Digital Commons Network^™

Scalable Audio Coding Employing Sorted Sinusoidal Parameters, M. Raad, I. Burnett, Alfred Mertins

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

This paper describes the use of sorted sinusoidal parameters to produce a fixed rate, scalable, wideband audio coder. The sorting technique relies on the perceptual significance of the sinusoidal parameters. Sinusoidal coding permits the representation of a given signal through the summation of sinusoids. The parameters of the sinusoids (the amplitudes, phases and frequencies) are transmitted to allow signal reconstruction. The sinusoidal parameters are sorted according to energy content and perceptual significance. The most significant parameters are transmitted first, allowing the use of only a small set of the parameters for signal reconstruction. The proposed scheme incurs a low delay …

Terahertz-Photon-Modified Magnetotransport In A Semiconductor In Voigt Geometry, W. Xu, I. Khmyrova, V. Ryzhii

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

We present a theoretical study of transport and optical properties of a semiconductor-based electron gas subjected simultaneously to quantizing magnetic fields and intense terahertz THz laser fields in Voigt geometry. It is found that the presence of the THz radiation can result in an enhanced magnetophonon resonance effect and a resonant-absorption peak can be observed at about f1 THz for GaAs in high magnetic fields. The results are pertinent to experiments where THz free-electron lasers are employed as intense radiation sources.

Boundary Filter Optimization For Segmentation-Based Subband Coding, Alfred Mertins

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

This paper presents boundary optimization techniques for the nonexpansive decomposition of arbitrary-length signals with multirate filterbanks. Both biorthogonal and paraunitary filterbanks are considered. The paper shows how matching moments and orthonormality can be imposed as additional conditions during the boundary filter optimization process. It provides direct solutions to the problem of finding good boundary filters for the following cases: (a) biorthogonal boundary filters with exactly matching moments and (b) orthonormal boundary filters with almost matching moments. With the proposed methods, numerical optimization is only needed if orthonormality and exactly matching moments are demanded. The proposed direct solutions are applicable to …

Using Webct To Support Team Teaching, A. Fuller, Gene Awyzio, Penelope Mcfarlane

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

Advanced learning technologies facilitate team teaching at the college/university level. Team teaching has been shown to benefit both students and faculty. This paper explores the benefits of using a course management package in an interdisciplinary team environment. Among those benefits are: better communication, student monitoring and support, flexibility in subject deliver, and fostering a collaborative environment. The success in the early developmental stage of integrating one such learning technology (Web Course Tools, or WebCT) into our course has seen the package move from a simple tool to an essential member of a teaching team.

Irrational Rotations Motivate Measurable Sets, R. Nillsen

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

In 1914 Constantin Carathéodory gave his definition of a measurable set, a definition that is crucial in the general theory of integration. This is because a “primitive” notion of area or measure, on a smaller family of sets, can be extended to the larger family of measurable sets, and it is this larger family that has the necessary properties for a natural and complete theory of integration. This more general theory of integration is of enormous practical importance, for it leads to quite broad conditions under which basic operations on integrals are valid. However, Carathéodory’s definition itself remains mysterious, and …

Are Popular Management Techniques A Waste Of Time?, Mario Fernando

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Management by objectives, zero-based budgeting, T groups, Theory Y, Theory Z, diversification, participative management, management by walking around, total quality management, teams, and empowerment. We've seen such popular approaches to management come and go with great regularity. Organizations often appear eager to embrace the newest managerial fads and just as eager to let go of those that lose popularity. Do these popular management techniques really improve an organization's performance, or are they just passing fads?

Low Rate Wi Sew Representation Using A Rew-Implicit Pulse Model, J. Lukasiak, I. Burnett

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

Reducing the bit rate of waveform interpolation speech coders while maintaining the perceptual quality has been the focus of a great deal of research. This letter proposes a new method of slowly evolving waveform (SEW) quantization specifically targeted at low rate coding. The proposed method uses a pulse model whose parameters are implicitly contained in the quantized rapidly evolving waveform (REW) parameters, thus requiring no bits for transmission. Results indicate no degradation in perceptual speech quality when compared to that of the existing SEW quantization method. This retention of perceptual quality is in spite of a 12% reduction in the …

Challenges For Tomorrows Tourism Education – The Case Of Austria, Sara Dolnicar

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Austria is a highly developed country in terms of tourism industry. Nevertheless the educational system within the field of tourism increasingly fails to provide the industry with the workforce needed. The main reasons for this negative development is that, on the demand side, tourists have increasing travel experience and expect perfect service during their leisure time and, on the supply side, young Austrians strive for higher education, as apprenticeships have an image problem in general and especially within the field of tourism, where the association is “hard work, high need for mobility and modest wages”. The result: a lack of …

Gay Men And Lesbians In The University Community, H. W. Collier

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

[Extract] There is little doubt that there are gay and lesbian students, faculty, staff, and administrators in our universities. You may not see all of us unless we want you to, but we are there. Whether you choose to acknowledge our presence is another issue. Historical prejudices against minority groups and those who are 'different' still exist in many parts of the world and in many of our universities. There are significant cultural, religious, national and regional differences in how minority 'tribes' or 'groups' are identified and treated. There is a significant body of research discussing issues of homosexuality and …

Postgraduate And Undergraduate Mechatronics' Courses At The University Of Wollongong, C. Cook, Fazel Naghdy, F. De Boer

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

This paper outlines the University's involvement with industry based manufacturing projects, and how this has lead to the recent establishment of postgraduate and undergraduate mechatronics degrees. The nature of the industrial projects is described with examples of specific problems, test equipment and experimental rigs given. This work can be used to explain the reasons for the design of the mechatronics courses at Wollongong. A new teaching methodology particularly suitable for mechatronic's education is also discussed.

On Circulant Best Matrices And Their Applications, S. Georgiou, C. Koukouvinos, Jennifer Seberry

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

Call four type 1(1,-1) matrices, x₁,x₂,x₃,x₄; of the same group of order m (odd) with the properties (i) (X_i-I)^T = -(X_i-I), i=1,2,3, (ii)X^T₄ = X₄ and the diagonal elements are positive, (iii) X_iX_j = X_jX_i and (iv) X₁X^T₁ + X₂X^T₂+X₃X^T₃ +X₄X^T₄ = 4mI_m, best matrices. We use a computer to give, for the first time, all inequivalent best matrices …

How Financial Statements Enhance(D) The Long-Term Survival Of An International Religious/Charitable Organisation, H. J. Irvine

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The Salvation Army is a large international religious/charitable organisation with a high profile in Australia. In recent years, the profile of its financial reports has grown, particularly in the context of corporate fundraising. This is one manifestation of the importance for the Army, over its history, of a sound financial reputation. It has always relied heavily on external funds to continue its operations, and its financial statements are, and have been, a useful means by which its image has been enhanced, and it has established a legitimate claim for these funds. The Salvation Army's founding and early years, in the …

What The Big Picture Misses: How New Accounting Practices Were Institutionalised In An Australian Religious/Charitable Organisation, H. J. Irvine

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Neo-institutional sociology proposes that organisations in a particular field behave in essentially the same way. In taking for granted the prevalence of institutionalised activities, such as accounting, however, it offers little in the way of penetrating insights into how, and to what extent, those activities are actually introduced and embedded into individual organisations. Recent changes in the nonprofit environment in Australia have catapulted nonprofit organisations into a new corporate mode of operation, providing a unique opportunity not only to observe the introduction of new accounting practices, but also to critique the usefulness of neo-institutionalism as a complete explanation of organisational …

Editorial: In This Issue, Eric Loo

Asia Pacific Media Educator

This issue begins with two contributions by Yan Mei Ning and Tim Hamlett who paint a picture of how freedom of expression is continually being re-defined, curtailed, yet in other ways protected by the judiciary in its judgement of defamation cases.

Re-Reading The Media: A Stylistic Analysis Of Malaysian Media Coverage Of Anwar And The Reformasi Movement, S. Manan

Asia Pacific Media Educator

This paper attempts to study how language is used by a pro-establishment paper in Malaysia - the New Straits Times (NST) - to portray the former Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim and the Reformasi Movement. It aims to investigate how the NST represents dissenting voices and the extent to which it helps to promote consensus and the dominant view. This paper argues that language in news coverage plays a crucial role in the construction of social reality. News is a practice, a discourse which does not reflect reality in a neutral manner but helps to “interpret”, “organize” and “classify” this …

Public Trust, Media Responsibility And Public Journalism: Us Newspaper Editors And Educators' Attitudes About Media Credibility, T. Dickson, E. Topping

Asia Pacific Media Educator

A survey of media educators and editors of daily newspapers in the United States concluded that the two groups had similar concerns about public trust and media responsibility, and both groups saw public journalism as a potential means for improving media credibility. Educators, however, were significantly more likely to state that the media are contributing to the public’s mistrust of government, that responsibility shown by daily newspapers is worse than it was five years earlier, and that public journalism reduces a media organization’s objectivity. The authors present suggestions for what the findings mean for journalism educators.

Book Review: Ethics For Journalists, I. Richards

Asia Pacific Media Educator

Keeble, Richard (2001)
Ethics For Journalists,
Routledge, London.

Reviewed by Ian Richards

At the height of the “cash for comment” scandal in 1999, former Australian radio talkback host Derryn Hinch was asked on ABC Radio about “king of talkback” John Laws’ defence that he was an entertainer not a journalist (and so not bound by journalistic ethical considerations). “Just because you’re an entertainer, it doesn’t mean you rob a bank,” Hinch replied. A few minutes later, in the same interview, Hinch was asked whether he had been made aware of Australian commercial radio’s codes of practice at any of the …

Playing Serious Games In Journalism Classes, D. Cameron

Asia Pacific Media Educator

One of the defining features of journalism education in a university setting is the requirement that students demonstrate their understanding of core skills by producing professional work. Writing skills are assessed by news reporting tasks, research skills are tested by research exercises, interviewing ability is demonstrated by conducting an interview, and so on. Sometimes this skills assessment is managed in the form of regular student publications or broadcasts. At other times it is structured as class writing exercises. In some cases mock news conferences or simulated news events are used. Regardless of the form it takes, teaching effective journalism practice …

Book Review: Interviewing For Journalists, D. Bartlett

Asia Pacific Media Educator

Adams, Sally with HICKS, Wynford (2001)
Interviewing For Journalists,
Routledge, London, 185pp. ISBN 0 41522913

Reviewed by Desley Bartlett

The latest in the how-to Media Skills series, this book ably demonstrates what Adams and Hicks explored in their 1999 text Writing for Journalists – it’s succinct, informs and entertains. From the chapter on “basics” (basic interviewing, basic principles, vox pops, press releases, rounds and conferences) to interviewing “special cases” (reluctant interviewees, children, vulnerable people and ‘death knocks’), Adams gets to the point quickly but with clear and concise examples.

Seagrass Species - Are They Spectrally Distinct?, S. K. Fyfe, A. G. Dekker

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The spectral reflectance of 3 species of seagrass was measured in different habitats at 3 estuaries in southeastern Australia during each of the 4 seasons of 2000. Seagrass species were spectrally distinct regardless of whether the leaves were fouled by epibionts even though spatial and temporal variability in reflectance was observed within each species. The visible wavelengths that penetrate water fortunately coincide with the regions of maximum absorption by plant photosynthetic and accessory pigments. Mapping of benthic plants to species level is possible using a hyperspectral sensor that has narrow bands centred on pigment-related spectral features in the visible, e.g. …

Ecofeminism And Globalism: A Critical Appraisal, J. Sydee, Sharon Beder

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Ecofeminism offers a useful yet limited framework through which to critique globalisation. Ecofeminism claims that the domination of women and of nature are intrinsically linked. Material ecofeminists, in particular, focus on the material conditions of women’s lives locating the source of this twin domination in patriarchal capitalism. These ecofeminists provide insights into the impacts of globalisation on women but their analysis of the causes of globalisation are limited. They identify globalisation as an outgrowth of patriarchal capitalism, insisting on the primacy of gender as the determinant of social organisation and arguing that it is the dichotomy between production and reproduction …

One Court, Two Rulings? Freedom Of Expression In Post-1997 Hong Kong, Y. M. Ning

Asia Pacific Media Educator

This paper examines the two most controversial decisions on freedom of expression made by the Court of Final Appeal, the highest court in Hong Kong in the post-handover period. The first was a defamation case - Cheng Albert and Another v Tse Wai Chun Paul. The second - HKSAR v Ng Kung Siu and Another - was the criminal sanction of flag desecration. The outcomes of these two landmark cases were completely different. One has promoted freedom of expression, while the other has restricted it. Both cases have considerable potential to impact on how much and what kind of freedom …

Scandalising The Scumbags: The Secretary For Justice Vs The Oriental Press Group, T. Hamlett

Asia Pacific Media Educator

“Scandalising the court” is a rare and controversial branch of the law of contempt. It allows judges to punish those who make general criticisms of the legal system or judges, regardless of whether any particular case is affected, or even mentioned. A Hong Kong newspaper, the Oriental Daily News, was prosecuted in 1998 for this offence. The newspaper was heavily fined and its editor was jailed. This paper explores the background to the case and examines its implications for the media in Hong Kong and other Common Law territories.

Political Education Through The Mass Media? A Survey Of Indonesian University Students, I. Hamad, H. Q. Ichtiat, Mr Zulham

Asia Pacific Media Educator

Students and the media were instrumental in bringing about political reforms in Indonesia in the 1990s, which led to the resignation of Soeharto in 1998 after 32 years in power. In the lead-up to and aftermath of the 1999 national general elections, the mass media was particularly active in heightening awareness of needed political reforms. It was assumed that as an educated social grouping, students would use the mass media for their political activities. A survey of 1,000 university students was conducted to determine how effective the mass media was as an agent of political education in influencing the students’ …

New Technologies And Future Of Newspapers, L. Obijiofor, K. Green

Asia Pacific Media Educator

This essay analyses the impact of new communication technologies on the future of newspapers. In examining current arguments in the literature, it argues that while Internet technology gives it an edge over newspapers in terms of immediacy of news coverage, audience reach and greater interactivity with readers, these characteristics should not be perceived as evidence of the demise of traditional newspapers. The authors contend that the future of newspapers is bright because there are inherent qualities that traditional newspapers possess which would enable them to withstand the Internet news revolution.

Pluralism In The Australian Print Media, K. Lewis

Asia Pacific Media Educator

This paper discusses the issue of pluralism in the Australian print media and analyses Australian newspaper ownership from 1986 to 2000. It does so for three reasons: to identify who owns what at the start of the 21st century; to gain a view on trends in newspaper ownership concentration; and to gauge newspaper circulation trends, particularly in regard to arguments that newspaper circulations face a ‘long-term decline’. While evidence appears to discount this, the analysis concurs with the dominant academic viewpoint that the Australian print media industry is concentrated within a few owners and these owners have formed a powerful …

Cultural Specific Training In Corruption Reporting For Pacific Island Journalists, S. Tanner, N. Mccarthy

Asia Pacific Media Educator

It is a truism that all countries experience corruption and equally true that journalists and media organisations will list the uncovering and reporting of corruption as one of their principal responsibilities. Despite this, very few journalists have formal training in corruption reporting. Staff from the University of Queensland’s Centre for International Journalism (CIJ) conducted workshops in 2000 and 2001 for journalists from the Pacific Islands, where corruption is well entrenched in many business and political activities. As a result of the workshops, we hope to stimulate debate about how such programs might best be implemented, given the economic and cultural …

Work Experience At Major Events: Is It Worth The Bother?, R. Patching

Asia Pacific Media Educator

Tertiary journalism students have had a smorgasbord of work experience opportunities at major sporting events over the past couple of years. But for many - especially those who volunteered for the Sydney 2000 Olympics - the experience was one of disappointment. This paper chronicles some of the major work experience opportunities afforded students in recent times and concludes that a more productive arrangement with event organisers looking for willing helpers from journalism schools need to be put in place to avert disappointing student journalists looking for “real journalism experience”.

Teaching Journalism In A Changing Islamic Nation, S. Quinn

Asia Pacific Media Educator

This paper describes the structure of the government, education system and media in one of the most technologically-advanced Islamic nations, the United Arab Emirates. It outlines the huge growth in technology and media there, and discusses UAE news values relative to Western news values in the context of issues of freedom of expression. This paper questions whether it is possible to apply Western notions to the practice or the teaching of journalism in this country.

Patriotism Is Not Enough: Chinese Intellectuals And The Knowledge Economy, M. Keane, Q. Lin

Asia Pacific Media Educator

This paper examines the changing appeal of patriotism and nationalism in the civic consciousness of Chinese intellectuals shaped by the notion of a global knowledge economy. It investigates the career aspirations of scientists and IT professionals returning from overseas study in the US and argues that the famous motto of intellectuals during the 1980s – “Science does not have national boundaries but I (the scientist) have the nationality”, is losing its appeal. Scientists and IT professionals are acknowledged as knowledge-workers and are valued in nation building. At the same time they have the freedom to not return home by virtue …