Issue 581 (March 2009) - Office of Marketing and Communications

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UQNEWS, MARCH 2009 ➔ 4SHORTCUTSPOP APPEALUQ research has gonebackstage to some ofAustralia’s biggest music festivalsto discover what makes them tick,and the answers may surprise you.Dr Nic Carah, a Lecturer withUQ’s School of Journalism andCommunication, has studied the waycorporations use music festivals to helpbuild their brands and found rather thanalienating young people, these brandingpractices were embraced.“Global corporations have becomevery adept at co-opting popular musicculture into their marketing strategies,”Dr Carah said.“Instead of being seen as an outsiderof youth culture, they gain authenticityby being part of these events.”He said while in the past some ofthese strategies may have been lookedupon as suspicious, young people todayunderstand the marketing practices andaccept it as part of the culture.He said events such as the V Festival– a very overt branding exercise – areacceptable as long as there is value in itfor the concert goer.“If Virgin brings popular bandsto a festival, then the audience iscomfortable to use their phones andcameras to send texts and pictures togiant branded screens,” he said.“They also share these experienceson web 2.0 spaces such as MySpaceand Facebook, pushing thecorporations’ reach even further.“Music events like the V festivalwork because they try to develop ameaningful and natural engagementwith the audience.”Dr Carah is working on a bookabout his research to be titled PopBrands: branding, popular music andyoung people, which is expected to bepublished next year.STOCK.XCHNGBACTERIA BUSTINGA group of scientists in London have collaboratedwith a UQ researcher to discover a way of usingtiny nano-probes to help understand how anantibiotic is effective against bacteria.Bacteria such as MRSA (commonly knownas Golden Staph) are becoming increasinglyresistant to antibiotics, posing a major communityhealth problem.Professor Matt Cooper (pictured), has recentlyjoined the Institute for Molecular Bioscience atUQ on a $4 million Australia Fellowship.Through the fellowship, he will establish aresearch program to develop antibiotics andantifungals that are active against drug-resistantpathogens.“In order to attack this problem we need tounderstand not only the ways in which bacteriadevelop and exhibit resistance to antibiotics,but also how new antibiotics can work to kill orslow the growth of resistant bacteria,” ProfessorCooper said.To study antibiotic action, the London teammade nano-probes coated with molecules foundREACHING FOR THE STARSQueensland high school students recentlyreached for the stars at a UQ event toexplore the future of life in space.About 100 students from 10 differenthigh schools from throughout the state tookpart in the annual Australian Space DesignCompetition in January.Hosted by UQ’s School of InformationTechnology & Electrical Engineering (ITEE),the event involves four teams of studentsassuming it is the year 2058, and thenpreparing and presenting a tender responseto design and build a settlement in spacesuitable to accommodate up to 5000humans.ASDC chairman Mark Shaw said teamsaddressed issues in their space settlementdesign such as structural design, operationalrequirements, human factors, automation, ITand business initiatives.“The three-day competitioninvolves students from manydifferent backgroundsand schools workingcollaboratively inin bacterial cell walls from normal bacteria andbacteria resistant to antibiotics.They then added doses of the “last resort”antibiotic, vancomycin, to the system and foundthat probes from normal bacteria were stressedand changed shape, whereas probes fromresistant bacteria were only weakly affected.The team are now screening other antibioticswith the goal of finding a drug that is able tobind strongly to resistant bacteria and causesubstantial structural weaknesses to the cell wall.order to solve space settlement issues andultimately win the chance to visit the USAand compete on an international scale,” MrShaw said.ITEE Head of School Professor PaulBailes said the event allowed studentsto communicate in a group, demonstrateteamwork, work on projects and showcasetheir ideas and futuristic inventions.INSTITUTE FOR MOLECULAR BIOSCIENCEJEREMY PATTENSTOCK.XCHNG
RIGHT RECIPEThey’re among the mostneeded workers in Australia,and now UQ research hasuncovered why chefs maybe so difficult to recruitand retain.In a recent report,“Employing Chefs inQueensland”, School ofTourism researchers DrCharles Arcodia and MrRichard Robinson suggestthe content and listing ofjob vacancy ads may needgreater attention.“Job vacancies that articulate moreappropriately the skills and attributes which aredeemed essential in the various roles in cookeryand list employer and industry benefits may havea greater capacity to attract the right candidate,”Dr Arcodia said.Preliminary findings also show the terms “chef”and “cook” have been used interchangeably andthat different employment statuses such as “fulltime”and “permanent full-time” are confusing.“Developing standardised terminology acrossthe hospitality industry may clarify the differentjob titles and employment status leading to moreefficient and effective job matching which couldreduce turnover,” Mr Robinson said.The authors also suggest that jobadvertisements provide a wealth of informationwhich is rarely used in academic circles.“Job advertisements are an under-utilised datasource as they are current and available to thepublic,” Dr Arcodia said.“Rich insights can often be gained fromadvertisements given the occupational,organisational, industry and societal artefacts theycontain.”REPORTING UNDER FIREVictoria’s fire grounds have been the site of amassive relief effort, and a UQ journalism experthas done his bit to help.Bruce Redman (pictured centre) from theSchool of Journalism and Communication wascalled in by The Salvation Army to help managethe hundreds of journalists who descended onthe disaster site, and to assist in recording themassive relief effort.“I was moved by the enormity of theSTOCK.XCHNGROMANCE IN THE AIRA UQ academic has shared her passionfor romance fiction at a recent event inMelbourne.Dr Toni Johnson-Woods was invited todiscuss her research into 1950s romanceat the inaugural Australian RomanceReaders Convention last month.Dr Johnson-Woods was one of twoQueensland academics asked to attendthe event to discuss genres and trendswithin Australian romance fiction, alongsidereaders, authors and publishers.“Romance is the most neglected of allpopular fiction genres,” she said.“To date, academic research hastended to focus on readership and largelyAmerican romances – my focus is postWorld War II Australian romances.“Overseas books were banned andso local companies suddenly foundthemselves with a golden publishingopportunity.”The research forms part of anAustralian Research Council project titled“Australia's Forgotten Culture”.devastation and how quickly organisations likethe Salvos had responded to the needs of thethousands of survivors,” Mr Redman said.“I recorded interviews with workers, survivorsand media. Everyone concerned was numb withthe shock of so many lives lost and a feeling ofhelplessness.“On the upside, people were buoyed by therenewed sense of community. It was a privilege tobe involved in such a sad yet significant event inAustralia’s history.”Mr Redman appears regularly on ABC LocalRadio as a film and television reviewer, and whilein the firefields was asked to contribute a numberof live reports via mobile phone.Mr Redman will present his experiences as acase study to students later this semester.STOCK.XCHNGFACTS +FIGURES146 – number of inauguralUQ Excellence scholars whoreceived their awards at a specialceremony on February 22. More than200 further students were awardedUQ Merit Scholarships, also in theirfirst year.60,000votes cast in the UniJobs 2008Lecturer of the Year award, whichwas won by UQ Associate ProfessorJulie Walker. Dr Walker, who teachesaccounting, edged out 2,500colleagues from across the country.1200 attendeesat the launch of Margaret Olley:Life’s journey at the University ofQueensland Art Museum last month.The exhibition was opened byGovernor-General Dr Quentin Bryce,AC, and runs until April 19.36 teams participating inthe Rotman International TradingCompetition in Canada, where UQplaced third in the challenging salesand trading division.9 million– cost of refurbishments to the UQHeron Island Research Station offGladstone, which was officiallyreopened last month after a fire in2007. The facility is one of the oldestand most advanced marine researchstations in the world.STEWART GOULDUQNEWS, MARCH 2009 ➔ 5BRUCE REDMAN
Page 1: NEWSNEW HONOUR FORGOVERNOR-GENERALS
Page 6 and 7: UQNEWS, MARCH 2009 ➔ 6$22 MILLION
Page 8 and 9: AUSSIE COLOURSJEREMY PATTENUQNEWS,
Page 10 and 11: UQNEWS, MARCH 2009 ➔ 10IN BRIEFTE
Page 12 and 13: UQNEWS, MARCH 2009 ➔ 12Reefrenewa
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Page 20 and 21: INPRINTBook offers aGOODLAUGHHumour
Page 22: UQNEWS, MARCH 2009 ➔ 22SPORTFitne

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