From: axl867@huxley.anu.edu.au (Albert Langer)
Newsgroups: aus.aarnet,comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: Uni Research Network Threatened
Followup-To: aus.aarnet,comp.org.eff.talk
Date: 16 Dec 1992 11:53:42 GMT
Organization: Guide Mark IV - Pilot Study, Room 42
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: 150.203.2.12
Summary: AVCC control of AARNet threatened

In article <1gk02hINNc6g@csc2.anu.edu.au> pte900@jatz.aarnet.edu.au 
(Peter Elford) writes:

>On page 16 of today's Daily Telegraph, just beside the article
>headlined "REPRIMAND FOR BROTHEL SOLICITOR", is a small box ...
>
>Uni Research
>Network Threatened

BTW, the ad for the 25 September workshop was under an article headed 
"Protection Rackets". (Carefully buried in the "Focus" section of the 
Australian instead of the computer, communications or higher education 
sections).

The interview with Tony Henshaw, on p16 of the Australian, October 5,
had an unremarkable headline "Telecom marks one for CRC". However
illustrating it there is a picture of Zorba gazing into the distance
in front of a panel of flashing lights, with a caption "Serendipity...
Professor Michael McRobbie, left will study the network centre, which
was a surprise announcement by Mr Free, right". 

The picture of the Hon Ross Free, Minister assisting the Prime Minister, 
also shows a pig flying through the air above his shoulder... (this *is* 
true - it was a plastic flying pig at some kind of trade exhibition).

The interview indicated that Mr Henshaw, convenor of the working
party that was supposed to develop a proposal, thought that a Telecom,
led consortium and the AVCC were likely to be joined by the head of
the Australian National University's supercomputer facilities,
Professor Michael McRobbie (Zorba).

"Mr Henshaw would not be surprised if one or two others - perhaps
Professor Fred Symons's video transmission group will find they
have a 'fit' with the joint group."

The working group then disbanded but when the deadline for applications 
arrived nearly two months later, the "RDN Advisory Group" including Tony 
Henshaw assessed those applications for the Science and Engineering Panel 
chaired by the ANU's Professor Ian Ross. Things did indeed turn out much 
as Tony Henshaw had expected only a day after Telecom announced it intended
to develop a proposal. The four contacts listed in the RDN-CRC announcement
by the Prime Minister were Zorba, Professor Symons, John Mullarvey for 
the AVCC and one other (Rob Cook).

Despite such remarkable prescience, I doubt that Tony Henshaw fully 
appreciated the significance of the flying pig...

>AUSTRALIA's uni-
>versities have threat-
>ened to quit a Federal
>Government research
>program, claiming
>the Government has re-
>neged on a Budget
>promise of $13 million
>in funding.

The budget promise was for $13M to fund a cooperative RESEARCH centre
for upgrading AARNet - not an operational subsidy to AARNet's owners
who are so incompetent they need to ripoff research funds to cover
operational expenses.

It's too late for them to "quit" with dignity - they have quite obviously
been out maneuvered and pushed out.

> Vice-chancellors say
>the $3.4 million allo-
>cated to the Austral-
>ian Academic Re-
>search Network (AAR-
>Net) is not enough.
> Professor Ken Mc-
>Kinnon said AARNet,
>which links Australia's
>resrach scientists
>with top researchers
>around the world by
>computer, would not
>be able to operate
>effectively.

AARNet cannot operate effectively with owners who think it is only
worth employing a couple of staff and who aren't able to organize 
R&D for upgrading AARNet when a $13M grant is available.

It's way past time for AARNet client sites to take over from the AVCC and
second a small fraction of their own computer centre staff to give AARNet 
a viable organization. Two or three staff is simply absurd and continuing 
to tolerate this utter stupidity by the AVCC is costing the client sites 
heavily. Mishandling a $13M R&D grant secured in the budget should be enough
to focus attention on what to do about the AVCC. 

If University computer centres also combined with departments of software 
engineering and computer science etc a viable research program to upgrade 
AARNet could also be easily arranged. That would reduce the load on computer 
centres supporting AARNet users.

This needs to be organized QUICKLY to pick up the pieces when the RDN-CRC
steam roller notices that there isn't any ground underneath and plummets 
in the manner of other comic strip characters soaring across chasms.

-- 
Albert.Langer@anu.edu.au, Room 42, Red Cedars Motel, Watson ACT 2602, AUSTRALIA
Voice: +61 6 241 3222,  Fax: +61 6 241 2355, Telex: 62542 N-ISDN:? B-ISDN:????? 
Disclaimers: Nobody speaks for me, and vice versa. Totally unauthorised. 
RDN-CRC Narrow Bandwidth WG official statements: Try Roger_Clarke@anu.edu.au
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