Issue 13. 8 September 2008 [PDF File, 1.1 MB]
Transcription
Issue 13. 8 September 2008 [PDF File, 1.1 MB]
UWA NEWS 8 September 2008 Volume 27 Number 13 A golden connection to sailing success by Lindy Brophy Everybody loves a champion, especially one with an Olympic gold medal. The staff in the School of Anatomy and Human Biology extended their love to the father of a champion, Steve Parkinson (pictured above), when he returned to work after witnessing his daughter Tessa win gold for Australia in the two-handed 470-class sailing. Steve sails a cruising yacht, a Spirit 28 “for fun, not competition” but he did compete, with his father, in a yacht race to Bali about 20 years ago. “So I guess you could say Tessa’s a third generation sailor,” he said. When Tessa left school, she enrolled at UWA to study in the School in which her father had worked for her whole life. Steve, the chief technician in the School and manager of histology and research resources for CELL Central, arrived the day after the Olympics ended to find his small office filled with green and gold balloons, streamers, messages of congratulations and newspaper cuttings of the success of his daughter. “But about the same time, she teamed up with Elise Rechichi (with whom she won her gold medal). They trained so hard and had to go to Europe for competitions so often, that she found it impossible to keep up her studies. She’s hoping to study physiotherapy eventually.” “I feel quite overwhelmed,” he said. “It’s hard to get back down to earth and back to work.” Tessa’s brother Luke (18) also sails and is currently competing in a national competition of team racing in Perth. In this issue Tessa Parkinson (right) celebrating gold with team-mate Elise Rechichi The hardest part of being an Olympic parent? “Just not having my daughter home much. She moved to Sydney where she was based at the Australian Institute of Sport, and they had to compete in Europe a lot.” This, according to Steve, was harder than towing small yachts across the Nullarbor many times. As the sailing was held in Qingao, about 600 kilometres south east of Beijing, Steve and his wife Sue did not get the chance to see China’s capital in all its glory. But Tessa took Luke with her to the Olympic city when Channel 7 flew Elise and her there for interviews after winning gold. P2 new education program P8 native american link P12 eureka prize-winners UWA’s new primary teaching program was launched by the Minister for Education, Mark McGowan at North Cottesloe Primary School. Annie Fogarty also announced the Fogarty Foundation’s Teaching Excellence scholarships. Students Sharni Wallis and Gillian Morrell (rear) helped to entertain the visitors. UWA goes back to primary school You can’t teach a class until you can teach an individual. Science degree, or as a two year postgraduate course. when they could choose a one-year DipEd instead. That’s one of the tenets of UWA’s new Masters in Primary Teaching, so students will go out to schools and help to teach individual children who have learning difficulties, before they learn how to teach a class. “It will advance the knowledge and learning of primary school teachers, rather than going straight from school, then on to teaching,” Dr Heldsinger said. “If we had the system they have in Canada, where teachers with Masters degrees are paid more, it might be a different story,” she said. It is more than 20 years since UWA offered a primary teaching degree. Sandy Heldsinger, the co-ordinator of the new primary program, said the Education Faculty had received many requests to reinstate their program. Dr Heldsinger said there was also a moral obligation to children in primary schools to ensure high-quality graduates were going into primary teaching. The Dean of the School of Graduate Education, Professor Bill Louden, said: “Primary education suffers nationally from a long-term decline in entry standards, to a degree that is likely to impact on the quality of teaching and leadership for the next generation of school children.” The Masters in Primary Education starts next year, as a five year degree when combined with an Arts or 2 “The Masters course content has been designed from empirical research on what makes an exceptional teacher,” she said. “The students will be watching a lot of videos of exceptional teachers, then analysing what makes them good.” She said there would be opportunities for overseas and regional teaching practice. The School is also offering a new Masters in Secondary Education, which is also a two year course. “We feel that one of the problems with a Graduate Diploma in Education – the usual path chosen by university graduates who want to become teachers – is fitting everything you need to learn into one year,” she said. Dr Heldsinger said that some students may not be inclined to do a further two years study after completing a degree, To encourage higher participation in the Masters in Secondary Education, UWA patrons Brett and Annie Fogarty have offered up to ten $3,000 scholarships next year for students enrolling in the five year Bachelor’s degree plus Masters. The key criterion for the UWA Fogarty Foundation Teaching Excellence Scholarships will be academic excellence, with prospective winners enrolling in the program with a TER of 95 or higher. “The Foundation is passionate about working, in its own small way, toward lifting the profile and status of teaching as a profession, and, in particular, making it a career of choice for high academic achievers,” said Annie Fogarty. Scholarship winners will also be invited to participate in the UWA Fogarty Foundation Leadership in Teaching program, with $10,000 of program support from the Foundation. UWA NEWS 8 September 2008The University of Western Australia Leaving a legacy in the Winthrop tradition by Lindy Brophy (with thanks to Bianca Galipo for her interpreting skills) The short thick fingers of three elderly Italian stonemasons have once again warmed the stone they had shaped and layed more than 40 years ago. Antonio Giuffre (87), his old friend from the same village in Sicily, Antonio Fasolo (83), and his brother-in-law, Wilson Carini (90), visited Winthrop Hall recently … the first time they had been back to admire their work since they helped to enclose the Undercroft in the early 1960s. The three friends spent six months cutting and shaping by hand huge limestone rocks from Wanneroo and Spearwood, to perfectly fill the spaces between the columns beneath Winthrop Hall when the post-war baby boom meant that the University was becoming pushed for space. The three men were part of an all-Italian team of about eight stonemasons who had all honed their skills in Italy before migrating here in the 1950s and 60s. Their contribution to the campus was discovered as project officers preparing for the University’s Centenary found a reference to one of their names. The Undercroft was the biggest project any of them had worked on; their other work was mostly small homes. Working conditions were very different in the 1960s. They had no steel-capped boots, no safety helmets, no harnesses when they worked up high. Antonio Giuffre recalled almost falling several metres after putting a wheelbarrow filled with cement into a lift, which began lowering before he was finished. Despite working with axes, tomahawks, hammers, chisels and saws, none of them remember any injuries. They had all learned the art of building dry stone walls in Italy, by simply watching and working with older men. “We didn’t use cement as they do here,” said Antonio Giuffre, through the interpreter. Even though the men have lived in Perth for about 50 years, they have little if any English. But they said they were proud to have worked on a building that is a WA icon. Antonio Giuffre’s grandson, Jacques Giuffre, graduated from UWA in Computer Science about five years ago, then completed a graduate diploma in languages (French, not Italian) in 2005. Centenary Contributions While the work of these stonemasons contributed greatly to the University, the University also contributes significantly to the intellectual, cultural and economic development of WA and Australia. One of the celebrations planned for the UWA Centenary in 2011 is a publication of the top 100 contributions UWA has made to the community over the past century. They could include research highlights, student activities (such as Uni Camp for Kids), community outreach (for example PIAF), architectural designs, scholarly works and medical breakthroughs. Please send your suggestions to Virginia Rowland, Centenary Planning, Office of Development: virginia.rowland@uwa.edu.au Antonio Fasolo, Wilson Carini and Antonio Giuffre are not as sprightly as they were when they worked on Winthrop Hall The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 8 September 2008 3 Striving for the highest international standards In most endeavours, to have your efforts acknowledged by your peers is a sign that you’re on the right track. And to be acknowledged by your international counterparts is an even bigger compliment. Our University has been so complimented through the invitation to join a global network of research universities – the Worldwide Universities Network – which is a partnership of 16 research-focused universities based in Europe, North America, China and Australia. We have been extremely pleased to accept this invitation for a range of important reasons. The Worldwide University Network is dedicated to making significant advances in knowledge and understanding in areas of global concern, bringing together the experience, equipment and expertise necessary to tackle the big issues facing societies, governments, corporations and education. The fact they want us to be part of this group highlights the growing awareness and recognition of UWA throughout the world, and also provides us with a valuable opportunity to step up to the next level in our research and teaching efforts. Linking up with these high-quality research universities means we can share our expertise and tap into theirs, and thus ensure that our research continues to be world-class. Our University is already rated as one of the most ‘internationalised’ of Australia’s universities with a substantial international student cohort, extensive study abroad and exchange programs, various international academic links, and many global collaborations. Using that as a foundation, we must continue to develop and strengthen the University’s international focus and policies to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by global engagement. Such a strategy is extremely important since increasingly, quality will be recognised and judged in terms of international standards. The aim is to build on an already commendable level of performance and achievement internationally and to improve overseas awareness of the excellence of our institution. And this we do for the benefit of our students, staff and the wider community. Central to our overall ambition as a research-intensive university is the phrase ‘achieving international excellence’. This is the fundamental measure against which we wish to be judged and against which we measure our own activities. Our University aims to be counted among the top 50 universities in the world. To be invited to join the Worldwide University Network is further recognition that we are well on our way to achieving that goal. Alan Robson Vice-Chancellor 4 Keep up the dialogue The Professional Development Review (PDR) system at UWA is constantly under review itself. Introduced in 2006, it was quickly implemented across the campus. In 2007, it was reviewed after 12 months of operation. The content and form of the PDR was scrutinised and the review drew on feedback from all levels of staff. The system is currently being revised again, in line with the feedback from staff provided during last year’s review, and it is anticipated that the modified system will be operational by 2009. The enhanced system will include a simplified preparatory process, improved electronic lodgement of the reports and more functionality in the reporting and cueing of PDR meetings. Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Margaret Seares, said that while it was important to improve our PDR system, it was more important that the dialogue and development of the staff continued. “The issue that, above all others, comes up in staff surveys and exit reports is the desire of our staff to have meaningful discussions with their supervisors about their professional development and career directions. This is why we believe it to be so important that supervisors really take the issue seriously and why we don’t want supervisors to wait until the new system is implemented before doing their next set of PDRs. So all supervisors who have the responsibility for undertaking PDRs with their staff are asked to ensure that they are completed this year using the current PDR system,” Professor Seares said. As the PDR changes are complete, information and training related to the revised process will be provided to managers and a date for implementation will be advised. UWA NEWS 8 September 2008The University of Western Australia Taking health care out of isolation: new networks help remote patients Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the new network was proof that health professionals were prepared to work together Health Minister Nicola Roxon now understands the sheer size of Western Australia. work of all those involved in this network translates to better health care for the community at large.” The Minister was at UWA to launch the Great Southern Managed Health Network (GSMHN), the result of a partnership between the Great Southern GP Network and UWA’s Centre for Software Practice. Minister Roxon said that many medical incidents were due to poor communication rather than clinical error, so this new system would improve patient outcomes. “I can understand how big this area is when I’m told the network will cover 87,000 square kilometres, and I compare that to my west Melbourne electorate of just 75 square kilometres,” she said. Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Seares said that the Great Southern was often not recognised as being remote, in comparison with the Pilbara, the Kimberley and the Goldfields. “But I spend a lot of time in the Great Southern and I can tell you that it can be very isolated and far from health care,” she said. The new network is a major new initiative in regional health care, funded by $1.8 million from the Federal Government, which will include and promote research collaborations. “GPs, specialists, hospitals, aged-care providers and allied health providers are now connected through shared electronic health records, secure communication and remote administration of health and medicine,” Professor Seares said. “The project has been a great success and is now being rolled out in other areas of the State, including the Kimberley, Pilbara, Midwest and Wheatbelt.” “The University of WA is committed to developing long-term strategic partnerships with the community we serve, and the The University of Western Australia “This is an important step in developing e-health capability,” she said. Dr David Tadj, chair of the Great Southern GP Network, said the GSMHN would be a useful tool not only for GPs but for health providers across the board. “For the first time, we will be able to access streamlined computerised records, enabling us to more easily collaborate with colleagues and minimise delays in patient care,” Dr Tadj said. “The crucial thing here is that the network is secure, so patients can feel sure that their right to confidentiality will be protected.” Dr David Glance, Director of the Centre for Software Practice, said that the UWA-developed Medical Message Exchange (MMEx), deployed through the GSMHN would provide a significant base for connecting all health professionals in WA. “Sharing patient information securely has become as simple as using web-based email,” Dr Glance said. “MMEx currently gives more than 2,500 GPs and health professionals in WA access to secure electronic messaging.” He said the new system would also eliminate the traditional problem of illegibility of doctor’s notes and patient charts. Other services include an online directory of health professionals and healthcare organisations in WA, allowing users to search by locality, clinical specialty or clinician name. UWA NEWS 8 September 2008 5 Differing priorities in pregnancy The effectiveness of antismoking messages targeting Indigenous mothers-to-be is under examination, following findings that 60 to 65 per cent of Indigenous women continued to smoke during their pregnancies – three times the rate of non-Indigenous women. According to a new Healthway funded UWA study, quitting smoking is not a high priority for Indigenous women who are also faced with issues such as poverty, stress, discrimination, unemployment and family difficulties during their pregnancy. “Quitting smoking is a low health priority generally for Indigenous people, compared to other health and social issues.” “Not only do many women continue to smoke when they’re pregnant, but many of them have little idea about the harm to them and their babies,” said Dr Slack-Smith. Maternal smoking increases the risk of miscarriage, pre-term birth, infant mortality and having a low birthweight baby. The baby also runs a greater risk of childhood illnesses such as asthma. The research has come from Dr Slack-Smith’s belief that every baby should be born with a reasonable start in life. Smoking affects oral health, and gum disease is also recognised as a cause of premature birth, which is how a Dentistry lecturer became involved with pregnancy research. Dr Slack-Smith is passionate about the health of Indigenous people. She is one of the chief investigators on a $2.5 million program, managed by the Telethon Institute of Child Health Research, to build capacity in Indigenous child health research. “To find out more about why Indigenous women keep on smoking 6 “ With some women, it was seen as inappropriate to broach the issue of smoking when they were struggling with immediate issues such as domestic violence and homelessness. “ Dr Linda Slack-Smith, a senior lecturer in the School of Dentistry, said the study revealed otherwise successful health promotion programs have not worked in this group due to a differing set of social and health priorities. when they’re pregnant, we had to do the research properly, training and working with Indigenous researchers and with a community reference group made up of Aboriginal health workers and community members,” she said. The research, in collaboration with Dr Lisa Wood in the Centre for the Built Environment and Health, showed that there were fewer opportunities for health professionals to encourage or help Indigenous women to quit smoking as they were less likely to have a regular antenatal checkups Researchers and community reference group members discuss the smoking issue: (from left) Gail Yarran (Community Health Worker), Tracey Eades (Research Assistant), Jane Young (Community Health Worker), Kerry Hunt (Research Officer and Community Representative) Linda SlackSmith and Lisa Wood and often started antenatal care at a later stage of pregnancy. “Only about half the women we interviewed said they were asked about smoking by a health professional while they were pregnant, and in most cases, this was limited to simply documenting smoking status, rather than information about risks or support to quit,” Dr Slack-Smith said. “With some women, it was seen as inappropriate to broach the issue of smoking when they were struggling with immediate issues such as domestic violence and homelessness.” She said that Aboriginal health workers were keen to maintain a positive relationship with their clients and worried about affecting this or burdening the women if they talked about giving up smoking. “Many people assume that encouraging women to stop smoking is the role of the Aboriginal health worker, but our study showed they were often not comfortable with this.” She said that understanding all these issues was important in determining effective health promotion programs and informing health professionals. UWA NEWS 8 September 2008The University of Western Australia Can a secular society still have faith? Faith is not something you’ll hear much about at the office or the pub. Some might say it is because Australia has become a secular nation. In a recent census, 16 per cent of Australians identified themselves as having ‘no religion’. But PhD candidate Sophie Sunderland is not so sure. Her research, in the School of English and Cultural Studies, brings faith and secularism together. More particularly, she has been comparing Australia with Canada, where 16 per cent of the population is also said to have ‘no religion’, but where a Charter of Rights and Freedoms means that religion is debated much more than it is in Australia. Sophie has just spent four months in Canada, working as a research associate at York University, doing an analysis of secularism in the Canadian media. A travel grant from the Canadian High Commission enabled Sophie to study in Canada and, on her return, she wrote a paper which she presented to the Association for Canadian Studies in Australia and New Zealand. She won the conference prize for the best graduate paper. “The great part of that is that I got to meet the Canadian High Commissioner who had funded my study trip,” said Sophie, whose PhD is supervised by Associate Professor Alison Bartlett. Both Australia and Canada are commonly perceived to be secular nations, that is they have separated religion from state. “This was perhaps most succinctly expressed in Canada by former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau during debates about the inclusion of God in the Preamble to the Charter of Rights, when he said that it was ‘strange, so long after the Middle Ages, that some politicians felt obliged to mention God in a constitution which is, after all, a secular and not a spiritual document’,” Sophie wrote. The University of Western Australia Sophie Sunderland enjoys the snow in secular Canada A more concrete example of secularism in Canada is the former Masonic temple in Toronto which has become the headquarters of a television company, MTV. “Here, an icon of multinational, capitalist consumerism, popular culture and entertainment … might be seen as an emblem of the secular, as the displacement of the religious. The building is popularly called MTV Temple,” she said. “In Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd advocates a ‘fully contestable secular polity’ despite his position as a practising Anglican. “His apparent appeal to Christian voters and repeated public discourse detailing his religious beliefs suggest that, under Rudd, the importance of Christianity within government has not waned since Howard’s leadership. This is further cause for identifying the privileging of Christianity over other faiths, and calling the imagined separation of church and state into question.” Sophie’s paper suggests that, in a society of waning congregations and religious affiliation, particularly among the Christian faiths, it appears that the religious is resurrected by art. She witnessed an art installation in Toronto called the Secular Confession Booth. It functioned as a confessional with the slogan ‘cheaper than a shrink with no possibility of damnation’ and participants queued to sit in the booth and share their stories with the obscured attendant, who was claimed to be a mature charitable person who would listen and give advice free of charge. “I think the Booth, which was situated in a former church, functioned as a metaphor for the overlapping of the secular and the religious,” she said. Sophie will submit her PhD at the end of the year and apply to a research centre at the University of Pennsylvania which will take 20 scholars from around the world to tackle the topic of secularism in 2009. UWA NEWS 8 September 2008 7 Australian Modernism at UWA Style and Synthesis: nine Australian moderns is on display at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery - an exhibition that focuses on artists from the early to mid–twentieth century who interrogated notions of modernism. Melbourne-based guest curator Andrew Gaynor has selected over 100 paintings, prints and works on paper drawn from The University of Western Australia Art Collection as well as major public, corporate and private collections in Perth for inclusion in the exhibition. Some of these collections include Wesfarmers, Holmes a Court, Kerry Stokes and the Cruthers Family. Style and Synthesis examines the work of nine Australian artists who synthesised a diverse range of influences, from humble colour reproductions of paintings by Paul Cézanne and Vincent Van Gogh, through to those whose sensibilities were honed by direct study at French, English or German institutions. John Brack, The Fish Tank, 1957, oil on canvas, 45.9 x 65.9 cm, Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth © John Brack, Image: Robert Frith, Acorn Photo Agency, Perth Artists included in the exhibition are Ralph Balson, Elise Blumann, John Brack, Grace Cossington Smith, Roy de Maistre, Guy Grey-Smith, Margaret Preston, Godfrey Miller and Roland Wakelin. Free public talks about the exhibition will be held throughout September and October. For further information please visit www.lwgallery.uwa.edu.au Learning lessons from native Americans Indigenous graduates Rowena and Kurtis Leslie were out of the country when the Prime Minister made his apology to the stolen generation in February. But they were in the second best place to celebrate — New Mexico, which has the highest population of Indigenous Americans in the US. “With Indigenous people making up about 12 per cent of the population, everybody there realised the value of the apology and there was even a story in the local newspaper about it,” said Kurtis, an Education graduate. He and his wife Rowena, a Law graduate, spent last semester on exchange at the University of New Mexico (UNM). It specialises in exchange programs for Indigenous students from all over the world, and they were the first to go from UWA, under a new agreement drawn up between the two universities. Rowena studied Federal Indian Law and took a course in ethics so she could work in UNM’s South West Indian Law Clinic. “Final year students practise in the clinic, helping Indigenous people,” she said. “I had six cases while I was 8 there, appearing in court, preparing documents and counselling people. It was great experience and taught me some good transferable skills.” She said the law in New Mexico gave equal weight to federal, state and tribal legislation. “The tribal law courts have jurisdiction within their communities or reservations. “It was interesting to see how the Indigenous people’s law developed much earlier there than it did here. Initial treaties with the Native Americans started being drawn up as soon as the British colonised in the 18th century.” Kurtis studied teaching the Native American child, and issues in Native American education. “We were looking at culturallyappropriate curricula and had to construct and develop a curriculum as part of the course,” he said. Kurtis teaches human biology to Indigenous students as part of the bridging course run by the School of Indigenous Studies (SIS). He also co-ordinates the pre-medicine program and runs the year 9 science camp. “It is so important to expose Indigenous kids to university while they are at high school, and inspire them. The next step is to help make the transition from their homes and high schools to university as easy as possible. “I went on this exchange to learn how I could use the students’ own strengths to help them to adapt to university life,” he said. Kurtis grew up in New York where his Indigenous father studied dance. Both he and Rowena come from families who are very education-oriented. “But I still didn’t know what was out there for me until I came from Kalgoorlie to one of the SIS year 12 camps,” Rowena said. “Then I found out what was possible and it became a reality with a year in a bridging course.” She is now applying to do her articles in Perth and Kurtis is starting a Masters in Education, looking at curricula that are relevant to Indigenous students. Their exchange was sponsored by a Study Abroad scholarship, the School of Indigenous Studies, donations from some mining companies and service clubs in the Goldfields (for Rowena) and the Federal Government’s AbStudy financial assistance. UWA NEWS 8 September 2008The University of Western Australia Painting your way to good health The proven pathway from art to health is being trodden again in the Goldfields. UWA’s Kalgoorliebased Rural Clinical School, in partnership with the Wongutha Birni Aboriginal Corporation, has been awarded two major grants to support the latest arts health project to help combat diabetes and kidney disease in the Western Desert and the Goldfields. Indigenous communities in this region have among the highest rates of the diseases in Australia. The funding, from the Federal Government’s Australia Council for the Arts and the State Government’s Department of Culture and the Arts, totals $750,000 and will support an arts intervention for the Western Desert Kidney Health Project. The project’s chief investigator, Dr Christine Jeffries-Stokes, said Aboriginal health arts workers would team up with national and international artists to develop health promotion and health education strategies. Fabric painting encouraged Aboriginal women to talk about their health problems “It’s the best way of educating Aboriginal people about health issues,” Dr Jeffries-Stokes said. “First we engage them, then we hit them with the health message.” She said that, in 1991, the Goldfields had the worst health record in Australia for infant mortality and pregnancy outcomes. “They sent the white health workers in to see what they could do and they were virtually chased out of town by the women who felt they were being blamed,” she said. Local Indigenous people have an outlet for their artistic energy in the restored stationmaster’s house “So I started fabric painting workshops, with the theme of pregnancy and motherhood and the women of course talked as they painted, and started thinking about how things could be improved. “The outcome was the Maternal Health Care Service, a mobile clinic which is run entirely by Aboriginal women using small cars — not a van or a bus which would draw attention to their patients. “It’s been running successfully for about 17 years. So it’s obvious that this method of engaging, educating and motivating works. “People say it’s a bit weird but this is not just the Aboriginal way. Look at the jingles and slogans and television advertising campaigns that appeal to all sorts of people and get them thinking about things and taking action. It’s the same idea: engage people, then you can educate and motivate them.” This latest project will be based at the Wongutha Birni Aboriginal Corporation’s home, which was a derelict but heritage-listed former stationmaster’s house in Kalgoorlie. “We restored it with volunteers and donations,” Dr JeffriesStokes said. “And now the Aboriginal community have a home for their artistic endeavours. There are no Aboriginal-run art galleries in Kalgoorlie, no monuments to Aboriginal people and the young Aboriginal rock bands can’t even get gigs at the local pubs because too many people used to turn up to hear them and the pubs couldn’t handle them. The University of Western Australia “So now there is a place for visual and performing arts and that’s where this project will start. Artists will engage the community through performance, music, dance, painting, singing, drumming and festivals,” she said. The Western Desert Kidney Health Project is a finalist in the WA Healthway Public Health Awards. Through the Rural Clinical School, it hopes to raise more than $7 million to support medical staff, research, Aboriginal health workers and the purchase and maintenance of trucks to be used as mobile clinics. UWA NEWS 8 September 2008 9 Simple story captures the essence of Italy One of the winners of an international Italian essay competition is a former president of the Dante Alighieri Society and current secretary of Fremantle’s Italian Club. “Not bad for a bloke called John McLoughlin, is it?” asked Associate Professor John Kinder, convenor of Italian in the discipline of European Languages and Studies. WA’s Italian Consul, Georgio Taborri, visited the School of Humanities recently to present John with the prize for his essay on Italy and the Sea. John is a retired engineer who is working on his Honours project, a history of the Fremantle Club in Fremantle, with supervisor Professor Lorenzo Polizzotto. “I worked in the power generating industry for 33 years, doing an MBA at UWA along the way,” John said. “I always liked the Italian people I met through my work and decided that I would like to learn their language, so I started studying Italian at TAFE several years before I retired in 1999. “I got myself up to a reasonable level where I thought I could do a BA, but the School decided to admit me into the Honours program, having two degrees already and being widely read,” he said. “I think multiculturalism brings the best of everything from all over the world to John McLoughlin is congratulated by the Italian consul Giorgio Taborri Australia. One of our deficiencies is that not many Australians can speak another language. I have visited Italy and people often say to me: ‘Oh, you must love Italy’ but I say to them that I really love Australia and I want to be a better exemplar, and encourage Australians to learn another language.” Despite his role with the Italian Club and speaking the language with his friends, John said he was finding his Honours program quite demanding. “But I’m not doing it to get a certificate, I’m doing it to get more involved with the Italian community,” he said. His winning essay, one of 10 throughout the world, described a simple story of a welcome swim at an Italian beach 35 years ago. “I was travelling through Italy in an old van with my wife and our baby and it was hot and we stopped at a beautiful beach for a swim. It was just a simple essay about our experiences,” he said. Celebration season Ducklings and daffodils make the perfect spring backdrop for graduation photos in Whitfeld Court this week. A total of 1,376 undergraduate and postgraduate students are receiving their degrees, diplomas, certificates and doctorates in four ceremonies in Winthrop Hall. Exactly 100 PhDs will mark the end of what is for many a long gruelling process. The first ceremony sees 215 Bachelors of Arts conferred, including 73 BA (Communication Studies). The second, on Tuesday, has, as usual the biggest single contingent, with 231 graduands receiving a Bachelor of Commerce. There are also 78 MBAs awarded that night. On Wednesday, another 53 lawyers will graduate and 187 scientists, with various versions of the BSc. Thursday’s ceremony is probably the best mirror of society in the early part of the 21st century, with 25 Bachelors of Environmental Design graduating; 106 engineers (BEng) as well as 27 Masters and Diplomas awarded in different fields of engineering; and 24 graduands with Bachelors degrees in Computer Science. 10 UWA NEWS 8 September 2008The University of Western Australia Student entrepreneurs examine local issues with global results Entrepreneurial students at UWA are working at changing the world by making a difference in their local communities. A UWA group recently won the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) national finals in Brisbane, ahead of 20 university teams from around Australia. They will go to Singapore for the international finals next month. With a Law and Commerce bent, the team is multidisciplinary, with members from first to fourth year also studying Economics, Science, Engineering and Arts. Dr Doina Olaru, a lecturer in Management and Organisation, is one of the UWA group’s advisors. “These students feel they can make a change. I feel so rewarded to be working with a group of young people who are so inspiring,” Dr Olaru said. Enterprising students with their national award (from left): Michael Crossley, Michelle Bacon, Christina Smolarek, Jade Winterton, Dr Doina Olaru, Hayden Teo, Natasha Ngomo, Urszula Cichy and Adrian Rodrigues “ These students feel they can make a change. I feel so rewarded to be working with a group of young people who are so inspiring. SIFE UWA was formed five years ago. Students usually join the scheme when they hear of it by word of mouth and most of them stay with the group most of their undergraduate years. Although SIFE has corporate sponsors, it is up to individual teams to find their own funding and create any number of their own projects. UWA’s winning team has worked on four projects: Balancing your Body’s Business, a health program for primary school children; Finance for Life, a financial literacy program for secondary school students; The Leadership Conference, to develop business and leadership skills in senior high school students; and Easy Entry Option, to help family businesses develop skills to help them survive. In Balancing Your Body’s Business, the group worked with children in years 5 to 7, focusing on their activities, lifestyle and eating habits. Each student filled out a food and activity diary for a week and earned points for health options. These points translated to ‘balancing bucks’ which the children then used in an auction to bid for prizes. The program has reached 234 students and the SIFE group is working on developing it into a resource kit for schools and community groups. Finance for Life has won accolades from The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation’s financial literacy forum and a judge at the SIFE national awards said: “It shows great forethought and insight.” The SIFE team ran workshops with year 10 students, playing an invest ment game in which they chose whether to spend, save or invest, then analysed the outcomes. It is currently being turned into an online model. The Leadership Conference uses guest speakers to teach year 10, 11 and 12 students about communication, initiative, innovation and ethics, to help them become the responsible and effective business leaders of the future. Easy Entry Option focused on family businesses, a sector of the economy that is worth $4.3 trillion in Australia. But only 32 per cent of them survive to a second generation. The SIFE program taught the business owners about corporate social responsibility, corporate succession and other skills to keep their businesses successful. “ In WA’s Family Business Awards, nine of the 12 finalists were Easy Entry Option businesses, as were three of the five category winners. Given these results, it is not surprising to find out from the current SIFE members that “former SIFE students have all been unbelievably successful.” The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 8 September 2008 11 Night Vision technology wins Eureka award for research team UWA scientists who are developing colour vision for enhanced infrared sensing for soldiers has won one of the nation’s most prestigious science awards. The Eureka Prize was awarded during National Science Week in recognition of the revolutionary research of the team in microspectrometer sensing technology. The group was awarded the inaugural Defence Science and Technology Organisation Eureka Prize for Outstanding Science in Support of Defence or National Security. It includes Professor Faraone, Professor John Dell, Professor Charlie Musca, Dr Jarek Antoszewski and Dr Adrian Keating, and Dr Kevin Winchester from MRX Technologies. These researchers are world leaders in the combination of microelectromechanical imaging and infrared imaging technologies. The technology will be fundamental to Australia’s defence capability. It will undoubtedly save lives and it will have broader application to biomedical imaging, agriculture and food science, and other areas. The Microelectronics Research Group, led by Professor Laurie Faraone (pictured) developed a filter that enables the creation of the equivalent of colour images in the infrared. The filter allows scanning of smaller areas, requiring less data to generate images and improving real-time use of infrared. The new technology will be lightweight, robust, compact, fast, accurate and inexpensive. Protected by international patents which ensure long-term benefits to Australia, the research is part of an Australian Research Council-funded Discovery Project. The technology has also been funded by contracts from the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation and a $3.5 million grant from the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency. The UWA research has the potential to take future infrared imaging systems in a new direction by developing an on-pixel microspectrometer imaging array that can be tailored to specific applications and eliminate the need to collect spectral information not relevant to the task. The technology is compatible with existing microelectronics fabrication processes and has the potential to deliver low-cost, mass-produced spectral sensing modules, revolutionising sensing technologies in a wide range of defence and civilian applications. “The technology addresses not only defence and security areas, but can be used for low-cost, unmanned autonomous surveillance of Australia’s large coastline, as well as surveillance systems for threat detection and protection of defence platforms,” said Professor Faraone. “There are also wide applications for near infrared and mid-infrared spectroscopy in agriculture, food science, environmental monitoring and medicine. Further applications of the technology will include monitoring of soils for carbon sequestration, biopsyfree skin cancer diagnosis and real-time environmental pollution monitoring.” Water warrior’s royal recognition Professor Jörg Imberger has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He joins a host of visionary engineers and academics from around the world who have excelled in their fields, from medical imaging to aeronautics and energy technology. Professor Imberger’s research interests include eco-hydraulics, lake hydrobiology and most recently, the behavioral responses of humans to climate change. In the past 20 years, as Director of UWA’s Centre for Water Research, he has been involved in fieldwork projects at iconic locations including Venice Lagoon, Lake Como, Lake Victoria, and the Sea of Galilee. 12 “The election of Professor Imberger to the Royal Academy of Engineering is a reflection of the international excellence attained by many of our researchers,” Vice-Chancellor Professor Alan Robson said. “This University is situated in one of the world’s most isolated cities, yet has contributed greatly to solving some of the global community’s most urgent problems, including water-use.” Earlier this year, Professor Imberger was invited to London by His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh to give the prestigious Prince Philip Lecture. He was also given the opportunity to dine at the 250-year-old Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts (RSA), one of the UK’s oldest and most respected think-tank’s. UWA NEWS 8 September 2008The University of Western Australia Mollusc packs an iron punch A student with absolutely no interest in make-up has won a 4,000 Euro ($6,850) grant from a European cosmetics company for his fundamental research in biomineralisation in marine systems. Edd Stockdale (pictured), who is doing his PhD with the Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis (supervised by Dr Peta Clode) and the School of Physics (Associate Professor Tim St Pierre), has been working with marine molluscs called chitons. “Chitons have nothing to do with cosmetics,” Edd said. “The company, Daniel Jouvance Marine Biology Laboratorie, specialises in marine extracts to make its products and so employs a lot of marine biologists. Each year they offer an award to a specific field of marine research that is fundamental, and of merit. This year’s award was for biomineralisation in marine systems, which directly relates to my work. “I was awarded the prize for the quality and originality of my work.” Chitons are a marine mollusc that live in varying environmental niches around the world. They are generally coastal grazers that feed on algae covering. “Chitons have developed a type of rasp (radula) for feeding. This is used to graze the substrate, and due to its generally hard nature, the cusps of this radula are reinforced by mineralisation with iron,” Edd said. “The iron physiology involved within these animals’ systems is of great interest both in pure biology with its biomedical implications and nanotechnology. “Due to a natural state of high iron within the body — a great model for iron overload disorders — chitons have evolved various ‘packaging’ and transport mechanisms. My work investigates the iron physiology of these animals along with juvenile development of biominerals. To achieve this I use both light and electron microscopy techniques combined with various magnetic analyses.” A/Professor St Pierre said the award was a very welldeserved reflection of Edd’s dedication to his work and the high level of creativity in his approach to understanding biomineralisation processes in nature. The Daniel Jouvance Prize has been awarded annually for 16 years. WOULD YOU BUY A CAR LOAN FROM THiS MAN? Don’t get caught in the car yard with in-house finance. Pre-approve your car loan with: UÊ UÊ UÊ UÊ 9.90% comp. rate* No establishment fee No ongoing fees No early repayment fees Call into your campus branch, phone Unicredit on 9389 1011 or apply online to arrange a pre-approval in just a few days. * 9.90%pa comp. rate applies to cars up to one year old. 10.90%pa comp. for cars up to 5 years old. Comparison rate is for a loan of $10,000 for a term of 3 years. WARNING: This comparison rate is true only for the examples given and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate. All loan applications are subject to Unicredit’s normal lending criteria. Please refer to our Fees and Charges Schedule, available from Unicredit branches. 1. Establishment fee waived for loans secured by a vehicle up to 5 years old. The University Credit Society Ltd. ABN 90 087 651 901. AFSL 244168. The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 8 September 2008 13 NOTICES Applications for 2008 Diversity Initiatives Fund Grants Now Open Is there an equity or diversity initiative in your part of the campus that you would like to see implemented, but have no funds to develop? Have you considered applying for a Diversity Initiative Fund grant? Applications are invited from individuals, groups, schools or faculties seeking funding to assist in the development of targeted diversity initiatives that will enhance equity for students and/or staff. The purpose of the Fund is to provide financial assistance to new projects that aim to enhance educational and employment access, participation and outcomes for groups of students and staff identified as priority areas of focus; • • • • • • • • • women and men in non-traditional areas of employment/study people from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds people with a disability Indigenous Australians age flexible work practices and life balance sexual orientation and gender identity family and carer responsibilities issues of access for rural and remote students The Centre for Clinical Research in Neuropsychiatry The Centre is seeking healthy men and women to participate in some of its research projects at Gascoyne House, Mount Claremont. You should ideally be aged between 18 and 60 years, with English as your first language, and have no immediate family history (parents, brothers and sisters, children) of diagnosed mental illness. You may be asked to provide a small blood sample, to have an interview, and to undertake some tasks on a computer. If you wish to volunteer to participate in our research you can phone 1 800 648 223 (free call within WA), and state your full name, contact phone number, and the best time we can reach you at that number. A researcher will call you back within a week for some additional information, and make a potential future appointment. Appointments are made to suit your hours, and participation involves an initial appointment at the Centre for approximately 1½ hours. All of the information we collect is strictly confidential. You are always free to withdraw from a study at any time. Enquiries 1800 648 223 For 13 years the Diversity Initiatives Fund has kick started many UWA projects and initiatives that have proved so successful they have become ongoing. Often it is staff or students at the local level who can best identify an initiative that will meet a particular need or fill a gap in their area, and frequently that initiative has relevance for the wider campus. Applications for funding close on Friday September 26, and successful applicants will be notified by late October. Successful applicants have a year within which to complete their project. An application form can be downloaded from the Equity and Diversity web site at www.equity.uwa.edu.au or by contacting Lesley Roberts on ext 3873. Applications should be sent to Equity and Diversity, MBDP 350. Philosophy Café 7.30pm Thursday September 11 “What is truth?” King Street Arts Centre, 357- 365 Murray Street, Perth Large Meeting Room (entry from Murray street next to ‘Form’) This is a free event and everybody is welcome to join us for some interesting philosophical exchange Centre for Integrated Human Studies Public Seminar War and Conflict Good Days, Bad Days We all have them... With Dr Carmen Lawrence and Professor Dennis Haskell 5.30 – 7pm Wednesday 17 September Seminar Room 1.81 School of Anatomy and Human Biology Enquiries 6488 2324 STAFF ADS Classified advertising is free to staff. Email staffads@uwa.edu.au TO LET Peppermint Grove Beach, Capel. Holiday rental. Sleeps 8. Ocean and wetland vista. 100m from the beach. Close to vineyards, Capel River and national parks. 25kms from Busselton/Bunbury. Pets welcome. Boat ramp facilities close by. Price from $80 per night. Contact Jane Keehn Co-op Bookshop: jkeehn@coopbookshop.com.au Ext 3653 The Employee Assistance Program offers free confidential counselling to UWA staff & immediate family, for personal or work problems. To arrange an appointment contact one of the following service providers: OSA Group Level 16, 251 Adelaide Tce, Perth Phone: 1300 361 008 (24hrs) Web: www.osagroup.com.au UWA Counselling & Psychological Service 2nd Floor, South Wing, Guild Village Phone: +61 8 6488 2423 (Office Hours) Web: www.counselling.uwa.edu.au For further information on the UWA Employee Assistance Program see: www.safety.uwa.edu.au/policies/eap 14 SHENTON PARK: One bedroom, newly renovated, fully furnished unit, in well protected complex with swimming pool and covered car parking lot, in a very quite area in Shenton Park, 5 min walk to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and 20 minutes walk to UWA, opposite big park, available from 1st September 2008. Ring: 0423 177 068. FRANCE – South West: Holiday accommodation. Self-contained apartment in one of the most beautiful Medieval Villages of the Perigord Noir, BELVES. For more details see website: www.belves. info Or contact Susana Howard on 9246 5042 or email: susana@ belves.info WANTED Accommodation: Seeking reasonably priced furnished accommodation for visitor from Germany from 15 November - 15 February. The house/unit should be close to UWA or en route from Inglewood to UWA. Would be happy to look after small pets. Please contact alice@maths.uwa.edu.au HOME EXCHANGE Retired academics wish to exchange the use of home in Laguna Niguel, California, for similar home in Perth area for the period Nov 22, 2008 to Jan 16, 2009. Photos of our home can be viewed at http://web.me.com/bridgetbull or telephone USA 949 215 1674. UWA NEWS 8 September 2008The University of Western Australia PROMOTION BRIEFS Provided by Elizabeth Hutchinson, Executive Officer, Promotions and Tenure Committee, Human Resources ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR Dr Beverley McNamara (School of Social and Cultural Studies) Dr McNamara’s area of expertise is medical anthropology, specifically in the area of end-of-life studies although she has research interests in ageing and more recently genetic technologies in health care. She is well known nationally within the field of palliative care, particularly for her work in mapping services in WA and for her book Fragile Lives: dying and care. She has won many Teaching Awards including most recently a 2006 Carrick Citation. Dr McNamara has played a major role in teaching and learning service within her own Faculty and across the University. He has made a long-standing contribution to the Nutrition Society of Australia and is currently the Honorary Editor. He is a member of the Academy of Science (Nutrition Committee), and the Australian Atherosclerosis Society. RESEARCH FELLOW Dr Graeme Polglase (School of Women’s and Infants’ Health) Dr Jane Pillow (School of Women’s and Infants’ Health) Dr Polglase’s field of research is focused on cardio-respiratory physiology/ function in a model of preterm birth. The overall aim of his research is to improve clinical treatments, and subsequently outcomes for infants born prematurely. The focus is on treating inflammation/infection in the womb and by reducing injury resultant from rescue ventilation. Dr Pillow specialises in contemporary neonatal respiratory research with a visionary and multidisciplinary approach to developing non-injurious respiratory treatment strategies for the newborn infant. Dr Polglase is elected as an Early Career Researcher to the ARC/NHMRCfunded Network in Genes, Environment and Development. SENIOR LECTURER Her strengths in this field have seen her collaborative and consultative input sought after by key national and international groups, including establishing links with industry and substantial success in obtaining national and international competitive grant funding. Dr Barbara Cook (Centre for Excellence in Natural Resource Development) Her provision of seminars for medical students, nursing and allied health groups and other professionals, the development of innovative and interactive tutorial programs for postgraduate teaching and her popularity among international postgraduate students amply testify to her excellence and willingness to meet the broad demand for her teaching in neonatology. Dr Yee-Kwong Leong (School of Mechanical Engineering) Dr Yee-Kwong Leong is the acknowledged world leader in the area of particle bridging by small charged molecules. He has done extensive work for the minerals and colloid processing industry where he applies his extensive knowledge on surface forces to control flocculation, flow and thickening properties of slurries. Dr Yee-Kwong Leong has developed new units in undergraduate teaching in the Chemical and Process Engineering program. He led the development of the IChemE accreditation proposal and continues to play a major leadership role in developing the course further. Dr Cook’s area of research is ecology, biodiversity and water quality of inland waters and biogeography, systematics and genetics of Western Australian and Southern African aquatic faunas. She has been involved in numerous undergraduate initiatives, including degree courses and units of study. In a campus emergency dial 2222 Security staff will call the emergency services, direct them to you and come to help you while waiting for their arrival. It is more efficient and effective to dial 2222 than to call 000. Dr Benedict White (School of Agriculture and Resource Economics) Dr White’s core research interest is the economics of environmental contracts and the economics of biodiversity conservation. He has recently completed a large Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry project on biodiversity conservation in the WA Wheatbelt. He led the introduction of three economic programs (Geology and Resource Economics, Agricultural Economics, and Environmental and Resource Economics) in the BSc 4 year degree programs). In 2003 he was elected President of the WA Branch of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society. He is also a joint author of three textbooks on environmental economics. He has been Head of School since July 2006. SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW Dr Mikhail Kostylev (School of Physics) Dr Kostylev’s research interests are in dynamic magnetic phenomena in ferromagnetic films, multilayers and nanostructures, wave interactions in solids, nonlinear wave dynamics and spatio-temporal pattern formation and magnetic logic. He is one of the leaders of the Condensed-Matter Group at UWA and one of the Chief Investigators of the ARC Discovery project Magnetic and electric field tuneable magnetic heterostructures. The UWA group is establishing itself as a leader in the field in attracting overseas students. Dr Kostylev has developed a course on nonlinear dynamics that has been well received by both Honours and Postgraduate students. Get noticed /URPROFESSIONALDESIGNTEAMCANHELPADDIMPACT TOALLYOURCOMMUNICATIONANDPROMOTIONALMATERIAL 3EEUSTODAYANDGETNOTICED s "ROCHURESFLYERSPOSTERSANDBANNERS s 3TATIONERY s -AGAZINESBOOKSANDNEWSLETTERS s !DVICEONTHEIMPLEMENTATIONOFTHE 5NIVERSITYgSNEWDESIGNSTYLE PRINCIPAL RESEARCH FELLOW Dr Jonathan Hodgson (School of Medicine and Pharmacology) Dr Hodgson’s area of expertise is nutrition science, particularly the role of diet in cardiovascular disease prevention and he is recognised internationally for his research on tea and its effects on health. He has a strong track record of successful PhD and Masters Student supervision and leads a substantial research group within the Centre for Nutrition Lifestyle and Clinical Trials Research at Royal Perth Hospital. The University of Western Australia 6488 7793 uniprintjobs@admin.uwa.edu.au www.uniprint.uwa.edu.au UWA NEWS 8 September 2008 15 the last word … For the price of a bus ticket … Richard Small Administrative Assistant Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (one of a group who recently helped to save the life of a student) Having been witness to a major incident recently, my personal interest in promoting first aid courses and encouraging staff to gain at least a little knowledge has come to the fore. For others there are good intentions about learning first aid. It’s on the list, with starting the diet, getting fit, mowing the lawn. There just isn’t enough time in the day/year/decade. Also the chance of something major happening is slim, so that fact balanced against the valuable time it takes to attend a course, justifies non-attendance. The reason I would always encourage staff to attend an emergency aid course is based on an experience, which left me in no doubt about its importance. Some years ago before I had ever attended a first aid course, I was first to reach the driver of a car, which had just had a head-on collision, with a truck, at high speed. I didn’t want to be first. There were at least 50 people ahead of me. A bus full of people on their way to the city. The truck had been passing the stationary bus when the accident happened. One of the bus passengers called the emergency services. The bus driver was the only one to step off the bus. After seeing what I had revealed by opening the car door, he stepped back, muttered something about not being able to stand the sight of blood, climbed back on his bus and left the scene ... taking with him all witnesses apart from a dazed truck driver. I was left feeling very alone, holding a severely injured car driver. It was a surreal moment … this man’s life depended on me. At that time I had not attended any first aid course, but had picked up enough from TV and the world around me, to know that I must keep the guy breathing and try and stop the leaks. Needless to say, I very soon after booked myself into an emergency aid course. The recent incident in the Arts building where a student, as reported in a previous issue of UWAnews, ‘died in front of us’, but was able to be resuscitated, adds weight to the fact that these things do happen. They happen very suddenly and don’t usually wait for an expert to be on hand. 16 The incident also gave rise to many UWA staff wondering what would they do if this were to happen in one of their classes. When faced with an emergency on campus, the people at Security who will come and rescue you from your plight do so alongside their colleagues from Parking, the people who are much maligned for being so efficient at handing out parking tickets on campus. Sometimes those who are seen as villains are the heroes in disguise. These are the people who will often be there supporting those with the equipment to save a life at any time anywhere on campus, and they will make sure the emergency services turn up at the right place at the right time. In the time it takes them to get to an emergency, I would urge everyone to have some knowledge of what to do while waiting. Getting involved has left me with some lasting images that I’d rather not have. But rather those, than the memories I could have had, if I’d stood by and done nothing. So many people are ready to turn away rather than step forward. So many people are so wrapped up in their own journeys, that they forget that there are other people in the world who may need their help. Does a bus driver making a unilateral decision to leave the scene, excuse individual apathy? Strange how these things apply locally, nationally and globally. UWA NEWS EDITOR/WRITER: Lindy Brophy, Public Affairs Tel: 6488 2436 Fax: 6488 1020 Email: lindy.brophy@uwa.edu.au Hackett Foundation Building, M360 Director of Public Affairs: Doug Durack Tel: 6488 2806 Fax: 6488 1020 Designed and printed by UniPrint, UWA UWAnews online: http://uwanews.publishing.uwa.edu.au/ UWA NEWS 8 September 2008The University of Western Australia UniPrint 63594 Administering first aid is a thought totally alien to some, and as there is usually someone around who does that kind of thing anyway why bother, these kinds of things should be left to the experts.