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A Spanish masterpiece in Nedlands
3 December 2001Volume 20 Number 19
newsnewsThe University of Western AustraliaCelebrating 90 years of achievement 1911-2001
3 December 2001Volume 20 Number 19
UUWWAAnewsUWAThe University of Western AustraliaCelebrating 90 years of achievement 1911-2001
Wanted: a blank wall at least3.5 metres by 4.5 metres.
Such a space is being sought by finearts students for a permanent home fortheir latest masterpiece.
First year students of lecturer PaulTrinidad acquired an understanding ofoil painting by preparing an actual sizedinterpretation of 19th century artistFrancisco de Goya Lucientes’ famouspainting The Third of May.
The huge painting of Spanish rebelsbeing executed by Napoleon’s soldiers isone of Goya’s most prized works and isheld in the Prado Museum in Madrid.
The students were invited toparticipate in a master-apprenticerelationship with lecturers and guestartists, including Tim Pearn and RichardColdicutt.
The painting was downloaded fromthe Internet, divided up on a grid, andeach of about 20 students was given apostage stamp size section to recreateas a piece about 400mm square. Oncethey had done their initial drawings, theyworked in small groups to transfer theirwork onto the huge canvas.
Paul Trinidad is delighted with theresult and is hoping the WA ArtGallery will consider exhibiting it alongwith a selection of Goya prints earlynext year.
“I chose this painting for this projectas it encapsulates much of the ethosbehind many forms of contemporarypainting in manner and style, as well asthe significance of the artist in his abilityto interpret and personally expresssignificant cultural and historic eventsand issues,” Mr Trinidad said.
He said the School of Architectureand Fine Arts was striving for a balancebetween hand-on experience in painting,drawing, printmaking, sculpture andphotography and explorations intodigital, film and time-based media,oriented to cutting edge arts practice orcareer paths within the arts.
The students’ painting will be ondisplay on Level One of theArchitecture and Fine Arts buildinguntil the end of this month.
More of their work can also be seenin a small exhibition space in the SwanBell Tower in the city.
ABOVE: Some of the artists, Carla Webster,Emily Green, Matt Marchment, Zoe Saleebaand Ruth Jeffrey with Paul Trinidad (farleft), dwarfed by their creation.BELOW: The students added a 21stcentury spin, giving the man in thebackground an electrical connection in hishands
by Lindy Brophy
A Spanish masterpiece in Nedlands
“The Swan Bells is a somewhatcontroversial site but it is also veryinteresting graphically. I took thestudents there in first semester and, bytalking to visitors, they each formedindividual interpretations of thelandmark,” Mr Trinidad said. “I thoughtit was also appropriate as the bellswere originally a gift to UWA.”
Their 24 prints, all widely diversebut inspired by the Swan Bells, will beexhibited on site until February.
2 UWA news
THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA • 3 DECEMBER 2001
Professor Deryck SchreuderVice-Chancellor and [email protected]
VCariousthoughts …
EDITOR/WRITERLindy Brophy
Tel.: 9380 2436 Fax: 9380 1192 Email: [email protected]
EDITOR-IN-CHIEFColin Campbell-Fraser
Tel.: 9380 2889 Fax: 9380 1020 Email: [email protected]
Designed and typeset by Publications Unit, UWA
Printed by UniPrint, UWA
UWAnews online: www.publishing.uwa.edu.au/uwanews/
UWAnews
The blaze of jacaranda trees has again come tocampus. They can signal exam season, final
marking, the end of the academic year and somewelcome vacation days over the Festive Season.
Yet the jacarandas are also a beginning – spring intosummer, and the new year ahead.
We have had a big year at UWA ... the culmination ofacademic review and planning which has produced a newacademic structure for our University. We are nowimplementing a new budget model and looking to theestablishment of new Schools and Faculties in 2002. Thechallenge of self-defining discipline groups is also on theagenda for next year.
Overall, I think we shall recall 2002 as the year when wepositioned UWA as a 21st century university in its form andstructure, and set some bold strategic targets for the decadeahead to our centenary in 2011.
The process of review-discussion-implementation hasyielded a significant result, and I am really appreciative of thecreative and committed role played by so many of ourcampus community in preparing UWA for the future.
We need to see the same thing happening on the nationalscene for higher education.
The overall shape and character of the sector very muchreflects the major Dawkins reforms of a decade ago. Andthat framework urgently needs fundamental revision andrecasting. The original design has, in many ways, come tounravel, and under-funding has seen the sector show realsigns of wear and tear. A mass system of higher educationhas emerged with fair quality. But it operates under terriblestrains. This applies to everything from teaching loads toresearch infrastructure. Now money has been put into thesector through the Commonwealth’s well-aimed BackingAustralia’s Ability. But it is not enough of an investment and isspread over too many years. A stronger level of base fundingis needed to ensure quality in the growth of the sector tomeet societal needs.
Funding is not enough, however: the policy frameworksalso need substantial revision. The funding formulae do not
sufficiently recognise or encourage real diversity ininstitutional missions. It is a classic case where one sizedoes NOT fit all! Moreover, the present system is, in truth,now a complex tangle of policies as piecemeal changes overthe 1990s have tried to remedy problems but lack acoherence. Facilitating self-reliance, with carefully designedpolicies of de-regulation need to be debated. We need tostop talking about levelling playing fields by policy, and createdifferent playing fields, on which different kinds ofuniversities can reach for excellence.
My own contribution on AVCC – of which I do indeedbecome President in 2002 – is strongly to encourage thisfundamental review of our sector, involving both levels offunding, in particular through a new indexation model – aswell as a new framework of public policy in which arevitalised sector can flourish.
For that projected review to succeed it requires amembership and terms of reference which give it a highdegree of public esteem and acceptability. We should do itin a mood of constructive engagement with the new Minister(Dr Brendan Nelson) and other related key Ministers (eg inScience, Finance, Industry, Regions etc). We also need towin the support of the Prime Minister in establishinguniversities as a key priority for the future of our country.
At UWA we shall make our own submissions to thatprocess. There are some very creative ideas and policyoptions embedded in our recent Profile documents toDETYA. We have also, as an institution, shown howcommitment to fundamental review can lead on to highlypositive results for teaching, learning and community service.We now hope the Commonwealth will also ‘Seek Wisdom’in these matters!
2001 has been a dramatic year: who can ever forgetSeptember 11 and its consequences? It has also been a yearof strenuous endeavour on our campus. To all involved I sayThank you ... and I close my regular open letter to campuswith the sincere wish — in which Paddy joins me — thatyou have a peaceful and joyous Festive Season in your ownfamily. May 2002 be good for us all at UWA.
Reviewingthe Future
UWA news 3
THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA • 3 DECEMBER 2001
Leaders, rebels and starsinspire a renewed battle
A graduate student from UWA has helped to draft
the United Nations InternationalYouth Declaration.
Fiona Pui San Whittaker was one offour students and one staff memberfunded by the University to attend theWorld Conference Against Racism inSouth Africa in September.
She worked up to 12 hours a daywith a small group writing the paperthat will set the agenda for youngpeople to fight racism, racialdiscrimination, xenophobia and relatedintolerance.
Fiona, an arts student, and MariaOsman, Equity Manager, attended allfour conferences (government, non-government organisations, youthsummit and academic policy) that filleda month of lobbying and inquiry formore than 6000 delegates from all overthe world.
Graduate law students GningalaYarran-Clanton and Lillian Makinda andsocial work student Cheryl Wongmade up the UWA group and werepart of one of the biggest statedelegations from Australia.
They met and heard from manyinspiring world leaders including AngelaDavis, the Rev Jesse Jackson, FidelCastro, Thebo Unbeki and MaryRobinson, as well as grass-roots
activists and Hollywood stars who lendtheir weight to the fight against racism.
Gningala Yarran-Clanton said that,while the delegate from the US washighly organised and very vocal andmanaged to keep the issue of slaveryand reparation on the agenda, she andother Australians were disappointed
that similar issues for Aboriginalpeople – the stolen generation,colonialism and the affect they are stillhaving on some communities – werehardly canvassed.
The group was at the conferenceduring the Tampa crisis. “Many peoplewere asking us what was happening inAustralia, a country that had once ledthe way in multiculturalism,” MariaOsman said. “Most of them felt thatAustralia was now, sadly, well behindmany other countries.”
She said that many of the forumsthey attended on the intersection ofrace and gender were, for manywomen of colour, the unfinished
Delegates fromUWA are stillbubbling with
inspiration fromthe conference:
Fiona Pui SanWhittaker,
LillianMakinda,GningalaYarran-
Clanton andMaria
Osman
business of the Beijing UN women’sconference in 1995.
“We met many wonderful blackwomen activists and leaders workingwith some very marginalised andoppressed women … women who facedouble and triple discrimination,because they are women, black andpoor.”
The UWA youth delegates lobbiedto include in the International YouthDeclaration a demand that states repealmandatory detention of refugees andincrease the humanitarian immigrationintake, and abolish mandatorysentencing to replace it with culturallyappropriate early intervention andrehabilitation programs.
A major outcome of the conferenceis the establishment by the UN of ananti-racism unit with the Office of theHigh Commissioner for Human Rights.
Locally, a Western AustralianUniversities and WA Coalition AgainstRacism has developed a working partyto plan a year-long series of forums andevents to raise awareness of the roleuniversities can play in dealing withracism.
The UWA delegates will presentsome of the key issues from theconference on the Centre for StaffDevelopment at a lunchtime forum onThursday December 13.
“Australia once led the
way in multiculturalism
… now, sadly, well
behind many countries
4 UWA news
THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA • 3 DECEMBER 2001
The soils of Western Australia are among the oldest and most heavilyleached and nutrient-impoverished in the world.
To overcome this problem and live in soil where no crop survives, the Australianplant family Proteaceae has developed proteoid or cluster roots.
These clusters of longitudinal rows of hairy rootlets enable the plant to make useof what nutrients there are.
As well as having poor soil, the southwest of WA is also one of the world’shotspots of higher plant species diversity. The Proteaceae represent the top mostspecies-rich plant family in Australia, with 17 genera, 760 species and 140 subspeciesin WA.
The combination of the poor soils, the adaptations plants must make to surviveand the high diversity of the plant life makes UWA a unique place to study plantadaptations to soil conditions.
The Plant Sciences group recently hosted an international workshop on clusterroots.
The role of carboxylates in the mobilisation of phosphate, micronutrients andaluminium from WA soils was discussed in the four-day workshop, Structure andFunctioning of Cluster Roots and Plant Responses to Phosphate Deficiency. Theworkshop’s papers formed the basis for a special issue of the journal Plant and Soil.
Professor Hans Lambers, head of the plant sciences group, hosted scientists fromSwitzerland, South Africa, the USA, Wales and around Australia.
Professor Enrico Martinoia, from the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland,contributed his work on white lupin, which is closely related to the line of researchon cluster roots carried out at UWA.
Tiny blind almost colourless crustaceans providethe latest environmental focus for mining giant
Hamersley Iron.Stygofauna (stygo meaning adapted to living underground)
live in underground aquifers in the Pilbara region, where thecompany mines iron ore. The fauna is dominated bycrustaceans, and include amphipods, isopods, copepods andostracodes.
Zoology post-doc Terrie Finston is half-way through atwo year study of the amphipod fauna, funded by Hamersley.
“Some people will question the significance of these tinyfauna, but simply the fact that they are unique in the world,due to our unique geological formations, is enough for us tofind out everything we can about them,” Dr Finston said.
“Hamersley sometimes mines very deep, below the watertable. And when they do this, they ‘dewater’ the aquifers,pumping the water out. So they are keen to know what theycan do without endangering a unique species. Our researchfocuses on identifying the number of species present, theirdistributions, and their ecologies. Hamersley are definitelycommitted to understanding these organisms,” she said.
Zoology Honours student, Emma Jones, discovered thatstygofauna’s food sources (which are few) include eucalyptusand organic material found in the sediments, and that thepopulation increases in the wet season.
“But there’s still a lot we don’t know. I’m using geneticmarkers to identify species and their population structures.
Plant scientists cluster at UWA
protects tiny animals
There is a wide range of morphological variation present,and we need to understand the basis of the variation.
“Apart from the Pilbara, stygofauna also exist at CapeRange, near Exmouth, and in some parts of the Kimberley,which all have calcrete (limestone-like) formations, but wedon’t know if they are the same species without makingdirect genetic comparisons. The only ones I’ve studied so farare from the Pilbara,” Dr Finston said.
The creatures appear to havea long life. The stygofauna in herlab in Zoology are growing anddeveloping very slowly.
Her genetic research iscarried out on field-collectedspecimens for which scientistsmust sometimes bore down 100metres. Adult amphipods varyfrom two to six millimetres.
Dr Finston has the support ofHamersley Iron for an applicationto the Australian ResearchCouncil next year for a linkagesgrant to continue the project.
Structure and functioning of clusterroots and plant responses tophosphate deficiency
BIG COMPANY
Dr Terrie Finston
UWA news 5
THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA • 3 DECEMBER 2001
Mediation is the best way to sort out a disputebecause, as senior law lecturer Robyn Carroll
points out, “it is not about winning because you areclever: it is about listening.”
Mrs Carroll teaches mediation skills to undergraduates inthe Law School, along with colleague Lisa Goldacre. Bothlecturers spread their skills more widely this year byteaching high school students about mediation. Each of themcoached a Year 10 team for the Schools Conflict Resolutionand Mediation (SCRAM) competition.
Mrs Carroll has sons at Shenton College and is on theboard of management of the University’s Learning Linksprogram with the school. She joined with teacher TimGibbney, head of society, environment and humanities at thecollege’s senior school, to run four hour-long classes onmediation and dispute resolution for students in theAcademically Talented Program (Humanities).
“It’s a terrific initiative. This is real grass roots stuff. Ourundergraduate students can see how invaluable mediationskills are and it’s even more effective a tool for life when youcan teach younger students the skills of negotiating withoutusing bullying or being arrogant or competitive.” Mrs Carrollsaid.
The class voted for eight of their members to be furthercoached by Mrs Carroll for the state championships of
Learningto linkratherthan
lash outSCRAM. While they worked with her during the year, therest of the students looked at designing a peer mediationprogram for Shenton’s middle school (years 8 and 9).
The team negotiated its way to the grand finals of thecompetition, working out how to deal peacefully withschool-based issues including a party that dissolved intoviolence, gang battles at the local shopping mall and astudent protest at a rock band booked to perform at aschool.
They bowed out to Presbytarian Ladies’ College in anarrowly-lost dispute about rock climbing.
Mrs Carroll sees the mediation course and competitionas a valuable part of the world-wide peace movement andplans to do it again at Shenton College next year.
“If it’s taught them nothing more than that there is alwaysmore than one point of view and that there is not always aright and wrong in every issue, then it’s been a success,” MrGibbney said.
One of the team, Chris Barry said the course had made iteasier for him to find common ground in conflicts. SimonRudland said he found himself analysing his friends’arguments.
“I’ve sown the seeds through the Learning Links programthat I hope will continue to grow, develop and spread toother schools,” Mrs Carroll said.
When the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra came toPerth recently, they were short a few instruments.
But with seven musicians from UWA in the orchestra, there wasno question about where they could borrow them.
The School of Music loaned the orchestra two horns and a violinfor its November performance in the Concert Hall.
The graduates are in the famous orchestra, which touredAustralia following a successful European tour, finishing with theLondon Proms, where they received rave reviews.
Shenton College humanities teacher Tim Gibbney and senior law lecturer Robyn Carroll withtheir Year 10 negotiators: (from left) Yan Ying Tan, Lakkhina Troeung, Declan Keogh,Christina Lee, Chris Barry, Simon Rudland, Julian Polain and Quinn Dobson
Two horns short of an orchestra
UWA musicians swell the ranks of the Brandenburg Orchestra:Back: Rex Carr-White (violin) Doreé Dixon (horn) James Jennings (violin)Front: Emily Barton (horn) Marina Phillips (violin) James Beck (cello)Jacqueline Poole (violin)
6 UWA news
THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA • 3 DECEMBER 2001
Medical scientists around the world are trying tofind the link between a chronic skin condition
and a particular form of arthritis.The reason why a skin disease should be associated with
a joint disease is not well understood, but there is a provenlink between the chronic skin condition psoriasis and aparticular type of arthritis known as psoriatic arthritis.
Dr Ellie Korendowych is at UWA’s Centre for MolecularImmunology and Instrumentation (CMII) to try to discoverthe elusive link through the study of genetics.
With a degree in Medicine from Cambridge and OxfordUniversities, Dr Korendowych is a specialist trainee inrheumatology in Bristol and Bath and is particularlyinterested in the immunology and genetics of inflammatoryarthritis. Her year’s research at UWA will form part of herPhD and is funded by the Arthritis Research Campaign in theUK.
Her Copeman Travelling Scholarship allowsrheumatologists to pursue their research interests at anycentre of international repute around the world. DrKorendowych chose UWA because of the expertise at CMIIin immunogenetics and their particular interest in psoriasis.
Professor Roger Dawkins, the director of CMII, and hisgroup have been working on the immunogenetics ofpsoriasis for many years.
“I wanted to work with Professor Dawkins’ group toexpand the interest and expertise of the group in psoriasisto include psoriatic arthritis as well.”
“The link between psoriasis and arthritis is more complexthan isolating one single gene,” Dr Korendowych said. “Thegroup I’m working with at CMII is interested in extended orancestral ‘haplotypes’ - groups of genes inherited ‘en bloc’from one generation to the next.”
“It is likely that complicated diseases such as psoriasis andpsoriatic arthritis are associated with particularcombinations of genes which together form a disease-associated haplotype.”
She explained that as many as one in 50 people sufferfrom psoriasis and about 10 per cent of people withpsoriasis will develop psoriatic arthritis.
The arthritis can take one of five different forms, rangingfrom involvement of a single joint to a severe disabling formof arthritis. It can affect all ages including children although itis most common in the 30’s and 40’s. The arthritis usuallyfollows the psoriasis, sometimes by as long as 15-20 years,and it is often mistaken for other forms of arthritis such asrheumatoid arthritis until a history of psoriasis is noted.
She said that sometimes it was difficult to make theconnection between the two conditions as they do notalways exist together.
“In some patients, when their psoriasis flares up so doestheir arthritis and vice versa. But in other patients they maynot be so clearly linked. Some patients develop arthritis afteronly a single bout of psoriasis and others never developarthritis despite having very severe psoriasis.”
“The link between the skin and the joint is intriguing andyet to be resolved. Genetic studies will help to shed morelight on these fascinating diseases but it will not provide allthe answers – other factors such as infections andenvironmental triggers also contribute.”
She has been at CMII since July. For the previous 12months, she collected DNA from patients with psoriaticarthritis at the Royal National Hospital for RheumaticDiseases in Bath which she brought with her to UWA.
She will also be helping with the organisation of the 13thInternational Histo-Compatability Workshop in Seattle inMay next year. The CMII is co-ordinating the psoriasis andarthritis component of the workshop in collaboration withmany centres around the world.
Dr Korendowych will complete her fellowship next June.
Genetics unravel an unlikely liaison
“The link between the skin and the jointis intriguing and yet to be resolved.”
Dr Ellie Korendowych
UWA news 7
THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA • 3 DECEMBER 2001
If you think of your immunesystem as a computer security
system, then viruses are likehackers, they get into the systemand wreak havoc.
These vandals seem unstoppable as theylearn quickly how to bypass new securitysystems and survive to attack again.
They include viruses and tumours,which can escape immune surveillanceand survive inside the human body,ready to cause serious health problems.
Dr Mariapia Degli-Esposti and herteam of researchers in the Departmentof Microbiology are devoted tounderstanding how the immune systemworks, what pathways pathogens utiliseto evade immune surveillance and,eventually, they hope to collect theinformation required to developtherapies that could boost the immunesystem to fight insidious invaders, suchas viruses and tumours.
Dr Degli-Esposti’s team usescytomegalovirus (CMV) as a model fortheir research. “CMV infects about 90per cent of the population and doesn’tcause any problems. The reallyinteresting feature of this virus is that itcan survive lifelong within its host, andthis is the focus of our research - whatmechanisms is the virus using to escapeimmune responses?” asks Dr Degli-Esposti.
“In people who are immuno-suppressed or immuno-compromisedCMV will cause problems. Thesepeople include unborn babies, AIDSsufferers and patients undergoingsuppressive therapy for cancertreatment or organ transplantation.Therefore, understanding theinteractions between CMV and thehost’s immune system will also provideimportant information for designingbetter therapies to help these people”she said.
In an attempt to better understandthe viral/host interactions that driveimmune responses, Dr Degli-Espostiand the researchers in her laboratory,including PhD student Dan Andrews,
have studied dendritic cells (DC), cellsthat are crucial in generating andmaintaining immune responses.
“The importance of dendritic cellswas unrecognised until 15 or 20 yearsago. Today, DCs are widely recognisedas the central initiators of immuneresponses.”
“So we went and had a look at what
happens to DC after CMV infection andwe found that the virus could infectDCs, and importantly, although thedendritic cells were still alive they wereparalysed, switched off.”
“We are pretty excited by thesefindings,” Dr Degli-Esposti said.
The importance of these findings,generated by the research of DanAndrews as part of his PhD studies, hasbeen recognised both nationally andinternationally with the data beingpublished last month in the prestigiousjournal, Nature Immunology.
“This body of work has had a hugeimpact on our understanding of CMVinfection and particularly the
Understanding thehackers of human health
interactions between the virus and thehost immune system.”
“You don’t do research for themoney or because it’s easy. You do itbecause it consumes you. There is asort of passion about what we do, apassion that has the people in my labhooked. I am very fortunate to havesuch a group. They love their work,they are dedicated, they work hard andtheir rewards come from discoveriessuch as this.”
Dr Degli-Esposti said her group’swork was building on research intoCMV initiated by Professor GeoffShellam and his group in theDepartment of Microbiology almost 20years ago.
“This is just the beginning. We wantto find the causes for the phenomenawe observed after infection of DCs, todefine the pathways and to knowexactly which arms of the immunesystem are being affected. It’s still along way before we can start thinkingabout therapeutics, but our researchhas already given us crucial clues aboutwhich pathways to follow,” she said.
Dr Degli-Esposti holds a five-yearWellcome Trust Overseas SeniorResearch Fellowship in BiomedicalScience. Dan Andrews is supported byan AMRAD PhD Scholarship. Grantsfrom the National Health and MedicalResearch Council support theremaining lab’s staff.
“You don’t do research
for the money or
because it’s easy.
You do it because
it consumes you.
Dr Serani van Dommelen, Elouise Densley, Mitali Manzur, Dan Andrews,Dr Mariapia Degli-Esposti and Dr Chris Andoniou
8 UWA news
THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA • 3 DECEMBER 2001
The Senate has approved theUniversity Budget for 2002,
so completing the three partreview of the University’sacademic plan, its organisationalstructure, and now its budget.
The Budget has been built aroundsome important underlying principles,notably:• that it must support the
achievement of University goalsand objectives;
• that it must reward excellence andsuccess;
• that it must be reasonably simpleand transparent;
• that it must recognise externalpolicy and funding arrangements aswell as internal University policies,priorities and structures.The Budget has various
mechanisms to achieve its purposes.In broad terms, a proportion of thebudget is allocated for the University’scapital development; a proportion forUniversity infrastructure and facilities
T he Office of Industry and Innovation hassuccessfully negotiated a licensing arrangement
with the German biotechnology company EpigenomicsAG.
The company specialises in the area of DNA methylationwhich is a core technology need in the diagnosis of cancerand other diseases.
The arrangement includes up-front payments, milestonepayments and a l icensing fee i f the technology iscommercialised by Epigenomics.
Dr Peter Kay (recently retired from the Department ofPathology) had invented a single step novel method whichtakes less than 30 minutes to perform. The method iscapable of detecting methylated cytosine residues within anyDNA sequences.
Dr Kay complimented the efforts of the Office of Industryand Innovation (OII) and the Legal Services Office inconcluding the commercial arrangements.
Dr Andy Sierakowski, the manager of OII said he waspleased with the negotiations that involved a telephonehook-up including Berlin, Perth and Seattle. Given thatSeattle local time was midnight at the start of the call, hedubbed the project ‘Sleepless in Seattle’.
Professor Michael Barber said he was delighted with thesuccessful outcome of this project and with the fruitfulengagement of the new Office of Industry and Innovationand UWA researchers.
Cancer technology goes commercial
Dr Peter Kay (centre) is financially rewarded by equallydelighted Professor Michael Barber and Dr Andy Sierakowski
SenateApproves
2002University
Budget
maintenance; a proportion for discre-tionary allocation on strategicinitiatives; and the bulk is distributed byformulae which are essentiallyperformance-based and explicitly linkedto both University and Commonwealthgovernment policy. In this way the budgetis a planning tool designed to enhanceUWA’s competitiveness and performanceexternally, while ensuring an equitabledistribution of resources internally.
The 2002 Budget will deliver anestimated increase in income over 2001of some $25 million, much of itrestricted in its use by the terms of itsacquisition, such as with nationalcompetitive research grants. Some of it
is unrestricted, as with course feesand charges. This success in incomegeneration has enabled the 2001budget deficit of $7.5␣ million to bereduced to $5.5 million in 2002.
The strategy underlying this budgetdeficit is one of investment in thefuture capacity of the University todeliver high quality performance andgenerate further (preferablyunrestricted) income. This will not beachieved unless the quality of staff andthe operating environment ismaintained at competitive levels whilethe University builds its capacity to bemore self-reliant in the face ofescalating costs and a shortfall inpublic funding. As this is achieved thedeficit will be eliminated.
The full details of the budgetmodel, its rationale and componentelements will be placed on the web assoon as possible.
Peter CurtisEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR(ACADEMIC SERVICES) and REGISTRAR
THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA • 3 DECEMBER 2001
UWA news 9
A starlight picnic at an outdoor cinema rates as an Aussie experience alongside the dawn
service on ANZAC Day.And, like ANZAC Day, the Somerville Auditorium’s
Perth Festival Lotteries Film Season, is dominated by medalsand awards.
Almost every film bears a proud array of prizes (happilyfor artistic achievement, rather than bravery in battle).
Perth International Arts Festival’s film buff, SherryHopkins, has again put together a program of amazingvariety and exceptionally high quality.
The season opens, as is traditional, with a comedy, theAustralian premiere of The Closet, from director FrancisVeber (Dinner Game). Francois, a dull, rather sad accountant,unassuming to the point of near-invisibility, who is sodesperate to save his job at a condom factory that he lies to
his bosses and masquerades as being gay. The company’smacho homophobe, Felix (Gerard Depardieu), led tobelieve he could lose his job if he is not kind to Francois,goes hilariously overboard in his attempts to be nice to him.
Award-winning films from France and Italy dominate thisseason, which promises to be controversial.
Other films from France include the Grand Prize Winnerfrom the 2000 Montreal Film Festival, The Taste of Othersand Jules Dassin’s Rififi, the 1955 classic and one of the greatgangster films of the 20th century.
Italy is well represented with many award winnersincluding the Palme d’Or Winner from the 2001 CannesFilm Festival, The Son’s Room, a deeply affecting story ofintergenerational conflict, tragedy and loss within anordinary family.
From Britain, Merchant/Ivory‘s The Golden Bowl, asumptuous romantic period drama, based on a Henry Jamesnovel, with wonderful performances from Uma Thurman,Nick Nolte, Kate Beckinsale, James Fox and AngelicaHuston. Also from Britain is Intimacy - the much anticipatedand controversial look at the power of lust.
British director Michael Winterbottom has takenThomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge 14,000kilometres away to the snowy Sierra Nevada mountains toretell this fantastic story in his film, The Claim, starring PeterMullan and Nastassja Kinski
Tears of the Black Tiger is a gay western which paystribute to the B-movie cliches, westerns and melodramas -thrilling, wildly imaginative and deeply absurd. It won theDragons and Tigers Award for Young Cinema at the 2001Vancouver International Film Festival.
Also on offer is the 2001 Sydney Film Festival’s MostPopular Film, Divided We Fall , set in occupiedCzechoslovakia in 1943 and based on a true story about aCzech couple who hide a Jewish prisoner in their attic,along with a side of pork!
The predicted crowd pleaser will be Together, set in a‘seventies Swedish commune. It follows the journey of anabused woman who seeks refuge with her brother in achaotic house inhabited by long-haired people who discusspolitics, have free sex and drink lots of red wine whilelistening to Abba.
From Haiti, a docu-drama, Lumumba, is based on thetrue story of Patrice Lumumba, a young self-taughtnationalist who, in June 1960, became the first head ofgovernment of the new independent state, The Congo. Hewould last two months in office.
The Somerville’s final offering is Australian directorRachel Perkins’ multi-award-winning country and westernmusical, One Night the Moon, based on the true story ofAboriginal tracker Riley and the 1932 disappearance of achild in the harsh, unforgiving Australian outback.
at the Somerville
A great
Aussie experience
See Info Liftout for details ofGREAT discounts on Festival
tickets for UWA staff
10 UWA news
THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA • 3 DECEMBER 2001
Even with low rainfall, ruralareas can increase their
water supply by improving theirdams.
A study undertaken at the Centrefor Water Research will providelandholders in WA’s wheat and sheepdistricts with cost effective andsustainable strategies to get the bestout of their dams.
The two and half year study, fundedby the Office of Water Regulation,Agriculture WA and the WaterCorporation, explored strategies toimprove the efficiency of rural waterstores, with the objective of identifyingcost-effective and environmentallysustainable methods that may be easilyand widely adopted across thewheatbelt. They estimate that specificstrategies will assist 75 per cent oflandholders in the wheat and sheepdistricts who rely solely on on-farmwater supplies.
Farmers now have guidelines toreduce evaporation, reduce leakage intothe sub-surface, and increase runoff.
A simple tool to design an effectivewindbreak or shelterbelt offeringevaporation reductions␣ of around 30per cent is available to water-managers.Improved methodology for the designof engineered catchments that supplyboth town and farm dams andalternatives to sealing leaky dams␣ andimproving runoff into town dams havealso been developed.
The study, conducted by post-graduate student Matt Hipsey, under
the supervision of Professor MurugesuSivapalan, has been hailed as amilestone in providing welcome reliefto the sheep and wheat growing areasof Western Australia.
Professor Sivapalan has recentlybeen awarded a Biennial Medal of theModelling and Simulation Society ofAustralia and New Zealand.
The award was made in the categoryof Natural Systems. It is in recognitionof Professor Sivapalan’s sustained highquality contributions to simulation andmodelling over many years.
Other staff at the Centre for WaterResearch have also been recentlydecorated. Chair of the centre,Professor Jorg Imberger, has won theJames N Kirby award and AssociateProfessor Chari Pattiaratchi has beenappointed an ‘Eminent Sri LankanScientist’ by the Sri Lankan government.
The James N Kirby medal isawarded to someone who, in theopinion of the Australasian RegionBoard of the Institution of ElectricalEngineers, has achieved eminence,distinction and public recognition in hisor her particular sphere of activity.
Born in 1899 in Sydney, Sir JamesNorman Kirby CBE was one ofAustralia’s leading industrialists. Theaward commemorating his contributionto Australian manufacturing industry,was instituted in 1954.
Professor Pattiaratchi’s nominationmeans he will expand his work for theSri Lankan government. The Ministry ofScience and Technology says that
Professor Pattiaratchi’s knowledge andexperience would facilitatedevelopment in priority areas of thesector in Sri Lanka. The University ofSagara has also indicated it would likehis services to improve the priorityareas of its science faculty.
Professor Pattiaratchi co-ordinatesapplied ocean science in theDepartment of EnvironmentalEngineering. He has also recentlyspearheaded a successful fundingventure for collaborative projects inmarine science.
Three ARC linkages grants, aFisheries Research and DevelopmentCorporation grant and five scholarshipsfrom the Strategic Research Fund forthe Marine Environment will supportten PhD students.
The collaborators include theCSIRO Division of Marine Research,Australian Institute of Marine Science,Royal Australian Navy, Department ofConservation and Land Management(WA) WA Fisheries, WA Museum, MGKailis Ltd, JP Kenny Ltd, the EsperancePort Authority, the University ofMelbourne and Curtin University.
Damn the drought – deepenthe
dams
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: ProfessorImberger, Associate Professor Pattiaratchiand Professor Sivapalan
UWA news 11
THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA • 3 DECEMBER 2001
Research delving back to agriculture’s origins in Afghanistan and Chinacould help WA field pea growers curb the affects of black spot and
capture the financial rewards of the $300 per tonne crop.Field pea has been a popular pulse crop in WA, but its viability has been threatened
by the fungal disease, black spot, which typically cuts yields by 10-20 percent, and hasthe potential to completely wipe out a crop.
Collaboration between the UWA-based Centre for Legumes in MediterraneanAgriculture (CLIMA) and Russia’s Vavilov Institute has delivered 350 promising lines tolocal breeding programs to build black spot resistance in commercial crops.
“Vavilov Institute is the world’s most comprehensive seed bank, with more than213,000 samples, representing 2,539 species, so it really is the best point for placeslike CLIMA to begin searching for new material,” said Professor Clive Francis,CLIMA’s Deputy Director and co-ordinator of the Vavilov collaboration.
Seed numbers were built up at the International Centre for Agricultural Researchin Dry Areas (ICARDA), Syria, and then sent to Ethiopia. Black spot is endemic inEthiopia, making it an ideal location to screen for resistance. The project, supportedby the Grains Research and Development Corporation, identified 20 more lines withpotential black spot resistance.
Most were collected from Afghanistan and China, two of the world’s firstagricultural regions and home to some of its most genetically diverse crops.
While searching for black spot resistance, the project found several other linesdisplaying beneficial agronomic qualities which will be tested and developed to deliverfurther advantages to WA growers.
“The best advances in science often occur when conducting separate enquiries,” saidProfessor Francis. “When you’re working with a resource like Vavilov, the world’s firstseed bank, you have to make the most ofthat opportunity, so CLIMA simultaneouslyreviewed prospective lines for otherutilities besides black spot resistance.”
The Vavilov Institute is 107 years oldand has survived Tsarism, Communismand Nazi invasion. While under fire fromGerman forces, scientists guarding theInstitute starved to death rather than eatthe packets of rice, corn and other seedsin their desks.
more about academic politics from hisreply than from anything else I haveexperienced. “You have no idea what Ithought of your motion,” he said, “Youonly know that I voted for it.” That wasthe cunning of a formidable Chair ofthe then Professorial Board.
The DVC
Shortly before I was elected Dean, thefirst ever election of a Dean of Arts, Iwent to the incumbent Dean, GordonReid, for some advice about whether totake up the position. He became veryserious. He said that it was a verystressful position. He was giving up
Solution toagriculture’sblack spotfrom theworld’spoliticalhot spot
Black Spot project worker DrTanveer Khan (left) withEthiopian Pulse Pathologist,Dereje Gorfu, in an Ethiopianfarmer’s paddock where severeblack spot infection hasprematurely hayed off the pea
because he couldn’t cope with thetensions. Next year I was Dean and hewas Deputy Vice Chancellor. I knowwhat he meant!
The Vice-Chancellor
I suppose I should not leave Vice-Chancellors out of the picture, after allthey are our leaders. Back in the sixtiesthe VC, wanting to know whatacademics felt about issues, mixedfreely with colleagues, regularlyfrequenting the bar in University Houseto hear frank and often unflatteringcomments about his performance. Oneevening after a Classics Friday lunch Iapproached the VC and drunkenly andarrogantly said that if he had the senseto support me I could put hisUniversity on the international map.(This was the early sixties!) Having told
him my project, I tripped over and fellflat on my face. Waking up nextmorning with a dreadful hangover andhorrible memories I thought that I hadprobably lost my job. After a couple ofweeks with nothing happening I felt alittle easier. A month later came aletter from the VC saying that he hadbeen impressed with my proposal andwhy hadn’t I put in for an ARGC grant.So I applied for and won a very largegrant and successfully completed amajor project. In the present climate Idoubt if any of that scenario would beplayed out.As is appropriate for a member of staffat UWA I have happily sought wisdomfor 42 years and I thank the Universityfor giving me the opportunity to do so.I have not however become wise. Thatwould have been folly.
continued from page 12
... the last word
12 UWA news
THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA • 3 DECEMBER 2001
... the last word
I set out for Australia about six months aftergraduating from University College London.
I did it in style at the University’s expense with a first classcabin on the liner Oronsay (actually I was a ‘ten poundpommy migrant’ as I discovered when I tried to leave thecountry 18 months later. The University had merely‘upgraded’ me. In a University context things are rarely asthey seem).
As an undergraduate I had taken no interest in theUniversity’s affairs, I had never met a Dean, let alone had anyidea what he did and I did not have the faintest idea of howthe University was run. I had only once met the Provost, theequivalent of our Vice-Chancellor. This was an
uncomfortable interview. I was asked to explain why I, thencaptain, and most of the UCL cricket team, had beenarrested for playing football with a number of Belishabeacons in the streets of Bath at 1a.m on a Sunday morning.
I didn’t think of the Shane Warne answer, that it wouldhave been alright if we hadn’t been found out. I pleadedinebriation after celebration of a famous win over a toffeenosed Bath cricket club. He congratulated me warmly on thewin and said that if I wrote to the Bath police apologising onbehalf of the team that would be the end of it. So my firstimpression of University administrators was a favourableone.
The Dean
On the Oronsay with me was Professor Alexander. Thatwas how he introduced himself and that was clearly how hewanted to be addressed. We met in the final of the DeckQuoits tournament which my partner and I won. My partnerand I went happily to the bar and celebrated. About twohours later we heard an announcement over the PA systemrequesting our presence on the games deck. There we metthe Entertainment Officer, a chinless wonder called Lordsomeone or other, whom the family must have decided wasbetter off out of England. He was with a grim facedProfessor Alexander and said that Fred had complained thaton every other boat he had been on the final was playedover three games and not one. Would we mind playing thebest of three? We said we couldn’t care less and notunexpectedly, given our condition, duly lost the next twogames in record time. What I didn’t realise at the time wasthat I had had my first encounter with a Dean of Arts, andlost.
Collegiality
When we berthed at Fremantle I was met by ProfessorAustin, another who was obsessed with being called‘Professor’. He said, “I must go and say hello to my oldfriend and colleague Freddy Alexander. Have you met him?”“Yes,” I said, “ he has been really good to me. This morning Iwas given a bar bill for 50 pounds which I couldn’t pay. Iasked him what I should do and he immediately wrote out acheck for 50 pounds and gave it to me.” “He did what? “said Austin, “don’t ever be indebted to that man” and he toopulled out a cheque book and wrote me a check for 50pounds. Apart from the thought that it was very easy to getmoney out of Australian professors, this was my firstexperience of academic collegiality at work!
Academic Politics
Academic politics was totally unknown to me, but I learnedfrom an expert. I loved Faculty meetings and was alwaysproposing motions. Once when something I had proposedgot through, which wasn’t often, I spoke to Larry Blakers,Professor of Mathematics, at tea-time and said, “I am gladthat you thought the same as I did on that motion.” I learned
A Pilgrim’sProgress:SeekingWisdom atUWA
continued on page 11
Professor John JoryClassics and Ancient History
LIFT-OUT3 DECEMBER 2001 Volume 20 Number 19
CAMPUS DIARY • RESEARCH GRANTS AND CONTRACTS • CLASSIFIED ADS • NOTICES • REDUNDANT EQUIPMENT
Compiled by Joanna Thompson
Telephone: 9380 3029Facsimile: 9380 1162
Email: [email protected]
Yes – lease on ABSOLUTELY fully-equipped two-bedroom townhome opposite UWA from $285 p.w.!
Book now for new staff and visiting academics arriving from 2002.
Location: cnr Edward and Fairway Streets, Crawley(opposite Mechanical Engineering).
Enquiries: 0412 953 100 or fax 9389 8326
KenataKenataKenataKenataKenataRentalsRentalsRentalsRentalsRentals
Kenata Rentals providing short-term, fully-furnished accommodation to UWA since 1982.
fromfromfromfromfrom
$285$285$285$285$285per weekper weekper weekper weekper week
The best staff discountsever offered to University
staff, for Festival shows, areavailable this season for‘earlybird’ reservations.
As long as you book your ticketsby December 21, UWA staff willreceive a 25 per cent discount,with a minimum purchase of fourtickets per performance.
The University and the PerthInternational Arts Festival are keenfor the campus community to feelsome ownership of one of the bestarts festivals in Australia.
Programs are available at theVisitors’ Centre and you can bookat the Octagon Theatre or byringing BOCS on 9484 1133.
Make sure to quote thereference number UWA01 whenyou book, to ensure your discount.Family tickets for a show couldmake a great Christmas present.
Festival
The film season at the Somervilleopens this week and the Festivalproper on Friday January 25, withfree events over the Australia Dayweekend.
discounts
Teachers and other graduatesinterested in working in the Pilbara canhave all their questions answered at aworkshop in Perth in January.
Living and Working in the Pilbarainformation seminar is an initiative of thePilbara Development Commission.
The Commission will host the seminarwith the Education Department of WAand the Pilbara local governmentauthorities. Speakers will address issuesincluding the fantastic tourist attractions,excellent sport and recreation facilities,teaching Aboriginal students, the history ofthe region, the flora and fauna, theextensive mining and energy industries andwhat to expect when you arrive.
The Commission has invited teachersand graduates who are relocating to theregion in 2002 to attend the seminar.
Held in January each year, this will bethe sixth seminar hosted by theCommission. Its purpose is to helpteachers who may be coming to thePilbara to gain information and communitycontacts which will help them to settle inwhen they arrive in the region, and to takeadvantage of the region’s fantastic, butlittle known lifestyle opportunities.
It is hoped this initiative will encourageteachers to feel part of the community andstay longer in the Pilbara, leading to bettereducation outcomes for our schools.
The presenters and facilitators for theday all have a close association with thePilbara region and include Mr Brian Hayes,an Aboriginal spokesperson from theThalanyji people, Ms Pam Glossop fromthe Ministry of Sport, Ms SharonSzczecinski from the Chamber of Mineralsand Energy, Ms Minda Penn from thePilbara Tourism Association, Dr PeterKendrick an ecologist from CALM, MrsRobyn Crane, Acting Chief ExecutiveOfficer of the Pilbara DevelopmentCommission and long term Pilbararesident and representatives from thelocal government authorities and DistrictEducation office. The acting DirectorGeneral of the Education Department, MrRon Mance will officially close the daysproceedings.
A red carpetfor future
Pilbara teachers
The Living and Working in the PilbaraInformation Seminar will be held in Perthat the Mercure Hotel on Thursday 17January 2002, and is open to all teachersand graduates and their partners.
The Commission is grateful to allpresenters and facilitators, the MercureHotel, the Pilbara local government
authorities and the EducationDepartment for their support of thisproject.
To reserve a place at the seminar orfor further information please telephoneNicole Nugent on telephone 1800 673996 or 9185 0188 or email
CAMPUS3 December
DiaryMonday 3 DecemberGENDER AND CULTURESEMINAR SERIES/GENDERAND VISUALITY‘A is for animatics (automata, androids andanimats)’, by Dr Cathryn Vasseleu, ResearchFellow, Humanities and Social Sciences,University of Technology, Sydney. 6.30pmArt Gallery of Western Australia Theatrette.
Tuesday 4 DecemberGENDER AND CULTURE WORKSHOP/GENDER AND VISUALITYConvened by Professor Hilary Fraser. 9.30to 4.45pm, Art Gallery of WesternAustralia Theatrette. Registrations (inclu-ding lunch and refreshments): Full: $25including GST. Students/Concessions: $10(including GST). Contact Terri-ann Whiteon 9380 2114.
Thursday 6 DecemberWABCAP SEMINAR SERIES‘Christmas Breakfast, Richard Prince onFuture Development’. 7.30am, WAIMRMeeting Rm, Ground Floor, B Block, SCGH.
Friday 7 DecemberBIOCHEMISTRY SEMINAR‘The many functions of plant mitochondria’by Dr Lee Sweetlove, Oxford University.Simmonds Lecture Theatre. 1pm.Enquiries ext. 3324.
Saturday 8 DecemberRED CROSS INTERNATIONALHUMANITARIAN LAWSYMPOSIUM ON LANDMINESThe symposium features international andnational speakers on a range of issues:demining; legal aspects of landmines; avictims perspective; a surgeon's experi-ence; technological solutions to combatlandmines and an ICRC photographicexhibition on landmines. All participantscan view the Centenary of Federation artexhibition featuring One Hundred Yearsof Australian art on display at theLawrence Wilson Art Gallery during theSymposium at no extra cost. LawrenceWilson Art Gallery. Registration $55 (full)& $45 (conc.). To register or for moreinformation contact Harpal on 9325 5111.
10 to 14 December11TH INTERNATIONALWORKSHOP ON STEREOLOGY,STOCHASTIC GEOMETRY ANDRELATED FIELDSThis workshop brings together inter-national experts and practical users ofstereology, stochastic geometry, spatialstatistics, image analysis and related fields.Held at UWA. Contact ext. 3338,[email protected] or checkout the conference web site at www.maths.uwa.edu.au/~adrian/workshop.html.
Thursday 13 DecemberPUBLIC LECTURE‘The Stolen Generations’, ProfessorRobert Manne, La Trobe University,Melbourne. 7pm, West Australian Museum,James Street.
Friday 14 DecemberCLIMA SEMINAR‘Transgenic pulse development project’,Dr Steve Wiley. 4pm, CLIMA Seminar Rm.
14 to 15 DecemberINSTITUTE OF ADVANCEDSTUDIES SYMPOSIUM‘Constituting a “people”: the legacy ofwhite Australia’, convened by E/ProfLaksiri Jayasuriya, UWA, Prof DavidWalker, Deakin University, Dr JanGothard, Murdoch University. 9am to5pm, Social Science Lecture Theatre.Registration (including lunch and refresh-ments): $100 or $50 per day. Concession(students, unwaged) $40 or 20 per day.Dinner: $60 or $45 when registering forthe Symposium. Full programme detailsand registration at www.ias.uwa.edu.au/activities.html or contact Terri-ann Whiteon 9380 2114.
Sunday 23 DecemberMESSIAH CONCERTPerformed by the UWA Choral Society.6.30pm, Winthrop Hall. Tickets $28 (full)& $25 (Conc.) available from the OctagonTheatre (9380 2440) or at the door.
SaveUWAter
“Water is probably ourmost precious resource. It affects every aspectof our environment andwe have no more of it
than our ancestors had.”Water conservation tips
• Take individual responsibility for youruse of the resource.
• Turn off urns when not required forlong periods of time such as over theweekend.
• Turn off air-conditioners when not inuse.
• Carry out room cooling techniques toreduce use of air conditioners.
• Wash coffee cups in numbers using asink half full of water rather than usingrunning water to wash up individualitems.
Laboratories
• Use tap water for washing equipmentwhere possible.
• If using running water to washequipment collect all items first andturn tap off when finished.
• Install distillation, reverse osmosis ordeionisation units which are efficientand suit the needs of the laboratory.
• Use tap water to cool stills.
• Reduce the use of venturi vacuumpumps on taps by using portablevacuum pumps.
• Don’t try to wash down large amountsof solvents. Decanter off and useenough water to wash residual solventsaway.
UWAnews
This is the last issue of UWANews for 2001. The first issue next year will be published onMonday March 11. The deadline for editorial and advertisements is Wednesday February 27.
Your ideas, comments, pictures and stories are always welcome – it is your magazine.
Editorial copy and enquiries about news stories should go to Lindy Brophy in Public Affairs
on extension 2436 ([email protected]).
Please send advertisements and diary notices to Joanna Thompson in Publications on
extension 3029 ([email protected]).
We hope you can live without UWANews over the summer break! Have a great holiday.
Watch out for next year’s deadlines and publication dates in the first issue for 2002.
Symposium in Honour ofPhilip Brown Professor of Accounting
Professor Philip Brown, Chair of Accounting and Financein the Department of Accounting and Finance, is retiringafter a long and distinguished career of teaching andresearch in many areas including Financial Accountingand Capital Markets.
To recognise Professor Brown’s contributions, theDepartment is holding a two-day symposium in his honour, at theHyatt Regency Hotel in December.
Professor Brown earned his BCom degree from theUniversity of New South Wales where he was a University
medallist; and then, with a Fulbright Scholarship, travelled to the United States, where hegained his MBA degree (in finance, 1965) and PhD (in economics, accounting and finance,1968) from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
After serving as a faculty member of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Businessfor two years, Professor Brown joined UWA’s School of Commerce in 1968.
In 1970 he was appointed a Professor of Accounting. Her accepted an offer as Professor ofManagement and Foundation Director of the Australian Graduate School of Management atthe University of New South Wales in 1975. He returned to UWA in 1990, as Professor ofAccounting, a position he has held until his retirement. He was Head of Department fromNovember 1980 to May 1981 and again from 1985 to 1990.
His contribution to the discipline of accounting and finance continues to be outstanding, andis reflected in the high reputation the Department of Accounting and Finance has internationally.
University library staff were faced every day withqueues of student waiting to use computers for on-line resources … then suddenly, SNAP! They hadthe answer.
Student Network Access Project (SNAP) is a projectdesigned to give students better access to the University’son-line resources and the Internet.
The project has provided 31 wired access points inlibraries across the campus and installed wireless access inthe Arts building, the Guild Village, the library coffee shop,the student terraces and even in the Great Court.
So students can now bring their laptop computers to University and connect up. Previously, theycould only work on their own assignments so most of them left their laptops at home and queued forthe libraries’ and departmental computers.
Manager of the libraries’ IT team, Stephen Trefry, is spearheading SNAP. He said a recent studentsurvey suggested that 25 per cent of students owned or used laptops.
If they could bring them to University and go on-line, it would relieve computer congestion.“Our trial, with up to 70 students, is just coming to an end. Depending on the results, we plan to
install more access points around the campus to help the students,” Mr Trefry said.The University Initiatives Fund was used to help find a solution and library IT staff worked with
University Communications Services staff to bring SNAP to fruition.For information about SNAP: http://snap.uwa.edu.au
Students can snap ontheir laptops
Andy Hawkins provides SNAP support
ClassifiedsWANTED TO RENT
ACADEMIC COUPLE visiting UWA fromEngland are looking for a house to rent/housesit from mid-January until the end ofMarch. Please contact Prof. Elaine Fox([email protected]) or Dr Kevin Dutton([email protected]). Further details can beobtained from Prof. Colin Macleod (UWADept. of Psychology, [email protected]).
ACADEMIC COUPLE with 4-year-old childseek comfortable house near to UWA or inpleasant location in Perth, for the period 2 Janto 13 May (starting could be flexible). Pleasecontact Della Sala at [email protected].
AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH COUNCILDr Dylan Jayatilaka, Chemistry: ‘Fellowship—Wavefunctions directly from scatteringexperiments’ — $221,373 (2001-03).
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ANDAGED CARE: MISCELLANEOUS
Dr T. W. Jones, Dr E. A. Davis and Dr S. M.Stick, Institute for Child Health Research, Dr J.Foster, Psychology, and Dr P. Fournier,Human Movement: ‘NHMRC/JDF special pro-gram in grant in Type 1 diabetes: optimisingglycaemic control and preventing hypogly-caemia in the young Type 1 diabetic patient’ —$1,608,000 (2001-03).
IAN POTTER FOUNDATION
Dr P. Poot, Plant Science: ‘Travel - to attendconference 6th International Society of RootResearch in Japan’ — $1350 (2001).
MERIWA
A/Prof T. Edwards, Oil and Gas Engineeringand Dr A. Mann, Physics: ‘Automatedmeasurement of phase behaviour in NorthWest Shelf petroleum and natural gas fluidsusing advanced microwave technology - M345’— $310,000 (2001-02).
ResearchGrantsContracts
&NHMRC (EQUIPMENT GRANTS)
Dr J. Allan, Prof T. Davis, A/Prof J. Olynyk andDr D. Trinder, Medicine: ‘Quantification ofgene expression (Real time thermocylcer)’ —$40,700 (2001).
RURAL INDUSTRIES RESEARCH &DEVELOPMENT CORP
Dr G. Yan, Plant Science: ‘Speeding up therelease of new Leucadendron varieties’ —$122,300 (2001-05).
CHILD HEALTH RESEARCHFOUNDATION OF WA
Dr S. Devadason, Paediatrics: ‘Fellowship:Assessment of Paediatric Exposure to Thera-peutic and Environmental Aerosols.’
OFFICE OF ROAD SAFETY, WADEPT OF TRANSPORT
Ms L. Cercarelli, Public Health: ‘A review ofthe use of alcohol ignition interlocks inAboriginal Communities in Western Australia’— $20,000 (2001).
A/Prof M. Stevenson, Public Health: ‘Fundingof the Injury Research Centre’ — $175,000(2001).
UNIVERSITY POSTDOCTORALRESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS
Dr S . A. Newman, Pol i t ica l Sc ience:‘Fellowship—Max Stirner and the politicsof postructuralism power freedom anddes ire in the format ion of pol i t ica lidentities.’
FOR RENT
TWO-BEDROOM APARTMENT, ful lyfurnished in Shenton Park. A/C, pool, nearbuses and shops and five mins from UWA,available for January and February, 2002. $250per week. Call 9381 4492.
HOLIDAY HOUSE IN LANCELIN. Only onehour from Perth in the lovely, peaceful holidayseaside town of Lancelin. Go snorkelling, surfing,walking, sand-boarding or just relax. A three-bedroom house, comfortable accommodationfor four adults and four children, one minutefrom the beach. Reasonable weekly or dailyrates. Contact Mel on 041 992 9851.
FOR SALEPEUGEOT 504 1978. Automatic, reliable sedanthat just purrs along. Full service records overthe past three years. Owner going overseas.$1,450. Call Peter on 9387 7819.
TeachingInternshipScheme
The Teaching and LearningCommittee is pleased to announcethe successful applicants for theTeaching Internship Scheme for 2002.
25 applications were received underthe Scheme. The 12 postgraduatestudents (listed in alphabetical order)who have been offered a TeachingInternship in 2002 are:
MS GINA ARENAPublic Health
MR JOHN BAMBERGMathematics & Statistics
MR JEREMY DRAKEAnatomy & Human Biology
MR FRANK GEMMITIAnatomy & Human Biology/
Anthropology
MS MICHELLE GRASSIChemistry
MS JANETTE HEADChemistry
MS MARIANNE HICKSHistory
MR DARREN JORGENSENEnglish
MR TAMA LEAVEREnglish
MR T DANIEL MIDGLEYLinguistics/Computer Science
MR MICHAEL SHANEPlant Sciences
MS LORRAINE SIMEnglish
The Teaching and LearningCommittee congratulates thesesuccessful students.
The Teaching Internship Scheme wasinitially introduced for three yearsand has been very successful duringthat period. Its continuation howeverwill be subject to the availability offunds in 2002. The Teaching andLearning Committee will giveconsideration to this matter earlynext year.
Any queries in this regard should bereferred to the Executive Officer ofthe Teaching and LearningCommittee, Mrs Sue Smurthwaite,on extension 2459 or email:[email protected]
This is the final issue of UWANewsfor this year. The first issue for 2002will be 11 March for which the copy
deadline is 27 February.
A group of businessmen from the Netherlands inspected UWA’s Centre for Medical and Surgical Skills (ctec) while on a recent
investment mission to Perth.The group, involved in the IT and telecommunications industry, was most interested
in the development of surgical skills training models. Medic Vision, the company whichruns the telecommunications for ctec, is working closely with CSIRO furtherdeveloping computer-based surgical training models focusing on basic surgical skills.
Several delegates from the Netherlands group of 17 are involved in the designand construction of technology parks similar to the one in Bentley, and one, PeiterAngenent, is director of a Dutch company linked with the design and constructionof a medical and surgical skills training centre in Holland.
Mr Angenent is keen to investigate the possiblity of using Medic Vision as a designconsultant for their facility. The group was hosted by the Department of Industry andTechnology in Perth. Medic Vision is currently in discussions with groups buildingsimilar facilities in Melbourne, Sydney, Singapore, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
IT facilities under euro-microscope
