RMIT (Not So) Open Day
(Part Two)
by Mal Vickers
And so it was, I went along to RMIT’s Open Day on August 14, 2011, with my camera, voice recorder and some prepared questions. As any good skeptical researcher would do, I went searching for the evidence and for the experts that might help me find it.
Surely, if there is any up-to-date science behind chiropractic the leaders of chiropractic teaching in Australia would know? Would I be the one to eat humble pie and change my mind if the science had come of age?
The Chiropractic Department at RMIT is housed on the Bundoora Campus, Bundoora is a suburb in the outer north of the Melbourne metropolitan area.
As you would expect of any university open day, there were the usual information booths, people helping with directions and information, tours of the facilities etc. I took a tour of Building 213, the Chiropractic Clinic. On the outside, the sign said Building 213 was the School of Health Sciences, Teaching Clinics. Although once you’re inside, a different sign states RMIT, 
Complementary Medicine Clinics. (How does that song go? ‘things that make you go, hmmmmmm’) Interestingly, the building is also shared with RMIT’s Chinese Medicine Clinic.
Inside the many chiropractic treatment rooms, were ‘trigger points’ charts. They look like a cross between genuine science-based anatomical charts and reflexology charts. I don’t wish to get to side-tracked, so if the reader desires, you can side-track yourself and read about the chiropractic idea of ‘trigger points’ on Wikipedia.
It was rather confronting to observe pseudoscience being so openly View More RMIT (Not So) Open Day
October Puzzles
October 2011’s Crossword, Picture puzzles and Mixed Bag Questions are on our Puzzles page
October 2011 Pictures Puzzles – Answers
1. Tiptoe through the tulips
2. Ring around a rose E
3. Shrinking violet
4. Parting company
5. The odds are stacked against you
6. Season’s Greetings
7. Putting your money where your mouth is.
Recent Controversies in Chiropractic and RMIT Courses/Clinic
by Mal Vickers
Hello all, this is the first post of a two-part series on my concerns about RMIT University and chiropractic. In this first post, I’ll mention some of the recent controversies in chiropractic. In the second post, I’ll write about my visit to RMIT Open Day and my attempt to ask an expert in chiropractic some questions about its practices.
For those that might be wondering – why do this? I’m a former RMIT student. RMIT’s association with pseudoscience, in my opinion, diminishes the greater and more worthwhile subjects such as engineering, arts, humanities and science-based academic courses offered in other departments of the University.
For a quick refresher on the sceptical and historical view of chiropractic you might try the Skeptics Dictionary entry.
RMIT claims the following:
RMIT is a leader in chiropractic tertiary education offering the world’s first government-supported chiropractic program.
RMIT offers undergraduate courses or you can go all the way and receive a PhD in Chiropractic. Indeed it does appear that RMIT is the leading institution educating chiropractors in the Australian.
Is chiropractic at RMIT really worthy of government (read: tax-payer’s dollars) support? View More Recent Controversies in Chiropractic and RMIT Courses/Clinic
Pharmacy Guild of Australia’s Deal With Blackmores
Spare a thought for the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. They have a public relations problem following their proposed deal to incorporate Blackmores Companion range of dietary supplements into GuildCare software.
Fortunately, we have a solution to the PGA’s problem in the form of an inspirational song. If you want to cut to the chase, you’ll need to go to the end of the article. Otherwise, please read on:
Background
Australian pharmacies supply millions of prescriptions each week. In Australia, each prescription drug has survived rigorous clinical testing, sometimes over many years; yet from time to time, complications arise with some patients with some drugs.
The Guild came up with a brilliant coup. View More Pharmacy Guild of Australia’s Deal With Blackmores
“Mixed Bag” October 2011 Answers
a. Rock & Roll
b. Mom & Pop
c. Law & Order
d. Rise & Shine
e. Rough & Tumble
2. LION
3. Rod Laver
4. The Taming of the Shrew
5. NSW, QLD, VIC
6. Most fatal crashes (In peacetime service)
7. Auckland
8. Portugal
9. 1970
10. Alfred Hitchcock
So Was Einstein Wrong?
The world was abuzz yesterday with the news that “Einstein was Wrong!” … because some scientists at CERN shot neutrinos from Switzerland to Italy, and they apparently got there ever-so-slightly faster than light.
If it’s true, such a thing would be a violation of Einstein’s special theory of relativity, and a pretty major kick in the pants for physics.
Skeptics were understandably quick to jump on the result and say … let’s just wait a minute here.
The “Stop The AVN” Campaign
by Ken McLeod
The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN)
The Australian Vaccination Network is based on the New South Wales north coast wedged between Australian’s largest population of aging hippies and younger new-age alternative lifestylers. The first thing that is necessary to understand about the AVN is that the title is totally misleading. It claims to be a discussion forum about the pros and cons of vaccination. In fact the focussed message emanating from the group is simply and unequivocally that Vaccination is Evil. It is led by American citizen Meryl Dorey. Her claims of membership numbers range from 300 to 2,500 depending on what day it is and the phase of the moon. For many years the AVN had a free ticket to disseminate their propaganda. For this we must thank a scientifically illiterate and lazy Australian media, who in the mindless pursuit of “balance” always turned to Dorey for a quote whenever vaccination or disease was mentioned.
Stop The AVN (SAVN)
Strangely enough, SAVN began life as an immunisation awareness campaign. In 2009, baby Dana McCaffery died from Pertussis (Whooping Cough). Pertussis had become very rare in Australia, due to a long-term efficient vaccination program against the disease. Dana McCaffery was too young to have been immunised against Pertussis; however, the local community’s vulnerability to the disease had been seriously compromised by recent low immunisation rates. The NSW Health Dept asked the parents if they could use Dana’s story to promote immunisation. The parents agreed, the story went public, and they were pelted with vile abuse from AVN supporters. That led to a Channel 7 TV debate led by Mike Munro, a leading Australian journalist. View More The “Stop The AVN” Campaign