UWA NEWS5 October 2009 Volume 28 Number 15

In this issue P3 RADICAL RECYCLING P5 WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING … P8 THE SCIENCE OF FOOD

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A new breed of students aiming high

Chris Evans and Sze Nee Lim from Hamilton Senior High School have high aspirations, encouraged by UWA student and Aspire UWA ambassador, Andrea Gomes, who came from the Pilbara and is in her 5th year of Medicine

by Lindy Brophy

Teenagers in suburbs like Lockridge, Girrawheen and Hamilton Hill don’t often pay much attention to the idea of going to university.

But now these high school students have come to the attention of UWA … and we’re spending $2.45 million to encourage teenagers from these and 21 other similar areas in Perth and the Pilbara to study at University.

Aspire UWA, the biggest outreach equity program to come out of the University, is funded by the Federal Government. UWA has contributed a further $1.25 million in-kind.

Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Western Australia and Member for Brand, Gary Gray, represented Education Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard at the launch of Aspire UWA last month.

UWA has formed partnerships with 24 schools, six from the Pilbara and the remaining 18 from metropolitan Perth.

The program will target Year 9 students from rural, Indigenous, refugee and low socio-economic communities. Many of the first students were at the launch at the University Club, some admitting to feeling “excited but a little daunted”: exactly the words used by Aspire UWA coordinator Judy Skene.

“It’s a fantastic wide-ranging program that we hope will really make a difference in attracting students from areas with what we call a low transfer to UWA or

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A new breed of students aiming high

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set up last year and chaired by Winthrop Professor Jane Long. Also in the group are Winthrop Professor Bill Louden, Peter Curtis, Jon Stubbs, Dr Sato Juniper, Dr Campbell Thomson and Professor Darlene Oxenham. The group was formed to expand equity and access outreach activities, review scholarships, student finance and new initiatives, and it oversaw the development of Aspire UWA.

“We have signed agreements with all 24 schools and have visited each of them, including the six in the Pilbara. We have events and activities in place. Now we want to ask the rest of the UWA community how they can contribute,” said Dr Skene.

“This is a brilliant opportunity and we want as many people as possible to be involved. Please think about what you can do: a school visit, a lecture, activities on campus?”

At the launch, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Robson, told the audience of students, teachers, principals and corporate supporters that he had gone to University from a lower socio-economic background.

“On my first day at Melbourne University, we went up to the top of the tower and everybody looked out to spot their suburb. I was the only one looking north,” he said.

“So I strongly support this program and encourage staff and students to get involved in it. When Hackett established our University, he said it was to be a university of the community and, for a long time, it was the only free university in Australia.

“We now spend $20 million a year on scholarships, an enormous increase over the past five years.

“And I announce today that we are extending our Excellence Awards, where one student from every WA school is identified as most likely to succeed at University. The scheme will now be extended to three awards for each of our partner schools in Aspire UWA.”

any other university,” said Dr Skene, Manager of Student Support Services.

The three key UWA partners in the project are Student Services, the School of Indigenous Studies (SIS) and the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences.

“Medicine and Dentistry has had a very successful rural program for years,” said Dr Skene. “Rural high school students now make up 25 per cent of the annual intake and the Dean, Professor Ian Puddey, has said he now wants to see increased enrolments from these ‘low transfer’ outer metropolitan schools.

“Indigenous Studies also has successful programs in place but this funding means their staff will now have the time to work with prospective students’ families and bring them onto the campus, to encourage them to send their children here.”

At the coalface for Aspire UWA are Jon Stubbs, project sponsor; Ray Garrett, Jeromy Harvey and Brendon DeGois at SIS; Louise Pollard and Janene Beatty in Student Services; and Janine Tomlinson helping Sue Pougnault in Medicine and Dentistry.

“We will start with Year 9s and follow them through until they finish school, and each year we will bring in a new Year 9 group,” Dr Skene said. “We have recruited some current UWA students who came from these schools, and trained them in public speaking, networking, mentoring and as campus guides. They will be a great connection for the school students.

“We are not trying to get the Year 9s to think yet about what they might do at university. We just want them to explore the idea and the reasons why they may or may not want to go to university.”

The Aspire UWA group has made DVDs about students from the Pilbara who are studying Medicine and Engineering. They have also organised a camp in November for 60 students from the Pilbara, who will stay at Currie Hall and familiarise themselves with the campus.

“Some teachers are already using the camp as a ‘carrot’ to get the students to work hard.”

Dr Skene said many of the targeted high school students would be eligible for Federal Government assistance and UWA scholarships if they decided to come to UWA.

“We have a lot of scholarships for these students and there will be more coming from the Centenary campaign,” she said. Dr Skene is part of the Student Equity and Access steering group,

Current UWA students who came from the partner schools took part in the launch, including Hayden Woodley (who is studying science following a transition year with the School of Indigenous Studies, after coming from Roebourne) and Jun Jun Guo (also studying science after attending Girrawheen SHS)

Dental student Kathryn Randall shows Kingsway Christian College students Reuben Jayaraj and Yun Yang some of the skills of dentistry

Judy Skene (right), leader of the Aspire UWA team, with senior project officer Louise Pollard at the launch

UWA NEWS 5 October 2009 The University of Western Australia2

Rarely have waste bins attracted so much attention.

The Lord Mayor was there, the Vice-Chancellor, a representative of our local Member of Parliament and even up-front ‘spies’ from two other universities, to see how it was done.

‘It’ was the launch of Public Place Recycling (PPR) in the Guild Village. Five very visible sets of rubbish and recycling bins, installed at a cost of $16,000, will encourage students and staff to Do the Right Thing, Use the Right Bin.

UWA is the first university in WA to sign up for the national program, after an environmental services waste management audit on campus last year

Fanfare for the common can

A book co-authored by UWA’s Professor of Respiratory Medicine, Dr Gary Lee, has been described as “the definitive textbook on pleural diseases across the world.”

Textbook of Pleural Diseases (second edition) by YC Gary Lee with co-author Richard Light was recently awarded first prize (respiratory) in the British Medical Association book awards for 2009.

The judges described it as “an excellent textbook edited by two of the leading lights in this field” and “the must have textbook for all those dealing with pleural diseases. They recommended that “medical librarians might consider buying several copies to meet the demand.”

The award was presented in London by Professor Sheila McLean, Professor of Law and Ethics in Medicine at the University of Glasgow.

Best of British books

making recycling easy for students,” Ms Ladhams said.

The Guild’s public affairs council president Emma Greaney said she hoped the program would demonstrate that students would do the right thing when the facilities were provided. “It’s only through small grass roots campaigns that big national campaigns can get going,” she said.

The Lord Mayor, Lisa Scaffidi, congratulated UWA and the PSF on their collaboration, resulting in a $25,000 industry partnership.

After the brief launch, augmented with live music, a prize draw and specially-labelled recyclable UWA water bottles, Ms Ladhams said she was pleased to see representatives from Edith Cowan and Curtin universities on campus, preparing to follow in UWA’s footsteps.

In the tradition of a research-intensive university, Ms Ladhams, an environmental scientist, and Trish McGee from the Australian Food and Grocery Council in Canberra, have written a paper, Shifting waste culture at WA’s oldest university, which they will complete when they have results from this project.

Ms Ladhams presented their research to date at the 2009 Waste and Recycle Conference in Fremantle last month.

“We have data collected from the students on their pre-program behaviour,” Ms Ladhams said. “Contamination data will be collected by the contractor Cleanaway and returned to us and we will do weekly surveys.”

recommended PPR, with the Guild Village as a particular hot spot.

The recycling project has been brought together by UWA’s environmental officer Elisha Ladhams, the Guild and its Environmental Collective, and a partnership with the Australian Food and Grocery Council’s Packaging Stewardship Forum (PSF).

According to a recent PSF survey, 80 per cent of aluminium, glass and PET drink bottles are recycled in Australian homes, while away-from-home recycling rates are only 25 per cent.

“We hope to improve the home-away-from-home atmosphere at UWA by

Emma Greaney and Elisha Ladhams do the right thing

The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 5 October 2009 3

Alan Robson Vice-Chancellor

Making a difference to young lives

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Dennis Haskell, English and Cultural Studies Professor, is the new Chair of the Australia Council Literature Board.

As such, he is in a powerful position to influence the direction of Australian literature.

“The Australia Council is the Australian Government’s principal arts funding body and the Literature Board supports the Australian literature sector. So our funding decisions will affect how literature in Australia develops. Will we back a certain magazine or writers’ centre; will we push electronic publishing; will we market Australian writers overseas and put money into translation?”

Professor Haskell said the Board met several times a year to decide on funding for writers, publishers, writers’ centres, writers’ festivals and promotion of books and reading.

An Australian literature specialist, Winthrop Professor Haskell was the poetry critic for the ABC Radio National’s Books and Writing program for three years and was awarded the Western Australian Premier’s Award for Poetry in 2007 for his collection All the Time in the World.

His research interests include poetry from the Medieval period to the present, creative writing, south-east Asian writing in English, literary modernism and post-colonial literature.

Professor Haskell, whose work has appeared in more than 17 books and dozens of journals, will replace Dr Imre Salusinszky as Chair for a three year term.

The Director of UWA’s Cultural Precinct, Professor Ted Snell, is Chair of the Australia Council’s Visual Arts Board.

“It’s wonderful having two Council chairs at UWA,” Professor Haskell said.

Poet influences Australian writing

Sir John Winthrop Hackett would have been proud, had he been at the University Club for the launch of the Aspire UWA program. For him, education was the key to improving community life for everyone.

The new program is aimed at helping students from 24 schools which currently have few students who transfer to tertiary education. About 500 Year 9 students from the metropolitan area and the Pilbara are involved. We expect most of them to visit campus in term four for various activities designed to encourage them to think about the difference our University might make in their lives.

These are students who have the potential to succeed here, but for whom the barriers of disadvantage may seem insurmountable. These are students for whom there might be few resources at home, at school, or in their community and for whom there may be no family tradition of pursuing education beyond the regulatory secondary school years.

These are students who have the ability to achieve excellence in every field of human endeavour, from the Arts to Zoology, if they are given the chance.

Aspire UWA gives them that chance. The Year 9 students involved have been identified by their schools as having the ability to succeed here. They are about to choose their TEE subjects – a time when many students begin to think about what the future may bring. The program is developing partnerships with their schools and setting up networks of support that include their families and communities.

UWA’s long-term commitment to equity and diversity was recognised by a grant of some $2.45 million from the Federal Government to support this new initiative.

Key to this program is the collaboration between UWA Student Services, the School of Indigenous Studies and the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences.

A number of UWA students who have come from the schools now involved in Aspire UWA have been nominated as ambassadors to support their future fellow undergraduates.

This program promises to be a pathway towards improved diversity, equity and access and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work with our partner schools in Aspire UWA to raise aspirations for higher education.

We have also decided to extend the Excellence Award offered annually to one student from each secondary school in Western Australia to a total of three awards for each Aspire UWA partner school.

Our University has a proud history of helping students to begin a University degree – and to finish it – through our scholarships and support services. This program will expand our outreach capacity in an effort to improve the lives of those students from Indigenous, refugee or low socio-economic status backgrounds.

While Aspire UWA involves University staff and students from every Faculty and discipline, it also reaches into the wider communities of each Aspire UWA school. Alumni from those communities will be encouraged to mentor students in the program, and we aim to partner sporting, cultural groups and local authorities to garner wide-reaching support.

Congratulations to all involved in the program. It is an initiative which I hope the entire university community will support.

UWA NEWS 5 October 2009 The University of Western Australia4

Someone is always sleeping in Kelly Shepherd’s lab but that is exactly how she likes it.

On the 5th Floor of Sir Charles Gairdner hospital you will find sleeping people being monitored through the night by a team of scientists. This is where post doctoral researcher Kelly Shepherd has conducted some of her best work.

Dr Shepherd is part of the successful team at the West Australian Sleep Disorders Research Institute. She works with Professor Peter Eastwood whose research has been listed among the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Top 10 Research Projects for 2009.

While you were sleeping …

by Hema Rajandran

Obstructive sleep apnoea is the most common in the category of sleep disorders. It affects up to four percent of adults and it is characterised by pauses in breathing during sleep. These pauses occur when the upper airway (throat) collapses.

The symptoms include: loud snoring, restlessness, daytime sleepiness and lethargy. Dr Shepherd has been investigating the role of muscles in keeping our airways open while we are sleeping.

There are various factors which may cause sleep apnoea, including gender, age and weight. In addition, in sleep apnoea patients the muscles of the

The Business School, the most spectacular new building on campus, has won its architects a state award and helped it to win an international prize.

Woods Bagot spent 12 months designing the building, which then took more than two years to build.

It has won the firm the Architects Institute of Australia WA Award for 2009.

Wood Bagot was also named The International Practice of the Year at the prestigious AJ100 Awards in London. The Business School was one of the projects which helped to snare the title. Others include the Melbourne Convention Centre and the Qatar Science and Technology Park.

For the past two years, the firm has been designing the world’s tallest building: a tower more than a kilometre high, for Dubai.

Business School a design winner

airway may be ineffective at keeping it open during sleep.

“Our research team looks at the role of upper airway muscles during sleep as well as some of the complications associated with sleep apnoea, such as an increase in gastroesophageal reflux during sleep,” Dr Shepherd said.

“The tricky part is being able to monitor these muscles while patients are asleep. They have fine needle electrodes inserted into the muscles of their lower jaw before they fall asleep. These fine needle electrodes track the muscle activity and provide data on the muscles controlling the airways throughout a person’s sleep cycles.”

Unlike the subjects in her lab, there has been no time for resting for Dr Shepherd. The past eight years has seen her working throughout the days and at least one night a week during her PhD research. So does she have any issues with sleep herself? “ No way. I sleep like a log! ”

The physiology of humans first interested Dr Shepherd during her Honours year when she completed a project in what was then the Department of Physiology at UWA. After working as a research assistant in the Sleep Disorders Lab she did her PhD under the supervision of Professor Eastwood in Anatomy and Human Biology finishing with a Distinction last year.

Dr Shepherd is also involved with developing the new postgraduate Sleep Science course.

Sleeping is definitely not what she does on the job!

The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 5 October 2009 5

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“We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan in the classic Australian bush poem by John O’Brien.

Hanrahan saw ruination in the vagaries of the Australian climate and its impact on the environment and human endeavours – no matter what happened, it was sure to turn out badly.

UWA’s ARC Australian Laureate Fellow Professor Richard Hobbs takes Hanrahan to task in his lecture later this month, Questioning Hanrahan: Environmental Optimism and Realism in the 21st Century

“Environmental thinking at the start of the 21st century often takes on a Hanrahanian feel, with predictions of species loss, ecosystem collapse and runaway climate change,” Professor Hobbs said.

“Often this leaves people despairing that the problems are too vast and intractable to do anything about and that we will, indeed, ‘be rooned’. However, there is another way to view our current situation, in which the many positive steps that can and are being taken to manage and repair our environment can be celebrated and encouraged.

Laureate lecture

About 30 students from residential colleges slept rough one night recently, to highlight the plight of Perth’s homeless youth.

The group, from St Catherine’s and St George’s, spent the night in the underpass between Trinity College

“Whether Hanrahan proves to be right or not depends on how we approach these challenges now and in the future.”

Professor Hobbs, Professor of Restoration Ecology in the School of Plant Biology, presents this public lecture in the University Club auditorium at 5.30pm on Wednesday October 21.

The lecture, sponsored by the Institute of Advanced Studies and the University Club, is free but please register your attendance by calling 6488 1340 or at iasuwa@admin.uwa.edu.au by Friday October 16.

The Great Sleepoutand the campus, with the temperature dipping down towards zero.

“It was very cold and windy but we were luckier than most people who sleep rough,” said organiser Gemma Williamson. “Most of us had swags and warm clothes and gloves and we knew we had a warm bed to go back to the next night.”

The students had rattled collection tins in Perth and Fremantle the week before the Great Sleepout, to raise money for Mission Australia and Awareness Cambodia.

They have raised $500 so far, with some tins yet to be counted.

“We can never fully grasp the idea of being homeless,” Gemma said. “We were really just out of our comfort zone. And we could feel secure in the fact that there were so many of us together.”

Before they took over the underpass, at 11.15 on a Thursday night, the students heard from a Mission Australia youth worker about homelessness in Perth, and watched a Unicef documentary on child sex trafficking in Cambodia.

QC for Law School

Christopher Steytler QC, Parliamentary Inspector of the Corruption and Crime Commission of Western Australia, has been appointed as a Winthrop Professor of Law.

Professor Steytler is a former President of the West Australian Court of Appeal.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Robson, said he looked forward to the contribution from Professor Steytler, one of the best legal minds in the State, who retired from the WA Supreme Court in January this year after more than 14 years’ distinguished service.

Professor Steytler taught ethics to UWA law students when he was a visiting fellow at the University from 1999-2001. He will be involved in teaching, research and mentoring academic staff in the Law School.

UWA NEWS 5 October 2009 The University of Western Australia6

UWA engineers have taken on a long-term project to help provide the people of Timor Leste with clean water and sanitation.

Access to both of these are recognised as critical to improving health outcomes, increasing labour productivity and, ultimately, to contributing to economic development and poverty reduction.

In Timor Leste it is estimated that only half of the urban and a quarter of the rural population have access to the water supply and only 13 per cent of the population have access to adequate sanitation.

To provide clean water and sanitation is a national priority, and the Government of Timor Leste has identified the need for capacity building in engineering education.

UWA’s School of Environmental Engineering is leading a project to build long-term relationships and an academic exchange program, between Timorese universities, UWA and other International WaterCentre (IWC) universities.

Last month, four senior engineering academics from Timorese universities visited Project Leader, Professor Carolyn Oldham and colleague Vaughn Grey at UWA.

The Timorese engineering academics met UWA academics teaching similar units, they sat in on engineering teaching laboratories in Civil, Mechanical and Environmental Systems Engineering, they visited a Water Corporation wastewater treatment plant, and took

Engineering a water supplypart in a workshop on engineering teaching with the Faculty’s new Chair of Engineering Education, Professor Caroline Baillie.

They also participated in a 2nd year Environmental Engineering field trip to a water treatment wetland.

The Faculty hopes to match each of the Timorese academics with a UWA mentor, and, as part of the long-term project, to arrange face-to-face meetings between the pairs at least once a year.

Over the past year, the UWA team has

also worked with the Timorese universities, Timorese government agencies and NGOs, to review current engineering curriculum in East Timor, improve internet communication infrastructure and provide English language training to water and sanitation academics.

Visiting academics from Timor Leste in the hydrology lab with our Engineering staff: Sergio Freitas, Carolyn Oldham, Anuciano Guterres, Carla da Costa, Vaughn Grey and Victor Soares

Timor Leste

The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 5 October 2009 7

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Food and cooking has become one of the nation’s favourite pastimes.

Now food science, the technology that underpins it all, is becoming the next big thing.

Garry Lee, UWA’s new Professor of Food Science (pictured left), is overseeing the development of a new Master of Food Science that will enrol its first students in less than a year.

He has already made an impact on WA’s food industry. Professor Lee and his colleagues in the Centre of Forensic Science and TSW Analytical have recently won an award from the Food Industry Association of WA for Best Service to the Industry. In the award’s other categories, Professor Lee was a judge.

They won the award for their work on what Professor Lee calls traceability. Their research was funded by the Australian pork industry and they have developed a technology called Physi-trace, by which they can trace Australian-produced pork back to the farm.

The science behind a sausage

It doesn’t matter how uncoordinated you are, as long as you look good.

This year’s Staff Sports and Fun day will have prizes for the best team uniforms or costumes.

“Last year, the team from the Vice-Chancellery had T-shirts printed with : This T-shirt is not funded through the VCDF. And there were lots of other fun outfits too, with Len Zuks looking particularly crazy,” said organiser Keith Rappa, the Business School’s faculty manager.

The sports and fun day is on Friday October 30, brought forward from last year so it won’t coincide with staff marking exams.

Last year 300 staff signed up but Keith said there were more like 1,000

Run, jump, play chess or just dress up

Technology provides food for thought

UWA NEWS 5 October 2009 The University of Western Australia8

The science behind a sausage

participants. “The novelty events were the most popular. We had to run extra heats to give everybody a go,” he said.

“The organised team sports, including volleyball and soccer, were also popular and well-attended but because they were spread out around the campus, they didn’t generate the same atmosphere.”

Keith said Professor Robson loved the VC’s dash, a 70-metre sprint for which he was the starter. “He said the day was the best staff event he had seen in all his years at UWA.”

The novelty events, including egg-and-spoon races, tunnel ball and three-legged races, will be extended this year to include a hole-in-one competition and a Nintendo Wii ten pin bowling

tournament. There will also be less strenuous events such as chess.

“And of course the strongest fittest blokes on campus, the boys from Facilities Management, will be hoping to retain their tug-of-war title,” Keith said.

Tickets, which include food and drink for participants, are $5. Proceeds this year will go to Beyondblue, the national depression awareness initiative. Last year’s sponsors are back on board: UWA, UniCredit, UniPrint and the University Club. UniCredit has donated a $1,000 travel voucher.

Staff can take part in the games or volunteer as a helper. But you’ll need to sign up by October 14. For more details, go to http://www.sport.uwa.edu.au/staff_sports

“We export a lot of our pork to Asia, especially Singapore – it’s a huge industry,” Professor Lee said. “In the past, if anything was wrong with any of the pork from Australia, it could mean the entire market was thrown into chaos, with billions of dollars lost. There is a national livestock identity system but there are loopholes in the system. We are able to close those loopholes with our technology based on chemistry and the environment,” he said.

“If any suspect pork is found in Singapore, they can send a sample back to us and, within 36 hours, we can say where that pig came from, so the whole industry is not hurt and can keep going, while that one producer is identified.”

Their research also applies to biosecurity. “If something like foot and mouth disease appears, we are able to say quickly where the cow came from and can save the industry a lot of money, not to mention the spread of the disease.”

As well as food safety, he is also interested in the health benefits of food. He recently did the science for a range of flavoured carbonated water on sale in Australian supermarkets.

Rejuvenating Water (pictured left) has the anti-oxidant benefits of some Indigenous fruits, including Kakadu plum, lemon aspen and wild rosella.

“Kakadu plum is bitter and fibrous but has more vitamin C in it than anything else known to man,” Professor Lee said. “So we extracted all the good chemicals from the fruit, then tested it for antioxidants and worked out how much of the extract needed to be in the drink for it to be an effective anti-oxidant. Apparently it’s selling quite well.”

Professor Lee said studies had estimated about 10 per cent of food in supermarkets was fraudulently labelled. “I’ve seen New Zealand Kiwi fruits labelled as Italian, prawns from Vietnam selling as Australian and a wine from China that tried to pass itself off as coming from the Coonawarra region of Australia,” he said.

The industry-ready graduates from the new Masters degree will be trained in food provenance to help guard against such fraud.

They will study chemistry, biochemistry, nutrition, nanotechnology, microbiology, sensory science, forensic science and engineering to produce the next generation of food products, to improve food processing techniques and to ensure quality, safety and nutritional value of the food supply.

Graduates with either a Science or Engineering degree can apply for the new program, to start in second semester next year. The course is being developed in collaboration with Food Standards Australia and New Zealand, PathWest and the National Measurement Institute.

Professor Lee sees the future of food production lying with nanotechnology and genetic modification “It’s not really new: many years ago, the carrots and strawberries that we know now didn’t exist. They have been selectively bred or modified by hybridisation to become what we recognise today,” he said.

“And some time in the future, our meat will be grown in laboratories.

“But we don’t yet know how safe these productions methods are or how we can prove that certain foods are what they say they are. And that’s where forensic science and food science comes in.”

With so much insight into food production, does it stop Professor Lee eating anything?

“Come on, I’m Chinese. We eat everything!” he said. “But I think I’ve put some people off eating chocolate by telling them how the cocoa farmers in the West Indies and Ivory Coast take their boots off and ‘polish’ the beans by trampling them with their dirty sweaty feet, after which they are only very, very lightly roasted and ground.

“But don’t worry, dark chocolate is high in antioxidants, so it is still very good for you.”

The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 5 October 2009 9

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A young printing machinist at Uniprint has been chosen ahead of all the graduating apprentices in the print industry as Graduate of the Year.

Ben Rodd (pictured) was up against all sections – designers and printers, binders and machinists – for the award, all nominated by their TAFE lecturers.

He completed his four-year apprenticeship seven months ahead of time and won the industry’s LIA Heidelberg Graduate of the Year.

Ben has the imprint of success

A new international journal on Indian Ocean issues is headed up by a UWA academic.

Associate Professor Dennis Rumley (pictured) is the Chief Editor of Journal of the Indian Ocean Region (JIOR), which will be published by Routledge from next year (web site at: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/rior).

One of its associate editors is UWA’s map curator, Dr Viv Forbes.

It is the flagship journal of the Indian Ocean Research Group Inc (http://www.iorgroup.org), which does interdisciplinary policy-oriented research on the nature and impact of human uses of the Indian Ocean region.

Its size and location make the Indian Ocean an ideal economic link between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, which results in the movement across it of the highest tonnages of commodities in the world, more than three-quarters of it from outside the region.

New Indian Ocean views“Observing and managing the environmental impacts of such human activity on marine ecosystems is essential for the conservation of resources and human security in the region,” A/Professor Rumley said.

The journal will cover major Indian Ocean issues including regional geopolitics, resource exploitation, sharing and conservation, maritime jurisdiction, coastal management,

ocean laws, the problems of small island states and regional trade and co-operation.

“We expect the JIOR to encourage research on geopolitical, economic, socio-cultural, environmental, scientific and technological issues; to ensure a holistic discourse on the human and environmental security of the region; and to initiate informed policy debate among governments, NGOs, business groups, academics and other stakeholders in the region,” A/Professor Rumley said.

It is awarded by the Lithograph Institute of Australia and the Printing Industries Association of Australia.

Later this week Ben will compete in Sydney for the national award.

“When I was looking to leave school I talked to a cousin who’s in the printing industry and I thought I liked the sound of it,” Ben said. “I answered an advertisement for a position at Uniprint and immediately thought what a friendly place it was.

“It’s still a great place to work; everybody gels together.”

Ben is responsible for a million dollar printing machine on which he printed this story about himself. “UWANews is one of my regular jobs,” he said. “We also print posters, business cards, flyers, anything that comes our way.”

His job is comprehensive. He maintains the complicated machinery and understands how every part of it works, and is also very skilled at balancing colour tones to get the right look for everything he prints.

The state award has won him $3,000 worth of training. But Ben has his sights set on the $15,000 national prize. “To compete for that, I have had to write about where I see myself in the future of the industry and write a business plan. I’m focused on that right now. If I don’t win in Sydney, then I’ll think about how to use the $3,000,” he said.

“It’s been a long haul but this award has really made it worth it,” he said.

UWA NEWS 5 October 2009 The University of Western Australia10

Most of us can’t imagine being without it, but email can become overwhelming.

Human Resources has published an on-line guide to help UWA staff to manage their emails. The recommended rules are known as Email Etiquette or Netiquette.

Three good reasons to follow Netiquette are listed as professionalism, efficiency and managing risk.

Some tips include taking care not to pass on confidential information when forwarding a message. Staff are also asked to consider deleting non-essential information and thinking

twice about sending large attachments.

We are advised to use an ‘out of office’ automated message when appropriate and to think about including availability in our signature blocks (eg work days are Monday to Wednesday).

In the interests of a good work/life balance, staff are encouraged to leave their email behind when they are at home and on holiday.

And never send an email with a message that you wouldn’t say direct to another person’s face.

All these and more are at http://www.hr.uwa.edu.au/hr/publications

UWA has joined the international sailing scene with the launch of its first Foundation 36 yacht.

UWA Centennial was unveiled last month along with plans for UWA to become involved in international sailing programs.

Perth will host the ISAF World Sailing Championships in 2011, our centenary year, the perfect opportunity for UWA Centennial to make its mark on the Swan River.

“We are the only University in Australia to be situated on good sailing water,” said Vice-Chancellor Professor Alan Robson at the launch. “And we are next door to the yacht club that won the America’s Cup, which has a fleet of Foundation 36 yachts, a legacy of that international competition.

“We are delighted that, in our centenary year, we can be part of the biggest sailing event in Perth since the America’s Cup defence.”

Bruce Meakins, executive director of UWA Sport and Recreation Association, said he and his colleagues had been thinking about getting involved in international sailing since they were at the Indian Rim Asian University Games in Singapore.

“They have a fantastic sailing program there, but they have to travel 23 kilometres to get to the water. Here we are right on the water. It’s too good an opportunity to ignore,” he said.

The UWA International Sailing Program is a collaboration between Royal Perth Yacht Club, Swan River Sailing (formerly WA Yachting Federation), the State

America’s Cup legacy ensures smooth sailing

Email – a blessing or a curse?

Sailing Centre, UWA and the Sport and Recreation Association.

UWA has also signed a sporting memorandum of understanding with Singapore Management University (SMU), with a focus on sailing, rugby and tennis.

“The partnership agreement covers shared objectives and goals, sporting student exchanges, adventure and leadership training, sports tours and internships and of course cultural learning experiences,” Mr Meakins said.

“As far as sailing goes, we have strong winds and low tides here in WA and Singapore has light winds and big tides, so it will be great for both our sailors and

the students from Singapore to experience the different conditions, which will stand them in good stead for international competition.”

The first UWA sailing team was hosted by SMU in August.

“Singapore doesn’t have much room, so their sports are water-focused,” Mr Meakins said. “They are keen for us to adopt dragon boat racing and we can offer them training in bushwalking, mountain biking and abseiling. There may also be opportunities for our students to go into third world countries on volunteer work with SMU.”

UWA hopes to host the World University Match Racing Championships in 2014.

A lone rower admires the newest addition to the University’s fleet

The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 5 October 2009 11

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International students can quickly become used to Australian ways.

A group of teachers from the Philippines, who are doing their Masters in the Faculty of Education, have recently taken part in a Managing Transitions and Change Workshop to prepare them for life after UWA.

The seven teachers are sponsored by AusAID and the International Centre which has set up the program to ease the transition back to their home towns and universities.

The one-day workshop with Dr Christine Hogan has activities to help students understand the emotional and cultural changes that occur during transitions.

“Sometimes, going home can be more of a shock that coming to Australia because the students widen their perspectives on life, their work and aspirations,” said Deborah Pyatt, scholarship/sponsorship officer in the International Centre. “The workshop gives the students the opportunity to think about changes and culturally-acceptable strategies to transfer their skills to work and family lives.”

The Filipino teachers agreed that it would be difficult to return to less direct and more formal speech in the workplace.

“Here we call our teachers by their first names and we can all speak directly to everybody,” said Kristine Tiling, a science teacher.

“At home, we call everybody by their titles and show more respect,” said Czarina Saikol, who teaches science and social education.

Most of the group are doing a Master of Education Assessment, with two of them concentrating on science communication and instructional materials. They are completing a Masters by coursework, within a 12-month timeframe.

Associate Professor Simon Clarke had high praise for the energetic hardworking young teachers.

“They are diligent and organised and they bring a lot of colour to the Faculty,” he said. “The international students who do their Masters in one year have to be organised: it is so intensive.”

He said it was a great idea for the students to come to UWA in a group.

Agents of change get ready for re-entry“They can collaborate with and support each other through the course, then they have a network when they get back home.”

The students will be passing on their new skills to other teachers at their respective universities.

“Our government is supporting us to be agents of change,” said Jocelyn Balili. “Sometimes students go away to study then return home and nothing changes. But we are here under a unique new scheme, REAP, that is Re-Entry Action Plan. It gives us direction for our studies. We each identified a goal before we came here and the papers we are writing are tailored to those needs.”

Ms Pyatt said the Philippines had identified an area of educational need in the southern part of the country and all this group was from that region. “The AusAID program is about capacity-building, in partnership with the government of the country from where our students come,” she said.

This group will complete its studies at the end of the academic year and return to the Philippines in December.

AusAID students are doing a Masters in one year with Associate Professor Simon Clarke: Kristine Tiling, Czarina Saikol, Josefino Hapitan, Jocelyn Balili, Tristan Padora and Faricia Abdulwahid

UWA NEWS 5 October 2009 The University of Western Australia12

Behind the shining young graduates who grace the Winthrop Hall stage on graduation night, there is a dedicated team of women who have made sure they look just right.

The volunteers at the Australian Federation of University Women (WA) hire out gowns and other academic regalia to raise funds for their Education Trust and to support women in education.

The volunteers are university graduates who care deeply about achieving better access to education for women.

Before each ceremony, AFUW(WA) headquarters in Park Road (behind St Catherine’s College) are transformed into fitting rooms where graduands come to try on their graduation gowns, hoods or stoles of the prescribed colour.

“We take great care in choosing a gown of the correct length for each of the graduands,” said Wendy McCallum, Academic Dress Convener. “We make sure they know how to wear their hoods correctly and we always ensure the regalia is beautifully clean and pressed.” Wendy says she spends many hours cleaning the silk hoods. “We send the gowns out to be dry-cleaned, but we take great trouble to clean all the hoods by hand.”

Karen Bothwell, the only paid (part-time) staff member of the Association, together with up to 30 volunteers ensure that the gown hire for each graduation season runs smoothly, outfitting about 120 graduands each day.

“The Spring season is not so hard, with only four ceremonies, but the Autumn season now has ten ceremonies and that’s a lot of work spread out over a much longer time and involving late hours for our helpers,” said Karen.

Nevertheless Wendy and Karen agree that it is always happy work.

“And we raise money for our bursaries at the same time,” Wendy said.

AFUW (WA) has a long history of providing financial support for the education of women. It awarded its first bursary in 1971. The Education Trust was established in 1992 to manage funds raised through gown hire, donations and bequests and to fund the bursaries.

The Trust has offered five postgraduate bursaries each year, worth $17,500 in total, to postgraduate women at all WA universities. The Federation also funds an annual scholarship of $3,000 for a St Catherine’s College student, funds three young women from a country high school to attend a summer school at Murdoch University each year, provides financial assistance to a student studying at a regional university and has sponsored United Nations Youth Forums at WA universities. Most recently, AFUW (WA) has provided funding for three new scholarships of $2,000 for postgraduate women enrolled at Edith Cowan University, Murdoch University and Notre Dame University.

Graduation gowns help women to learn

Wendy McCallum fits one of the 120 graduands who come in each day during graduation season

AFUW (WA) has also raised money to provide new pyjamas for children whose mothers have taken them to women’s refuges, donated books for women in prison, and a laptop to Trinity Church for its teenage mothers’ program. Many members are currently fund-raising to help children at a preschool in Sri Lanka which was devastated by the tsunami.

“It is a great group to join,” said Wendy, a former teacher, with a BA from UWA. “We’re affiliated with the Australian Federation and International Federation of University Women and through this we meet some wonderful people in Perth, regional WA and from all over the world. I have stayed with Sonja in Finland and Romy in Switzerland. I correspond with Alia in Cairo and recently had breakfast with Shirley from Rwanda.”

New members are always welcome to join AFUW and to become a volunteer. AFUW (WA) can be contacted at 9386 3570 or for more information about the Association and the Education Trust email: afuwwa@westnet.com.au Information about the goals and activities of AFUW are available from the website: http://members.westnet.com.au/afuwwa/

The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 5 October 2009 13

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NEW STAFF

Please welcome the following new staff who joined the University between 26 August and 23 September 2009.Natalie Atkinson, Administrative Officer, Venues ManagementRyan Austin, Dental Clinic Assistant, Oral Health Centre of WANigel Barr, Security Officer, Facilities Management, SecurityRichard Bowles, Research Officer, School of Earth and EnvironmentMark Caporn, Assistant Manager, Governance ServicesSarah Cesare, Senior Library Officer, LibraryLisa Fairburn, Technician (Animal House), Animal Care ServicesFiona Graham, Dental Clinic Assistant, Oral Health Centre of WAAbby Hart, Administrative Assistant, School of Indigenous StudiesRobin Hort, Administrative Assistant, Medicine and PharmacologyGemma Jahn, Project Officer, Student ServicesTaha Khah, Assistant (General), UWA Business SchoolNeree Martinez, Research Officer, Plant BiologySusan McEwan, Library Officer, LibraryTaruia Nicholls, Research Associate, Crime Research CentreKylie Persak, Administrative Assistant, Administration, Facilities ManagementGeoffrey Pocock, Project Manager, Office of Industry and InnovationEmma Read, Administrative Assistant, Medicine and PharmacologyJudith Riggs, Project Officer (Student Support), Primary, Aboriginal and Rural Health CareMonica Rubick, Administrative Assistant, LibraryDr Stefan Scheiner, Research Associate, Computer Science and Software EngineeringWinthrop Professor Christopher Steytler, Winthrop Professor, Law

Associate Professor Sally Stokes, Associate Professor, Primary, Aboriginal and Rural Health CareEdite Wandolire, Dental Clinic Assistant, Oral Health Centre of WAResearch Assistant Professor Laichang Zhang, Research Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering

NOTICES

AUSTRALIAN LAUREATE LECTUREQuestioning Hanrahan: Environmental optimism and realism in the 21st centuryby Richard Hobbs, Australian Laureate, Professor of Restoration Ecology, The University of Western AustraliaDate: Wednesday, 21 October 2009 Time: 5.30pm Venue: University Club Theatre Auditorium, UWARSVP: This lecture is free and open to the public but RSVP is essential to (08) 6488 1340 or ias@uwa.edu.au by Friday 16 October. The lecture will be followed by refreshments. This event is co-sponsored by the University Club at UWA.

CENTRE FOR INTEGRATED HUMAN STUDIES PUBLIC SEMINARWednesday 7 October 5.30 – 7 pm Caring for an ageing population With Professor Leon Flicker, physiotherapist Faye Bastow, and Vivienne Glance.Seminar Room 1.81 School of Anatomy and Human Biology.

FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY TUESDAY 13 OCTOBER 2009 AT 7.30 FOR 8.00PM Algeria’s struggle for independence from French rule by Professor Hélène Jaccomard.After a brief survey of the extent of the French colonial empire, this lecture will look at the decolonisation process in Algeria, its actors, main events, and legacy in today’s France.Reid Library meeting room, ground floor. Non-members: $5

PRIMARY HEALTH CARE RESEARCH EvALUATION AND DEvELOPMENT2009 State PHCRED Conference

The Future of Primary Health Care: Working TogetherFriday October 16, 12 noon to 6pmThe Boulevard Centre, FloreatKeynote speakers: Gary Gray MHR and Professor Ken Wyatt, director, Office of Aboriginal HealthIncludes a Hypothetical: The future, working together in 2020, a light-hearted look at what the future holds for primary health care researchFor more information call Lyn Brun at the Combined Universities Centre for Rural Health in Geraldton on 9956 0200

RAINE vISITING PROFESSOR LECTURE SERIESProfessor John Forrester, Cockburn Chair of OphthalmologyUniversity of AberdeenSight-threatening Uveitis: Causes and treatment of a neglected disease1pm, Monday October 12RA Joske Seminar Room, 8th floor, G block, SCGHFor more information, contact Lyn Ellis at lellis@raine.uwa.edu.au

PROMOTION BRIEFS

Provided by Elizabeth Hutchinson, Executive Officer, Academics Promotion Committee, Human Resources

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE PROFESSORDr Sarita Bennett (Pasture Ecology, School of Plant Biology)Dr Bennett’s research is focused on the conservation of agricultural genetic resources, increasing the sustainability of agricultural systems, the utilisation of saltland systems to provide economically variable sustainable options for farming systems, plant breeding and associated agronomy. She is at the forefront of plant selection and adaptation for saltland

environments in Australia, with both national and international recognition.

RESEARCH ASSISTANT PROFESSORDr Cameron Beeck (Canola Breeders Western Australia Pty Ltd, School of Plant Biology)Dr Beeck’s area of research is as a commercial plant breeder. With the team at Canola Breeders WA, he has helped to implement world-leading statistical methods to a working commercial plant breeding program while maintaining a focus on the application of basic principles of quantitative genetics.His expertise is feeding into the UWA system through his links as an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Plant Biology with Honours and Postdoctoral students and visiting scientists. His other research focus is in database development for plant breeding contexts through the International Crop Information System project at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines.

RESEARCH GRANTS AND CONTRACTS

Grants awarded between 7 and 20 September 2009

ARC FUTURE FELLOWSHIPSProfessor Andre Luiten, Physics: ‘The Quest for Ultimate Measurement Precision’ – (2009-13)Winthrop Professor Mark Cassidy, Centre for Offshore Foundations Systems: ‘Engineering Solutions for the Next Generation of Offshore Oil and Gas Infrastructure’ – (2009-13)Dr Aleksandra Filipovska, UWA Centre for Medical Research: ‘Targeting Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Disease’ – (2009-13)Dr Linqing Wen, Physics: ‘Real-Time Searches for Gravitational Waves and Identification of Their Radio and Optical Counterparts’ – (2009-13)Dr Oliver Rackham, UWA Centre for Medical Research: ‘Engineering Synthetic Genetic Codes’ – (2009-13)Dr Kenji Bekki, Physics, University of New South Wales: ‘Simulating the

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Magellanic System with Special Purpose Computers for Gravitational Dynamics’ – (2009-13)Professor Cristina Gibson, UWA Business School, University of California, Irvine: ‘Increasing the Effectiveness of Remote and Cross-Cultural Collaborations in Organisations’ – (2009-13)Professor David White, Centre for Offshore Foundations Systems: ‘Seabed Engineering to Unlock Australia’s Deepwater Oil and Gas Resources’ – (2009-13)Dr Christopher Peacock, UWA Centre for Child Health Research: ‘Genomic and Molecular Characterisation of a Novel Australian Leishmania Pathogen’ – (2009-13)Mr Mark Griffin, Psychology, University of Sheffield: ‘A Multilevel Approach to Leadership and Dynamic Capabilities in Organisations’ – (2009-13)

CRC PLANT BIOSECURITYWinthrop Professor John Roberts, Animal Biology: ‘Little Red Frog Species Action Plan’ – $525 (2009)

UNIvERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES EX ARC DISCOvERYAssociate Professor Anu Rammohan, UWA Business School, Population Health: ‘Ageing in a Developing Country and its Effects on Intra Household Resource Allocation’ – $62,473 (2008-10)

STAFF ADS

Classified advertising is free to staff. Email: staffads@uwa.edu.au

TO LETNEDLANDS, Fairway Avenue, short-term and permanent accommodation available- female only. Close proximity to UWA Business School. Minimum 3 weeks stay plus 4 weeks bond $230; including power for one bedroom. Also, carport available at $10 per week for secured access. Contact or text: 0416 171 217 or phone: 9389 9817.MUTTON BIRD (between Albany and Denmark): Holiday accommodation on rural property. Family friendly. Pristine beaches, plentiful fishing, peaceful surrounds. Private paradise with stunning river and inlet views. 15 mins from Albany and 25 mins from Denmark. Main house: 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom (sleeps 6) ($120 pn). Bunkhouse: 2 bedroom 1 bathroom (sleeps 6) ($70 pn). Both fully furnished and self contained. Only need to bring linen. Rent main house or both. Contact Mia Betjeman on 0448 876 629 or mia.betjeman@uwa.edu.auBRIDGETOWN relaxed country holiday accommodation. Self-contained cottage within walking distance of town with rural views and warm country atmosphere. Ideal for all seasons, sleeps 6-8, three bedrooms, wood fire, Foxtel and LCD, laundry, electric blankets and linen supplied. $125 pn. Contact Christine: 0429 236 729 for bookings. FRENCHMAN BAY, ALBANY: Holiday rental property. 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom modern house with stunning views over King George Sound. 5 minute walk to pristine Goode Beach. Fully furnished and self contained. Sleeps 8. Only need to bring linen. Contact Stephen Home on 0419 969 138 or stephen.home@uwa.edu.auHOME EXCHANGESOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. Exchange use of our home for similar in Perth. Preferred dates from November 24 to January 24. For our home description visit: http://YourCaliforniaWinter.com. Telephone: USA 949 215 1674 Dr and Mrs. Bull

The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 5 October 2009 15

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EDITOR/WRITER: Lindy Brophy, Public Affairs Tel: 6488 2436 Fax: 6488 1020 Email: lindy.brophy@uwa.edu.au

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UWA NEWS

Professor Philip MeadChair of Australian LiteratureEnglish and Cultural Studies

In late June this year we packed up the car and left Hobart heading for Western Australia.

The idea was to travel the territory between the two southern edges of the continent, not just to fly over it. We discovered that everyday language had shifted since last we ‘moved’; now what you do is ‘relocate’.

I had just finished a chapter about regions and locales for a new literary history of Australia and now I was aware of relocating from one densely imagined place to another, swapping the romance of the insular for the vastness of the West. I had thought of the essay as a kind of critical GPS where what you see on the screen is the enhanced local, while the program depends on global technology.

We drove up the Midland Highway, took the overnight Spirit of Tasmania to Melbourne and then set off for Adelaide, an easy day’s drive through a rehydrated Wimmera. From Adelaide you drive up through the tough mining centres of Port Pirie and Port Augusta, dusty mining towns built around railway heads and gigantic smelters.

After the Arizona-like landscape of the eastern edge of the Eyre Peninsula, around the El Alamein Army base, you drive through seemingly limitless wheat and canola farms of the western half of the Eyre Peninsula, a landscape covered with green short-pile from the recent rain, broad acres of AstroTurf.

It rained almost all the way to Perth, even on the Nullarbor. After the involuted coastline and Gothic scenery of Tasmania, suddenly there was a horizon, and a different landscape of mid-tones and uninterrupted light.

Heading west you pass roadhouses that advertise hangars out the back for light planes, stretches of the Eyre Highway that are widened into runways for Royal Flying Doctor Service landings, motels in old goldfields towns built with rammed earth and Colorbond.

At Head of Bight, managed by the Yalata Aboriginal community, there were a dozen Southern Right whales lumbering about in the crèche in under the cliffs where the high karst shelf of the continent breaks off. The newest calves were learning to find their balance.

We were travelling along the southern edge of the continent, Terre Napoleon as the French named it. This Indian Ocean side of the continent might have been later to be settled, but the traces of some of the earliest European maritime exploration appear all along the southern coast and its islands. These

A sense of place is more than geography

names of ships and navigators are dotted along the long coastal profile that stretches from west to east, from Terres de Leeuwin et de Nuyts to Van Diemen’s Land; Recherche Archipelago, D’Entrecasteaux Point.

When we arrived a friend took us to the Holmes à Court Gallery in East Perth where there happened to be an exhibition of the work of contemporary Tasmanian artists. So one of the first things to confront us at the western edge of the continent were Philip Wolfhagen’s misty landscapes of coastal Tasmania. Which end of the continent is this exactly?

It was surprising then to hear some of the travel advisories that newcomers to Perth encounter: the antipode of the Bermudas, the most isolated city in the world, closer to Singapore and Jakarta than to Sydney. It will be interesting to speculate on where those ways of locating are coming from.

Meanwhile, it feels like I’m here in Perth, the centre of the world.

UWA NEWS 5 October 2009 The University of Western Australia16