Adelaidean July 2001 Vol 10 No 6 - University of Adelaide · University and BRL Hardy—two of the icons of the South Australian wine industry—will strengthen South Australia’s

News from Adelaide University

AdelaideanJuly 2001

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Volume 10 Number 6

Tiny tricksterdiscovered

page 10

Heroin users’mystery

page 6

The future ofcomputers

page 13

I N S I D E

GLENTHORNE Farm—the formerCSIRO property at O’Halloran Hill inAdelaide’s southern suburbs—is beinghanded over to Adelaide University bythe State Government for use as avineyard and wine research facility.The 200 hectare property was bought by theState Government from the Commonwealthin 1998 after it had been vacated by theCSIRO’s Division of Health and HumanNutrition.Welcoming the decision, AdelaideUniversity’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor MaryO’Kane, said the University had agreed toestablish a commercial vineyard atGlenthorne in partnership with BRL Hardy.“The partnership agreement between theUniversity and BRL Hardy—two of theicons of the South Australian wineindustry—will strengthen South Australia’sposition as an international leader in wineresearch and education,” she said.“This is a strategic, long-term investmentbased on sound financial principles and anassessment of the future needs of the

Australian wine industry.“In addition to state-of-the-art laboratoriesand equipment at the Waite campus, theUniversity will now have access to a largecommercial vineyard managed by one of theworld’s fastest-growing wine companies.This will be a tremendous advantage inensuring that the University and the SouthAustralian wine industry stay at the forefrontof viticulture and oenology research andeducation.”Professor O’Kane said most of the landwould be put under vines and some researchfacilities would also be located on the site.The commercial vineyard would contributefurther money for research at the University.“We expect that the vineyard will begin togenerate income for research from the thirdvintage,” Professor O’Kane said.“We have entered into a long-term contractwith BRL Hardy for the management of thevineyard and sale of the fruit, more than 50%of which will be available to otherwinemakers.”

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Vineyard planned in Glenthorne Farm handover

Vice-Chancellor Professor Mary O'Kane pictured at Glenthorne with the Chairman of the Friends ofGlenthorne, Peter Smytherman. Photo: John Drislane.

Family stress a factorin asthma, says studyA NEW study, believed to be the first ofits kind, has established an importantlink between the quality of life of childrenwith asthma and the level of stress in theirfamily environment.The study, conducted by a team ofresearchers from Adelaide University and theWomen’s & Children’s Hospital, shows thatthe family environment can influence the waychildren feel about their asthma.Asthma is the most common chronic medicalcondition of Australian children, with asmany as one in five suffering from it.“Illnesses such as childhood asthma occur inthe context of families in which childrenlive,” said the senior author of the paper,Adelaide University’s Professor MichaelSawyer (Department of Psychiatry).“The quality of their family environmentaffects children’s experience of their illnessand the extent to which they are upset andbothered by their symptoms.“A child with asthma who lives in a familywhere there is often conflict and tensionbetween family members may be moredistressed by their asthma symptoms than achild who lives in a more stable familyenvironment,” he said.The study used standard questionnaires toevaluate the experiences of 84 children agedbetween 7 and 12 years, and their parents,who attended the Specialist RespiratoryClinic at the Women’s & Children’s Hospital,the main paediatric hospital in SouthAustralia.It is thought to be the first such study inwhich reports from children themselves havebeen used to examine the relationshipbetween their perceptions of their health-

related quality of life and the functioning oftheir families.“The novel aspect of this study was thecollection of information about their qualityof life directly from children,” said ProfessorSawyer.“Increasing emphasis is being placed onobtaining information directly from childrenwith chronic illness about the quality of theirlives. In the past this information hasgenerally been obtained from parents orclinicians, but they often don’t agree withchildren about the quality of children’s lives.”The study found that children were lessbothered by their asthma symptoms if theylived in families where members had moreclearly defined roles, rules for behaviour,greater interest and concern for the welfare ofeach other, and provided more emotionalsupport.

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Refugee focusdoesn’t matchthe facts: expertAROUND 50,000 people—mainlyBritons and Americans—purposelyoverstay their visas in Australia eachyear and become illegal immigrants.Some 4000 people arrived last year inAustralia by boat—mainly people fromnon-English speaking countries—and havealso become illegal immigrants.But the Federal Government treats thesetwo groups vastly differently, according toan Adelaide University researcher.Dr Don McMaster, who has completed aPhD through the Department of Politicsand published a book on Australia’streatment of asylum seekers, describes theGovernment’s treatment as verging on“racist”.“When the 50,000 or so people overstaytheir visa, the Government doesn’t putthem in an isolated detention centre in theAustralian Outback,” he said.“So why are the 4000 people who arrived byboat treated differently?“I think their place of origin has quite a bitto do with it: those arriving by boat aremostly from the Middle East and Asia, andthey quite often can’t speak English. This iscompared to the vast majority of peoplewho overstay their visas; these people aremostly Britons or Americans who do speak English and who often do have that

Anglo-Saxon heritage.“I would argue that the Government triesto paint these boat people almost asinvaders, it’s like a return to the days ofWhite Australia—these people areinvading us from the North; if we let thesepeople in too easily then whole hordes willtry to come in, and so on. This perpetuatesan unrealistic fear of invasion and allowsright wing groups such Pauline Hanson’sOne Nation Party to further demonise anddiscriminate against this small group ofasylum seekers.”According to Dr McMaster, the label“illegal” also colours public attitude towards the asylum seekers; it denotescriminality and is a form of scare-mongering and fear. He argues that there isno middle ground where the public isgetting correct and balanced informationon the arrivals and conditions in theDetention Centres from both thegovernment and the media.“The reality is that over 80% of recentlydetained asylum seekers have beenrecognised as genuine refugees,” he said.“So why is Australia, as a so-called civilised country, treating these people soharshly when the majority of them aregenuinely fleeing persecution, torture andeven death?

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ADELAIDEANPAGE 2 JULY 2001

AdelaideanEditorDavid Ellis

Layout Julie Ryke

Printed by Cadillac Color

WritersRob MorrisonBen OsborneJohn Drislane

ContributorsKim McBrideLee WelchSharna Pearce

Room G07 Mitchell Building, South Australia, 5005. Tel (08)8303 5174; Fax (08) 8303 4838; Email:[email protected]

Website: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/Adelaidean/home.html

Material may be reproduced without permission butacknowledgement must be given to the Adelaidean.

What good are ouruniversities?

Why are universities important toSouth Australia? What do theycontribute? We’ve not alwaysbeen good at spelling out thebenefits—economic and social—

of universities to the community, so when anopportunity to do so arises, I’m more than pleasedto seize it. One such opportunity came my wayrecently when, as Chair of the South AustralianVice-Chancellors Committee, I was invited toaddress the South Australian Business Vision 2010Higher Education Workshop on behalf of the threeuniversities in South Australia.Over the past 20 years, the move to mass highereducation has been part of a more general move toa knowledge-intensive community. Universitieshave taken on a greater importance not only fortheir role in imparting generic skills through a firstdegree but, increasingly, for their role in lifelonglearning, enabling people to update their expertiseor transfer their skills to new areas.A second reason why universities are important tothe economy is research and research training. In1999, the combined research earnings of SouthAustralia’s three universities totalled $103.8 million.Proportionately, this is well above South Australia’s8% share of the national population and underlineshow the three universities punch above their weightin research terns, especially in the biosciences.In the mid-1990s, the three South Australianuniversities carried out a study which showed thathigher education accounted for 1% of the state’stotal workforce, employing more people thanmining, metal manufacturing or clothing andtextiles. The study showed that the threeuniversities spent the equivalent of 1.7% of GrossState Product and that the direct and flow-onimpact added more than $1 billion to the state’seconomy and generated 19,000 jobs.Universities contribute to the economy in otherways, too. They set up spin-off companies, attractconferences, generate overseas commercialexploitation of intellectual knowledge andcontribute to the repositioning of the state’sindustries. They act as major internationalknowledge brokers and promote a culture ofinnovation that makes South Australia attractive tohigh-tech industries and investors. They are alsomajor contributors to Australia’s export earnings. In1998/99, education in total was worth $3.2 billionto the country, making it eighth on the export listbehind coal, tourism, transportation services, gold,iron ore, aluminium and wheat.South Australia’s three universities also participatein a range of partnerships, both with each other andwith business. They make a significant contributionto South Australia’s cultural festivals (major touristdrawcards) and, through their role in attractinginternational students, play a valuable role inpromoting multiculturalism.The South Australian Business Vision 2010workswhop underlined the importance of winningcommunity support for, and appreciation of, whatour universities do. All three South Australianuniversities need that support to help deal with suchchallenges as the impending demographic crisis andthe continuing withdrawal of public funding.Above all, we need it if we want our universities tomake an even bigger impact, economically andsocially, than they do at present.

MARY O’KANE

Deadline for next issue 26 July

Festival of Ideas takes the stageTHIS MONTH sees one of the mostimportant of Adelaide’s Festivalsmaking a welcome return —the secondbiennial Adelaide Festival of Ideas(12-15 July).Adelaide University is hosting most of thepacked program of events, which includesa variety of speakers, local andinternational, on this year’s themes ofwater, population, reconciliation,addiction/intoxication, and cosmology.

Speakers include Indian environmentalistVandana Shiva, Australian philosopherand writer Raimond Gaita, physicist PaulDavies, US authority on artificialintelligence and robotics Rodney Brooks,former High Court Judge and President ofthe Human Rights and EqualOpportunity Commission Sir RonaldWilson, award-winning and best-sellingjournalist Naomi Klein, Australian writerDavid Marr, former Prime Minister ofAustralia Malcolm Fraser, and TV andradio personality Julie McCrossin.Four of the speakers hail from AdelaideUniversity: Dr David Chittleborough(Soil & Water) and Dr Peter Gell(Geographical & Environmental Studies)will talk on “Salt of the Earth: Water,Salinity and the Limits of Growth”; DrJohn Williams, senior lecturer at the LawSchool, will discuss “Nature’s Waste: 200years of water politics”; while the Directorof the SA Museum, Affiliate ProfessorTim Flannery, will chair and participate ina number of sessions, ranging fromrobotics to population, water resources,

culture, and West Papua’s right to selfdetermination.The venues for the sessions will be ElderHall, Bonython Hall, Brookman Hall, theArt Gallery Auditorium, and AdelaideTown Hall. Most of the sessions will befree.At the launch of this year’s program,Festival of Ideas founder and chair MrGreg Mackie said the event served manypurposes.“The first is to foster a greater level ofdebate and discourse in Australia byproviding an event which celebratescreativity, learning and the exchange ofideas in an accessible and friendlyenvironment,” Mr Mackie said.“We also aim to bring together individualsrecognised for their contributions withinspecific fields and to provide opportunitiesfor greater public engagement with thesespeakers.“Another aim is to recognise Adelaide as aplace where creative thinking is welcomedand encouraged, and to strengthen oursense of identity as a thinking community.“And the final aim of the Festival is toprovide opportunities to challengedominant mainstream media positions ontopics of interest and relevance to thecommunity,” he said.“In this Centenary of Federation year wedraw attention to issues which were ofimportance to our federation foundingfathers and mothers—especially water,population and Aboriginal affairs.”

Mr Mackie said the Festival of Ideas wasnot intended to the be first, and last, wordon any given topic. Instead, he hoped itwould “encourage greater curiosity on partof the audience and to open the door onpathways to creative thinking”.“We may be a city on the edge of thedesert, we may be in a regional andmarginal economy, but we do know how topresent great festivals, to embrace thenew... and we do have excellent learninginstitutions.“Without doubt Adelaide must becomemore outward focused to rise to thechallenges of the future. Developing aculture which values the exchange of ideaswill enhace our chances of future success,not only for our own sake, but to assert ourplace in the global democracy of ideas,” hesaid.For more information about the Festival ofIdeas, phone (08) 8216 4444, or visit:www.adelaidefestival.org.au.

ARTIST and former scientist AnnetteVincent has applied her visual art toelegantly express themes and ideas atthe forefront of many current globalconcerns affecting humanity and itsfuture.An exhibition of her work, Combinationsand Permutations: the human presence in ourenvironment, is now on show at AdelaideUniversity’s Barr Smith Library.This exhibition of works on paper istimely, as it ties in with the many themesof the Festival of Ideas, also being held inAdelaide this month. In fact, it was theannouncement of this year’s Festival thatinspired Ms Vincent to seek a publicdisplay of her work.A former research scientist with AdelaideUniversity’s Department of Surgery andthe Electron Microscope Unit in the1970s, Ms Vincent is currently a memberand treasurer of the Adelaide UniversityWomen’s Club.Her chief motif in the exhibition is basedon the power of the mandala, a circularform that symbolises the universe (inHindu and Buddhist art).“The Mandala shape can signify manythings in our environment, the sun andmoon, or even jellyfish and starfish,” MsVincent said.Another recognisable circular form is theumbrella, symbolic of its ability to “shadeus from the rain or sun”. The metaphorextends into the environmental and socialthemes Ms Vincent wishes to represent.In tandem with the circular pattern of themandala, Vincent’s work employs therepeated images of hands, or moreaccurately, fingers.“We use our hands and fingers in so manydifferent ways; sometimes to ouradvantage but often to our disadvantage,”she said, commenting that the impact ofthe human presence on our environment isa key theme of her works.Hands, and more notably the fingers, notonly act as a powerful signifier of humanpresence and activity in the environment,

but also evoke human social and intimateaspects, such as touching, joining,caressing, creating and subjugation.A consummate illustrator, scientific artistand sketcher, Ms Vincent is also a masterprintmaker who savours the creativephysicality of the process. Many of herworks involved hand-printed black ink onplates, coloured with water and oil crayons.She has used this technique to explore theissue of deaths in custody, and her largestwork in this series ‘The DNA of Tolerance’,was exhibited during the Adelaide FringeFestival in 1996. Here the hand plates werearranged into the discernible double helix,signifying the genetic DNA all peopleshare, despite their diversity.A medley of influences and experiencesunderlie Vincent’s captivating images: ahousebreaking incident evoked the image ofhands creeping around the door; thefrustration of not being able tocommunicate in English with an overseasexchange student led to the use of handsigns; global warming and its associatedeffects are imaged in a number of her works.

These lively works have a raw yet gentleand accomplished quality that expressesVincent’s passionate vision of humanlife—and its creative, yet often destructiveeffects. But her imagery is an optimisticone: the light and colour shimmers forth,the fingers caress bright suns, sproutleaves, and support sea-dwelling lifeforms. Indeed, the radiant images ofmandalas braided with hands seeminglypromise redemption.These striking works chart the landscapeof the imagination, to portray ideas andcompelling themes. It is apt, therefore,that this engaging exhibition is a visualrepresentation of topical problems thatwill be discussed at the concurrent Festivalof Ideas.

—edited from an article by Dr Noris Ioannou

New exhibition explores human presence

Combinations and PermutationsIra Raymond Exhibition Room, BarrSmith Library until 20 July. Cost: free.

Annette Vincent hangs one of her works at the Barr Smith Library. Photo: David Ellis.

The ideas don’t stop at the bell.For the sessions you missed—or thoseyou want to hear again—tune into theFestival of Ideas on Air, on 5UV RadioAdelaide (531AM or live on the web atwww.adelaide.edu.au/5UV).Two weeks of festival highlights everylunchtime - 12 noon to 1pm. StartsMonday 16 July.Call the station on (08) 8303 5000 formore details.

ADELAIDEAN JULY 2001 PAGE 3

Drilling for oil, striking coal on campusIS THERE oil 150 metres below theground in Adelaide?Well, no... but that hasn’t stopped AdelaideUniversity from drilling an experimental oilwell on the University’s North Terracecampus.

The 150-metre-deep well will be animportant teaching tool and a feature of thenew Santos School of Petroleum Engineeringand Management, which opens at AdelaideUniversity next year.

The drilling operation marked the earlyphase of construction on the school’s newbuilding, near Frome Road. The well had tobe in place before work on the new buildingcould fully begin.

The well is the first for an Australianuniversity and one of only a few purpose-built teaching wells anywhere in the world.Students who study petroleum engineering atthe school will be able to use the well for real-world experience, giving them valuable skillsfor the workplace.

Santos is providing $25 million over 10 yearsto Adelaide University to establish theschool. This includes funding for the newbuilding, provision for scholarships,specialised teaching equipment, and theappointment of a professorial chair, theSantos Chair. The Federal Government hasalso contributed $1 million to establish anadditional chair, the Reg Sprigg Chair,named in honour of the late Reg Sprigg whomade a significant contribution to the oil andgas industry in Australia.

“From Santos’ perspective we see this as aninvestment in youth and in education for thebenefit of the entire Australian oil and gasindustry,” said Mr John Ellice-Flint,Managing Director of Santos.

“The school will provide vocational

opportunities for young Australians in aglobal industry. People who are alreadyworking in the industry will benefit throughcontinuing their education at this school.”

Mr Ellice-Flint added: “Adelaide has agrowing reputation as a centre for excellencein the IT industry and the schoolcomplements this. It will be able to capitaliseon the opportunities provided by newtechnology to build strong links with otherschools of excellence around the world.”

Professor Mary O’Kane, Vice-Chancellor ofAdelaide University, said: “The Santossponsorship is giving us the opportunity tocreate something unique in South Australia.And now we see something else that’s unique:a drilling rig in operation on an Australian

university campus.

“Students at the school can expect to benefitnot only from the best expertise available, butalso from some of the best equipment andtraining facilities available. Having authenticworking equipment at the laboratory door isa great advantage during the educationprocess, and one that will hold our graduatesin high esteem in the industry.

“It is the school’s intention to form strongtechnical links with other leading petroleumengineering schools. Good relationshipshave already been established with the

Colorado School of Mines and the Universityof Texas and we are in the process of speakingto European universities.”

Santos and the University of Texas, Austin(which has one of the best-known petroleumengineering schools in the world) bothprovided technical advice for the design ofAdelaide’s teaching well.

Although no oil was found during thedrilling, the professional drilling rig did strikea deposit of coal, which is commonthroughout Adelaide.

—David Ellis

An artist's impression of the new Santos Petroleum Engineering building at Adelaide University

Professor Mary O’Kane and Mr John Ellice-Flint, Managing Director of Santos. Photo:David Ellis.

PROSH efforts lead to fundraisingrecord by Adelaide Uni studentsSTUDENTS at Adelaide Universityhave raised a record-breaking $8500 forthe St Vincent de Paul Society duringPROSH Week 2001.The money raised by the StudentsAssociation was almost double the previousPROSH Week record.

In recent years, the Association hasdistributed funds raised at PROSH Week toa range of organisations, including the DonDunstan Foundation and the Anti-CancerFoundation.

Association President Tom Radzevicius saidPROSH Week traditionally providedstudents with an opportunity to givesomething back to the community—as wellas take a well-earned break from study.

“This year we decided that funds should go tothe welfare sector, which has a moreimmediate impact on students. More andmore students are working part time andliving away from home and, due to theinability of most to access governmentassistance, this places greater demand onwelfare and support services.

“The Association is always looking to seewhere it can provide assistance todisadvantaged groups. As well as serving theneeds of students, the Association is also asocial organisation which deals with realissues, such as welfare and discriminationaffecting both students and our society atlarge.”

The students celebrated their record-breaking achievement at a function hosted byVice-Chancellor Professor Mary O’Kane,

along with representatives of the St VincentDe Paul Society.

Professor O’Kane commended the Students Association on its outstandingachievement.

“This has been an extraordinary fund-raisingeffort. PROSH Week is a proud tradition atAdelaide University and, over the years, has

raised many thousands of dollars forworthwhile causes.

“PROSH Week 2001 was supported by theentire University community, and theStudent Association deserves great credit forthe way in which it organised the week’sactivities.”

—John Drislane

(From left) Students Association President Tom Radzevicius with Association officers BradKitschke, Anais Chevalier and Mark Henderson; Anna Sennis (State Youth Coordinator, St Vincentde Paul Society) and Vice-Chancellor Professor Mary O'Kane. Photo: John Drislane.

FIVE new professors and one clinicalprofessor have emerged from the latestround of promotions at AdelaideUniversity.Each of these new professors has a strongtrack record in their particular fields ofresearch and teaching, and many of themwill already be known to regular readers ofthe Adelaidean. The new professors are:• Professor Alastair MacLennan

(Obstetrics & Gynaecology):reproductive endocrinology and feto-maternal medicine

• Professor Timothy Miles (Physiology):neurophysiology

• Professor John Randles (Applied &Molecular Ecology): plant virology

• Professor Roger Seymour(Environmental Biology):environmental physiology andbiochemistry

• Professor John Wallace (MolecularBiosciences): structure/functionrelationships in biotin-dependentcarboxylases.

In addition, Dr Leslie Cleland has beenpromoted from Clinical AssociateProfessor to Clinical Professor.

New professors

From left: Roger Seymour and AlastairMacLennan, two of our new professors.

ADELAIDEANPAGE 4 JULY 2001

Advertisement

Fulbright scholar makes it two for twoADELAIDE University’s burgeoningreputation as a world leader in therelatively new field of T-ray research hasreceived a further boost with its two mainT-ray researchers each being grantedprestigious Fulbright scholarships.Brad Ferguson has joined Sam Mickan as theonly South Australians to be granted thescholarships in the last two years, with MrFerguson receiving his last month and MrMickan—who was featured for his Fulbrightscholarship last year in the Adelaidean—receiving his in March 2000.

Both are Engineering PhD studentsresearching different components of T-raysand their future applications, under thesupervision of Director of the Centre forBiomedical Engineering Dr Derek Abbott.

T-rays—as opposed to X-rays—are lightwhich have a frequency in the TeraHertzrange (hence the ‘T’), and they can be used todetect different substances with greatsensitivity in ways X-rays, MRI and infraredlasers cannot.

The Fulbright exchange program wasestablished in 1946 by US Senator J. WilliamFulbright as a way of promoting educationaland cultural exchange between America andmore than 140 countries throughout theworld, with recipients able to study, researchand travel in America. About 25 awards areoffered in Australia each year.Mr Mickan has already been in the US for

some months, while Mr Ferguson left for theUS last month.Both are spending their time at theRensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New YorkState, which is acknowledged as having theworld’s best T-ray research facilities.Mr Ferguson spoke to the Adelaidean beforehe left and said he was quite excited aboutfurthering his research overseas.“I’ll be able to do things over there that I justcan’t do here, but I’m looking to come back inabout April next year and incorporate thethings I’ve learnt into getting AdelaideUniversity’s T-ray lab more established,” hesaid.“I’m particularly interested in the bio-medicalapplications that T-rays could provide; wethink T-rays will be excellent for detectingthings like cancers that are close to thesurface of the skin, and we’re in the process ofworking out the best way of doing this.”Mr Ferguson said the Cooperative ResearchCentre for Sensor Signal and InformationProcessing, and in particular its DeputyDirector, Professor Doug Gray, had alsoprovided useful help and assistance with hisresearch.The next round of Fulbright scholarships isnow on offer. For more information, contactAdelaide University’s Scholarships Branch orvisit the official Fulbright website:www.fulbright.com.au.

—Ben Osborne

Fulbright scholarship winners Brad Ferguson (left) and Sam Mickan, both from the Department ofElectrical and Electronic Engineering, working with laser equipment at Adelaide University. Photocourtesy of The Advertiser.

The SA Chapter of the Don Dunstan Foundation presents a series ofSunday lunch seminars on the theme Investing in our future. Joinour speakers for discussion and debate upon the values of theFoundation.Sunday lunch seminar—Forum, 5 August: Human rights forpeople with disabilities. There’s still work to be done.Governor Hindmarsh Hotel (The Gov), 59 Port Road, Hindmarsh(opposite the Entertainment Centre), 11.30am until 2.30pm.Price: $20 per session (includes a light lunch). Bookings:Alison Galbreath (08) 8303 3364.Are people with disabilities what they (we) seem to be? Is there aline between ‘the able-bodied’ and ‘the disabled’? How canunderstanding of both, by each other, be improved?At the lunch you will hear from people who live the life tell theirstories and their views of ‘the story’.David Morrell will survey human rights for people with disabilities

based on 12 years of experience as an advocate. He will raisecritical, but largely unknown, human rights issues affecting peoplewith disabilities. Many of these issues are of similar magnitude tothose already discussed in the public arena, such as mandatorysentencing, mandatory detention of refugees and deaths in custody.Sandi Seymour will look more closely at upholding human rights forpeople with disabilities in schools. She will draw on ‘big picture’experiences such as her work on a national legal standard for non-discriminatory education, and as the parent of a child who has adisability. Sandi believes passionately that education systemswhich include and welcome the full range of diversity incommunities contribute to the making of better communities.The speakers will allow ample time for discussion. Bring your ideasand questions about ways forward for (dis)ability.

The Adelaidean has two copies of Don Dunstan’s Politics andPassion to give away! This book of Don’s essays, selected from theAdelaide Review, was edited by John Spoehr and includes aforeword by Gough Whitlam. Published by Bookend Books, Politicsand Passion also contains unique photos of Don rarely seenanywhere else. The first two people to call (08) 8303 5174 will wina copy of this excellent book. Just answer the question: where isthe forum on human rights for people with disabilities being held?

Human rights forum

ROBOTICS expert Professor RodneyBrooks will give a free public lecture atAdelaide University on Thursday, 12 July.His paper is called Robots in the Home, ShortTerm and Long Term.

Professor Brooks is Director of the 230-person MIT Artificial IntelligenceLaboratory in the United States, and is theFujitsu Professor of Computer Science. He isalso Chairman and Chief Technical Officerof iRobot Corp.

He received degrees in pure mathematicsfrom Flinders University and his PhD inComputer Science from Stanford.

Professor Brooks developed the behaviour—based approach to mobile robots whichiRobot Corp is now commercialising.During the last decade he has concentrated atMIT on humanoid robots and socialinteractions. His new research projects areaimed at building “living machines”,

machines whose natural description will bethat they are alive in the same sense asanimals or plants.In Adelaide for the Festival of Ideas,Professor Brooks will be giving a free publiclecture at a special seminar for Adelaide’s

University’s Centre for BiomedicalEngineering.“During the last 25 years, computers havegone from being locked up in special roomsto mass market acceptance-most of thecomputers in our homes are now invisible inappliances,” he says.“Robots are 25 years behind, but are startingto break into the commercial market place.“I will discuss the technical challenges, theways in which robots might be used, how wewill interact with them, and the impact it willhave on our society.”His talk includes pictures and videos ofrobotic systems under development.

Robots in the home: 25 years behindcomputers, but catching up fast

A ROBOTIC race is being staged thismonth by Adelaide’s Department ofMechatronic Engineering and theNgapartji Cooperative Multimedia Centre.The race, to be held on 14 July, is aimed atsharpening Australian students’ skills inartificial intelligence and microelectronics,ahead of the coming “Micro-Mouse” Asia-Pacific championships.Micro-Mouse is the name given to a small,computer-controlled robotic vehicle. Thechallenge is to navigate it through a mazein the shortest possible time. That requiresskills in programming, giving the mousethe right AI (artificial intelligence) tocomplete the job.The winning team at this month’s national“mouse meet” in Adelaide will besponsored by the Australian ComputerSociety to compete in the majorchampionship in New Zealand, up againstteams from Japan, the United States andthe host nation.

AI skills honedfor robot race

Thursday, 12 July, 10.10am, Room S112,Engineering South Building, AdelaideUniversity, North Terrace Campus.

ADELAIDEAN JULY 2001 PAGE 5

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A NEW design for a Formula Veeracecar has earned a team of youngtertiary students, including seven fromAdelaide University, a national prize of$100,000.The students were awarded the inauguralprize for the National EngineeringInnovation Competition.

The team has spent the past two yearsdesigning and building a Formula Vee racingcar with vastly improved safety features.

Included in the winning design are acrushable front panel and re-arrangedcockpit to increase driver safety in a front-oncollision, crushable sidepods to enhanceprotection from side impact, as well asengine modifications and main roll barrefinements to increase safety in a rearcollision.

Seven students from Adelaide University’sDepartment of Mechanical Engineeringworked on the project as part of their final-year studies. In 1999, Andrew Paltridge,Luke Sanders and Isaac Mathwin worked onthe suspension and cooling systems. In2000, Michael Freegard and PhilipDegenhardt worked on chassis design andgeneral performance changes, while LynettePearson and Kim Hill concentrated onaspects of aerodynamics.

Other students involved in the project werefrom Regency Institute of TAFE, ReynellaEnterprise and Youth Centre, SpencerTAFE and the University of SA. Studentsfrom the other institutions worked ongeneral body shape, logo design, sideabsorbing structures and some general bodywork and engine rebuilding.

While the car itself is not a competitive

vehicle, the innovations in design anddevelopment could be taken up by theConfederation of Australian Motor Sport toimprove driver safety.The National Engineering InnovationCompetition aims to promote innovationand teamwork, and computer-aided design skills. The $100,000 prize moneyincludes a study tour for 10 of the winningstudents to some of the world’s mostinnovative and advanced engineeringorganizations, such as Boeing, DaimlerChrysler, Dassault Systemes, Prost Grand

Prix Racing and British Aerospace. In agesture of goodwill, the Adelaide team hasoffered some of its places to other studentswho did not win the competition.

Adelaide University team member LynettePearson said the real benefit to students wastheir participation in the project.

“The Competition has helped me see theimportance of working in a team andcommunicating with other people in a multi-disciplinary group, which will hopefullymake me more valuable to an employer.”

Racecar students take chequered flag

Photo: Mechanical Engineering student Luke Sanders in an earlier incarnation of the Formula Veeracecar. Photo: David Ellis.

TOUR THE CAMPUSIF YOU think our grounds look lovely, whynot try a tour?Learn about the history and heritage ofAdelaide University on a free tourconducted by trained guides from theUniversity’s Alumni Association.

Tours depart each Tuesday morning at10.30am from University Gate 20, next tothe Art Gallery of South Australia on NorthTerrace.

Groups may make arrangements for tours atother times by calling the Alumni,Community Relations and Developmentoffice on (08) 8303 3234.

Ancient Greek influence just a step awayTHE MAGISTRATES Court, the ArtGallery of South Australia and theMitchell Building at Adelaide Universityall have something in common—they’reall examples of how ancient Greekarchitecture has influenced the city ofAdelaide.At a recent seminar celebrating 25 Years ofGreek studies at the University, classicist DrAnne Geddes took the seminar audience on a“tour” of Adelaide, comparing it with ancientGreek sites.She said the influence of Greek architectureon the appearance of Adelaide was “just asobvious and pervasive” as the study of Greeklanguage and literature.“Classical architecture has been likened tobaroque music, which introduces a goodtheme and then varies it,” Dr Geddes said.Traditionally, there are three types of columnswhich hold up a Greek roof—Doric, Ionicand Corinthian—and they are all wellrepresented in Adelaide.“The Magistrates Court in Victoria Squarehas Doric columns like the Parthenon. Thesimple, sober manner, the impression ofstrength and restraint, makes it entirelysuitable for the administration of justice,” DrGeddes said.“There is Doric again on the sides of theporch of the Art Gallery.”The Erechtheum, an Ionic temple on theAthenian acropolis, not far from theParthenon, has also influenced Adelaidearchitecture.Ionic columns are “less serious than Doriccolumns, more elegant and feminine”. It issomewhat ironic, then, that Adelaide’sFreemasons have copied this more “feminine”style of architecture at the front of theFreemasons Hall on North Terrace. An Ionicstyle was also used at Ayer’s House.South Australia’s Parliament House follows a

Corinthian tradition, “with the stoneenriched with foliage”. This form is also usedin the foyer of Adelaide University’s MitchellBuilding, and again in the Pilgrim Church inFlinders Street.

The Romans were also influenced by Greek architecture, and the emperor Hadrianoften employed Greek architects, Dr Geddessaid.

“Hellenistic architects continued to recognisethe power of classical columns andpediments, and not only for doorways. Thislater style of building is known as Hellenisticbaroque, and one of the places where it isparticularly well-preserved is in the wealthycities along the western coast of Asia Minor,such as Ephesus.

“The baroque style attracted the 19th century architects of Adelaide. EdmundWright House is done in the manner of the grand public buildings in, especially,the Greek half of the Roman empire. It too has the rhythmical step forward of a pair of columns followed by recession, andinside it is luxuriously decorated withcolumns and capitals like a Hellenisticpalace.”

Architects began to vary the shapes and usesof columns. One form—rows of columnslinked together with arches—was usedeffectively around inner courtyards. DrGeddes said this classical manner wasenthusiastically revived in the Renaissance,such as at the ducal palace at Urbino.

“At Adelaide University we too, like thedukes, have a kind of cloister between thestudent union building and the river. It is acompromise between indoors and outdoors,providing the pleasure of the fresh air andtree, together with shade from the sun andrain.”

Dr Geddes said the influence of Greekarchitecture on Adelaide had added to thecity’s disctinctiveness.

“There are modern cities that are untouched by the influence of the classicalarchitects and of those later architects whohave maintained the tradition. There aremodern cities where behind the noise andpollution of the traffic there is only shoddybuilding.

“But in the modern city of Adelaide theclassical tradition is with us on every street,thanks to our predecessors’ careful thoughtfor the repose of the spirit and the delight ofthe eye,” she said.

—David Ellis

Above: Adelaide University’s Cloisters. Right:Art Gallery of South Australia. Photos: BenOsborne.

ADELAIDEANPAGE 6 JULY 2001

A WORLD-FIRST study of acute painin former heroin users could also benefitthousands of people who suffer fromchronic back pain.The three-year, $US1.6m study is beingconducted at Adelaide University incollaboration with the University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles (UCLA).Adelaide’s Department of Clinical &Experimental Pharmacology is heading thestudy, which highlights a little-known andmysterious, often permanent side effect ofheroin and other opiate drug use.The side effect is extreme sensitivity to pain.Former users of heroin, methadone, evenlong-term morphine users can develop a“hypersensitivity” to pain, causing enormousproblems for their quality of life.Those who suffer from this condition areoften not helped by any available treatmentfor acute and chronic pain. And in anothermystery, not all kinds of pain have the sameresponse in sufferers.“The problem is, there are no real guidelineson how to assess and manage pain for thesepeople,” said Adelaide’s Professor ofAddiction Studies, Jason White.“The aim of the study is to gather the bestpossible information about people’s responsesto pain, and to various current treatments ofpain.“Hopefully the results of our study will gosome way towards solving a few of the main

mysteries which continue to puzzle cliniciansand scientists alike.”The Department of Clinical & ExperimentalPharmacology has built up a national andinternational reputation in the field of drugabuse and treatment. While its target so farhas been improvements in treatment forheroin and other illict drug users, “the spinoff for other people in the community whoalso suffer from these symptoms, such aschronic back pain sufferers, could besignificant”, Professor White said.

The advantage of such a study beingconducted in Adelaide is that all aspects ofresearch can be integrated: basic research,clinical research, and access to patients at thehospitals and treatment centres.The department’s approach to studyingaspects of treatment for drug users has alsobeen hailed internationally as being morescientifically accurate than many other suchresearch efforts.“This study will focus on small numbers ofpeople, but studying them intensively to gaina much better understanding of eachindividuals’ response to pain and treatment,”said Professor White.“We will be looking at former heroin userswho are now on methadone treatment, andcomparing them with people on a new drug,buprenorphine.”The study is funded by the National Instituteon Drug Abuse, part of the NationalInstitutes on Health (NIH) in the UnitedStates, which is the key medical researchbody in that country.Other senior researchers involved in theproject are the head and deputy head of theDepartment of Clinical & ExperimentalPharmacology, Professor Felix Bochner andAssociate Professor Andrew Somogyirespectively, and Professor Walter Ling fromthe Psychiatry Department at UCLA, who isalso a Visiting Professor at AdelaideUniversity.

—David Ellis

Heroin users’ mystery a hopefor chronic back pain sufferers

Family stressfactor inasthmaFrom Page 1

In contrast, children who lived in poorlyorganised families appeared more upset bysymptoms, such as coughing, tightness intheir chest, irritability and feelingfrightened.So, does family friction make asthmaworse, or just make it seem worse?“The study didn’t address this issuespecifically,” said Professor Sawyer.“Because all the information for this studywas collected at one time, we can’tdetermine whether the children’s distresscaused the family problems or whether thefamily problems caused the children’sdistress,” he said.“It would only be possible to learn whatcauses what by following children andfamilies over time to learn which occursfirst.”While Professor Sawyer stresses the needfor good medical care to reduce theseverity of children’s asthma symptoms, hebelieves that approaches designed toimprove the family environment may alsohelp to reduce the extent to which childrenwho are asthma sufferers are troubled bytheir complaint.“Asthma management programs will bemost effective if they provide relevant helpfor families as well as children,” he said.

—Rob Morrison

THE MOST common cause of severerespiratory infections in children is thesubject of an international studyconducted by Adelaide University’sDepartment of Paediatrics.Almost 500 children are admitted toAdelaide’s Women’s and Children’s Hospitaleach year because of respiratory syncytialvirus (RSV).

“These children can be extremely ill. Havinga vaccine against RSV will be of greatsignificance to the community and may helpto prevent some colds, fevers and moreserious illnesses such as croup andbronchiolitis,” said Professor Don Roberton,

the head of the University department at thehospital, where the study is taking place.

The international study—part of an ongoingeffort in the fight against RSV—is aimed attesting a trial RSV vaccine. The vaccinecomes in the form of nasal drops, avoidingthe discomfort of an injection.

Parents of healthy children aged four to 24months are invited to allow their children toparticipate in the trial. These children shouldnot previously have been infected with RSV.

“The RSV vaccine has been tolerated well instudies in children and adults,” ProfessorRoberton said. “Similar vaccines to the oneon trial have been safely given in other

studies to children who have not previouslyhad RSV.”

The trial will compare giving the RSVvaccine with a placebo (dummy vaccine).The results of this trial will be useful indeveloping an effective RSV vaccine that maybe administered alone, or in combinationwith other respiratory vaccines currentlybeing developed.

The trial is also being conducted in Perth andin South Africa.

Parents interested in enrolling their child inthe trial, or who need more information,should contact Dr Helen Marshall orMichelle Busuttil on 8204 6328.

Virus vaccine targets respiratory illness

From Page 1

“It is impossible for these people to safelyobtain the necessary travel documents, eitherbecause no office exists or it simply is toodangerous. But to treat them as criminalswhen they arrive in Australia is inhumaneand the prolonged detention of asylumseekers has violated the international humanrights treaties that Australia has signed andobliged to uphold.”

Dr McMaster, who is regarded as one ofAustralia’s leading independentcommentators on this complex and often controversial subject, said the problemof poorly treating asylum seekers who arriveby boat will only get worse before it getsbetter.

“The recent outbreaks and protests atdetention centres have exposed a system thatis mismanaged and in crisis,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter that there’s an election thisyear and there could be a change ofGovernment.

“From the research I’ve done, the two major

parties adopt a very similar position to thetreatment of boat people and I don’t see thatchanging in the foreseeable future.”

Dr McMaster is also concerned with the way the Government’s mixed messages about its treatment of various types of

illegal immigrants and asylum seekers is being interpreted by the Australian public.

“Virtually the only way the public at largehears about how the Government treatsasylum seekers is through the mainstreammedia,” he said.

“They hear very little about the 50,000people who purposely overstay their visas,but quite a great deal about the 4000 boatpeople.

“And the things they do hear or see throughthe media about these 4000 people help feedthe hysteria and discrimination which Ibelieve is firmly entrenched in manyAustralian people.

“The only way we will see any tangiblechange for the better in the public’s attitudetowards these people is through theGovernment and the media treating thematter with compassion, respect and fairness,but I fear this will take a long time toachieve.”

—Ben Osborne

Refugee focus doesn’t match the facts

Dr Don McMaster. Photo: Ben Osborne.

Youth eventgets underwaySEVENTY university students willform part of this month’s YouthCongress aimed at developing youthawareness of Australia’s identity, futureand multiculturalism.The Congress, on 27 July, is the officialopening of the ViBE Project, whichinvolves Adelaide University studentsfrom Commerce, Engineering andComputer Science. They’re working withinternational delegates, South Australianhigh school students and other SAuniversity students to raise awareness ofthese issues during Australia’s Centenaryof Federation.

The Opening Congress will discuss globalinterpretations of ‘What it means to beAustralian.’, and will be followed soonafter by an Exploration Period (28 July -27 September) in which the internationalswill share with high school classes theirexperiences and preconceptions ofAustralian culture.

Global Village (21 September) in RundleMall will invite the international studentsand graduates to showcase their traditionsand arts.

During the Closing Youth Congress (27September), Adelaide University studentsand others who have gone overseas willgive speeches about the issues raised. Thispart of the project focuses on changingyouth apathy about cultural enrichment.

The ViBE Project is organised byAIESEC, the world’s largest studentorganisation, which has 25 members atAdelaide University.

For more information, visit the AIESECoffice in the basement of Security House,Adelaide University’s North TerraceCampus, or phone 8303 5909.

ADELAIDEAN JULY 2001 PAGE 7

Plant’s best friend isfocus of internationalconference at WaiteNOT EVERY fungus that affects plantsis bad.In fact, around 90% of land plants have auseful fungal association called mycorrhiza,or ‘fungus root’, which is critical to theirnutrient uptake in low nutrientenvironments.

Research in this field is vital to understandingplant ecology and in the development ofecologically sustainable environmentalmanagement systems.

This month, Adelaide University is hostingone of the biggest ever conferences focusingon these essential ‘best friends’ to plants.

The Third International Conference onMycorrhizas (ICOM3) runs from July 8-13.The conference, which has attracted over 450delegates from 48 countries, will focus on thediversity and integration of mycorrhizal fungiand root in natural plant communities, cropsand forests.

Professor Sally Smith, Director of the Centrefor Plant Root Symbioses and Deputy Headof Adelaide University’s Department of Soiland Water, said the event markedinternational recognition of Australianresearch in the field.

“The first ICOM conferences arose from amerger between European and NorthAmerican conferences. The convening ofthis conference in Adelaide in part recognises the importance of Australia’sresearch contribution to the field and

the Department of Soil and Water’s role,” Professor Smith said.

One expected outcome of the conference is anew international society focusing onmycorrhizal research.

“Until recently, soil scientists have focusedmore on soil conditions than on thesymbioses occurring with the plant crops wegrow,” Professor Smith said.

“Mycorrhizas have become an increasinglyimportant area of research because of theirgreat ability to improve plant nutrition andgrowth, especially in agriculture, horticultureand forestry, where the use of artificialfertilizers is expensive, difficult or likely tocause off-site pollution.

“There is also increasing recognition of thesignificance of mycorrhizas in plant ecologyand diversity, and with the new moleculartechniques we can expect very rapid progressin the next few years.”

Several delegates heading to Adelaide toattend the conference will stay on toundertake research projects at AdelaideUniversity’s Waite Campus for periods of upto three months.

These researchers will come from countries as diverse as Finland, Spain,Denmark, Indonesia and China, and aresponsored by the Finnish Academy, OECD,Australian Research Council and theCrawford Fund.

—Lee Welch

C O N F E R E N C E S O N C A M P U S

Adelaide cooks a feast of food and drinkEVER wondered how beer was used onCaptain Cook’s voyages, or why thekitchen is portrayed in films as a form ofescape or refuge?Find out the answers at the Research Centrefor the History of Food and Drink’s secondinternational conference, which is being heldfrom 2-4 July.The conference is the first of two major foodand drink events being held at AdelaideUniversity in July, with the second being theNational Academies’ Forum Symposium inAustralia from 5-6 July.The Research Centre’s internationalconference is dedicated to the memory offormer South Australian Premier DonDunstan, who was also the centre’s inauguralpatron, and Mietta O’Donnell, a formerMelbourne Restaurateur and Patron of theArts.It features a host of local, national andinternational scholars presenting papers on awide variety of topics.International scholars attending include JohnMatthews and Veronika Grimm, who areboth from Yale University’s ClassicsDepartment, and Rod Phillips from CarletonUniversity in Ottawa.Matthews’ paper is entitled Food, Food Costsand Diet in the Roman Middle East: A PapyrusDossier of the Early Fourth Century; Grimm’sis entitled Keeping Body and Soul Apart: TheNature and Legacy of the Ancient ‘PhilosophicDiet’; and Phillips’ is entitled Taste, Terroirand Trade: Inventing French Wine in the 19thCentury.Included among the national speakers are anexpert on the history of beer in Australia,

Brett Stubbs from Southern CrossUniversity, who will examine how malt andbeer was used on Captain Cook’s voyages tocombat scurvy; and University of Queenslandpostgraduate student John Gunders, who willlook at how the kitchen becomes a form ofescape—or even resistance—in films such asThe Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Loverand Eat Drink Man Woman.Other papers being presented cover a vastarray of thought-provoking topics: eating outin cities in German films, the politicaleconomy of wine in the Roman Middle East,pepper’s role as a global spice, countrybutchering, the history of Adelaide CentralMarket and food as a yardstick of the qualityof life at sea.For more information, contact conferenceconvenor Lynn Martin on (08) 8303 3751, oremail <[email protected]>.The National Academies’ Forum is thecombined organisation of Australia’s fourlearned academies.Its 2001 symposium has the theme Food andDrink in Australia: Where are we today? andfeatures six seminar sessions across two daysexamining this important question.The six sessions are based on: FoodProduction, Genetically Modified foods, FastFood and Gastronomy, Regionalism andGlobalisation, Beer and Wine, and Towardsthe Future: Asian or Mediterranean? Theyfeature major research and academic figuresfrom across Australia.For more information about both events, visitthe centre’s home page: <http://arts.adelaide.edu.au/CentreFoodDrink/>.

—Ben Osborne Caption: Lynn Martin, Director of the Research Centre for the History of Food & Drink.

The Adelaide Research Centre forHumanities and Social Sciences(ARCHSS) at Adelaide University isco-hosting an important conference thismonth which will examine the issuessurrounding giving evidence in nativetitle court cases.Expert Evidence in Native Title CourtCases: Issues of truth, objectivity andexpertise is being held at the Universityfrom 6-7 July, and is co-hosted by theAustralian Anthropology Society and theNative Title Research Unit of theAustralian Institute of Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander Studies.

The conference will focus on differencesbetween social science assumptions andlegal assumptions about truth, objectivityand expertise, as these differences impact onpresentation of anthropological evidence innative title court cases.

A wide range of qualified speakers will give

presentations ranging from a lawyer’s viewof expert evidence in native title cases to ananthropologist’s thoughts on womentestifying.

Speakers include Wilto Yerlo Director MrRoger Thomas, Manager ATSIC NativeTitle and Land Rights Centre Mr WayneDenning, and President of the Native TitleTribunal Mr Graeme Neate.

A highlight of the conference will be a role-play of a cross-examination between MrDavid Parsons (lawyer) and Professor DavidTrigger (anthropologist).

The role-play will show the kind of issues that can arise in cross-examination, with members of the audience invited to ask questions andcomment where applicable from their ownexperiences.For more information, contact Judy Barlowon (08) 8303 4817 or email<[email protected]>.

Accountants in Adelaide too!ADELAIDE is also hosting the thirdAsian Pacific Interdisciplinary Researchin Accounting (APIRA) Conference, 15-17 July.Among the 200 delegates to the conferenceare academics from the UK, Europe, NorthAmerica, and the Asia-Pacific region. Theconference has a strong interdisciplinaryprogram of research papers and forumsaddressing the relationships betweenaccounting, auditing and accountability andtheir social, institutional, economic andpolitical environments.The APIRA Conference, to be held at theUniversity’s Union building, is dedicated to

the advancement of accounting knowledgeand practice and provides a forum foracademics from across the globe.

Conference sessions and papers will critiquecontemporary theory and practice, examinehistorical and interdisciplinary dimensions ofaccounting and debate policy alternatives,exploring new perspectives for understandingand change in the accounting discipline.

"This is only the second interdisciplinaryaccounting research conference ever to be runin Australia, and it's the biggest," saidProfessor Lee Parker (School of Commerce),who is also the editor of the region’s mainacademic journal.

Native title issues explored

1.10pm Public Health Seminar: Whatdoes it mean to be a culturally inclusivemedical school from an Indigenousperspective? A collaborative approachbetween the Departments of GeneralPractice and Public Health by Dr JonathanNewbury, Dr Tamara Mackean, Ms NatalieHarkin & Ms Jenny Baker (General Practice);Dr Judith Raftery (Public Health). SeminarRoom, 6th Floor, Bice Building, RAH.

1.00pm Chemical Pathology Seminar:Diagnostic Difficulties in Cystic Fibrosis byDr Nicola Poplawski (Fellow in ClinicalGenetics). Seminar Room 1, 4th Floor,Reiger Building, WCH.

1.00pm Centre for Evolutionary Biology& Biodiversity Seminar: Winkling out thegenes responsible for local adaptation andspeciation by Professor Roger Butlin(University of Leeds). Benham LectureTheatre, Ground Floor, Benham Building.5.30pm College of HealthPsychologists: A psychosocial view ofgender re-assignment by Dr Bob Lyons(Gender Dysphoria Unit). Room 527, HughesBuilding.

10.10am Electrical & ElectronicEngineering Seminar: Robots in the Home:Short term and long term by ProfessorRodney Brooks (MIT, USA), Room S112,Engineering Building.1.00pm Chemical Pathology Seminar:Title to be announced, by Libby Hotham(Public Health Research Officer, WCH).Seminar Room 1, 4th Floor, Reiger Building,WCH.6.30pm Royal Society of SA Talk:

Cytology of Mesothelioma by Kay Dowling.Society Rooms, adjacent SA Museum’sNatural Sciences Building (off KintoreAvenue).7.45pm Field Geology Club Lecture:Mexico’s Cornish mining heritage by MrGreg Drew. Mawson Lecture Theatre,Mawson Laboratories.

1.00pm Clinical & ExperimentalPharmacology Seminar: Toxic lipidperoxidation products and their role inalcohol- and chemical-induced liver diseaseby Dr Steve Luckey (PharmaceuticalSciences, University of Colorado, HealthSciences Center, Denver). Seminar Room,Level 6, Medical School, North Wing.6.00pm Centre for Intercultural Studies& Multicultural Education Seminar: Axis ofInsecurity: the Balkans - Middle East and theCyprus Question by Professor VanCoufoudakis. Council Room, Level 7, WillsBuilding.

4.00pm CSIRO Land and WaterSeminar: Economic opportunities forimproved land and water management: Anational perspective by Stefan Hajkowicz.Plant Research Centre Auditorium, Waite.

1.00pm Chemical Pathology Seminar:Practice talks of presentations for the Cairns2001 HGSA and ASIEM annual scientificmeetings by staff members from ChemicalPathology. Seminar Room 1, 4th Floor,Reiger Building, WCH.

4.00pm Obstetrics & GynaecologySeminar: Dietary induced weight loss - doesprotein matter? by Gary Wittert (Medicine,RAH). Seminar Room, 6th Floor, MedicalSchool North.

2.00pm English Seminar: Culturalmemory in postcolonial writing by GrahamHuggan (University of Munich). Room 618,Napier Building.

7.30pm Musicological Society ofAustralia Meeting: Reconstructing Bach’sMusic for the Funeral of Prince Leopold byMark Smith. Room 1107, Schulz Building.

10.10am Electrical & ElectronicEngineering Seminar: Visual MotionDetection by Flying Insects: a Model forBiomimetic Hardware by AssociateProfessor David O’Carroll. Room EM212,Engineering Building.12.30pm Clinical Nursing Seminar:Nurses and patients perceptions of dignityby Dr Ken Walsh (Clinical Nursing) and DrInge Kowanko (School of Nursing &Midwifery, Flinders University). Room 36,Level 3, Eleanor Harrald Building, RAH.1.00pm Environmental Biology Seminar:The crushing depths by Ms Natalie Miller(Environmental Biology). Lung biology ofdiving mammals by Dr Phil Wood(Environmental Biology) Benham LectureTheatre, Ground Floor, Benham Building.

1.00pm Chemical Pathology Seminar:Title to be announced, by Professor AndrewSomogyi (Clinical & ExperimentalPharmacology). Seminar Room 1, 4th Floor,Reiger Building, WCH.

4.00pm Obstetrics & GynaecologySeminar: Sex down under by ProfessorMarilyn Renfree (Zoology, University ofMelbourne). Seminar Room, 6th Floor,Medical School North.1.00pm Clinical & ExperimentalPharmacology Seminar: Clinicalpharmacology and substitution treatmentsfor opioid dependence by Professor FelixBochner (Head, Clinical & ExperimentalPharmacology). Seminar Room, Level 6,Medical School, North Wing.

1.10pm Geographical & EnvironmentalStudies Seminar: Spatial Analysis andEpidemiology by Dr Brett Bryan (Lecturer,GISCA). Room 104, Environmental StudiesBuilding.1.10pm Student Workshop: Sleep tipsby Susan Howard. Counselling Centre,Ground Floor, Horace Lamb Building.

10.10am Electrical & ElectronicEngineering Seminar: Adaptive Receiversfor CDMA systems by Dr Jinho Choi. RoomEM212, Engineering Building.1.00pm Environmental Biology: Trueblue - the evolutionary history of the lizardsof the Egernia Group by Dr Mark Hutchinson(South Australian Museum). BenhamLecture Theatre, Ground Floor, BenhamBuilding.

ADELAIDEANPAGE 8 JULY 2001

C O M I N G E V E N T S4 t h J u l y – 1 s t A u g u s t

WEDNESDAY 4 JULY

MONDAY 9 JULY

TUESDAY 5 JULY

THURSDAY 12 JULY

TUESDAY 17 JULY

WEDNESDAY 18 JULY

THURSDAY 19 JULY

FRIDAY 20 JULY

MONDAY 23 JULY

TUESDAY 24 JULY

WEDNESDAY 25 JULY

FRIDAY 27 JULY

THURSDAY 26 JULY

MONDAY 30 JULY

WEDNESDAY 1 AUGUST

Are you feeling stressed or lethargic?Do you want to improve your generalhealth and fitness?

The Women’s Professional Develop-ment Network (WPDN) has negot-iated an attractive membershippackage with Fernwood FitnessCentre in Rundle Mall.

The offer is available to all AdelaideUniversity women staff (general andacademic staff) and includes asignificant discount on the normalmembership fee.

For details visit the WPDN web siteat: <www.adelaide.edu.au/wpdn>.

Fitness offer for women staff

The Bundy Prize for English Verse 2001

The Prize of $250.00 is offered for the best poem or group of poems in English submitted incompetition.The competition is open to both graduates and undergraduates of Adelaide University,provided that they are enrolled at the University at the date fixed for sending in poems.Entries, preferably typed, must be accompanied by the name of the author in full and bedelivered to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Office, Room G12 NapierBuilding no later than 31st August 2001.The prize shall not be awarded twice to the same competitor. Copies of all poemspresented will be retained, and a copy of the successful entry will be deposited in the BarrSmith Library.The prize is not confined to any particular Faculty and entries will be welcomed from allsections of the University.Judges will be appointed from the Department of English and the prize-winner should beknown by the end of Semester Two. All entrants will be advised of the results by mail.

ROBERT EWERSFaculty Registrar, Humanities & Social Sciences

Investigator Centre discount

The Investigator Science and Technology Centre is offering University staff and students a10% discount on annual membership. Until 31 December, family membership is availablefor $64.35 (normally $71.50) and individual membership for $19.80 (normally $22). The Centre, which receives sponsorship from the University, was opened in 1991 to bringscience to life for young – and not so young – South Australians. Its hands-on, interactiveeducational style makes learning fun and entertaining. Currently running at the Centre isSpecial FX 11, an exhibition showing how special effects are created in film andtelevision. It runs until 22 July. For more information visit: <www.investigator.org.au>.

Celebrate the Federation inreal style!Join the Friends of Urrbrae House at the Federation Ball

Saturday August 18th

Following the success of the 1920s "Blast from the Past" grand ball held at Urrbrae Houselast year, we have been overwhelmed with demands for another event this year.

In the year of celebrating Federation we did not need to go far for a theme. This year weplan a glittering evening with the opportunity to dress in long flowing evening gowns andcelebrate in the style of Peter Waite and his family in 1901.

The band will be "Tamarisque" and the dancing will be organised by Maureen Morris.Maureen will arrange a rehearsal evening before the ball so there's no need to worry ifyou're normally better at a hip hop than a foxtrot!

So join us for an evening of elegant entertainments and supper in the grand surroundingsof one of Adelaide's finest historic houses.

Tickets $36 (drinks not included)

Numbers will be limited so book your tickets now on 8303 7497.

Situations Vacant

For information about vacantpositions in the University, pleaserefer to the University’s HumanResources web page at: <http://www.adelaide.edu.au/HR/newpos/advpos.htm>.Please note that advertising paper-work must reach HumanResources by 5pm each Friday, forpublication in press on theSaturday of the following week (orappropriate date thereafter).For further information onadvertising University vacancies,please contact Human Resourceson ext 35666.

Call for applicationsfor promotion toLevel B/C

Staff and titleholders wishing toapply for promotion to LecturerLevel B and Senior Lecturer Level C(and equivalent) are now invited tosubmit their applications.Applicants should refer to therevised Policy and Guidelines, andthe appropriate Position Classifica-tion Standards. A promotionstoolkit applicable to the submissionof applications is available at theWeb address: <http://www.adelaide.edu.au/HR/policies/promtn/acapromtntlbox.htm>.Applications should be made onthe approved application form.Applications from staff members(ten copies) must be submitted tothe General Manager, HumanResources, by 15 July 2001.Absolutely no supplementaryinformation will be accepted fromapplicants after the closing date forapplications, unless requested.Applicants are responsible forcontacting their own referees andforwarding them their application,the appropriate positionclassification standard and theform letter requesting that thereport be sent to the GeneralManager, Human Resources by 15August 2001. Details are availableon the Web at: <http://www.adelaide.edu.au/HR/policies/promtn/acapromtn.htm>Adjunct, Affiliate and ClinicalTitleholders should refer to theseparate guidelines applicable totitleholders also on the Web at:<http://www.adelaide.edu.au/HR/policies/promtn/acapromtithol.htm>.

STEVE DAYSHGeneral Manager, Human

Resources

ADELAIDEAN JULY 2001 PAGE 9

G E N E R A LN O T I C E S

Women’s ProfessionalDevelopment Network

The WPDN is a developmentinitiative for all women generalstaff of the University ofAdelaide. It focuses on issuesaffecting the professional andpersonal development needs ofwomen general staff.The WPDN runs a variety ofactivities including breakfasts,lunchtime speakers andworkshops. For more details andinstructions on how to join ourlistserver, visit our web site at:<http://www.adelaide.edu.au/wpdn> or contact DanielleHopkins ([email protected], ext 33937) orCatherine Edis ([email protected] 36151).Coming events:Lunchtime forum : WednesdayAugust 8 at 12.30pm, IraRaymond Room, Barr-SmithLibrary. Topic: “Coping withElderly Parents”.

Women’s & Children’s Hospital

Becoming a Research Assistant in Health andSocial Research

A 3 day introductory course presented by the Department ofNursing & Midwifery Research and Practice Development, WCH,25 - 27 July 2001, Classroom 1, Level 2, Samuel Way Building,WCH.Who should attend?• Clinicians interested in a change in career direction• University students/graduates interested in a career in research• Those already working as research asssistants• Practitioners wishing to incorporate research into their everyday

workParticipants will learn what is involved in being a Research Assistantwithin the Health and Social Research field. The course will cover thespecific roles, responsibilities and expectations of Research Assistantsacross a range of research settings.The course will provide an introduction to the following aspects of theResearch Assistant’s role and is presented by leading researchers andexperienced Research Assistants:• Qualitiative and Quantitative Research methods and design• The research grant process• Research and ethics• Recruitment, gate-keeping and access• Research protocol development• Day-to-day project organisation and administration• Data collection & management• Interdisciplinary liaison• Career development• Applying for a Research Assistant positionEnquiries/Bookings: Rachel Furno, tel (08) 8204 6468 or email:<[email protected]>.

2001 GEORGE GAVIN LAWSON POST-GRADUATERESEARCH FELLOWSHIP IN ARCHITECTUREManaged by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects SA Chapter

The $6000 George Gavin Lawson Fellowship assists specific investigation or study leading to theadvancement of architecture, which may be undertaken either in Australia or overseas.Candidates must be Members or Student Members of the RAIA and graduates from the Bachelor ofArchitecture degree of one of the recognised Schools of Architecture in South Australia.For more details and an application package, email Sue Averay at <[email protected]> or phone 82727044. Applications close Monday 30 July 2001.

Reg Sprigg Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander EducationAssistance FundDr RC Sprigg left a gift of shares to the University and funds raised from the sale of these shares establishedthe Education Assistance Fund.Each year Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander undergraduate students enrolled at Adelaide University areinvited to complete an application for assistance. The funds may be requested for any purpose associated with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educationincluding assistance with the purchase of text books and equipment. Applications are available from Wilto Yerlo, Reception, Hartley Building, or Wilto Yerlo support officers fromMonday 23 July 2001. Applications close Friday 3 August 2001.

Relocation

The Research Branch has relocated to the 11th Floorof 10 Pulteney Street.

All Research Branch staff are located on a single floorwhich we share with the University’s commercialarm, Luminis Pty Ltd - thus providing more of a ‘onestop shop’ for researchers (and their sponsors). Wealso hope that our proximity to Luminis legal officersand other professional staff will enable us to be evenmore responsive to researcher needs.

While our phone and fax numbers (and e-mailaddresses) remain the same, all correspondence,including research grant applications, will now needto be delivered to the 11th Floor of 10 PulteneyStreet. General access to the floor will be availableon normal working days from 8 am to 6 pm.

NHMRC Australian Health Ethics CommitteeeWorkshops 2001

The National Health and Medical Research Counciland the Australian Health Ethics Committee will behosting a series of workshops for researchers andHuman Research Ethics Committees between 22June and 19 July 2001.Two half day workshops will be held in eight cities:Morning Workshop: Clinical TrialsAfternoon Workshop: Research in the Humanities

and Social Sciences The Adelaide workshops will be held on Monday 16July.Further information regarding the purpose andcontent of the workshops, and a registration form,will be available on the NHMRC websitehttp://www.health.gov.au/nhmrc/research/contents.htm from Friday 1 June 2001.

NHMRC Training Awards for 2002Information on the current round of NHMRC TrainingFellowships including Industry Research Fellowships,Howard Florey Centenary Fellowships, CJ MartinFellowships, Neil Hamilton Fairley Fellowships, PeterDoherty Fellowships etc, and Travelling Awards forResearch Training is expected to be available on theResearch Branch website (see below) by the timethis notice is published. The internal closing date for applications is 20 July2001. The Research Branch contact for NHMRCprograms is Vada Osborn who can be contacted byemail at [email protected] or onextension 35051.FUNDING OPPORTUNITIESRemember to check the Research Branch website<www.adelaide.edu.au/RB/fund.html> regularly forup-to-date information about current researchfunding opportunities.

RESEARCH BRANCH: SPECIAL NOTICES

ADELAIDEANPAGE 10 JULY 2001

National and international recognition in any area ofexpertise can attract many opportunities for those who areable to present and promote their work with style andprofessionalism. And what better backdrop is there thanthe attractions of Adelaide’s internationally renownedentertainment, food and wine regions?

Which is why the Adelaide Convention & TourismAuthority (ACTA) provides free assistance through itsUniversity Project to attract and stage outstandingconferences. Our services include:

• Preparation of proposals to attractregional, national and internationalconferences to South Australia;

• Conference facilities, venue andcatering advice;

• Videos, posters and brochures forpublicity, delegate satchels andconference promotion;

• Conference budgeting, organisationand planning advice;

• Intensive conference training throughthe “Essential conference organiser’sworkshop”, held each quarter.

The opportunity to successfully promote your expertise andresearch to industry, government and the community willalways be important.With our local knowledge and an idealsetting to help, you will be able to focus on what you do best.

Find out more by contacting ACTA’s UniversityProject on (08) 8303 2333 or [email protected] Convention and Tourism AuthorityLevel 2, 18 King William St, Adelaide SA 5000Phone +61 8 8303 2333Facsimile +61 8 8303 2355http://www.visit.adelaide.on.net

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Tiny trickster flies into the zoological booksPUT FOUR international scientists outinto the field and what do you get? Aprofound zoological discovery, and atricky one at that.Associate Professor Andy Austin, who headsthe newly formed Centre for EvolutionaryBiology & Biodiversity at AdelaideUniversity, is one of the Australian, NewZealand and Canadian team which hasdiscovered a new family of parasitic wasps inthe windy islands of New Zealand. Theirdiscovery has just been published in the Juneedition of the prestigious journal InvertebrateTaxonomy.

“Although hundreds of new insect species aredescribed every year, the discovery of a newfamily is very rare,” said Dr Austin.

“There have only been five or six new familiesdescribed from Australasia in the past 30years, and that is high compared with the restof the world,” he said.

Students learn the hierarchy of theirzoological groups through the mnemonic:King Prawns Caught On Friday Get Stale.

Within the animal Kingdom, there are thirtyor so major groups, each known as a Phylum.Insects form one Class of that Phylum, andwasps, ants and bees together comprise anOrder within it. The next category is theFamily. Among the mammals, all dogs,wolves and similar animals fall into oneFamily, while all kangaroos and wallabiescomprise one Family within the Order ofmarsupials. Zoologically speaking, this newdiscovery is at that Family level.

“The vast majority of species belong tofamilies that had been described by the startof the 20th Century,” said Dr Austin.

“Families that have avoided discovery havedone so usually because they are extremelyrare, only found in very isolated places, or

very small.”

All conditions apply to the newly describedwasps; they are only 1.5 mm long, and theyare bizarre as well.

“The new family has extremely unusualfeatures,” said Dr Austin.

“It appears to be a composite of two unrelatedwasp groups, with the front end typical of onegroup and the back end of another,” he said.“Although the first species were collected inthe 1970s, it has take until now to workthrough the problem.”

That long puzzle has produced the name ofthe new family, Maamingidae which isderived from a Maori word meaning“trickster”, and refers to the unusualcombination of characters that initiallybaffled the research team.

Australia and New Zealand were once unitedwith Africa, South America, India andAntarctica to form the supercontinent ofGondwana. As Gondwana broke apart, theseparate continents formed isolated islands,carrying plants and animals of that time,which then evolved in isolation.

In islands that remained separate, it is stillpossible to find descendants of those moreprimitive organisms, often highly adapted totheir local environments. These Maamingidwasps are among them. Some have veryshort, functionless wings, a great advantageon a windy island where even a short flightmight carry you into the ocean.

A related study, to be published later thisyear, has compared DNA from other waspswith that of the new family, and traced itsclosest relatives to others whose ancestorsevolved in Gondwana. The family’s closestliving relatives are mostly only found onAustralia, New Zealand and South America,the ‘leftovers’ of the supercontinent.

Other aspects of the insects’ natural historyremain a mystery, but will form the next stageof the researchers’ study.

“We know that they are mostly found in and around leaf-litter, and mostly duringsummer to early autumn,” said Dr Austin. “As to what they parasitise, we don’t yet know this either, but given that the two closest families parasitise the larvalstages of flies in leaf-litter, this is what wewould predict as the biology of the newfamily.”

—Rob Morrison

Above: one of the newly discovered membersof the Maamingdae family, Right: Dr AndyAustin with other, much larger insects.

Our international linksONGOING events and activitiescontinue to reinforce Adelaide University’sties with people and institutionsthroughout the world. The following isjust a small sample of the range of ways inwhich the University’s international linkshave strengthened:MOU signed with Chinese uniAdelaide University has signed aMemorandum of Understanding withZhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, toestablish closer research links and staff andstudent exchanges.Adelaide’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor(Research), Professor Edwina Cornish andthe Executive Dean of Agricultural & NaturalResource Sciences, Professor Malcolm Oades,visited China earlier this year for discussionswith a number of Chinese institutions.Zhejiang is one of China’s most prestigiousresearch universities. It has five campusesand 35,000 students, around 20% of whomare postgraduate students.Nursing visit from JapanProfessor Yasuko Takahashi from theUniversity of Tokyo visited AdelaideUniversity’s Department of Clinical Nursing,accompanied by colleague Ms Miyoko Endoand by Professor Shigeyo Okuno from theNagano College of Nursing.Professor Takahashi and her colleagues arespecifically interested in gerontology andinfection control.Clinical Nursing at Adelaide is continuing tobuild a reputation internationally, through thegrowth of its International & FlexibleLearning Unit, with postgraduate students inSri Lanka, Bangaldesh and graduate studentsin Myanmar. Programs currently being run aresupported by the World Health Organisationas valuable to the continuing improvement ofthese countries’ heath care systems.

Award from PolandProfessor Jerzy (George) Smolicz fromAdelaide University’s Centre for InterculturalStudies and Multicultural Education wasawarded a major honour by the country ofPoland.Professor Smolicz was presented with theOrder of Merit of the Republic of Poland bythe country’s President.The honour is in recognition of ProfessorSmolicz’s services to Polish-Australianrelations, in particular to the higher educationsector.Ex Czech PM gives lectureFormer Czech Republic Prime Minister DrVaclav Klaus visited Adelaide University inMay and gave a free public lecture. Dr Klaus,who was Prime Minister from 1992 to 1997, iscurrently President of the Parliament of theCzech Republic and has extensive knowledgeand experience in the political and economicarenas. His lecture was “Transforming todemocracy and prosperity—the CentralEuropean journey”, and formed part of a seriescelebrating the 25th anniversary of the Centrefor Independent Studies (CIS), Australia’sleading public policy research institute.Israeli biotech seminarProfessor Yair Aharonowitz, Vice Presidentand Dean of Research at Tel Aviv University,Israel, gave a special seminar at AdelaideUniversity on multidisciplinary projects andresearch management. In particular, hediscussed Tel Aviv’s efforts in commercialisingits research and development.Professor Aharonowitz is leading a uniqueapproach to research management anddevelopment at Tel Aviv by cutting acrossfaculty and departmental boundaries. Theapproach maximises the utilisation of researchexpertise and assets and allows scientists toform new cutting-edge research synergiesbacked by attractive financial incentives.

Dr Debrah Lorraine-Colwill is apostdoctoral fellow in the Department ofApplied and Molecular Ecology, WaiteCampus; investigating glyphosate resistancein a population of the widespread agriculturalweed annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum).This weed species is the first in the world toevolve resistance to this herbicide. Glyphosate,which is more commonly known by its tradenames of Roundup and Zero (Monsanto), hasbeen successfully used to control a broad rangeof weed species for over 20 years across theglobe. The recent development of glyphosateresistance in Australian populations of annualryegrass poses an enormous threat tosustainable farming and weed control innatural ecosystems.

Dr Lorraine-Colwill and her colleague DrChristopher Preston, with the assistance ofSyngenta UK, have determined that a singlenuclear gene exhibiting semi-dominanceconfers glyphosate resistance in this populationof annual ryegrass.

This mode of inheritance is of greatsignificance to farmers; with continualglyphosate use, the resistance gene willincrease in occurrence in the population andglyphosate will be ineffective in controllingthis weed species.

Dr Lorraine-Colwill is continuing herresearch, attempting to find the precisemechanism by which these ryegrass plantscan survive supposedly lethal herbicides.

P O S T D O C P R O F I L E

ADELAIDEAN JULY 2001 PAGE 11

HIGH SCHOOL students studyinglanguages have been benefiting from arange of programs at Adelaide Universityaimed at encouraging and helping theirlanguage studies.Twelve Adelaide High School Year 12French students have just concluded asuccessful mentoring scheme which involvedfour Adelaide University French students.

Under the newly established scheme, theuniversity students made a fortnightly visit to the school and were eachresponsible—or mentors—for a group ofthree high school students, helping themwith particular aspects of their French studiescurriculum.

According to Head of Adelaide’s Centre forEuropean Studies and General LinguisticsDr John West-Sooby, the scheme was agenuine "win-win" situation.

"I was cautiously optimistic during theplanning stages that there would be mutualbenefits to be gained from this kind ofexercise, but I didn’t dare expect this level ofenthusiasm and commitment. It reflects wellon both sets of students," he said.

One of the university students involved in theprogram, Anthea Kemp, described how theprogram was beneficial for both partiesinvolved.

"It allowed the high school students to bebroken up into small groups, in which thementor was able to focus on individual needsand problems, and this creates a newdimension of learning.

"Considering our age, as a mentor we canrelate to their problems with the language,and being in their situation not so long ago,can provide different aspects of learning thatdirectly aids them with their exams.

"As a mentor, we benefit as well, because itheightens our knowledge of the language to adifferent degree. It is much harder to teach alanguage than to learn it."

*Meanwhile, more than 180 Year 10 studentsfrom schools throughout Adelaide attended arecent Languages on Campus event at

Adelaide University.

The three-day event brought Year 10students on campus for a first-hand look atwhat it’s like to study at university.

Languages staff, undergraduate andpostgraduate students helped provide theYear 10s with an insight into universityactivities and surroundings.

The three-day program included intensivelanguage instruction presented in a way thatwas meaningful and interesting for Year 10students, with role-playing, games, quizzes,cooking, multimedia and cultural activities animportant part of their learning.

Students were also given information aboutwhere their language studies can lead them,including careers.

"The three-day program provided newopportunities for students to develop theirlanguage skills and gain an increasedunderstanding of the culture of the countriesfrom which those languages have originated,"said Dr West-Sooby, who was one of thecoordinators of the Languages on Campusprogram.

"Students not only develop a greaterunderstanding of the importance of languageand culture in society, they also have a moreinformed picture of the possibilitiespresented by the continued study oflanguages and culture.

"Importantly, they also had a lot of fun whilethey were learning," he said.

The event was organised by the Multicultural Education Committee (anadvisory body to the Minister for Education),and Adelaide University’s Centres for European Studies and Asian Studies, withsupport from Professor George Smolicz.

Languages on Campus was funded by theDeputy Vice-Chancellor (Education),Professor Penny Boumelha, the ExecutiveDean of Humanities & Social Sciences,Professor Malcolm Gillies, and the StateMinister for Education, Malcolm Buckby.

—Ben Osborne—David Ellis

School students on target with languages

CONVERSATION and language gohand in hand, but now AdelaideUniversity is offering a unique course thatgives you conversation, language studyand... a cup of coffee!Saturday Coffee and Conversation coursesare being offered by the University’s Centrefor Professional & Continuing Education(PCE). The languages to choose from areFrench, Italian and Spanish, with the coursesheld on Saturday afternoons for four weeks.That’s around two-and-a-half hours per weekof discussion about, and with, your favouritelanguage.The courses have a purely conversationalfocus, lots of good percolated coffee, biscottiand gateaux.“These courses have been introduced to ourprogram due to the popularity ofconversational courses in this year’s SummerSchool,” said Ms Jo Shearer, Manager ofPCE’s language programs.“For the majority of students speaking thelanguage, general conversation is the hardestskill to acquire. These classes give them theopportunity to chat in the language in arelaxed, social environment.”The Coffee and Conversation courses are justanother example of how PCE continues tosupply good quality courses that appeal to thegeneral public.Enrolments in the PCE language programhave doubled in the last two years—from 500in 1999 to 1000 this year, with a range of

short courses still to be offered.

“The increase in enrolments is pleasing, andit’s because of a number of reasons,” MsShearer said. “More people are wanting tolearn a language to enhance theiremployment opportunities, or to enhancetheir general life skills; we’re continuallyresponding to our students’ needs; we’vedeveloped a rapport with many of ourstudents, so that some of them want to keepcoming back; and we offer a range of coursesat varying levels, to suit people of all skilllevels and abilities.”

The full-year language program (runningover two semesters) includes Mandarin,French, German, Indonesian, Italian,Japanese, Greek, Portuguese, Russian,Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese.

There are also semester programs in Englishas a Second Language and Business Englishas a Second Language.

Short courses include the Pre-enrolmentEnglish Program (an academic Englishprogram for international students whoseEnglish language proficiency score is justbelow Adelaide University requirements),five-week and 10-week courses depending onstudent needs.

July - December short courses this yearinclude Travel Language courses, with Hindioffered for the first time due to demand fromAdelaide’s Hindi community. There is alsoCalligraphy for Chinese and Japanese(offered again due to the popularity of this

courses last Summer) and Year 12 OralPresentations, to assist students toconsolidate their oral skills and gainconfidence immediately prior to their finalOral exams.

PCE also offers mid-year entry to

full-year language courses, starting July,for students who missed out earlier in theyear, who can’t commit to a full year of study, or are between levels in their language learning.

—David Ellis

WARNING: studying a language can be fun!

Language, conversation, food and fun... what else do you need? Photo: Randy Larcombe.

Woodville High students Lann Tay and Franca Quach are both studying Chinese language at theirschool. They were two of the 187 students to take part in the Languages on Campus event.Photo: David Ellis.

Adelaide University French Students (front, from left) Becci Love, Anthea Kemp, Alicia Foo andSimone Annan, and the Year 12 French class at Adelaide High School.

ADELAIDEANPAGE 12 JULY 2001

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New vineyardplanned forGlenthorneFrom Page 1

Mr Angus Kennedy, BRL Hardy’sOperational and Technical Director, saidthe vineyard development would benefit theentire South Australian wine industry.“This initiative is effective in that a numberof parties will benefit from the project overa number of years. We are looking forwardto working closely with Adelaide Universityfor the betterment of the South Australianwine industry,” he said.Professor O’Kane commended the StateGovernment, the Commonwealth and theCSIRO on working together to produce anagreement on Glenthorne Farm that woulddeliver long-term economic benefits to theState. She also paid tribute to theUniversity’s Deputy Chancellor, vigneronand Executive Chairman of Petaluma Ltd,Mr Brian Croser, for his role in negotiating anew future for Glenthorne.Professor O’Kane said the University wasaware of local residents’ concerns about thefuture of the property and would be con-sulting with them about the vineyard plans.“We are seeking planning approval for thevineyard, which will include an extensivebuffer zone around the site,” she said.

“We will be working closely with BRLHardy to minimise noise and inconvenienceto the local community. BRL Hardy hasextensive experience in developing andoperating vineyards in an urban environment,and we will be making available theUniversity’s full research resources to ensureresponsible environmental management ofthe site.”

THE WINE industry in South Australiais not the only one to benefit from thewealth of wine science and marketingexpertise at Adelaide University.

The University’s Wine Business Group has just delivered two ground-breaking executive training programs inSouth Africa, designed to help that country’swine industry find its feet in theinternational marketplace.

The programs are the first in an ongoingpartnership between Adelaide Universityand the University of Cape Town’s GraduateSchool of Business.

Two Adelaide University staff recentlytravelled to Cape Town to present theprograms, which focused on wine brandbuilding, e-commerce in wine marketing andwine tourism.

“The wine industry in South Africa is olderand larger than in Australia and has atradition of excellence in viticulture and winemaking, but there is no tradition of universityeducation in the fields of wine marketing orwine business,” said Dr Johan Bruwer ofAdelaide’s Wine Business Group, one of thestaff to visit Cape Town.

The other was Mr Bob Gilliver,

International Programs Manager withAdelaide’s Graduate School of Management.

“These [wine marketing and wine business]are fields in which Adelaide University isleading the world, and we are pleased to beable to work with the University of CapeTown and the South African wine industryto strengthen business capability in theseareas,” Dr Bruwer said.

He said the programs were oversubscribed,and already plans were underway to returnlater in the year for another round of trainingcourses.

“The interest has been extraordinary. Over100 leading wine professionals participatedin these first programs. We are nowexpecting 20 wine making students from theregion on a study visit later this year and wewill return in October-November to deliver asecond program of courses.

“We plan to work with the University ofCape Town’s Graduate School of Business tooffer training courses regularly and to worktowards ultimately building a full academicprogram.”

Adelaide University was the first AustralianUniversity to offer wine marketing programsand degree qualifications, and remains theonly University to include wine making andviticulture in its wine marketing programs.

In other news, the Wine Business Group hasenrolled its first Masters student in WineBusiness this year and launched a dedicatedwine business website <www.winebusiness.adelaide.edu.au> which is recording hitsfrom potential students and industry fromaround the world.

—Lee Welch

Helping the other SA wine industry

STAFF and students at AdelaideUniversity are often being recognised forthe excellence of their work. Thefollowing have received recognition insome way over the past six months:

• Professor Michael Horowitz (Departmentof Medicine) has been presented with theEric Susman Medal by the RoyalAustralasian College of Physicians.

The prize is awarded annually to a Fellow ofthe College for the most outstandingcontribution to the knowledge of any branchof internal medicine.

Professor Horowitz was recongised for hiswork in the fields of diabetes, gastrointestinalmotility, regulation of appetite, and thediagnosis, prevention and treatment ofosteoporosis.

• Professor Derek Frewin (Executive Dean,Health Sciences) has been honoured by theAustralian Medical Association (SouthAustralian branch) with the AMA (SA)Award for outstanding service to theprofession.

State President Dr Michael Rice said:“Derek Frewin epitomises everything thatthe AMA (SA) Award stands for, and wesalute his achievements as a medicaleducator, a researcher and as an activeclinician.”

Professor Frewin has established aninternational reputation in cardio-vascularresearch, and has maintained a role as aclinician and teacher. He has been Physicianin Charge of the Hypertension Clinic at theRoyal Adelaide Hospital since 1973.

• Dr Ken Davey (Chemical Engineering)has received the J R Vickery Award from theInternational Institute of Refrigeration,Australian National Committee.

The award is for outstanding national andinternational contributions to the physical,chemical or biological aspects of food by theapplication of cold.

The J R Vickery medal was presented to DrDavey at the Annual Convention of theAustralian Institute of Food Science &Technology.

• Associate Professor Tony Rogers(Dentistry) has been elected a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Microbiology.

Dr Rogers, whose field is oral micro-biology, has been recognised by the Academy for “excellence, originality andcreativity” in his field of microbiologicalsciences.

His election to the Academy makes him oneof only eight Fellows in Australia.

• Associate Professor Mike Gibbard andMr David Vowles (Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering),along with department PhD graduate DrPouyan Pourbeik, received a best paper award from the Institution of Electrical & Electronic Engineers in theUnited States.

The paper, on power stabilisers, waspublished in the IEEE journal last year, andchosen as the best paper of 2000.

The award was presented at a power systems meeting in Columbus, Ohio, earlierthis year.

A D E L A I D E A C H I E V E R S

NOW is your last chance to see twofascinating exhibitions currently beingsponsored by Adelaide University—theAndy Thomas exhibition at the SAMuseum, and Special FX II at theInvestigator Science & TechnologyCentre.Special FX II shows how special effects arecreated in film and television.

It includes the latest in 3D animation andmodelling techniques, 3D virtual realityheadsets and blue screen technology whichallows visitors to become part of the sceneand record their own mini-movie.

Among the attractions are 30 hands-onexhibits, some of which allow visitors torecreate the illusions they have seen onscreen.

Visitors also have an opportunity to star inthe action and record themselves on theirown take-home video souvenir. You can re-enact famous scenes from Titanic, scale a

mountain cliff-face, or visit the “Rings ofZorgon” and surf through space.

This amazing exhibition is touringAustralia and New Zealand, and is runningat the Investigator Science & TechnologyCentre, Wayville, until 22 July.

Meanwhile, the Andy Thomas exhibition atthe South Australian Museum takes anexciting journey through the achievementsof Adelaide’s only astronaut.

The Andy Thomas Exhibition 2001: anAustralian Space Odyssey features Andy’s space suit worn on the Russian Mirspace station, a ‘lift-off ’ experience forvisitors, computer controlled interactivemodels, and much more on loan fromNASA.

Visitors can learn about Andy’s past as anAdelaide University student through to hiscareer in aerospace engineering and now asan astronaut.

Models and multimedia displays of the

International Space Station, Mir and theSpace Shuttle also feature in the exhibition,which runs until 22 July.

Science real and imagined in exhibitions

ADELAIDEAN JULY 2001 PAGE 13

Computers’ future to be less personalTHE REALM of the truly “personalcomputer” may be coming to an end.Since its beginnings only a few decades ago,the personal computer has undergoneconstant change. Adelaide University physicsand computer experts believe that thepersonal computer will eventually be replacedby the “network computer”.“We are moving into a future where computersacross the globe, from desktop PCs tosupercomputers, will be networked together,”claims Associate Professor Tony Williams.“Linked like that, they can work to fullcapacity even while in screen-saver mode.This ‘computational grid’ is the future oflarge-scale computing and is becoming realityeven now,” said Dr Williams, the DeputyDirector of Adelaide’s Special ResearchCentre for the Subatomic Structure of Matter.This radical shift in the technology ofdesktop computing seems unavoidable. Thehuge increases in computing power that makepersonal computers so rapidly obsolete asnew models arrive has so far depended onmaking smaller chips that do more. In theend, there are limitations dictated by the verystructure of matter.

“Modern computer chip technology isreaching some fundamental physical limits,”said Dr Williams. “The size of the atom limitshow many functioning transistors we can fit ona computer chip, and the speed of light limitshow big we can make each chip. Anotherlimitation arises from the need to dissipateheat from these computer chips so that theydon’t fail due to excessive thermal noise.”The answer seems to be to link computers inparallel. Not only can that provide almostunlimited computing power, it allows a kindof information processing that can’t beachieved in any other way.

There are two extremes of this parallelism. In‘loose’ parallelism, the network connectionbetween computers (or nodes as they aresometimes called) is relatively slow, such as astandard internet or everyday modemconnection.

This kind of parallelism is already being usedin the SETI@Home experiment—anybodyon Earth with access to a personal computer

can take part in the search for extraterrestrialintelligence, simply by processing data fromradio telescopes that look for signals ofintelligent life on other planets. More thanthree million computers from around theworld are currently cooperating on this searchand, through it, more than 1000 years ofsingle-computer CPU time is being deliveredto the SETI program each day.

“There are millions of computers connectedto the Internet. Most of them are PCs orworkstations sitting on people’s desks, andmuch of the time they are in screen-savermode, or not doing anything,” said Dr PaulCoddington, from Adelaide’s Department ofComputer Science.

“Around three million people have downl-oaded the software from the SETI@Homeprogram onto their PCs, and tens of thousandsof PCs are running the program at any time.

That’s a lot of free computer power!”But this system has its limitations. “Onlycertain types of large-scale computingproblems can be attacked in this way, such asthose where slow communication betweenthe nodes is unimportant,” Dr Williams said.The other extreme of parallelism is the very‘tight’ kind, where nodes are connected byvery fast networking to form a parallelsupercomputer. A local example of this is theOrion supercomputer used extensively byresearchers at the Centre for the SubatomicStructure of Matter. Orion has 40 SunMicrosystems computers, each with fourcentral processing units (CPUs), which areconnected by very fast Myrinet networking.The resulting Orion supercomputer was thefastest in Australia when it was installed lastyear, and is currently the second fastestsupercomputer in Australia. Another local

and more economical version, using standardfast ethernet networking, is the Perseuscluster consisting of 116 dual-processorPentium PCs.“When commissioned, this was the largestPC cluster in Australia and one of the largestin the world,” said Dr Williams. “However,because of the slower networking, Perseuscannot attack the same breadth of problemsthat Orion can.”The rate of change in the power of moderncomputers is impressive, but demand forcomputer power for large-scale applications isinsatiable.“Computers linked in parallel are alreadybeing recognised as the fastest and mosteconomical way forward,” Dr Williams said.“The ‘computational grid’ is a very flexibletool which can link the idle PC on your deskto some of the fastest and most affordablesupercomputers in the world.”Supercomputers are also finding manyapplications outside the disciplines wherethey were born, proving invaluable in fields asdiverse as aerodynamics (aeroplane design),fluid flow (ship and boat design), waterresource and salinity management, water andoil pipeline optimisation, oil reservoirmodelling and, of course, studies of thesubatomic structure of matter itself.The researchers are excited that theirdiscipline is producing powerful andimmediate applications.“It is remarkable that forefront research infundamental physics continues to lead toimportant practical consequences,” saidProfessor Tony Thomas, Director of theCentre for the Subatomic Structure of Matter.“High-energy physics gave us the WorldWide Web with all of its commercial spin-offs, now abstract calculations in lattice gaugetheory are expanding the limits of high-performance computers,” he said.“We are presently at the cutting edge in thisfield, and our researchers in physics,computing science, engineering, and energyand resource management are well poised tocapitalise on our initial investment ofexpertise in this area,” Dr Williams said.

—Rob Morrison

Associate Professor Tony Williams with a sandwich board—worth $80,000 less than 10 yearsago, but now obsolete. Photo: Rob Morrison.

LOCAL councils in South Australia arestruggling to cope as they try to do morework with fewer resources, according to areport released by Adelaide University’sCentre for Labour Research.The report, called Doing More With Less:Tension and Change in South Australian LocalGovernment, says the pressures are takingtheir toll on council employees, with three-quarters of those surveyed reporting risinglevels of stress.The study has found that new pressures arefalling on local government as state andfederal governments cut back commitmentsand fresh demands arise from localcommunities.“Local councils want to do more to provideservices to local residents and rate payers—and in many cases, they are,” said Dr BarbaraPocock, Director of the Centre for LabourResearch.“But our research shows that localgovernment is being asked to take on thisextra work without additional resources. Thisis putting strain on employees, electedcouncillors and managers in local councils.”The study used multiple methods to analysethe nature and impact of change in SouthAustralian local government at the turn ofthe century, including analysis of pastresearch, case studies, focus groups andinterviews, and a survey of employees in agroup of seven local councils.“Councils are struggling with the tension of

being, on the one hand, cost effectivebusinesses, and on the other, being a tier ofgovernment with service responsibilities totaxpayers and an important part of the fabricof local communities,” Dr Pocock said.“Elected councillors face a job that is growingin size and complexity, with sometimesunclear boundaries between electedrepresentatives and council managers andemployees.“Increased contracting out of services and

other changes like amalgamation of councilshave contributed to a growing sense ofinsecurity amongst many local governmentemployees, most of whom see that feweremployees are doing more work, with three-quarters reporting rising levels of stress.

“If local government is to continue to domore, it needs more resources and needs toconserve its existing ones, particularly itsworkforce,” she said.

—John Drislane

Local councils “struggling to cope”

A TWO-DAY workshop titled“Turning your business idea intoreality—getting the basics right” will beheld by the Enterprise EducationGroup (EEG) on 17 and 18 July.The workshop is aimed at anyone (studentor otherwise) who is considering startingtheir own business, including aconsultancy-based service.The EEG also welcomes participationfrom people who wish to come along to anyof the second semester courses taughtwithin the Graduate Diploma BusinessEnterprise (SME) at Adelaide University’sThebarton campus on a negotiated non-award fee basis.The courses include managing humanresources, small business finance andentrepreneurship and innovation. Thecourses can also be studied on an award ornon-award basis via distance education.A number of free lunchtime seminars titled“Entrepreneurs and Innovators” will beheld on North Terrace Campus in thesecond semester for anyone interested inhearing first hand from entrepreneurs andinnovators about their experiences andlessons learned.For more info about any of the initiativesdelivered by EEG, contact Joanne Pimlotton 8303 5442 or visit the website:www.eeg.adelaide.edu.au.

Enterprisingeducation turnsideas into reality

From left: Anne McEwen, Convenor of Project Steering Committee, Jane Lomax-Smith, BarbaraPocock and Liz Bok, President of the Local Government Community Services Association.

ADELAIDEANPAGE 14 JULY 2001

Associate Professor W (Bill) Henderson: 1943-2001Bill Henderson was born the son of acoalminer and grew up in Ashington, nearNewcastle in the north-east of England. Hecompleted his undergraduate degree at theUniversity of Sheffield, and then commencedstudying at Sheffield towards a PhD underthe supervision of Dr Charles Pearce.

In 1968, Bill was half way through hiscandidature when Charles accepted aposition at Adelaide University. With theintention of returning to England afterfinishing his degree, Bill, with his wifeMarilyn and two young sons Mark and Iain(who was only six months old), followedCharles to Australia.

On his arrival, Bill took up a position assenior tutor in Adelaide’s Department ofMathematics. The Henderson family’s plansto move back to the UK never eventuated.Their daughter Kirsty was born in Australiaand, after living for a time in the Adelaidesuburb of Parkside and later Holden Hill,they bought a house standing on threehectares of land in the hills town of Lobethal,where they have lived ever since.

In 1971 the Department of Mathematics wassplit into separate departments of AppliedMathematics and Pure Mathematics. Bill’sinterests in the applications of probability toreal-world problems made it natural that hebecome a member of Applied Mathematics.Between that time and his retirement inJanuary 2001 he was promoted to Lecturer(1971), Senior Lecturer (1980) and AssociateProfessor (1992).

In 1985, the Teletraffic Research Centre

(TRC) was set up to provide contractresearch services to the telecommunicationsindustry. Bill was one of the founding staffmembers of the TRC and, after contributingin various roles, he became Director in 1992.The fact that the TRC still exists and isflourishing today is largely due to his efforts.

Bill will be remembered by his students as aninspiring lecturer. He was responsible for asignificant number of students deciding totake up study of applied probability atHonours and PhD level. Once studentsreached this level, Bill was an enthusiasticsupervisor who was always coming up withideas. He was also extremely generous; forexample, he used the funds he personallyearned from his TRC activities to supporttravel by his graduate students to overseasinstitutions and conferences. They allbenefited from this exposure to theinternational applied probability community,and many of them have gone on to makesubstantial contributions.

Bill also had a wider involvement in the causeof applied mathematics in the university,national and international environments. Hetook part in departmental governance,organised conferences, including the 1985ANZIAM conference, and was regularlyinvited to speak both in Australia andoverseas.

He was also a fun-loving person who took aleading part in any social activities that werehappening. Bill played competitive rugbyinto his 40s, but was also keenly interested inall sports, and became a keen supporter of

both the Adelaide Crows and Port Power.

In 1998, Bill was diagnosed with kidney andbowel cancer. He fought the cancer withgreat bravery, not allowing it to get on top ofhis usual good humour. There were severaltimes when it seemed that he might havebeaten it, and then bad times when it re-appeared. The cancer finally won the battleon April 27, 2001, but not before Bill shared

a joke with his wife Marilyn and a nursewithin an hour of the end.

Bill has been survived by Marilyn, childrenMark, Iain and Kirsty, and ninegrandchildren. He was a great bloke, whoshowed how life should be lived. He will besorely missed.

—Charles Pearce, Peter Taylor and Ernie Tuck

Associate Professor Bill Henderson. Photo courtesy of the Teletraffic Research Centre.

Emeritus Professor James ( Jim) H Michaeldied suddenly on 17 April 2001, aged 81years.

Professor Michael’s academic career inmathematics began in an unusual way. Jimwas born at Stirling North and attended thelocal primary school, and then the highschool at nearby Port Augusta. He leftschool at the age of 14 to work on hisfamily’s sheep property.

During the war, Jim served with the 2/7thfield regiment in Egypt, Syria andPalestine, earning the Africa Star withclasp, and then at Tarakan in the Pacific,earning the Pacific Star.

Towards the end of his active service in theAIF from 1940 to 1945, he took advantageof the Army’s educational program tomatriculate and pass first year Universitymathematics.

On his discharge he enrolled at AdelaideUniversity under the CommonwealthReconstruction Training Scheme.

He graduated with First Class Honours inMathematics in 1951, with an MSc in1953, and with a PhD in 1957. He was thefirst Adelaide PhD graduate inmathematics.

After spending some time at theuniversities of Manchester and Glasgowwhile on a Nuffield scholarship, Jimreturned to Adelaide in 1958 to take up anappointment as a lecturer in theMathematics Department. He waspromoted, in turn, to Senior Lecturer,Reader, and then Professor.

He did not take kindly to the professorialadministrative obligations and resigned hisprofessorship, reverting to being a Readerin 1970.

He was elected as a Fellow of the AustralianAcademy of Science in 1973. A remarkableachievement for an early school leaver!

Jim fulfilled a leadership role in the

Department of Pure Mathematics, from itsestablishment in 1971 onwards. He servedas Head/Chair in 1973 and 1975. He madecontinuing major contributions to allaspects of the academic work of thedepartment, to its smooth running, and toits research standing, both national andinternational.

He was a very good lecturer at all levels. Ingeneral, a quiet man of few words, but atthe blackboard in front of a class, he wasconfident, clear, and compelling. He hadthe unusual gift of being able to makedifficult concepts in mathematical analysisaccessible to students.

Jim was active and successful in research inmathematical analysis. He had a great dealof influence on the course of mathematics,and in particular analysis, in Australia.

He contributed significant and influentialworks in several fields of analysis,particularly partial differential equations.He also supervised graduate students whohave gone on to successful mathematicalcareers.

Jim retired from his academic duties inAdelaide, but not from mathematics, at theend of 1983. The J.H. Michael Prize,awarded to the highest placed candidate forLevel II Pure Mathematics, was establishedin honour of his teaching.

In July 1984, a mini-conference onNonlinear Analysis in his honour was heldat the Centre for Mathematical Analysis atthe Australian National University,Canberra. He continued his researchactivity in a fruitful collaboration with W.P.Ziemer of the University of Indiana. Hisresearch led to 26 publications, the lastbeing with Ziemer in 1991.

Jim had a long and distinguishedinvolvement with rifle shooting. He wascaptain of the University Rifle Club for twoyears and shot in three Intervarsitycompetitions, gaining his University Blue.He continued competitive rifle shooting tothe end of his life.

Jim Michael was a quiet, gentle man whocommanded the respect of colleagues,students and all who knew him. Hedevoted meticulous care to every activity heundertook, whether mathematical,administrative or recreational.

His colleagues, both in Adelaide andbeyond, remember him with affection andwith deep respect for his integrity and hisconcern for others as well as his outstandingmathematical achievements.

Jim was devoted to his family. He issurvived by his wife Pat, his daughter Mary Jane, his son Philip and two grandchildren.

—Ren Potts, with assistance from Jane Pitman and John van der Hoek

Emeritus Professor James H Michael

Emeritus Professor James Michael.

The University community has lost one of itsmost collegial yet unobtrusive members. NanSmith was originally one of those dedicated staffin Sands and MacDougall’s famous sometimebook and stationery shop in King William Streetbetween Rundle and Grenfell Streets. As ayoung woman she then joined the Women’sRoyal Australian Air Force and served inMelbourne until the end of WWII.

Nan was an avid world traveller. Her first twochildren, Kendall and Lindsay, were born inEngland and her second two, Morgan and Steven,back in Australia. She did publicity work forChannel 10 and then for the ABC both inAdelaide and in Sydney where she was the ABC’sHead of Publicity. She was also responsible for thePublicity for many of the Theatre Guild’s greatproductions in the 1960s. They included twoPatrick White World Premieres “The Season atSarsaparilla” and “Night on Bald Mountain” andthe World Premiere of Hal Porter’s “Toda San”.Nan also collaborated in many productions withher great friends, the late Daphne Grey(Kirkland) and the Royal Academy of DramaticArt actress Barbara West . Daphne was anEnglish Repertory professional actress who madeher Adelaide debut in the Guild’s production ofShakespeare’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost” as thePrincess of France. Two of Barbara’s manyperformances for the Guild were in plays byBerthold Brecht namely as Yvette in “MotherCourage” and as the prostitute Shen Te in “TheGood Woman of Setzuan”.

Nan Smith became a skilled and adoredschoolteacher. For more than half her life shenurtured her four children as a single mother.They and their children have all benefited fromher love of literature, of music and of the theatreand of her decency, integrity, respect for othersand of her sense of service.The Guild and the Alumni Association wereboth represented at her Memorial Service in theFlorey Chapel at Centennial Park on Thursday17 May 2001.

—Harry Medlin

Nancy (Nan)Smith: 1926-2001

O B I T U A R I E S

ADELAIDEAN JULY 2001 PAGE 15

Queen’s birthday honours listCONGRATULATIONS to thosemembers of the Adelaide Universityalumni community acknowledged in therecent Queen’s Birthday Honours List.The following people have made invalubalecontributions to their fields of expertise, theirprofessions, and to the community as awhole:Officer in the Order of Australia (GeneralDivision)Dr John A O’Loughlin, AOMember in the Order of Australia (GeneralDivision)Dr Michael D Bollen, AMProfessor John K Findlay, AMMs Janine Haines, AMDr David J Hill, AMDr Peter C Joseph, AMMs Alison J Kinsman, AMDr Anthony J Shinkfield, AMProfessor Paul Z Zimmet, AMMedal of the Order of Australia (GeneralDivision)Dr Rodney F Carter, OAM

Dr Margaret R Kyrkou, OAMDr John C Radcliffe, OAMMr Kevin C Rogers, OAMMr Ben L Yengi, OAM

Australia Fire Service MedalMr Anthony J Wiedeman, AFSM

Public Service MedalDr Ann P Hamblin, PSM

ALUMNI NEWSALUMNI ASSOCIATIONANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGThe Alumni Association held itsSeventeenth Annual General Meeting on19 June in Union Hall, AdelaideUniversity.Approximately 60 members enjoyed aninformative presentation by Mr IanHarrison, Chief Executive, SA BusinessVision 2010 who spoke on the recentreport commissioned by SA BusinessVision 2010 entitled “Strategic Review ofthe South Australian Higher EducationSector”.The Mutual Community PostgraduateTravel Grant recipients for 2000 were alsopresented with certificates by Mr EricGranger, State Manager for MutualCommunity.Thank you to all alumni who participatedin this event.

PUBLIC LECTUREThe Science and Mathematical SciencesChapter held its second public lecture for2001 on June 27 in the Rennie LectureTheatre, North Terrace campus.The presentation, entitled “Geophysicsand Airborne Exploration for Minerals”,was given by Professor David Boyd.

PRESENTATIONThe John Bray Law Chapter will beholding a presentation in August (date to beconfirmed) entitled “Murder in Paradise” tobe given by Justice Andrew Wilson.The talk will look at a former case presidedover by Justice Wilson when he was aJustice of the Supreme Court in Samoainvolving the murder of a Minister in theSamoan Government.Further details will appear in the Augustedition of Adelaidean.

INTRODUCTION TO NEWSTAFFThe Alumni, Community Relationsand Development office is delighted towelcome four new staff members whohave recently joined us in 2001.Each team member brings with themvaluable skills and experiences whichenhance the overall Alumni, CommunityRelations and Development activities:A warm welcome to:Joan Soon, Alumni and CommunityRelations AssistantRob Wild, Database/Research OfficerRosslyn Cox, International AlumniRelations OfficerNicole Stones, Office Administrator &Personal Assistant to DirectorThe Alumni Association would also liketo welcome two recently co-optedmembers of the Executive Board, MsMargaret Owen and Mr AaronWitthoeft.

Cornell Chapterannual film night

THE CORNELLCHAPTER (Arts &Performing Arts) willbe holding their annualfilm evening on August16 at the Trak Cinemawith the opening

night screening of “Captain Corelli’sMandolin”.This film, which commences at 6:45pm, isbased on the novel of the same nameauthored by Louis de Berniere. All ticketsare $10.00 and include live mandolinmusic and a glass of complimentary wineprior to the screening.Tickets are available from the Alumni,Community Relations and Developmentoffice, Level 1, 230 North Terrace or at thedoor on August 16.This is the Cornell Chapter’s annualfundraising event—we look forward toyour support.Further details to appear in the AugustAdelaidean.

Red wine researcher heads overseasthanks to Mutual CommunityAN ADELAIDE University studentstudying the potential health benefits of adrop of red wine is one of the latestrecipients of the Mutual CommunityPostgraduate Travel Grants.The grants are aimed at helping youngresearchers to further their studies and attendmajor events relevant to their work.

Recipients from the May round include LisaKettler (Psychology), Yvette Ek Hiang Tan(English) and William Greenrod (Clinical &Experimental Pharmacology).

William Greenrod plans to travel toconferences and research institutions inEurope and Singapore to further his studieson the effect of moderate wine consumptionon cardiovascular disease and cancer risk.

His work is based on illuminating the sciencebehind the “French Paradox”. It’s based onan observation late last century that despitean equally high incidence of risk factors, suchas heavy smoking, a sample of men in thesouth of France had a very low incidence ofcardiovascular disease compared with menelsewhere in the world. The most apparentdifference was the French’s fondness for redwine.

Based at the CSIRO’s Division of HealthSciences & Nutrition, Will is hoping to linkthe protective effect to a particularcomponent of red wine.

“For its volume, red wine contains a highlevel of compounds called polyphenols. Oneexample is catechin, a compound also presentin green tea,” he told the Adelaidean last year.These compounds are thought to act asdietary antioxidants, helping in the fightagainst ‘bad’ cholesterol, which forms

deposits in the arteries and restricts blood flow.Although the polyphenols in red wine have been shown to act as antioxidants in atest tube-environment, Will is now studying South Australian men aged 40-60 to determine if the human body canactually absorb these compounds from wine. If so, do they act as protectors of the cardiovascular system? And does it

matter whether or not the red wine hasalcohol in it?

Since heart disease is Australia’s number onekiller, scientists and the public are keenlyawaiting the answers.

The deadline for applications to the nextround of Mutual Community PostgraduateTravel Grants is 14 September.

—David Ellis

Will Greenrod, heading to Singapore and Europe with a Mutual Community Postgraduate TravelGrant. Photo: Joan Soon.

NEW MERCHANDISERANGE!Come in and view our new merchandiserange available from the Alumni,Community Relations and Developmentoffice, Level 1, 230 North Terrace.

The new range includes champagnestoppers in matt silver, luggage locks andpens, engraved with Adelaide Universitylogo, as well as redwood paper weights andbowls.

Campus ToursLearn about thehistory and heritage ofAdelaide Universityon a free tourconducted by trainedguides from theUniversity’s AlumniAssociation.

Tours depart each Tuesday morning at10.30am from University Gate 20, next tothe Art Gallery of South Australia onNorth Terrace.

Groups may make arrangements for toursat other times by calling the Alumni,Community Relations and Developmentoffice on (08) 8303 3234.

Thanks for your business cardsTHANK YOU to our alumni who havealready responded to our call for businesscards announced in the June Adelaidean.To date we have received business cardsfrom alumni in South Australia,Queensland, New South Wales, the ACTand Tasmania.The Alumni, Community Relations andDevelopment office will be profiling theAlumni Association as part of AdelaideUniversity’s Open Day on 19 August 2001.

Our visual display, including your businesscards, will highlight the diversity of ouralumni to prospective students and theirparents. Your support in showcasing ourAssociation and University will be mostappreciated. The cards will be used solely forthis purpose and will not be distributed to athird party.

There is still time to send in your cards.For further details please contact KimMcBride at (08) 8303 3196.

Ben Yengi, winner of an OAM for his servicesto migrants, refugees and multiculturalism.

ADELAIDEANPAGE 16 JULY 2001

Disturbing findings about the “cult” ofanorexia propelled anthropology PhDstudent Megan Warin into the mediaspotlight.Her investigation of the social effects ofanorexia on 46 women and men inAustralia, Canada and Scotland attractedthe interest of BBC Radio, The CanberraTimes, The Daily Telegraph, The NorthernTerritory News, The Age, 5CK Radio and5AA Radio, among others. Althoughusually associated with the young, anorexiais also a serious problem among some olderpeople, according to Dr Ian Chapman andPhD student Caroline MacIntosh, whoseaward-winning study, The Anorexia ofAgeing, was highlighted by The Advertiser(8 June). They found that a substantialnumber of older people, especially innursing homes and other institutions, are atrisk of, or suffer from, malnutrition.On study leave in the UK, Dr ClemMcIntyre found himself taking on the roleof on-the-spot radio reporter. He linked

up with Cameron Marshall and DavidBland of 891 ABC’s Drivetime to provideSouth Australians with up-to-the minutenews and analysis of the UK elections (7and 8 June).Women’s health issues were much in thenews. Professor John Kerin spoke toChannel 10 and The Advertiser (16 June)about the development of a newcontraceptive which promises permanentbirth control without invasive surgery. OnTriple M, SA FM and in The Advertiser (13June), Professor Rob Norman highlighted“a significant increase” over the past twoyears in the rate of pregnancies throughassisted conception techniques. DrCaroline Smith was interviewed by 891ABC and The Advertiser about a trial beingundertaken among 300 pregnant women inAdelaide to determine the effectiveness ofginger in combating morning sickness.In the Sunday Mail (3 June) and PortsideMessenger (13 June), PhD student MelissaWhitrow spoke about the disappointing

response to the Lung Cancer in NorthWest Adelaide Study. The study began 18months ago but, so far, only 36 of therequired 140 people with lung cancer haveparticipated.

Dr Margaret O’Hea’s archaelogical workin North Jordan was highlighted by TheAdvertiser’s Tim Loyd in an article aboutthe arrival of 16 additional artefacts at theUniversity’s Museum of ClassicalArchaeology. Another recent arrival soonto go on public display is the brain ofphilosopher Dr Ullin Place. A lecturer atAdelaide University in the early 1950s, DrPlace invented the idea that consciousnessis nothing but a matter of physicalprocesses of the brain. Before his death inthe UK in January this year, he bequeathedhis brain to the University. ProfessorChris Mortensen told The Advertiser (7June) that Dr Ullin even dictated theinscription he wanted on theaccompanying plaque: “Did this braincontain the consciousness of U.T. Place?”

NEWSMAKERS

Advertisement

A hot Russian evening awaitsPASSIONATE music from the heart ofRussia and westward fromCzechoslovakia features in From Russiawith Love, the second concert of the2001 Elder Conservatorium EveningConcert Series on 21 July at Elder Hall.Keith Crellin conducts the ElderConservatorium Symphony Orchestra in astirring program of Kabelevsky, Rachmaninovand Dvorak. After sixteen years as afoundation member of the Australian StringQuartet, performing extensively throughoutAustralia and internationally, Keith Crellin isnow Resident Conductor at the ElderConservatorium, as well as Senior Lecturer inViola and Co-ordinator of Chamber Music.Widely recognised as a dedicated andinspiring teacher, he is a former PrincipalConductor of the Tasmanian ConservatoriumOrchestra and Chief Conductor of theTasmania Youth Orchestra.The featured soloist in Rachmaninov’s PianoConcerto No 2 is Lee Swan Tang, who iscurrently completing her Masters in Musicwith Stefan Ammer at the ElderConservatorium. Originally from Malaysia,she was awarded the Adelaide UniversityInternational Student Scholarship and alsothe Wilf Mader Medallion for the mostpromising pianist. She has appeared as asoloist and chamber musician at the BarossaMusic Festival, the Adelaide Festival and forthe Australian Society of Keyboard Music,and has also performed extensively inMaylasia and Singapore.Sergey Rachmaninov was a broodingRussian who upheld the passion and powerof the Romantic tradition. All of his pianoconcertos are very difficult to play, but of the

four, Piano Concerto No 2 is the mostpopular. It is dedicated to Rachmaninov’shypnotherapist, who restored him tocreativity after a crisis of confidence, and is awonderfully optimistic work crammed withsoaringly beautiful music.Antonin Dvorak was the most prominentlynationalistic Czechoslovakian composer,whose influence on the development of anational voice was the most original andlasting. Dvorak’s exhuberant Symphony No8 is dominated by one of his most inspiredmelodies, evoking country life and infectiousrustic dances.

—Di KiddConcert Manager

From Russia with LoveSaturday 21 July - 8.00pm at Elder HallElder Conservatorium Symphony OrchestraConductor - Keith CrellinSoloist - Lee Swan Tang (piano)

KABALEVSKY Colas Breugnon OvertureRACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 2DVORAK Symphony No. 8

Tickets: Adult $22 / Senior/Conc $14 /Students $8.

BOOK at BASS 131 246 or good seats atthe door.

Adelaide University’s Centre forAboriginal Studies in Music (CASM)will present a number of papers andworkshops as part of Adelaide 2001: amusical odyssey, 6-10 July.The event, the 13th national conference ofthe Australian Society for Music Education,promises to be an exciting ‘odyssey’ for musiceducators.

Held at Adelaide University, the conferencepresents the latest developments andpractices in a wide variety of aspects of musiceducation.

The keynote speakers for the conference are:

• Dr Frances Rauscher (Psychology,University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh)

• Professor Bennett Reimer (formerlyholder of the John W. Beattie EndowedChair in Music at Northwestern University,Chicago, Professor Reimer is internationallyrecognised for his definitive book).

• Professor Miraca Gross (Director of theGifted Education, Research, Resource andInformation Centre at the University ofNew South Wales, Sydney).

• Dr Martin Comte (formerly Professor ofMusic Education and Associate Dean in theFaculty of Education at RMIT University,Melbourne).

• An additional guest speaker for theConference is Professor George Odam(formerly Professor of Music Education atBath Spa University College).

The wide range of conference highlightsincludes:• more than 30 workshops and 50 papers;• specially selected school performing

groups;• Gala Opening Concert;• Young Composers Concert in

conjunction with the AdelaideSymphony Orchestra;

• research and curriculum forums;• panel discussion, chaired by Professor

Malcolm Gillies• post-conference Musicianship

Symposium.

CASM to shine at national music conference

Program information is available at:<www.asme2001.mtx.net>.