Effects of human activities on rocky shores of the Surf Coast Shire: scientific basis for management at the regional level

The Surf Coast Shire in regional Victoria contains some of the most spectacular coastline in Australia, running from Point Impossible in the east to just west of the resort town of Lorne. The Surf Coast Shire council is committed to ecologically sustainable tourism based on its coastal assets, including the important intertidal environments. The challenge for the Shire is to protect and enhance the biodiversity of its intertidal areas whilst allowing for their sustainable use as a critical component of the local economy. In order to do this the Council needed to identify the conservation values of intertidal areas within the shire and assess the impacts that current human use has on these values. The impacts of shellfish collecting on rocky shores were identified as an issue of particular concern. We have conducted a research project with the Shire to provide a scientific basis for management decisions. The principal aims of this project were to: (1) determine the patterns of human use of intertidal habitats; (2) measure the impacts of human usage on biological communities and species populations; and (3) to identify intertidal sites of regional conservation significance for the Surf Coast Shire. Surveys of human usage identified reef walking, looking in rock pools and fossicking as major uses of rocky shores within the Surf Coast. This poster reports the effects of this usage on gastropod populations of rocky shores within the Surf Coast Shire. A small proportion of visitors collected intertidal organisms. Shores were categorized as high or low use based on total numbers of people observed at each shore over the first year of the project. Mean size and catch per unit effort were compared for several gastropod species between high use and low use shores. The results presented here show that the populations of some gastropod species are of smaller mean size and less abundant on high use shores than on low use shores. There was also a noticeable difference in degree of effect detected between sandstone and mudstone shores. The implications of these results are briefly discussed in terms of management options available to the Shire.

The three delays as a framework for examining safe motherhood in Kafa zone, SNNPR, Ethiopia

The study examines delay as a crucial factor contributing to maternal mortality, using the conceptual framework of the Three Phases of Delay to explore factors that hinder the provision and utilisation of high quality, timely obstetric care in Kafa Zone, SNNPR, in Ethiopia. The Three Delays constitute the delay in deciding to seek medical care during an obstetric emergency, in reaching a medical facility, and in receiving suitable treatment in a health facility. Various aspects of the Three Delays are evaluated to examine problems of delay, transportation, and the referral system that is considered a vital element of the Ethiopian 'National Reproductive Health Strategy'.

Mother and toddler activity in the zone of proximal development for pretend play as a predictor of higher child IQ

This study investigated the pretend play of mother—toddler dyads in relation to later child IQ. Twenty-one toddlers were videotaped in monthly play sessions with their mothers, from age 8 to 17 months, and later assessed at 5 years of age on the Stanford-Binet IV. Children's and mothers' pretend play levels and frequencies were measured using Brown's (1997) Pretend Play Observation Scale. Dyadic play activity was analyzed using the conceptual frameworks of scaffolding and Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Toddlers later assessed as having higher IQ demonstrated more rapid learning in the ZPD for pretend play and experienced earlier maternal transfer of responsibility for play. These findings support other evidence on the differential early development of high ability or gifted children and the role of caregiver interactions in that development.

Putting the Research to Use: This study provides evidence that gifted children show differential development, in this case more rapid learning, from the first year of life. It also demonstrates how responsive parental interactions can support this advanced development. For family and professional caregivers, the findings imply that optimum caregiving for the young gifted child involves interactions that are both responsive to individual potential and appropriately challenging. In regard to the methodological challenges of researching early giftedness, the study demonstrated that the constructs of the ZPD and scaffolding were useful frameworks for investigating early gifted development and caregiver influences on that development. Pretend play activity was also shown to be an effective measure and a useful context for the study of gifted development in infants and toddlers. It would be valuable for future researchers in this area to utilize similar approaches that are grounded in the unique developmental characteristics of young children, and that aim to account for the interactive contexts that are so important in children's lives. The field of gifted education, in general, would also benefit from an increased awareness and exploration of the role of play in the development of intellect, imagination and creativity.

In the green zone : 40 years with Colonel Qaddafi

Colonel Muammar Qaddafi has been the leader of Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya since September 1969. After 40 years in control of his nation, Qaddafi is actually the world’s longest serving non‐monarchial head of state. This year’s anniversary makes it timely to review his four decades of rule. From being the leader of a successful military coup to being America’s bête noire of the 1980s and then the head of a much‐vilified rogue state under twenty‐seven years of UN sanctions, the mercurial Qaddafi has lately steered his nation to something of a rapprochement with the West, been elected to the chairmanship of the African Union and simultaneously had a very public falling out with some of his Arab leaders. This paper examines the highs and lows of Qaddafi’s leadership and where his small but prominent North African state may be heading.

Ecology of fish inhabiting the inter-tidal zone of Swan Bay, Victoria, Australia

Swan Bay is a shallow marine embayment of Port Phillip Bay, just north of Queenscliff, Victoria. It has been part of the Harold Holt Marine Reserves since 1977 and is a seagrass habitat. This study investigated the species of fish present in the inter-tidal zone of Swan Bay, collected information on their ecology, investigated the importance of Swan Bay compared to Port Phillip Bay as a nursery and/or breeding area and compared these results with those of similar seagrsss habitats. Field work was carried out monthly over a two year period, from April 1981 to April 1983, using beach seine nets at Swan Bay and Portarlington. Forty four species of fish were identified from Swan Bay and nineteen from Portarlington. Fish were most abundant during the summer and autumn months when seagrass growth was at a maximum and least abundant during winter due to the absence of seasonal residents and decreased numbers of permanent residents. Swan Bay was found to be an important nursery ground for two commercially-caught species: the Yellow-eye Mullet and the King George Whiting. Juvenile Yellow-eye Mullet were more numerous in Swan Bay than at Portarlington. Smell juvenile King George Whiting were more abundant at Portarlington than in Swan Bay where older juveniles were more numerous. The fish fauna of Swan Bay was found to be similar to western Port but the abundance of species varied. Atherinosome microstoma was the dominant species in terms of abundance and biomass. Diet was found to be different from that reported by Robertson (1979) at Western Port due to the different range of prey items.

Helping teachers surf the information and communication technology tsunami

A range of factors, both internal and external, is creating changes in teaching and teachers’ professional lives. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is just one of the major changes impacting on the teaching profession. As teachers face intense pressure to adapt to this tsunami, this study aims to investigate ways in which teachers can be helped. In South Australia, where this study is set, all teachers in Government schools are expected to be "ICT Smart", i.e. able to use appropriate forms of ICT to enhance the teaching and learning environment of their classrooms. From the researcher’s involvement for over a decade in professional development for teachers, and from visits to many schools, it appears that numerous teachers have not reached this standard. The greatest need is in Reception to Year 7 schools where the average age of teachers is nearly 50. Because no state-wide data exists, this study is intended to establish if there is a problem and if there is, to identify specific needs and offer possible solutions. The study is comprised of four parts: Part A, the Introduction gives an overview of the inter-relationships between these parts and the overall Folio. It establishes the setting and provides a rationale for the study and its focus on Professional Development in Information and Communication Technology. Part B, the Elective Research Studies, follows the writer’s involvement in this field since the 1980s. It establishes the theme of "Moving best practice in ICT from the few to the many" which underlies the whole study. Part C, the Dissertation, traces the steps taken to investigate the need for professional development in ICT. This is achieved by analysing and commenting on data collected from a state-wide survey and a series of interviews with leading figures, and by providing a review of the relevant literature and past and existing models of professional development. Part D, Final Comments, provides an overview of the whole Folio and a reflection on the research that has been conducted. The findings are that there is widespread dissatisfaction with existing models and that there is an urgent need for professional development in this area, because nearly 20% of teachers either do not use computers or are considered to be novice users. Another 25% are considered to be below not yet "ICT Smart". Less than 10% of ICT co-ordinators have a formal qualification in the field but more than 85% of them are interested in a Masters program. The study offers solutions in Part B where there is a discussion of a range of strategies to provide on-going professional development for teachers. Chapter 9 provides an outline of a proposed Masters level program and offers suggestions on how it could be best delivered. This program would meet the identified needs of ICT co-ordinators. The study concludes with a series of recommendations and suggestions for further research. The Education Department must address these urgent professional development needs of teachers, particularly those in the more remote country regions. There needs to be a follow-up survey to establish to what extent teachers in South Australia are now "ICT Smart ".

Entrepreneurship education at university : the plus-zone challenge

The paper discusses the contrast between what is being done and what ought to be done about entrepreneurship education at university level. Research from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor program demonstrates that entrepreneurship education is an issue of worldwide economic and social significance. It has major policy implications for every nation. The paper briefly discusses the network of entrepreneurship education and experiential learning of which the university is only one component – and not necessarily the most important. The strategic and organizational context of the movement towards more entrepreneurial universities is distinguished from the purely content issue of curriculum designed for aspiring entrepreneurial practitioners. An overview of actual curricula, worldwide, is contrasted with the normative entrepreneurship education framework posited by McMullan and Long (1987). Following consideration of the problems involved in measuring the success of entrepreneurship education programs, a broad, generic template for integrated program development is presented and compared with the approach usually employed in most MBA programs at university business schools. The hierarchical, functionalist approach, symbolized by a pyramid, is contrasted with a more fluid, organic and boundary-crossing approach, symbolized by a wheel. Its central hub is a ‘plus zone’ where lies the deepest challenge for development of entrepreneurship education in a university context.