'Energetic space' : literary experience and learning

This essay is part of an interdisciplinary research project into literary aesthetics and its relationship with pedagogy. The paper brings cognitive and evolutionary scientific perspectives to bear on literary and cultural theory to address the aesthetic effect (defined as the transporting and transformative power of the literary text) and its potential personal or civic benefits. The paper offers non-transcendentalist explanations for the aesthetic experience, viewing it less as a privileged category of feeling than as an experience available to all symbolic beings. The paper also proposes an original thesis about the virtual and transformative space of reading as one that ultimately epitomises intellectual freedom. The inquiry is lent urgency by the current cultural and political climate in which not only literature but also literary studies, despite its long association with education and its prominent place in the Culture Wars, is in institutional decline.

Current trends in the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders

The Australian Institute of Criminology's recent work on adult male offenders has found that the most serious and persistent adult offenders had been detained as a juvenile. In terms of crime reduction, interventions that focus on reducing the likelihood of juveniles escalating to adult offenders will have significant benefits for the whole of the Australian community. Research conducted in juvenile justice settings around the world consistently shows that young people who come to the attention of criminal justice agencies have multiple problems and experience high levels of need across all areas of functioning. In meeting these needs, correctional agencies have been increasingly influenced by the model of rehabilitation known as the 'what works' approach. This paper outlines a case management framework for rehabilitating juvenile offenders that includes three of the most important 'what works' principles, namely the risk principle, the needs principle and the responsivity principle. In the longer term, the implementation of the framework will need to be evaluated to determine what works and what doesn't with rehabilitating juveniles.

Career in writing : Judah Waten and the cultural politics of a literary career

This thesis examines the literary career of Judah Waten (1911-1985) in order to focus on a series of issues in Australian cultural history and theory. The concept of the career is theorised as a means of bringing together the textual and institutional dimensions of writing and being a writer in a specific cultural economy. The guiding question of the argument which re-emerges in different ways in each chapter is: in what ways was it possible to write and to be a writer in a given time and place? Waten's career as a Russian-born, Jewish, Australian nationalist, communist and realist writer across the middle years of this century is, for the purposes of the argument, at once usefully exemplary and usefully marginal in relation to the literary establishment. His texts provide the central focus for individual chapters; at the same time each chapter considers a specific historical moment and a specific set of issues for Australian cultural history, and is to this extent self-contained. Recent work in narrative theory, literary sociology and Australian literary and cultural studies is brought together to revise accepted readings of Waten's texts and career, and to address significant absences or problems in Australian cultural history. The sequence of issues shaping Waten's career in writing is argued in terms of the following conjunctions of theoretical and historical categories: proletarianism, modernity and theories of the avant-garde; the "e;migrant"e; writer and minority literatures; realism, political purpose and narrative self-situation; communism, nationalism and literary practice in the cold war; utopianism and the "e;literary witness"e; narrative of the Soviet Union; assimilationism, multicultural theory and the "e;non-Anglo-Celtic"e; writer; theories of autobiographical writing, and autobiography in Waten's career. The purpose of the thesis is not to discover a single key to Waten's writing across the oeuvre but rather to plot the specific occasions of this writing in the context of the structure of a career and the cultural institutions within which it was formed.

Rearing juvenile Australian native percichthyid fish in fertilised earthen ponds

The post-larvae and fry of Australian native species, including those of species belonging to the family Percichthyidae, are routinely reared to a fingerling size (35-55 mm in length) in fertilised earthen fry rearing ponds. The juveniles of Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii peelii\ trout cod (Maccullochella macquariensis) and Macquarie perch (Macquaria australasicd) (Percichthyidae) are grown in fry rearing ponds at the Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute, Snobs Creek (Vie. Australia) for production of fingerlings for stock enhancement and aquaculture purposes. However, no detailed studies have been undertaken of the productivity of these ponds and factors that influence fish production. An ecologically based study was undertaken to increase the knowledge of pond ecology and dynamics, particularly in relation to the rearing of juvenile Murray cod, trout cod and Macquarie perch in ponds. Over nine consecutive seasons commencing in 1991, water chemistry, plankton, macrobenthos (2 seasons only) and fish were monitored and studied in five ponds located at Snobs Creek. A total of 80 pond fillings were undertaken during the study period. Additional data collected from another 24 pond fillings undertaken at Snobs Creek collected prior to this study were included in some analyses. Water chemistry parameters monitored in the ponds included, temperature, dissolved oxygen pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, orthophosphate and alkalinity. Water chemistry varied spatially (within and between ponds) and temporally (diurnally, daily and seasonally). Liming of ponds increased the total alkalinity to levels that were considered to be suitable for enhancing plankton communities and fish production. Water quality within the ponds for the most part was suitable for the rearing of juvenile Murray cod, trout cod and Macquarie perch, as reflected in overall production (growth, survival and yield) from the ponds. However, at times some parameters reached levels which may have stressed fish and reduced growth and survival, in particular, low dissolved oxygen concentrations (minimum 1.18 mg/L), high temperatures (maximum 34°C), high pH (maximum 10.38) and high unionised ammonia (maximum 0.58 mg/L). Species belonging to 37 phytoplankton, 45 zooplankton and 17 chironomid taxa were identified from the ponds during the study. In addition, an extensive checklist of aquatic flora and fauna, recorded from aquaculture ponds in south-eastern Australia, was compiled. However, plankton and benthos samples were usually numerically dominated by a few species only. Rotifers (especially Filinia, Brachionus, Polyarthra, and Asplanchnd), cladocerans (Moina and Daphnid) and copepods (Mesocyclops and Boeckelld) were most abundant and common in the plankton, while chironomids (Chironomus, Polypedilum, and Prodadius) and oligochaetes were most common and abundant in the benthos. Both abundance and species composition of the plankton and macrobenthos varied spatially (within and between ponds) and temporally (diurnally, daily and seasonally). Chlorophyll a concentrations, which ranged from 1.8 to 184 \ig/L (mean 29.37 ng/L), initially peaked within two weeks of filling and fertilising the ponds. Zooplankton peaked in abundance 2-4 weeks after filling the ponds. The maximum zooplankton density recorded in the ponds was 6,621 ind./L (mean 721 ind./L). Typically, amongst the zooplankton, rotifers were first to develop high densities (2nd-3rd week after filling), followed by cladocerans (2nd-4th week after filling) then copepods (2nd-5th week after filling). Chironomid abundance on average peaked later (during the 5th week after filling). The maximum chironomid density recorded in the ponds was 27,470 ind./m2 (mean 4,379 ind./m2). Length-weight, age-weight and age-length relationships were determined for juvenile Murray cod, trout cod and Macquarie perch reared in ponds. These relationships were most similar for Murray cod and trout cod, which are more closely related phylogenetically and similar morphologically than Macquarie perch. Growth of fish was negatively correlated with both size at stocking and stocking biomass. Stocking density experiments showed that, at higher densities, growth offish was significantly reduced, but survival was not affected. The diets of juvenile Murray cod trout cod and Macquarie perch reared in fry ponds were similar. The cladocerans Moina and Daphnia, adult calanoid and cyclopoid copepods and the chironomids, Chironomus, Polypedilum and Procladius were the most commonly occurring and abundant prey. Selection for rotifers and copepod nauplii was strongly negative for all three species of fish. Size range of prey consumed was positively correlated with fish size for trout cod and Macquarie perch, but not for Murray cod. Diet composition changed as the fish grew. Early after stocking the fish into the ponds, Moina was generally the more common prey consumed, while in latter weeks, copepods and chironomids became more abundant and common in the diet. On a dry weight basis, chironomid larvae were the most important component in the diets of these fish species. Selective feeding by fish on larger planktonic species such as adult copepods and cladocerans, may have influenced the plankton community structure as proposed by the trophic cascade or top -down hypothesis. The proximate composition and energy content of Murray cod, trout cod and Macquarie perch, reared in the ponds did not vary significantly between the species, and few significant changes were observed as the fish grew. These results suggested that the nutrient requirements of these species might not vary over the size range of fish examined. Significant differences in the proximate composition of prey were observed between species, size of species and time of season. The energy content of prey (cladocerans, copepods and chironomids) on a pond basis, was closely related to the abundance of these taxa in the ponds. Data collected from all pond fillings during the present study, along with historical data from pond fillings undertaken prior to this study, were combined in a data matrix and analysed for interactions between pairs of parameters. In particular, interactions between selected water chemistry parameters, zooplankton and chironomid abundance indicators were analysed to identify key factors that influence fish production (growth, survival, condition and yield). Significant correlations were detected between fish production indicators and several water chemistry and biota (zooplankton and chironomids) parameters. However, these were not consistent across all three species of fish. These results indicated that the interactions between water chemistry, biota and fish were complex, and that combinations of these parameters, along with other factors not included in the present study, may influence fish production in these ponds. The present study, showed that more stringent monitoring of fry rearing ponds, especially water quality, zooplankton and benthos communities and fish, combined with an associated increase in understanding of the pond ecosystem, can lead to substantial improvements in pond productivity and associated fish production. In the present study this has resulted in a general increase in fish survival rates, which became less variable or more predictable in nature. The value of such knowledge can provide managers with a more predicative capacity to estimate production of ponds in support of stock enhancement programs and provision of juvenile for aquaculture grow-out.

In the tracks of Blinky Bill : How Sam the koala led news journalists into an Australian literary tradition

The world was captivated when footage of a badly burnt koala taking water from a Victorian Country Fire Authority volunteer was taken with a mobile phone and broadcast to the world on YouTube in February 2009. When the story of ‘Sam the Koala’ was subsequently adopted by traditional broadcast and print media, recombinant themes were used to construct her story – from heroism, patriotism, villain v victim - even romance was incorporated to entertain and create audience appeal. This paper explores how ‘Sam the Koala’ became a defining news story in the coverage of Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires and examines the power of narrative when cross pollination occurs between new and traditional media in the production of news. It is argued that Sam’s story is evidence of journalists adopting new approaches to storytelling in a bid to retain their legitimacy as the authoritative voice of news and information in an increasingly technologically driven society.

Therapeutic Jurisprudence, juvenile justice and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child : do they coexist?

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides children and young people with over 40 substantive rights, the five outcomes of which are living a healthy lifestyle, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution, and economic wellbeing. Moreover, Article 3 dictates that all organizations concerned with children should work towards what is best of each child. It is not clear how these rights translate to the care of children and young people who come before the courts (particularly those who are subsequently incarcerated). A review of the literature suggests that while best practice guidelines for the treatment and rehabilitation of adult offenders has moved forward, there is little consensus about how this might be achieved for young people. Therapeutic Jurisprudence (TJ) needs to extend beyond its current considerations of the rights of children and young people, and to expand its focus to the extent to which international human rights standards are complied with in the cases of juveniles in the criminal justice system. This presentation will (a) explore the extent to which current practices in juvenile justice are consistent with the UN's Convention and (b) whether the adoption a rehabilitative and treatment approach based on a TJ framework might serve to improve outcomes for young people and ensure their rights are not being violated.