toronto is also adopting this two- tier format and I believe it holds enormous potential for Greater Brisbane which has a particularly large metropolitan area.”

The overall message Professor Heywood drew from his study was that the metropolis is not only alive and well, but will be the dominant settlement form in the 21st Century.

“What we must realise is that we are metropolitan citizens, living in metropolitan environments with metropolitan economies and metropolitan interests.

“We have to digest, distribute and integrate Brisbane’s rapid population growth in a way that satisfies the economic, cultural and social needs of the metropolis,” he said.

Associate professor Phil Heywood . . . it is no longer just roads, rates and rubbish

QUT has begun what is probably Australia’s first study of the legal i m p l i c a t i o n s o f t h e n a t i o n ’ s i n c r e a s i n g n u m b e r o f telecommunication towers and overhead lines.

D i r e c t e d b y Q U T ’ s Environmental Law section, the study also draws on the expertise of Brisbane law firm Phillips Fox and environmental consultants Sinclair Knight Merz.

Environmental Law specialist Professor Douglas Fisher said he hoped the initial investigation would spawn further research into what had the potential to become a highly contentious issue for the legal system.

“ T e l s t r a a n d O p t u s a n d t h e s e s o r t s o f b o d i e s a r e e n g a g e d i n d e v e l o p i n g t h e i r i n f r a s t r u c t u r e i n a w a y t h a t h a s p o t e n t i a l e n v i r o n m e n t a l a n d p u b l i c health effects,” Professor Fisher s a i d .

“There are a whole series of environmental and public health management risks associated with this development and – as the Federal Government is presently changing all its regulations – it seemed to me that this was an interdisciplinary problem that needed to be investigated.

“This is an initial investigation to see what the problems are in

Environmental lawyers probe

implications of phone towers and lines

terms of law and policy and these we will publish in a (public) report.

“The second stage, which will i n v o l v e a n a p p l i c a t i o n f o r a n Australian Research Council grant, will be to come up with some potential law reform solutions to the problems that we have identified.”

M u c h o f t h e f o u r - m o n t h investigation will be carried out by research assistant Annica Carlsson, f r o m t h e S w e d i s h c a p i t a l o f Stockholm.

Ms Carlsson, pictured above with P r o f e s s o r F i s h e r , w i l l a l s o b e

completing an honours dissertation for her Master of Laws at QUT during 1997.

“The immediate outcome will be a b e t t e r a n d m o r e p u b l i c understanding of the policy and legal issues and how they relate to technical issues,” Ms Carlsson said.

“We will be looking at all aspects of the problem from all vantage p o i n t s : i n d u s t r y , c o m m e r c e , technical, scientific, Government, legal and community and see what we come up with.”

— Andrea Hammond

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by Carmen Myler

Recognising the various needs of different students was a key factor in the development of a successful flexible-delivery policy, Pro- Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Janice Reid said at a recent forum.

Organised jointly by the Division of Academic Affairs and Division of Information Services, Flexible Delivery — Mapping Our Potential, was well attended by more than 150 people from across the university in mid-July.

Keynote speakers included the executive director of the Open Learning Institute at Charles Sturt University, Dr Ian Barnard, and manager of the Multi-Modal Learning Unit at Swinburne University of Technology, Mr Peter Jeffrey.

Many themes and issues recurred throughout the day and were summarised by Professor Reid in her closing address.

Professor Reid explained that flexible delivery:

• included a diverse range of modes and strategies for teaching and learning;

• depended on a team effort, harnessing specialist support as well as academic content and planning;

• should be based on a clear understanding of student needs, expectations and learning outcomes;

• required lecturer ownership, motivation, support and skills;

• required good and reliable infrastructure support;

• should be driven by educational imperatives and principles rather than solely by technological possibilities;

• would not necessarily save money, but should be planned with an eye to resource efficiency and effectiveness, and long- term sustainability;

• could not be separated from access and equity considerations and an understanding of the diversity of the student body;

Student needs drive flexible delivery onto centre stage

• required an understanding of organisational culture change and clear communication;

• should be underpinned by an institutional policy and strategy for implementation and resource allocation which, in turn, should be anchored in the mission and goals of the university and a sound understanding of the broader context and market; and

• should be implemented within a framework which monitors and assures quality.

QUT’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dennis Gibson, has earmarked flexible delivery as a priority for 1998.

D e p u t y V i c e - C h a n c e l l o r Professor Peter Coaldrake said that, as the university’s draft policy on f l e x i b l e d e l i v e r y w a s a “ l i v i n g , breathing document”, members of

the QUT community were being encouraged to provide their views on the issue.

Professor Coaldrake emphasised to forum participants that the policy was a draft and “a first-pass attempt to get people across the university to think about the issues”.

A copy of the policy is available from http://www.qut.edu.au/chan/odvc/ and the next flexible delivery event will be

by Carmen Myler

The issue of flexible delivery is at the forefront for new Teaching and Learning Support Services (TALSS) d irector Professor Gail Hart.

Professor Hart — a former Director of Academic Programs in QUT’s School of Nursing and most recently acting head of the Academic Staff Development Unit — took up her new post late last month and will head a team of 80 staff.

Already she has a clear vision when it comes to flexible delivery.

“The Vice-Chancellor has identified flexible delivery as a priority for QUT in 1998 and we realise that — if we’re going to deal with increasingly large class sizes, reduced resources and a lot of competition between universities — we need to be able to provide education in a way that is readily accessible to students so that we can remain competitive,” Professor Hart explained.

“At the same time we want to make sure we maintain the quality of teaching and learning experiences for students and maintain what’s really good about QUT.

“For many students that means actually going to lectures and we want to maintain this element but, for other students who find it difficult to show up regularly for a face-to-face experience, we want to offer

Professor Hart clear on top priority for TALSS

an equivalent experience through flexible delivery and I think that is the really important thing that TALSS can offer.

“TALSS offers a whole range of educational expertise, particularly expertise in educational technology, to help academics think about how they might translate their content and material into a more accessible mode for students,” she said.

To promote the service to academic staff, Professor Hart said it was

important that TALSS went to lecturers at their teaching sites.

“We’ll hold forums, talk to faculty teaching and learning groups, and speak with individual lecturers to understand what challenges currently exist for them in their teaching, and then suggest ways that we can provide help,” she said.

“We want to be easily accessible, hopefully almost indispensable, in terms of improving the quality of teaching and learning.”

The new director — who is also a member of the national Committee for University Teaching and Staff Development — said she was looking forward to the challenges her role offered.

“I am really enthusiastic about this new role. This is a tremendous opportunity in a key unit in the university at a really important time of transition for QUT — and at a time when the Federal Government is really looking with a great deal of scrutiny at university teaching,” she said.

“A unit like TALSS is a really critical service unit in the university to help academics learn to change their teaching practices.”

Professor Hart said people in the university community should be aware that educational technology was not “all about tapping into the Internet”.

“At the moment there are still large numbers of students that don’t have access to that technology and we have to acknowledge that there are many other aspects of university life that provide a learning experience,” Professor Hart said.

“It’s just about finding a balance and that will vary according to the needs of the students, content of the program and the learning objectives.”

a seminar, Flexible Delivery:What Kind of University?, by Dr Tony Bates, Director, Distance Education and Technology, University of British Columbia.

The seminar will take place on Friday, August 22, Noon-1pm, Room Z304, Z Block, Gardens Point campus. For details, contact Deborah Williams at [email protected] or telephone (07) 3864 1845.

Professor Gail Hart . . . taking over the TALSS reins at

‘a really important time of transition for QUT’

by Andrea Hammond

Co-parenting — where children have homes with each of their parents — is emerging as a workable solution for families in the divorce-ridden ’90s, a QUT study has found.

T h e s t u d y , b y f o u r t h - y e a r psychology honours student Tracey Ensbey, found increasing numbers of parents were opting to equally share the care of their children.

Of 43 individual parents from Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, 3 7 p e r c e n t d e c i d e d a g a i n s t t r a d i t i o n a l s o l e - r e s i d e n c e a r r a n g e m e n t s a n d f a v o u r e d

“ u n o r t h o d o x ” , c o - p a r e n t i n g arrangements instead.

However, many co-parents were quite reluctant to discuss their co- parenting arrangements because of f e a r o f c e n s u r e , u n w e l c o m e questions or being misunderstood by the community at large, Ms Ensbey said.

“The study found that, although two parents did not have to really like each other, they had to be prepared to work together on a continuing basis to sort out what was best for the children,” she said.

“ T h e r e i s a r e a l l a c k o f u n d e r s t a n d i n g o u t t h e r e i n t h e community that parents can ‘get on’

for the purpose of raising their children, but don’t necessarily want to live together.”

Ms Ensbey said the preferred co- p a r e n t i n g m e t h o d w a s f o r e a c h parent to maintain a separate home with the children dividing their

Co-parenting study finds fractured families taking a new approach

time between them, maintaining entire bedrooms, sets of belongings and even pets in each home.

Arrangements differed, however, and some parents preferred to move in and out of a family home where the children permanently lived, w h i l e o t h e r s o p t e d f o r a n arrangement of one parent caring for the children during school terms and another taking over the full parenting role during holidays.

“There are no distinct rules for co-parenting,” Ms Ensbey said.

“ I n m y s t u d y , I d e f i n e i t a s children spending a minimum of 25 per cent of their time with one p a r e n t a n d 7 5 p e r c e n t w i t h another.

“In real terms, that equals almost five days with one parent, and a weekend

and one week night spent with the other. Interestingly, however, I found that most of the parents in my study each shouldered about 50 per cent of the parenting load.”

Ms Ensbey’s study, supervised by Q U T S c h o o l o f S o c i a l S c i e n c e lecturer Dr Kathryn Gow, set out to look at decision-making factors in co-parenting immediately after, and six months after, separation.

Her study found that:

• unless parents decide to begin co- p a r e n t i n g w i t h i n t h e f i r s t s i x months of their separation it is unlikely to happen;

• that 26.8 per cent of separating parents were actively discouraged from co-parenting by solicitors, p s y c h o l o g i s t s a n d / o r F a m i l y Court counsellors;

• t h a t g e o g r a p h i c a l f a c t o r s (distances from children’s schools and from other parent’s home) was not, as previous studies have i n d i c a t e d , a m a j o r f a c t o r i n people’s decision to co-parent;

and

• “children’s stability and well- b e i n g ” e m e r g e d a s t h e p r i m e reason both for co-parents and those parents who said they would not consider co-parenting.

Of the sample group, 37 per cent (16) were co-parenting, 33 per cent (14) would consider becoming co- parents, and 30 per cent (13) said t h e y w o u l d n o t c o n s i d e r c o - parenting.

“The three major factors that parents considered in making their decision (about how to organise p a r e n t i n g ) r e l a t e d t o t h e relationship between the parents, the priority of best possible scenario for the children and the social and legal implications that influenced their economic survival and social acceptance,” Ms Ensbey said.

“Of the 37 per cent of the sample w h o w e r e c o - p a r e n t i n g , t h e important components for making and sticking to their decisions to c o - p a r e n t w e r e m a i n t a i n i n g s t a b i l i t y f o r t h e c h i l d r e n , t h e c h i l d r e n ’ s w i s h e s , t h e f o r m e r partner’s bond with the children and the level of support (of the former partner) for co-parenting.”

Ms Ensbey said the study found that, when it came to co-parenting, school teachers were frequently confused about the situation, while

the most supportive people were the couples’ families and friends.

“With co-parenting, both sets of grandparents remain in the family n e t w o r k , i t g i v e s m e n t h e opportunity to parent their kids in a way that many are currently being denied, and it minimises the loss for the children,” Ms Ensbey said.

Ms Ensbey and her supervisor Dr Gow both co-parent their children, an experience which triggered the 12-month study.

Dr Gow said the study clearly s h o w e d t h a t s e p a r a t i n g p a r e n t s needed to know there were more options open to them than just sole residence with a mother or father.

“There was a clear indication among the parents who were not co-parenting (but said they would consider it) that they hadn’t heard a b o u t i t a n d t h a t n o b o d y h a d mentioned it in the legal separation process,” Dr Gow said.

“People around them just said the children were better off with their mother.

“Stability has traditionally been perceived as being in one home.

“ W h i l e i n t a c t f a m i l i e s a r e obviously still the preferred method to raise children, in the event of the separation of the parents (where there are no serious reasons such as p h y s i c a l , e m o t i o n a l a n d s e x u a l abuse for keeping one parent away from a child), co-parenting can offer a real working alternative.”

For further information about t h i s r e s e a r c h , c o n t a c t T r a c e y Ensbey on (07) 5476 2582.

Researcher Tracey Ensbey, left, and her supervisor Dr Kathryn Gow . . . ’surprising number prefer co-parenting’

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QUT welcomes two Evans

Dean of Health and Social Studies at Hong Kong Polytechnic.

In the Faculty of Business, Professor Roger Willett who is Professor of Accountancy at the University of Otago in New Zealand, will move to QUT as the new head of the School of Accountancy in December.

Meanwhile Professor Robert Norton has resigned from the School of Communication after five years with the university to concentrate on commercial consultancies.

At the end of this month, QUT’s School of Architecture, Interior and Industrial Design (AIID) is hosting a special event to follow on after the World Congress of Gerontology which is about to begin in Adelaide.

Organised by the school’s Research and Design for Ageing Network, the post- congress event, 2000+ Quality Designs, will incorporate an exhibition, best-practice site visits and an expert colloquium.

The network was established in 1996 to enable academics and students to jointly work with design leaders towards the advancement of excellence in design and, thereby, to improve quality of life for older people. 2000+ Quality Designs includes:

• a “grand exhibition” of works by AIID students — a free public display of

Post-congress set to focus on designs for ageing

drawings, models and photographs on the theme Future housing and innovative products for older people, August 25–30, 8.30am-7.30pm, Function Rooms A and B, Parliamentary Annexe (behind Parliament House, enter via Alice Street);

• best-practice site visits — guided tours of residential facilities for older people, such as nursing homes, hostels and retirement villages. August 29, 10am-3pm. $20.

(Preference will be given to colloquium participants); and

• an expert colloquium (full day) — focusing on challenges and knowledge sharing in current and future design for ageing. August 30, 8.45am-5.40pm, Room Z401, Z Block, GP. $100. Keynote speakers from Japan, Canada, the United States and Australia.

by Carmen Myler

Women’s health needs are being better met since the opening of a new free women’s health clinic at Kelvin Grove campus.

The Women’s Health (Family Planning) Nurse-Practitioner Clinic opened its doors to the general public, staff and students on August 4 to provide a range of services, including:

• breast and cervical cancer screening;

• pregnancy testing and counselling;

• general “well-women’s” health checks;

• screening for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS testing;

• contraceptive counselling (including emergency contraception); and

• health education regarding sex practices.

The co-ordinator of the women’s health strand in the School of Nursing, Debra Anderson, said the clinic catered for women by meeting all their specific health needs in one visit.

“Recent research has shown that women’s health nurse practitioners

Special health clinic opens for women at Kelvin Grove campus

tend to spend a lot more time with women than general practitioners,”

she said.

“Also, it shows that women generally prefer to visit female practitioners about their health issues.

“This clinic came about because women’s health nurse practitioners are an emerging trend and we saw that there was a ready market at QUT where there is currently no specialised women’s health service for staff and students.” (At present, 49 per cent of QUT’s staff and 54 per cent of its students are women.)

A women’s health nurse- practitioner is a registered nurse who has specific qualifications to provide sexual and reproductive health services and routine health checks.

Ms Anderson said the new clinic was staffed by a nurse-practitioner from Family Planning Queensland, assisted by postgraduate students at QUT who specialised in women’s health nursing.

“As well as benefiting staff, students and the general public, the clinic gives our students an opportunity to work with clients, doing things like undertaking pap smears and limited prescribing,” she said.

Ms Anderson said the clinic also provided women with information and advice on issues, such as menopause and hormone- replacement treatment.

“We envisage that this clinic has the potential to become part of a larger Well Women’s Clinic in which the Women’s Health Research and Education Team could play a key role,” Ms Anderson said.

“We’ll evaluate the clinic after the first six months and then at 12-month intervals following that.

“If there’s room and a need, we’ll seek funding to expand the service to accommodate longer hours, and to include information sessions on everything from menopause to the prevention of violence against women.”

Ms Anderson said the clinic was a joint initiative between the Women’s Health Education and Research Team, QUT, and the Family Planning Clinic Queensland.

The clinic is open Mondays from 10am to 1pm at Level 1, N Block, Kelvin Grove campus.

Drop-in clients are welcome. For appointments or enquiries, call (07) 3252 5151.

Australian superstars Jon English, Simon Gallaher (centre) and Amanda Muggleton took time out between performances of the smash-hit HMAS Pinafore recently to inspire, debate and impart some fun- filled words of wisdom to QUT performing arts students working on the Academy of the Arts’ 1997 showcase production West Side Story, which will run from September 2 to 13.

Overseas professionals in mock job interviews

Twelve overseas-qualified professionals were put through their paces in a recent round of mock job interviews which formed part of QUT’s Open-Door Program.

QUT’s Continuing Professional Education (CPE) unit gained DEETYA funding through the Indooroopilly CES to run the program, which consisted of a two-week training course and a four-week placement in a work environment related to their profession.

CPE Employment Programs co- ordinator Laurel Bright said the program

equipped participants with the skills to identify employment opportunities, practise job-seeking strategies, learn about Australian workplaces, network and acquire confidence in charting an employment path.

She said the program attracted representatives from high-profile organisations including GEC Alsthom, Morgan & Banks, The VM Training Group, Nicholas Mandikos & Associates as well as State and Federal Government departments. For more information about the program, contact CPE Project Manager Libi Burman on (07) 3864 3291.

Tears of laughter as Pinafore stars visit Academy

University Personal Appointment Committee

Notice of Election

In accordance with QUT Council- approved terms of reference for the reconstitution of University committees, the following positions are to be filled by election.

■ University Personal Appointment Committee (lecturer/senior lecturer) Four members of the academic staff, three of whom must be senior lecturers, elected by and from all academic staff holding full-time or fractional-time appointments

■ University Personal Appointment Committee (professor/associate professor)

One professor of the University, elected by and from all the full- time and fractional full-time academic staff. One associate professor of the University, elected by and from all the full-time and fractional full-time academic staff.

■ Details and nominations Members serve on the committee for the 1997 round of promotions.

The terms of reference of these committees are available from Campus Managers or the Secretariat at Gardens Point.

For the purpose of election to these committees, the following definition applies:

Academic Staff — Full-time and fractional staff of QUT employed primarily to teach, conduct research or manage an academic faculty, school, department or research centre, and the Vice-Chancellor, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, the Pro- Vice-Chancellor (Academic) and the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Advancement).

Nominations are invited from staff members who qualify for election to these committees. Nominations must be made on the prescribed form, which may be obtained from Campus Managers or Secretariat.

Nominations are to be lodged with the Returning Officer or the Campus Manager by 4pm, Thursday, August 21 1997.

Details of candidates and the method of election will be advertised on campus noticeboards following close of nominations.

The polls will close at 4pm, Thursday, September 11 1997.

K. Baumber (Registrar) Returning Officer, August 6 1997

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Leading conservationist confronts conservatism

exuberance and gawkiness of an adolescent

— but we’re no less attractive because we can see where we’re going and history is part of that because you’ve got to understand it to progress.

“In the next century, we won’t have conservation over here and architecture over there and this constant argument in the courts, the streets and the media like we have had for the past 20 years. We can bring history and architecture together,” he said.

Professor Holden said he believed it was an exciting time for architecture because the community was at the edge of abandoning the “wallowing in nostalgia”

that’s gone on for so long.

“We’re in a time of massive technological change which is affecting culture and we are scared out of our trousers, grasping at some metaphorical stable point back in history that finds expression in buildings,” he said.

“We follow these things because it seems to slow down this change,” Professor Holden said.

Mr Allom, a director of architectural firm Allom Lovell Marquis-Kyle, was instrumental in the formation of the Australian International Council on Monuments and Sites and has had a long and close association with the Australian Heritage Commission and the National Trust.

— Carmen Myler

Adjunct professor Richard Allom, left, and associate professor Gordon Holden ... people have to learn to see their cities as a ‘wonderful juxtapostion of old and new’

CONFERENCES, SEMINARS & WORKSHOPS

• Equity

Aug 20-Sep 8Equity Basics. Half-day seminars for staff with or without supervisory duties. FREE. Dates: Aug 20, Aug 26, Sept 2, Sept 8. Times: (managers) 9am-Noon, (non-managers) 1.30pm- 4.30pm. Leanne Zimmermann at [email protected] OR (07) 3864 3653.

Sep 10-11 Career Moves. Workshop for women i n c l e r i c a l , a d m i n i s t r a t i v e a n d secretarial positions at QUT (HEW 3- 5). KG/K108. 9am-4pm. FREE. Gayle Huges at [email protected] OR (07) 3864 2699.

• Centre for Applied Studies in Early Childhood Aug 22 How Infants Respond to Looming S o u n d s : E a r l y E v i d e n c e o f Auditory Distance Perception Presented by Dr Kate Freiberg, Centre for Applied Studies in Early Childhood. KG/B304. 1-2pm. FREE.

Margaret Kays (07) 3864 3660.

Aug 29 Socialisation Experiences and Social Problem Solving Skills in Australian and Indian Cultures Presented by Ms Shanti Balda, Centre for Applied Studies in Early Childhood.

KG/B304. 1-2pm. FREE. Margaret Kays (07) 3864 3660.

• Division of Academic Affairs

Aug 22 Flexible Delivery: What Kind of University? Presented by Dr Tony Bates, Director, Distance Education and Technology, University of British Columbia. Noon-1pm. GP/Z304.

D e b o r a h W i l l i a m s a t [email protected] OR (07) 3864 1824.

• Centre for Mental Health Nursing Research Sep 7-8 Challenge the Body Culture:

Attitudes, Acceptance & Diversity into the 21st Century. National conference at ParkRoyal Brisbane.

$350 (or $175 a day). Full-time students $20/$10. Eating Disorders Association Qld (07) 3352 6900.

• Continuing Professional Education

Oct 3-4 First National Conference for Executive Secretaries and Personal Assistants. Carlton Crest Hotel. $395.

Maria Lamari at [email protected] OR (07) 3864 2915.

• Centre for Policy & Leadership Studies in Education

Nov 29 Pedagogy & the Body conference (1- day). Will address complex & changing interrelationships between pedagogical &

corporeal practices in contemporary cultural & educational settings. Waged participants $95, non-waged $60. KG.

Anne Wilson at [email protected] OR (07) 3864 5959.

FROM THE ACADEMY

Aug 27 Tulipan: a fusion of musical flavours. KG/M Block Music Studio.

1-1.45pm. FREE. (07) 3864 5998.

Sep 10 Jazz with Good Bait. KG/M Block Music Studio. 1-1.45pm. FREE. (07) 3864 5998.

Sep 17 High Class Brass. KG/M Block Music Studio. 1-1.45pm. FREE.

(07) 3864 5998.

Sep 24 F. Gerard Errante, clarinet. KG/

M B l o c k M u s i c S t u d i o . 1-1.45pm. FREE. (07) 3864 5998.

Oct 8 P e r c u s s i o n D u o . K G / M B l o c k Music Studio. 1-1.45pm. FREE.

(07) 3864 5998.

Oct 15 Young-Ah Kim, Piano. KG/M Block Music Studio. 1-1.45pm. FREE. (07) 3864 5998.

Sep 2-13 Romeo & Juliet/West Side Story (drama, dance & music double bill). Romeo & Juliet directed by Shakespeare & Co., Boston; West S i d e S t o r y d i r e c t e d b y D a v i d Fenton. GP/new theatre. Bookings through Dial’N’Charge (07) 3846 4646 (many performances sold out).

STUDENT GUILD

Aug 20 Comedy Week/Cocktail Party. C

Aug 21 Comedy Week. GP

Sep 1 Arts Festival. C

Sep 2 Arts Festival. KG

Sep 4 Arts Festival. GP

Sep 6 Concert. River Stage

Sep 10 Clubs & Societies Forum #2. GP

Sep 11 Noon Hour Band. GP

Sep 12 QUT Cup Athletics Carnival. KG Sep 14 QUT Fun Run. 10km run/walk.

The course is based on a loop around Gardens Point campus, City Botanic Gardens and West E n d ( s t a r t a n d f i n i s h a t G P ) . Everyone welcome. Entry fee —

$ 1 0 i n d i v i d u a l s , $ 2 0 f a m i l i e s . Includes free breakfast after the fun run.

Sep 19 Free Movie Night. GP

Sep 23 Noon Hour Band. KG

Sep 25 Noon Hour Band. GP

Sep 29-Oct 3AUSF Games. Melbourne