la trobe university bulletin · drake awards support la trobe students 6 research in action queen...
TRANSCRIPT
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY
BulletinMAY 2002
LIFT-OFF! La Trobe
launches spacetourism research
Enya nearly ended her career as a valuablebreeding emu at a Macedon emu farm whenshe crashed into a fence.
The result was such a nasty wound thatone of her legs had to be amputated justbelow the knee, leaving her with whatdoctors describe as a ‘medium lengthtranstibial stump’.
Her owner contacted the clinic at La TrobeUniversity’s National Centre for Prostheticsand Orthotics which quickly designed andfitted Enya with an artificial leg.
‘Enya was an unusual prosthetic client,’ saidCentre Head, Mr Rod Cooper whoexamined Enya personally and designed andfitted the prosthesis
‘The main problem was keeping her stillwhile we made the appropriatemeasurements and fitted what she required.Although a bird, emus rely solely on bipedallocomotion, they walk on two legs, and theloss of one limb was major functional loss,’he said.
‘She was restricted to crouching on theground prior to our fitting the prosthesiswhich was improvised from a length of PCVpipe, an "energy-storing" tennis ball terminaldevice and a self suspending socket.
‘Enya is now used to her new leg and is ableto walk and run. She is one of our mostunusual patients to date although in the pastwe have also provided devices for a racinggreyhound, a racehorse and domestics dogs,’Mr Cooper said. �
NEWS
La Trobe space tourism research 3
World-first for plant gene studies 4
New biotech joint venture for
plant industry 5
Drake awards support La Trobe students 6
Research in Action
Queen Victoria and motherhood 7&10
Sign language studies in Bali 8&9
Autism Spectrum Disorder research 10
Overcoming Melbourne’s Cyprus
divide 11
Job seekers help Hellenic research 12
Education reform in South Africa 13
The road to peace in Ireland 13
New Social Theory Centre opens 14
Programs for problems at school 15
Helping families to hold it all together 16
IN THIS ISSUE
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY
Bulletin
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BULLET IN2
The La Trobe Bulletin is published ten times a year by thePublic Affairs Office, La Trobe University.
Articles may be reproduced with acknowledgement.Photographs can be supplied.
Enquiries and submissions to the editor, Ernest Raetz,La Trobe University, Victoria. 3086 AustraliaTel (03) 9479 2315, Fax (03) 9479 1387Email: [email protected]
Design: Campus Graphics, (42429)La Trobe University.Printed by Vaughan Printing Pty Ltd.Website: www.latrobe.edu.au/www/bulletin/
Cover: A new field of researchinto space tourism, the ultimatein adventure travel, has beenestablished at La TrobeUniversity. See story page 3.
Mobile again
Fitting Enya’s artificial leg.
Apollo astronaut to visit La Trobe Apollo 17 astronaut, Dr Harrison Schmitt,will visit La Trobe University as a guest ofthe Physics Department in July. His visit willcoincide with the 30th anniversary of theApollo 17 mission, the last time humanswalked on the Moon.
Dr Schmitt will deliver the 2002 La TrobeUniversity Science Lecture, a public lectureon the Bundoora campus on Thursday 18July and will meet with other members of theUniversity the following day.
A US Republican Party Senator from NewMexico between 1977-83, Dr Schmitt willbe in Australia as keynote speaker at theAustralian Mars Exploration Conference, asguest of Mars Society Australia.
He will also speak at the National Press Clubin Canberra and will visit StrathmoreSecondary College in Victoria, where a SpaceEducation Centre is being established, withthe help of La Trobe University physicists.
Further details from Tel. 03 9479 2059. �
A new field of research into space tourism –the ultimate in adventure travel – has beenestablished at La Trobe University,Melbourne, with the help of a start-up grant of$A27,000 from a UK company, StarchaserIndustries.
Starchaser Industries is developing andtesting a sub-orbital vehicle for space traveland plans to operate space flights fromWoomera.
The research funding was announced on theeve of the departure of the world’s secondorbital space tourist, Mr Mark Shuttleworth, aSouth African internet millionaire, who waslaunched into space by Russia late in April.
Professor Geoffrey Crouch, Chair of TourismMarketing in La Trobe University’s School ofTourism and Hospitality, says Shuttleworth’strip took place a year after the first spacetourist, Dennis Tito, made world headlines on28 April last year.
The University also recently admitted its firstpostgraduate research candidate to this fieldof study. Ms Jennifer Laing is researchingspace tourism consumer behaviour in order tobetter understand the evolving market for thisemerging industry.
Although space tourism is a thing of thefuture for most people, for others, like MarkShuttleworth, the ‘future’ has arrived. Othersat the head of the space tourists’ queueinclude Mr Lance Bass from the pop group,*NSYNC; Ms Lori Garver, a former NASAemployee; and Mr Leszek Czarnecki, a
wealthy Polish businessman. All are vying tofly with the Russians later in the year.
Professor Crouch says many stakeholders areinterested in the potential and growth of aspace tourism industry. While some are‘visionary, grandiose, and fanciful schemes’,many ‘well-qualified individuals,organisations, and entrepreneurs’ are nowalso involved.
‘Their work encompasses a wide range ofspace tourism concepts and includesassessments of technological, financial,medical, legal, regulatory and commercialissues. But a significant barrier to progress isthe lack of reliable and credible estimates orforecasts of market demand for space tourismto form the basis for investment decisions.
Public, as well as commercial interests, willbe served by developing a valid and reliableway to understand and predict such demand,’says Professor Crouch.
‘Developing such an industry couldsignificantly reduce space transportation costsand allow space science and exploration to beless constrained by government funding.’
Professor Crouch says that a number ofsimple market research studies to date haveconcluded there is promising potential. Forexample, in a recent NASA study, 34 per centof respondents indicated they would be
NEWS
MARCH 2001 3
LIFT-OFF! The ultimate in adventure travel
Continued page 4
Professor Crouch, right, with research student, Ms Laing.
‘interested in taking a two-week vacation’ inthe Space Shuttle. ‘But’, he adds, ‘moresophisticated, valid studies are needed toestimate actual consumer demand rather thanmerely levels of interest.’
Professor Crouch and a colleague, ProfessorJordan Louviere, from the University ofTechnology, Sydney, have put forward aproposal to stimulate debate which they hopewill lead to a more widely-based,theoretically sound and reliable researchapproach.
Professor Louviere is a specialist in consumerchoice modelling and has worked as aconsultant with private and public sectororganisations in Australia, Canada, Europe,New Zealand, Southeast Asia and the UnitedStates.
Professor Crouch, Professor Louviere and MsLaing plan to estimate and predict thedemand for space tourism using choicemodelling techniques – a method based upontheoretical developments for which Professor
Dan McFadden (University of California,Berkeley) was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prizein economics. Currently Professors Crouchand Louviere are using this same method in adifferent field of tourism research.
One of the few people in the worldspecialising in this emerging field, ProfessorCrouch last year organised and chaired apanel on the future of space tourism at theTravel and Tourism Research Associationconference in the US. The panel includedpioneering astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, a strongproponent of the space tourism industry.
Professor Crouch spoke on space tourismmarketing at the 3rd Space TourismConference of the US Space TransportationAssociation in Washington last June, and atthe 10th Space Frontier Conference in LosAngeles in October 2001.
He also attended a public Congressionalhearing on space tourism held by the USHouse Subcommittee on Space andAeronautics.
Late last year, he was invited to speak on'Market Opportunities in Space: The Near-Term Roadmap' at a workshop held by theOffice of Space Commercialisation in the US
Department of Commerce, the SpaceEnterprise Council of the US Chamber ofCommerce, and the Space TransportationAssociation.
The public and media interest in the prospectsfor space tourism is escalating as news of theworld’s first group of actual and would-bespace tourists, representing the tip of themarket iceberg, emerges. The extent of therest of the iceberg is something this group ofresearchers hopes to find out. �
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BULLET IN
NEWS
4
The ultimate inadventure travel- from page 3
Sufferers from hay fever will benefit from anew ryegrass that reduces the sneezing anditching effects of existing grasses.
Agriculture Victoria’s Plant BiotechnologyCentre at La Trobe University has conductedthe work as a core participant of the Co-operative Research Centre for MolecularPlant Breeding.
Led by Professor German Spangenberg, thisworld-first research has produced perennialryegrass plants which have ‘switched off’ thegene causing hay fever.
Perennial ryegrass is common in lawns andrecreational areas as well as pasture forgrazing and therefore is a major contributor tothe symptoms of hay fever for manyAustralians.
Hay fever and seasonal allergic asthma due tograss pollen afflict up to twenty per cent of thepopulation in cool temperate climates, with1.8 million sufferers in Australia.
Professor Spangenberg said: ‘Perennialryegrass is responsible for a major portion ofgrass pollen allergies worldwide. We havebeen able to alter the expression of the genesencoding the main ryegrass pollen allergen inperennial ryegrass towards the developmentof low-allergen ryegrass cultivars.’
The new grasses being developed byProfessor Spangenberg’s research team willalso help the dairy industry, with theimprovement of milk production as a result ofenhanced herbage quality for grazing dairycows.
Stringent trials of the plants will take placeunder glasshouse and field conditions overthe next five years before these new grasscultivars will become available. �
LESS SNEEZING – AND BETTER MILKWorld-first for plant gene research
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, left, and Professor Crouchat the Tourism Research Association Conferencein the U.S.
A new joint venture in
agricultural biology has been
launched by eminent
Australian scientist, Sir Gustav
Nossal, on La Trobe
University’s Bundoora,
Melbourne campus.
Genetic Technologies Limited andAgriculture Victoria Services Pty Ltd havecreated a new company, AgGenomics PtyLtd, to enhance conventional plant breedingthrough the application of genomics – thestudy of genes and their function.
Initially, the new company will provide plantgenomics services in collaboration with thePlant Biotechnology Centre, an Institute of
the Victorian Department of NaturalResources and Environment, based at La Trobe University.
Sir Gustav said: ‘Agriculture VictoriaServices has a long and successful trackrecord in working closely with industry tobring cutting-edge agricultural technology tothe market – with an outstanding capability inplant genomics at its Plant BiotechnologyCentre right here at La Trobe University.’
While much has been made of the medicalaspects of genomics, Sir Gustav noted lesshas been said about agricultural genomics. ‘Inthe long term, I believe the benefits will bejust as significant for humanity.’
Director of Agriculture Victoria’s PlantBiotechnology Centre at La Trobe University,Professor German Spangenberg, has beenappointed Managing Director (Research and
Development) of the new company. Dr GlennTong of Genetic Technologies, is ManagingDirector (Commercial).
Professor Spangenberg said AgGenomicswill assist plant breeders identify geneticmarkers linked to commercially importanttraits so that they can improve productionefficiencies and quality.
The Chairman of Agriculture VictoriaServices Pty Ltd, Dr Bruce Kefford, said:‘Last year, plant industries contributed $18billion in gross value to the Australianeconomy. It is important that we continue togrow that value by applying newtechnologies.’
Dr Mervyn Jacobson, Executive Chairman ofGenetic Technologies said: ‘One of GeneticTechnologies’ priorities has always been touse our ten years of success in humangenotyping as a platform to expand intoagricultural genomics.
‘Our partnership with the PlantBiotechnology Centre – which has anestablished international reputation fordeveloping and applying innovativetechnologies – will enable us to do this.’AgGenomics, he said, already had work inhand worth some half a million dollars withindustry and government. �
NEWS
MARCH 2001 5
New biotech jointventure for plant industry
New biotech jointventure for plant industry
Professor Spangenberg: improving quality andefficiency of plant production.
Sir Gustav Nossal: significant benefits forhumanity.
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BULLET IN
AWARDS
6
Drake International has funded scholarshipsand awards worth $12,000 for outstandingstudents of La Trobe University.
Five Drake Faculty Scholarships have beenpresented to commencing students in each ofthe University's five faculties, based on VCEresults and Faculty recommendation. Threeoutstanding students were awarded DrakeInternational final year scholarships inNursing, Accounting and Business (HumanResource Management) and are also made onFaculty recommendation.
Drake International also made two newawards in 2002, for excellence in Advancedand International Human ResourceManagement to students of the University'sGraduate School of Management.
The Vice-Chancellor of La Trobe University,Professor Michael Osborne, said the awardsreflect the mutually beneficial arrangementwhich had been forged between DrakeInternational and the University for theprovision of temporary and, in some cases,permanent staff. Drake is also assistingUniversity graduates to find employment.
Professor Osborne said the awardsdemonstrate the goodwill that exists betweenDrake International and the University. Hepraised Drake International for itsdemonstration of faith in the higher educationsystem at a time when universities areexperiencing considerable financialpressures.
'I can only say that our relationship has beenwonderful and should be an example to manyother organisations.'
National Manager, Drake Executive, MrDarrell Hewton, said Drake International, oneof the world's largest privately owned Humanresources relations companies, was pleased torecognise and encourage academicexcellence.
Mr Hewton said Drake International regardedthe scholarship scheme as an investment inthe community and the continuing educationof future generations. It was a privilege to beable to recognise the achievements of thestudents and to play a small part in helpingthem achieve their goals. 'Everything we dois designed to contribute to the success of theeconomy, the markets and those individuals
who, over time, will make us successful as anorganization.'
And the winners were... Scholarships for Commencing Students werewon by: Lachlan Fooks, Physiotherapy;Matthew Salter, Media Studies; AndreaCastle, Law /Arts; Rhea PsereckisArts/Science; and Benjamin Mitchell,Business/ Engineering, Bendigo campus.
The Final Year Scholarships went to:
Sean Sullivan, Nursing. Mr Sullivan hopes towork at the Peter McCallum Cancer Instituteon graduation. He says his aunts were the rolemodels on whom he based his decision toembark upon a nursing career.
Nadia Guglielmi Commerce. Ms Guglielmihas been employed part-time with tax agents
McGregor West since her second year andplans to remain with them after graduation.
Helena Dwyer, Business (Honours). MsDwyer wants to work overseas in the field ofhuman resources after she graduates and iscurrently doing work experience with the St Vincent's and Mercy Private Hospital,Melbourne.
The Award for Excellence in HumanResource Management went to Bill Kio, andMargaret Thoneman, both from the GraduateSchool of Management,
Mr Kio runs his own information technologycompany, specialising in the implementationof SAP business programs and Ms Thonemanis Head of Development for Interlink, anational executive recruitment andmanagement development firm.
DRAKE INTERNATIONAL AWARDSSupport for top students to achieve their goals
Commencing scholarship winners, Matthew Salter and Lachlan Fooks, at the presentation ceremonyflanked by Drake International’s Mr Hewton and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Osborne, right.
From left, MrHewtoncongratulatescommencingstudent scholarshipwinner AndreaCastle, and twofinal yearscholarship winners,Nadia Guglielmiand Helen Dwyer.
MARCH 2001 7
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY
RESEARCH IN ACTION
Mid 19th century royal family photographsshow Queen Victoria looking decidedlyuncomfortable, if not downright unhappy,surrounded by her multitude of offspring.
Her adoring subjects at the time – andsubsequently academics and biographers whostudied her life – concluded from this andsome of her own writings and utterances, thatVictoria was unhappy in her role as wife andmother.
More than 50 biographies have beenproduced about her in the past century andmost state frankly, or intimate in some way,that she was an unhappy mother, even in thefirst few years of her marriage.
But they were wrong. Recent research by La Trobe University historian Ms YvonneWard, indicates strongly that the youngQueen, who bore four children in the first fiveyears of her marriage, and five moresubsequently, was largely a happy andcontented mother in her early married years.
Ms Ward’s conclusion comes from study ofVictoria’s writing – much of it in her journalsand in letters not sought by researchers – thatQueen Victoria exchanged with other youngEuropean royal women.
In April Ms Ward spoke about theseconclusions at a seminar at the BiographicalResearch Center, University of Hawaii. Theseminar dealt with the editing of QueenVictoria’s letters and the impact of theirpublication on biographies of the Queen andher family.
Initially Ms Ward also held the view thatVictoria was an unhappy mother, based onher later correspondence when she describedpregnancy as ‘animalistic and unecstatic’.
But a re-reading of Victoria’s journals –which her daughter Beatrice transcribed andsubstantially edited after her mother’s death –gave Ms Ward an inkling that the monarch’sfeelings about her family may have beenmisinterpreted.
Ms Ward, who is studying Victoria for herPhD thesis, is one of few researchers provided
with access to the journals housed in theRoyal Archives at Windsor.
She subsequently searched archives inEurope, from Brussels to Coburg and Lisbon,seeking correspondence written during the1840s between the royal women of a numberof countries and Queen Victoria.
In those days, many European royal families,most related by blood or marriage, wereunder threat of revolution. Their youngwomen felt starved of close friendships due totheir social rank. They became firm friends,says Ms Ward, using letters to exchangeintimate feelings and views.
Strong evidence in a number of letters, andparticularly those to Queen Louise of theBelgians and Queen Dona-Maria of Portugal,show Victoria to have been a warm, loving
mother who showed delight in her brood ofchildren. Written in rather quaint andidiosyncratic French, the letters betweenVictoria and Dona Maria, who herself had 13children, are particularly significant.
Awarded a Gulbenkian Research Fellowship,Ms Ward searched various Lisbon archivesand found only five original letters fromVictoria to Dona Maria. Scores wereexchanged during the 18 years from 1836.
The Royal Archives in Windsor have morethan 120 letters written by Dona Maria toVictoria containing a mixture of politicalnews and advice, family news and socialgossip. The correspondence covers the periodfrom Dona Maria’s second marriage in 1836until her death in childbirth in 1853. Victoriabecame Queen in 1837.
‘This correspondence furnishes evidence of avery special bond of recognition between thetwo young female sovereigns of thechallenges they faced in their patriarchalsocieties,’ says Ms Ward.
‘This bond has not been obvious in thepublished volumes of letters of QueenVictoria because their male editors stated that the women’scorrespondencewould have been"trivial" and notworth reading orconsidering forinclusion.’
The Queen really wasamused with Motherhood
A ‘masculinist perspective’ by
those who edited Queen
Victoria’s correspondence
comes in for criticism in a
new La Trobe University study.
Continued page 10
An example ofQueen Victoria’scorrespondence.
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BULLET IN8
RESEARCH IN ACTION
Signs of progressin BaliSigns of progressin Bali
La Trobe University research in a remotevillage in northern Bali is providing valuableinsights into how sign languages develop andtheir grammatical structure.
The isolated village of 2000 subsistencefarmers and labourers is unusual in that 50inhabitants suffer genetic deafness – andevery person in the village, deaf or hearing,can communicate by sign language.
The village is the only one of 149 in northernBali with such a high incidence of geneticdeafness.
For the past five years, world expert on signlanguages, Professor Jan Branson, has headeda detailed study of sign language used in thevillage. For three of those years, an AustralianResearch Council grant has financed much ofthe work.
Professor Branson is Director of the NationalInstitute for Deaf Studies and Sign LanguageResearch, based on the University’s mainMelbourne campus at Bundoora.
Studying sign languages of the geneticallydeaf is a specific field, Professor Bransonsaid. Genetically deaf people comprise onlyten per cent of deaf people in the world. Theyinherit their sign language while those deaffor other reasons usually learn from someoneother than their parents.
Professor Branson said there are between fiveand ten times more sign languages on earththan oral languages. Usually geographicallybased, they develop in isolation, are notwritten down and, therefore, don’t spread likeother languages
Those in the study village in Bali, which havenot been influenced either by written
As literacy spread, language determined hierarchy. Becausethe deaf are not literate, they became to be regarded as‘deaf and dumb’ and their social status fell.
language or outside sign languages, are atreasure trove of information about thedevelopment, grammar, history and socialstatus implications of sign languages.
‘We have evidence that the sign language inthis village dates back at least 800 years.There are local legends as to why there is sucha high proportion of deaf people.’
In one, a childless couple prayed in acemetery for a child. The only god whoresponded was the god of the deaf, and thebaby was born deaf. Another blames animmoral monk travelling from village tovillage, leaving deaf offspring.
Professor Branson’s long association with theHindu villagers, and much hard work, meansshe can communicate with locals in both theirspoken dialect and sign language.
These skills make her welcome as a regularvisitor. They also provide an invaluableresearch tool for studying not only the signlanguage, but also the sociologicalimplications of accepting deaf people as totalequals in a community.
With all villagers fluent in sign language,Professor Branson faced a problem on herearly visits. A lot of the conversation was insign language, and she was unable to tell whowas deaf and who was hearing.
‘The place was a linguist’s dream. Isolationhad meant that the local sign language ofgreat antiquity was quite unaffected byeducation. It had never been written, its usershad little schooling, and it was unaffected byother outside influences.
‘In economically-advanced societies outsideinfluences affect sign language. For example,Auslan, brought from Britain and developedin Australia, is heavily affected by theeducational policies applied to deaf people.
‘The situation in the village also allows us tostudy a traditional relationship between thedeaf and the hearing. Before our societiesbecame literate through universal education,language, including sign language, was usedsolely for face-to-face communication.’
Prior to the spread of literacy, ProfessorBranson said, many hearing people inWestern society were skilled at sign language.It was regarded as a normal tool ofcommunication as deafness was relativelycommon.
But as literacy spread, language determinedhierarchy. ‘Because the deaf are not literate,they became to be regarded as "deaf anddumb" and their social status fell.
‘The pre-literacy situation exists today in ourBalinese village. Deafness is so common thatit is not regarded as unusual and deaf peopleare not excluded from mainstream life
because everybody can communicate withthem and vice versa.’
A La Trobe Indonesian PhD student, Mr IGede Marsaja, who comes from aneighbouring village, is involved with thestudy. His thesis covers relationships betweensign and spoken languages.
For part of his research, to determine theinitiative of sign language users, three adultsfrom the village were brought to Melbourne.
‘They saw for the first time things like self-opening doors, lifts, even multi-storeybuildings. We found that although they hadnot seen such things before, they readilydevised signs to describe them,’ ProfessorBranson said.
In Melbourne they stayed at ProfessorBranson’s home and, like many of thevillagers with whom she has worked, theyhave become close friends.
Research in Bali has contributed to the globalreputation of the National Institute for DeafStudies and Sign Language Research. Fundedby Federal Government, the Institute was
established in 1993 as a joint venture betweenLa Trobe University and Monash University.It provides a national focus for research intothe Australian Deaf community and itslanguage, Auslan.
The Institute is keeping the location of itsBalinese study village a secret to protect thevillagers and the integrity of the research. �
RESEARCH IN ACTION
Professor Branson with a group of Balinese village children.
MARCH 2001 9
Pioneering research work at La TrobeUniversity aims to improve the diagnosis andmanagement of children with AutismSpectrum Disorder (ASD).
One in 500 children in Australia arediagnosed with ASD, an umbrella termencompassing Autistic Disorder andAsperger’s Disorder.
According to La Trobe Universitydevelopmental psychologist, Dr Cheryl
Dissanayake, children with autism, themajority of whom have associatedintellectual disability, were usuallydiagnosed around three years of age. Thosewith Asperger’s Disorder were frequently notdetected until they went to school at five orsix, sometimes even later.
Dr Dissanayake said doubts had existed as towhether the two disorders were the same.
In an effort to determine this, research hasbeen carried out on the children’s social skillsboth at La Trobe’s Child Development Unitin the School of Psychological Science, andat the children’s schools.
The initial three year research program –examining three groups of children agedbetween five and 11 years – has beencompleted. The research team comprised DrDissanayake, Dr Kathy Macintosh, who wasat the time a PhD student, and researchassistant, Ms Melanie Taylor.
‘We found that children with AspergerSyndrome had better social-cognitive skillsthan the children with autism, and that theirsocial understanding was more equivalent tothose of the typically developing children, DrDissanayake said
‘However, this increased social knowledgedid not translate to increased socialresponsiveness or social participation.’
Dr Dissanayake said the research was now inits second phase, seeking early markers forAutism Spectrum Disorder.
‘If children with an Autism SpectrumDisorder can be diagnosed at an earlier age,we can begin work in the early most criticalyears when their young brains have increasedplasticity, and hopefully be able to devise andto implement programs to help them.’ �
Ms Ward claims that in researching the waythree significant volumes of Queen Victoria’scorrespondence were prepared forpublication, she has identified a ‘masculinistperspective’ of the editors which had animpact on the selection processes.
Because of the difficulty in accessing theoriginal letters, biographers and historianshave tended to rely on this published material.Ms Ward believes this goes some waytowards accounting for the ‘serialmisrepresentation of Victoria as an unhappymother’.
Ms Ward found that the good Queen wrote toher royal contemporaries about suchmundane motherly concerns as teething,convulsions and rashes, and undertookpursuits such as knitting bootees, anindication that she took an active interest in
her babies’ welfare and comfort. Otherwritings and her drawings indicated herwarmth and tender love for her babies andyoung children.
In the painstaking picking over of the royalcorrespondence and other material duringseven trips to Europe over five years, MsWard has pieced together evidence of whatcould be called a ‘Royal Women’s Network’.
‘What emerges is a complex picture of awoman happy in her role as wife and mother,conscious of her position as Queen and not soreliant on men – quite a different picture fromthat traditionally painted of Victoria,’ says MsWard. �
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BULLET IN10
RESEARCH IN ACTION
The Queen really was amused with motherhood - from page 7
Ms Ward in the Royal Archives at Windsor Castlewith some volumes of Queen Victoria’s diaries.
AUTISM SPECTRUMDISORDERSeeking markers for earlyintervention
An initiative known as ‘The La Trobe Project’is making significant progress in buildingtrust – even friendship – betweenMelbourne’s Greek Cypriot and TurkishCypriot communities.
Now into its third year, the project is a shiningexample of how people from opposite sidesof ethnic divisions in their homeland can lookto building bridges in their new country.
There are about 27,000 people in Melbourneof Greek Cypriot origin, first, second andthird generation, and 6000 to 7000 people ofTurkish Cypriot origin.
Until two years ago they remained apart, notactively hostile, but content to keep theirdistance. There had been relationships on anindividual basis and between families butlittle contact between organised groups.
Dr Michalis Michael, from La TrobeUniversity’s School of Social Science,decided something practical needed to bedone. He had recently completed his PhDthesis in the Department of Politics on theCyprus problem.
Of Greek Cypriot origin, Dr Michaellaunched the initiative with an academiccolleague, Mr Tumer Mimi, who is ofTurkish Cypriot origin and a post-graduatestudent at RMIT.
Dr Michael and Mr Mimi inaugurated The LaTrobe Project, their first activity being toconvene a Cyprus Conflict ResolutionWorkshop held at the La Trobe Bundooracampus in April 2000.
That was the start of a series of activitiesseeking rapprochement between the twocommunities that have been noticed withincreasing interest, not only in Cyprus but inother countries where people from bothcommunities have settled.
Professor Joseph Camilleri of La Trobe’sDepartment of Politics and ProfessorDesmond Gill of RMIT’s Department ofLanguage and International Studies co-sponsored the workshop during which 30representatives of both communities probedavenues towards rapprochement.
‘During the closed workshop, we examined
the possibility of there being some commonreference points between the twocommunities to enable continuing contactand dialogue,’ Dr Michael said.
‘We identified a number and this resulted inthe first public event, an open forumdiscussion in August 2000.’
Again convened by Dr Michael and MrMimi, it was organised with the assistance ofProfessor Cahill and Dr GabriellaEtmektsogou, then a lecturer in La Trobe’sDepartment of European Studies.
In a key speech to this forum, Dr Michaelsaid that coverage of the Workshop in thelocal Greek and Turkish media had beenmost productive.
‘Even heated debates and criticism fromcertain quarters proved valuable in the sensethat they put rapprochement and bi-communal happenings on their respectiveagendas,’ he said.
He told the gathering that the process wasmore important than the outcome. ‘Byprocess we mean communication, thedialogue between the two communities, tonavigate through the emotions and scars ofdecades of suspicion, hate, anger, bitternessand personal loss and suffering.’
He emphasised that the La Trobe Project didnot aim to produce a political solution to theCyprus problem but to work through a
number of common values that were thebuilding blocks on which rapprochement,and possibly peace, in Cyprus would have tobe constructed.
The process moved forward with a ‘Bi-communal Concert’ being held in May2001. Among those who attended was Mr JimShort, the former Senator who was for a timeAustralia’s Special Envoy in Cyprus. He hadshortly before returned from a fact-findingmission to the island.
In February 2002 several people from bothgroups met Turkish and Greek Cypriot tradeunion leaders in Melbourne at the invitationof the ACTU. Bi-communal dinners, filmnights and other cultural activities have alsobeen held.
‘It is easier for Greek and Turkish Cypriots tomake such contacts in Melbourne than onCyprus itself because the island is physicallydivided and social contact and dialoguebetween the two groups are at a minimum,’Dr Michael said.
‘We hope that what we are attempting inthe La Trobe Project may have anincreasing influence on attitudes onCyprus itself,’ he added. �
NEWS
MARCH 2001 11
Europe’s only partitioned city, Nicosia in Cyprus.Children play near the ‘green line’ that dividesthe Greek and Cypriot communities.
Bridging Melbourne’sCyprus divide
The detailed story of Melbourne’s Greekheritage – Australia’s ‘Most Hellenised City’– will soon be more widely accessible, thanksto a new Community Jobs Program at LaTrobe University helping unemployed jobseekers.
The program was launched recently on theUniversity’s main Melbourne campus atBundoora, by the Minister for Employmentand Assisting the Premier on MulticulturalAffairs, John Pandazopoulos.
Twelve young people, most of Greekbackground, are being employed for 16weeks by La Trobe University’s NationalCentre for Hellenic Studies and Research(NCHSR). They are creating 30,000 newentries for an international digital database,the Greek Australian Research Archives,being compiled by the Centre.
Sponsored by the State Government, the jobseekers are also receiving 110 hours oftraining and assessment provided by theNorthern Melbourne Institute of TAFE.
Director of the NCHSR, Professor TasosTamis, said the University, in association withNMIT and the State Government, waspleased to be able to offer critical workexperience and skills development for local
jobseekers. He said both the Australian andGreek communities will greatly benefit fromthe project, safeguarding an important aspectof history.
La Trobe University’s Greek AustralianResearch Archives, also known as theDardalis Archives, were launched lastNovember by Greece’s Deputy Minister forNational Economy and Finance, Dr ChristosPahtas.
The archives are named after businessmanand benefactor, Dr Zissis Dardalis, founderof Marathon Foods and well-knownsupporter of academic and culturalactivities at La Trobe University and inMelbourne generally. �
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BULLET IN
COMMUNITY
12
VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS GREEKAUSTRALIAN RESEARCH DATABASE
A Tatura student at La Trobe UniversityShepparton campus, Anna-Maree de Leeuw,has won three prizes for outstandingacademic performance. The awards wereannounced at a recent graduation ceremony atLa Trobe University, Shepparton.
A third-year Bachelor of Commerce studentmajoring in accounting, Ms de Leeuw, 20,won the Certified Practicing AccountantsAustralia Prize for the best performance inaccountancy in her year, the CarringtonAward for the best performance in a businesssubject in her year, and the Stubbs, Wallace &Partners Award for the best overallperformance in an accountancy subject.
Ms de Leeuw lives at her family’s dairy farmat Tatura and commutes to La Trobe campusat Shepparton daily. She was amonggraduates and diplomates from arts, business,commerce, tourism and hospitality, and
education who received their awards in aceremony conducted by the University’sChancellor, Emeritus Professor Nancy Millis.
The occasional address at the ceremony wasdelivered by Mr Peter Bicknell, a partner withthe local accounting firm Maxwell, Brownand Mountjoy.
Director of the Shepparton campus, Dr BrianGraetz, said La Trobe graduation ceremonieshave become significant events for theShepparton community.
‘Another cohort of students has nowcompleted their university studies inShepparton, adding substantially to the poolof highly qualified people in the region.
‘Graduation provides tangible evidence of theUniversity’s commitment to regional Victoria,and is a fitting way to celebrate studentachievement.’ �
GRADUATION AT SHEPPARTON
Mr Pandazopoulos, left, with Dr Dardalis and program participants, from left, Katherine Dukas, StathisTsangalidis, George Eleftheriadis, Marina Christou, and Toula Andreakos.
Greek Studiesconference in AugustLa Trobe University will host the sixthbiennial conference of the Modern GreekStudies Association of Australia and NewZealand from 2-4 August 2002.
The keynote speaker will be distinguishedGreek scholar from Oxford University,Professor Peter Mackridge. More than fortyscholars from Australia, Greece, Cyprus,England, France, Russia and Canada arescheduled to participate.
Organised by the Greek Studies Program inLa Trobe’s School of Historical andEuropean Studies, the conference will beheld on the University’s main Melbournecampus at Bundoora and on its City campusin Franklin Street.
Further details from the convenor Ms HelenNickas, Tel. 03 9479 2993 or ProfessorStathis Gauntlett, Tel. 03 9479 2993. �
How do you help integrate, heal andtransform education in a racially diverseschool system in post-apartheid South Africa?
That’s a question being explored byRejoice Ngcongo who recently spent sixweeks as an Associate DistinguishedVisiting Fellow at La Trobe University’sInstitute for Advanced Study.
An educationist from the University ofZululand, South Africa, ProfessorNgcongo was in Australia to prepare tworesearch papers on a concept known as‘Whole School Development’.
One paper dealt with the lessons andchallenges of this concept for all of SouthAfrica, and the other was a case study of aproject in Durban South.
She says the goals of ‘Whole SchoolDevelopment’ include sharing experience andexpertise by educators from different racesand cultures, empowering schools toundertake ‘action research’ to help improveteaching and learning outcomes.
‘The project is also a way in which myUniversity can help the surroundingcommunity.’
Professor Ngcongo’s research is based in theDurban South region. Here five primary
schools from diverse population groups andcircumstances were selected to work togetheron ‘holistic development’. Each caterspredominantly for a specific racial group, aremnant from the apartheid system.
‘We explored the developmental needs ofeach school and then formulated an integratedtraining program that reflected the joint needsof the five schools.’
This was followed by a second phase inwhich the five schools were helped toundertake ‘action research’ – putting intopractice and evaluating programs based onthe results of the first research phase.
‘The most striking issue to emerge washow enriching the experience of workingacross cultural and language divides hadbeen for all concerned, from principals topupils. Each group found strengths andweaknesses that helped them to seethemselves in different ways.’
However, Professor Ngcongo warns thatdespite such early positive aspects of post-apartheid education reform, recent researchhas highlighted the urgent need to overcome anew ‘separateness’ in schools, includingpredominantly African schools, related togender or class.
‘In these racially mixed schools, it is commonto observe learners who are in the minority,playing and socialising in their own smallracial groups.
‘These manifestations of separateness,although they are not racism, provide abreeding ground for racism to develop as asimmering undercurrent to the apparent calmof the school environment.’ �
INTERNATIONAL
MARCH 2001 13
Whole school developmentCan education reform help South Africa’s fragile democracy?
Professor Ngcongo: warning about a new‘separateness’.
Had those seeking peace in Ireland over thepast century taken more notice of journalistand politician William O’Brien, lasting peacemight have come much sooner.
Only now that those involved with the peaceprocess have embraced O’Brien’s principles,has the prospect of lasting peace become areality.
O’Brien believed that peace and harmonywere possible only if the antagonists movedaway from the concept of majorities andminorities. Peace was achievable only if thetotality of the interests of all involved –Catholics, Protestants, tenants, landlords, theProvince of Ulster, the rest of predominantlyCatholic Ireland, and Britain – wereimplemented in any peace accord.
And that, says La Trobe University historian,Dr Philip Bull, is precisely what has
happened in the first ever agreement betweenthe opposing factions to bring the promise ofenduring peace to the troubled island.
A world authority on William O’Brien andhis role in Ireland’s struggle forindependence, Dr Bull's work is unique in theextent to which it recognises O’Brien as thefigure who held the key to peace, but whoseideas were ignored for the best part of acentury.
The Historical Association of Ireland hascommissioned Dr Bull to write the volume onWilliam O’Brien in the Association’s Life andTimes series on the leading figures in Irishhistory. It is now nearing completion.
Dr Bull says that O’Brien was heavilyinvolved with the Irish nationalist movementfrom early youth and reached the zenith of hisinfluence between 1898 and 1905.
He was elected to the House of Commons in1883 and remained a Member almostcontinuously until 1918.
Although O’Brien stuck to his ideas until hisdeath, he was marginalised and ignored. Hecampaigned against fellow nationalists,arguing that an independence for Ireland,which left the country partitioned onconfessional lines, was not worth having.
‘While he was ignored in his day,’ says DrBull, ‘O'Brien certainly looks good now, asthe principles of National Reconciliation forwhich he argued so strongly are in broadterms the basis on which the contemporaryIrish peace process has been based.’
Therefore knowledge of what O'Brien tried tobring about at the beginning of the centurymay give a deeper context to what is beingachieved at its end.
The road to peace in Ireland
Has science become inaccessible expertknowledge – and the arts a sterile pastime?
Does the general aesthetic of everydaymodern life render meaningless conceptssuch as ‘high’, ‘low’ or ‘mass’ culture?
Is there still place for the ‘traditional agent ofcultural critique’, the public intellectual? Orhas this role become a pretentiousanachronism?
These were some of the provocativequestions raised at the inaugural AnnualLecture and Seminar held over two days inApril to launch La Trobe University’s newThesis Eleven Centre for Critical Theory.
The lecture was delivered by EmeritusProfessor George Markus, from theUniversity of Sydney. He spoke on the‘Paradoxical Unity of Culture’. ProfessorMarkus is a specialist in the history of modern
and contemporary European philosophy andphilosophy of culture.
His lecture was followed the next day by athree-hour seminar, led by eminent Australiancultural historian, Bernard Smith, whichexplored further many of the issues raised bythe lecture.
La Trobe’s Professor Peter Beilharz isDirector of the new Thesis Eleven Centre forCritical Theory. He says the Centre is namedafter an international, interdisciplinaryjournal launched 21 years ago to encouragethe development of a broadly-based stream ofsocial theory.
A former occupant of the prestigious Chair ofAustralian Studies at Harvard University,Professor Beilharz is a founding editor ofThesis Eleven and continues as a co-ordinating editor and review editor.
He says the Thesis Eleven centre will focuson theories of society, culture, and politicsand the understanding of modernity. It aimsto build bridges between leading thinkers andstudents, the arts and sciences, as well as tohelp the careers of graduates, especially atpost-doctoral level.
Professor Beilharz is the author of sevenbooks, ranging from fabianism, feminism,socialism and totalitarianism to the welfarestate, utopias and postmodernity.
Deputy Director of the new Centre is DrTrevor Hogan, a senior lecturer in socialtheory, who specialises in comparative,historical, urban and welfare sociology andthe sociology of religion.
Forthcoming eventsOther Thesis Eleven centre events this yearwill feature Jeffrey Alexander, YaleUniversity, on civil society and the Holocaustin America (4-5 July); and Craig Calhoun,Director Social Science Research Council,New York University, on the Universitysystem in America (17-18 July).
Further details from Tel: 03 9479 2753. �
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BULLET IN
COMMUNITY
14
Thesis Eleven centrespreads the word onsocial theory
In conversation after the launch of the newcentre, from left, Professor Markus, ProfessorBeilharz and Bernard Smith.
A student to addvalue to yourbusiness ?La Trobe University School of Business hasexpanded its Industry Practicum Program tomake the skills, knowledge and enthusiasmof its final year Bachelor of Business studentsavailable to industry.
Students can be placed in private businessesor government organisations for about 15working days, starting 15 July.
Marketing students could help with suchthings as competitor analysis, externalcommunications review, publicity materials,marketing information systems, salesanalysis, web page review and customerresearch and analysis. Human ResourceManagement students could be involved withareas including recruitment and selection,skills auditing, initiatives in leadership andperformance analysis, training programs andcareer planning.
All students are supervised and supported byLa Trobe academic staff and the Universitymeets Workcover and professional indemnityinsurance. There is no cost to employers, anda confidentiality agreement ensures companyinformation is secure.
Enquiries to Manda O’Donnell, tel 94791620, or email m.o’[email protected].
Global Business Law atLa Trobe UniversityTwo leading USA law professors will teachsubjects in La Trobe Law’s PostgraduatePrograms in Global Business Law duringJuly. They are Professor James Cox fromDuke University, and Professor MaureenO'Rourke, co-author of Copyright in aGlobal Information Economy, from BostonUniversity.
From July 1 to 5 Professor Cox will teach‘US Securities Regulation’ and from July 8-12 Professor O’Rourke will teach ‘USIntellectual Property Law’. Both courses willbe taught at the Stamford Plaza Hotel inCollins St, Melbourne.
La Trobe Law offers individual subjects, apostgraduate Masters by coursework degreeand a postgraduate certificate by courseworkin Global Business Law. Program Director,Professor Gordon Walker, says the practiceof law is increasingly a ‘global’ business andthe La Trobe program enables AustralianLaw graduates to study law without theexpense of going to the USA.
La Trobe University’s Institute for Educationis making a major contribution to helpinghundreds of Victorian secondary studentsachieve their maximum potential.
A team of La Trobe education researchers –led by Dr Bernie Neville, an AssociateProfessor at the Institute – created one of thevital elements of the Advocacy Project, a newinitiative to help students.
Supported by the Victorian Department ofEducation, Employment and Training, theAdvocacy Project was introduced into 160Victorian State secondary schools in 2001.This followed a successful trial of a pilotprogram involving three schools in 1999 anda further 15 schools in 2000.
So successful was the introduction of themajor thrust of the project last year that in2002 it is being piloted as a middle schoolsprogram.
The Advocacy Project grew out of an ideadeveloped in 1998 by Mr Brendan Schmidt ofthe Geelong Science and Technology Centre,Mr Jon Arthur, Principal of Corio Bay SeniorCollege, and Dr Neville.
The basic concept of advocacy is that selectedstudents meet regularly with one teacher whotakes on the role of the advocate. Themeetings are timed when students andadvocates can share concerns and the student
experiences being listened to by a trustedadult.
In some schools teachers nominate studentsfor whom they believe advocacy would bebeneficial and in other schools the studentsare selected randomly. The advocate supportsstudents with issues relating to their well-being and learning and also helps with goalsetting and life planning.
A evaluation program in 1999 and 2000revealed that both advocates and students feltthe project was making a major difference toboth the personal and academic achievementsof the student.
La Trobe Advocacy Project team member,Ms Tricia McCann, says the project reducedthe student exit rate from schools to about onehalf to one third of what it would otherwisehave been.
The La Trobe Institute for Education teamdeveloped the Archemeter, a major projecttool. Available on the Net and accessible by apassword, this is a series of 25 computerquestionnaires to guide both advocates andstudents. Questions cover a wide range offields including student learning styles,coping with discipline and responsibility,numeracy and literacy.
Advocates use the Archemeter to plan andguide their work with individual pupils and
use different parts of it depending onindividual student needs. Students inregistered schools can access thequestionnaires and plans from anycomputer. �
EDUCATION
MARCH 2001 15
La Trobe pioneers vitaltool for student advocacy
A La Trobe University student has played akey part in developing and documenting aninnovative resource tool aimed at increasingstudents’ school attendance.
Ms Anne-Maree Bucci, a fourth year studentfrom the School of Social Work and SocialPolicy, undertook her final placement in 2001helping to research and to compile theresource package for schools in the City ofWhitehorse.
The resource tool aims to assist schools andparents in supporting young people tomaintain their attendance and connectednessto the school community.
Working as an assistant to Ms Yvette Shaw,Coordinator of the Victorian Government-
financed School Focused Youth Service in theCity of Whitehorse, Ms Bucci worked toovercome what Ms Shaw describes as theunacceptable level of absence from school bystudents in Year-9 and above.
Ms Shaw inaugurated the program throughher interest in the problem of youth suicideand any relationship it might have with whatshe calls ‘connectedness and resilience’. Shesays there is evidence that students who areresilient are less liable to attempt suicide. Amajor factor that builds resilience is‘connectedness’ to their school largely shownby their attendance.
On any given school day in 2002, 20 per centof Year-9 students will be absent fromVictorian schools. On average, Year-9
students miss 20 days of schooling per year.Year-9 is crucial for students to display‘connectedness’because this is the year whenschools must have relevance. Ms Shaw saidthe absence rate therefore had a huge bearingon the retention rate, triggering the project’searly aim of identifying the reasons forabsence.
The resource kit that Ms Shaw and Ms Buccicompiled offers definitions and strategies fordealing with school phobia and refusal,truancy, resilience and includes a checklistcovering areas of influence, student referralform, material for parents and theinvolvement of community agencies andother material. The project will be presentedat an education conference on 13 June. �
KEEPING CHILDREN AT SCHOOL
Advocacy: making a major difference.
Mental illness can shatter families. Unlikeother health problems, it does not attract thesame level of community recognition andsympathy. This makes it hard for families toreach out for support and leads to increasedsuffering for all involved.
Recognising this need, La Trobe University’sBouverie Centre recently organised a three-day conference titled ‘Holding it allTogether’, opened by Victorian HealthMinister, John Thwaites.
‘Holding it all Together’ was the first nationalconference to help children, families, serviceproviders and decision makers in thiscomplex area, by improving communityresponse to the needs of the mentally ill.
Keynote speakers included John Marsden,award-winning Australian children’s author;Dr Joanne Nicholson, from the University ofMassachusetts Medical School and AssociateDirector of the Centre for Mental HealthServices Research in the USA; Dr AdrianFalkov, consultant child and adolescentpsychiatrist from the UK; Dr Rob Moodie,Chief Executive Officer of VicHealth; andthree members of the Edan-Armitage familywho shared their experiences of mentalillness.
Chairperson of the organising committee, MrBrendan O’Hanlon said the conferencehighlighted how families often struggleheroically with the challenges of having aparent with a mental illness.
‘These families try to stay together despite theincredible tensions created by a serious healthcondition.
‘Parents have to cope with caring for childrenand dealing with mental health problems atthe same time. Children have to deal withmum or dad having to go into hospital,changes in a parent’s behaviour – as well asthe stigma of having a mum or dad with amental illness.’
Part of La Trobe University’s Faculty ofHealth Sciences, ‘The Bouverie Centre –Victoria's Family Institute’, provides state-wide clinical, community and academicservices from its base in Flemington.
Funded largely by the Mental Health Branchof the Department of Human Services, ithelps individuals, family members, serviceproviders and agencies in areas ranging frommental health and acquired brain injury tosexual abuse.
The Bouverie Centre can be contacted onTel: 03 9376 9844 oremail:[email protected] �
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BULLET IN
HEALTH
16
Holding it all together
Award-winning Australian children’s Author, John Marsden, left, who has written twenty novels and soldthree million books world-wide, invited participants at a recent La Trobe University conference to viewmental health issues from outside their usual professional and research perspective. He is shown here withDr Colin Riess, Director of the Bouverie Centre - Victoria’s Family Institute. Dr Reiss is a consultantpsychiatrist specialising in family therapy, child and adolescent psychiatry.
Health Minister Thwaites opening the conference.
openday
2 020
Sundays in AugustBendigo :4 August
Mildura & Shepparton :11 August
Albury-Wodonga & Mt Buller :18 August
Melbourne (Bundoora) :25 AugustThe right course for you
La Trobe University