The following issue of The Bulletin was prepared by Deb Lewis (Co-ordinator, Statewide Vision Resource Centre).
We have planned you a fabulous EXPO with lots of interesting displays, hands-on assistive technology opportunities and of course, the opportunity to drop off your no-longer-needed resources borrowed from the SVRC!
Here is the latest list of displays and distributors for your planning pleasure. We have the following companies represented:
It promises to be an excellent event – so please arrange to come along and bring your students, families, staff from schools – who-ever really! You could drag your students out for a Chrissy lunch afterwards!
The following comes from the delightful Nathan, another Space Camper who’d do it all again tomorrow!!!
It was an early morning in Melbourne and the weather was much the same as it always is, warm then cold. I think me going to America only sunk in when I was on my way to the airport. Maybe that’s why I was so quiet in the car. Even though I had been selling sausages for 5 weeks prior to leaving. When I got to the Airport, I didn’t see anyone there just yet. Probably because two of the people I went with lived out of Melbourne. So me and my parents went and got something to eat. I didn’t have breakfast that morning probably because I was nervous. It was still early when people from my group started to arrive, but Melbourne international still had allot of people considering the time of day.
So we all got our things together and got our tickets. Surprisingly my bag wasn’t over weight! We waited on some seats near the entrance to the departures lounge for a while then we all said our goodbyes and took last minute photos. At the time I felt good because I had worked so hard to get there. No matter which airport you are or at what time there is always a long line! Thus was the case at the customs section of the airport.
Finally I was on the plane and we were on our way to America, but first it was off to Auckland International. For some reason I hate New Zealand airport now, probably because every time I’m there I have to wait 8 hours before my next flight. But we shopped for a bit and finally got on the plane to LA. I have never sat down for so long in my life. The plane trip from New Zealand to LA was amazing. But the movies on board where good, but still it was a long and very weird experience, especially when I looked at the sun rising at 12:00am.
LAX was huge but not as glamorous as I expected. We had to wait a long time for our bus to Anaheim.
Disneyland was allot of fun but it was very easy to get burnt. Unfortunately
Space Mountain was closed as well as a few other rides and attractions. The
best ride was in the other part of the park and was a roller coaster called
California Screemin’.
Next up was Knott’s Berry Farm. It was the best theme park I had ever
been to. Next was San Diego Zoo, it was huge but we got through it allot quicker
than we thought, the animal show was good and informative.
We woke up early the next day and set off for Huntsville were Space Camp is. It took about a day to get to know every one but by the end of it everyone was friends.
The best parts about Space Camp were the missions and scuba diving, which I have never done before until now. And the food isn’t all that bad. My job in the six hour mission was, Mission Scientist and Station Commander. Both were great jobs and allot of fun to do. We made 3 stage rockets but unfortunately we didn’t get to launch them as there wasn’t enough time in the day.
I enjoyed Space Camp very much and if I was given the opportunity I would go again in a heartbeat.
Source: Sarah Cornish, Disability Coordination Officer, RMIT
Visit www.rmit.edu.au/ssg/dco/studentresidences for Victorian accessible accommodation facilities provided at Universities and TAFEs across the State. The aim of this resource is to provide prospective students with a disability an overview of accessible on-campus accommodation (or nearby residential colleges) available at Universities and TAFE Institutes across the State of Victoria. The website offers an overview of the accommodation, features, maps and contact details for further information.
From: Linden Woodruff, O&M instructor, Guide Dogs Victoria
The Children’s Mobility Service at Guide Dogs Victoria is planning to run another four Orientation and Mobility mornings in 2004, based at the Guide Dog campus in Kew. The proposed dates are:
These sessions are a lot of fun and are recommended for:
These mornings include discussions about the issues students with low vision experience when travelling in the community as well as a practical workshop under low vision simulators. A set route in a local suburb is followed, with participants being required to answer questions along the way and experience tasks such as crossing roads and entering shops.
So far, the Children’s Mobility Service has run three mornings with each participant reporting that they have taken away something useful from the morning under the simulators. Some examples are:
A well-earned coffee break concludes the morning, where more discussion takes place about the experience of travelling under their simulator and whether these experiences matched the participants’ initial expectations! Many participants have been surprised to discover things about the eye condition that they were previously unaware of.
By building a more thorough understanding of the practical implications of a particular vision impairment, the parent or teacher can assist in the skill development and building of confidence that is required for children to progress on towards independence in the future.
Please contact Rachel Morgan on 9854 4469 to express interest.
Article by: Mike Steer & Frances Gentle, Renwick College, Royal Institute for Deaf & Blind Children; and The University of Newcastle
In some respects, Visiting Teachers are jacks and jills of all trades, and although the focus of their work is often prescribed and described in their school system’s policy manual, they are often called upon informally, to lend a hand with several activities important to the efficient operation of the schools they support. Some of the smaller school systems of course, do not have policy manuals, so that roles and responsibilities are to be found recorded on the position description forms used when new staff members are hired. Imagine then, a situation in which you, the specialist teacher are confronted by an anxious new teacher of a class in which there is a student with a vision impairment who is on your case load, and who asks you for advice on managing his or her class so that all the students in the class can start learning on the very first day without interruption or interference from other students. What advice will you give?
From the day the new teacher (let’s call her Sandra) receives her letter of appointment, she must start thinking about ways to build relationships with her students, their parents and her colleagues. These relationships are the foundation upon which successful behaviour management strategies can be built. Sandra should begin by mailing letters to students and parents at least two weeks before the start of school. In some schools alas, teachers are not informed of the number or names of the students they will teach until the first staff development day, so that little advanced planning is possible. However, for the schools in which advanced planning is possible, Professor Diane King of DeSales University in Pennsylvania has provided the following tips on what is needed in this critically important first communication.
In the letter to students:
In the letter to parents:
Friendly, positive first communications containing a touch of the personal give a human face to the school system. First impressions are the strongest and steps to establish a sense of engagement with families and students will reap positive rewards throughout the school year. Support from the school community can take many forms, from parental assistance with outings, projects and homework, to individual educational goal setting. Gaining a sense of belonging to the school community will provide the new teacher with a support base for entry into the world of education and empowerment as a teacher.
Reference
King, D. (2003). Tips to help new teachers with classroom management. CEC Today, 10(3), 12-14.
Source: Vision Technology website http://www.visiontech.svrc.vic.edu.au/etexts.htm
Electronic texts (e-texts) are books that are in digital format. They come as files on a floppy disk or CD-ROM or as downloadable files from the internet. Some of the benefits of having books in digital format include:
There are a number of sites listed on the Vision Technology website – some offering e-text for free and some selling books by individual order or subscription. Two sites that have come to my attention are B&R Samizdat Express and Bookshare.org, both of which sell e-text.
B&R Samizdat Express
Source: www.samizdat.com and http://store.yahoo.com/samizdat/
The B&R Samizdat Express is a small book publishing company which sells public domain texts on PC diskettes (mainly classic works of literature and government documents) via the internet. The books can be downloaded to your computer and read using regular print, personalising some of the built in computer enlargement and contrast, or via specialised enlargement software such as Zoomtext, MAGic etc. Voice output software such as JAWS, ReadPlease etc can also be used.
Bookshare.org
Source: www.bookshare.org/web/Resources.html
This is a site set up primarily for US residents, though individuals with qualifying disabilities who live outside the United States can access portions of the Bookshare.org collection. Bookshare.org offers an ‘all-you-can-read’ access, where at least in the USA, you can sign up for US$35 + $50 for a full year to access unlimited titles from their library. Books are available as e-text which can be accessed via your own screen reading software or via a software application (The Victor Reader Soft DAISY player)which is provided as part of the membership. Books are also available in contracted digital braille.
If you would like to try out Bookshare.org before joining, use the search functions to see what books are available. You may also download any public domain books. Or, for a quick overview, visit the sample download page at: www.bookshare.org/web/SampleDownloads.html
For further details, see the Vision Technology website: E-text page at www.visiontech.svrc.vic.edu.au/etexts.htm
Source: Program for Students with Disabilities, Eastern Metropolitan Region November 2003 Newsletter
In Giangreco, Edelman, Luiselli and MacFarlan’s research article titled, Helping or Hovering? Effects of Instructional Assistant Proximity on Students with Disabilities (1997), the authors identified a series of concerns related to the close proximity of instructional assistants and the students with significant disabilities that they supported. Their study presented data that revealed that instructional assistants providing close physical support to students with disabilities on an ongoing basis might be counterproductive.
The following eight subthemes emerged from their observations of instructional assistants in public schools and their interviews with parents, instructional assistants, administrators and teachers.
In conclusion the authors of this research study suggest the following as considerations for school personnel when developing practices and training for instructional assistants that support students with multiple disabilities.
Adapted from Giangreco, M., Edelman, S., Luiselli, T.E., & MacFarlan, S. (1997). Helping or hovering? Effects of instructional assistants’ proximity on students with disabilities. Exceptional Children, 64(1), 7-18.
Go to: www.visiontech.svrc.vic.edu.au
Lea Nagel and I have been hard at it updating the VisionTech website. It is not quite complete but we have on our running shoes and hopefully it will be close by the time you have a chance to have a look!
The pages on this site are arranged by category such as: computer access - braille, enlargement, scanners, voice output; curriculum access - alternative format materials, dictionaries, e-text, environmental considerations etc; lighting; magnifiers; and more. The majority of categories have a brief introduction to the assistive technology option followed by a product summary in table format. Most tables are headed: name and supplier, price, input, output, comments.
Most products have a link to the local supplier contact details (eg phone number, website, email etc) on the Suppliers and Distributors page. From there, you can leave the VisionTech website and visit the supplier’s website. For some products, there is also a link to an image of the assistive technology option.
Additional pages which may be of assistance to those supporting students with vision impairments have also been included on this website such as:
I love feedback – also if you find something odd or want to update the information – just get in touch!
Excerpt of an article from the Melbourne Weekly Magazine, 16-22 November 2003
Australia, he says, could do more (regarding the eye health of its population). “I looked recently at the funding for eye-disease (research) in Australia compared to the United States and after adjusting for the US dollar and population differences, the US was 19 times higher than Australian funding.”
The government, Taylor says, just doesn’t get it. “In October the Australian Society for Medical Research launched an important document showing the economic impact of medical research here. They looked at changing life expectancy and quality of life and determined that over the last 10 or 20 years something like $6 trillion has been added to the community. Half was due to improvements in health because of medical research and about two per cent of that research was done in Australia.
“When they worked the amount invested against the benefit to the population, the benefit was about five-to-one. And yet we rank 18th or so out of 20 OECD countries in what we spend on research ... imagine what could be done with more resources.” Taylor is an optimist. “There has never been a better time to be in medicine,” he says. “We have better tools, new drugs, new surgery and diagnostic techniques. I anguish over the people we could (have helped) if only we'd got them five or 10 years earlier.”
Regular check-ups are the key. Glaucoma, for example, causes irreparable vision loss, but is treatable when diagnosed early. So, too, eye conditions associated with diabetes. “To my mind the challenge is to get out in the community so we can get these people and apply what we know.”
Melburnians should take a few precautions between October and March, when UV light is at its strongest. For starters, wear sun-glasses (ideally wrap-arounds, because UV makes a mockery of little John Lennon numbers) and hats, like your ancestors did.
If you’re among the 10 or so per cent of Australians who develop dry eyes, stay indoors during dust-filled northerlies and if your eyes get itchy, for whatever reason, never, ever rub them. “The only thing you’re allowed to rub your eyes with are your elbows,” says Taylor. “People don't realise how delicate the eyes are. Give them a good rub and a biopsy a day later will still show up damage. It’s much better getting lubricating drops or bathing them in cold water.”
Source: BBC News Online – UK Edition, 21 November 2003
The first mobile phone designed specifically for blind and partially sighted people has gone on show in the UK. The phone is made by a Spanish company, Owasys - pronounced oasis - who hope to have their 22C handset on the UK market in three months’ time. It goes on sale in Spain next week.
It has no visual display at all but uses a speech synthesiser to read everything that would normally appear on the screen. As well as giving audio feedback from button presses, the 22C can send and receive text messages and will speak the name or number of incoming callers.
Owasys hope the mobile will retail at around UK£250.
The company - formed by ex-employees of Ericsson - consulted blind and partially sighted users throughout the development phase. They say the finished product reflects the customer feedback they received.
For the entire article, please contact us or go to the BBC online website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3226314.stm
Members of the Victorian Association of Parents of Children with a Vision Impairment (VAPVI) met on the 20th November 2003 and the following is a précis of the minutes:
VAPVI members continue to be active in their pursuits of improved opportunities for students with vision impairments. They have written letters regarding the recent changes to the Victorian Multi-Purpose Taxi Program – for details regarding these changes and the impact on people with disabilities see: www.bca.org.au/mptp.htm or contact Nadia Mattiazzo at Blind Citizens Australia: nadia.mattiazzo@bca.org.au
VAPVI is designing a website and asks that anyone with items should email Miriam who will make the changes or additions.
Further, VAPVI is continuing to progress with their application to obtain charity status.
The next VAPVI meeting will be a Xmas round-up at the Bowen family residence at 8.00pm on Thursday 11th December. For more details, please contact Gayle Skinner: skinners@alphalink.com.au
Source: Program for Students with Disabilities, Eastern Metropolitan Region November 2003 Newsletter
With term 4 upon us it is likely that approximately 600 students (in Eastern Metropolitan Region) are in the midst of their transition programs.
If the process hasn’t started yet GET STARTED! Without careful planning the optimum outcomes from the implementation of the student’s first year of secondary schooling cannot be achieved.
This transition for students is significant across several variables. The physical changes of a new school and adapting to a totally new environment and layout often present a major challenge. This often means moving from a relatively small primary school to a relatively large secondary setting. The systemic changes - timetables, different teachers for different subjects, changing classrooms and the great locker bun fight can be equally daunting.
Theses changes need to be countered and managed during a stage in the student’s life when the changes during adolescence are having an impact - the hormones raging, relationships with and acceptance by your peer group becoming increasingly important. It is incumbent upon PSGs – in both the student’s current school and in their 2004 school to ‘get it right’.
Around the last week in December, school principals should receive their statement of the school’s Global Budget funding for 2004. This lengthy document will tell the school which students have been funded under the Disabilities and Impairments program, and at what level. Attached, there is usually an application form for partially sighted students to apply for equipment and technology eg laptop, JAWS software etc. The closing date is generally early in term 1.
Look out for this in your schools and if you see the necessary paperwork can you call to see if we have a copy – we’d like to send a copy out to all the VTs as early as possible!
For details regarding the impact of these changes on people with disabilities see: www.bca.org.au/mptp.htm or contact Nadia Mattiazzo at Blind Citizens Australia: nadia.mattiazzo@bca.org.au
Source: Program for Students with Disabilities, Eastern Metropolitan Region
November 2003 Newsletter
Books
Kauffman, J. (1994) The Illusion of Inclusion. ProEd.
Hawkes, T. (2001) Boy oh boy: How to raise and educate boys. Pearson Education
Australia.
McCarney, S. (1996) PRIM. Hawthorne Press.
Perskey, R. (1997) Hope for the Families.
Featherstone, H. (1980) A difference in the family. Penguin.
Brookes, R. (1997) The self esteem teacher.
Archer & Gleason (1998) Skills for school success.
Rhodes, G. (1998) The tough kid toolbox. Sopris West.
Rhodes, G. (1998) The tough kid social skills toolbox. Sopris West.
Friend, M & Bursuck, W. Collaboration and Co-teaching.
Coloroso, B. (1994) Kids are worth it. William Morrow.
Coloroso, B. (2000) Parenting with Wit and Wisdom. Lothian.
Noddings, N. (1996) The challenge to care in schools. Teachers College Press.
Watson, A. & Giorcelli, L. (2000) Accepting the literacy challenge. Scholastic.
Powers, M & Poland, J. (2002) Asperger syndrome & your child: A parent’s
guide. Harper Collin.
Wallace, I. (2000) You and your ADD child.
All references are available from:
Silvereye www.silvereye.com.au
Unicomeducational (Shayne) unicomeducation@ozemail.com.au
Woolridges www.wooldridges.com.au
Amazon www.amazon.com
www.chadd.org (all about ADD/ADHD)
www.ldonline.org (best for learning disabilities)
www.schwablearning.org (good for
learning disabilities)
www.oneworld.org/autism.uk
www.det.nsw.edu.au/antibullying/introduction.html
www.incentiveplus.co.uk
www.inspiration.com (organisational
tools for students)
www.funbrain.com (great graded games for
kids)
http://trackstar.hprtec.org/ (helps
kids find info on web)
www.help4teachers.com (useful tips
for teachers modifying the curriculum)
www.creativelearningcentre.com
www.successunlimited.co.uk
www.freeworksheets.com
www.worldschool.com
www.resourcebank.com
www.zoomschool.com
www.superkids.com (for worksheets)
www.landmark-project.com
www.teachers.net.au
www.webquest.com
Source: www.educ.utas.edu.au/users/afluck/TT96/Event7/Dlinks.html
Not sure exactly who Doug Piper is, but he has listed his ‘bookmarks’ on the website above. Links include:
It’s text-based and definitely worth a look!
Source: Executive Memorandum No 2003/035 Department of Education & Training
The Department of Education and Training has developed comprehensive guidelines to ensure student safety in the Technology key learning area. These guidelines will help teachers to fulfil their duty of care and cover a range of areas related to the safety of students participating in technology curriculum activities. Copies of the “Student Safety Guidelines: Technology” CD-ROM are currently being distributed to schools.
The “Student Safety Guidelines: Technology” will assist teachers to fulfil their duty of care. They provide information on student safety that needs to be implemented by primary teachers, secondary technology teachers, technology coordinators, and occupational health and safety representatives.
The “Student Safety Guidelines: Technology” cover a range of areas related to the safety of students participating in technology curriculum activities, including:
Copies of the Student Safety Guidelines: Technology are currently being distributed to all Victorian schools on CD-ROM.
Source: www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/christmas/
Christmas is observed on the 25th December throughout many parts of the world. As a cultural celebration, it’s a peculiar mix – part myth, part magic and part religion. This website discusses the changing face of Christmas and looks at its origins and traditions.
The Association for Retinopathy of Prematurity and Related Diseases, ROPARD,
are selling a holiday greeting card. The artwork was done by a 7 year old girl
with retinopathy of prematurity. Proceeds from the sale of this card go towards
research to try to eliminate the problems of low vision and blindness in children
caused by premature birth and retinal disease.
To take a look at the card, go to: www.ropard.org/greeting_card.shtml
Source: www.free-books.org/
Over 1,000 books, many of them children’s titles, are available for download in MP3 format – that is you can listen to them on the web. Just click on the link and your computer will begin reading the selected story.
The print is also formatted in an interesting way which apparently assists the reading process. The formatting is called ewriting style and is shown in the example below – an excerpt from Black Beauty. The lines are shorter and appear to be presented so that there is a line break at each punctuation mark. The text can also be cut and pasted into another document.
The first place that I can well remember was a large pleasant meadow
with a pond of clear water in it.Some shady trees leaned over it,
and rushes and water-lilies grew at the deep end.Over the hedge on one side we looked into a plowed field,
and on the other we looked over a gate at our master’s house,
which stood by the roadside;
at the top of the meadow was a grove of fir trees,
and at the bottom a running brook overhung by a steep bank.While I was young I lived upon my mother’s milk,
as I could not eat grass.In the daytime I ran by her side,
and at night I lay down close by her.
From: Helen Caldow, Visting Teacher, Eastern Metropolitan Region
I recently attended the dinner for Belmore School. Belmore is a small school for the physically disabled in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Ben, a long-standing student of VTS was one of the graduating students.
It was held in the restaurant of the Box Hill TAFE, a terrific venue. A three-course
meal was served with short speeches between each course. Each of the four graduating
students was introduced and a special person spoke about them. Each speech was
a warm, funny and delightful tribute to the student. During each speech, a PowerPoint
presentation was played with photos of the students as they were growing up.
Then, the president of the school council presented the students with a plaque.
To round off the evening, another PowerPoint presentation was played to the
music of Delta Goodrem’s song “Born to Try”.
Fiona Allen, from Belmore’s technology department prepared the wonderful
PowerPoint presentations. Fiona is also the parent of a VTS student who also
attends Belmore.
The committee did a great job organizing the night.
The night has become a highlight of the school’s calendar. Everyone dresses up and many past students and parents also attend. The night has a lovely social, community atmosphere. It was fantastic to see how proud and excited the students and parents were to be honored on their very own special graduation night.
It’s that time again! Please return your students’ resources ASAP so that we can recycle them for next year’s students to begin to study their set texts over the summer holidays.
Empty your car boot, scour the schools’ bookshelves, and ask the students to search their lockers and … (aghast) … their untidy bedrooms! SVRC resources have turned up in the darnedest places!!!
Tell the students and schools what they are looking for – large print books, braille, tapes, games, low vision aids etc that were borrowed in their name during the year. Give them a copy of their borrowed items if that helps – call Dianne if you need an update.
Please get your students to purchase the texts they require for 2004 very soon if they will need to be reproduced in braille, large print or in electronic/tape format, so we can start producing them for you! Orders for green lined paper need to be in ASAP as well.
A form for ordering e-text through publishers is available by emailing a request to Deb Lewis. Orders can only be placed for books that are NOT AVAILABLE for purchase in CD-ROM format from the publisher. Where the CD-ROM is available for purchase, the CD-ROM will need to be purchased.
All orders for CD-ROMs must come through the Statewide Vision Resource Centre and will be completed in two waves:
Please have your forms in to Deb Lewis well in advance of these dates, or they may miss that order wave.
You will notice on the form that there are some boxes to complete which have a star * beside them. This is essential information which is needed to complete the order. If the starred information is incomplete, the form will (unfortunately) be returned to you for completion.
Sorry and thanks everyone!
As many of you would be aware, I began writing The Bulletin on a fortnightly basis, when I took over the co-ordinator’s role from Marion Blazé in 1992. Since then, I have produced approximately 220 issues – which I’d have to say that I still really enjoy – but I would be more that happy to share that enjoyment from time to time!
Remember Visiting Teachers – if you would like to be guest editor for The Bulletin in what remains of this year or any time next year – all you have to do is mention it. There is always plenty of material here at the SVRC – more than anyone could possibly wade through – you just get the information together, I’m happy to format it.
Imagine how fine that would look on your CV!!! It might be the thing that gets (or retains) you that fabulous job!
You probably have some stories, news, information, views or anecdotes that would inform and excite our readers – a country perspective would be great for us city slickers!!! – so don’t be shy – just contact me: tel (03) 9841 0242 or email deblewis@svrc.vic.gov.au
Thanks to all the Visiting Teachers and SVRC staff who supervised Year 12 students undertaking exams under special conditions. There were no major hiccoughs … though some issues included:
Fortunately all situations were ‘sorted’ by the clear-thinking efforts of the supervising Visiting Teachers – yay them!
You are invited to the annual SVRC Christmas Get Together.
When: 5th December at 5pm
Where: Mitcham Hotel, Cnr Maroondah Highway and Mitcham Road, Mitcham
RSVP: Sue or Dianne 9841 0242
Dinner: also available
The SVRC will be closed as follows for the holiday season:
17 December – closed from 1.30pm
19 December – closed from 1.30pm
22-24 December – open
25-28 December – closed
29-31 December – open
1 January – closed
A skeleton staff will be here most of January but if you want to come in, it may be better to call first!
Visit us at: 370-380 Springvale Road, Donvale
Mail us at: PO Box 201, Nunawading 3131
Phone: (03) 9841 0242
Educational Vision Assessment Clinic (Annette Godfrey-Magee & Sandra Groves): 9841 0807
Fax: (03) 9841 0878
Email: svrc@svrc.vic.edu.au
Name |
Major pastime whilst at work |
Email |
| Annette Godfrey-Magee | Education Officer | annetteg@svrc.vic.edu.au |
| Cathy Murray | Braille Transcriber | |
| Deb Lewis | Co-ordinator | deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au |
| Dianne Skillern | Administration/Large Print Production | diannesk@svrc.vic.edu.au |
| Gloria Ng | Teacher | ng.gloria.p@edumail.vic.gov.au |
| Lyn Robinson | Resource Teacher– Vision Impairment | lynrobin@svrc.vic.edu.au |
| Maria Elford | Senior Braille Transcriber | mariaelf@svrc.vic.edu.au |
| Nola Houghton | Braille Transcriber | |
| Phill McKenna | Teacher | phillmc@svrc.vic.edu.au |
| Sandra Groves | Psychologist | groves.sandra.j@edumail.vic.gov.au |
| Sue Sharp | Braille Transcriber | suesharp@svrc.vic.edu.au |
| Toni Chilton | Braille Transcriber | tonichil@svrc.vic.edu.au |
Thanks to Lea Nagel and Sue Sharp for contributing to this edition of The Bulletin. Thanks also to proof-readers Lea Nagel and Dianne Skillern.
Deb Lewis (who can be emailed at deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au).