The Record Newspaper September 2005 - Discovery

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The Fac tor y: The Factory:

1.5

PAGE

Before the Bang

JohnHughes

Success through customer service

“That

Photo

CONTENTS

Cover Story:

PRODUCTION LINE

What does a show based largely on pretence say about our loungerooms? By PAUL GRAY

4

OLD, COOL, DUDE

He’s 78. Their average age is 18. He pulls a million of them at a time. It shouldn’t be happening.

Photo Essay by PAUL BUI

6-10

FIND RESPITE

Walk into a Church. Be surprised. CATHERINE PARISH writes.

11

THE GADGET

The low-down on PSP - what it is, what’s available, what to look for.

14-15

BEHIND THE UNIVERSE

Some things are not measurable by Science. So why do they exist?

12-13

A student of history and politics at Notre Dame, 1998 graduate TERENCE BOYLEN offers advice to this year's leavers on the best ways to prepare for, and to celebrate, Schoolies' Week in WA.

You’re in the zone, the end in sight. After 12 laborious years of education it will soon be all over. And, if you’re one of the thousands of Year 12s planning to go to School Leavers, you’re in for interesting times.

Welcome to Leaver Hotel

Perth and it’s surrounding area afford some of the choicest locations for hosting your end of year bash, though if you want the best experience there are things you should know. Like in the rest of Australia, ‘Leavers’ in Western Australia has attained a reputation. For parents, it’s all sex, drugs and vandalism; for students it’s the greatest party to be had.

In reality, it can be either or neither. While we’d like it to be an occasion that could make everyone happy, too often things go wrong. That is why a little bit of planning can go a long way to making sure Leavers is the best event of the school decade.

EDITOR PETER ROSENGREN Letters to: cathrec@iinet.net.au

JOURNALISTS JAMIE O'BRIEN jamieob@therecord.com.au

BRONWEN CLUNE clune@therecord.com.au

MARK REIDY reidyrec@iinet.net.au

OFFICE MANAGER EUGENE SUARES administration@therecord.com.au inc. sales/subscriptions

ADVERTISING CHRIS MIZEN advertising@therecord.com.au ph: 9227 9830

PRODUCTION MANAGER DEREK BOYLEN production@therecord.com.au

587 Newcastle St, Leederville

Post: PO Box 75, Leederville, WA 6902

Tel: (08) 9227 7080

Fax: (08) 9227 7087

Allow me to show you your room

Perth is an ideal choice for Leavers. There are many locations for whatever your tastes are. Whether you’re a day person, intent on surfing the time away, or a night person, looking to sample beverages in a relaxed atmosphere, there is a location for you… provided you plan ahead.

Rottnest is the choice location for Leavers. Every year over 1000 teenagers converge on Rottnest to

appreciate its pleasures. However if you want to be there, you’d better start planning. Going to Rottnest is conditional on a ballot. Everyone’s groups go into a barrel and are then chosen randomly. It’s a moderately involved process for which you should plan. You’ll also need someone over 18 and $1000 bond money. To register and to find out more, go to www.rottnestisland. com/rotto/ Dunsborough is the other main gathering spot. Like Rottnest, you’ll

need to book early. At both these venues, official bookings come with a wristband, which you will need to be allowed in the town precincts. These bands can also offer discounts on food and venues. There is a helpful website at http:// www.dunsboroughleavers.com.au . There are other locations if you don’t like crowds or miss the bus. There’s Busselton, Albany, Esperance, Mandurah, and even Perth. If you want to get away from school and home, there are heaps

Interesting times: Leavers can be an interesting time but with some organisation it can be fun and safe.

of caravan parks around Perth and the bigger towns. There’s also usually less of the negative aspects of Leavers present.

Oh yes! The house rules… Leavers does have a reputation for trouble. What am I talking about? Sex, drugs and violence of course. With a little care though, trouble can be avoided.

■ Sexual abuse is an issue. There have been reports in the past of abuse and anecdotal evidence suggests rates could be higher. It is important to stay with friends on Leavers. Even for adults, stranger danger still applies. Also, sales of ‘emergency contraceptives’ (designed to kill the conceived child) in past years indicate there are other problems. Ensure you know about STDs and so on, but the safest choice, of course, is abstinence.

■ Violence, too, is a reality. Fights are like black holes, drawing everyone in. The best advice is don’t get involved. The target of violence, unfortunately, could be you - and for no reason. Certain factors can increase the chance of this happening: if you’re drunk, a big male, part of a group of males,

or easily agitated. The important thing to remember: walk away.

■ And related to these of course is drinking. Police are strict on alcohol during Leavers. Buying alcohol for minors, binge-drinking, and drunk-driving are all good ways to get into trouble. Drink-spiking has been known to occur, and even without that, alcohol impairs your judgement. The best bet is to be moderate and know the law. Remember, throwing-up is a sign your body has had way too much.

Have a nice stay

Leavers is an opportunity to have fun with friends. The vast majority of Leavers go with that intent. The best place for you and your friends to start Leavers is Google. Most popular destinations and many tourist sites have information for Leavers. There are heaps of sites dedicated to Leavers alone. With a little planning, Leavers can be a lot of fun - not a nightmare.

www.rottnestisland.com

http://mysouthwest.com.au

www.schoolies.org.au

http://holiday-wa.net

www.westernaustralia.com/en/

Parents hold the key

While many parents are apprehensive about letting their teenager go to Leavers, most parents can remember a time in their lives when friends and parties were important (was it that long ago?). Leavers shouldn’t be a sticking point.

Support from peers is important and Leavers gives teenagers an opportunity to develop their friendships. What’s more, teenagers need a reprieve after a hard year, as much as anyone.

With fun, though, comes responsibility. Leavers is an opportunity for teenagers to show they are becoming more adult and for families to find a balance between teenager’s need for independence and concern for their safety.

The media makes a lot out of the negativities of Leavers. Most teenagers don’t go to Leavers with intentions of drugs, sex, and vandalism. Nevertheless, there are steps that should be taken to ensure the wellbeing of your teenager. Here are a few ideas.

• Have a plan of action in case of an emergency including the phone number of local authorities and people they can call.

• Ensure your teenager has a phonecard and $20 strictly for emergencies – a phone call and a taxi.

• Ask your teenager to phone every couple of days.

• Ensure you have ambulance cover.

• If your teenager says, “Everyone else’s parents are letting them,” then check with the other parents.

• Remind them there are people who would take advantage of them, especially with drugs and sex.

• Encourage your children to build strong friendships.

• Finally, let your teenager know you’ll be there for them, even if you disagree with anything that has happened.

If this all sounds very negative, it’s not. The point: with Leavers it is important to think Safety First. With due care Leavers is an opportunity for growth and fun.

AUSTRALIAN IDOLATRY?

This month discovery continues its examination of reality TV programs, going behind the scenes to question what, despite their massive popularity, they really accomplish. Melbourne Herald-Sun columnist PAUL GRAY, who also writes for discovery and its weekly sister publication, The Record, takes a look at Australian Idol. Idol may not go for the sewer, unlike Big Brother, but does the quest for fame really bring happiness to contestant and viewer? And who really benefits?

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Way to go: Casey Donovan, the winner of last season’s Australian Idol. Since her win her career has not taken off. The show offers itself as a pathway to stardom but so far it’s questionable as to whether it really delivers for winning contestants, let alone those who didn’t win.

Photo: AAP

Australian Idol rots your brain. How? Let me count the ways.

First, it's the program's endless pauses. "Who will be in and who will be out …. we'll find out in just a moment," say the hosts. But "just a moment" is never just a moment.

In bygone centuries, long, slow, public torture for criminals was considered fairly normal. But this was demeaning for society, so eventually it was banned.

Australian Idol, on the other hand, brings back long, slow, public torture of contestants as they hug and squirm in agony on camera, awaiting their fates.

The short, out-dated nature of the songs the contestants sing on Australian Idol also reduces the audience's intellectual capacities. Oz Idol is a format-driven program, where maximum agony for the contestants and minimal actual performance time is required.

Contestants do sing some great songs. But usually, those songs are in a heavily shortened version. A verse, maybe two, and a couple of choruses are all we usually hear.

No matter how long the original was, every song sung on Australian Idol must come in at a uniform length. It's cookiecutter performance.

"Oz Idol is

a

format-driven program,

where

maximum agony for the contestants and minimal actual performance time is required..."

If this doesn't rot your brain, it certainly sends me to sleep. So does the song selection the contestants make.

The guiding principle for song selection on Oz Idol is clearly – be safe. Songs chosen not only must be familiar to the audience – they have to be so familiar that the entire TV-watching audience can sing along.

Old people. Young people. People who can't sing. People who don't even know what a song is.

Everyone's supposed to know the number. There's a place for familiarity, but this is not what music is all about.

If a singer's talent is to shine, they need more freedom to sing new songs. It's not as though no-one is writing good songs anymore. But most radio stations and TV shows like Australian Idol routinely ignore new composing talent.

Another feature of Australian Idol that rots your brain is the hugging. Don't get this wrong. I'm not against hugging in real life. People should hug.

But I'm dead against competitive hugging, where two or more opponents who want to win try to prove how much they love each other.

I just can’t believe it’s real. It goes too heavily against human nature. People competing against each other should at least be reserved, if not occasionally hostile. Do you ever see two footballers on opposing sides hug each other before the final siren? Or netballers?

This may seem a quibble to some

people, but I think the excessive positive emotion between Oz Idol contestants sends an unhealthy message.

It encourages false display. It says you must show love for your opponent, even if you don’t feel it. Some would say, that’s Christian. But Jesus said you should turn the other cheek to a person striking you.

He didn’t say hug the person you’re trying to knock off.

If a contestant really wanted to be a Christian on Australian Idol, they could consider resigning from the contest before the result’s announced. That way they would be really loving their opponents, by letting them win the day.

Theatrical hugging, on the other hand, doesn’t prove a thing.

The other way to be Christian, of course, might be to stay off the show altogether. There’s a famous joke about politicians that’s relevant here. “Don’t vote – it only encourages the idiots.”

Something similar can be said about reality TV shows like Australian Idol. Of course, Big Brother is a far, far worse program.

But every reality TV show that succeeds in Australia has this unfortunate effect. It takes up programming time from bettermade shows.

Reality TV is cheap to make. Industry

Continued on Page 11

Have your say!

Our last front cover story on Big Brother got a lot of feedback – for and against. What do you think? Send a letter (maximum 150 words) to: discovery, PO Box 75, Leederville WA 6902 or to cathrec@iinet.net.au You’ll need to include your name and contact details for verification. No call-costs incurred.

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A winning guy: Singers need more room to really prove what they’ve got, not ‘re-tread’ snippets of music everybody knows, writes Paul Gray. If Australian Idol and similar shows are meant to be real, there should be much more emphasis on originality and quality - and not just a magic formula for producers to rake in the cash. Photo: AAP

The WYD phenomenon...

3POINTS: ONE OF THE GREATEST regular adventures of modern times, called World Youth Day, is still relatively unknown. WYD actually takes place every year on Palm Sunday, but every three years - a bit like the Olympics - millions of young people pack their bags, organise their visas and travel to a special gathering with the Pope. It seems a bit weird to anyone who doesn't know about it, but the latest WYD, held in Cologne, Germany, attracted an estimated 1.5 million youth from everywhere, including Perth. The largest crowd ever seen in history was WYD in Manilla in 1995 - an estimated 5 million. It was visible from space.

So what's going on? If a man who is nearly 80 and who heads an organisation often thought to be irrelevant and repressive is attracting millions of young people who are switching on to his message, something big - and unusual - is definitely happening... PAUL BUI was at WYD '05 to capture images of a remarkable spirit in action.

Accompanying Paul's photos is the text of Benedict's speech, given at the end of WYD '05 at an all-night vigil with young people from every corner of the globe. Read it. Think about the bits that strike you. Put it down and walk away. Then come back some time later and read bits of it again. It's great stuff, if you take the time to think about it.

Dear young friends,

In our pilgrimage with the mysterious Magi from the East, we have arrived at the moment which Saint Matthew describes in his Gospel with these words: “Going into the house (over which the star had halted), they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him” (Matthew 2:11). Outwardly, their journey was now over. They had reached their goal. But at this point a new journey began for them, an inner pilgrimage which changed their whole lives. Their mental picture of the infant King they were expecting to find must have been very different. They had stopped at Jerusalem specifically in order to ask the King who lived there for news of the promised King who had been born. They knew that the world was in disorder, and for that reason their hearts were troubled. They were sure that God existed and that he was a just and gentle God. And perhaps they also knew of the great prophecies of Israel foretelling a King who would be intimately united with God, a King who would restore order to the world, acting for God and in his name. It was in order to seek this King that they had set off on their journey: Deep within themselves they felt prompted to go in search of the true justice that can only come from God, and they wanted to serve this King, to fall

Celebrating together: Left: Catholic Youth Ministry Co-ordinator Lucas Hurley led more than 500 youth in the Rosary. Right: WA pilgrims Christine Scrutton and Leanne Joyce jump for joy at the announcement of the next WYD to be held in Sydney in 2008.

He’s 78: and yet Pope Benedict XVI can still pull more than one million youth, eager to hear the radical and counter-cultural message he offers. What their parents make of it might be another thing altogether.

prostrate at his feet and so play their part in the renewal of the world. They were among those “who hunger and thirst for justice” (Matthew 5:6). This hunger and thirst had spurred them on in their pilgrimage - they had become pilgrims in search of the justice that they expected from God, intending to devote themselves to its service.

Even if those who had stayed at home may have considered them Utopian dreamers, they were actually people with their feet on the ground, and they knew that in order to change the world it is necessary to have power. Hence they were hardly likely to seek the promised child anywhere but in the King’s palace. Yet now they were bowing down before the child of poor people, and they soon came to realise that Herod, the King they had consulted, intended to use his power to lay a trap for him, forcing the family to flee into exile. The new King, to whom they now paid homage, was quite unlike what they were expecting. In this way they had to learn that God is not as we usually imagine him to

be. This was where their inner journey began. It started at the very moment when they knelt down before this child and recognised him as the promised King. But they still had to assimilate these joyful gestures internally.

They had to change their ideas about power, about God and about man, and in so doing, they also had to change themselves. Now they were able to see that God’s power is not like that of the powerful of this world. God’s ways are not as we imagine them or as we might wish to them to be.

God does not enter into competition with earthly powers in this world. He does not marshal his divisions alongside other divisions. God did not send twelve legions of angels to assist Jesus in the Garden of Olives (cf. Matthew 26:53). He contrasts the noisy and ostentatious power of this world with the defenceless power of love, which succumbs to death on the Cross, and dies ever anew throughout history; yet it is this same love which constitutes the new

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WANTED: VOLUNTEER WORKERS

KIMBERLEY CATHOLIC VOLUNTEER SERVICE

Kalumburu Mission

The Diocese of Broome, Western Australia urgently requires volunteers – couples or single people - to serve at the remote Mission at Kalumburu in the East Kimberley.

Duties include any of the following : cooking, working in the Mission shop, building and vehicle maintenance, housekeeping and ground persons.

Placements are preferred for a period of twelve months but a reduced time would be considered.

For further details and an application form please contact:

Mr Kerry Purcell

Ph: (08) 9192 1060 Fax (08) 9192 2136

email: secretary@broomediocese.org

PO Box 76 Broome WA 6725

DIOCESE OF BROOME

LAY ADMINISTRATOR WANTED PARISH OF KALUMBURU

The Mission Parish of Kalumburu is situated 240km north west of Wyndham; it is one of the most isolated communities in the Kimberley.

The Administrator would be expected to take responsibility for the operation of the shop, service station and accommodation area including caravan park, and for the maintenance and good order of the plant and machinery of the Parish, supervise the work assignments of Lay Volunteers, support the Priest in his work and ensure the accurate keeping of the Parish’s financial records.

The position becomes available in November 2005.

The remuneration package is negotiable.

For a detailed role description and application form contact:

Bishop Christopher Saunders or Mr Kerry Purcell Diocesan Office

PO Box 76, Broome WA 6725

Ph (08) 9192 1060 : Fax (08) 9192 2136

Email secretary@broomediocese.org

Applications close on Wednesday, 28 September 2005

Come joing the party: Australian youth celebrate at the announcement of the proposal as Sydney as the next host city of WYD in 2008 at the Australian Gathering during World Youth Day celebrations held in Cologne last month. Deep in thought: Rob Hiini, 23 of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Rockingham, reflects during the Australian Gathering for WYD 2005. Photos: Paul Bui

Taking a breather: Brad Ford, 25, Kristy Keeler, 24, Kristina Garrett and Kylie Czabotar take a break during tour at Schoenstatt where they spent 3 days before heading to Cologne for WYD.

Photo: Paul Bui

divine intervention that opposes injustice and ushers in the Kingdom of God. God is different this is what they now come to realise. And it means that they themselves must now become different, they must learn God’s ways.

They had come to place themselves at the service of this King, to model their own kingship on his. That was the meaning of their act of homage, their adoration. Included in this were their gifts gold, frankincense and myrrh gifts offered to a King held to be divine. Adoration has a content and it involves giving. Through this act of adoration, these men from the East wished to recognise the child as their King and to place their own power and potential at his disposal, and in this they were certainly on the right path. By serving and following him, they wanted, together with him, to serve the cause of good

and the cause of justice in the world. In this they were right. Now, though, they have to learn that this cannot be achieved simply through issuing commands from a throne on high. Now they have to learn to give themselves - no lesser gift would be sufficient for this King. Now they have to learn that their lives must be conformed to this divine way of exercising power, to God’s own way of being. They must become men of truth, of justice, of goodness, of forgiveness, of mercy. They will no longer ask: How can this serve me? Instead they will have to ask: How can I serve God’s presence in the world? They must learn to lose their life and in this way to find it. Having left Jerusalem behind, they must not deviate from the path marked out by the true King, as they follow Jesus. Dear friends, what does all this mean for us? What we have just been saying about the nature of God being different, and about the

way our lives must be shaped accordingly, sounds very fine, but remains rather vague and unfocussed. That is why God has given us examples. The Magi from the East are just the first in a long procession of men and women who have constantly tried to gaze upon God’s star in their lives, going in search of the God who has drawn close to us and shows us the way. It is the great multitude of the saints - both known and unknown - in whose lives the Lord has opened up the Gospel before us and turned over the pages; he has done this throughout history and he still does so today. In their lives, as if in a great picture-book, the riches of the Gospel are revealed. They are the shining path which God himself has traced throughout history and is still tracing today.

My venerable predecessor Pope John Paul II beatified and canonised a great many people from both the distant and the recent

morning: Daniel Berry of All Saints

the cold and cluster of the Marienfield at WYD Cologne in which 1.1 million youth

to attened the vigil and concluding Mass on August 20 to 21.

past. Through these individuals he wanted to show us how to be Christian; how to live life as it should be lived - according to God’s way. The saints and the blessed did not doggedly seek their own happiness, but simply wanted to give themselves, because the light of Christ had shone upon them. They show us the way to attain happiness, they show us how to be truly human.

Through all the ups and downs of history, they were the true reformers who constantly rescued it from plunging into the valley of darkness; it was they who constantly shed upon it the light that was needed to make sense even in the midst of suffering of God’s words spoken at the end of the work of creation: “It is very good.”

One need only think of such figures as Saint Benedict, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Charles Borromeo, the founders of 19th-

century religious orders who inspired and guided the social movement, or the saints of our own day Maximilian Kolbe, Edith Stein, Mother Teresa, Padre Pio. In contemplating these figures we learn what it means “to adore” and what it means to live according to the measure of the child of Bethlehem, by the measure of Jesus Christ and of God himself.

The saints, as we said, are the true reformers. Now want to express this in an even more radical way: Only from the saints, only from God does true revolution come, the definitive way to change the world. In the last century we experienced revolutions with a common program - expecting nothing more from God, they assumed total responsibility for the cause of the world in order to change it. And this, as we saw, meant that a human and partial point of view was always taken as an absolute guiding principle. Absolutising what is not absolute but relative is called

totalitarianism. It does not liberate man, but takes away his dignity and enslaves him. It is not ideologies that save the world, but only a return to the living God, our Creator, the guarantor of our freedom, the guarantor of what is really good and true. True revolution consists in simply turning to God who is the measure of what is right and who at the same time is everlasting love. And what could ever save us apart from love?

Dear friends! Allow me to add just two brief thoughts. There are many who speak of God; some even preach hatred and perpetrate violence in God’s name. So it is important to discover the true face of God. The Magi from the East found it, when they knelt down before the child of Bethlehem. “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father,” said Jesus to Philip (John 14:9). In Jesus Christ, who allowed his heart to be pierced for us,

Continued over

Continued from Page 7

Praise the Lord WA pilgrims join in the praise and worship at St Theodor’s Parish in Vingst, Cologne, during WYD 2005.

We have come to adore him Cheryl Lyra, of St Francis of Assis Parish Maida Vale, and Christine Scrutton of Our Lady of Grace Parish North Beach, pray the Divine Mercy on Saturday August 12 near the original Shrine in Schoenstatt, Germany, before heading to the World Youth Day celebrations in Cologne.

Photo: Paul Bui

Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Bernadette Forrester, 21 of All Saints Parish, Greenwood. Bernadette accompanied the Salvatorians during her trip to Cologne for World Youth Day.

Photo: Paul Bui

Strength in unity Amy Stevenson, 19, George Stevenson, 23, and Alistar McArthur, all of St Dominic’s Parish Innaloo.

Birds Eye View Pilgrims made use of each others shoulders to get a glimpse of Pope Benedict. Centre: Daniel Garlett of Holy Trinity Parish Embleton plays the diderdoo at the Australian Gathering. Photos: Paul Bui

I believe in God the Father Almighty: Daryl Pranata of Holy Rosary Parish Nedlands, prays in the original Shrine at Schoenstatt, Germany, before heading to Cologne for the World Youth Day celebrations. Photo: Paul Bui

Go Aussie: An Australian youth on her way to the Marienfield in Cologne, Germany, for the vigil and concluding Mass with Pope Benedict XVI.

Good

Parish Greenwood survived

converged

Photo: Paul Bui

Down in Adoration Frs Don Kettle and Vinh Dong, together with Auxilary Bishop Don Sproxton, Frs John O’Reilly and Joseph Tran celebrate Mass at the Adoration Church in Schoenstatt, Germany, on Sunday August 14, together with 90 youth from the diocese of Perth. Photo: Paul Bui

Continued from Page 9

the true face of God is seen. We will follow him together with the great multitude of those who went before us. Then we will be travelling along the right path.

This means that we are not constructing a private God, a private Jesus, but that we believe and worship the Jesus who is manifested to us by the sacred Scriptures and who reveals himself to be alive in the great procession of the faithful called the Church, always alongside us and always before us. There is much that could be criticised in the Church. We know this and the Lord himself told us so: It is a net with good fish and bad fish, a field with wheat and darnel. Pope John Paul II, as well as revealing the true face of the Church in the many saints that he canonised, also asked pardon for the wrong that was done in the course of history through the words and deeds of members of the Church. In this way he showed us our own true image and urged us to take our place, with all our faults and weaknesses, in the procession of the saints that began with the Magi from the East.

It is actually consoling to realise that there is darnel in the Church. In this way, despite all our defects, we can still hope to be counted among the disciples of Jesus, who came to call sinners. The Church is like a human family, but at the same time it is also the great family of God, through which he establishes an overarching communion and unity that embraces every continent, culture and nation. So we are glad to belong to this great family; we are glad to have brothers and friends all over the world. Here in Cologne we discover the joy of belonging to a family as vast as the world, including heaven and earth, the past, the present, the future and every part of the earth. In this great band of pilgrims we walk side by side with Christ, we walk with the star that enlightens our history.

“Going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him” (Matthew 2:11). Dear friends, this is not a distant story that took place long ago. It is with us now. Here in the sacred Host he is present before us and in our midst. As at that time, so now he is mysteriously veiled in a sacred silence; as at that time, it is here that the true face of God is revealed. For us he became a grain of wheat that falls on the ground and dies and bears fruit until the end of the world (cf. John 12:24). He is present now as he was then in Bethlehem. He invites us to that inner pilgrimage which is called adoration. Let us set off on this pilgrimage of the spirit and let us ask him to be our guide. Amen.

Translation distributed by the Vatican press office.

Telling it his way: Craig Goddard, 23, teacher at St Luke’s College Karratha, shares his experience with fellow pilgrims from Perth before Mass on Thursday August 18 at the school where the pilgrims stayed.

Time for Reflection: Joanna Lawson, 25, of Our Lady of the Missions Parish Whitfords reflects after lighting a candle at a Shrine in Schoenstatt where she spent three days before heading to Cologne for WYD celebrations with Pope Benedict XVI.

This is my body: Perth Catholic Youth Ministry Director Fr Don Kettle (centre) raises the host during Mass together with Good Shepherd Parish priest Fr Vinh Dong and Our Lady of the Missions Parish Priest Fr Joseph Tranh and some of the pilgrims from Perth at the Marienfeld on Saturday August 20, while waiting for Pope Benedict XVI to arrive.

What happens at a World Youth Day?

MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday

Morning Pilgrims arrivePilgrims continue to arrive

Afternoon Welcome and Opening Ceremony

Catechetical Session with participating bishops

Afternoon and evening shows, music, prayer opportunities, discussion forums, exhibitions, sightseeing, etc.

Catechetical Session with participating bishops

Afternoon and evening shows, music, prayer opportunities, discussion forums, exhibitions, sightseeing, etc.

Catechetical Session with participating bishops

Afternoon and evening shows, music, prayer opportunities, discussion forums, exhibitions, etc.

Pilgrimage to Vigil Site

Reconciliation

Closing Liturgy w/ Holy Father

Pilgrims begin journey home

Evening Stations of the Cross Vigil Celebration & sleep over

World Youth Day is celebrated by the Church each year on Palm Sunday. Every two or three years Catholic young people from around the world gather to celebrate their love of Christ and the Church, as in Cologne this year. In the ‘off’ years it is hoped that these celebrations and gatherings will take place in parishes and dioceses. A common misunderstanding is that international World Youth Day gatherings are just one day. Rather, World Youth Day is a week-long event, culminating in an all night vigil. Maybe the next WYD (Sydney, 2008) is for you?

Graphic: Derek Boylen/The Record

Photos: Paul Bui

Photo: Paul Bui

An old hymn cut straight to the heart

Catherine Parish @ home

At Mass at the Cathedral a couple of weeks ago, very troubled, I was struck to the heart by the words of that old hymn “Sweet Sacrament Divine,” We think we are so clever these days, but the guy that wrote that had a much better handle on the realities of life than we do. The words are imprinted on my memory from my youth singing it from "The Living Parish Hymn Poo" (forever dubbed so because someone had judiciously removed some of the gilding on the cover - I am sure it was no-one from MY family) but they resonate so much more with me now. Life really is a vale of tears (that's from a far older prayer, the

Hail, Holy Queen), punctuated by joys, but with inescapable sorrow and pain; and much temptation and sin, weakness, failure and disappointment.

They were humble enough to understand then what we have forgotten ourselves, and neglect to emphasise to our children - that the Eucharist is the most tremendous source of grace, strength, solace, peace and hope in this hard and troubled world.

Jesus truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, there for us any time we come to the Church, even if, for whatever reason, we cannot receive Holy Communion.

He will listen to everything we have to say, things we cannot say to anyone else perhaps - He will understand our deepest secret sorrows, He will not turn us away or laugh at us.

He wants us so badly to love Him, to be with Him, to talk to Him, to open our hearts to Him, to receive Him in Holy Communion whenever possible. How can we turn our back on this immeasurable gift so easily? The actual Body

and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, ever-present in our Churches, incomparable food for our souls, willing repository of all our difficulties and sorrows and sufferings, offering the comfort of a love greater than we can comprehend - we can only humbly accept that it is so, and try to love Him back, and never turn away from Him.

He is so eager that we come to Him (and never be afraid to do so)

The Oz Idol production line

Continued from Page 5

estimates I’ve heard indicate that it’s the cheapest of all the forms of TV programming available. At the opposite end of the cost scale are things like TV drama series. Old-fashioned variety shows, with professional performers, were pretty costly too. In any TV drama, the producers have to pay professional actors at professional rates, do outside filming, pay writers and editors, and much more. Even a soap opera costs a lot to put on screen.

Reality TV, by contrast, is the entertainment equivalent of slave labour. Not only do you not pay the on-screen talent. In the case of Australian Idol, you also make the audience pay for participating.

Who gets the profits from all the voting-by-text-message which the audience is encouraged to engage in at the end of the show? Not the contestants.

It’s a pity to criticise because usually I find I like the contestants. Paulini in particular, from the first Australian Idol.

I interviewed her when she released her Amazing Grace CD last year. It was a good album, of songs selected by the performer herself.

But again, a look at Paulini’s career, or the careers of others who’ve come to fame through Oz Idol, leaves you wondering who’s made the money out of this? It doesn’t seem to be most of the artists whose enthusiasm and talent has created the show.

Those on salaries, and more particular those who hold some sort of investment stake in the program have been the ones cleaning up.

They know what they’re doing. They have strategic knowledge of the entertainment industry. Like circus owners, they know how to pull a crowd.

But at least with circuses there’s an honesty that’s lacking in a program like Australian Idol. The big top, the acrobats, the clowns: there’s real culture there. Nobody ever went intellectually downhill by attending a circus.

Shows like Australian Idol, though, don’t really make Australia a better place. All they do is send us to sleep, ignoring the questions that our contemporary entertainment diet should be making us think hard about.

Sleep. Brain rot. The devaluing of talent. Trading in false human emotion, so people can make money behind the scenes. This is Australian Idolatry, 2005.

that He has given us the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and through the Church has also given us on special occasions Plenary Indulgences, so that we can begin again, just as though we were newly baptised. It is never too late to come back to Jesus. He is seeking us out to the very moment of our last breath. He will woo us and cajole us, and pursue us, but not force us. He wants us to love Him, and he never stops showing us how,

in the story of His life on earth in the Gospels and through the continuing tradition and teaching of His Catholic Church. And even more directly in the words of old hymns cutting through bad temper and restless children straight to the heart.

There is an ocean of grace just waiting for us to tap into it. The year of the Eucharist should be the start of the lifetime of the Eucharist for us if it isn’t already.

“give your baby the gift of communication”

Australia

Teach your baby sign language before they can talk!

Benefits of teaching your child to sign include: Reduced frustration and tantrums, talking earlier, improved cognitive and social development, and a closer bond with parents and carers.

Sign Speak is a parent workshop developed by a practising speech pathologist and mother of three. For more information contact: Karen or Derek Boylen on 0409 682 923.

Not quite, but more successful: Anthony Callea, last year’s runner up, has sold more CD’s than the winner, Casey Donovan.

Photo: AAP

Past glories: 2003 second-place getter Shannon Noll and winner Guy Sebastian get chummy at an Idol publicity event.

Evolution,

Creation, Intelligent Design - do the human mind and heart point to:

A creating mind...?

■ By Hugh Ryan

The hardest thing about discussing creation and evolution is agreeing on what people mean by the words, and the processes the words attempt to describe.

The rational foundation for Catholic belief about creation is that all material things (matter, energy, time, space, and all other measurable things we know or don’t know yet) have a beginning. They do not cause themselves; they are caused by something else. They do not bring themselves into existence or keep themselves in existence. That is true for each one of us and for the world we live in.

No matter how far back we have to go, or are capable of going, we arrive at a starting point, and that starting point requires a different kind of being, something not dependent on anything else, something not governed or limited by the laws of the physical universe, something that does not have a beginning or end, something that just is. Because this being is totally non-material, we call it spirit, and specifically we use the name God. Rationally, we can deduce that he created everything, that he holds everything in existence, and that to do so he must know everything – and we call him ‘he’ even though we know he is neither male nor

female. The rest that we know about him comes not from reason, but from his revelation of himself.

Science does not actually have an argument with this position, but scientists feel they cannot say in the name of physical science that a non-physical creator exists, even though many of them believe rationally and personally that this is so. As reported in the July edition of discovery, more than 100 winners of the Nobel Prize believe in intelligent design.

They feel that their mathematics and their science can take them back to the first moments, even fractions of a second, after the universe began. They call the beginning the ‘Big Bang’ because it appears definitely to have been explosive event, but they don’t know what went bang, or why it went bang, and they are not going to say that nothing exploded.

Thus, the origin of all things the Church calls God and the scientists leave unnamed or sometimes call a ‘singularity’ because it is of a different nature from the world of physical science. That seems to be a perfectly reasonable position all round.

Evolution and problems

Then comes the question of evolution, which is back in the news because of growing interest in intelligent design. There are

two main problems with it. One is people who think the world was created in six 24-hour days 6000 years ago and that anything not in the Book of Genesis is not true. This sets up artificial conflicts between religion and science, and allows ill-informed or ill-intentioned ‘scientists’ to be scathing about the entire human religious experience.

The other is people who think evolution explains everything and that anything not explained by evolution is not science and therefore is not fit for human consumption. This problem is exacerbated by the

fact that evolution has pride of place in the media and the education system and that large numbers of students are browbeaten into thinking that they must not think outside the narrow parameters of evolution and life presented to them.

This kind of evolutionary theory is almost entirely material and based on chance, adaptation and natural selection, but that is a poor basis for understanding ourselves.

There are many things in our daily life that science cannot explain and possibly never will explain, but we would be infinitely poorer if we ignored them.

Truth and love

For example, the entire human body suffers adverse effects if we so much as prepare to tell a lie. These effects on various aspects of the person can be measured by science (the polygraph or lie detector) but science has no explanation for how it happens or why it happens. We merely start to think about telling a lie and we make measurable changes in our physical state such as body chemistry, but how and why remain beyond us. One might speculate that this inherent commitment to truth and resistance to untruth ‘evolved’ for the benefit of human society, but it would be quite something if they evolved from random events, like the collision of molecules and physical forces and there is still no science to support the theory. Similarly, human love has powerful effects on our own body chemistry, on others, and even on

the world around us. The presence or absence of love can be seen in its effects, but we are a long way from understanding how we ‘evolved’ this way and how it works. Again, we can speculate, for example, that an unloved baby does not flourish because it needs the warmth and energy of a loving adult to hold and caress it, but we don’t know how it works. Science may well come up with better answers in a hundred years, or a thousand, but if we wait for science before we put our faith in love, we will be losing the best part of us.

Our addiction to thinking of ourselves in material terms shows up in many ways, including such expressions as “you are what you eat”. You are not. You are, in fact, the intelligence which takes the food and turns it into muscle cells, or blood cells, or bone cells, or cells for each organ in the body according to what your needs are at the time. You may not be conscious of doing all that, but you are doing it, not someone else. Furthermore, the efficiency with which you make these conversions is profoundly affected by your state of mind: anger, bitterness, resentment, hatred and all other forms of negativity and pessimism have negative effects on your body chemistry. Love, joy, forgiveness and related states have different and more constructive effects. Science can observe that the changes occur, but it does not know how or why.

Health

This has important meanings for our health. Science recognises what

Beautiful, vast and by design? The Cat’s Eye Nebula as photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope. Scientists believe the Big Bang created everything in the known universe. But what came before?

Photo: CNS

is called the placebo effect – when people get better even though their ‘medicine’ is merely a sugar pill or plain water – but does not know how it works or how to trigger it. Recent studies have shown that people will get better when they think they have had surgery, even though the surgery only appears to have been done, but in fact has not been carried out.

Clearly, the healing power at work in the placebo effect is the power of the mind, but there is great reluctance to admit it and to encourage people to learn how to use it. It seems to be okay to trick people into triggering the placebo effect, but people don’t need to be tricked. It is far better if they are taught.

Hypnosis is another example of our unwillingness to put our trust in the intelligence that is us. There are many examples of people who have used hypnosis in surgery because they are allergic to most common anaesthetics.

Interestingly, Jesus frequently told people he healed that their faith had healed them, and it is even recorded in Matthew 13:58 that he did not work many miracles in one place “because of their lack of faith”.

Life after death

Yet another interesting question for evolution is life after death. Evolutionary science cannot explain how this came about and generally refuses to consider the possibility because science cannot ‘prove’ life after death exists. However, anyone

who does not believe in life after death simply hasn’t been looking at the evidence. Many scientists who are probing deeper and deeper into the mystery of the information, intelligence, or knowledge that underlies everything in the universe are conscious that it is unlikely that death could be final, even though they are nowhere near producing an answer.

It is many years ago now that the British physicist Sir Arthur Eddington said that it was his belief, as a physicist, that ‘the stuff of the world is mind stuff’. That is a very elegant if unscientific way to express the real nature of life.

This does not, of course, preclude evolution, but it does mean that parents, teachers, writers and everyone else should stop intimidating young people into the belief that if something is ‘not scientific’ it doesn’t deserve consideration.

The presentation of evolution in textbooks, science documentaries and other mediums almost always implies that it is an ongoing process that started with the big bang and is expanding outwards in whatever random contingencies might occur. In this image, it is driven by its own past.

It might be much more accurate and enlightening to consider that the universe is evolving towards its own future.

The Incarnation

The Incarnation – the great mystery by which God joined himself to humanity in the person of Jesus – is

not a random evolutionary event, but it did occur in a particular time and place and when everything was in readiness for it.

Consider that the birth of Jesus was foretold for more than a thousand years. It was foretold in considerable detail and it was looked forward to by an entire people. Indeed, it was looked forward to with such certainty that when King Herod was told that the birth had probably occurred, he wiped out all the young male children in the neighbourhood rather than risk his own dynasty.

In short, the world had been moving towards its destiny, its great meeting prepared for it by its maker, not merely away from a cataclysmic big bang. We also have a clear prediction that Jesus will return in some way at some time and this will bring some marvellous culmination in the life of creation. We don’t know when, but it clearly indicates that the world is moving towards a future wrapped up in the love of God. There’s that power of love again, but this time a love greater than ours.

Although science does not know how to say ‘yes’ to the Incarnation, Jesus demonstrated the reality of himself repeatedly in the miracles reported in the gospels, and ultimately in his resurrection. But it doesn’t end there. In the 2000 years since, the miracles of the gospels have been repeated endlessly in the lives of those who seriously live the teachings of the Gospel. The miracle of Jesus giving us himself in the Eucharist has also been

demonstrated many times over.

In modern times, we are approaching 150 years of miracles at Lourdes, not merely the miracles of healing, but the conversion of hearts that occurs for so many millions of people each year, silently and unreported for the most part. The apparition of Mary at Lourdes and the subsequent outpouring of blessings on the world is yet another reminder of the reality of life after death. And then there was the great miracle at Fatima in October 1917, witnessed by some 70,000 people and reported in reluctant secular newspapers. That miracle had been predicted in July, August and September of that year.

Faith and reason

None of this means that evolution

is not real; theologians have been telling us for centuries that God created the world in one great creative act of his will, and while everything is known to him it is certainly not known to us. And it certainly does not mean that science is to be denigrated. The scientific method is a great approach to unravelling many of the mysteries of the life we live, a great discipline to ensure that we check the facts before we manufacture stories about what is happening around us.

But the mysteries of quantum physics are also the mysteries of our life and the best scientific minds are a long way from determining how things really work in the universe or within our brains.

We do know, however, from whatever direction we look, a merely materialistic view of life is totally inadequate. We must let our knowledge evolve in an open system, not a closed one. As we do so, it would be wise to drop the expression ‘blind faith’. Like love, faith is not blind, and a human being without faith is no better than a human without reason.

While it can’t explain it, Christianity knows that at the origin of all things, and therefore in their existence, there is the creative power of reason.

Mathematics in nature: The spirals of the Nautilus shell accurately reflect the progression of the mathematical Fibonacci sequence.

Ancient artifacts: The debate surrounding evolution and intelligent design inevitably lead to the question of an ultimate origin for everything in the universe..

PSP specs

Colour

Black

Product Code

PSP-1001K

Dimensions

Approximately 6.7 in (W) x .9 in (H) x 2.9 in (D)

Weight

Approximately 280g / .62 lbs (including battery)

CPU

PSP CPU (System clock frequency 1 - 333MHz)

Main Memory

32MB

Embedded DRAM

4MB

Display

43 inch, 16:9 Wide screen TFT LCD

480 x 272 pixel, 16.77 million colours

Maximum luminance 180 / 130 / 80cd/m2 (when using battery pack)

Maximum luminance 200 / 180 / 130 / 80cd/m2 (when using AC adaptor)

Sound

Built-in stereo speakers

Main Input/ Output

IEEE 802.11b (Wi-Fi)

USB 2.0 (mini-B)

Memory Stick DuoTM

Infrared Port

Disc Drive

UMD Drive (Read only)

Main Connectors

Memory Stick DuoTM Slot

USB connector

DC IN 5V connector

Headset connector

Keys Switches

Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left)

Analog Stick

Enter keys (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square)

Left, Right shoulder buttons x 1

START button, SELECT button, HOME button x 1

POWER/HOLD switch x 1

Display button, Sound button, Volume +/- buttons x 1

Wireless LAN switch (ON/OFF) x 1

OPEN latch (UMD) x 1

Power Lithium-ion Battery

AC Adaptor

Codec

[Video]: “UMD”: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Main Profile Level3

[Video]: “Memory Stick”: MPEG-4 SP,AAC

[Music]: “UMD”: linear PCM,ATRAC3plusTM

[Music]: “Memory Stick”: ATRAC3plusTM,MP3(MPEG1/2 Layer3)

Security (Encryption) 128bit AES (Copyright protection technology) MagicGateTM

Access control

Region, Parental Control

Wireless communications

IEEE802.11b

Infrastructure mode

Ad hoc mode (connection up to 16 consoles)

Is the PSP all

The hottest little gadget around at the moment is the PSP – or PlayStation Portable – which was launched in Australia, September 1. At midnight, Australian Eastern Standard Time, gamers in Sydney lined up outside stores much like gamers did in Japan in December and in the US in March. Currently more than 9 million PSP games and 8.2 million UMD movies have been sold worldwide.

If you believe all the hype, we have just witnessed something akin to a small revolution with a portable gadget that can play music, store and view photos, run full length movies, access the internet and of course play the latest release games.

“Wherever you go, your entertainment should go with you,” says Sony on its official PSP website.

Mums and dads out there are probably already feeling the pressure of forking out the $399 for this musthave item if they haven’t already done so.

According to The Herald Sun, 25,000 PSPs were preordered in the Australia.

But $400 will buy you the basics – no games, no movies and no music - that is all extra. With PSP games selling for between $70 and $89 you’re quickly looking at spending $500. Add to that the cost of movie titles and you’re looking at a small fortune.

If the price seems a little inflated consider that the console was released in the US for 170 US dollars cheaper.

Then there is the other obvious question. As one observer noted on a chat site: “They honestly expect this thing to survive in a teenager’s backpack? The bottom of a locker?

On the bedroom floor?

“Honestly, parents who actually get this thing for their kid are going to be the same parents who get a camcorder for their kids ... and it’ll be just as fragile.”

So is this little gadget worth the money? Here we take a look the PSP away from all the hype.

The basics

The Sony PSP features an 11 centimetre 16:9 widescreen, LCD TFT screen with a 480x272 resolution, button layout similar to the PlayStation with a digital control pad, an analog stick, circle, square, triangle, x, and 2 shoulder buttons, USB 2.0 connectivity (via mini-USB), a Memory Stick Duo media slot, and 802.11b WiFi support.

It uses Sony’s proprietary Universal Media Disc (UMD), which stores up to 1.8GB in a format reminiscent of MiniDiscs.

When you buy a PlayStation

Portable Value Pack you get headphones with remote control, pouch and wrist strap, AC adaptor, battery pack, demo disk, cloth and memory stick duo (32 MB).

The demo disk is a video/music/ game sampler UMD that includes several non-interactive game demos.

Most reviews have given it a favourable response as a sleek and “racy” unit that will change the handheld gaming market in much the same way that Apple’s iPod changed the digital music industry.

But where there’s sleek there’s smudge – fingerprints that is. Why Sony opted for a high-gloss enamel on the front of a hand-held unit is a mystery to many. Especially because the back of the unit is made of a nonmarking textured plastic. Gamers have reported small scratches on the screen after very little use from having to constantly wipe down the front screen.

There have also been complaints of dead pixels or lit-pixels (always lit) on the small LCD screen which, given its price tag, you would definitely want resolved.

Otherwise graphics have been described as “awesome”. Sony has to date released a limited number to gaming titles, but it has promised to up the ante on this one.

Universal Media Discs

In order to play movies or games on PSP you need to purchase the PSP versions on Universal Media Discs. That means all the DVDs or PlayStation games you previously owned will need to be purchased again.

Sony developed the format, in part an effort to thwart piracy and also to control what gets released for their system. The UMDs look much like Sony’s MiniDiscs but with one serious drawback, a gaping hole in the back of the plastic case which makes the discs vulnerable to scratches in much the same way as DVDs.

Nevertheless the success of UMD movies is a great victory for the PSP, which was originally considered to be game-centric. The format, which was met cautiously by film studios, is breaking expectations. According to a report on tomshardware.com, Sony has boasted that 9 million PSP games and 8.2 million UMD movies have been sold.

The company projects that movies will make up 60 percent of UMD sales in the future.

There are some software programs around which will allow you to transfer your DVDs to your portable, but there are mixed reports about ease of use and other problems people have encountered in trying to get quality movies this way.

Memory Stick Duo

Sony is hoping that the PSP will help make the Memory Stick Pro Duo a viable memory card format, especially since the PSP does not take any of the older Memory Stick formats like the Memory Stick Pro. It only takes the tiny Duo flash memory card, which is about 85% of the size of a Secure Digital (SD) card. A Memory Stick is needed to save games or play MP3s or videos on the PSP. Note that the supplied memory stick in the value pack is only 32MB so a larger one would certainly need to be purchased. Again this isn’t cheap.

WiFi Setup

Setting up the 802.11b WiFi is reasonably easy if you have wireless connection. Sony has set it up so that a connection just needs to be named, put in the SSID access point name, a WEP key if any, and then setup IP and DNS addresses (or choose automatic if using DHCP). There’s a network test to let you know the current signal strength and whether Internet connection succeeded or not. Taking a page from Microsoft, you can also update the PSP OS via a Network Update.

Dealing with realities

There is no bigger killer for a parent considering purchasing a PSP than the words, “But everybody has one.” No doubt the PSP is a great little gaming device, but for many parents that raises more concern than it does comfort. After all many PlayStation games have had their fair share of attention in the past with links to violent and anti-social behaviour.

With every new game release will come the inevitable “I want” from kids who feel they have to keep up with their friends. Have a look at any gaming chat site just to realise how real this pressure is today. On one PSP chat site one of the gamers by the name G. Reaper had posted an extensive photo album of his PSP collection – including PSP skins and speakers, UMD movies and all the current PSP games available.

There were about 60 responses to his thread along the lines of “you’re awesome, so jealous, 10000,0000 out of 100, I wish I could have that.”

Supervised use of a PlayStation can be a fun and family orientated activity. The PSP takes this element away though, because it is aimed at the single user to use “wherever you should go.” Parents who find it hard to monitor their children playing PlayStation at home should be cautioned against giving them a device to do just that anywhere.

it’s cracked up to be?

If you are planning on putting the PSP in your pocket, it's likely to burn a hole in it.

Game ratings ignored by parents

Parents ‘ignore game age ratings’

■ By Alfred Hermida Technology editor, BBC News website

The Rockstar game Manhunt made the headlines last year.

Parents tend to ignore warnings on games that say they are unsuitable for children, research shows.

A study commissioned by the UK games industry found that parents let children play games for adults, even though they knew they were 18-rated.

“Most parents think their child is mature enough so that these games will not influence them,” Modulum researcher Jurgen Freund told a games conference. The report reflects concerns about children playing violent video games.

Gore and carnage

The issue rose to prominence last year when the parents of a 14-year-

old blamed the game Manhunt for his death. Police investigating the murder dismissed its influence and Manhunt was not part of its legal case.

Parents perceive age ratings as a guide but not as a definite prohibition.

But the case rekindled the debate over 18-rated games that appeared to relish in gore and carnage.

Like movies, all games receive an age classification.

But the research presented at the Elspa (Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association) summit in London suggests that few parents pay much attention to the age ratings.

Magic number

Ironically, most people knew that games had age ratings, the study by the Swiss research firm Modulum showed.

Video games have to carry labels with age ratings

However, parents were still letting their children play 18-rated games.

“Parents perceive age ratings as a guide but not as a definite

prohibition,” said Jurgen Freund, Modulum chief executive. “Some may have not liked the content but they did not prohibit the game.”

The research showed that parents were more concerned about children spending too many hours playing games, rather than about what type of title they were playing.

And to a certain degree, sticking an 18-rating on a game made that title more desirable.

“We called it Magic 18,” said Mr Freund. “The 18+ label was seen as promoting the content, promising adult content rather then saying ‘my parents will stop me playing this.’”

The Rockstar game Manhunt made the headlines last year for its violent content.

Mr Freund suggested that the problem was that parents felt disconnected from the world of video games and so showed little interest in this aspect of their children’s lives.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was last year’s best-selling game

“Parents are too divorced from what teenagers play,” he said.

The study has not yet been finalised but it makes for uncomfortable reading for the games industry.

“It raises more questions than answers,” commented Nintendo’s

UK boss David Yarnton. “We need to look at solutions and as an industry we are quite united on this.” Ways of making parents more aware about the age ratings of games were discussed last December at a meeting between UK government officials, industry representatives and the British Board of Film Classification.

The number of games aimed at adults has increased in recent years, as the average age of gamers has risen.

Games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, last year’s best-selling title, tend to receive most of the media attention.

But 18-rated games only make up a small number of software released each year.

Between January 2003 and July 2004, just 16 out of the 1,208 games on sale in the UK were given a 18+ certificate.

Around 1,000 UK adults were interviewed by phone for the Modulum study. A further 100 people were questioned after buying a video game and in-depth interviews were held with 18 teenagers.

SOURCE: BBC

Leisure disconnect

COURSES CORNER: Sciences at Notre Dame

Michael Garkalis - Third Year Science Student

Michael is studying the Bachelor of Environmental Management and this is what he has to share about his experience so far: “Notre Dame takes an immediate interest in each and every student. The classes are smaller, which allows debate and discussion about issues and the close interaction with lecturers allows problems to be dealt with expediently. The science department at Notre Dame has many well-known lecturers. Their experiences, expectations and knowledge have allowed me to prepare for a career in my chosen field on completion of my degree.

The new science laboratories have enabled me to combine the practical component, with the theory component of my degree,

which I’m sure, will benefit me in the future. The atmosphere around campus is relaxed, with many activities and social events planned. This has given me the opportunity to meet with likeminded individuals to discuss our progress throughout the course. It has also been a great opportunity to meet, socialize and network with many of our students from overseas. I can honestly say the past three years of my life at Notre Dame have been unforgettable. I have achieved an education I never thought possible.

Science courses at Notre Dame include: Ecotourism, Environmental Biology, Environmental Management, Life Sciences and Tourism and the Environment.

Fremantle’s New College of Medicine

The University of Notre Dame Australia welcomed its first cohort of medical students this year, with 81 foundation students commencing the graduate-entry program in the second medical school to be established in Western Australia.

The mission of Fremantle’s new College of Medicine is to supply doctors to areas of unmet need. As partof their rural health curriculum students have already had their first taste of a country practice. They were billeted with local families for a week in April in the Wheatbelt towns of Cunderdin, Kellerberrin and Merredin.

Students experienced rural life first-hand, undertook research (on behalf of the collaboration between Notre Dame and the Combined Universities Centre for Rural Health) and assisted the community in special projects.

Acting Dean of the College of Medicine, Professor Jenny McConnell said, “Apart from being a component of academic work, this has been great way to introduce students to the possibility of pursuing a rural career. Some of the students hadn’t had much contact with

rural families or any experience in living in a small town and they really enjoyed the sense of community cohesion and spirit – it was quite an eye-opener for many of them.”

Whilst on the program, students visited health facilities and key stakeholders such as schools, aged-care facilities, shops, general practitioners, local shires and residents to gauge the social capital of the towns in which they were staying. They investigated what makes a good foundation for living in a rural community and discovered that access to and participation in sport, the arts and social activities were high on the list.

The students were also involved in community service projects such as assisting in re-landscaping the gardens at Kellerberrin’s Aged Care facility and supporting the restoration of Merredin’s War Memorial Hospital site.

One of the aims of the course is to produce doctors with excellent communication skills when dealing with patients, their families and their wider community through experiences such as these.

Flexible Teacher Assistant Program

The University of Notre Dame Australia offers two specialised Teaching Assistant courses: Teaching Assistant (Special Needs) and Teaching Assistant (Early Childhood). The units of study are offered to students on weekends over a twelve month period for both courses.

The Teaching Assistant (Special Needs) course focus is on preparing those interested in working with children with special needs who

are enrolled in mainstream schools or in education support centres in a mainstream school.

The Teaching Assistant (Early Childhood) course focus is on preparing those interested in working with children aged 4-8 years in regular education settings.