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8/8/2019 Connections Issue 9
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Issue 9 WINTeR 2008WWW.vu.edu.au VU CONNECTIONS
NOahSprIdE
faT aNd fIT . jOCkEyS fIrST . gamE jUNkIES . ClImaTE Of ChaNgE
8/8/2019 Connections Issue 9
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4
VC welCome
The VC writes about VUs
commitment to green values and
its responsibility to adopt and
promote sustainable environmental
practices through innovative
projects and research.
4
In brIef
Tackling diabetes, a groundbreaking
agreement with the University
o Melbourne, and a new centre
or vocational and work-based
education research are just three
o this issues in bries.
8
In THe
DrIVerS SeAT
Perormance Studies student Paddy
Macrae wins a Transport Accident
Commission prize o $20,000
to make a short lm about sae
driving or young drivers.
10
SlAm-DUnKeD
To fAme
VU alumni and ormer basketball
star, Danny Morseu, represented
Australia at two Olympics.
He has now been inducted into
the VU Sport Hall o Fame.
15
ClImATe
of CHAnGe
Signing up with the Greenfeet
program is just one o VUs many
environmental initiatives thatare helping to reduce the impact
o greenhouse gas emissions.
16
CreIGHTon bUrnS
19252008
VUs inaugural Chancellor, and
ormer editor o The Agenewspaper,
dies ater a long illness aged 82.
17
emPowerInG
refUGeeS
VUs work with government and
local community partners to support
Melbournes growing number o Horno Arica reugees wins a national
award or community engagement.
18
GoUrmeT
SeCreTS
For years, VUs three training
restaurants have been providing
invaluable training or studentsaiming or careers in the hospitality
and tourism industry.
23
noAHS PrIDe
Eighty-year-old Bill Pride teaches
the ancient crat o traditional
wooden boatbuilding at Newport
Campus. This year he received
a Medal o the Order o Australia.
24
fAT AnD fIT
Dr Steve Selig says overweight
people wanting to improve their
health should throw away their
bathroom scales and ocus on
getting t, not on getting thin.
26
Know THe SCore
VUs research acilities and strong
links with industry and the community
are allowing researchers to produce
work that is locally relevant and
internationally signicant.
27
SoCIAl ConSCIenCe
Thirty-two, single and with our
children, Maree Corbo brought
plenty o lie experience to the
classroom when she enrolled
in a Bachelor o Social Work.
31
VU fACTS
Facts about VU.
32
VU ArT
Recent artwork by a VU student.
CONTENTS
1 24 17
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11
GAme JUnKIeS
So-called addicted computer
gamers are oten stereotyped as
lonely nerds lacking sel-esteem
and social skills. A VU researcher
disagrees.
12
JoCKeYS Come
In fIrST
Research into the horse racing
industry has resulted in signicant
improvements to the working
and non-working lives o jockeys,
trainers and stable employees.
14
STreeT SmArT
A driving program or schoolchildren
is teaching them practical skills
behind the wheel beore they get
their learner permits and venture
onto Victorias busy roads.
VICTorIA
UnIVerSITY
ConneCTIonS
PUBLISHER
Marketing and Communications Dept.
Victoria University, Australia
PO Box 14428
Melbourne VIC 8001, Australia
Victoria University
CRICOS Provider No. 00124K
CONTACT US
Phil Kooed Managing Editor
PHONE +61 3 9919 4956
EMAIL [email protected]
www.vu.edu.au
This publication is printed on recycled paper.
PHOTOS
Sharon Walker
Tim Burgess
Ann Marie Angebrandt
COVER PHOTO
Bill Pride, VU teacher o traditional
boatbuilding at Newport Campus. Awarded a
Medal o the Order o Australia at this years
Australia Day celebrations.
20
A lonG JoUrneY
VUs Karen Jackson is a Yorta
Yorta, Barap Barap woman. She
is committed to the recognition oAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
heritage and rights to land.
21
fooTbAll
lAwYer
Wayne Henwoods career included
playing with the Sydney Swans
and the Melbourne Demons beorestudying law at VU. He now sits
on the AFL Tribunal.
22
leArnInG SPACe
CHAnGInG fACe
Combining libraries with IT and
learning support, learning commons
are part o VUs response to theeducational needs o students
in the 21st century.
28
bATTInG
for Green
Greg Dingle says the uture o
proessional and amateur sport hinges
on them reducing their contribution
to global warming and adaptingto the impending world oil crisis.
30
eXTrAorDInArY
lIVeS
A new book o poems, stories and
interviews by and about women
living in Melbournes west, shows
that so-called ordinary people canhave extraordinary lives.
31
new booKS
Marketing museums in t he 21st
century and the moral dilemma
o an Indian ocer taken prisoner
in WWII are among the topicso new books by VU authors.
18 4 23
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Welcome to the winter 2008 issue o Connections.
We need hardly be told that we all as individuals, as organisations, and as communities need
to take responsibility or the impacts we have on the environment. This is perhaps even truer or
universities, which have a responsibility both to lead and to innovate.
It is in this spirit o orward thinking that Victoria University has committed to a green value o
sound environmental stewardship or uture generations. Further, all VU programs in construction,
manuacturing and transport related areas will in uture have a green ocus.
VU also strives to ensure its impact on the natural environment is managed in a responsible andsustainable manner. The University is working to achieve a 10% decrease in water consumption between
2008 and 2011, and reduce the use o both electricity and gas by 15% over the same period.
As a multisector university oering higher, vocational and urther education, VU can make positive
contributions to a sustainable uture through teaching, practice and research across a broad variety
o elds and industries.
The Werribee Centre or Sustainable Water Use at VUs Werribee Campus is a good example o
VUs capacity to eect meaningul responses to the impacts o climate change on our water supply.
Work at the Centre is ocused on developing water and wastewater treatment technologies. The State
Government has granted $1m over 5 years towards the centre, and VU has committed a urther $3.6m.
As you read through this issue o Connections, you will see that VU sta and students are exemplarso the Universitys green value, and are committed to sustainable environmental practices through
innovative projects and research.
The articles also explore other developments across the University. You will read how VU is
expanding its teaching and learning spaces to ensure students are prepared or the challenges
o the modern workplace.
Another article discusses a VU academics research that has yielded surprising results on the
relationship between body weight and tness level.
You will also read about the University receiving a national award or bringing together community
and government partners to support newly-arrived Arican reugees to the west o Melbourne.
Collectively, these and other stories demonstrate how we are not only an active community withinthe University but are keen to export our knowledge and expertise locally, nationally and abroad.
Proessor Elizabeth Harman
Vice-Chancellor and President
June 2008
VU reACHeS SUmmIT
Victoria University sta were among those
taking part in the Federal Governments
Australia 2020 Summit, with Vice-Chancellor
Proessor Elizabeth Harman saying she tooksome very clear messages to Canberra.
Proessor Harman had previously participated
in local summits, and the outcomes were
ormally submitted to the national summit
or consideration.
Among concerns Proessor Harman conveyed
were a national vision or a holistic approach
to education that works at a local level in
Melbournes west, ensuring t he western
region o Melbourne has a competitive
regional prole, the need or climate change
to be taken seriously and the local lead
that Melbournes west could provide, and
overcoming Melbournes massive east/west
divide in services and urban renewal.
Proessor Harman was one o our VU people
represented at the summit. The others were
Associate Proessor Santina Bertone rom the
Faculty o Business and Law; Ken Loughnan, AO
rom VU Council; and Elleni Bereded rom VUs
Oce or Industry and Community Engagement.
C Welcome In Brief
4
-Chncllorbth Hrmnh sport nrtionnti stok Krrynml.
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eric Ln tth nilingo hi portritwith grnonJm Goon.
In Brief
KICKInG GoAlS
Thousands o students rom schools in
Melbournes western region are learning about
healthy and happy living in an innovative
program launched by the Western Bulldogsin partnership with VU and AFL Victoria.
The Bulldog Friendly Schools program
delivers messages to Grade 3 and 4 students
about the importance o building tness and
developing broad values o harmony, air play
and teamwork.
The program is supported by 50 trainee
teachers rom VU, in conjunction with
classroom teachers in schools.
Natalie Vernuccio, VU Partnerships Manager,Access and Success, said the project is
aimed at building physical, social, and
educational outcomes.
Schools can choose a Footy in S chools
program, which communicates the importance
o regular physical activity, ooty skills,
and nutrition to children and their amilies.
They can also chose a Multicultural Schools
program, which oers an introduction to ooty
or schools with a high proportion o students
rom diverse cultural backgrounds.
The programs are oered ree to schools.
new reSeArCH PoSITIonS
VU has launched its new Work-based Education
Research Centre (WERC). Senior Deputy
Vice-Chancellor (Education Services) and
Director TAFE Proessor Richard Carter saidthe centre marks a major innovation in
a vocational education aculty on a matter
that is o nati onal signicance.
Proessor Carter said the new centres cutting-
edge research in vocational education will ocus
on improving trades education and how skills
are best taught or learned in workplace settings.
He said skills shortages and the large dropout
rate rom apprenticeship courses were o
concern to employers and the government.
The centres work in these areas is
particularly timely given that the volume
o unded research in vocational education
in Australia is actually shrinking.
Ms Berwyn Clayton, ormerly with the Canberra
Institute o Technology, has been appointed
director o the centre. Dr Shelley Gillis, ormerly
with the University o Melbourne, has been
appointed deputy director.
PorTrAIT UnVeIleD
Victoria Universitys Vice-Chancellor Proessor
Elizabeth Harman has unveiled a portrait
o the Foundation Director o the Western
Institute, Emeritus Proessor Eric Lund, AM.The occasion, in February, marked the
20 th anniversary o the establishment o
the Western Institute, now part o Victoria
University. The portrait by VU graduate
Shannon Smiley will hang in the VU Gallery
at City Flinders Campus.
Lund was Director o Western Institute
198691 and Deputy Vice-Chancellor
o VU 199195.
In 1951 Lund went t o Footscray TechnicalSchool VUs earliest predecessor. Ater an
apprenticeship as an electrical mechanic, over
the ollowing decades Lund undertook urther
study and worked at various universities and
colleges, and became ounding director o
Broadmeadows College o TAFE.
Lund then set up the Western Institute,
bringing tertiary studies to Melbournes outer
west. In 1991 Western Institute amalgamated
with Footscray Institute o Technology and
became Victoria University o Technology,where Lund was Deputy Vice-Chancellor
until 1995, when he retired.
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n Brief
wrhitic tlnch ovu ibtiti.
TACKlInG TYPe 2
VU has launched an initiative in conjunction
with Diabetes Australia Victoria toencourage diabetes prevention among VU
sta and the employers and communities
o Melbournes western suburbs.
VU sta will assess their risk o developing
type 2 diabetes by using a simple risk test
developed by DA Vic, Vice-Chancellor
Proessor Harman said.
Sta at risk will be oered help to prevent
or delay the onset o type 2 diabetes.
We will act as an exemplar employer and
help demonstrate the value o such programs
to other major employers in t he region.
VU is one o the major employers i n
Melbournes west with over 4300 sta.
One in our Australians is at risk o developing
the disease, which or VU equates to 1075 sta.
The University is moving to systematically
oer type 2 diabetes risk assessment to all
its employees, starting with the signicant
proportion o sta who are over 50 and
thereore at increased risk.
HonoUr roll InDUCTIon
VUs Proessor Jill Astbury was one o 30
women inducted onto the 2008 VictorianHonour Roll o Women on International
Womens Day.
Based in VUs School o Psychology at
St Albans Campus, Astbury was recognised
or her research in gender, human rights
and amily violence.
Astbury has a particular research ocus on
violence against women, and has played
a central role in changes made to policies,
systems and service provision in the area
o violence prevention.
Her work has contributed signicantly to
understanding the causes o violence against
women, the health impacts on women, how
that violence can be reduced or prevented,
and meeting the needs o women who have
experienced violence.
The World Health Organisation, VicHealth,
the Australian Family Institute, and the
Department or Victorian Communities are just
a ew o the organisations or which Astburyhas undertaken research or been a leading
research and policy adviser.
fIGHTInG PoVerTY
Victoria University has become a ounding
partner in an alliance aimed at harnessingtourism to improve living conditions in Pacic
Island countries.
The Oceania Sustainable Tourism Alliance
(OSTA) will gather leaders rom the non-
governmental and private sectors in Australia,
New Zealand and the Pacic Islands to help
10 Oceania countries create tourism strategies
that will ght poverty and oster long-term
improvements in the daily lives o residents.
In April, VU Vice-Chancellor Proessor Elizabeth
Harman met with Mr Lelei LeLaulu, Chairman
o The Foundation o the Peoples o the South
Pacic International (FSPI), the initiatives
leading partner. Proessor Harman said VU was
delighted to be part o an initiative that ully
included local communities in the development
o sustainable tourism in the Pacic Islands.
Mr LeLaulu said VUs academic depth and
wealth o experience in designing eective
tourism models and policies will help Pacic
island countries dene how to best harnesstourism to benet their communities.
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In Brief
GAmeS PArTnerSHIP
VU has been named a partner or the 2008
Australian University Games, an event thatwill attract more than 6000 a thletes rom 40
universities to Melbourne rom 28 September
to 3 October.
The Games are Australias largest annual
multi-sport event, with Olympic-standard
university athletes rom Australia and
neighbouring countries competing in a
riendly but competitive environment.
As one o only two university partners or the
event, VU students will be oered the rst
opportunities to do volunteer work placements
or the Games. VU will also enter about 300
competitors its largest contingent ever in
team and individual sports including athletics,
basketball, gol, cycling, netball, swimming,
tennis and volleyball.
VU is very proud and excited to partner an
event o this scale, VU Sport and Fitness
Manager, Tim Lee said.
VUs Footscray Park Campus will be the
site or the Games encing, kendo andtaekwondo competitions.
wAKe THe KIDS
Preliminary results rom VU research suggest
76 per cent o children sleep through theirsmoke alarm, with those aged between
5 and 10 years especiall y at risk.
Approximately hal the younger children who
wake up cannot identiy the smoke alarm
noise, and most children even teenagers
who wake are uncertain about whether
they should evacuate their house.
The research by VUs Proessor Dorothy Bruck
and Proessor Ian Thomas is part o their
Wake the Kids project, which called on
parents o children aged 515 to set o t heir
smoke alarms over the weekend that marked
the end o daylight saving, coinciding with
the Change Your Clock, Change Your Smoke
Alarm Battery campaigns.
The parents recorded online whether or not
the alarms woke t heir children. We nd many
parents are shocked to learn that their child
has slept through the smoke alarm, Proessor
Bruck said.
Latest research results can be viewed atwww.vu.edu.au/wakethekids.
foCUS on weST
Victoria University and The University o
Melbourne signed a groundbreaking agreementin May to jointly deliver new benets to
Melbournes rapidly growing west, which
has a strong demand or enhanced education,
health and community services.
The initial ocus o the agreement will be
nursing education and research; exercise
science/rehabilitation and physiotherapy;
health workorce; teacher education; and
educational transitions between school,
vocational, and higher education.
It will oer new pathways or students into
postgraduate education at both universities
and will be supported by new scholarships
oered by both universities.
Two years in the making, the agreement
gathered momentum with the planned
development o a teaching, training and
research acility at Sunshine Hospital.
The universities are committing $8 million
each to the $51 million project.
Partnerships are a key to the uture,said VU Vice-Chancellor Proessor Elizabeth
Harman. This agreement is about drawing
on the complementary strengths o our
two institutions.
ProorBrc singh o
th unirity oMlborn nvu ChncllorFrnk vincnt
co-ign thgronbrking
grmnt.
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nt
y Mcrh prmirThe PriceFriendship.
erformance Studies
IN ThE drIVErS SEaTStudent Paddy Macraes shortlm on driver saety, The Priceof Friendship, has been runningin cinemas across Victoria all
year. Macrae directed the lmater winning $20,000 in aTAC lm script competition.Among budding lmmakers, Paddy Macrae is the envy o his peers.
Last year, while studying Perormance Studies in Victoria Universitys
Faculty o Arts and Human Development, Macrae won a spot in the
Victorian Transport Accident Commissions (TAC) Make a Film, Make
a Dierence competition that gives three young people $20,000each to make their own short lm about sae driving.
People in lm school would give their two ront teeth or this
experience, says Macrae. Its given me connections in the lm
industry, experience working with a proessional crew and media
exposure that I couldnt have had wit hout the TACs support.
Competition winners work closely with the TAC, as well as lm industry
mentors Mike Reed, rom MRPPP lm product ions, and Joe Connor o
Renegade Films. Together they help young lmmakers develop their
ideas and bring them to the big screen.Winners also receive a $5000 grant to assist their uture lm projects,
allowing emerging lmmakers to launch their careers and contribute
to their community.
Macraes short lm, The Price of Friendship, has been screening at major
cinemas across Victoria.
The VU Perormance Studies program encourages you to get out there
and be part o t he industry, says Macrae. I wouldnt have entered the
contest unless my lecturer had brought it to my attention.
Senior Perormance Studies lecturer Jude Walton says Macrae is an exampleo the type o student she looks orward to nurturing in the program.
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Py Mcr
(cntr) on twith hi twol ctor.
Performance Studies
We aim to help people who can go on to make work or t hemselves
in the utu re, she says.
Macrae says past TAC competition lms typically ocused on men
drink-driving, but notes authorities are alarmed at the increasing
number o women involved in reckless driving incidents.
He says he aimed to make his lms message resonate wit h
a broad audience, which is why he incorporated various elements
o irresponsible driving in the script, such as speed and peer pressure.
Framed within a stor y about buyi ng a new car, Macraes lm subverts
the cultural allure o hooning by ocusing on the moral accountability
o dangerous driving. In The Price of Friendship, a young man negotiates
with a demonic car salesman t o determine a air price or a new muscle
car. But the bartering is done in human currency ve university mates
and his girlriend.
Macrae says the Perormance Studies program is not just about acting
or dancing. Its varied, so it attracts a broad range o people and helps
them gure out what they want to do or a career by letting them try things
rom dierent disciplines.
Originally interested in acting, Macrae says the program helped him
develop his lm directing skills.
Capitalising on his early success, Macrae is now enrolled in the prestigious
three-year lm and television program at Swinburne University. He says
he wants to keep developing his lm skills so that he can continue to
produce his own material.
The aim o the annual TAC short lm compet ition is to encourage young
people to speak out among riends when aced with risky situations,or avoid them in the rst place.
In 2007, 28 per cent o Victorian d rivers kille d were between 18 and
25 years o age. A nd yet, this age group represents only 13 per cent
o Victorian licence holders.
For more inormation about the competition or to view past winning
lms, including Macraes, visit http ://www.mamad.com.au/
YANNICK THORAVAL
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Victoria University has inducted ormer basketball star Daniel (Danny)
Morseu into the Univer sity Spor t Hall o Fame or 2007.
Morseu completed his Bachelor o Arts (Recreation) at the Universitys
predecessor insti tution, Footscray Institute o Technology, in 1985.
Originally rom Thursday Island, Morseu was the rst Torres Strait
Islander to represent Australia at an Olympic Games. He was in the
starting ve at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and again in Los Angeles
in 1984. In all he played 27 times or Australia, represent ing his
country in 12 World Cup games as well as a t the Olympics.
Morseu completed Year 10 at t he Thursday Island High School in 1974.
In 1975 he travelled to Cairns to cont inue his schooling, then decided to
take a year o to work, and this decision led him in a dierent direction.
Morseu had always been good at sport. On Thursday Island he played
cricket, rugby, volleyball, athletics and basketball. He was tall and
wiry and played sport constantly. There was little coaching on ThursdayIsland, and sport could be casual the schools three-kilometre
cross-country race, or example, was run bareoot.
In Cairns Morseu used his spare time to practise and play basketball
and rugby league. He was provided with coaching and a more disciplined
approach to sport. Morseu fourished, and by the end o the year he
had enough condence to delay study and concentrate on basketball.
In 1976 Morseu was a reser ve player or the Aust ralian under 20s
team playing in the world championships in the Philippines. He was
also oered a place with the St Kilda basketball club in Melbourne.
In a 10-year National Basketball League (NBL) career Morseu played
in the leagues inaugural season in 1979 with the St Kilda Saint s (NBL
Champions 1979 and 1980), then moved to Geelong beore nishing
his career with the Brisbane Bullets or his t hird NBL title in 1987.
He continued playing basketball unti l 1994, ater which he coached.
VUs Manager Sport and Fitness, Tim Lee said: Danny is the most
accomplished indigenous basketballer to represent Australia and has
demonstrated superior leadership in crucial development programs
or children, adolescents, adults and large communities.
He is a member o both the Aboriginal and Islander NBL Sports Hallo Fame, the All Star NBL Teams 1980 and 1981, and in 2006 was
selected as one o VUs 90 Legends.
Morseu also kept busy o the basketball court.
Ater his graduation rom VU he worked briefy with the Victorian
Department o Sport and Recreation, beore moving to Brisbane to
work as a consultant with the Commonwealth Department o Aboriginal
Aairs. From 1990 to 2005 he worked or ATSIC, becoming regional
manager or Cape York and managing a multi-million dollar budget.
He is now based in Canberra working or Centrelink as a business
manager in the Indigenous Relations Division.
Morseu was induct ed in late 2007 by VU Chancellor The Hon.
Justice Frank Vincent at VUs Sport Awards presentations, at which
18 students and one oce bearer were also recognised or their sporting
achievements and/or service. Chie among these were the emale and
male Sports Per son o the Year Awards, which went to Stephanie Ng
(taekwondo) and Leigh Howlett (trampolining).
Previous inductees into the Victoria University Sport Hall o Fame:
Andrew Gaze (basketball) 2002
Mike McKay (rowing) 2003
Rebecca Sullivan (judo) 2004Larry Sengstock (basketball) 2005
Campbell Rose (sailing) 2006
ANTHONY LYNCH
port
lmni bktblln,nny Mor.
Slam-dUNkEd TO famE
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gamEjUNkIES
According to the stereotype, avid gamers are the geeks o the digital
era. They are painted as lonely nerds, living vicariously through virtual
personas because theyre unable to socialise like normal people.
But does this stereotype hold true?
Denitely not, according to Victoria Universitys Oce or Research
ethics ocer Dan Loton, who explored the notion o video game
addiction, and whether excessive gaming is related to social skills
and sel esteem, in his psychology honours thesis.
There is a great deal o anecdotal evidence about gaming addiction,
Loton says. But rom a clinical point o view, an addiction is a mentalillness with very serious consequences. In this context, we need to ask
whether gaming is responsible or causing peoples lives to all apart
in the same way we see with gambl ing, alcohol or drug addic tion.
For his thesis, Loton developed an online questionnaire that included
scales to measure social skills and sel esteem, as well as dependence-
orming electronic game play.
The characteristics that might dene a problem gamer would be
things like: an intrusive preoccupation with gaming; time spent playing
aecting work, sleep and close relationships; and a want to stop playing
but cannot, Loton says.
The gaming community embraced the study and Loton was able
to analyse 621 completed surveys. In t otal, around 15 per cent
o respondents were identi ed as problem gamers, spending more
than 50 hours a week playing games.
We ound that those who played Massively Multiplayer Online Role
Playing Games (MMORPGs), such as World o Warcrat, which currently
has over 10 million ee-paying monthly subscribers, were more likely t o
exhibit problematic game play. But what is important to note is that even
so-called problem gamers did not exhibit signicant signs o poor social
skills or low sel-esteem. Only one per cent o those identied as problemgamers appeared to have poor social skills specically shyness.
We also looked at whether problematic play is impelled by social
diculties by using a multiple regression analysis to see i high scores
on the social skills and sel esteem scales could predict problematic
playing scores. Our ndings strongly suggest that gaming doesnt cause
social problems, and socia l problems are not driving peop le to gaming.
Lotons ndings contradict statements made last year by the American
Medical Association (AMA), which labelled MMORPG gamers as
somewhat marginalised socially, perhaps experiencing high levels o
emotional loneliness and/or diculty with real lie social interactions.
The AMA is considering adding video game addiction to the Diagnosticand Statistical Manual of Mental D isordersat its next review in 2012.
Loton believes the AMAs reaction is based on scant research and that
urther study is required to explore the topic thoroughly.
The realit y is that nowadays ever yone is doing it, Loton says. A Bond
University study (as reported in The Ageonline, 31 January 2007) ound
that in Australia online gaming is more popular than downloading music
and internet shopping.
I gaming addiction is going to cause the downall o society, then
it must be a very slow-acting apocalyptic orce as it is already one
o societys most common and popular pastimes.
2007 Bond University study reference:
http://blogs .theage.com.au/screenpl ay/archives/004937.html
AMA report, Emotional and Behavioral Effects of Video Games
and Internet Overuse:
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/17694.html
CRAIG SCUTT
In atrlionlin gming
i morpoplr thnownloing
mic nintrnt
hopping.
Psychology
istockphoto.com/Ryan Rodgers
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Research
A report on the research is yet to be published but many o the ndings
have been backed up by other studies, including one by researchers
at Englands Brunel University. The Brunel researcher s surveyed 41
proessional jockeys and concluded wasting was likely to result insignicant mood disturbance and maladaptive behaviours and
attitudes towards eating.
Speeds jockey research earned her a nalist s place in the 2006
Department o Victorian Communities award or Applied Research
in Sport and Recreation Science.
For her latest study, she chose to widen the research net by investigating
the working conditions o thoroughbred horse trainers and stable
employees. The research was commissioned by Racing Victoria.
Almost 700 licensed Victorian trainers and stable employees took partin the study, providing unheralded insight into stable conditions. As with
the earlier jockey research, this study underscored anecdotal evidence
about poor working conditions.
Stable employees were ound to undertake extremely heavy workloads
and were routinely placing their physical, mental and social wellbeing
at risk. Many reported being paid below award rates and complained
they didnt have any documentation regarding the nancial details o
their employment.
Speeds report, The Health and Welare o Thoroughb red Horse Trainers
and Stable Employees, contained 33 recommendations or change in
areas such as education and training, occupational health and saety,
anti-bullying and harassment, and nancial security.
Launching the report last February, Racing Minister Rod Hulls said he
welcomed the reports candour, admitt ing the ndings were worrying.
He said the industry needed to attract and retain a skilled and
committed workorce, and improving the working conditions o stableemployees and trainers would help meet this goal.
Speed says it is rewarding to be able to do research that has a positive
impact on peoples lives.
Those who work in the racing industry have a tremendous passion,
which explains why many are prepared to endure the associated
hardships, she says.
What is most encouraging is that the industry recognises the need or
research to underpin the kind o changes that are necessary to ensure
sae and enjoyable working conditions prevail.Im just proud to be a part o i t.
Dr Harriet Speeds reports, The Welfare of Retired Jockeys and
The Health and Welfare of Thoroughbred Horse Trainers and Stable
Employees can be viewed at http://eprints.vu.edu.au/view/person/
Speed,_Harriet.html
CRAIG SCUTT
13
Chmpion jockyNick Ryni mong
hnr ovictorin jocky
to bnft romimpromnt to
th intry.
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ndustrial Skills
Teaching their children how to drive can be a parent s worst nightmare.
But a driver education program at Victoria Universitys Werribee Campus
can help mum and dad avoid the yelling and white knuckles.
The program has been running at VUs Industrial Skills Training Centre
or more than a decade. Driver education co-ordinator, Allen Black,
says the course is pitched at secondary school students just starting
to learn how to drive.
We do this program as a basic pre-learner course so the students
have some idea o what to do beore they get in the car wit h mum
or dad, says Black.
The teachers are qualied Industry Skills Training sta or proessional
driving instructors.
Students are taught on a state-o-the-art driving circuit that includes
signs, hills, corners, and reversing and parking areas.
Other driving schools may teach students to drive, but no one has this
kind o track acility to teach in a sae environment beore the learner gets
onto the road, says Black. It sets us apart rom other driving schools.
The centre runs two programs a 15-hour program including both
theory and practice, and a shorter 8-hour practical-only program.
We teach our students accelerating, turning, gear changing, angle
parking a whole range o t hings, says Black. We also have
quizzes in our theory classes.
Word has spread about t he innovative program, and more and more
students are lining up to get behind the wheel on the Werribee test
track beore they do the real thing on Victorias increasingly busy
roads. Fourteen local secondary schools have signed to the program,with students coming rom as ar as Melton and Bacchus Marsh.
School students develop basic driving skillsbeore they venture onto the highways.
Year 11 Mary MacKillop Secondary College st udent Simon Caras
says the course gave him a good start in learning to drive.
Costs star t rom $115 or the ull 15-hour course and $95 or the
8-hour course, and depend on the number o students enrolled.
By running the program, VU not only hopes to help secondary school
students develop basic driving skills beore they venture onto the
highways, but also give parents a smoother ride when out driving
with their teenage children behind the wheel.
DOMINIC DE BRUYN
Year 10 work experience student, St Bernards College, Essendon
STrEET SmarT
rning thic: Yr 11ry McKilloponryg tnt
rw Ccinottt) non Cr.
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ClImaTE Of ChaNgEClimate change may be a big picture problem with small picture
solutions. When large organisations go beyond rhetoric and act to
reduce their impact on the environment, they oten discover that good
environmental practice is in the details. One o Victoria Universityslatest environmental initiatives is joining the Greenfeet Program.
Greenfeet Australia is a not-or-prot organisation that ocuses on
reducing the impact o greenhouse gas emissions rom Australian
transport. At a cost o $40 per vehicle, Greenfeet plants native trees,
sucient to absorb the equivalent greenhouse gas produced by the
average car in one year. The trees also help s oil degradation, improve
water quality and provide essential habitat or native species.
Since 1997, Greenfeet has planted almost three million t rees on behal
o Australian motorists and businesses.
Rachael Keee, VUs Environmental Projects Ocer, says theUniversity has signed up its 102 feet vehicles to the Greenfeet program,
representing a saving o more than 440 tonnes o greenhouse gas
emissions per year. VU sta will soon be able to sign up their personal
vehicles with Greenfeet through salary sacrice.
Osetting carbon is just one o the many things VU is doing to protect
the environment, says Keee.
Among other initiatives, the University is replacing 50 single-fush
toilets with dual-fush toilets and installing 19 water-ecient urinals at
its Sunshine Campus. The units will save approximately 1488 kilolitres
o potable water per year, using almost 90 per cent less water than the
original toilets and urinals.
VU has also retrotted existing 36 watt fuorescent lights with 28 watt
energy ecient fuorescent tubes across a number o campuses. At the
Footscray Nicholson Campus alone, the new lights have reduced energy
consumption by nine per cent or 106,784 kw/h.
These programs a rent sexy, but they work, says Keee. I we are
serious about reducing our impact on the environment, we have to look
at ways o making every thing we do more ecient.
In 2007, VU p roduced 50,403 tonnes o CO2, an 8 per cent cut on 2006
levels, primarily because o environmental initiatives rolled out across
campuses and despit e an 11 per cent increase in student numbers and
numerous capital works projects.
VU is set to meet it s 10 per cent reduction o CO2 by 2009, as outlined
in its agreement with the Australian Greenhouse Oce.
In the spirit o personal accountability, VUs Vice-Chancellor, Elizabeth Harman,
recently switched her car to an environmentally-riendly Toyota Prius hybrid.
With drought and water shortages threatening to persist, water has
become something o a cause clbre. VU has met the challenge across
several research ronts.
The Werribee Centre or Sustai nable Water Use at VUs Werribee
Campus is ocused on developing water and wastewater treatment
technologies or use in the near and long-term uture. Earlier this year,
the State Government granted $1 million over ve year s towards the
Centre. VU has committed a urther $3.6 million.
VUs Institute or Sustainability and Innovation has been granted
$135,000 over our years under t he Australian Research Councils
(ARC) Linkage Projects scheme to lead research into a low energy
desalination alternative.
VU has also received $575,000 rom the Victorian GovernmentsSmart Water Fund or a range o other water sustainability projects.
YANNICK THORAVAL
Sustainability
vu i t to mtit 10 pr cnt
rction o CO2by 2009.
istockphoto.com/Karl Dolenc
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ale
CrEIghTON BUrNS aO
19252008Creighton Burns AO, inaugural Chancellor o Victoria University,
died in January at Melbournes Cabrini Hospital ollowing a long illness.
He was aged 82.
In 1990 Burns was appointed rst Chancellor o Victoria University o
Technology. He oversaw the amalgamation o the Western Institute and
Footscray Institute o Technology, and dealt with the considerable strains
the amalgamation process produced. Burns commitment was inspired by
his appreciation or the education he received at university ater his war
service. He believed the people o western Melbourne deserved similar
access to university education.
Burns held the posit ion until 1994 when he resigned because, as awidower, he wanted to devote more time to his two young children.
In recognition o his service, in 1995 Victoria University awarded Burns
an Honorary Doctor o Letters.
Educated at Scotch College in Melbourne, Burns became a cadet reporter
at the Sun News Pictorialater nishing school in 1941. The ollowing
year, when he turned 17, Burns enlist ed in the Royal Australian Navy,
serving until 1945. Directly ater World War II he enrolled at t he
University o Melbourne where he completed a rst class honours degree
in Art s in 1948. Burns was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, and in 1951
graduated rom Oxord with rst cl ass honours. During 1951 to 1952
he was Nueld Scholar at Oxord.
He returned to Australia in 1953 to lecture at the Canberra University
College (then aliated with Melbourne University).
Later in 1953 Burns moved to Melbourne to teach at Melbour ne
University, becoming Reader in Political Science. During this period he
wrote two books. Parties and People: A Survey Based on the La Trobe
Electorate(1961) analysed social considerations le ading to voting
patterns. The Tait Case(1962) analysed the case o Robert Tait,
who in 1959 was sentenced by a Victorian Court to hang.
But Burns will be remembered by most as a ormer editor o The Age
newspaper.
In 1964 Burns was o ered work atThe Ageas South-East Asian
correspondent. Ater three years in this role he was appointed diplomatic
and deence correspondent. By 1975 he had risen t o become The Ages
Washington correspondent.
Burns was employed atThe Ageduring a period o intense debate about
social issues. He ound encouraging community debate rewarding andchallenging. With regard to politicians, he saw the role o the paper as to
put their eet in the re to ask the questions they would rather not be
asked. Burns took this philosophy into his role as editor o the paper, a position
he held rom 1981 to 1989.
In 1991 he was made an Ocer o t he Order o Aust ralia in recognition
o service to the media and to international relations.
At his Victoria University o Technology inauguration speech, Burns
identied the need or the new University to pursue the path to truth
and excellence, and proposed three methods to achieve this: scholarly
precept, masterly demonstration and Socratic enquiry.
Following Burns death, Victoria University Acting Vice-Chancellor
Proessor John McCallum said Burns had made an enormous contribution
to the University.
He is survived by his companion Natasha Davies and children Creighton
(Tam), David, Rebecca and Jonathan.
ANTHONY LYNCH
ingrlncllor,ighton Brn,
hi itork t The Age.
1616 Photo: Fairaxphotos
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Community Engagement
EmpOWErINg
rEfUgEESThe old parable that giving someone a sh eeds them or a day but
teaching them to sh eeds them or a lietime aptly describes Victoria
Universitys approach to community engagement.
None more so than VUs work with local community and government
partners to support the growing number o newly-arrived reugees
rom the Horn o Arica who are set tling in Melbournes west.
The work was so successul that it won the national prize or best
2007 community engagement collaboration rom the Business Higher
Education Roundtable (BHERT).
The Horn o Arica reers to the north eastern part o the continentand includes the countries o Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia.
Signicant numbers o settlers began coming to Australia rom those
countries in 1984 when war and amine devastated t he region.
Today there are more than 20,000 Horn o Arica settlers living in Victoria.
This is a community with particular needs, says Elleni Bereded,
who co-ounded the collaboration program and works as community
engagement co-ordinator at VUs Oce or Community Engagement.
Bereded is also a member o the Victorian Multicultural Commission and
a member o the Federal Governments Australian Social Inclusion Board.
Some people arrive having never been t o a city, or have children who
were born in reugee camps and have never been to school, says Bereded.In those circumstances, its grassroots action that provides real support.
The idea is to work with service providers to identiy peoples needs,
and then work to help support and empower them so they can make their
own decisions, and become happy citizens who can part icipate in society.
An estimated 70 per cent o reugees coming to Australia rom the
Horn o Arica have experienced some orm o torture, including rape
and physical assault. Many reugees have been traumatised by the
authorities in their home countries, including the police.
As part o the collaboration, Victoria Police participate in a crime-prevention
project where local ocers introduce themselves to reugee communities
and inorm migrants about the role o Australian police in local communities.
The idea is that reugees slowly build a comort and trust with the
police, says Bereded.
In 2007, twenty-ve Horn o Arica students studying VUs Diploma
o Business (Legal Administration) visited the Victoria Police Academy
to meet with the multicultural police unit.
Many o these students had negative views about the police and
courts because o their experiences in their home countries, says
program manager Robert Sheen. The course is changing the students
perceptions about the police and courts systems in Australia.
VUs project partners include the Horn o Arica Community Network,
Centacare Catholic Family Services, Western English Language School,
Western Bulldogs, Victorian Multicultural Commission, Sunshine
Magistrates Court as well as Victoria Police.
The Australia-wide BHERT awards recognise outstanding achievements
in collaboration between business and higher education, and aim to
enhance links between industries and universities at a national level.
This is rst time in its 20-year history that BHERT has oered an award
or Best Community Engagement Collaboration.
Its a signicant award, says Bereded. It demonstrates that VU leads
in community engagement in Australia.
YANNICK THORAVAL
snior ContblJ Ril n
vu Horn oaric tnt
on thir wyto th victori
Polic acmy.
17
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gOUrmET SECrETSMelbourne is widely known as Australias restaurant capital. But amidits casual caes, unique bistros, and ne-dining venues is a group orestaurants that remain almost unknown.
Melbournes best kept gourmet secrets are Victoria Universitys threetraining restaurants: Cityscape at Footscray Park Campus; The Terraceat Footscray Nicholson Campus; and Victorias at Sunbury Campus.For years, the three have played leading roles in developing the nextgeneration o hospitality high-fiers.
Students work diligently under the supervision o master ches andmanagement tutors to produce and serve inspired ood in elegantsurroundings all at astonishingly low prices.
Susan Gillett, head o VUs School o Hospitality, Tourism and Marketing,
says students aiming or careers in hospitality and tourism receive invaluabletraining by working in authentic restaurants with paying customers.
The training restaurants are vital because students enter the industrywith a set o skill s and gain the condence t hat comes only rom doing.
A broad cross-section o customers includes VU academics and sta,members o the public and a sprinkling o students seeking a break romcaeteria ood. Even occasional VIPs, such as East Timor President JosRamos-Horta, have dined at VU.
Trainees come rom both Australia and overseas, and range rom highschool students doing vocational education through to those undertaking
masters degrees.
Students are not paid, tips go to charity, and any prots are returned
to the training programs.Victorias Restaurant and Event Centre is located in a heritage-listed
bluestone building that was once a small hospital. VET and TAFE
students practise in its modern training kitchen and elegant dining
room, serving both lunches and evening meals.
Students there are taught the art o silver service, learning to
meticulously dish out ood at the table with a ork and spoon.
Program manager Teresa Signorello said silver service ts Victorias
high-class dining atmosphere.
It might not be used very oten in the outside world, but its something
extra the students can put on their resumes.
The Terrace has a less ormal, Mediterranean dcor and operates as
a training acility or TAFE students working toward certicates, diplomas
or advanced diplomas.
They are kept busy by a recent addition to the menu: a daily express
lunch, with the unbeatable price o $6 or the ches choice.
The Terraces stainless-steel training kitchen includes 20 individual work
stations and large preparation areas. Pictures o illustrious alumni who
have become successul ches in local and overseas restaurants are
eatured in a Hall o Fame gallery.
ospitality
tnti thirpitlityningthntic
trnt.
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Hospitality
Katherine Maher, 21, a second-year commercial cooker y student, became
hooked on cooking ater taking an introductory course in the US.Id like to have my own ca one day, and VU is gi ving me excellent
training, she says.
Cityscape, with its stunning th-foor views o Melbourne, oers ront-
o-house training or higher education students, who are mostly aspiring
to management positions in restaurants, hotels or resorts. Students are
generally in their second year o an undergraduate degree and spend
a day a week at Cityscape learning ood and beverage practices.
Cityscape restaurant manager Pat Hasenrader says students are taught
a range o restaurant skills including coee-making, stock control, ood
service skills, sta rostering, drink-mixing and customer relations.As with The Terrace, diners can select rom a casual or an la carte menu,
eaturing a balance o classic and contemporary cuisine. An internationally
ocused menu currently includes lamb korma and teriyaki salmon
shcakes, and or dessert, crme brule and roasted ruits in syrup.
Wan Yang, 20, is in her second year o a Bachelor o Hospitality
Management degree. When she completes her educat ion, she plans
to return to China and l aunch a career as a hotel manager.
The hospitality industry in China is not as developed as in Australia,
and VU is giving me broad training to use back home, says Yang.
The training restaurants are the jewels in the crown o VU Australias
longest established provider o tourism and hospitality degrees andprograms. VU has won many state and national awards or tourism
education and industry training, and been inducted into the industrys
National Hall o Fame.
This is a result o the Universitys close ties with business and industry.
Beginning next year, the hospitality school will strengthen its ties with
Sotel, now part o t he worlds largest hotel group, Accor.
The University will run the hotels prestigious Academy Sotel, Victorias
only hospitality training academy within a ve-star hotel.
The strategic relationship means VU diploma students will experience
all acets o the hotel business with as much as 40 per cent o their
training done in the workplace and be able to articulate more easily
into degree programs.
Reservations: Cityscape 9919 4556; The Terrace 9919 8708;
Victorias 9919 3300.
ANN MARIE ANGEBRANDT
Mnyvu tnt
bcomccl ch
t orrtrnt.
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quity
a lONg jOUrNEyAt important Victoria University events, Karen Jackson is requently
asked to deliver a welcome acknowledging the Elders, amilies and
orebears o the Wurundjeri and Boonwurrung tribes o the Kulin Nation
who were the custodians o Uni versity land or many centuries.
As a matter o policy, every major event at VU starts with this
acknowledgment.
And the regular choice o Jackson to make this acknowledgment is apt.
Not only is Jackson the Indigenous Services Co-ordinator at VUs Moondani
Balluk Indigenous Academic Unit which delivers the Bachelor o Arts
(Kyinandoo) program or Indigenous students in October 2006 she was
appointed to the new Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council as part o an
11-member panel to advise t he State Government on cultura l heritage.
Jackson is a Yorta Yorta, Barap Barap woman with broad experience in
Indigenous aairs. She has worked at VU or the past 12 years and livedin the western subur bs o Melbourne or 14 years.
A rm believer in the ideals o sel-determination and sel-management
or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Jackson works with
Indigenous individuals, amilies and community organisations. She
develops culturally appropriate policy and programs, and helps orm
partnerships between VU and outside organisations. Finance, student
support and pastoral care at times also come under her radar.
She is committed to the struggle or recognition o Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander heritage and rights to land, and to the process
o reconciliation. Her work with the heritage council puts these concernsto a very pract ical end, though she says t he task is ot en dicult.
The basic premise is that traditional owners need to have ownership o
their cultur al heritage, Jackson says. But theres a lot o overlap ... we
have to work out who the traditional owners are. This is in addition to
dealing with councils, developers and other parties who have a stake inwhat becomes o land.
Jackson is also a board member o the Ilbijerri Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Theatre Co-operative, which promotes storytelling about
Indigenous culture and heritage, and a member o the Victorian Equal
Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.
Jackson grew up in Thornton, a small t own near Lake Eildon. As
a teenager, my amily moved to Frankston where by chance I met
Aboriginal activists Gary Foley and Robbie Thorpe at a local community
event and my interest in Aboriginal aairs began.
In her early 20s she began work at the Department o Social Security in theAboriginal Aairs Unit. She has been involved in Aboriginal aairs ever since.
Last year Jackson was awarded a Vice-Chancellors Citation or
Outstanding Engagement in recognition o her work promoting equality
or Indigenous people both at VU and in the wider community.
She believes the Federal Governments recent apology to Ind igenous
Australians, preceded by the Indigenous Welcome to Country or the
opening o Parliament, was brilliant .
Its one o the best things that has happened or a very long time.
It made me eel proud.
The apology gave a depth o meaning to those who have been stolen.
Nearly every Aboriginal community has been aected. It has allowed
people to openly grieve. People didnt know what to do with their grie,
their loss. Its okay [now] to s ay youre grieving.
When Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the apology, Jackson was
with sta o Moondani Balluk as well as riends, many o whom were
either rom the Stolen Generations or rom aected amilies. She ound
the day an emotional, draining one.
At the end o the day we were completely worn out. There was
happiness, and sadnes s. The whole lot.
Victoria University Vice-Chancellor Proessor Elizabeth Harman supported
the Prime Ministers apology, saying that Saying sorry is an important
rst step towards true reconciliation and the establishment o equal
opportunity or all Australians.
While VU has long supported Indigenous heritage and reconciliation in 2001
the University released its own Reconciliation Statement. Jackson believes
the apology and the events leading up to it have given a new impetus.
In terms o work, the University itsel has seemed to understand
a bit more, and has given more latitude at a higher level about what
Aboriginal people want. Its a tur ning point.
ANTHONY LYNCH
n Jckon;mmitt to
proc ooncilition.
20
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Alumni
fOOTBall laWyErVictoria University law graduate Wayne Henwood sees enormous
similarities between his years as a proessional Australian Rules
ootball player and his new career as a lawyer.
You cant aord to be unprepared at court or on the eld because
you get ound out, Henwood says. You have a judge in both cases,
and a critical audience whether its the crowd or a jur y.
The rare combination o proessional ootballer and barrister gives him
an exceptional background to sit as a member o the AFL Tribunal,
helping to interpret and enorce the rules o the game, and discipline
players i necessary.
The tribunal is not as ormal as a law court, but it serves a similar
purpose, Henwood says. We use a combination o video and viva
voceevidence or inormation directly rom the players mouths.
The Latin legal-speak comes easily to Henwood, who was admitted
to the Victorian Bar in 2005 ater graduating rom VUs Law School as
a mature-age student in 2004. But it took a massive change in mindset
and powerul resolve or him to reach that stage o his proessional lie.
Initially it was extremely hard getting my head around law, and
I enrolled in some English subjects to help write all the papers, he says.
He was also working ull time as a paralegal with Melbourne law rm
Keogh & Co, which specialises i n commercial law.
The 46 year old was determined to keep pace with the younger up-and-coming
lawyers in his classes. Volunteering to take part in the Law Schools
moot court training on top o his studies provided the vital groundworkor the broad range o law he now practises, which includes criminal
trials, commercial litigation and amily law.
VU law teacher Bruno Zeller says Henwood showed the extra
determination displayed by many o VUs mature-aged law students.
About 40 per cent o our law students are like Wayne and embarkingon a new career, Zeller says. They know what t hey want and know
they cant aord to ail.
Henwoods drive to succeed at law was oreshadowed during his ea rly
years as an AFL ootba ller. He played more than 200 games in his home
state o South Australia, being selected to represent his state in three
State o Origin matches. He went on to play or the Sydney Swans
rom 1987 to 1991, and the Melbourne Demons in 1992.
Ater eight years as managing director o a ood export company,
Henwood started his university studies at James Cook University
in Cairns. He heard about VUs then- new law school and came down
to Melbourne to check it out.
I had an interest in law and was impressed that VU taught law in the
heart o Melbournes legal and business dis trict, he says. He applied
to study a law degree and was accepted.
Henwood is now a sessional teacher at t he law school, teaching a broad
range o topics to a generation o young law students like those who
had motivated him t o excel when he was a student himsel.
Waynes next challenge is to under take a PhD at VU, ocusing on perhaps
the AFL Tribunal or drugs in sports.
I cant tell you how or why I eel the need to continuall y test mysel,I just want to be good, he says. What else am I going to do sit
under a palm tree all day?
ANN MARIE ANGEBRANDT
Formr aFLplyr trn
lwyr,Wyn Hnwoo,
now it on th
aFL Tribnl.
21
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earning Commons
lEarNINg SpaCE
ChaNgINg faCEIt used to be that students werent studying unless they were sitting
quietly by themselves. Times have changed.
Technology and interaction are now part o the modern educational
experience. Computers, the internet and online resources are redening
the learning environment, and todays learning spaces need to refect
those changes.
Victoria Universitys learning commons are part o VUs answer to the
educational needs o its students in the 21st century. Inormed by the
latest international educational theory and practice, learning commons
combine libraries with IT and learning support services to create dynamic
environments or teaching and learning.
Learning commons are already established at three VU campuses: St Albans,
City Flinders and Werribee. University librarian, Philip Kent, says library
use at City Flinders Campus is up 60 per cent since the introduction o
a commons in 2006.
Kent says VUs improvement on the traditional library s chema is attracting
visitors rom Australia and overseas. Most recent visitors include a group
o senior library sta rom the University o Hiroshima, Japan, who heard
about VUs learning commons at an international education conerence
and wanted to experience the acility or themselves. VU partners in
Beijing have also taken a keen int erest in the commons.In addition to oering traditional library collections and services, learning
commons are a one-stop-shop or learning support. They provide computing
services, a mix o group and independent study spaces, learning support
services as well as ood and caes to encourage social learning.
A unique component o the commons is VU st udent rovers who provide
peer mentoring support to students in the acility.
Rovers bridge the communication between students and sta, says
Melissa Cameron, an education major in her nal year o study, who has
worked as a rover at several VU campuses or the past three semesters.
Sometimes well be in the commons and see a student getting
rustrated with something, says Cameron. Maybe theyre having
trouble logging on to a computer or having diculty nding a source and
theyre getting ready to pack their bags and go home. We can help them
work through their issue so they get more out o being in the acility.
Students are expected to gure a lot o things out or themselves at
university rovers help make that process a bit easier. Helping students
is also directly related to my studies in education.
VUs busiest campus, Footscray Park, is next in line or a learning
commons. The iconic $55.2 million project acing the Maribyrnong
River will create 1300 learning spaces, seven large-scale collaborative
teaching spaces and an engaging mix o social and study areas at the
heart o the campus. Designed by award-winning John Wardle Architects,
the complex will be completed in 2010.
Learning commons are part o the Universitys response to the changing
needs o todays ast-paced study and work environments, and are parto VUs overall commitment to help its students be uture, work and
career ready.
YANNICK THORAVAL
Lrningmmonst albnmp.
Photo: Shannon McGrath
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Building and Construction
Bill Prinjoy th
iw rom thWillimtownsiling Clb.
NOahS prIdE
The middle-aged men who meet at Victoria Universitys Newport Campus
every Tuesday night spend their days in routine jobs like accountants,
computer specialists and pharmacists.
But once a week, they don tradesmens overalls to learn the painstaking
skills o traditional wooden boatbuilding, and in so doing help preserve
an ancient crat.
The teacher they come to learn rom is 80-year-old Bill Pride,
a man with a never-ending source o nautical knowledge acquired
rom a lietime o living and working around ports and boats.
Known widely or his disti nguished community work in Melbournes
west especially in his beloved Williamstown the grandather o
three was bestowed a Medal o the Order o Australia as part o this
years Australia Day celebrations or his service to sailing, particularly
the development and promotion o the sport, to Australian Rules
ootball and to the community o Hobsons Bay.
Its a great honour, but Im still embarrassed by all t hat, he says.
Bill retired in 1988 ater 30 years as a shipbuilder and manager with the Port
o Melbourne Authority, but remains young-at-heart with his active schedule.
As Willi amstown Sailing Club Commodore rom 1966 to 1981,
Bill introduced a popular learn-t o-sail p rogram in 1974, now taught
Victoria-wide. Ater 48 years as a member, the club has become hissecond home. His other home a bay-side cottage he has lived in
since 1958 came with his job when he rs t moved to Melbourne.
Bill still visits the club almost daily. He assists other members with boat
repairs, has helped his grandchildren each build their own boat, and gets
on the bay to sh as oten as he can.
It was natural that a man so highly knowledgeable with boats and
respected in the port business would be invited to teach VUs Advanced
Boatbuilding hobby class, his labour o love or t he past 12 years.
Students come rom as ar away as Barwon Heads on Victorias south
coast. A lot o the people in my classes have had no experience using
their hands and no idea what boat they want to bu ild, he says.
Everything is done by hand, rom drawing up plans on giant sheets o
paper to sotening timber planks in a steam box and hand-planing oars.
Most choose to build a version o a round-bottom ski, constructing
it rom hoop pine with traditional clinker construction and copper nails.
A ew build canoes, dingys, speedboats or more elaborate coota boats
a broad, 19th Century open sailing boat. All boats are shorter than 14 eet.
The average student takes three years to complete their course, given
they have only a ew hours a week to work on their project. Williamstownaccountant Rod Page has been in Bills class or 11 years, and is now
working on his second boat.
Most o us have never built anything i n our lives, Rod says. There are
good nights and bad nights, but patience is your greatest attribute in here.
Bill jokes about those ew students who are utterly hopeless with their
hands, and gets them to build model boats beore they start on the real
thing. He has also been known to come early to class to x up mistakesbeore his students arrive.
Word has spread about Bills course. He can onl y teach 16 at a t ime,
so his waiting list o hopeuls must wait about two years.
Boatbuilding is a crat that has been around as long as Noah,
Bill says. Its important that someone helps pass these skills along.
ANN MARIE ANGEBRANDT
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xercise Rehabilitation
faT aNd fITPam Nelson does not look like a t ypically t person. At 122 kilograms
and 177 centimetres, she carries about 45 kilograms more than she
should to be classied as healthy. But she is.
The 37-year-old graduate o Victoria Universitys recreation management
program is now a training direc tor or the YMCA in Victoria. She exercises
at least seven hours a week by running, walking, swimming, working
out in the gym or teaching water aerobics.
No matter how much I exercise, I dont lose weight, she says.So perhaps this is the size my body is most comortable. My size
has never really bothered me and weight los s is not my goal.
VU proessor o clinical exercise physiology, Dr Steve Selig, applauds
Nelsons attitude. He says more overweight people who are trying to
improve their health should throw away their bathroom scales and
orget about looking like catwalk models.
We cant make assumptions about peoples health or tness based
on their looks because at people can be t, he says.
Selig, who conducted strenuous physical testing with Nelson at VUs
Exercise Rehabilitation Clinic at Footscray Park Campus, says that due
to her regular exercise, Nelsons tness is above average compared
with women o all body types in her age group.
His research shows that i previously sedentary overweight people do
as little as 30 minutes a day o exercise, they can substantially improvetheir health even i t hey do not lose weight.
They can reduce stores o abdominal and limb at, raise their metabolic
rate by increasing muscle size and activity, reduce cholesterol and
improve the bodys capacity to handle sugar all o which serve
to reduce the risk o diabetes, heart attacks and strokes, he says.
st slig,ryingtt on
m Nlon.
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Exercise Rehabilitation
Commercial weight loss products and Biggest Loser-style television
shows send unrealistic and oten unachievable messages to heavy people.
Big people are bombarded with success stories like someone losing
17 kilos in 15 weeks and they thi nk they should be capable o the same.
But improvements to their tness, and physical and mental health should
be their real measures o success.
Paradoxically, once heavy people start exercising and eating sensibly
they will likely lose weight gradually anyway.
Dr Selig says creative thinking is necessary to tackle the challenges
modern lie poses to our health. It doesnt really matter how we get
exercise, just that we get it. We could walk part way to work, take the
stairs instead o the lit, or even hold an active meeting where people
talk and walk.
Pm Nlon ndr st slig
wlk bi thMribyrnong
Rir tFootcry Prk.
While the science o exercise physiology has been around or decades,
its recognition has increased rapidly since it was accepted as a Medicare
claimable service in 2006.
Selig and his postgraduate students now gain valuable experience by
oering their services to members o the public who want to prevent
or manage chronic conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure
through exercise.
Some clients come in with the goal o quick weight loss, but I tryto change their thinking so they ocus instead on a lietime goal o
improved tness, says Selig.
ANN MARIE ANGEBRANDT
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kNOW ThESCOrE
ostgraduate Research
Its the 2010 AFL Grand Final. Ten seconds are let i n the nal quar ter
and the scores are neck and neck. Akermanis gets the ball outside the 50
metre circle. Cooney runs to the top o the goal square. Three Geelong
players are closing in on him. Should Aka kick or goal or pass to Cooney?
Making tough decisions under pressure is a hard skill to master.
Thats why VU researchers are working with the Western Bulldogs to
improve player decision making. By understanding player psychology
the VU team is developing innovative interventions that will make
a dierence where it matters most out on the eld.We have world-class people working with us rom Victoria University
who are at the top o t heir eld, says Bulldog development manager
Brad Gotch. You can have as much inormat ion as you like, but then
you have to have the resources to apply that inormation.
VUs partnership with the Western Bulldogs is just one o the exciting
initiatives where VU researchers are leading the pack.
In 2006 the Universitys Institute or Sustainability and Innovation opened
its $4.3 million Centre or Sustainable Water Use based at the Werribee
Campus. Both the institute and the centre are at the pinnacle o
developing new technologies that will increase water recycling in indust ryand signicantly help to reduce the impact o drought and climate change.
As one o only eight dual-sector universities in Australia, VU has special
links with industry and the community, particularly in t he western region
o Melbourne. These links are a antastic resource or researchers who
want to produce work that is locally relevant and internationally signicant.
What you choose to study is limited only by your imagination.
Current VU researchers are using virtual worlds to break down barriers
in education, harnessing the power o Game Theory to develop legal
decision support sotware, and powering our understanding o climate
change rom an economic perspective.
Higher degrees by research are the pinnacl e o academic achievement.
Whether youre studying or a masters, a doctor o philosophy or a
proessional doctorate degree, such as doctor o education or doctor o
business administration, VU will help you perorm at the top o your game.
VU students benet rom regular support and inormation sessions
covering all bases rom planning your thesis and time management to
preparing or graduation. Early career researchers are eligible to apply or
the Universitys Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Scheme, which in 2008
oered 13 ellowships, each with a st art-up grant o $12,000. You can
apply or the Universitys Researcher Development Grant Scheme, which
oers up to $30,000 or quality one-year research projects.
Our acilities are up there with the best and each VU campus has its own
library plus extensive online cataloguing services to ensure you can ndinormation quickly and easily.
Now is an exciting time to become a par t o VU.
Our primary areas o research investment are:
sports science, rehabilitati on and exercise
sustainable environmental technologies in water treatment and
building construction
social inclusion, cultural diversity and wellbeing in the workplace and
the community
applied economics
e-research and data mining.
Our growing research capabilities include:
packaging and food technology
telecommunicati ons and sensor technologies
educational access through schools, and vocational and work-based learning
logistics, transport and supply chain management.
I you are ready or the cha llenge o a higher degree by research then
check out your options at:
www.vu.edu.au/research and www.vu.edu.au/Future_Students
or email [email protected]
CRAIG SCUTT
logr plyron ackrmni,ot to mk cl ciion.
Photo: GSP Images
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BaTTINgfOr grEEN
Greg Dingle argues that the uture viabilityo proessional and amateur sports willbe determined by the headway the sectormakes in reducing its reliance on pollutingand increasingly scarce resources.
Footy ans would probably nominate the AFLs push to expand to the
Gold Coast and Western Sydney as t he biggest move on the leagues
horizon. But behind the scenes at AFL House plans or an equally
signicant change to the shape o ootball are already well advanced.
By next year, long beore the Swans will have to compete or spectators
with a second team in Sydney, the AFL will be o sett ing 120,000
tonnes o greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced at venues such as
the MCG and by players, ans and administrators.
The leagues Green program places it at the oreront o the sporting worlds
initiatives to adapt to climate change. The shit to an environmentally
sustainable uture is in response to the sporting industrys dependence
on ossil uels and humanitys need to limit global warming.
Why sport especially? First, sport has large carbon and water inputs. Manyteam sports in Australia are played on large elds usually well-watered
and foodlit. Elite sport is mostly played in concrete stadiums. These actors
alone present the sporting industry with some mighty challenges.
Rainall in southern Australia has allen by up to 25 per cent during the
past 40 years. Its predicted the big dry will only get worse because o
global warming. Competition or water is becoming increasingly erceand water scarcity has already had an impact on some community sport
across the nation.
Concrete is problematic too: cement production contributes about 3.8
per cent o global GHG emissions. As or those towering banks o high-
voltage stadium lighting, they are mostly powered by coal-burning power
stations that produce some o the highest concentrations o GHGs. At
the elite-level, players, ocials and spectators also drive or fy to these
venues, an added greenhouse burden.
The list o environmental concerns doesnt stop there. Equipment such
as ootwear, balls, bats, hockey sticks and tennis rackets contain largeamounts o plastics and rubber, produced mainly rom crude oil, a
globally depleting energy source. The same goes or accessories such
as protective gloves, whistles, goggles, swimming caps, witches hats,
timers, goalposts and mouthguards.
With global production o oil expected to peak in the next thirty years,
and global warming caused by GHGs predicted to increase temperatures
by at least two degrees Celsius, the sporting industry has no alternative
but to adapt.
As Aaron Smith and Hans Westerbeek suggest in their book, The Sport
Business Future, sport is already greening its outlook. Sport is not onlyenvironmentally conscious today because it represents a potential threat,
it is also green because it is one o the greatest marketing vehicles ever
known, they write.
There are eight areas in which sport must consider changes: emissions,
energy, people, waste, technology, transport, insurance and water.
pinion
g dingl:o porting cnp thqncgloblrming.
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emiion
There are likely to be three main approaches to discouraging demand or
carbon energy: education, carbon emissions trading and carbon taxes.
Education has already commenced as governments encourage consumers
to reduce power consumption. The nat ional Emission Trading Scheme
(ETS) star ts in 2010 and carbon taxes may ollow.
enrgy
Sporting organisations will be bound by state and ederal laws that have
set mandatory renewable energy targets.
Popl
Sports administrators and sta will also need to become skilled insustainable management. Sta will need to be able to adapt to market
signals such as carbon taxes and minimise them, manage carbon
budgets and keep their organisations carbon-neutral. Some may
even need to manage trade in carbon markets.
Wt
Waste reduction and recycling, especially o water, will become more
commonplace. Sporting groups will need to be aware o environmentally
riendly materials and production methods or sporting equipment.
Tchnology
Technology used in venues and administration will also change.Energy eciency and water eciency are essential in a carbon-constrained
21stcentury, and technology used in sport will need to incorporate both.
Trnport
Sport stadiums need to be located near high-quality public transport.
This is equally true o community level sport. Think, or example,
o club cricket in Australia: every cricket season, thousands o cricketers
drive to cricket grounds, emitting GHGs rom their cars as they do.
This carbon-intensive behaviour needs to be substituted with t ravel
by public transport that has lower carbon inputs per capita.
Inrnc
The increased risk o drought, bushre and extreme weather conditions
are already actors considered by insurance assessors. There are cost
implications or sporting organisations located in high-risk areas.
Wtr
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that an increase
in average global temperature o up to one degree Celsius could result
in a decrease in Melbournes water supply o between 3 and 11 per cent.
In such circumstances sport would not be immune rom pressures to
conserve water. The use o recycled water or sports elds or o low-water
or no-water suraces is likely.
As we enter the 21st Century, no sporting code can escape the
consequences o global warming and the ramicat ions o global peak oil.
Greg Dingle is a lecturer in VUs School of Human Movement,
Recreation and Performance.
Opinion
sportgroncro othrnatrli hbn ct
by pritntlylow rinll.
Photo: Joe Armao/Fairaxphotos
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Linh Le let Vietnam on an illegal shing boat more than 25 years ago,
knowing she was gambling her lie and might never see her amily again.
When she returned to Sai gon last year, she proudly showed her
relatives her stor y, published in an anthology o womens writing,
Extraordinary Women, a collection o stories and images o migration,
childhood, riendship, ood, memories and love.
My amily was very surprised t o see I am in a book, says Linh,
now 51and living with her two Australia-born children. It remindsme it is important to remember everything in the past.
Her extract describes a dream o a mysterious uneral she had soon
ater arriving in Australia, then her heartbreak when her mother mailed
her news that her ather had been killed in an accident.
Linh is a student at Victoria University, where she has been studying
English or nearly two years.
She was one o 50 women rom Melbournes west involved with the
book, published in late 2007 as a community project. Contributors
included students rom VUs Womens Education Programs unit, teenage
girls rom Braybrook Secondary College, members o a young mothersgroup in Sunshine and individuals rom the local community.
Extraordinary Womenincludes stories, poems and interviews, and is
illustrated with black and white photos o the women and their amilies.
Madeline Ford, a teacher in the Womens Education Programs in the
School o General Education Programs, says the project oered her
students a chance to tell their own stories while improving their literacy
and communication skills.
The VU women participated in themed workshops over a ten-week
period, where they discussed, read, wrote, then workshopped their
contributions. Themes include childhood memories, ood, smells
and tastes, school, special people, gender roles, and estivals and
celebrations. Several students all migrants or reugees like Linh
proved to be natural storytellers.
They didnt really know what the end product would be, saysMadeline. Many were surprised and proud at the result and wanted
to get more copies o the book t o send overseas.
Linh and ellow student, Sophie Ngo, spoke at the book launch last
November. It was really moving to see them beore a large audience
discussing their experiences, and they were antastic, says Madeline.
Margaret Yar, 40, a mother o seven rom Sudan, wrote t wo essays,
one about women in Arica, and the second about the importance
to her early lie o the basic ood grain, millet.
The book helps us think back to where we came rom and compare
it to the lives we have now, says Margaret.Project acilitator, Paola Bilbrough, a youth worker and artist with
Melbourne Citymission, says the VU womens experiences oered
positive role models or t he projects younger women.
The book suggests there are a whole lot o ways to lead your
lie, and a range o lie experi ences that make you who you are,
says Paola. There is something beautiul about so-called ordinary
people who have extraordinary stories, and who take their own
path to success and happiness.
The book was unded by the Oce or Youth, School Focused
Youth Services and VUs Oce o Community Engagement.Extraordinary Women, edited by Paola Bilbrough with Madeleine Ford
and Katherine Heneghan. Published by Melbourne Citymission,
Braybrook College and Victoria University.
ANN MARIE ANGEBRANDT
ommunity Engagement
h L, on ocontribtorExtraordinarymen.
OrdINaryWOmEN
EXTraOrdINary
lIVES
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NEw BOOkS
VU fACTS
Mm Mrkting: Compting in thGlobl Mrktplc
Edited by Ruth Rentschler and Anne-Marie Hede
Published by Butterworth-Heinemann
Museums have moved rom a product toa marketing ocus over the past 10 years,reorienting visitors as customers, to ndnew ways o undraising and sponsorship asgovernment unding decreases. This book looksat the latest in museum marketing as theyclamour or at tention in the global marketp lace.
art-b Rrch: a Propr Thi?
Edited by Elaine Martin and Judith BoothPublished by Common Ground and Victoria University
Arising out o a VU symposium on t he creativethesis, this book collects papers on the thorny issueo how the scholarly work o arts practitionersbattles or legitimacy under the weight othe scientic legacy. The argument or creativeinterplay is advanced with t he aid o a CD.
a Hom o Mny Room: Clbrting thatrlin vitnm Womn Wlraocition, 19832008
By Catherine EarlPublished by the Australian VietnameseWomens Associat ion
Written by a VU PhD graduate and drawing onoral histories, this history o the rst 25 yearso the Aust ralian Vietnamese Womens WelareAssociation (AVWA), a Footscray-based ethnicwomens community organisat ion, is a bilingualpublication rich in photos and commentary.
sriing Hro
By Neelam MaharajPublished by Bystander Press
Ramesh Kapur, an Indian ocer in the British army,is taken prisoner while ghting the Japanese inSingapore. Kapur must choose whether to r