The Australian Geologist - Geological Society of Australia

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SocietyUpdate From the AJES Editor’s Desk We have been hearing a lot recently about the declining standard of English among school and university students. In the UK, a previous education secretary told head teachers to teach less history, geography, arts and physical education, to make way for basic literacy and numeracy lessons. A recent UK survey showed that standards in English among 14-year-olds at secondary school have fallen, with only 72% reaching the required standard for the subject in 2006, compared with 74% in 2005. Standards in reading were worse than the overall picture in English with 66% reaching the required standard. Closer to home, the Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop, at a conference of the History Teachers' Association of Australia, wondered: “How is it, that we have gone from teaching Latin in Year 12 to teaching remedial English in first year university” The Director of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research says about a third of the Institute's PhD science students do not know the basic rules of written English. The problem has become such a concern that the Institute is offering remedial English classes. While I would not go so far as the Queensland director’s comment, I do get some manuscripts that demonstrate a deficiency in knowledge of the English language – and I am not referring to those written by overseas authors. A few examples of very basic errors are: there/their; that/which; compliment/complement; plane/plain; its/it’s. Considering that very few authors spell arfvedsonite, komatiite or Maastrichtian Groundwater Short Courses 2007 incorrectly (although Fammenian instead of Famennian catches quite a few) it is obviously not through any want of spelling ability. I often feel that an author’s good science is masked by poor writing. On the other hand, on occasions, I wonder whether the lack of attention to detail in the writing might not betray a lack of attention to detail in the science. I think that authors often let themselves down by their poor writing. It all boils down to stringing the right words together in the right order! There are numerous books that purport to help you write better English: The Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers (6th edition) (2002; John Wiley & Sons, Australia Ltd) has excellent chapters on writing and editing, as does New Hart’s Rules: the Handbook of Style for Writers and Editors (2005; Oxford University Press, Oxford). For those who want a light-hearted look at the mysteries of English spelling, Vivian Cook’s Accommodating Brocolli in the Cemetery (2004; Profile Books, London) will entertain. H H Read is reputed to have said that the best geologist is the one who has seen most rocks. It could also be said that the best writer is the one who has read most books. So: good reading! TONY COCKBAIN Hon Editor AJES www.groundwater.com.au COURSE WHEN & WHERE COURSE FEE (AUS $) PLEASE ADD GST Darcy International Lecture Series April 2007 Jim Butler Kansas Geological Survey Flinders University - Free Seminar - Light Lunch Details see CGS Website. 15th Getting To Know Groundwater and Surfacewater Tues 13 – Thurs 15 March 2007 Qld Dept NRW, Colin Hazel DPI&F Conf Centre, Consulting Hydro Engineer, Mark Paton EPA Qld 80 Ann St, Brisbane QLD 830 3rd Soil and Groundwater Pollution: Characterisation, Mon 9 – Fri 13 April 2007 Remediation, and Risk Management University of Western Australia Prof Bernie Kueper Queen’s University, Canada; Berjaya Times Square Dr David Reynolds Hotel Kuala Lumpur 1000 Centre for Groundwater Studies 16th Getting To Know Groundwater and Surfacewater Wed 25 – Fri 27 April 2007 Tony Laws, Phil Commander, Steve Appleyard Kings Perth Hotel, WA Dept of Water 517 Hay St, Perth WA 1870 For Information and Registration Form see web: www.groundwater.com.au/short-courses.html Trevor Pillar: Ph: +61 8 8201 5632 Fax: +61 8 8201 5635 Email: cgs@groundwater.com.au Groundwater will be an enduring gauge of this generation’s intelligence in water and land management TAG December 2006 | 7
New members The GSA welcomes the following new members: ACT M EMBER Leharne Fountain S TUDENT M EMBER Dingchuang Qu NSW M EMBERS Tim Browne Robert A Craddock Anurodh Dayal S TUDENT M EMBER Starlita Young NT M EMBERS Jules A Darras QLD M EMBERS David Carroll Carl Cross David Kingsford Sherrin Nicholson Megan Packer* Timothy Raggatt* Andrew Williams SA S TUDENT M EMBERS Mike Van Alphen Rachael Brick Matthew C Gray Michael Hatch Stephen Howard Mohammad Lotfalah Hamedani Aija Mee Katherine Selway TAS M EMBER Stuart Bull Trevor Falloon S TUDENT M EMBERS Teera Kamvong VIC M EMBERS Emmanuel Ernest Douglas Kirwin Volker Pelle S TUDENT M EMBERS Ash Brown Ian Dalla-Torre David Hocking Ashleigh Hood Darren Irvine Janelle Kerr Tyler Lamb Andrew Langendam Tim Liersch Daniel Marcuccio Verity Miles Kate Mutimer Phillip Neckers Aleisha Paproth Andrew Pharoah Lucy Porritt Mark Quigley Matthias Raiber Alexander Rey Steven Sewell Steven Spencer Jessica Trainor Lindsay Ward Madelaine Willcock WA M EMBERS Myra Keep Shane Trott Alexander Bevan Elena Hancock Matthew Crowe J OINT M EMBER Michele Pigott *Transferred Lost members Thank you to all those members who have given assistance in the past in tracing lost members. If you know the location of any of the following members, please email Sue Fletcher at info@gsa.org.au or phone (02) 9290 2194. Benjamin Rich (Townsville, QLD) Cecilia D’Ercole (West Perth, WA) Ingrid Campbell (Melbourne, VIC) Clinton Mexted-Freeman (Campbell, ACT) Bruce Hobbs (Perth, WA) Benjamin Cairns (Subiaco, WA) 8 | TAG December 2006
Page 2 and 3: The Australian Geologist Newsletter
Page 4 and 5: Editor’s Comment produced and it
Page 6 and 7: Our 'kangaroo raffle' was a popular
Page 10 and 11: SocietyUpdate Education&Outreach Th
Page 12 and 13: SocietyUpdate Stratigraphic COLUMN
Page 14 and 15: SocietyUpdate Data Metallogenica Au
Page 16 and 17: Petroleum, the Leigh Creek Sports a
Page 18 and 19: the web, and other items of interes
Page 20 and 21: NEWS Museum unearths and exposes ph
Page 22 and 23: section on a one-day preconference
Page 24: Feature Closer to the brink BY JESS
Page 27 and 28: That plan - released in the same ye
Page 29 and 30: of the zeolite group and is a known
Page 31 and 32: Special Report Special Report ARC 2
Page 33 and 34: PROJECT SUMMARY GRANT Numerical mod
Page 35 and 36: PROJECT SUMMARY GRANT The Southern
Page 37 and 38: PROJECT SUMMARY GRANT New developme
Page 39 and 40: summaries of their respective topic
Page 41 and 42: nomenclature is varied and not cons
Page 43: sentations, frauds, lies, errors, b
Page 46 and 47: and aggression are proffered. Howev
Page 48 and 49: in Asia and Europe. The slip on thi
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The Australian Geologist - Geological Society of Australia

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