Just another plane falling out of the sky...

So all we've been hearing is that if you fly with Qantas, your plane will most likely blow an engine. Overall, 16 Qantas engines will have to be fixed because they are faulty, so here comes the damage control.

A recent West Australian article was released with the details and chief executive explanation saying:

Qantas announced that four A380's will be grounded for the rest of the year, as 16 engines in total need to be checked.

Qantas grounded its fleet of six Airbus A380s on Nov 4 after one of its Rolls-Royce engines partly disintegrated mid-flight, forcing a plane with 466 people on board to make an emergency landing in Singapore.

So what did Qantas have to say to those customers stranded in Singapore?

"This is a worldwide fleet issue so it's not just engines Qantas has, it's engines that other operators also have"

In other words, "it's not our fault we out-source everything to make things cheaper, so do others"

This article was released to change the negative view on Qantas and the safety of their aircraft's, aimed to spin the opinion of those who are looking for an airline to fly with. Qantas want their airline to be viewed as safe and that if their engines aren't working, other airline engines may not also.

Qantas are looking for a sympathetic reaction from their passengers, where they place the blame on everyone and relate the poor quality of their engines to the engines of other airlines, instead of choosing quality equipment on their aircraft's.

Cert IV Public Relations at Central

Studying Public Relations at Central has taught me more than I could have ever wanted. There is so much more to the industry itself than I expected. Studying at a TAFE campus gave myself more hands-on experiences than what uni could have. The lecturers are real people in related industries so you learn really valuable things that will definitely help you in the future.

During the course I learnt valuable things to advance me through my studies and the PR industry. Being part of a team to put together campaigns that achieve their objectives taught me how to successfully put together checklists and follow the correct criteria.

Designing a PR company taught me how much detail goes into ensuring the look of your company logo suits the company itself. So much time and effort goes into creating company stationary and website designs that look attractive and that help your company to succeed.

Over this course, I have grown so much. I am seventeen and to have been taught the things I have puts me ahead of others my age. I am happy with my choice to study at Central; it has given me more opportunities for my future choices.

During the course I have learnt that I can achieve things I never thought I would. I really is as simple as setting my mind to it and having passion in what I am doing.

The PR industry is full on; there are many aspects and industries that relate and there is so much more detail and skills to the industry that I have to learn in my next course.

Opt-out = Cop-out

"In WA, about 687,000 people are registered as organ donors. That means more than a million are not."
- Perth Now, Opt-out organ donation is vital

Australia currently is under the system where people have the decision to tick a box to become an organ donor, or leave it black if they don't.

However making the decision to tick the box or not isn't as easy as it seems. It reminds people of their own mortality, much like filling out their own will. Which is why many choose to ignore that little box.

Ignoring to tick that little box is ignoring to make the decision of whether to save a life or not.

So what happens when your sister, uncle, mother or loved one needs a new heart or lung? You sit with them while they get placed on the mile long waiting list wishing more people ticked that little box.

Automatically signing people up to be organ donors once they reach a certain age is the perfect way to increase the amount of organ donations in Australia, as people are more willing to support the donation if they don't have to think about it too much.

If a person objects so strongly as to give another person the gift of life, that is their own personal decision and they may choose to tick the box asking not to be a organ donor.

Many people and their families do not want to think about the loss of a family member and make the decision to become an organ donor, so automatically becoming an organ donor gives Australians the chance to give the gift of life.

The governments choice to consider bringing in the opt-out organ donation gets a big thumbs up from me.

Support it yourself today, you never know when your loved one may need it.

Western Australia AKA The Nanny State

So the government hates all the party animals out there. That's what the new lock out laws are all about, anyway.

The official 'Don't Lock Me Out' campaign website describes the Lock Out as:

Without public consultation the Western Australian Parliament is currently considering new laws that could further control where and how you enjoy your social life. By Christmas, the Western Australian Government could have the power to forcibly lock anyone out of and to stop entry to their favourite bar, pub, club, bottle shop or restaurant at any time, day or night, anywhere in Western Australia.

The laws are aimed at preventing alcohol fueled violence at party hot spots, however the government is locking people out of places that have no records of any violence. That's not fair for small businesses who are having their customers locked out when they have done nothing wrong.

So when a club or pub seems to get a little to loud, these rowdy, drunken, and now angry people are pushed onto the streets for the rest of the public to deal with. Good job government, you sure handled that one.

In regional areas where many people flock to the pubs after work and violence does become present, I can see how these new laws would be successful. However to have the power to lock anyone out, anytime, anywhere, will just become a huge mess.

There is one big problem with these proposed laws. They don't work.

“Lockouts are yet to be proven as an effective harm reduction strategy and it is conceivable that under some circumstances they may even increase problems.”

(National Drug Research Institute Curtin University (2007) (contributing authors: Chikritzhs, T., Gray, D., Lyons, Z. & Saggers, S.) Restrictions on the sale and supply of alcohol: Evidence and Outcomes. NDRI Monograph. Perth.)

Western Australia already has many regulations in place, or proposed to be in place for a variety of things, such as not drinking in public on Australia Day, and random stop and search laws to prevent violence and anti-social behaviour.

Now the government wants to kick people out of clubs and pubs when they're having fun.

Well isn't Western Australia the party central.

Cert IV PR: Nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

Freaking out? Unsure about your next step towards your dream career? Well chill, Central Institute of Technology’s Cert IV Public Relations course is your answer.

This course offers you the hands on learning experience that you are guaranteed to apply to the PR industry. The course allows you to create companies and practice creating communication strategies to convey the company’s ideas to the public. You create your own business design, stationary and webpage whilst learning the creative tactics you need to design a successful Public Relations company.

Into social media? This course keeps you up-to-date with all social media sites. You will set up your own account with sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and Wikispaces and explore the site. You are encouraged to use the sites as a communication tool to improve your Public Relations writing skills.

Throughout the course you will develop and propose real campaigns. From the initial brainstorm to the end product you will be involved every step of the way. This isn’t just focused on the theory of campaigns. To actually get out there into the PR world and promote a campaign will supply you with more experience than any university could ever give you.

With such hands-on tasks you will become competent in a variety of software including Microsoft Publisher, become a writing genius with industry standard editing and writing styles, and open a whole new Public Relations network with real people in the industry.

Public Relations is all about communicating an organisations message or idea across to the public. With the Cert IV Public Relations course you will open up a diverse range of opportunities in any Communications field. With such a variety of opportunities the course has to offer you, you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

So why not give Cert IV Public Relations a shot?

Slur of the moment

Olympic swimmer Stephanie Rice recently lost her sponsorship with Jaguar when she tweeted a spur of the moment comment following the Tri-Nations game. The tweet was described 'out of character' by her team mates, however Jaguar found the comment to be inappropriate and dumped the gold medalist late afternoon on September 6.


The swimmer coped a lot of angry responses in the media and later made a brief apology saying:

"I made a comment on Twitter on Saturday night in the excitement of the moment. I did not mean to cause offence and I apologise."

Jaguar's statement in regards to the termination of Rice's sponsorship could be seen as a tad over-reaction, however I think Jaguar's decision is justified. When somebody like Stephanie Rice, an Australian Olympic hero, comes under such scrutiny by the media and Australian public the company has to ensure they aren't also given bad press.

When she was made ambassador for Jaguar Australia, the swimmer is expected to hold a good public image. Spur of the moment comments that may offend many Australians can't be accepted by such a large brand company.

As a celeb on a social media site such as twitter, speaking your mind isn't always the way to go.

'Fashion ideas from the hardware store'

Article:

Dresses accentuated with cable ties and reticulation hose, handbags and shoes made from palm fronds and a chandelier constructed from marzipan are just some of the weird and wonderful creations on display at the Beyond Garment exhibition at the Maritime Museum in Fremantle. Part of this month's Perth Fashion Festival, the exhibition gives 20 young Perth designers the chance to showcase fashion accessories as works of art in their own right. Exhibition curator Anne Farren said the pieces ranged from the wearable to the conceptual and represented a journey through fashion as seen through the eyes of jewellery designers, artists and sculptors. "It is really art for the body," she said. "These are beautiful objects that can be acknowledged as works of art in themselves." Sarah Pauley, this year's face of the Perth Fashion Festival, posed in several of jewellery designer Alister Yiap's spectacular creations, including a dress accessorised with cable ties and acrylic pieces and chunky 3-D acrylic jewellery that would not look out of place on pop star Lady Gaga. "I think people become more adventurous when you break down those boundaries," Yiap said. "I am really interested in using different materials." The exhibition runs from Friday until November 28. Entry is free.

The West Australian newspaper article, written by Lindsay McPhee, highlights one of the exhibitions that are part of this month's Perth Fashion Festival. The exhibition will be held at the Maritime Museum in Fremantle and display 'weird and wonderful' fashion created with hardware store inspiration.

The article features comments from the designers about the display, and doesn't contain any of the journalists opinions on the display, or the Perth Fashion Festival itself. The journalist has included where the exhibition is, when and the entry fee.

The statements and opinions included in the article are those of the fashion designer and the exhibition curator. The article is based on the facts of the exhibition and seems relatively unchanged by the journo from the press release.

I don't think the journo has visited the exhibition herself before writing the article, as I think this would have caused more of her opinion on the exhibition, rather than just the facts.