Consistency. Is it too much to ask?

I've got a big question regarding the marking of assignments.  I've just received back an assignment with the comment that I used too many newspaper articles.  The assignment was to pick two topics from a newspaper and write about them.  The only newspaper articles I used were to reference the original article the rest were peer reviewed scientific papers and one website of an environmental organisation where I mentioned the 'environmentalists view'.  Did the tutor even look at my assignment?  I probably lost a point because of that!

That's one thing that I've noticed with the marking of pretty much all my assignments this semester.  It is just so confusing.  I've had teachers write over my graphs with things like 'use 1/3 of a page, bold here, more information, and so on'.  Then for the next assignment I go and fix those things and I get it back with something totally different.  Why can't they just take their time and look at it properly while also being consistent in their marking.  One of the teachers said to be when I questioned the way a question was phrased "you have to look at the question and think about what it mean".  Call me lazy but if I'm in a test I don't want to have to sit and think about what is wanted when the teacher didn't phrase it properly in the first place!  

So far it doesn't look like I'll be doing as well as I did last semester.  It's so frustrating and I'm not the only one who has this happen to.  My classmates tell the same story but only to deaf ears.  I don't know... tut tut tut.

Getting to know the neighbourhood

I’ve just come back from a walk.  I don’t usually go for them but I decided that if I’m going to loose a bit of weight for Laura’s wedding then I will have to start sooner rather than later.  I left at about 9:30 at night after I’d had dinner.  I thought a half an hour walk or so would do me good and help me to burn off a bit of what I’d eaten today.  That was the plan anyway.  An hour and a half later I finally found my way back to my unit.  So much for my plans of a quick walk.  The streets around here are like a rabbit warren.  You follow one trail thinking that you will end up some where and end up totally going in the opposite direction.  I actually though that I was heading north but actually started heading south right to the edge of the housing estate.  I’d say that part of the estate would be at least a kilometer away as the crow flies so I probably walked around 5 km through the streets and for the most part didn’t have a clue where I was going.  I’m pretty sure that I passed one part of the lake twice and only managed to find my way back when I noticed some high voltage power lines that run towards the university.  I picked a direction and finally made my way back.  My legs certainly are tired now.  I think next time I’ll go walking when it is light and I can see where I’m going, either that or there will be more people around to ask!

Gone bush

Last week was the final week of the holidays and Stewart and I decided to pack up the truck and go camping.  We were actually panned to help out with a fauna survey that was being conducted in Barakula State Forest which is about 400 kms from Brisbane near the town of Chinchilla.  We set off at about 5 o'clock Monday morning.  That was the plan anyway but by the time the ute was all loaded the time was nearly 6 and the sun was well up.  Still we had plenty of time and stopped for breakfast in Gatton.  We arrived in Chinchilla and followed the directions to the forestry office to meet up with the survey coordinator, Rod.  The dirt roads out there were suprisingly good and although going sideways a couple of times on the more sandy bits there were really no problems.  The camp site was just a part of the forest that was more thinly wooded than the rest and after finding a shady spot we pitched our tents.

The next morning the hard work started.  We had to set up 10 lines of traps.  He had the help of a Dingo with a drill.  When I say Dingo I actually mean a small digger with a hole boring attachment and not the canine variety.  It made things so much easier, especially in the Brigalow.  In the Heath it was just sandy soil while in the Brigalow area there was about half a foot of soil and then the drill would stop.  The traps, which consisted of large buckets about one and a half feet deep would then have to be dug into the hard, dry clay that was at the base. Putting 6 lines in the heath area took about two hours while putting in 4 in the Brigalow took nearly 6.  That's how hard it was.  And this was with a team of about 12 people.  Still once they were in with the lines set up it was time to relax.  

Each morning and afternoon we checked the traps and we found quite a bit.  We found a goanna, legless lizards, skinks, geckos, house mice (and one of the little buggers bit me!) and a couple of hairy looking centipedes.  I took my camera out there and took a few photos of what was out there.

Me holding a Golden-Tailed gecko when spotlighting at night.

A Yellow Faced Whip Snake (Demansia psammophis) that Stewart found under a log while spotlighting.

A Stone Gecko (Diplodactylus vittatus) that I found on a stick.  They usually sit on sticks that are close to the ground and when you come close they hear you and can slip off into the darkness.

This Golden-Tailed Gecko (Strophurus taenicauda) was found on the first night.  After spotlighting we came back and Stewart found this one on his tent.  Here he is being released onto a nearby tree.

This Delma plebeia was found in one of the pit traps that were out on the heath that we checked in the morning.