INSIDE QUT September 14 - October 5, 1998 Page 1

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

Queensland University of Technology Newspaper ■ Issue 182 ■ September 15 – October 5, 1998

Plants let loose at toxic siteBy Gina Pickering

Landscape architect Barbara Steinerwants to make a difference toAustralia’s contaminated sites.

She plans to transform a sitecontaminated with heavy metals atWillawong into environmental art,while using plants to decontaminatethe toxic soil.

The project is the focus of MsSteiner’s masters (by research) inApplied Science which she isundertaking at QUT.

Her work will rely on unique plantswhich have the ability to “hyper-accumulate” (absorb) heavy metalssuch as cadmium and zinc.

“To remediate some contaminatedland with plants is much cheaper thancapping designs. It deals with theproblem rather than covering it up,”Ms Steiner said.

The Brisbane City Council issupplying Willawong toxicologicalreports to Ms Steiner. She is alsoreceiving national and internationalsupport for her research from scientists.

Research on land decontaminationthrough plants (phytoremediation) inAustralia is still in its infancy comparedwith Europe and New Zealand.

The controversial Willawong sitehas received much attention since itwas officially closed by Mayor JimSoorley in May. Much of the formerlandfill is being rehabilitated by theBrisbane City Council.

QUT masters student Barbara Steiner has a vision to transformthe Willawong toxic waste site using special plants

to decontaminate the soilThis involves capping of the site

with either clay and topsoil, or onlysoil, and planting.

The heavy metal area is now plantedwith tree seedlings and grasses.

Research undertaken for thisproject will focus on native plants asmuch as possible.

The environmental art will alert thepublic to the decontamination processon the site. Harvesting of the plantsand reuse of the extracted metals isanother aspect to be considered.

Brisbane City Council is supportingMs Steiner’s research with a $40,000scholarship over two years.

CarseldinecampusblueprintapprovedQUT’s Carseldine campus is set to berefurbished and extended, and to gainits own Pro-Vice-Chancellor followingthe approval by the university’s Councilrecently of a $23 million developmentplan for the northern suburbs campus.

Under the five-year plan, Carseldine— which at present houses around sevenper cent of QUT’s total studentpopulation — will increase its share ofstudents to around 10 per cent by 2003,increase its range of offerings and forgecloser ties with the nearby NorthpointInstitute of TAFE.

QUT Deputy Vice-ChancellorProfessor Peter Coaldrake said arefurbishment program worth more than$11 million would begin in 1999.

A $9 million, purpose-built enhancedinformation technology building wouldbe built with a further $3 million spentto upgrade computer andcommunications equipment.

“Carseldine will be our primary focusfor growth over the period to the year2005,” Professor Coaldrake said.

“We expect the increase will comefrom anticipated growth in HECS loadfrom the Commonwealth Governmentand from the relocation of some studentplaces from other QUT campuses.

“This is in line with the State’sstrategic plan for higher education.”

Professor Coaldrake said that flexibledelivery options — which largelycapitalised on time and place — wouldfeature strongly at the redevelopednorthern campus.

“We are aiming to maximise teachingand learning opportunities for studentsat Carseldine and, given the campus’advantages of accessibility and its

planned new telecommunicationfacilities, greater block or intensiveteaching will be possible.

“In essence, the university wishes topromote Carseldine as an incubator interms of its teaching and learningpractices,” he said.

QUT’s Carseldine campus iscurrently home to around 1,500students completing courses in theuniversity’s faculties of arts and business.The university anticipates that numberwill grow to around 2,500 students overthe coming few years.

“With half a million people living inthe potential catchment area andsubstantial growth in that figureexpected over the coming 15 years, it isimperative that we further developCarseldine for those living, working andwanting to study in the northerncorridor,” Professor Coaldrake said.

Professor Coaldrake confirmed thatQUT would appoint a Pro-Vice-Chancellor for at least two years tooversee the structural and academicexpansion and other initiatives in thenorthern corridor.

“Firstly the new PVC will liaise withall QUT faculties ahead of theestablishment of a broadened range ofcourse offerings at Carseldine.

“Our new PVC will also co-ordinatediscussions with North Point TAFEregarding stronger academic andprofessional links in the area of humanservices and other courses.

“Naturally, the PVC will also becharged with ensuring the students atCarseldine continue to access leading-edge technology and teaching as theycomplete their studies.”

QUT’s School of Marketing and International Business

Dr Mark McGovern ...challenging Government

thinking on trade

‘Rethink local markets’Australia’s multi-bil l ion dollardomestic markets have been neglectedand exposed to predatory practicesbecause of a misplaced emphasis ondeveloping export markets, accordingto lecturer in QUT’s School ofMarketing and InternationalBusiness, Dr Mark McGovern.

Dr McGovern said his examinationof Australia’s export market sharechallenged conventional wisdom onwhich government policies were based.

Chair of the Rural Policy InstituteDr McGovern, outlined his findingsin a paper at the institute’s inauguralseminar at QUT in August.

He said his research used AustralianNational Accounts to obtain aggregatevalues for agriculture in 53 manufacturingand rural export sectors.

“The conventional position is thatfour out of five farmers depend uponexports for their income, but thenational accounts that I’ve been digginginto indicate that it’s more like one infour,” Dr McGovern said.

“That’s quite a big difference. Itmeans that most of our agriculturalpolicies are falsely based. We seem tohave somewhat carelessly opened (tooutside competition) a $55 billion marketat home in favour of increasing a$6 billion export market.

“It seems like the Government figureshave been put together on inappropriatereference points — so a bottle of wine iscompared to the farm gate price of thegrapes — and the result has been thatwe’ve strongly overstated the marketshare of exports on farm income.”

Young leaders getto know theirneighbours

Page 6

Students excel atOut of the Box

Festival

Page 5␣

Dale Gilbert is Alumnus of

the Year

Page 8␣

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Page 2 INSIDE QUT September 14 - October 5, 1998

Outstanding alumni partof our success story

A word from the Vice-Chancellor

The editorial deadline for next issue (Oct 6– 19) is September 18.

About your newspaperThe opinions expressed in Inside QUT

do not necessarily represent those of theuniversity or the editorial team.

If you know of a story whichshould be to ld in In s ide QUT,contact one of the communicationofficers in the department:

Colleen Ryan Clur (ed) 3864 1150Andrea Hammond 3864 4494Noel Gentner (p/t) 3864 1841Phillipa Hanrick 3864 2130Fax 3210 0474E-mail c.ryanclur@qut.edu.au

Photography: Tony Phillips, SuziePrestwidge 3864 5003

Advertising: David Lloyd-Jones 3880 0528

Internet site: http://www.qut.edu.au/publications/05news/iqut.html

Inside QUT is published by QUT’sCorporate Communication Departmentand has a circulation of 15,000.

Readership includes staff, students,and members of the QUT community.

The newspaper is delivered tospecially-marked boxes in communityareas 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 InsideQUT. Each story has been checked withthe source prior to publication.

Readers letters are welcome.The Corporate Communication

Department address: Level 5, M Block,Gardens Point, GPO Box 2434Brisbane 4001.

From the Inside… by David Hawke

The Centre for the Study of Ethics is tohold a seminar at QUT later this monthto promote closer co-operation betweenteaching and researching ethics acrossthe university.

The centre’s director, AssociateProfessor Noel Preston, said there islimited interaction between teachers ofethics within QUT.

“I have always had a desire to establishcloser links across the university aroundteaching and research in ethics,”Professor Preston said.

“The purpose of this colloquium isto try to establish some common interestand practical links, for example, in thearea of post-graduate supervision.”

Professor Preston said the importanceof ethical codes was underlined by thewidespread teaching of ethics in a rangeof disciplines, such as business, law,journalism and medicine.

The tragic death by cancer of QUT lawgraduate Gerard Connolly promptedhis close friends to set up a memorialfund in his honour.

Two years after his death, the GerardConnolly Memorial Prize forOutstanding Community Service makesan award each year to a Faculty of Lawstudent. More than $3,600 has beenraised for the fund.

Gerard Connolly, described by friendsas a gentle and caring man, was only 30when a melanoma triggered a cancer thatspread through his lymph system.Diagnosed in November 1995, his battlewas over within six short months.

Fund co-convener Neil Laurie saidGerard had been the catalyst who hadcemented the on-going friendship of agroup of about 14 friends.

by Phillipa Hanrick

After 30 years and 17 differentinvestigations into Aboriginal policingand imprisonment there has still beenno action or change in policy fromgovernments — and QUT lecturer JohnWilliams-Mozley wants to know why.

Mr Williams-Mozley, who is in theearly stages of his research, believes theinaction is because white Australianswant Aboriginal people “out of view”.

Mr Williams-Mozley spent 23 yearsin the New South Wales police forceand the Australian Federal Police. Hewas also director of the IndigenousPolicy Unit in the Attorney General’sDepartment in Canberra. He said hewitnessed a lack of commitment fromgovernment and politicians in dealingwith issues such as native title and deathsin custody.

“Aboriginal representation in prisonis 14.1 times greater than the widerpopulation, and 30 per cent ofAboriginal arrests relate to ‘good order’,”said Mr Williams-Mozley.

He attributed the high rate ofincarceration of Aboriginal people toover-policing.

“By over-policing I mean theincessant surveillance and interventionby police with respect to Aboriginal

Aborigines are still beingover-policed, says expert

people who use and occupy publicspace,” he said.

“Despite police protestations that thelaw is applied equally and impartially toall, research clearly shows that no othergroup or class of people withinAustralian society is subject to the sameinordinate degree of scrutiny.

“This can be seen from their historyof over-representation in arrest rates fortrivial or minor offences against ‘goodorder’,” Mr Williams-Mozley said.

Research had shown indecentlanguage was freely used across class andrace lines. Yet while white Australiansused the words in public morefrequently, Aborigines were chargedwith the crime more often.

“Instead of trying to address theproblems, the political rhetoric actuallytargets Aboriginal people and blamesthem for the problems.

“And, instead of massacres and theremoval of children from their familiesto ‘remove us from view’ as in the past,they are now using policing strategies.

“Any concern with Aboriginal ‘crime’must address the question of themisconstruction of history by whitecolonists and academics and the way inwhich Aboriginal people have beenportrayed as backward savages who needcivilising.”

Mr Williams-Mozley said political,legal and societal strategies that beganwith the acknowledgment andunderstanding of “who we are as a people”needed to be devised and implementedto address over-policing and the highlevels of Aboriginal imprisonment.

QUT lecturer John Williams-Mozley sees little change in

government policy on policingof aboriginal people over three

decades.

Fund remembers law graduate

The late Gerard Connolly... fund in his memory

Mr Laurie, a QueenslandParliamentary officer, said Gerard was“the sort of person whom people reliedupon for big and small things”.

Gerard Connolly studied law at QUTbetween 1985 and 1988 and thencompleted the Legal Practice Course in1989. He worked as a solicitor in privatepractice in Brisbane and Cairns and thenfor the Commonwealth GovernmentDepartment of Finance, and theDepartment of Industrial Relations, inCanberra before his death in May 1996.

Mr Laurie and QUT law graduatesKerryn Newton and Moira Farrellyinitiated the idea of the memorial prizefund and received the blessing of GerardConnolly’s parents, Peter and MadeleineConnelly before approaching the QUTFoundation and the Faculty of Law.

“The family felt that Gerard was justan ordinary person but they (Neil andhis friends) said he had been responsiblefor keeping the group together and hadhelped so many (people) in all sorts ofways,” Mrs Connolly said.

Ethics seminar aims todevelop closer links

Ethics experts Associate Professor IanThompson from the University of NotreDame (WA) and Professor StephenCohen from the University of NSW,will also take part in the seminar.

The seminar will be held on October16 at Kelvin Grove Campus (D301)from 1 to 4 pm. For more information,or to register, contact Professor Prestonat n.preston@qut.edu.au or on (07)3864 4747, fax: (07) 3864 4719.

Professor Preston is author ofUnderstanding Ethics. He is also co-editor of two works which are to belaunched later this month: Ethics andPolitical Practice: Perspectives onLegislative Ethics and Public SectorEthics: Finding and ImplementingValues. (Both are being published bythe Federation Press as part of theRoutledge Studies in Governance andPublic Policy).

I was delighted recently to attend afunction to announce the winnersof QUT’s 1998 OutstandingAlumni Awards, both an individualaward for each faculty and an overalluniversity winner.

These annual awards show manyof QUT’s strengths as an institution.

The eight winners of the facultyawards reflect the diversity of theuniversity and its predecessorinstitutions. (See story Page 8)

They include people of vastlydifferent ages and professionalbackgrounds who all have achievedsuccess in their chosen occupations.

This year's faculty winners includean industrial chemistry graduate ofthe former Central Technical Collegeas well as a recent graduate from thedance program in the Academy ofthe Arts.

The list includes academics, seniorpublic sector professionals, aperforming artist and people who havebeen successful in the private sector.

This year’s winners are testimonyto the enduring success of both olderprograms such as optometry andchemistry, and relatively recent

courses, such as those in law and theperforming arts.

As a new university, QUTcompetes against establisheduniversities that count many of thecountry's political, scientific andbusiness elite as their alumni.

Each year, when the OutstandingAlumni Awards are announced, I amincreasingly impressed by the successof QUT in building on the strengthsof the predecessor institutions to stakea claim as one of Australia's leadingnurseries of the leaders of the future.

Professor Dennis Gibson

INSIDE QUT September 14 - October 5, 1998 Page 3

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by Phillipa Hanrick

The anti-affirmative actionmovement and the rejection ofpolitical correctness is having aserious effect on employment cultureand, consequently, the number ofwomen entering and remaining inthe engineering profession, says aQUT academic.

Lecturer in the Faculty of BuiltEnvironment and EngineeringDeborah Messer said that in recentyears there had been a noticeablewaning of interest from women inthe traditionally male-dominatedprofessions, including engineering.

“While there have been someslight increases in the number ofwomen enrolling in engineering,there is anecdotal evidence whichsuggests these minor gains are notflowing into the workplace,” MsMesser said.

“It is not until a woman has hadtwo to five years’ experience in theworkplace that certain inequalitiesbegin to crystallise.

For example, they are often passedover for remote site work because it

Women engineers feelalienated, says lecturer

Lecturer Deborah Messer is researching women

engineers at workis considered an ‘inappropriateassignment for a woman’, or theydiscover a male colleague doing thesame work and with the sameexperience is paid a higher salary.”

Anecdotal evidence suggests sexistlanguage is once again on the riseand that women in the workplaceare starting to feel alienated.

This worrying informationindicates women are not achievingtheir full potential in the workforceas professional engineers and also thatthe engineering industry hasdifficulty in retaining them,explained Ms Messer.

As a consequence, the NationalWomen in Engineering Committeeof the Institution of EngineersAustralia has established a CareersReview of Women in Engineering(CREW) which will examine thecareer paths of female professionalengineers.

The CREW Research Project —which is being run by the Dean ofthe Faculty of Business ProfessorSandra Harding and Ms Messer —will combine a questionnaire survey,interviews and focus groups toinvestigate the careers of femaleengineers.

The CREW project is trying tolocate women graduate engineers toassist them in their research.

For details about the project,contact Ms Messer on (07) 3864 2849or researcher Marnie King on (07)3864 5317.

The third in the successfulseries of QUT BusinessLeaders’ Forums was held atthe Hilton Hotel earlier thismonth, with former head ofthe Australian BusinessCouncil (right)Sir Roderick Carnegie asguest speaker. Sir Roderick isthe former chief executive,chairman and managingdirector of CRA Limited and iscurrently chairman ofNewcrest Mining Limited, GPT[GEC Plessey Telecom] (Aust),Hudson Conway Limited andValiant Consolidated Limited.As a business leader, SirRoderick said his message togovernment was: “Take yourhand out of my pocket and getout of the road.”Other panelists at the forumincluded (left) QUT AssociateProfessor Greg Hearn andexecutive editor of TheCourier-Mail Anne Fussell.

Sir Roderick pulls no punches at QUT Business Leaders’ Forum

by Phillipa Hanrick

Government attempts to privatisemany of the services they deliver arefailing because they are being drivenby ideology rather than dispassionateanalysis, according to School ofEconomics and Finance lecturer DrMarc Robinson.

He has called for a rethink of theacceptance of the “pure market” modelof outsourcing government services.

Dr Robinson said many privatisedgovernment services were in trouble,citing the Job Network as an example.“In the short period since the JobNetwork scheme began operationaljob-placement rates are well downand many of the employmentagencies are in severe financialtrouble,” he said.

“Large numbers of unemployedpeople are being denied properservices and employers are refusingto pay for services which were once

Privatisation ‘has failed’free. This is because the Governmentwas determined that employmentassistance and other privatisedGovernment services should operatepretty much like the ‘pure’ marketsportrayed in elementary economicstextbooks,” he said.

The Government was also keen tomotivate job agencies to perform wellby basing payments to them primarilyupon job placements or outcomes.

“Both these notions have been thescheme’s undoing,” he said.

The agencies were placed underenormous financial risk because nomatter how well they prepared theirclients for an interview for a position,there were no guarantees they wouldget the job, he said.

“Job-matching services areexperiencing the most immediatedifficulties with many of the agenciescomplaining that the remunerationfor this service is insufficient,” heexplained.

“The problem, in short, is that thescheme leaves job agencies with toolarge a share of risk, although this iswould not surprise any economistwho reads beyond the elementarytextbooks. Standard theory recognisesthat a major problem with payment-by-results is the degree of risk in therelationship between an agent’s effortand consequent results.”

There were alternative approaches —the former “case management” systemcould have been retained with the casemanagers becoming “fund holders”.

“Under this scheme clients wereassigned a case manager who thenselected the services with which theywere provided. To make casemanagers ‘fund holders’ would givethem more control over the servicesthey provided to their clients whilegreatly moderating the provider’s riskto financial exposure.”

Policy makers needed moreappreciation of a range of models.

A serious accident was narrowly avertedwhen someone deliberately released thebrakes and removed the chocks on atandem trailer carrying a three-tonnegenerator at QUT Gardens Point lastweek.

The portable generator was being usedto provide emergency power in Y blockat Gardens Point on September 4 , andwas parked opposite P Block near theboom gate.

Between 2.30pm and4 pm the brakeswere released on the trailer, allowing it toroll down and across the hill. It came torest in a gutter and caused damage to thejockey wheel of the trailer. No one wasinjured.

Campus Operations staff want to talk toany witnesses who may have seen anyonereleasing the brakes and removing thechocks from the trailer. If you have anyinformation relating to this incident pleasecontact David Drury on (07) 3864 2159.

Trailer crash:witnessesneeded

AlumniRelationsunit in finalsBy Phillipa Hanrick

The Alumni Relations unit of QUT’sDevelopment Office has won throughto the finals in three categories of theNational ADAPE (Association ofDevelopment and Alumni Professionalsin Education) Awards.

QUT is the Queensland finalist forthe 1998 publication award, TertiaryAlumni Community Magazine, for QUTLinks, and the 1998 alumni communityaward for the Central Technical CollegeReunion which was held earlier thisyear. The 1998 publication award,Capital Campaign Ongoing Major GiftLiterature for Gardens Point CulturalPrecinct , also made the National finalsin the ADAPE awards.

The ADAPE awards will be presentedat the biennial National Conferencelater in September in recognition ofoutstanding achievement.

Page 4 INSIDE QUT September 14 - October 5, 1998

Dads ‘like a boy first’

had no preference; while five listed apreference for a daughter.

Dr Grieshaber said even thosefathers who knew the their infant wasfemale continued in interviews beforethe birth to indicate their preferencefor sons. Many spoke of theirdisappointment when they foundfrom ultrasound scans that they werefathering daughters and not sons.

“Most of the fathers gave a varietyof reasons. One dad said there was a‘kind of a message that the first one

by Andrea Hammond

Fathers prefer their first-bornchildren to be boys, researchin QUT’s School of EarlyChildhood has found.

Lecturer Dr Sue Grieshaberis investigating how the processof “gendering” can begin withinfamilies at an early stage.

With research assistantCarol Quadrelli she hasconducted four audio andvideo-taped interviews with 20Brisbane families over a 16-month period to investigate howparents’ attitudes and beliefsinfluence interactions withtheir babies.

Preliminary findings revealexpectant fathers had amarked preference for boysand that their envisagedinteractions with their infantswere future outdoor andsporting activities.

Data not yet analysed isexpected to show mothersand fathers routinely engage in genderdifferentiation, unconsciouslyspeaking and treating boy and girlinfants differently.

Dr Grieshaber said, of the 20fathers interviewed before their babieswere born, 11 had expressed a strongpreference for a son, while seven hadno preference. Only two fathers —both of whom had boys in previousrelationships — wanted girls. Eightmothers — almost half of the group— also said they would prefer theirfirst-born child to be a son; seven

should be a boy because theboy should be moredominant’,” she said.

Dr Grieshaber said thepreferences and commentscould be read as being boundup with the ideas ofdominant masculinity thatpervaded the society inwhich we lived.

Dr Grieshaber said duringpre-birth interviews fatherswere asked about the imagesthey had of themselvesinteracting with their babies.They imagined theirchildren not as babies but asolder children with whomthey would play sport.

“On the whole, the first pre-birth interviews showed thatfathers were not positioned todiscuss their involvement innurturing infants. Themajority of fathers couldimagine themselves interactingwith their child when the childwas older.”

Dr Grieshaber said a second roundof interviews after the babies wereborn revealed that, despite those earlyimages, real daily life was different.

“Fathers did hold, placate andnurture their infants, but they (fathers)did not often talk about it.”

Early findings from the study,funded by a QUT Faculty ofEducation research grant and a QUTNew Researcher Grant, have beenincluded in the book Gender in EarlyChildhood, edited by early childhoodsenior lecturer Dr Nicola Yelland.

Queensland cricketer Scott Prestwidgewith son Jack ... most dads prefer boys first

Statement through dance

Choreographer and dance student Leah Shelton will perform in DanceMoves — Statements Through Dance, a season of works by

choreographic majors from the Academy of the Arts’ dance programfrom September 16 to 18 at the Woodward Theatre, Kelvin Grove

by public relations student CarrieWright

QUT scientists have geneticallyengineered a line of Australian pawpawto protect them from a virus whichhas devastated papaw industriesworldwide.

Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV),spread by aphids, causes the leaves toyellow and disfigures fruit with ring-shaped spots.

Professor James Dale, Dr MarionBateson and Ms Rose Lines from theCentre for Molecular Biotechnology inconjunction with the Queensland

Pawpaw virus comes a cropperDepartment of Primary Industries(QDPI) have engineered a line ofpawpaw which, based on currentresults, is resistant to PRSV.

Ms Lines, a QUT researcher, saidthe resistant pawpaw had beenengineered by inserting one gene fromthe virus into pawpaw plants and thentesting to check whether they haddeveloped resistance.

“We used a technique calledmicro-projecti le bombardment,which accelerates a gene from thevirus into a pawpaw embryo, togenetically engineer the plant,” shesaid.

The transgenic plants were thentransferred to facilities at the QDPIand tested for PRSV resistance. Oftwo lines tested, one showedresistance.

QDPI plant pathologist Mr DenisPersley said after field tests with thetransgenic papaw haf been completed,Genetic Manipulation AdvisoryCommittee approval would berequired before the plants could bemade available commercially.

This work was supported by theQueensland Fruit and VegetableGrowers and the Horticultural Researchand Developoment Corporation.

Funds raised for PNG tsunami victims

By Noel Genter

Waterfalls in Australia have generallybeen well cared for, says QUTgeographer and urban and regionalplanner Dr Brian Hudson.

However, the senior lecturer in theSchool of Planning, LandscapeArchitecture and Surveying said therewas no room for complacency.

Earlier this month Dr Hudsonpresented a seminar entitled, Sublime

and beautiful objects: the aesthetics ofwaterfalls , in which he examinedphilosophical and practical aspectsof waterfalls.

Dr Hudson, who has researchedwaterfalls in many countries, saidAustralia “had been doing a prettygood job, despite pressure fromtourism and hydro-electrictygenerating schemes”.

He said that in many overseascountries, waterfalls had suffered

because of too much tourism andbecause they were used to generateelectricity. He cited Jamaica as oneexample where serious environmentaldamage had been done to waterfalls.

He warned that Australians couldnot afford to be complacent aboutenvironmental harm to waterfalls.

“An example of a major loss inAustralia is the Barron River Falls inNorth Queensland which is being usedfor hydro-generation,” Dr Hudson said.

Protect our waterfalls, says expert

A cheque from QUT’s InternationalStudent’s Association is the latest donationto assist the tidal-wave devastated area ofnorthern Papua New Guinea.

The President of the association, WeiLoong Chen, a final year law student,presented a cheque to Anthony Smare(national co-ordinator of a fund inAustralia on behalf of the CatholicDiocese of Aitape, Papua New Guinea).

Mr Chen said association members,on hearing about the destruction, offeredassistance and had donated the proceedsof a fund-raising social evening.

Mr Smare, a fellow law student,comes from the disaster area of Aitape.Mr Smare said of the funds raised inAustralia, $20,000 had been earmarkedfor the orphan Aitape trust fund whichwould cater for education needs.

He said enough money had also beenraised to fund a $70,000 class-roomblock containing four fully furnishedclassrooms.

“I am in contact with the Catholicdiocese authorities there (in Aitape) andthe immediate relief phase is pretty muchover,” Mr Smare said. “But we have10,000 people who are homeless andaccommodated in care centres.”

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INSIDE QUT September 15 – October 5, 1998 Page 5

Students shine at Out of the Boxby Colleen Ryan Clur

QUT education, drama and dancestudents excelled at the fourthinternationally-acclaimed Out of the BoxFestival at South Bank, with participantsreceiving high praise for their work.

The early childhood festival ’sartistic director, Cate Fowler, saidQUT students had done a “fantasticjob” during the productions andworkshops which ran from late Augustto mid-September.

“There was a good theatreproduction, the dancers were a hugesuccess and early childhood studentsgave an example of extraordindaryteaching practice in workshops withchildren,” Ms Fowler said.

A second group of drama students,decked out as brightly coloured stars —in keeping with the festival’s stars theme— entertained young visitors in frontof the Lyric Theatre.

Some 40 students from the School ofEarly Childhood — under the directionof senior lecturer Dr Barbara Piscitelli— set up and ran an exhibition andstudio for children demonstrating theArt of Eric Carle. Mr Carle’s unique art— which is seen in books like The VeryHungry Caterpillar — was conveyed tohundreds of children who viewed anexhibition at the QueenslandPerforming Arts Complex (QPAC).

The children also painted and createdcolourful collages in a temporary studio.

Most of the students involved in QUTOut of the Box projects were volunteers whoreceived credit towards their degree studies.

“Students were involved in all stages,from planning and setting up the studio,to working with children and evaulatingtheir responses,” Dr Piscitelli said.

“It’s a very important part of thestudent learning process that they seechildren learning outside of the usualschool environment,” she said.

Cast andcrew gainvaluableexperience

A further 16 early childhood studentsworked in a range of other art workshopsat the festival under the supervision oflecturer Cassandra Weddell.

Two QUT dance students tookchildren through a thrilling, 30-minute, high-energy dance-and-musicroutine on the grass plaza outside theQPAC complex.

Dance lecturer Kristen Bell was theco-ordinator of the routine.

Another highlight at the Out of the Boxchildren’s festival involved 20 QUTdrama students who devised andperformed Big Blue — a play aboutsurf, sea and growing up — under thedirection of leading theatre directorSteve Gration.

Big Blue kicked off on the grassedarea at the front of the CremorneTheatre, before the cast and youngaudience made their way inside thetheatre complex where a series ofepisodes were staged. The mobile,interactive nature of the performancekept children enthralled.

Drama lecturer Dr Paul Makeham,who was the QUT co-ordinator for BigBlue, said the production gave studentsthe opportunity to work in a professionalsetting and make invaluable contacts.

“The philosophy in the drama degreeis to strike a balance between theory andpractice and a big benefit (of the Out ofthe Box Festival) is giving them a chanceto apply their skills,” Dr Makeham said.

Mr Gration said he had been involvedin an Out of the Box-QUT production fouryeas ago and had subsequently had anopportunity to employ some of the QUTgraduates with whom he had worked.

“We made the dance arena a placewhere everybody had to dance, includingmothers, fathers, teachers, even busdrivers and policemen.”

Ms Bell said groups as large as 130chi ldren and smal ler groups ofpreschoolers were taken throughtheir paces.

The Out of the Box Festival a biannualevent, forms part of this year’s BrisbaneFestival.

Getting ready for fun on the beach ... Mark Snow of St Francis Xavier College gets involved in theaction in the QUT student production, Big Blue, at the Out of the Box festival on South Bank

A QUT Christian staff association isexpected to be officially formed withinthe next few months.

Over the past 18 months, several staffhave approached the university’schaplain, Father Bavin Clarke, toconsider the re-establishment of aChristian staff association on campus.

About 30 staff members held apreliminary meeting at the GardensPoint campus on Wednesday September3 to discuss the proposal.

Father Clarke said he hoped theassociation would be launched at thenext formal meeting.

Father Clarke, who took over thechaplaincy early last year, said heunderstood the previous Christian staffassociation had lost membership andbecame polarised at one end of thereligious spectrum.

“If we are to re-establish theassociation, we will have to seek themiddle ground so it will be as attractiveas possible to the greatest number ofpeople,” Father Clarke said.

Noel Gentner

Christianstaff body tobe formed

Songs to beshowcasedat DisneylandQUT Academy of Arts music studentswill soon be performing in Disneyland.

Composer Susan Hawkins will havea set of her pop songs performed at theLos Angeles and Florida Disneylandtheme parks by an Australian band,which includes a fellow-classmate, bassguitarist Dave Gallea.

Ms Hawkins will be touring with theband and will help with sound andlighting arrangements. In her spare timeshe will be writing more songs for theband planned CD.

Band management companyInternational Artists has managed toattract the attention of both EMI andSony records, with both companiesexpressing an interest in recording theyoung performers.

“During the three month tour I plan todevote considerable time to songwritingfor the CD,” said Ms Hawkins.

Ms Hawkins is the managing directorof NUMB — NU Music Base — aBrisbane organisation which supportslocal composers and performers ofcontemporary music.

Help at hand for childrenwho are unco-ordinatedThrough a special clinic, QUT’s Schoolof Human Movement Studies has beenhelping children with co-ordinationproblems to learn how to move moreefficiently and to overcome barriers totheir enjoyment of healthy activity.

Led by l ec turer Dr Caro lynO’Brien, the school has introduced anumber of programs for childrenwhich of fe r adapted anddevelopmental physical activity.

Collectively known as PADPAC,the programs have proved increasinglypopular with famil ies that havechildren who have co-ordinationproblems and who might previouslyhave been called “clumsy”.

“These programs provide specialactivity sessions for children, within theirown communities, that help themovercome their poor co-ordination,” DrO’Brien explained.

“Physical, sensory or intellectualimpairment may explain why thesechildren are not as co-ordinated as theirpeers, she said.

“But many have low muscle tone andwhat’s known as ‘developmental co-ordination disorder’.

“Traditionally, children in thesegroups are not adequately catered for inthe majority of community-based sportand recreational programs.

“They find such activities are usuallytoo complicated or difficult for them toachieve success and that can lead tofrustration and disappointment whenthey cannot keep up with other childrenwhich leads them to withdraw and doless exercise.”

Run from QUT’s Kelvin Grovecampus, PADPAC allows children tobe assessed during the program or on anindividual basis.

Dr O’Brien said children wereassessed in terms of their motor co-ordination, motor skills, motorperformance and fitness as well as opticaland physiotherapy needs.

Children then participate in a seriesof specially devised activities to improvetheir skills.

“We can also provide ongoingmonitoring of school- or home-basdprograms , pa r t i cu l a r l y wherestudents cannot attend weekly,” DrO’Brien explained.

Dr O’Brien’s, main area of researchis motor development in normal anddisabled children. She is assisted in thePADPAC clinic for children withdevelopmental co-ordination disorderby physiotherapist Carmel Bouman,who has experience in sensory-motorand orthopaedic therapy of children.

These clinics, which run for an hourthree times a week throughout the schoolyear, cost $6 a session.

For further information aboutPADPAC, contact Dr Carolyn O’Brienon (07) 3864 3855 or the School ofHuman Movement Clinic on (07) 38645819.• The School of Human Movement

Clinic is starting a new program forchildren with chronic asthma who findit difficult to keep up with otherchildren in physical activities.

By Gina Pickering

Faster, more accurate interpretationof satellite photographs is nowpossible thanks to revolutionarycomputer software called Hydradeveloped at QUT.

Dr Paul Wilson, senior lecturer atQUT’s School of Electrical andElectronics Systems Engineering,developed Hydrex as the focus of hisPhD thesis, Automatic Interpretationof Remotely Sensed Images byKnowledge-Based Techniques.

Dr Wilson said analysing andinterpreting satellite photographsaccurately had always been a problembecause the level of training required

Software boost for satellite photos

Dr Paul Wilson ... faster interpretation of satellite picturesa major breakthrough

was high and analysts often obtainedconflicting answers.

“Hydrex software does away withhuman intervention and relies onartificial intelligence to deliverinformation about satellite imagery ina cost-effective manner,” he said

“It can take weeks for a trainedanalyst to get results from an image,which makes it very expensive.”

Hydrex quickly reveals detailedsatellite image information aboutwater content both on the land andoff the coast. The software is sosensitive, it can determine whether animage contains water bodies — suchas a relatively small one-or-two hectare

freshwater swamp — within minutes.Traditionally, satellite interpretationhas taken weeks.

Environmental effects such asatmospheric haze, cloud shadows,pollution and river sediment can beseparated from other satelliteinformation by the new program.

“Images produced by Hydrex canreveal the extent of damage causedby the cattle industry, for example,or pinpoint coastal changesdetermined by fertilisers that havebeen leaked from soil and thendeposited at river outlets.”

Dr Wilson expects Hydrex to be atime-saver for satellite image analysts.

Page 6 INSIDE QUT September 15 –October 5, 1998

By Phillipa Hanrick

Having fun is an important part of studentlife, but members of the internationalorganisation AIESEC are doubling the goodtimes with hard work and careeropportunity development.

AIESEC, which is a French acronym for the50-year-old international student organisation,promotes cultural awareness in 87 countries.

Two QUT students who have recentlyreturned from the AIESEC-organised AsiaPacific Leadership Development Seminarin Tokyo, believe they are increasing theiremployment opportunities through theirparticipation in the organisation.

Nicola Booth and Dion Beg, bothInternational Marketing students, said theywere expanding their networks andknowledge throuh AIESEC.

“Through AIESEC you get exposure toa lot of corporate activities because a part ofour role is to extract sponsorship fundingand to form partnerships with these largeorganisations,” Mr Beg said.

Ms Booth said that although she wasstudying for a business degree she hadnever seen a marketing proposal until shejoined AIESEC.

“Now I have to help write and presentthe proposals to the companies and this

QUT’s first MBA scholarshipwinner Yen Tan

Just five months ago Singaporeanstudent Yen Tan considered quittingher studies after thinking she wouldfail in her MBA but since then herfortunes have turned around.

Ms Tan, 28 — then a new studentin the QUT’s Graduate School ofBusiness — pondered her futurewhen she received the second-lowestmark in her class for an assignment.

“I wanted to quit on the spotbecause I don’t take failure that well,”Ms Tan admitted.“But my lecturers,Malcolm Lewis and Joanne Wrightpersuaded me to read up onmotivation and determination andthat really helped me focus.”

Top scholar almost quitMs Tan continued her studies and

her renewed persistence has paid off.This week she was awarded the

Graduate School of Business’ firstfull-fee scholarship after she receiveda perfect grade-point average of sevenfor her first semester of study.

Details about QUT’s MBAprogram and its limited range offull, half and quarter-fee waiverscholarships will be made availableat an information evening to beheld on Tuesday, September 22,from 6-7.30pm in the Owen JWordsworth Room (Level 12, SBlock at QUT’s Gardens Pointcampus.)

Dion Beg and Nicola Booth, both members of the international studentorganisation AISEC recently returned from an Asia-Pacific conference

Links established atAsia-Pacific seminar

helps bridge the gap between the theoreticalwork I do at university and real world whereI want to work,” she said.

Ms Booth said she became involved inAIESEC because she wanted to workoverseas when she graduated.

Mr Beg said he thought the organisationwas good a way of improving his practicalbusiness skills.

The seminar which the students attendedwas aimed at developing the leadershipskills, cultural awareness and motivationof the youth of the Asia-Pacific region.

It was attended by students from Taiwan,Korea, Sri Lanka, United States, Thailand,Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia,Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, NewZealand and Australia.

The students said one of the key aims ofthe Australian contingent was to assess theattitudes toward Australia and Queenslandfollowing One Nation publicity and topromote the country and state as a safeplace to visit and study.

“We held ‘coffee talks’ on the extent ofracism in the Asia Pacific region andanswered a few questions about OneNation,” Ms Booth said.

For further information about AISECcontact its office (B Block Room 113) on(07) 3864 1210.

Nursing students returnfrom overseas postingBy Noel Gentner

Third-year QUT nursing students cameface to face with hospitals confrontingsevere overcrowding during a recentsuccessful overseas work experienceprogram.

Seven School of Nursing studentsrecently returned after working for a monthin hospitals in England, Canada, Irelandand Scotland.

Overseas clinical placement co-ordinatorand lecturer in Nursing Karen Theobaldsaid it had been the largest group to gooverseas to separate destinations.

Ms Theobald said preparations werealready in hand to offer similar placementsnext year and the school was investigatingimplementing a reciprocal program withoverseas universities.

“We have already received pleasingreactions from hospital executives overseaswhere the students were placed andfeedback from the students themselves hasalso been positive,” Ms Theobald said.

“In the next few weeks we will beapproaching second-year students who mayhave an interest in ourprogram next year.”

The seven students involved wereVanessa Burgoyne (Kent and SussexWeald Hospital, Tunbridge Wells,England), Anne Dawson (Western

General Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland),Steve Eden and Damian Killoran (CityHospital NHS Trust, Birmingham),Michele Furniss (Rotunda Hospital,Dublin, Ireland), Natasha Kearey (RoyalBrompton and Harefield NHS Trust,London) and Lindsey Thomas (QueenElizabeth Hospital, Charlottetown,Canada).

Steve Eden and Damian Killoran saidthey planned to work overseas again in thefuture. Both spent a month working mainlyin the emergency admissions ward in theCity Hospital, Birmingham.

“It’s an extremely busy hospital in theemergency ward. They have 100,000 casesa year through the door,” Mr Eden said.

“Sometimes people are on trolleys,not even beds, just in the corridors afterthey have been seen by doctors, andit’s eight and sometimes up to 12 hoursbefore they can find a bed for them –and that was a regular daily occurence,”Mr Eden explained

Under the scheme, students organisetheir own accommodation while overseasand pay their own air travel costs.

Over the past few years the school hadassisted several nursing students fromEngland to find clinical placements inBrisbane and rural Queensland, MsTheobald said.

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INSIDE QUT September 15 – October 5, 1998 Page 7

Check out What’s On at http:// www.qut.edu.au/pubs/02stud/whatson.html

Send your What’s On entry to c.ryanclur@qut.edu.au or via fax on (07) 3210 0474.

STUDENT GUILD

Sep 26 Ski Trip. From September 26 to October 3.

Sep 27 QUT Fun Run. 10 km run/walk at Gardens Point.

Sep 27 AUSF Games. From September 27 to October 2.

Oct 15 Oktoberfest. Gardens Point Campus.

Oct 15 AUSF Reunion. Gardens Point Campus.

Oct 23 Soccer Comp-QUT Cup.

Oct 29 Sports Awards Dinner. Oct 29.

Nov 27 QUT Ball, Friday Nov 27.

Recreation Courses - everything from Carlton United Brewery Tours to whale-watching. Further details in the Semester 2 Recreation Handbook. KirstenFraser on (07) 3864 5536 or Natalie Mulvihill on (07) 3864 2928.

For further details, contact Recreation Department on (07) 3864 1213

FROM THE ACADEMY

Sep 16-18 New Moves. Student choreography season, 5pm. Woodward Theatre, KG.Contact Leanne Cutler at l.cutler@qut.edu.au or (07) 3864 5998.

Oct 7 Free lunchtime concerts at 1.05pm. M Block Music studio, KG. Australiancontemporary music with pianist Carson Dron. Contact Leanne Cutler atl.cutler@qut.edu.au or (07) 3864 5998.

Oct 2-10 Much Ado About Nothing. Performances at 6pm (2/10, 9/10) OR 8pm (3/10,6/10, 10/10). QUT Theatre, Gardens Point. For details see http://www.adacemy.qut.edu.au/whatson

Oct 14 Graduation Actors’ Showcase. 8pm, QUT Theatre, GP. Contact Leanne Cutlerat l.cutler@qut.edu.au or (07) 3864 5998.

COURSES, SEMINARS,

WORKSHOPS, CONFERENCES

CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF ETHICS

Oct 16 Teaching and Research in Ethics across the University. 1pm - 4pm, D301,KG. Preston at n.preston@qut.edu.au or (07) 3864 4747.

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES (EQUITY SECTION)

Sep 22 Grievance Management 1: Introduction. Free workshops on resolvingdiscrimination and harassment grievances for QUT managers and supervisors.9am-1pm. S1215 (OJW), GP.

Oct 7 & 9 Two-day planning workshop for women in secretarial, clerical andadministrative positions. Free, 9am to 4pm, K108 (staff training room),KG. Leanne Zimmermann at l.zimmermann@qut.edu.au or (07) 3864 3653.

What is public journalism and will itwork in Australia?

In recent years, the perception hasgrown that there i s a cr i s i s ofconfidence in the media, in thepolitical process and in many otherareas of Australian society.

Ethical concerns arise almost dailyand conflict is the hallmark of manyencounters involving the mediawhich increasingly answer the, withthe “who”, “what” , “how” and“when” questions of journalism, butfailing to address the most importantquestion: “why?”

Simple, persuasive rhetoric seemspreferred to deep analysis and fulldebate, leaving audiences disillusionedand disaffected.

Over time, such cynicism andmistrust has contributed to fallingcirculations for newspapers in someparts of the world, including Australia.

Individuals within the media arelooking at ways to restore lost faithin the media institutions and, at thesame time, to encourage a morereasoned and informed debate aboutdaily issues.

There is a trend in both Australiaand the United States of people feelingdisconnected from the dialogue of thepolitical process.

Over the past few years someelements in the US media haveattempted to address this problem bycreating a partnership between the keyinterest groups in the public debate,namely the public and the media.

The i d e a b eh ind pub l i cjournalism forums is to enable themedia to examine more closely theconcerns of the community.

In 1994, prior to elections inMinnesota, the Minnesota Compact setout a number of reciprocal obligationsinvolving the media, the communityand the politicians.

There were several debates whichwere organised as discussions aboutpo l i cy and i s sue s , r a the r thanslanging matches.

News organisations agreed toemphasise the substantive concerns ofcitizens in an in-depth rather thansuperficial way and the communitycommitted itself to “setting higherstandards for political discourse amongcandidates and citizens”.

In Australia, QUT is researchingwhether public journalism forums willwork here.

The research team, headed by QUT’sSchool of Media and Journalism, aguesthat Australia confronts the samedilemmas that prompted the emergenceof public journalism in the US: flaggingcirculations, increasing disjunctionsbetween news media organisations andthe communities they serve as well as adiminishing interest in public affairsand in democratic participation.

The research project is exploring therelevance of public journalism in theAustralian sociopolitical context,initially under the broad umbrella ofrace relations.

The project is also outlining anapproach to the development of publicjournalism and what its benefits mightbe in Australia.

Aided by funding and support fromfour other organisations — TheCourier-Mail, the Australian ResearchCouncil, Australians for Reconciliation(Qld) and the Ethnic CommunitiesCouncil of Queensland — QUTorganised the first of three publicjournalism forums in June at theMorayfield Community Centre andfocused on reconciliation issues.

The second public journalismforum, Immigration Beyond 2000, willbe held at QUT on Saturday,September 19, from 11am to 1pm.

Public journalism forum looks at immigrationWITH a Federal election to be held on October3, policies for immigration beyond 2000 are ofinterest to many voters.

At Immigration Beyond 2000, a special publicjourna l i sm fo rum to be he ld a t QUT onSaturday September 19, Queenslanders will geta chance to discuss their concerns and explorep o t e n t i a l s o l u t i o n s t o var ious n a t i o n a lpopulation concerns.

It will be held in Z Block (room 4.11) atGardens Point campus from 11am to 1pm.

The forum is the second in a series of threewhich comprise the Public Journalism Projectwhich is being conducted by QUT’s School ofMedia and Journalism in conjunction withThe Courier-Mail.

To be chaired by Courier-Mail reporter andp o p u l a r f o r m e r A B C b r o a d c a s t e r A n n aReyno lds , the fo rum i s f r e e and open tothe public.

Speakers at the September 19 forum willinclude Brisbane Lord Mayor Jim Soorley, theexecutive director of multicultural affairs in theDepa r tment o f P r emie r and Cab ine t Ur iT h e m a l , A u s t r a l i a n s f o r a n E c o l o g i c a l l ySusta inable Populat ion’s Shei la Davis andO n e N a t i o n i m m i g r a t i o n s p o k e s p e r s o nRobyn Spencer.

To register to attend this free public forumor register your thoughts on immigration, call1900 966 573 (Broadsystem calls cost 50c,mobile/pay phones extra).

QUT SECRETARIAL NETWORK (SECNET)

Oct 15-16 Second National Conference for Executive Secretaries and PersonalAssistants. Hilton International Hotel, Brisbane. QUT Continuing ProfessionalEducation Unit. Maria Lamari at m.lamari@qut.edu.au or (07) 3864 2915.

SCHOOL OF MEDIA AND JOURNALISM

Sep 18 Floating Lives: the media of the Vietnamese diaspora. 12pm-2pm, B509,GP. Janet Hayes at j.hayes@qut.edu.au or (07) 3864 2463.

Sep 19 Public Journalsim Forum on Immigration Beyond 2000. 11am-1pm, Z411,GP. Sharon Tickle at s.tickle@qut.edu.au or (07) 38641225.

SCHOOL OF NURSING

Nov 3-4 Nursing the Future (Convention and Trade Expo). Nov 3-4, GP. (After reunion, seeAlumni Events). Helen Keown at h.keown@qut.edu.au or (07) 3864 3820.

SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Nov 16-27 Fifth International Health Summer School. Short courses and presentationson current and emerging public health issues. Julie Joughin atj.joughin@qut.edu.au or on (07) 3864 3523.

TEACHING AND LEARNING DEVELOPMENT UNIT

Sep 24 Using high technology in support of traditional pedagogy (seminar). 10 am-Noon, C320, Cars. Patricia Weeks at p.weeks@qut.edu.au or (07) 3864 2220.

Oct 3 Part-time academics: a valuable resource (conference). 9am-3.30pm. Z303,GP. Virginia Cregan at v.cregan@qut.edu.au or (07) 3864 5256.

ALUMNI EVENTS

Sep 19 Education reunion for 1968 graduates from Kedron Park Teachers College.Kedron State High School, 3-6pm (informal event) $10; 7.30pm onwards (dinner)$20. Grant Fraser on (07) 3297 0139.

Sep 25 QUT Staff Social Club wine and cheese. 4pm-6pm. Campus Club, GP. Members$12, non-members $15. Joanne Garnett at j.garnett@qut.edu.au or (07) 3864 1840.

Oct 9 Legal Practice Reunion. Liz Clark at ea.clark@qut.edu.au or (07) 3864 2211.

Nov 2 Nursing Reunion. Gala dinner celebrating 20 years of nursing education at QUT.Sheraton Towers Brisbane. Helen Keown at h.keown@qut.edu.au or (07) 3864 3820.

STAFF /STUDENT COURSES

Oct 8 Employment expo at Carseldine. Meet employer groups, learn about recruitmentawareness, interviewing skills and employment options. 1-5pm, C3, Cars.

Oct 14 Staff Orientation Program. For new staff or any other interested staff memberswho would like to know more QUT. 8.45am - 12.30 noon. Training Room, FirstFloor, K Block, KG. Human Resources Department on (07) 3864 5610 or3864 9605. Orientation programs will be held monthly until December.

Cherbourg elder Aunty Penny Bond was was one of more than 300 participants at thefirst Public Journalism Forum held at Morayfield in early June

Page 8 INSIDE QUT September 15 –October 5, 1998

Dale wins outstanding alumni titleThe purpose of QUT’s annual Outstanding Alumni Award is to recognise the professionalachievements and contr ibut ions of graduates of the univers i ty and i t s predecessorinstitutions to the local, state, national and international community.

An initiative of QUT Convocation/Alumni — which consists of graduates, academicstaff and Council members — the award process calls initial ly for nominations frommembers of the university and the wider community which are then measured against setcriteria.

Nominees generally include alumni who have consistently displayed a high level ofachievement in their f ield and in service to the community over a period of at least adecade.

Up to three special awards may also be made each year in the areas of professionalexcel lence, academic and research excel lence, and excel lence in contribution to thecommunity.

QUT’s overall Outstanding Alumni Awardwinner for 1998 is leading Queensland publicsector engineer Dale Gilbert.

Dale — who over his professional career hasbuilt a considerable reputation in the area ofsustainable development — is a leader in theareas of energy management and buildinghealth.

“It seems fitting that this award was presentedin this particular year when both my career andQUT’s Faculty of Built Environment andEngineering are focused on ecologicallysustainable development,” Dale said.

“Like QUT, my objective is to ensure futuregenerations inherit a country where the healthof its people and that of the environment iscontinuing to improve.”

A 1971 graduate from the formerQueensland Institute of Technology, in 1992Dale Gilbert became the only engineer inAustralia to have won a World HealthOrganisation Fellowship.

His work in solving indoor air qualityproblems led to his appointment as chairpersonof the National Building Health EnvironmentTask Group in 1989 and, in 1994, Dale waselected the inaugural chairperson of theNational Indoor Air Quality Group of theClean Air Forum from 1987 to 1994.

Dale was responsible for the full range ofelectrical, electronic and mechanicalengineering services for Queensland

Government office buildings, includinghospitals.

During this period he initiated an innovativeenergy management program which led to asaving in energy costs amounting to $11 millionover four years.

Convincing the State Government of theimportance of energy management and buildinghealth, Dale was charged with the creation ofits Built Environment Research Unit which heheads today.

Since its inception, the unit – which is partof the State’s Department of Public Works –has moved strongly into the area of ecologicallysustainable development.

Earlier this year, the unit was awarded theprestigious Banksia Environmental FoundationNational Award for the development of theplanet’s first Built Environment Protocol, whichhad been developed in conjunction with majorcommunity, government and industryorganisations across Australia.

The protocol was praised for being the firstreal attempt to provide a single frame ofreference for the adoption of ecologicallysustainable development principles throughoutthe lifecycle of buildings.

“The assignments and highlights which standout for me in my professional career includethe WHO’s publication and, in its wake, thedevelopment of the Built EnvironmentProtocol,” he said.

“I’m pleased to see that, as a result of thisprotocol, healthy and sustainable buildingproducts are now beginning to be incorporatedinto all types of buildings such as 111 GeorgeStreet and Education Department buildings.”

Dale is currently part of a collaborativeresearch project with QUT’s EnvironmentalAerosol Laboratory that is looking at theexposure and health risk assessment ofoccupants of Brisbane houses to airbornepollutants.

Working with senior lecturer Dr LidiaMorawska, the research has attracted ARCSPIRT funding.

The creative solutions arising from Dale’sinvolvement in innovative energy technologies

integrated with ecologically sustainabledevelopment has led to an invitation from theprestigious International Energy Agency and theUnited States Department of Energy tocontribute to an international workshop,Towards Sustainable Buildings — A Workshopon Defining Collaborative R&D Needs, later thismonth.

“As a manager, I work through people andalways try to see the big picture of where weshould be in the future,” Dale explained.Other faculty winners at this year’s awards:Arts: Tracey Carrodus, a professional dancersince graduating from QUT in 1991, has spentsix years with the Expressions Dance Companyunder the direction of Maggi Sietsma and iscurrently with the Sydney Dance Company,where she recently executed the role of Salometo acclaim under the guidance of leadingchoreographer Graeme Murphy. Tracey hastoured throughout Australia and performed inGermany, India and Papua New Guinea.Business: Len Scanlan, who graduated fromQIT in 1975 with a Bachelor of Business, hascarved out a distinguished career as a Queenslandpublic sector auditor and, since 1997, has beenthe State’s Auditor-General. Len is a pastpresident of the Queensland chapter of theAustralian Society of Certified PractisingAccountants.Health: Colin Waldron, who completed hisDiploma in Applied Science (Optometry) atQIT in 1968, is a partner in WaldronsOptometrists. He was named QueenslandOptometrist of the Year in 1996 by his peers inthe Australian Optometrical Association. Aregular lecturer on practice management andprofessional issues for optometry students atQUT, Colin is also a member of the Beaudesertand District Chamber of Commerce and amember of the Beaudesert Rotary Club.Information Technology: Associate ProfessorJames McGovern, from RMIT, completed hisBachelor of Applied Science (Computing) at QITin 1980 and since then has practised as acomputing professional, specialising inprogramming, systems analysis and projectmanagement. James has also taught extensively at

QUT and at Victorian tertiaryinstitutions, including RMIT, where heis now Associate Professor of Computing.Law: Associate Professor BrianFitzgerald. Dean of Law School atSouthern Cross University, hegraduated from QIT with a Bachelorof Laws in 1989. He has subsequentlyworked in the High Court for thenMr Justice William Deane (nowGovernor-General), completedstudies at Oxford and Harvard andpublished widely on law andcomputer technology developments.Science : Nuno D’Aquino. Hecompleted his Diploma of IndustrialChemistry at the Central TechnicalCollege, part then of QIT, in 1965.Now managing director of Carltonand United Breweries, Nuno has hada major influence on the developmentof technology in the brewing industryover the past two decades.

Judges for this year’s OutstandingAlumni Award have chosen NunoD’Aquino to receive a special awardfor professional excellence.

Outstanding Alumni Award Winner for 1998,Queensland public sector engineer Dale Gilbert,takes a bird’s eye view from the top of his officebuilding in George Street, with QUT’s GardensPoint campus in the background ... fitting time forsustainability

QUT Council is the governing bodyof the University, chaired by the Chancellor, DrCherrell Hirst. Council will be reconstituted on 21November 1998. In accordance with the QUTAct and Statute 8, nominations arenow called for the filling of the following positions.

Staff Members

Academic staff (three positions)Academic staff are defined as full-time staff ofQUT employed primarily to teach, conductresearch or manage an academic faculty, school,department or research centre and the ViceChancellor, the Deputy Vice-Chan-cellor and thePro-Vice-Chancellor (Research andAdvancement).

Non-academic staff (two positions)Non-academic staff are all full-time staff of QUTother than academic staff.

Nominations are invited from staff members whoqualify for election to QUT Council. Nominationsmust be made on the prescribed form, availablefrom Campus Managers or the Secretariat atGardens Point. Elected candidates will serve athree year term to November 2001. The powersand responsibilities of QUT Council are governedby the QUT Act (copies of which are availablefrom Campus Managers or the Secretariat atGardens Point). Council has ultimateresponsibility for the management and operationof QUT.Nominations are to be lodged with theReturning Officer or the Campus Manager'sOffice by 4pm, Friday, 25 September 1998.

Notice of Electionto QUT Council

SPECIAL DISCOUNT AIRFARESFOR STUDENTS

INDIA from 1070SRI LANKA from 1070KARACHI from 1150DHAKA from 1090SINGAPORE from 850HONG KONG from 790MANILA from 720KUALA LUMPUR from 760TAIPEI from 859BEIJING from 869TOKYO from 1055

conditions apply

For details please call:PREMIER TRAVEL AND TOURSPhone: 3831 5866 Fax: 3831 5877TOLL FREE: 1800 633 827Email: simvisdas@bigpond.com.au

Details of candidates will be posted on campusnotice boards following the close of nominations.The polls will close at 4pm, Friday,16 October 1998.

Convocation Members

Two members who are members ofConvocation, neither of whom shall be afull-time staff member or enrolled studentof the University, appointed by and fromConvocation in the manner prescribed bythe Statutes.

Convocation comprises all graduatesenrolled as members of Convocation, pastand present Council members, and allmembers of the full-time academic staff.

A member of Convocation who is also afull-time member of staff or an enrolledstudent shall not be eligible to be nominatedas a candidate.

Nominations must be made on the prescribed form,available from Campus Managers or theSecretariat at Gardens Point.

Ballots will be forwarded to electorsfollowing close of nominations at 4pm,Friday 25 September 1998.

For further information please contact theSecretariat on (07) 3864 2389 or e-mail:c.goninon@qut.edu.au.

K. E. Baumber(Registrar)

Returning Officer

What the awards are all about

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