Issue 05. 5 May 2008 - UWA Staff - The University of Western Australia

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Flush Prosh These girls in blue were likely to give their teachers a fright as they headed off to afternoon lectures following the parade through the city streets. Students were still tallying the takings from the annual PROSH parade and sale of newspapers when UWANews went to press, but it was already $125,000. This total tops last years $108,950 and all previous totals since PROSH started in 1931. Students are thrilled with the result for three charities which benefit from the funds this year — The Dyslexia- SPELD foundation, RSPCA, and Holyoake (Alcohol and Drug abuse programs). The paper, The Yearly Obligation, had a good response from the public with only the usual small number of expected complaints regarding a Perth Glory advertisement. As early as 4am students were flooding the Oak Lawn to get their hands on stacks of newspapers and collection tins, their inventive costumes brightening up the pre-dawn. The winner of the prize for best float this year was the Music Students’ Society which chose a Wham theme. Dressed all in white, and with a live band aboard the float, they had commuters and students alike running behind them, singing and dancing. 12 UWA NEWS 5 May 2008 The University of Western Australia
Ancient culture meets nanotechnology You might have thought the ancient culture of the first Australians was incompatible with novel science, but 24 Indigenous Year Nine students found it blended easily into stories from the Dreaming and the notion of respect for Country. From metropolitan schools as well as from schools in Broome, Carnarvon, Karratha, Kununurra, Port Hedland and Wongan Hills, the students visited UWA for an inaugural school holiday Indigenous Science Camp which had the added bonus of activities such as star stories under a full moon at Bold Park and shopping. Nanotechnology and green chemistry were chosen for one of the introductory sessions at UWA because they are the sciences of the future with applications in every aspect of life, according to Dr Scott Martyn, one of the organisers. Groups were encouraged to consider science in relation to water, earth, plants and animals. For example, the students in the ‘plants’ group used liquid nitrogen in a flask to freeze-dry roses and peppermint leaves before grinding them with a mortar and pestle and finally extracting the oils for perfume and DNA in one of the labs in the Molecular and Chemical Sciences Building. While they were finding and crushing plant matter, others used muscle power on crayfish shells to learn about the natural plastic they contain -- a material used in artificial limbs. Get noticed by Sally-Ann Jones Another group discovered magnetic ferro-fluid and found out about rocks containing ochres and iron while a fourth learned there is much more to an ordinary egg than meets the eye. Later in the morning they all enjoyed finding out about robots and gyroscopes in Mechanical Engineering with more inspirational science organised by Anatomy and Human Biology. Indigenous artists, scientists and engineers joined the camp to demonstrate the relevance and importance of science and technology to Indigenous people while students from several faculties volunteered their time. The University has been very successful in attracting Indigenous students to study medicine, law and social work but less so in encouraging them into science and engineering because these studies are seen as less relevant to their communities, said Dr Martyn, lecturer and science project coordinator at UWA’s School of Indigenous Studies. “We aim to show them that in fact science and engineering are relevant because they can help solve problems such as unemployment, lack of infrastructure and sustainability and we want our Indigenous students to be leaders in their communities,” he said. “As the mining industry becomes more sophisticated, it will need more industrial chemists and engineers. As the State’s population continues to grow, resources such as energy and water will need to be more carefully managed and the biodiversity of the land conserved. Who better to fill these positions than Indigenous men and women who live nearby and who are connected to Country?” 6488 7793 uniprintjobs@admin.uwa.edu.au www.uniprint.uwa.edu.au The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 5 May 2008 13
Page 1 and 2: UWA NEWS 5 May 2008 Volume 27 Numbe
Page 3 and 4: Luxury research When a sparkling ne
Page 5 and 6: French timepiece ticks again Time s
Page 7 and 8: Teaching Month Teaching and learnin
Page 9 and 10: Research on world stage, researcher
Page 11: Winning words and pictures Sublime
Page 15 and 16: PROMOTION BRIEFS Provided by Elizab

Issue 05. 5 May 2008 - UWA Staff - The University of Western Australia

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