Connections Issue 9

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Issue 9 WINTeR 2008WWW.vu.edu.au VU CONNECTIONS

NOahSprIdE

faT aNd fIT . jOCkEyS fIrST . gamE jUNkIES . ClImaTE Of ChaNgE


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4

VC welCome

The VC writes about VUs

commitment to green values and

its responsibility to adopt and

promote sustainable environmental

practices through innovative

projects and research.

4

In brIef

Tackling diabetes, a groundbreaking

agreement with the University

o Melbourne, and a new centre

or vocational and work-based

education research are just three

o this issues in bries.

8

In THe

DrIVerS SeAT

Perormance Studies student Paddy

Macrae wins a Transport Accident

Commission prize o $20,000

to make a short lm about sae

driving or young drivers.

10

SlAm-DUnKeD

To fAme

VU alumni and ormer basketball

star, Danny Morseu, represented

Australia at two Olympics.

He has now been inducted into

the VU Sport Hall o Fame.

15

ClImATe

of CHAnGe

Signing up with the Greenfeet

program is just one o VUs many

environmental initiatives thatare helping to reduce the impact

o greenhouse gas emissions.

16

CreIGHTon bUrnS

19252008

VUs inaugural Chancellor, and

ormer editor o The Agenewspaper,

dies ater a long illness aged 82.

17

emPowerInG

refUGeeS

VUs work with government and

local community partners to support

Melbournes growing number o Horno Arica reugees wins a national

award or community engagement.

18

GoUrmeT

SeCreTS

For years, VUs three training

restaurants have been providing

invaluable training or studentsaiming or careers in the hospitality

and tourism industry.

23

noAHS PrIDe

Eighty-year-old Bill Pride teaches

the ancient crat o traditional

wooden boatbuilding at Newport

Campus. This year he received

a Medal o the Order o Australia.

24

fAT AnD fIT

Dr Steve Selig says overweight

people wanting to improve their

health should throw away their

bathroom scales and ocus on

getting t, not on getting thin.

26

Know THe SCore

VUs research acilities and strong

links with industry and the community

are allowing researchers to produce

work that is locally relevant and

internationally signicant.

27

SoCIAl ConSCIenCe

Thirty-two, single and with our

children, Maree Corbo brought

plenty o lie experience to the

classroom when she enrolled

in a Bachelor o Social Work.

31

VU fACTS

Facts about VU.

32

VU ArT

Recent artwork by a VU student.

CONTENTS

1 24 17


3/3233

11

GAme JUnKIeS

So-called addicted computer

gamers are oten stereotyped as

lonely nerds lacking sel-esteem

and social skills. A VU researcher

disagrees.

12

JoCKeYS Come

In fIrST

Research into the horse racing

industry has resulted in signicant

improvements to the working

and non-working lives o jockeys,

trainers and stable employees.

14

STreeT SmArT

A driving program or schoolchildren

is teaching them practical skills

behind the wheel beore they get

their learner permits and venture

onto Victorias busy roads.

VICTorIA

UnIVerSITY

ConneCTIonS

PUBLISHER

Marketing and Communications Dept.

Victoria University, Australia

PO Box 14428

Melbourne VIC 8001, Australia

Victoria University

CRICOS Provider No. 00124K

CONTACT US

Phil Kooed Managing Editor

PHONE +61 3 9919 4956

EMAIL [email protected]

www.vu.edu.au

This publication is printed on recycled paper.

PHOTOS

Sharon Walker

Tim Burgess

Ann Marie Angebrandt

COVER PHOTO

Bill Pride, VU teacher o traditional

boatbuilding at Newport Campus. Awarded a

Medal o the Order o Australia at this years

Australia Day celebrations.

20

A lonG JoUrneY

VUs Karen Jackson is a Yorta

Yorta, Barap Barap woman. She

is committed to the recognition oAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

heritage and rights to land.

21

fooTbAll

lAwYer

Wayne Henwoods career included

playing with the Sydney Swans

and the Melbourne Demons beorestudying law at VU. He now sits

on the AFL Tribunal.

22

leArnInG SPACe

CHAnGInG fACe

Combining libraries with IT and

learning support, learning commons

are part o VUs response to theeducational needs o students

in the 21st century.

28

bATTInG

for Green

Greg Dingle says the uture o

proessional and amateur sport hinges

on them reducing their contribution

to global warming and adaptingto the impending world oil crisis.

30

eXTrAorDInArY

lIVeS

A new book o poems, stories and

interviews by and about women

living in Melbournes west, shows

that so-called ordinary people canhave extraordinary lives.

31

new booKS

Marketing museums in t he 21st

century and the moral dilemma

o an Indian ocer taken prisoner

in WWII are among the topicso new books by VU authors.

18 4 23


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Welcome to the winter 2008 issue o Connections.

We need hardly be told that we all as individuals, as organisations, and as communities need

to take responsibility or the impacts we have on the environment. This is perhaps even truer or

universities, which have a responsibility both to lead and to innovate.

It is in this spirit o orward thinking that Victoria University has committed to a green value o

sound environmental stewardship or uture generations. Further, all VU programs in construction,

manuacturing and transport related areas will in uture have a green ocus.

VU also strives to ensure its impact on the natural environment is managed in a responsible andsustainable manner. The University is working to achieve a 10% decrease in water consumption between

2008 and 2011, and reduce the use o both electricity and gas by 15% over the same period.

As a multisector university oering higher, vocational and urther education, VU can make positive

contributions to a sustainable uture through teaching, practice and research across a broad variety

o elds and industries.

The Werribee Centre or Sustainable Water Use at VUs Werribee Campus is a good example o

VUs capacity to eect meaningul responses to the impacts o climate change on our water supply.

Work at the Centre is ocused on developing water and wastewater treatment technologies. The State

Government has granted $1m over 5 years towards the centre, and VU has committed a urther $3.6m.

As you read through this issue o Connections, you will see that VU sta and students are exemplarso the Universitys green value, and are committed to sustainable environmental practices through

innovative projects and research.

The articles also explore other developments across the University. You will read how VU is

expanding its teaching and learning spaces to ensure students are prepared or the challenges

o the modern workplace.

Another article discusses a VU academics research that has yielded surprising results on the

relationship between body weight and tness level.

You will also read about the University receiving a national award or bringing together community

and government partners to support newly-arrived Arican reugees to the west o Melbourne.

Collectively, these and other stories demonstrate how we are not only an active community withinthe University but are keen to export our knowledge and expertise locally, nationally and abroad.

Proessor Elizabeth Harman

Vice-Chancellor and President

June 2008

VU reACHeS SUmmIT

Victoria University sta were among those

taking part in the Federal Governments

Australia 2020 Summit, with Vice-Chancellor

Proessor Elizabeth Harman saying she tooksome very clear messages to Canberra.

Proessor Harman had previously participated

in local summits, and the outcomes were

ormally submitted to the national summit

or consideration.

Among concerns Proessor Harman conveyed

were a national vision or a holistic approach

to education that works at a local level in

Melbournes west, ensuring t he western

region o Melbourne has a competitive

regional prole, the need or climate change

to be taken seriously and the local lead

that Melbournes west could provide, and

overcoming Melbournes massive east/west

divide in services and urban renewal.

Proessor Harman was one o our VU people

represented at the summit. The others were

Associate Proessor Santina Bertone rom the

Faculty o Business and Law; Ken Loughnan, AO

rom VU Council; and Elleni Bereded rom VUs

Oce or Industry and Community Engagement.

C Welcome In Brief

4

-Chncllorbth Hrmnh sport nrtionnti stok Krrynml.


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eric Ln tth nilingo hi portritwith grnonJm Goon.

In Brief

KICKInG GoAlS

Thousands o students rom schools in

Melbournes western region are learning about

healthy and happy living in an innovative

program launched by the Western Bulldogsin partnership with VU and AFL Victoria.

The Bulldog Friendly Schools program

delivers messages to Grade 3 and 4 students

about the importance o building tness and

developing broad values o harmony, air play

and teamwork.

The program is supported by 50 trainee

teachers rom VU, in conjunction with

classroom teachers in schools.

Natalie Vernuccio, VU Partnerships Manager,Access and Success, said the project is

aimed at building physical, social, and

educational outcomes.

Schools can choose a Footy in S chools

program, which communicates the importance

o regular physical activity, ooty skills,

and nutrition to children and their amilies.

They can also chose a Multicultural Schools

program, which oers an introduction to ooty

or schools with a high proportion o students

rom diverse cultural backgrounds.

The programs are oered ree to schools.

new reSeArCH PoSITIonS

VU has launched its new Work-based Education

Research Centre (WERC). Senior Deputy

Vice-Chancellor (Education Services) and

Director TAFE Proessor Richard Carter saidthe centre marks a major innovation in

a vocational education aculty on a matter

that is o nati onal signicance.

Proessor Carter said the new centres cutting-

edge research in vocational education will ocus

on improving trades education and how skills

are best taught or learned in workplace settings.

He said skills shortages and the large dropout

rate rom apprenticeship courses were o

concern to employers and the government.

The centres work in these areas is

particularly timely given that the volume

o unded research in vocational education

in Australia is actually shrinking.

Ms Berwyn Clayton, ormerly with the Canberra

Institute o Technology, has been appointed

director o the centre. Dr Shelley Gillis, ormerly

with the University o Melbourne, has been

appointed deputy director.

PorTrAIT UnVeIleD

Victoria Universitys Vice-Chancellor Proessor

Elizabeth Harman has unveiled a portrait

o the Foundation Director o the Western

Institute, Emeritus Proessor Eric Lund, AM.The occasion, in February, marked the

20 th anniversary o the establishment o

the Western Institute, now part o Victoria

University. The portrait by VU graduate

Shannon Smiley will hang in the VU Gallery

at City Flinders Campus.

Lund was Director o Western Institute

198691 and Deputy Vice-Chancellor

o VU 199195.

In 1951 Lund went t o Footscray TechnicalSchool VUs earliest predecessor. Ater an

apprenticeship as an electrical mechanic, over

the ollowing decades Lund undertook urther

study and worked at various universities and

colleges, and became ounding director o

Broadmeadows College o TAFE.

Lund then set up the Western Institute,

bringing tertiary studies to Melbournes outer

west. In 1991 Western Institute amalgamated

with Footscray Institute o Technology and

became Victoria University o Technology,where Lund was Deputy Vice-Chancellor

until 1995, when he retired.


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n Brief

wrhitic tlnch ovu ibtiti.

TACKlInG TYPe 2

VU has launched an initiative in conjunction

with Diabetes Australia Victoria toencourage diabetes prevention among VU

sta and the employers and communities

o Melbournes western suburbs.

VU sta will assess their risk o developing

type 2 diabetes by using a simple risk test

developed by DA Vic, Vice-Chancellor

Proessor Harman said.

Sta at risk will be oered help to prevent

or delay the onset o type 2 diabetes.

We will act as an exemplar employer and

help demonstrate the value o such programs

to other major employers in t he region.

VU is one o the major employers i n

Melbournes west with over 4300 sta.

One in our Australians is at risk o developing

the disease, which or VU equates to 1075 sta.

The University is moving to systematically

oer type 2 diabetes risk assessment to all

its employees, starting with the signicant

proportion o sta who are over 50 and

thereore at increased risk.

HonoUr roll InDUCTIon

VUs Proessor Jill Astbury was one o 30

women inducted onto the 2008 VictorianHonour Roll o Women on International

Womens Day.

Based in VUs School o Psychology at

St Albans Campus, Astbury was recognised

or her research in gender, human rights

and amily violence.

Astbury has a particular research ocus on

violence against women, and has played

a central role in changes made to policies,

systems and service provision in the area

o violence prevention.

Her work has contributed signicantly to

understanding the causes o violence against

women, the health impacts on women, how

that violence can be reduced or prevented,

and meeting the needs o women who have

experienced violence.

The World Health Organisation, VicHealth,

the Australian Family Institute, and the

Department or Victorian Communities are just

a ew o the organisations or which Astburyhas undertaken research or been a leading

research and policy adviser.

fIGHTInG PoVerTY

Victoria University has become a ounding

partner in an alliance aimed at harnessingtourism to improve living conditions in Pacic

Island countries.

The Oceania Sustainable Tourism Alliance

(OSTA) will gather leaders rom the non-

governmental and private sectors in Australia,

New Zealand and the Pacic Islands to help

10 Oceania countries create tourism strategies

that will ght poverty and oster long-term

improvements in the daily lives o residents.

In April, VU Vice-Chancellor Proessor Elizabeth

Harman met with Mr Lelei LeLaulu, Chairman

o The Foundation o the Peoples o the South

Pacic International (FSPI), the initiatives

leading partner. Proessor Harman said VU was

delighted to be part o an initiative that ully

included local communities in the development

o sustainable tourism in the Pacic Islands.

Mr LeLaulu said VUs academic depth and

wealth o experience in designing eective

tourism models and policies will help Pacic

island countries dene how to best harnesstourism to benet their communities.


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In Brief

GAmeS PArTnerSHIP

VU has been named a partner or the 2008

Australian University Games, an event thatwill attract more than 6000 a thletes rom 40

universities to Melbourne rom 28 September

to 3 October.

The Games are Australias largest annual

multi-sport event, with Olympic-standard

university athletes rom Australia and

neighbouring countries competing in a

riendly but competitive environment.

As one o only two university partners or the

event, VU students will be oered the rst

opportunities to do volunteer work placements

or the Games. VU will also enter about 300

competitors its largest contingent ever in

team and individual sports including athletics,

basketball, gol, cycling, netball, swimming,

tennis and volleyball.

VU is very proud and excited to partner an

event o this scale, VU Sport and Fitness

Manager, Tim Lee said.

VUs Footscray Park Campus will be the

site or the Games encing, kendo andtaekwondo competitions.

wAKe THe KIDS

Preliminary results rom VU research suggest

76 per cent o children sleep through theirsmoke alarm, with those aged between

5 and 10 years especiall y at risk.

Approximately hal the younger children who

wake up cannot identiy the smoke alarm

noise, and most children even teenagers

who wake are uncertain about whether

they should evacuate their house.

The research by VUs Proessor Dorothy Bruck

and Proessor Ian Thomas is part o their

Wake the Kids project, which called on

parents o children aged 515 to set o t heir

smoke alarms over the weekend that marked

the end o daylight saving, coinciding with

the Change Your Clock, Change Your Smoke

Alarm Battery campaigns.

The parents recorded online whether or not

the alarms woke t heir children. We nd many

parents are shocked to learn that their child

has slept through the smoke alarm, Proessor

Bruck said.

Latest research results can be viewed atwww.vu.edu.au/wakethekids.

foCUS on weST

Victoria University and The University o

Melbourne signed a groundbreaking agreementin May to jointly deliver new benets to

Melbournes rapidly growing west, which

has a strong demand or enhanced education,

health and community services.

The initial ocus o the agreement will be

nursing education and research; exercise

science/rehabilitation and physiotherapy;

health workorce; teacher education; and

educational transitions between school,

vocational, and higher education.

It will oer new pathways or students into

postgraduate education at both universities

and will be supported by new scholarships

oered by both universities.

Two years in the making, the agreement

gathered momentum with the planned

development o a teaching, training and

research acility at Sunshine Hospital.

The universities are committing $8 million

each to the $51 million project.

Partnerships are a key to the uture,said VU Vice-Chancellor Proessor Elizabeth

Harman. This agreement is about drawing

on the complementary strengths o our

two institutions.

ProorBrc singh o

th unirity oMlborn nvu ChncllorFrnk vincnt

co-ign thgronbrking

grmnt.


8/328

nt

y Mcrh prmirThe PriceFriendship.

erformance Studies

IN ThE drIVErS SEaTStudent Paddy Macraes shortlm on driver saety, The Priceof Friendship, has been runningin cinemas across Victoria all

year. Macrae directed the lmater winning $20,000 in aTAC lm script competition.Among budding lmmakers, Paddy Macrae is the envy o his peers.

Last year, while studying Perormance Studies in Victoria Universitys

Faculty o Arts and Human Development, Macrae won a spot in the

Victorian Transport Accident Commissions (TAC) Make a Film, Make

a Dierence competition that gives three young people $20,000each to make their own short lm about sae driving.

People in lm school would give their two ront teeth or this

experience, says Macrae. Its given me connections in the lm

industry, experience working with a proessional crew and media

exposure that I couldnt have had wit hout the TACs support.

Competition winners work closely with the TAC, as well as lm industry

mentors Mike Reed, rom MRPPP lm product ions, and Joe Connor o

Renegade Films. Together they help young lmmakers develop their

ideas and bring them to the big screen.Winners also receive a $5000 grant to assist their uture lm projects,

allowing emerging lmmakers to launch their careers and contribute

to their community.

Macraes short lm, The Price of Friendship, has been screening at major

cinemas across Victoria.

The VU Perormance Studies program encourages you to get out there

and be part o t he industry, says Macrae. I wouldnt have entered the

contest unless my lecturer had brought it to my attention.

Senior Perormance Studies lecturer Jude Walton says Macrae is an exampleo the type o student she looks orward to nurturing in the program.


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Py Mcr

(cntr) on twith hi twol ctor.

Performance Studies

We aim to help people who can go on to make work or t hemselves

in the utu re, she says.

Macrae says past TAC competition lms typically ocused on men

drink-driving, but notes authorities are alarmed at the increasing

number o women involved in reckless driving incidents.

He says he aimed to make his lms message resonate wit h

a broad audience, which is why he incorporated various elements

o irresponsible driving in the script, such as speed and peer pressure.

Framed within a stor y about buyi ng a new car, Macraes lm subverts

the cultural allure o hooning by ocusing on the moral accountability

o dangerous driving. In The Price of Friendship, a young man negotiates

with a demonic car salesman t o determine a air price or a new muscle

car. But the bartering is done in human currency ve university mates

and his girlriend.

Macrae says the Perormance Studies program is not just about acting

or dancing. Its varied, so it attracts a broad range o people and helps

them gure out what they want to do or a career by letting them try things

rom dierent disciplines.

Originally interested in acting, Macrae says the program helped him

develop his lm directing skills.

Capitalising on his early success, Macrae is now enrolled in the prestigious

three-year lm and television program at Swinburne University. He says

he wants to keep developing his lm skills so that he can continue to

produce his own material.

The aim o the annual TAC short lm compet ition is to encourage young

people to speak out among riends when aced with risky situations,or avoid them in the rst place.

In 2007, 28 per cent o Victorian d rivers kille d were between 18 and

25 years o age. A nd yet, this age group represents only 13 per cent

o Victorian licence holders.

For more inormation about the competition or to view past winning

lms, including Macraes, visit http ://www.mamad.com.au/

YANNICK THORAVAL


10/3210

Victoria University has inducted ormer basketball star Daniel (Danny)

Morseu into the Univer sity Spor t Hall o Fame or 2007.

Morseu completed his Bachelor o Arts (Recreation) at the Universitys

predecessor insti tution, Footscray Institute o Technology, in 1985.

Originally rom Thursday Island, Morseu was the rst Torres Strait

Islander to represent Australia at an Olympic Games. He was in the

starting ve at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and again in Los Angeles

in 1984. In all he played 27 times or Australia, represent ing his

country in 12 World Cup games as well as a t the Olympics.

Morseu completed Year 10 at t he Thursday Island High School in 1974.

In 1975 he travelled to Cairns to cont inue his schooling, then decided to

take a year o to work, and this decision led him in a dierent direction.

Morseu had always been good at sport. On Thursday Island he played

cricket, rugby, volleyball, athletics and basketball. He was tall and

wiry and played sport constantly. There was little coaching on ThursdayIsland, and sport could be casual the schools three-kilometre

cross-country race, or example, was run bareoot.

In Cairns Morseu used his spare time to practise and play basketball

and rugby league. He was provided with coaching and a more disciplined

approach to sport. Morseu fourished, and by the end o the year he

had enough condence to delay study and concentrate on basketball.

In 1976 Morseu was a reser ve player or the Aust ralian under 20s

team playing in the world championships in the Philippines. He was

also oered a place with the St Kilda basketball club in Melbourne.

In a 10-year National Basketball League (NBL) career Morseu played

in the leagues inaugural season in 1979 with the St Kilda Saint s (NBL

Champions 1979 and 1980), then moved to Geelong beore nishing

his career with the Brisbane Bullets or his t hird NBL title in 1987.

He continued playing basketball unti l 1994, ater which he coached.

VUs Manager Sport and Fitness, Tim Lee said: Danny is the most

accomplished indigenous basketballer to represent Australia and has

demonstrated superior leadership in crucial development programs

or children, adolescents, adults and large communities.

He is a member o both the Aboriginal and Islander NBL Sports Hallo Fame, the All Star NBL Teams 1980 and 1981, and in 2006 was

selected as one o VUs 90 Legends.

Morseu also kept busy o the basketball court.

Ater his graduation rom VU he worked briefy with the Victorian

Department o Sport and Recreation, beore moving to Brisbane to

work as a consultant with the Commonwealth Department o Aboriginal

Aairs. From 1990 to 2005 he worked or ATSIC, becoming regional

manager or Cape York and managing a multi-million dollar budget.

He is now based in Canberra working or Centrelink as a business

manager in the Indigenous Relations Division.

Morseu was induct ed in late 2007 by VU Chancellor The Hon.

Justice Frank Vincent at VUs Sport Awards presentations, at which

18 students and one oce bearer were also recognised or their sporting

achievements and/or service. Chie among these were the emale and

male Sports Per son o the Year Awards, which went to Stephanie Ng

(taekwondo) and Leigh Howlett (trampolining).

Previous inductees into the Victoria University Sport Hall o Fame:

Andrew Gaze (basketball) 2002

Mike McKay (rowing) 2003

Rebecca Sullivan (judo) 2004Larry Sengstock (basketball) 2005

Campbell Rose (sailing) 2006

ANTHONY LYNCH

port

lmni bktblln,nny Mor.

Slam-dUNkEd TO famE


11/3211

gamEjUNkIES

According to the stereotype, avid gamers are the geeks o the digital

era. They are painted as lonely nerds, living vicariously through virtual

personas because theyre unable to socialise like normal people.

But does this stereotype hold true?

Denitely not, according to Victoria Universitys Oce or Research

ethics ocer Dan Loton, who explored the notion o video game

addiction, and whether excessive gaming is related to social skills

and sel esteem, in his psychology honours thesis.

There is a great deal o anecdotal evidence about gaming addiction,

Loton says. But rom a clinical point o view, an addiction is a mentalillness with very serious consequences. In this context, we need to ask

whether gaming is responsible or causing peoples lives to all apart

in the same way we see with gambl ing, alcohol or drug addic tion.

For his thesis, Loton developed an online questionnaire that included

scales to measure social skills and sel esteem, as well as dependence-

orming electronic game play.

The characteristics that might dene a problem gamer would be

things like: an intrusive preoccupation with gaming; time spent playing

aecting work, sleep and close relationships; and a want to stop playing

but cannot, Loton says.

The gaming community embraced the study and Loton was able

to analyse 621 completed surveys. In t otal, around 15 per cent

o respondents were identi ed as problem gamers, spending more

than 50 hours a week playing games.

We ound that those who played Massively Multiplayer Online Role

Playing Games (MMORPGs), such as World o Warcrat, which currently

has over 10 million ee-paying monthly subscribers, were more likely t o

exhibit problematic game play. But what is important to note is that even

so-called problem gamers did not exhibit signicant signs o poor social

skills or low sel-esteem. Only one per cent o those identied as problemgamers appeared to have poor social skills specically shyness.

We also looked at whether problematic play is impelled by social

diculties by using a multiple regression analysis to see i high scores

on the social skills and sel esteem scales could predict problematic

playing scores. Our ndings strongly suggest that gaming doesnt cause

social problems, and socia l problems are not driving peop le to gaming.

Lotons ndings contradict statements made last year by the American

Medical Association (AMA), which labelled MMORPG gamers as

somewhat marginalised socially, perhaps experiencing high levels o

emotional loneliness and/or diculty with real lie social interactions.

The AMA is considering adding video game addiction to the Diagnosticand Statistical Manual of Mental D isordersat its next review in 2012.

Loton believes the AMAs reaction is based on scant research and that

urther study is required to explore the topic thoroughly.

The realit y is that nowadays ever yone is doing it, Loton says. A Bond

University study (as reported in The Ageonline, 31 January 2007) ound

that in Australia online gaming is more popular than downloading music

and internet shopping.

I gaming addiction is going to cause the downall o society, then

it must be a very slow-acting apocalyptic orce as it is already one

o societys most common and popular pastimes.

2007 Bond University study reference:

http://blogs .theage.com.au/screenpl ay/archives/004937.html

AMA report, Emotional and Behavioral Effects of Video Games

and Internet Overuse:

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/17694.html

CRAIG SCUTT

In atrlionlin gming

i morpoplr thnownloing

mic nintrnt

hopping.

Psychology

istockphoto.com/Ryan Rodgers


12/32


13/3213

Research

A report on the research is yet to be published but many o the ndings

have been backed up by other studies, including one by researchers

at Englands Brunel University. The Brunel researcher s surveyed 41

proessional jockeys and concluded wasting was likely to result insignicant mood disturbance and maladaptive behaviours and

attitudes towards eating.

Speeds jockey research earned her a nalist s place in the 2006

Department o Victorian Communities award or Applied Research

in Sport and Recreation Science.

For her latest study, she chose to widen the research net by investigating

the working conditions o thoroughbred horse trainers and stable

employees. The research was commissioned by Racing Victoria.

Almost 700 licensed Victorian trainers and stable employees took partin the study, providing unheralded insight into stable conditions. As with

the earlier jockey research, this study underscored anecdotal evidence

about poor working conditions.

Stable employees were ound to undertake extremely heavy workloads

and were routinely placing their physical, mental and social wellbeing

at risk. Many reported being paid below award rates and complained

they didnt have any documentation regarding the nancial details o

their employment.

Speeds report, The Health and Welare o Thoroughb red Horse Trainers

and Stable Employees, contained 33 recommendations or change in

areas such as education and training, occupational health and saety,

anti-bullying and harassment, and nancial security.

Launching the report last February, Racing Minister Rod Hulls said he

welcomed the reports candour, admitt ing the ndings were worrying.

He said the industry needed to attract and retain a skilled and

committed workorce, and improving the working conditions o stableemployees and trainers would help meet this goal.

Speed says it is rewarding to be able to do research that has a positive

impact on peoples lives.

Those who work in the racing industry have a tremendous passion,

which explains why many are prepared to endure the associated

hardships, she says.

What is most encouraging is that the industry recognises the need or

research to underpin the kind o changes that are necessary to ensure

sae and enjoyable working conditions prevail.Im just proud to be a part o i t.

Dr Harriet Speeds reports, The Welfare of Retired Jockeys and

The Health and Welfare of Thoroughbred Horse Trainers and Stable

Employees can be viewed at http://eprints.vu.edu.au/view/person/

Speed,_Harriet.html

CRAIG SCUTT

13

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hnr ovictorin jocky

to bnft romimpromnt to

th intry.


14/3214

ndustrial Skills

Teaching their children how to drive can be a parent s worst nightmare.

But a driver education program at Victoria Universitys Werribee Campus

can help mum and dad avoid the yelling and white knuckles.

The program has been running at VUs Industrial Skills Training Centre

or more than a decade. Driver education co-ordinator, Allen Black,

says the course is pitched at secondary school students just starting

to learn how to drive.

We do this program as a basic pre-learner course so the students

have some idea o what to do beore they get in the car wit h mum

or dad, says Black.

The teachers are qualied Industry Skills Training sta or proessional

driving instructors.

Students are taught on a state-o-the-art driving circuit that includes

signs, hills, corners, and reversing and parking areas.

Other driving schools may teach students to drive, but no one has this

kind o track acility to teach in a sae environment beore the learner gets

onto the road, says Black. It sets us apart rom other driving schools.

The centre runs two programs a 15-hour program including both

theory and practice, and a shorter 8-hour practical-only program.

We teach our students accelerating, turning, gear changing, angle

parking a whole range o t hings, says Black. We also have

quizzes in our theory classes.

Word has spread about t he innovative program, and more and more

students are lining up to get behind the wheel on the Werribee test

track beore they do the real thing on Victorias increasingly busy

roads. Fourteen local secondary schools have signed to the program,with students coming rom as ar as Melton and Bacchus Marsh.

School students develop basic driving skillsbeore they venture onto the highways.

Year 11 Mary MacKillop Secondary College st udent Simon Caras

says the course gave him a good start in learning to drive.

Costs star t rom $115 or the ull 15-hour course and $95 or the

8-hour course, and depend on the number o students enrolled.

By running the program, VU not only hopes to help secondary school

students develop basic driving skills beore they venture onto the

highways, but also give parents a smoother ride when out driving

with their teenage children behind the wheel.

DOMINIC DE BRUYN

Year 10 work experience student, St Bernards College, Essendon

STrEET SmarT

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rw Ccinottt) non Cr.


15/3215

ClImaTE Of ChaNgEClimate change may be a big picture problem with small picture

solutions. When large organisations go beyond rhetoric and act to

reduce their impact on the environment, they oten discover that good

environmental practice is in the details. One o Victoria Universityslatest environmental initiatives is joining the Greenfeet Program.

Greenfeet Australia is a not-or-prot organisation that ocuses on

reducing the impact o greenhouse gas emissions rom Australian

transport. At a cost o $40 per vehicle, Greenfeet plants native trees,

sucient to absorb the equivalent greenhouse gas produced by the

average car in one year. The trees also help s oil degradation, improve

water quality and provide essential habitat or native species.

Since 1997, Greenfeet has planted almost three million t rees on behal

o Australian motorists and businesses.

Rachael Keee, VUs Environmental Projects Ocer, says theUniversity has signed up its 102 feet vehicles to the Greenfeet program,

representing a saving o more than 440 tonnes o greenhouse gas

emissions per year. VU sta will soon be able to sign up their personal

vehicles with Greenfeet through salary sacrice.

Osetting carbon is just one o the many things VU is doing to protect

the environment, says Keee.

Among other initiatives, the University is replacing 50 single-fush

toilets with dual-fush toilets and installing 19 water-ecient urinals at

its Sunshine Campus. The units will save approximately 1488 kilolitres

o potable water per year, using almost 90 per cent less water than the

original toilets and urinals.

VU has also retrotted existing 36 watt fuorescent lights with 28 watt

energy ecient fuorescent tubes across a number o campuses. At the

Footscray Nicholson Campus alone, the new lights have reduced energy

consumption by nine per cent or 106,784 kw/h.

These programs a rent sexy, but they work, says Keee. I we are

serious about reducing our impact on the environment, we have to look

at ways o making every thing we do more ecient.

In 2007, VU p roduced 50,403 tonnes o CO2, an 8 per cent cut on 2006

levels, primarily because o environmental initiatives rolled out across

campuses and despit e an 11 per cent increase in student numbers and

numerous capital works projects.

VU is set to meet it s 10 per cent reduction o CO2 by 2009, as outlined

in its agreement with the Australian Greenhouse Oce.

In the spirit o personal accountability, VUs Vice-Chancellor, Elizabeth Harman,

recently switched her car to an environmentally-riendly Toyota Prius hybrid.

With drought and water shortages threatening to persist, water has

become something o a cause clbre. VU has met the challenge across

several research ronts.

The Werribee Centre or Sustai nable Water Use at VUs Werribee

Campus is ocused on developing water and wastewater treatment

technologies or use in the near and long-term uture. Earlier this year,

the State Government granted $1 million over ve year s towards the

Centre. VU has committed a urther $3.6 million.

VUs Institute or Sustainability and Innovation has been granted

$135,000 over our years under t he Australian Research Councils

(ARC) Linkage Projects scheme to lead research into a low energy

desalination alternative.

VU has also received $575,000 rom the Victorian GovernmentsSmart Water Fund or a range o other water sustainability projects.

YANNICK THORAVAL

Sustainability

vu i t to mtit 10 pr cnt

rction o CO2by 2009.

istockphoto.com/Karl Dolenc


16/32

ale

CrEIghTON BUrNS aO

19252008Creighton Burns AO, inaugural Chancellor o Victoria University,

died in January at Melbournes Cabrini Hospital ollowing a long illness.

He was aged 82.

In 1990 Burns was appointed rst Chancellor o Victoria University o

Technology. He oversaw the amalgamation o the Western Institute and

Footscray Institute o Technology, and dealt with the considerable strains

the amalgamation process produced. Burns commitment was inspired by

his appreciation or the education he received at university ater his war

service. He believed the people o western Melbourne deserved similar

access to university education.

Burns held the posit ion until 1994 when he resigned because, as awidower, he wanted to devote more time to his two young children.

In recognition o his service, in 1995 Victoria University awarded Burns

an Honorary Doctor o Letters.

Educated at Scotch College in Melbourne, Burns became a cadet reporter

at the Sun News Pictorialater nishing school in 1941. The ollowing

year, when he turned 17, Burns enlist ed in the Royal Australian Navy,

serving until 1945. Directly ater World War II he enrolled at t he

University o Melbourne where he completed a rst class honours degree

in Art s in 1948. Burns was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, and in 1951

graduated rom Oxord with rst cl ass honours. During 1951 to 1952

he was Nueld Scholar at Oxord.

He returned to Australia in 1953 to lecture at the Canberra University

College (then aliated with Melbourne University).

Later in 1953 Burns moved to Melbourne to teach at Melbour ne

University, becoming Reader in Political Science. During this period he

wrote two books. Parties and People: A Survey Based on the La Trobe

Electorate(1961) analysed social considerations le ading to voting

patterns. The Tait Case(1962) analysed the case o Robert Tait,

who in 1959 was sentenced by a Victorian Court to hang.

But Burns will be remembered by most as a ormer editor o The Age

newspaper.

In 1964 Burns was o ered work atThe Ageas South-East Asian

correspondent. Ater three years in this role he was appointed diplomatic

and deence correspondent. By 1975 he had risen t o become The Ages

Washington correspondent.

Burns was employed atThe Ageduring a period o intense debate about

social issues. He ound encouraging community debate rewarding andchallenging. With regard to politicians, he saw the role o the paper as to

put their eet in the re to ask the questions they would rather not be

asked. Burns took this philosophy into his role as editor o the paper, a position

he held rom 1981 to 1989.

In 1991 he was made an Ocer o t he Order o Aust ralia in recognition

o service to the media and to international relations.

At his Victoria University o Technology inauguration speech, Burns

identied the need or the new University to pursue the path to truth

and excellence, and proposed three methods to achieve this: scholarly

precept, masterly demonstration and Socratic enquiry.

Following Burns death, Victoria University Acting Vice-Chancellor

Proessor John McCallum said Burns had made an enormous contribution

to the University.

He is survived by his companion Natasha Davies and children Creighton

(Tam), David, Rebecca and Jonathan.

ANTHONY LYNCH

ingrlncllor,ighton Brn,

hi itork t The Age.

1616 Photo: Fairaxphotos


17/32

Community Engagement

EmpOWErINg

rEfUgEESThe old parable that giving someone a sh eeds them or a day but

teaching them to sh eeds them or a lietime aptly describes Victoria

Universitys approach to community engagement.

None more so than VUs work with local community and government

partners to support the growing number o newly-arrived reugees

rom the Horn o Arica who are set tling in Melbournes west.

The work was so successul that it won the national prize or best

2007 community engagement collaboration rom the Business Higher

Education Roundtable (BHERT).

The Horn o Arica reers to the north eastern part o the continentand includes the countries o Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia.

Signicant numbers o settlers began coming to Australia rom those

countries in 1984 when war and amine devastated t he region.

Today there are more than 20,000 Horn o Arica settlers living in Victoria.

This is a community with particular needs, says Elleni Bereded,

who co-ounded the collaboration program and works as community

engagement co-ordinator at VUs Oce or Community Engagement.

Bereded is also a member o the Victorian Multicultural Commission and

a member o the Federal Governments Australian Social Inclusion Board.

Some people arrive having never been t o a city, or have children who

were born in reugee camps and have never been to school, says Bereded.In those circumstances, its grassroots action that provides real support.

The idea is to work with service providers to identiy peoples needs,

and then work to help support and empower them so they can make their

own decisions, and become happy citizens who can part icipate in society.

An estimated 70 per cent o reugees coming to Australia rom the

Horn o Arica have experienced some orm o torture, including rape

and physical assault. Many reugees have been traumatised by the

authorities in their home countries, including the police.

As part o the collaboration, Victoria Police participate in a crime-prevention

project where local ocers introduce themselves to reugee communities

and inorm migrants about the role o Australian police in local communities.

The idea is that reugees slowly build a comort and trust with the

police, says Bereded.

In 2007, twenty-ve Horn o Arica students studying VUs Diploma

o Business (Legal Administration) visited the Victoria Police Academy

to meet with the multicultural police unit.

Many o these students had negative views about the police and

courts because o their experiences in their home countries, says

program manager Robert Sheen. The course is changing the students

perceptions about the police and courts systems in Australia.

VUs project partners include the Horn o Arica Community Network,

Centacare Catholic Family Services, Western English Language School,

Western Bulldogs, Victorian Multicultural Commission, Sunshine

Magistrates Court as well as Victoria Police.

The Australia-wide BHERT awards recognise outstanding achievements

in collaboration between business and higher education, and aim to

enhance links between industries and universities at a national level.

This is rst time in its 20-year history that BHERT has oered an award

or Best Community Engagement Collaboration.

Its a signicant award, says Bereded. It demonstrates that VU leads

in community engagement in Australia.

YANNICK THORAVAL

snior ContblJ Ril n

vu Horn oaric tnt

on thir wyto th victori

Polic acmy.

17


18/3218

gOUrmET SECrETSMelbourne is widely known as Australias restaurant capital. But amidits casual caes, unique bistros, and ne-dining venues is a group orestaurants that remain almost unknown.

Melbournes best kept gourmet secrets are Victoria Universitys threetraining restaurants: Cityscape at Footscray Park Campus; The Terraceat Footscray Nicholson Campus; and Victorias at Sunbury Campus.For years, the three have played leading roles in developing the nextgeneration o hospitality high-fiers.

Students work diligently under the supervision o master ches andmanagement tutors to produce and serve inspired ood in elegantsurroundings all at astonishingly low prices.

Susan Gillett, head o VUs School o Hospitality, Tourism and Marketing,

says students aiming or careers in hospitality and tourism receive invaluabletraining by working in authentic restaurants with paying customers.

The training restaurants are vital because students enter the industrywith a set o skill s and gain the condence t hat comes only rom doing.

A broad cross-section o customers includes VU academics and sta,members o the public and a sprinkling o students seeking a break romcaeteria ood. Even occasional VIPs, such as East Timor President JosRamos-Horta, have dined at VU.

Trainees come rom both Australia and overseas, and range rom highschool students doing vocational education through to those undertaking

masters degrees.

Students are not paid, tips go to charity, and any prots are returned

to the training programs.Victorias Restaurant and Event Centre is located in a heritage-listed

bluestone building that was once a small hospital. VET and TAFE

students practise in its modern training kitchen and elegant dining

room, serving both lunches and evening meals.

Students there are taught the art o silver service, learning to

meticulously dish out ood at the table with a ork and spoon.

Program manager Teresa Signorello said silver service ts Victorias

high-class dining atmosphere.

It might not be used very oten in the outside world, but its something

extra the students can put on their resumes.

The Terrace has a less ormal, Mediterranean dcor and operates as

a training acility or TAFE students working toward certicates, diplomas

or advanced diplomas.

They are kept busy by a recent addition to the menu: a daily express

lunch, with the unbeatable price o $6 or the ches choice.

The Terraces stainless-steel training kitchen includes 20 individual work

stations and large preparation areas. Pictures o illustrious alumni who

have become successul ches in local and overseas restaurants are

eatured in a Hall o Fame gallery.

ospitality

tnti thirpitlityningthntic

trnt.


19/3219

Hospitality

Katherine Maher, 21, a second-year commercial cooker y student, became

hooked on cooking ater taking an introductory course in the US.Id like to have my own ca one day, and VU is gi ving me excellent

training, she says.

Cityscape, with its stunning th-foor views o Melbourne, oers ront-

o-house training or higher education students, who are mostly aspiring

to management positions in restaurants, hotels or resorts. Students are

generally in their second year o an undergraduate degree and spend

a day a week at Cityscape learning ood and beverage practices.

Cityscape restaurant manager Pat Hasenrader says students are taught

a range o restaurant skills including coee-making, stock control, ood

service skills, sta rostering, drink-mixing and customer relations.As with The Terrace, diners can select rom a casual or an la carte menu,

eaturing a balance o classic and contemporary cuisine. An internationally

ocused menu currently includes lamb korma and teriyaki salmon

shcakes, and or dessert, crme brule and roasted ruits in syrup.

Wan Yang, 20, is in her second year o a Bachelor o Hospitality

Management degree. When she completes her educat ion, she plans

to return to China and l aunch a career as a hotel manager.

The hospitality industry in China is not as developed as in Australia,

and VU is giving me broad training to use back home, says Yang.

The training restaurants are the jewels in the crown o VU Australias

longest established provider o tourism and hospitality degrees andprograms. VU has won many state and national awards or tourism

education and industry training, and been inducted into the industrys

National Hall o Fame.

This is a result o the Universitys close ties with business and industry.

Beginning next year, the hospitality school will strengthen its ties with

Sotel, now part o t he worlds largest hotel group, Accor.

The University will run the hotels prestigious Academy Sotel, Victorias

only hospitality training academy within a ve-star hotel.

The strategic relationship means VU diploma students will experience

all acets o the hotel business with as much as 40 per cent o their

training done in the workplace and be able to articulate more easily

into degree programs.

Reservations: Cityscape 9919 4556; The Terrace 9919 8708;

Victorias 9919 3300.

ANN MARIE ANGEBRANDT

Mnyvu tnt

bcomccl ch

t orrtrnt.


20/32

quity

a lONg jOUrNEyAt important Victoria University events, Karen Jackson is requently

asked to deliver a welcome acknowledging the Elders, amilies and

orebears o the Wurundjeri and Boonwurrung tribes o the Kulin Nation

who were the custodians o Uni versity land or many centuries.

As a matter o policy, every major event at VU starts with this

acknowledgment.

And the regular choice o Jackson to make this acknowledgment is apt.

Not only is Jackson the Indigenous Services Co-ordinator at VUs Moondani

Balluk Indigenous Academic Unit which delivers the Bachelor o Arts

(Kyinandoo) program or Indigenous students in October 2006 she was

appointed to the new Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council as part o an

11-member panel to advise t he State Government on cultura l heritage.

Jackson is a Yorta Yorta, Barap Barap woman with broad experience in

Indigenous aairs. She has worked at VU or the past 12 years and livedin the western subur bs o Melbourne or 14 years.

A rm believer in the ideals o sel-determination and sel-management

or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Jackson works with

Indigenous individuals, amilies and community organisations. She

develops culturally appropriate policy and programs, and helps orm

partnerships between VU and outside organisations. Finance, student

support and pastoral care at times also come under her radar.

She is committed to the struggle or recognition o Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander heritage and rights to land, and to the process

o reconciliation. Her work with the heritage council puts these concernsto a very pract ical end, though she says t he task is ot en dicult.

The basic premise is that traditional owners need to have ownership o

their cultur al heritage, Jackson says. But theres a lot o overlap ... we

have to work out who the traditional owners are. This is in addition to

dealing with councils, developers and other parties who have a stake inwhat becomes o land.

Jackson is also a board member o the Ilbijerri Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander Theatre Co-operative, which promotes storytelling about

Indigenous culture and heritage, and a member o the Victorian Equal

Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.

Jackson grew up in Thornton, a small t own near Lake Eildon. As

a teenager, my amily moved to Frankston where by chance I met

Aboriginal activists Gary Foley and Robbie Thorpe at a local community

event and my interest in Aboriginal aairs began.

In her early 20s she began work at the Department o Social Security in theAboriginal Aairs Unit. She has been involved in Aboriginal aairs ever since.

Last year Jackson was awarded a Vice-Chancellors Citation or

Outstanding Engagement in recognition o her work promoting equality

or Indigenous people both at VU and in the wider community.

She believes the Federal Governments recent apology to Ind igenous

Australians, preceded by the Indigenous Welcome to Country or the

opening o Parliament, was brilliant .

Its one o the best things that has happened or a very long time.

It made me eel proud.

The apology gave a depth o meaning to those who have been stolen.

Nearly every Aboriginal community has been aected. It has allowed

people to openly grieve. People didnt know what to do with their grie,

their loss. Its okay [now] to s ay youre grieving.

When Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the apology, Jackson was

with sta o Moondani Balluk as well as riends, many o whom were

either rom the Stolen Generations or rom aected amilies. She ound

the day an emotional, draining one.

At the end o the day we were completely worn out. There was

happiness, and sadnes s. The whole lot.

Victoria University Vice-Chancellor Proessor Elizabeth Harman supported

the Prime Ministers apology, saying that Saying sorry is an important

rst step towards true reconciliation and the establishment o equal

opportunity or all Australians.

While VU has long supported Indigenous heritage and reconciliation in 2001

the University released its own Reconciliation Statement. Jackson believes

the apology and the events leading up to it have given a new impetus.

In terms o work, the University itsel has seemed to understand

a bit more, and has given more latitude at a higher level about what

Aboriginal people want. Its a tur ning point.

ANTHONY LYNCH

n Jckon;mmitt to

proc ooncilition.

20


21/32

Alumni

fOOTBall laWyErVictoria University law graduate Wayne Henwood sees enormous

similarities between his years as a proessional Australian Rules

ootball player and his new career as a lawyer.

You cant aord to be unprepared at court or on the eld because

you get ound out, Henwood says. You have a judge in both cases,

and a critical audience whether its the crowd or a jur y.

The rare combination o proessional ootballer and barrister gives him

an exceptional background to sit as a member o the AFL Tribunal,

helping to interpret and enorce the rules o the game, and discipline

players i necessary.

The tribunal is not as ormal as a law court, but it serves a similar

purpose, Henwood says. We use a combination o video and viva

voceevidence or inormation directly rom the players mouths.

The Latin legal-speak comes easily to Henwood, who was admitted

to the Victorian Bar in 2005 ater graduating rom VUs Law School as

a mature-age student in 2004. But it took a massive change in mindset

and powerul resolve or him to reach that stage o his proessional lie.

Initially it was extremely hard getting my head around law, and

I enrolled in some English subjects to help write all the papers, he says.

He was also working ull time as a paralegal with Melbourne law rm

Keogh & Co, which specialises i n commercial law.

The 46 year old was determined to keep pace with the younger up-and-coming

lawyers in his classes. Volunteering to take part in the Law Schools

moot court training on top o his studies provided the vital groundworkor the broad range o law he now practises, which includes criminal

trials, commercial litigation and amily law.

VU law teacher Bruno Zeller says Henwood showed the extra

determination displayed by many o VUs mature-aged law students.

About 40 per cent o our law students are like Wayne and embarkingon a new career, Zeller says. They know what t hey want and know

they cant aord to ail.

Henwoods drive to succeed at law was oreshadowed during his ea rly

years as an AFL ootba ller. He played more than 200 games in his home

state o South Australia, being selected to represent his state in three

State o Origin matches. He went on to play or the Sydney Swans

rom 1987 to 1991, and the Melbourne Demons in 1992.

Ater eight years as managing director o a ood export company,

Henwood started his university studies at James Cook University

in Cairns. He heard about VUs then- new law school and came down

to Melbourne to check it out.

I had an interest in law and was impressed that VU taught law in the

heart o Melbournes legal and business dis trict, he says. He applied

to study a law degree and was accepted.

Henwood is now a sessional teacher at t he law school, teaching a broad

range o topics to a generation o young law students like those who

had motivated him t o excel when he was a student himsel.

Waynes next challenge is to under take a PhD at VU, ocusing on perhaps

the AFL Tribunal or drugs in sports.

I cant tell you how or why I eel the need to continuall y test mysel,I just want to be good, he says. What else am I going to do sit

under a palm tree all day?


Formr aFLplyr trn

lwyr,Wyn Hnwoo,

now it on th

aFL Tribnl.

21


22/3222

earning Commons

lEarNINg SpaCE

ChaNgINg faCEIt used to be that students werent studying unless they were sitting

quietly by themselves. Times have changed.

Technology and interaction are now part o the modern educational

experience. Computers, the internet and online resources are redening

the learning environment, and todays learning spaces need to refect

those changes.

Victoria Universitys learning commons are part o VUs answer to the

educational needs o its students in the 21st century. Inormed by the

latest international educational theory and practice, learning commons

combine libraries with IT and learning support services to create dynamic

environments or teaching and learning.

Learning commons are already established at three VU campuses: St Albans,

City Flinders and Werribee. University librarian, Philip Kent, says library

use at City Flinders Campus is up 60 per cent since the introduction o

a commons in 2006.

Kent says VUs improvement on the traditional library s chema is attracting

visitors rom Australia and overseas. Most recent visitors include a group

o senior library sta rom the University o Hiroshima, Japan, who heard

about VUs learning commons at an international education conerence

and wanted to experience the acility or themselves. VU partners in

Beijing have also taken a keen int erest in the commons.In addition to oering traditional library collections and services, learning

commons are a one-stop-shop or learning support. They provide computing

services, a mix o group and independent study spaces, learning support

services as well as ood and caes to encourage social learning.

A unique component o the commons is VU st udent rovers who provide

peer mentoring support to students in the acility.

Rovers bridge the communication between students and sta, says

Melissa Cameron, an education major in her nal year o study, who has

worked as a rover at several VU campuses or the past three semesters.

Sometimes well be in the commons and see a student getting

rustrated with something, says Cameron. Maybe theyre having

trouble logging on to a computer or having diculty nding a source and

theyre getting ready to pack their bags and go home. We can help them

work through their issue so they get more out o being in the acility.

Students are expected to gure a lot o things out or themselves at

university rovers help make that process a bit easier. Helping students

is also directly related to my studies in education.

VUs busiest campus, Footscray Park, is next in line or a learning

commons. The iconic $55.2 million project acing the Maribyrnong

River will create 1300 learning spaces, seven large-scale collaborative

teaching spaces and an engaging mix o social and study areas at the

heart o the campus. Designed by award-winning John Wardle Architects,

the complex will be completed in 2010.

Learning commons are part o the Universitys response to the changing

needs o todays ast-paced study and work environments, and are parto VUs overall commitment to help its students be uture, work and

career ready.

YANNICK THORAVAL

Lrningmmonst albnmp.

Photo: Shannon McGrath


23/32

Building and Construction

Bill Prinjoy th

iw rom thWillimtownsiling Clb.

NOahS prIdE

The middle-aged men who meet at Victoria Universitys Newport Campus

every Tuesday night spend their days in routine jobs like accountants,

computer specialists and pharmacists.

But once a week, they don tradesmens overalls to learn the painstaking

skills o traditional wooden boatbuilding, and in so doing help preserve

an ancient crat.

The teacher they come to learn rom is 80-year-old Bill Pride,

a man with a never-ending source o nautical knowledge acquired

rom a lietime o living and working around ports and boats.

Known widely or his disti nguished community work in Melbournes

west especially in his beloved Williamstown the grandather o

three was bestowed a Medal o the Order o Australia as part o this

years Australia Day celebrations or his service to sailing, particularly

the development and promotion o the sport, to Australian Rules

ootball and to the community o Hobsons Bay.

Its a great honour, but Im still embarrassed by all t hat, he says.

Bill retired in 1988 ater 30 years as a shipbuilder and manager with the Port

o Melbourne Authority, but remains young-at-heart with his active schedule.

As Willi amstown Sailing Club Commodore rom 1966 to 1981,

Bill introduced a popular learn-t o-sail p rogram in 1974, now taught

Victoria-wide. Ater 48 years as a member, the club has become hissecond home. His other home a bay-side cottage he has lived in

since 1958 came with his job when he rs t moved to Melbourne.

Bill still visits the club almost daily. He assists other members with boat

repairs, has helped his grandchildren each build their own boat, and gets

on the bay to sh as oten as he can.

It was natural that a man so highly knowledgeable with boats and

respected in the port business would be invited to teach VUs Advanced

Boatbuilding hobby class, his labour o love or t he past 12 years.

Students come rom as ar away as Barwon Heads on Victorias south

coast. A lot o the people in my classes have had no experience using

their hands and no idea what boat they want to bu ild, he says.

Everything is done by hand, rom drawing up plans on giant sheets o

paper to sotening timber planks in a steam box and hand-planing oars.

Most choose to build a version o a round-bottom ski, constructing

it rom hoop pine with traditional clinker construction and copper nails.

A ew build canoes, dingys, speedboats or more elaborate coota boats

a broad, 19th Century open sailing boat. All boats are shorter than 14 eet.

The average student takes three years to complete their course, given

they have only a ew hours a week to work on their project. Williamstownaccountant Rod Page has been in Bills class or 11 years, and is now

working on his second boat.

Most o us have never built anything i n our lives, Rod says. There are

good nights and bad nights, but patience is your greatest attribute in here.

Bill jokes about those ew students who are utterly hopeless with their

hands, and gets them to build model boats beore they start on the real

thing. He has also been known to come early to class to x up mistakesbeore his students arrive.

Word has spread about Bills course. He can onl y teach 16 at a t ime,

so his waiting list o hopeuls must wait about two years.

Boatbuilding is a crat that has been around as long as Noah,

Bill says. Its important that someone helps pass these skills along.



24/3224

xercise Rehabilitation

faT aNd fITPam Nelson does not look like a t ypically t person. At 122 kilograms

and 177 centimetres, she carries about 45 kilograms more than she

should to be classied as healthy. But she is.

The 37-year-old graduate o Victoria Universitys recreation management

program is now a training direc tor or the YMCA in Victoria. She exercises

at least seven hours a week by running, walking, swimming, working

out in the gym or teaching water aerobics.

No matter how much I exercise, I dont lose weight, she says.So perhaps this is the size my body is most comortable. My size

has never really bothered me and weight los s is not my goal.

VU proessor o clinical exercise physiology, Dr Steve Selig, applauds

Nelsons attitude. He says more overweight people who are trying to

improve their health should throw away their bathroom scales and

orget about looking like catwalk models.

We cant make assumptions about peoples health or tness based

on their looks because at people can be t, he says.

Selig, who conducted strenuous physical testing with Nelson at VUs

Exercise Rehabilitation Clinic at Footscray Park Campus, says that due

to her regular exercise, Nelsons tness is above average compared

with women o all body types in her age group.

His research shows that i previously sedentary overweight people do

as little as 30 minutes a day o exercise, they can substantially improvetheir health even i t hey do not lose weight.

They can reduce stores o abdominal and limb at, raise their metabolic

rate by increasing muscle size and activity, reduce cholesterol and

improve the bodys capacity to handle sugar all o which serve

to reduce the risk o diabetes, heart attacks and strokes, he says.

st slig,ryingtt on

m Nlon.


25/3225

Exercise Rehabilitation

Commercial weight loss products and Biggest Loser-style television

shows send unrealistic and oten unachievable messages to heavy people.

Big people are bombarded with success stories like someone losing

17 kilos in 15 weeks and they thi nk they should be capable o the same.

But improvements to their tness, and physical and mental health should

be their real measures o success.

Paradoxically, once heavy people start exercising and eating sensibly

they will likely lose weight gradually anyway.

Dr Selig says creative thinking is necessary to tackle the challenges

modern lie poses to our health. It doesnt really matter how we get

exercise, just that we get it. We could walk part way to work, take the

stairs instead o the lit, or even hold an active meeting where people

talk and walk.

Pm Nlon ndr st slig

wlk bi thMribyrnong

Rir tFootcry Prk.

While the science o exercise physiology has been around or decades,

its recognition has increased rapidly since it was accepted as a Medicare

claimable service in 2006.

Selig and his postgraduate students now gain valuable experience by

oering their services to members o the public who want to prevent

or manage chronic conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure

through exercise.

Some clients come in with the goal o quick weight loss, but I tryto change their thinking so they ocus instead on a lietime goal o

improved tness, says Selig.



26/3226

kNOW ThESCOrE

ostgraduate Research

Its the 2010 AFL Grand Final. Ten seconds are let i n the nal quar ter

and the scores are neck and neck. Akermanis gets the ball outside the 50

metre circle. Cooney runs to the top o the goal square. Three Geelong

players are closing in on him. Should Aka kick or goal or pass to Cooney?

Making tough decisions under pressure is a hard skill to master.

Thats why VU researchers are working with the Western Bulldogs to

improve player decision making. By understanding player psychology

the VU team is developing innovative interventions that will make

a dierence where it matters most out on the eld.We have world-class people working with us rom Victoria University

who are at the top o t heir eld, says Bulldog development manager

Brad Gotch. You can have as much inormat ion as you like, but then

you have to have the resources to apply that inormation.

VUs partnership with the Western Bulldogs is just one o the exciting

initiatives where VU researchers are leading the pack.

In 2006 the Universitys Institute or Sustainability and Innovation opened

its $4.3 million Centre or Sustainable Water Use based at the Werribee

Campus. Both the institute and the centre are at the pinnacle o

developing new technologies that will increase water recycling in indust ryand signicantly help to reduce the impact o drought and climate change.

As one o only eight dual-sector universities in Australia, VU has special

links with industry and the community, particularly in t he western region

o Melbourne. These links are a antastic resource or researchers who

want to produce work that is locally relevant and internationally signicant.

What you choose to study is limited only by your imagination.

Current VU researchers are using virtual worlds to break down barriers

in education, harnessing the power o Game Theory to develop legal

decision support sotware, and powering our understanding o climate

change rom an economic perspective.

Higher degrees by research are the pinnacl e o academic achievement.

Whether youre studying or a masters, a doctor o philosophy or a

proessional doctorate degree, such as doctor o education or doctor o

business administration, VU will help you perorm at the top o your game.

VU students benet rom regular support and inormation sessions

covering all bases rom planning your thesis and time management to

preparing or graduation. Early career researchers are eligible to apply or

the Universitys Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Scheme, which in 2008

oered 13 ellowships, each with a st art-up grant o $12,000. You can

apply or the Universitys Researcher Development Grant Scheme, which

oers up to $30,000 or quality one-year research projects.

Our acilities are up there with the best and each VU campus has its own

library plus extensive online cataloguing services to ensure you can ndinormation quickly and easily.

Now is an exciting time to become a par t o VU.

Our primary areas o research investment are:

sports science, rehabilitati on and exercise

sustainable environmental technologies in water treatment and

building construction

social inclusion, cultural diversity and wellbeing in the workplace and

the community

applied economics

e-research and data mining.

Our growing research capabilities include:

packaging and food technology

telecommunicati ons and sensor technologies

educational access through schools, and vocational and work-based learning

logistics, transport and supply chain management.

I you are ready or the cha llenge o a higher degree by research then

check out your options at:

www.vu.edu.au/research and www.vu.edu.au/Future_Students

or email [email protected]

CRAIG SCUTT

logr plyron ackrmni,ot to mk cl ciion.

Photo: GSP Images


27/32


28/32

BaTTINgfOr grEEN

Greg Dingle argues that the uture viabilityo proessional and amateur sports willbe determined by the headway the sectormakes in reducing its reliance on pollutingand increasingly scarce resources.

Footy ans would probably nominate the AFLs push to expand to the

Gold Coast and Western Sydney as t he biggest move on the leagues

horizon. But behind the scenes at AFL House plans or an equally

signicant change to the shape o ootball are already well advanced.

By next year, long beore the Swans will have to compete or spectators

with a second team in Sydney, the AFL will be o sett ing 120,000

tonnes o greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced at venues such as

the MCG and by players, ans and administrators.

The leagues Green program places it at the oreront o the sporting worlds

initiatives to adapt to climate change. The shit to an environmentally

sustainable uture is in response to the sporting industrys dependence

on ossil uels and humanitys need to limit global warming.

Why sport especially? First, sport has large carbon and water inputs. Manyteam sports in Australia are played on large elds usually well-watered

and foodlit. Elite sport is mostly played in concrete stadiums. These actors

alone present the sporting industry with some mighty challenges.

Rainall in southern Australia has allen by up to 25 per cent during the

past 40 years. Its predicted the big dry will only get worse because o

global warming. Competition or water is becoming increasingly erceand water scarcity has already had an impact on some community sport

across the nation.

Concrete is problematic too: cement production contributes about 3.8

per cent o global GHG emissions. As or those towering banks o high-

voltage stadium lighting, they are mostly powered by coal-burning power

stations that produce some o the highest concentrations o GHGs. At

the elite-level, players, ocials and spectators also drive or fy to these

venues, an added greenhouse burden.

The list o environmental concerns doesnt stop there. Equipment such

as ootwear, balls, bats, hockey sticks and tennis rackets contain largeamounts o plastics and rubber, produced mainly rom crude oil, a

globally depleting energy source. The same goes or accessories such

as protective gloves, whistles, goggles, swimming caps, witches hats,

timers, goalposts and mouthguards.

With global production o oil expected to peak in the next thirty years,

and global warming caused by GHGs predicted to increase temperatures

by at least two degrees Celsius, the sporting industry has no alternative

but to adapt.

As Aaron Smith and Hans Westerbeek suggest in their book, The Sport

Business Future, sport is already greening its outlook. Sport is not onlyenvironmentally conscious today because it represents a potential threat,

it is also green because it is one o the greatest marketing vehicles ever

known, they write.

There are eight areas in which sport must consider changes: emissions,

energy, people, waste, technology, transport, insurance and water.

pinion

g dingl:o porting cnp thqncgloblrming.


29/32

emiion

There are likely to be three main approaches to discouraging demand or

carbon energy: education, carbon emissions trading and carbon taxes.

Education has already commenced as governments encourage consumers

to reduce power consumption. The nat ional Emission Trading Scheme

(ETS) star ts in 2010 and carbon taxes may ollow.

enrgy

Sporting organisations will be bound by state and ederal laws that have

set mandatory renewable energy targets.

Popl

Sports administrators and sta will also need to become skilled insustainable management. Sta will need to be able to adapt to market

signals such as carbon taxes and minimise them, manage carbon

budgets and keep their organisations carbon-neutral. Some may

even need to manage trade in carbon markets.

Wt

Waste reduction and recycling, especially o water, will become more

commonplace. Sporting groups will need to be aware o environmentally

riendly materials and production methods or sporting equipment.

Tchnology

Technology used in venues and administration will also change.Energy eciency and water eciency are essential in a carbon-constrained

21stcentury, and technology used in sport will need to incorporate both.

Trnport

Sport stadiums need to be located near high-quality public transport.

This is equally true o community level sport. Think, or example,

o club cricket in Australia: every cricket season, thousands o cricketers

drive to cricket grounds, emitting GHGs rom their cars as they do.

This carbon-intensive behaviour needs to be substituted with t ravel

by public transport that has lower carbon inputs per capita.

Inrnc

The increased risk o drought, bushre and extreme weather conditions

are already actors considered by insurance assessors. There are cost

implications or sporting organisations located in high-risk areas.

Wtr

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that an increase

in average global temperature o up to one degree Celsius could result

in a decrease in Melbournes water supply o between 3 and 11 per cent.

In such circumstances sport would not be immune rom pressures to

conserve water. The use o recycled water or sports elds or o low-water

or no-water suraces is likely.

As we enter the 21st Century, no sporting code can escape the

consequences o global warming and the ramicat ions o global peak oil.

Greg Dingle is a lecturer in VUs School of Human Movement,

Recreation and Performance.

Opinion

sportgroncro othrnatrli hbn ct

by pritntlylow rinll.

Photo: Joe Armao/Fairaxphotos


30/3230

Linh Le let Vietnam on an illegal shing boat more than 25 years ago,

knowing she was gambling her lie and might never see her amily again.

When she returned to Sai gon last year, she proudly showed her

relatives her stor y, published in an anthology o womens writing,

Extraordinary Women, a collection o stories and images o migration,

childhood, riendship, ood, memories and love.

My amily was very surprised t o see I am in a book, says Linh,

now 51and living with her two Australia-born children. It remindsme it is important to remember everything in the past.

Her extract describes a dream o a mysterious uneral she had soon

ater arriving in Australia, then her heartbreak when her mother mailed

her news that her ather had been killed in an accident.

Linh is a student at Victoria University, where she has been studying

English or nearly two years.

She was one o 50 women rom Melbournes west involved with the

book, published in late 2007 as a community project. Contributors

included students rom VUs Womens Education Programs unit, teenage

girls rom Braybrook Secondary College, members o a young mothersgroup in Sunshine and individuals rom the local community.

Extraordinary Womenincludes stories, poems and interviews, and is

illustrated with black and white photos o the women and their amilies.

Madeline Ford, a teacher in the Womens Education Programs in the

School o General Education Programs, says the project oered her

students a chance to tell their own stories while improving their literacy

and communication skills.

The VU women participated in themed workshops over a ten-week

period, where they discussed, read, wrote, then workshopped their

contributions. Themes include childhood memories, ood, smells

and tastes, school, special people, gender roles, and estivals and

celebrations. Several students all migrants or reugees like Linh

proved to be natural storytellers.

They didnt really know what the end product would be, saysMadeline. Many were surprised and proud at the result and wanted

to get more copies o the book t o send overseas.

Linh and ellow student, Sophie Ngo, spoke at the book launch last

November. It was really moving to see them beore a large audience

discussing their experiences, and they were antastic, says Madeline.

Margaret Yar, 40, a mother o seven rom Sudan, wrote t wo essays,

one about women in Arica, and the second about the importance

to her early lie o the basic ood grain, millet.

The book helps us think back to where we came rom and compare

it to the lives we have now, says Margaret.Project acilitator, Paola Bilbrough, a youth worker and artist with

Melbourne Citymission, says the VU womens experiences oered

positive role models or t he projects younger women.

The book suggests there are a whole lot o ways to lead your

lie, and a range o lie experi ences that make you who you are,

says Paola. There is something beautiul about so-called ordinary

people who have extraordinary stories, and who take their own

path to success and happiness.

The book was unded by the Oce or Youth, School Focused

Youth Services and VUs Oce o Community Engagement.Extraordinary Women, edited by Paola Bilbrough with Madeleine Ford

and Katherine Heneghan. Published by Melbourne Citymission,

Braybrook College and Victoria University.


ommunity Engagement

h L, on ocontribtorExtraordinarymen.

OrdINaryWOmEN

EXTraOrdINary

lIVES


31/3231

NEw BOOkS

VU fACTS

Mm Mrkting: Compting in thGlobl Mrktplc

Edited by Ruth Rentschler and Anne-Marie Hede

Published by Butterworth-Heinemann

Museums have moved rom a product toa marketing ocus over the past 10 years,reorienting visitors as customers, to ndnew ways o undraising and sponsorship asgovernment unding decreases. This book looksat the latest in museum marketing as theyclamour or at tention in the global marketp lace.

art-b Rrch: a Propr Thi?

Edited by Elaine Martin and Judith BoothPublished by Common Ground and Victoria University

Arising out o a VU symposium on t he creativethesis, this book collects papers on the thorny issueo how the scholarly work o arts practitionersbattles or legitimacy under the weight othe scientic legacy. The argument or creativeinterplay is advanced with t he aid o a CD.

a Hom o Mny Room: Clbrting thatrlin vitnm Womn Wlraocition, 19832008

By Catherine EarlPublished by the Australian VietnameseWomens Associat ion

Written by a VU PhD graduate and drawing onoral histories, this history o the rst 25 yearso the Aust ralian Vietnamese Womens WelareAssociation (AVWA), a Footscray-based ethnicwomens community organisat ion, is a bilingualpublication rich in photos and commentary.

sriing Hro

By Neelam MaharajPublished by Bystander Press

Ramesh Kapur, an Indian ocer in the British army,is taken prisoner while ghting the Japanese inSingapore. Kapur must choose whether to r

Documents

Connections Issue 9