UNE > News and Events > Browse by month > September 2004

Next October 2004  

Previous August 2004  

National sheep project to survey farmers

September 29, 2004

Thousands of sheep farmers are being asked to help with a $2.7 million, nation-wide project that could contribute to the “greening” of the Australian sheep industry.
The University of New England is surveying more than 6,300 producers in five States, seeking information about their use of chemicals to control parasites of sheep.
Lyndal Thompson, the UNE researcher conducting the survey and from UNE’s Institute for Rural Futures, said the project aimed to demonstrate that farmers could maintain production while reducing the frequency of chemical treatments. This would have several beneficial outcomes, she said. “For example, less frequent drenching would help producers meet standards required for ‘organic’ and ‘ecologically certified’ labelling of their products. At the same time, it would slow the parasites’ development of resistance to the chemicals. While parasite problems cost the Australian sheep industry more than $550 million a year at the moment, this figure could rise to more than $1 billion as resistance increases.”

The “Integrated Parasite Management (Sheep)” project, managed and funded by Australian Wool Innovation Ltd, has appointed 24 “demonstration farms” throughout the country, where modified regimes of parasite control, including less frequent drenching, will be tried. “We hope to be able to demonstrate the benefits of reducing the number of drenches by one or two a year,” Mrs Thompson said. “This would show farmers that there are simple and effective ways of handling problems such as parasites’ resistance to chemicals.”

The project is concerned with the management of both internal parasites such as barber’s pole worm and liver fluke, and external parasites such as blowfly larvae and lice. It involves researchers at the Universities of New England and Melbourne, the West Australian Department of Agriculture, and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.

Mrs Thompson said the survey form would be posted, at the beginning of October, to sheep farmers in New England, south-west Queensland, southern NSW, and the sheep-growing regions of Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. “It’s basically a benchmarking survey,” she said. “The idea is to get a picture of what farmers are doing now to control parasites, and when and why they’re doing it. Another survey in two years’ time will reveal how much these practices have changed as a result of the demonstration-farm trials.” She is asking farmers to return the survey within three weeks of receiving it.

Mrs Thompson’s work is part of the socio-economic component of the Integrated Parasite Management project. Six other UNE researchers are involved in the project as rural scientists. As well as assisting with the trials on demonstration farms and assessing the results, they are conducting research on the effect of climatic conditions on the proliferation of worms on pastures, and a promising method of controlling the worms biologically. The coordinator of the UNE research team, Dr Andrea Crampton from the University’s School of Rural Science and Agriculture, said the method involved a fungus that was able to trap and kill worms on the pasture before they were able to infect stock.

Media contact: Lyndal Thompson, Institute for Rural Futures, UNE (02) 6773 5144 or Lydia Roberts, Public Relations Manager, UNE (02) 6773 2779.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at 10:45 AM

New centre looks at educational opportunities

September 28, 2004

At least 10 academics with 100 years’ experience between them have started a new centre at the University of New England, examining education in a range of social contexts.
The Centre for Research on Education in Context (CREC) is coordinated by Dr Peter Ninnes and includes academics Associate Professor Tom Maxwell (Head of UNE’s School of Education) and Dr Neil Taylor, a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education.

“CREC’s overall aim will be to promote quality education and equitable educational processes students conducting research in Australia and internationally,” Dr Taylor said.
“The Centre will engage in study of the relationships between education and a range of social (e.g. gender, social class, sexualities), cultural, political, economic, global, international, regional and local contexts.”
One of CREC’s first projects involves looking at how Indigenous perspectives are taught in schools, Dr Taylor said.
It will also look at mobile schooling among Indigenous students.
In the coming months, the centre will be running a series of research seminars presented by its own members and visiting scholars, both local and international.
The centre will also assist academics in developing major grant applications and will tender for projects around the world.
CREC will be located in UNE’s School of Education building.
For more information phone Dr Neil Taylor on 6773 5064 or Lydia Roberts on 6773 2779.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at 04:49 PM

Long weekend of golden celebrations at UNE

September 27, 2004

woman in window at bool.jpgA tour of a rare art collection, wine-tasting and a Spring Ball are just some of the features of a 50th Anniversary Reunion Weekend being held at the University of New England this long weekend.
The events, which include a store-room tour of the New England Regional Art Museum, have been organised to celebrate UNE’s Golden Jubilee and guests will receive commemorative bags from the occasion.
Earlier this year, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ingrid Moses, launched UNE’s Golden Jubilee by hosting a cocktail party which featured vintage cars from the 1950s.

The same vehicles will be rolled out again at a picnic lunch, being held on the lawns of historic Booloominbah on October 3 at 1pm.
At least 100 alumni, staff and students are expected to attend the events, which start with an Official Welcome by the Vice-Chancellor on Saturday morning at the Wright Centre.
Professor Michael Macklin, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, has organised for members of his staff to contribute to an Arts from the Arts exhibition.
Said Professor Macklin: “Don’t think only paintings and sculpture. Contributions include paintings, photography, bonsai, sculpture, craft and pottery. It will be a celebration of 50 years of dedicated service to the Australian regional and rural communities.”
The exhibition will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday.
The weekend’s activities will culminate on Saturday night with a ball, during which a number of Golden Indulgence packages – things money cannot buy – will be auctioned to the highest bidder.
Here, guests could win anything from a day’s shooting with Olympic Gold medallist Suzy Balogh (a UNE alumnus), afternoon tea with Armidale Mayor Brian Chetwynd or a tour of State Parliament with Northern Tablelands MP Richard Torbay.
Dozens of local dignitaries and alumni have contributed their time and effort to helping make the weekend a success. Universities across Australia have also sent congratulatory messages and these will be read out on Saturday morning at the Official Welcome.
Reflecting on UNE’s 50 years as an autonomous institution, Professor Moses said: “It is quite salutary to think that there were only 242 students enrolled at the New England University College in 1953.
“There were no professors and very few facilities. This year we are celebrating not only our golden jubilee but the rolling out of the greatest broadband capacity of any regional university in Australia and the benefits that will confer on our students, staff and the broader community.
“The foresight of those who fought so hard for autonomy, virtually from the time the College was established in 1938, has been well and truly justified.”
The year-long celebrations will conclude in December when a published history of UNE
by historian Dr Matthew Jordan is launched.

For more information phone Lydia Roberts on 6773 2779.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at 11:40 AM

Golden tribute to our University’s first leader

September 24, 2004

A one-time chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and first Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England, Sir Robert Madgwick, is to be the subject of a 50th Anniversary Lecture in his honour next Friday (October 1).
Associate Professor John Ryan, of UNE’s School of English, Communication and Theatre, will deliver this lecture - actually in the named series, the Madgwick Lectures, - in the Arts Lecture Theatre, UNE at 4.30pm.

In a fitting tribute to Sir Robert, (in this, UNE’s 50th anniversary year as an autonomous university) Associate Professor Ryan will outline the career of Sir Robert, the son of a tram driver, who became both a remarkable visionary for Australian education and the driving force behind the present world-wide expansion of his tiny University, initially one with only 200 students.
Robert Madgwick’s academic career was launched with a First Class Honours degree in Economics at the University of Sydney, he returning to his alma mater after a stint in the mid-1930s at Oxford, as a passionate adherent to the economic doctrines of liberal Economist John Maynard Keynes. It was at this time that he forged relationships with other like-minded academics, including H.C. ‘Nugget’ Coombs ( later Governor of the Reserve Bank) and Hermann Black, who would remain a lifelong friend.
Dr Madgwick then went on to play a key role in the democratising of the hitherto elitist Sydney University Extension Board Education and, during World War Two, in the establishment of the far-reaching Army Education Service.
As Sir Robert wrote then to our troops, "Education should be an adventure, something which we undertake because it is interesting as well as instructive …the only purpose of true education is to teach us to think straight".
By War’s end Madgwick had experienced “enormous organisational success in education,” according to Associate Professor Ryan, and so it was fitting that he be appointed in 1946 as the Warden of the then University College and, in 1954, first Vice-Chancellor of UNE.
Under his influence, the university’s Faculties of Rural Science and Agricultural Economics were established, along with the crucial Departments of External Studies and of Adult Education and the now internationally staffed University became largely residential, first with and Mary White College (for women) and Wright College (for men). Its expansion in the 1960s was dramatic.
After leaving UNE, he was knighted and appointed chairman of the ABC, where in 1970 he stood up against the then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser when he tried to appropriate the Corporation’s funding. He retained his passionate commitment to a free press.
Sir Robert died in 1979 and the inaugural Madgwick lecture was delivered in 1984 by his old friend, the University of Sydney Chancellor,.Sir Hermann Black.

For more information phone Lydia Roberts on 6773 2779 or Association Professor Ryan on 6773 2601.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at 05:09 PM

Care network on show for Dementia Week

September 23, 2004

This is National Dementia Awareness Week, and in Armidale a network of assessment and support services is making people aware of dementia issues and the help that is available.

New England Primary Dementia Care Network (working in conjunction with Alzheimer’s Australia NSW) mounted an information stall in an Armidale shopping arcade today. The Network comprises the New England Division of General Practice, New England Area Health Service, the University of New England’s School of Psychology, and Armidale Dumaresq Council.

Established at the beginning of last year with a State Government grant, the Network coordinates all the relevant services to support GPs in their assessment and referral of patients with cognitive problems living in and around Armidale, Guyra, Uralla and Walcha. It has recently been extended to Inverell.

Dr James Donnelly, a UNE lecturer and neuropsychologist, supervises the cognitive assessment of patients for the Network. “This program is the only one of its type outside the major cities in Australia,” he said. “It is unique in its ability to link rural GPs to university expertise in dementia assessment.”

Dr Donnelly said the assessment program at UNE had received vital financial support from the New England Credit Union, including funds raised by the Credit Union’s Staff Foundation.

The services the Network provides are coordinated under the title “Memory Assessment Program and Support Services”. The coordinator, Margaret Allen from the New England Division of General Practice, said the Network had already helped about 40 people. “We set out to provide support for people in the early stages of dementia (and their families), and to link them to community services,” she said. “We have achieved that.”

For more information on the Memory Assessment Program and Support Services, ring Margaret Allen on (02) 6771 1146.

Media contact: Dr James Donnelly, School of Psychology, UNE (02) 6773 3772 or Jim Scanlan, Public Relations, UNE (02) 6773 3049.

For photographs, please contact Jim Scanlan on (02) 6773 3049.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at 04:01 PM

Equipment loan helps wool education

September 22, 2004

kirby wool test.jpgThe loan to the University of New England of a wool-measurement technology package worth $94,000 is contributing to a national sheep-industry education program managed from UNE.

Interactive Wool Group (IWG) Pty Ltd, of Tamworth, has lent the package to David Cottle, UNE’s Professor of Sheep and Wool Science. Professor Cottle manages the national education program of the Australian Sheep Industry Cooperative Research Centre (Sheep CRC).

OFDA2000 is a portable computerised fibre measurement instrument. It can be used to measure greasy wool direct from the sheep's back, or from a fleece at shearing time. It can measure 800 samples every eight hours. Measurements include mean fibre diameter, percentage of fibres greater than 30 microns, curvature and standard deviation of curvature, staple length, fibre diameter profile along the staple, and position of the finest and broadest points along the staple.

The Director of IWG, Richard Manning, and an IWG Research Officer, Shelley Carpenter, recently installed an OFDA2000 in the wool metrology laboratories in UNE’s School of Rural Science and Agriculture. It is being maintained by Michael Raue, a Technical Officer in the School. Earlier this week, students from UNE and other universities in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania undertaking the new “Clip Preparation and Wool Marketing” unit delivered by UNE for the Sheep CRC, as well as wool-classing students from Armidale TAFE, used the equipment in the field at UNE’s Kirby Research Station near Armidale.

“This technology is extremely robust and can be used in shearing sheds and sheep yards,” Professor Cottle said. “It enables wool’s important processing characteristics to be identified and measured in real time, providing critical information for clip preparation, breeding programs and flock management.”

Professor Cottle is using the instrument on the University’s farm clips as part of the undergraduate teaching program for UNE’s new Bachelor of Livestock Science degree. This program, to begin next year, incorporates all the Sheep CRC degree units.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at 03:54 PM

Recognition for inclusiveness, equity in employment

September 20, 2004

employaward.jpgThe University of New England’s commitment to inclusiveness and equity in employment has been recognised within the wider New England community.

UNE has received a certificate from the Prime Minister’s Office acknowledging the University’s nomination, by a community organization, for a Prime Minister’s 2003 Employer of the Year Award.

The nomination, from the Armidale-based Network Employment Centre, was for UNE’s “strong commitment to employing people with disabilities”.

Mr Scott Sears, Coordinator of the Network Employment Centre, praised what he called “the culture of acceptance” at UNE. “The University is not only happy to place our clients,” he said, “but makes it easy for us to provide them with ongoing support.” The Network Employment Centre, which finds employment for people with intellectual disabilities, has provided UNE with a number of employees over the past 15 years. “By now, some of them have worked at UNE for quite a few years,” Mr Sears said. “This indicates that they enjoy their jobs and the work environment.”

The Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Ingrid Moses, said the nomination demonstrated the University’s commitment to both equity in employment and engagement with the wider community. “In striving towards a culture of openness at UNE, we aim to create a workplace that encourages and nurtures diversity,” she said. “This includes encouraging employment and career development opportunities for people from groups that have traditionally been disadvantaged in their access to (and participation in) employment.”

UNE’s high reputation for its services to students with disabilities was highlighted last year by the success of a submission to locate the Commonwealth-funded Disability Coordination Officer (DCO) Program for northern NSW at the University. The DCO provides information, coordination and referral services for people with disabilities interested in or enrolled in post-school education and training, including those making the transition to employment.

The Equity Manager at UNE, Bronwyn Pearson, said staff diversity helped to create an environment of awareness and acceptance on a campus with a diverse student population (including a higher-than-average proportion of students with disabilities). “Engagement with the wider community, such as that recognised in our nomination for a Prime Minister’s Award, is a very important part of maintaining and enhancing staff diversity,” she said. “Another example of the significance and success of such engagement is our Indigenous Employment Strategy, which was developed (and is being implemented) in collaboration with the local Indigenous community.”

Media contact: Bronwyn Pearson, Equity Manager, UNE (02) 6773 2961 or Jim Scanlan, Public Relations, UNE (02) 6773 3049.
The photograph, showing (from left) Professor Ingrid Moses, Bronwyn Pearson (holding the certificate from the Prime Minister’s Office) and Scott Sears, is available at:
http://smithserver.une.edu.au/photography/media/employaward.jpg

Posted by Jim Scanlan at 04:57 PM

Visiting academic gives low-down on sex

September 17, 2004

Pornography is the subject of a presentation to be delivered by leading academic Kath Albury at the University of New England today (September 17).
Ms Albury is the author of Yes Means Yes – Getting Explicit about Heterosex in which she explores female sexuality, fetishes, straight feminism and other topics on women’s’ sexuality.
Her presentation at UNE will be in Room 137 in the Education Building on campus and will begin at midday.
Ms Albury is an Honorary Research Associate in Media and Communications at the University of Sydney. She has specialised in sexual and ethical issues since 1997 and is a Chief Investigator on the Understanding Pornography in Australia research project.
Yes Means Yes is a readable, academic study of sex and sexuality. In her book, Ms Albury argues the media in general portrays as unfeminine – or even masculine -- women who actively want or seek out sex.
Her book redresses this notion with a more accurate portrayal of women’s sexuality.
Ms Albury, whose father, Professor Randall Albury, is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at UNE, is a guest of UNE’s School of Social Science and the University of New England’s Sexualities Research Group (UNESEX).
UNESEX is a cross-disciplinary research grouping focused on the cultural aspects of sexuality.
Ms Albury will be available for interviews at the conclusion of the lecture, about 1pm.
For more information phone Lydia Roberts on (02) 6773 2779.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at 11:52 AM

Volcanic eruptions led to mass extinction

September 16, 2004

Ian Metcalfe118 thumb.jpgPrimitive corals, pig-like reptiles and ancient arthropods were just some of the early life culled in the world’s biggest mass extinction, 252.6 million years ago, according to latest research from the University of New England.
Unlike the world’s best-known mass extinction – when an asteroid was thought to have killed dinosaurs – the biggest mass extinction was probably caused by thousands of volcanoes erupting.
These are the main findings from work conducted by UNE’s Professor Ian Metcalfe and his international research team, after he helped pioneer a technique developed by Dr Roland Mundil and co-researchers at the Berkeley Geochronology Centre, California, in the US which more precisely dates minerals and rocks using uranium-lead dating.

Professor Metcalfe’s work is the subject of a paper to be published in this month’s prestigious Science journal, a forum for work conducted by the world’s leading scientists.
“The most significant part of this research is developing a technique for pre-treating mineral specimens from millions of years ago which allows a more accurate dating using uranium-lead,” Professor Metcalfe said.
The mineral specimens, or zircon crystals, are invariably found in ash falls and lavas from the world’s volcanoes and can date back thousands of millions of years, virtually to the beginning of the Earth, about 4.6 billion years. Unlike carbon dating, which can only date specimens back to about 60,000 years, uranium-lead can date specimens from hundreds of millions of years ago.
“Using this, we now have a more accurate date for the world’s biggest mass extinction which is 252.6 +/- 0.2 million years ago,” Professor Metcalfe said.
“What is more, we can now be more or less certain a series of mass eruptions from volcanoes in what is now Siberia caused this extinction, known as the End Permian Mass Extinction.”
He said the extinction, due to the eruptions, happened “relatively quickly, over a period of several hundred thousand years or so”.
In that time, the air was filled with noxious gases, such as sulphur dioxide and methane, which caused acid rain to fall. There was, Professor Metcalfe said, “horrendous climate changes, as well as a big drop in sea levels which may also have contributed to the mass extinction”.
Life forms extinguished during this time included Trilobites, an ancient group of arthropods (distant relatives of prawns and crabs), major groups of sea shells (Brachiopods), primitive Tetrapods, that were pig-like, walked on four legs and who’s surviving descendents eventually evolved into modern reptiles.
The two per cent of life forms that survived the extinction evolved into more modern forms of life, such as the corals in the Great Barrier Reef.
Professor Metcalfe said he now hopes to use the new technique and results to see when the mass extinction precisely happened in Australia, something which will help us better understand the causes of global extinctions and how life subsequently recovered.
For more information phone Lydia Roberts on (02) 6773 2779.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at 11:22 AM

Eminent barrister inspires UNE law students

September 15, 2004

John Coombes 004.jpgJohn Coombs QC, one of Australia’s most eminent barristers, recently appointed Adjunct Professor at the University of New England, has begun inspiring UNE law students with his experience and insight.
Professor Coombs, who sat on the steering committee that established UNE’s School of Law in 1993, said he had been impressed by the quality of UNE law graduates, and was enjoying the contact with students that his new appointment involved.
The son of the great Australian economic and social reformer Dr H.C. (“Nugget”) Coombs, John Coombs has had a career-long association with the New England region. In 1960, as an articled clerk, he worked with a Tamworth solicitor. After being admitted to the Bar in 1961 he developed a large New England practice, visiting towns in the region on the Supreme Court circuit every year between 1964 and 2000. Even now that he has reduced his workload to a limited number of mediation cases, some of his clients are still based in New England. He said his appointment as Adjunct Professor at UNE accorded well with his founding interest in UNE’s School of Law and his professional involvement in (and affection for) the New England region. It also accorded with his conviction that the existence of law schools at regional universities encouraged graduates to seek employment outside the big cities.

Professor Coombs’s career, including three cases before the Privy Council in England, would be an inspiration to any undergraduate in law. During his first visit to UNE in his new capacity earlier this month, he told students about some of his most interesting experiences in representing clients he eventually proved to be innocent after most people (including, in one case, the defendant himself) had believed they were guilty. (“The barrister should try not to consider issues of innocence or guilt,” he explained. “You never really know till the end of the trial.”) None of the 27 people charged with murder that he has represented in the course of his career ended up being convicted of murder. In his seminars and lectures at UNE he would be attempting to make such cases “come alive” for the students, he said.
He advises students that “the most important thing is attention to detail”. By temperament, he said, he had “an instinct for the broad brush and a bit of showmanship”. It was an admired colleague, Kevin Holland (later to become
Mr Justice Holland) who advised him to supplement his “flair” with “attention to detail”. “All the flair in the world won’t overcome not having the detail right,” Professor Coombs said.
Among many important appointments throughout his career, John Coombs has been President of the NSW Bar Association (1992-93), President of the Australian Bar Association (1992-93), an Arbitrator of the Supreme Court of NSW (1994-2002), a Judicial Member of the Legal Services Tribunal (1995-98), a Foundation Board Member of the Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine (1997-2002), and a Judicial Member of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal (1998-2002). He is currently a Governance Board Member of the Ageing Research Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney.
Media contact: Grahame Kennedy, School of Law, UNE (02) 6773 3054 or Jim
Scanlan, Public Relations, UNE (02) 6773 3049. For a photograph, contact Jim
Scanlan on (02) 6773 3049.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at 03:17 PM

Senator Aden Ridgeway delivers annual Indigenous lecture

September 14, 2004

Race, Identity and Politics is the subject of a talk to be delivered by Democrat Senator Aden Ridgeway at a University of New England lecture on Thursday night.
Senator Ridgeway, the only Indigenous Senator in the Federal Upper House, will deliver the annual Frank Archibald Memorial lecture at Armidale Town Hall.
Mr Frank Archibald was a revered Aboriginal community member of the Armidale area, renowned for his knowledge and interest in all issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. An annual lecture has been held every year in his honour since 1986, with previous high-profile speakers such as Noel Pearson, Mick Dodson and last year, Dr Pat O’Shane delivering the lecture.

This year’s lecture, on the eve of the Federal election, will start at 7.30pm.
Senator Ridgeway’s current portfolio includes Consumer Affairs, Forestry, Indigenous Affairs and Trade and Overseas Development.
Born in Macksville in northern NSW, Senator Ridgeway is from the Gumbayngirr people of that area.
He was elected to the Senate as Australia’s only Indigenous Federal politician in July 1999 and became the first Indigenous politician to hold a Federal political leadership position as Democrats Deputy Leader in April 2001.
Senator Ridgeway was honoured in this year’s national NAIDOC awards as Indigenous Person of the Year in recognition of his work for Indigenous people at a Federal level.
For more information phone Lydia Roberts on 6773 2779.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at 01:08 PM

Visiting Rabbi tackles problems of extremism

September 13, 2004

slavin franzmann redman.jpg“Nothing builds trust like information,” said Rabbi Dovid Slavin, visiting the University of New England to take part in a lecture series on world religions.
Rabbi Slavin, the Executive Director of the Rabbinical College of Sydney, travelled to Armidale to contribute to the sharing of information he said was of vital importance in today’s world. “Misunderstanding is the lifeline of terrorism,” he explained. “Those who support terrorism lack understanding."

The UNE lecture series aimed at dispelling some commonly believed myths about Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, and to help people differentiate between “mainstream” and “extremist” beliefs and practices, and work towards harmony through understanding.
The series, presented in three weekly sessions at St Albert’s College, began with an overview by Toni Tidswell from UNE’s School of Classics, History and Religion. During the second session, on the Abrahamic religions, Rabbi Slavin spoke on Judaism, the Rev. Judy Redman (UNE’s Uniting Church Chaplain) on Christianity, and Dr Denis Wright (from the School of Classics, History and Religion) on Islam. The third session, last Tuesday (7 September), included talks on Hinduism by Julie Marsh and on Buddhism by Dr Mun-keat Choong (both from the School of Classics, History and Religion).
The Rev. Judy Redman, who organised the lecture series, said it had received
support from UNE’s Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Randall Albury, the Convener of Studies in Religion at UNE, Professor Majella Franzmann, and
the Master of St Albert’s College, Geoff Johnston. “Those involved in the series (both presenters and audience) thought it was a very worthwhile experience,” she said. “People asked lots of questions, and it was obvious they were interested. The audiences comprised about equal numbers of UNE students, UNE staff, and members of the general public.”
“The lectures were based on the principle of religious tolerance,” Rev. Redman continued, “which extends religious freedom to people of all religions, while not requiring agreement with their beliefs and/or practices. There was no attempt to evaluate any of the religions presented in terms of ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, ‘better’ or ‘worse’, and speakers informed and educated rather than attempting to convert. Some of the speakers practise the religions they spoke about, while others are objective observers.”
She said feedback indicated that further events aimed at developing inter-faith understanding would be welcomed, but there were no definite plans as yet.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at 02:54 PM

Roger Woodward returns for Golden Jubilee concert

September 09, 2004

Internationally acclaimed pianist Roger Woodward will perform a one-off concert to help celebrate the University of New England’s 50th anniversary.
Mr Woodward, a pupil of Rachmaninov who has also conducted with Sir Eugene Goossens, will perform at UNE’s Lazenby Hall on Friday, September 17.
The program includes solo performances of works by Debussy, J S Bach and Schumann.
“I played the works of Debussy all my life and have a special love of the music of this composer,” Mr Woodward, who is currently touring the US, said.
Four years ago, when the great concert pianist was Chair of Music at UNE, he attempted to learn French to better understand [the great French composer] Debussy’s work.

“While a student at the Chopin Academy in Warsaw, I learnt Polish if only to understand Chopin better and finally began making a similar effort for Debussy,” Mr Woodward said.
“Including Debussy's music in UNE's 50th Anniversary concert is for no other reason than that I love it. I have constantly played his complete works at many different concerts every season throughout the great musical centres of the world all my life.”
Also performing with Mr Woodward are pianist Suzanna Hlinka (who will perform Cesar Franck’s Prelude and Fugue) and cellist Christoph Blickling, who will perform Gabriel Faure’s Elegy in C Minor.
During his extensive career, Mr Woodward has been honoured with numerous musical and humanitarian awards, including an OBE, (Order of the British Empire), Companion of the Order of Australia and the Polish Order of Merit.
For more information phone Lydia Roberts on 6773 2779.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at 09:55 AM

Australia's only Indigenous Senator delivers annual lecture

September 08, 2004

Senator Aden Ridgeway, the only Indigenous member of the Australian
Parliament, will visit Armidale next week to present the University of New
England’s Frank Archibald Memorial Lecture for 2004.
Aden Ridgeway, from the Gumbayngirr people of northern NSW, was named
“Indigenous Person of the Year” in this year’s national NAIDOC awards. Frank
Archibald, commemorated in the Memorial Lecture series, was a revered member of Armidale’s Indigenous community who was renowned for his knowledge of (and interest in) all issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This year’s Frank Archibald Memorial Lecture will be in Armidale
Town Hall on Thursday 16 September.

Elected to the Senate in July 1999, Aden Ridgeway became the first
Indigenous politician to hold a Federal political leadership position when
he became Deputy Leader of the Democrats in April 2001. While advocating for
Indigenous Australians is a priority, he takes an active personal interest
in all his portfolios. (These are: Arts & Sport, Consumer Affairs, Forestry,
Indigenous Affairs, Industry, Small Business & Tourism, and Trade & Overseas
Development.) For example, he actively campaigned against the Australia-US
Free Trade Agreement after spending much time weighing up the costs and
benefits of the agreement and participating in two Senate Inquiries.
The free public lecture will be at 7.30 pm, followed by supper in the Town
Hall foyer. Earlier in the day, Senator Ridgeway will visit UNE’s Oorala
Aboriginal Centre for morning tea, a tree-planting ceremony, and lunch,
during which he will meet invited guests including local students,
Indigenous UNE staff members, and members of the Archibald family. After
lunch he will attend a meeting of the UNE Reconciliation Statement Working
Party as guest of the Oorala Centre’s Director, Diane Golden.
UNE inaugurated the series of annual Frank Archibald Memorial Lectures in
1986. The speakers are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are
leading professionals in fields such as education, law, social justice and
government. Last year’s speaker was NSW Local Court magistrate Pat O’Shane,
who was Chancellor of UNE from 1995 till the end of 2003. Other speakers
have included Jackie Huggins, Mick Dodson, and Noel Pearson.
For more information, and notice of attendance, please phone (02) 6773 2736
or e-mail: frank_archibald_rsvp@une.edu.au.
Media contact: Kathie Hunt, Events Coordinator, UNE (02) 6773 3955 or Jim
Scanlan, Public Relations, UNE (02) 6773 3049.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at 11:33 AM

Secrets of the cell under scrutiny

September 07, 2004

The University of New England is organising a four-day workshop that will help young researchers from around the world to look more deeply into living cells.
The international workshop this month will allow its 50 participants to practise the latest optical techniques used in biomedical research. A major focus will be fluorescence spectroscopy, which takes advantage of the physical properties of fluorescent light to detect and investigate biological processes in tissues and cells down to the level of single molecules.
The workshop, from September 20 to September 23 at the National Marine Science Centre, Coffs Harbour, has attracted participants from six overseas
countries as well as from the eastern States of Australia. It will emphasise
practical issues related to setting up new research equipment and expanding
the use of existing equipment. Some of the techniques investigated will be
recent developments, including “fluctuation correlation spectroscopy”, which
enables researchers to follow the movements of molecules in living cells,
and “multi-photon excitation microscopy”, which provides a deeper view into
cells than ever before. The latter technique has a variety of potential
medical applications.


Most of the overseas participants will be attending with the help of travel
grants. They will be coming from The Philippines, Chile, Slovenia, Russia
and Poland. Invited speakers will include Professor Peter Fajer (Florida
State University, USA), Professor Enrico Gratton (University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, USA), and Professor David Jameson (University of Hawaii at
Manoa).
The UNE workshop is the third in an Australian series that began with a
workshop in Melbourne in 1997 and continued with one in Sydney in 2001. The
Chair of the organising committee for this month’s workshop, Dr Pierre Moens
from UNE’s School of Biological, Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, said the
workshops were aimed at postgraduate research students, young postdoctoral
research fellows, and recently appointed junior Faculty members.
Media contact: Dr Pierre Moens, School of Biological, Biomedical and
Molecular Sciences, UNE (02) 6773 3740 or Jim Scanlan, Public Relations, UNE
(02) 6773 3049.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at 12:20 PM

International meeting of the minds

September 06, 2004

At a conference this month convened by the University of New England, about
60 experts from 15 countries will present the latest research findings on how the human mind determines the structure and function of language. Themes will include the evolution of thought and language, language development in children, and universal properties of languages. Individual papers will support theories such as the evolution of language from planned behaviour, and the shaping of language by the function of the nervous system as a whole.

UNE’s Language and Cognition Cluster, which is organising the conference,
includes several international authorities in their fields. Among these, Professor Brian Byrne will present his latest findings on the interaction of genes and environment in reading ability, and Professor Cliff Goddard will talk about basic meanings, common to all languages, when people talk about their feelings.
A major focus of the conference will be the way we make sense of the world
by grouping things (including speech sounds themselves) into categories.
Presenters from UNE who will approach “categorisation” from different angles
will include Dr Brett Baker (speaking on two Northern Australian languages),
Dr Arcady Blinov (on aspects of categorisation and logic), Dr Dorothea
Cogill-Koez (categorisation in sign languages), and Dr Helen Fraser
(categories of speech sounds).
UNE’s Associate Professor Mike Morwood will present ground-breaking new
archaeological findings that have implications for the antiquity of language, while other UNE presenters will include Dr Drew Khlentzos from the School of Social Science and, from the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, Dr Nick Reid and Dennis Alexander.
The International Language & Cognition Conference 2004 will be at the
Pacific Bay Resort, Coffs Harbour, on September 10, 11 and 12. Those taking
part will include linguists, philosophers, psychologists, palaeoanthropologists, neuroscientists, computer scientists, and others.
UNE’s Language and Cognition Cluster was established several years ago to
promote the exchange of ideas and research results between these disciplines, and to take full advantage of the internationally-recognised expertise available at the Armidale campus.
Influential overseas speakers at the conference will include Mark Steedman,
Professor of Cognitive Science at the University of Edinburgh in the UK, and
Stephen Crain, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Maryland in the
United States. There will be other speakers from the UK and the United
States, as well as from Germany, Italy, Spain, Estonia, Belgium, Taiwan,
South Korea, Japan, France, Israel, Russia and Denmark, and from around
Australia.
Dr Andrea Schalley, Chair of the UNE organising committee, said: “Through
this international, interdisciplinary meeting we aim to foster the
development of new ideas and collaborative research projects in Language and
Cognition, one of the most exciting fields of 21st century science.”
For more information on the conference, see the Web site at:
www.ilcc.une.edu.au .

Posted by Lydia Roberts at 10:25 AM

Olympic gold medallist guest of honour at OPen Day

September 03, 2004

Suzy Balogh, alumni of the University of New England and gold-medal winner at the Athens Olympics, will be guest of honour at UNE's Open Day next Friday, September 10.
Ms Balogh, who won the coveted gold medal for her shooting prowess, graduated in Rural Science from UNE in 1996 and was a resident of Robb College while studying at UNE.
She has promised to bring her gold medal on to campus for her visit back to UNE for Open Day and will help launch the day on campus.

This year, more than 1300 visitors are expected to attend Open Day, with this year’s annual event promising to be the biggest and best.
Free entertainment and guided tours, Big Breakfasts and the chance to win a laptop computer are just some of the attractions planned for students and their parents during the day.
This year, UNE celebrates its Golden Jubilee and is aiming to make Open Day a key celebration.
“Year after year our graduates give top marks to their experience at UNE and the 2004 edition of The Good Universities Guide rates UNE as the only university in NSW to achieve top-rating for ‘education experience’,” UNE Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ingrid Moses, said.
Open Day kicks off at 8am next Friday with breakfast available at a nominal cost for all guests at the University’s residential colleges.
Free shuttle buses will drive students to and from the colleges and around the main campus, where academics and undergraduates will offer advice and help on courses.
All the university’s diverse facilities, including Sport UNE, Dixson Library and its computer labs will be open to the public.
At midday a free barbecue lunch will be offered on campus and students can enter the prize draw for a 20Gb iPod or a return flight to Sydney.
The day will also provide a perfect opportunity for students to inquire about UNE’s extensive scholarship opportunities, including its Country Scholarships (up to $25,000), Country Equity Scholarships (up to $15,000) and Industry-sponsored scholarships (up to $50,000).
Open Day will be preceded by UNE’s annual Apple Pie and Answers session, held the evening before at the UNE Cafeteria (next to Lazenby Hall).
This provides all parents with an opportunity to find the answers to those commonly asked questions about the university application process such as, what does HECS involve?
For more information phone Lydia Roberts on 6773 2779.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at 04:16 PM

New insight into school science decline

September 02, 2004

Research at the University of New England is overturning the popular belief
that high-school students are opting out of science subjects because they
see professions other than science as being more desirable in terms of
income and social status.
A study by UNE’s Dr Terry Lyons has revealed that the decline has more to do
with the way science is taught in schools and how it is valued by today’s
students and their parents.
Dr Lyons interviewed high-achieving Year 10 students at three metropolitan
and three regional NSW high schools about their subject choices for the
Higher School Certificate. He found that students’ experiences of science
classes often discouraged them from taking senior science courses,
particularly physics and chemistry. Many of the students described the
science taught in school as “boring”, “difficult”, and “irrelevant to the
real world”. Those who did choose physics or chemistry were motivated
principally by the “strategic” value of these courses in increasing
university and carer path options.

Factors within the students’ home lives were strongly influential in their
decisions, Dr Lyons said. “For those choosing science, there was an obvious
congruence between the values and beliefs of their families and those they
encountered in the science classroom,” he explained. “Parental support is
important for students undertaking these ‘difficult’ subjects. Those opting
out of science (and the boys in particular) often lacked supportive
relationships with a key parent.”
Such a supportive home environment contributed to a student’s confidence, he
said, and confidence was necessary in “taking the risk” of doing a subject
perceived as “difficult”.
Dr Lyons’s research addresses the problem of persistent declines in
post-compulsory high school science enrolments over the past two decades in
Australia (and many other developed countries). He presented his findings at
the International Organisation of Science and Technology Education
Conference in Poland at the end of July. He said he had found no evidence
that students in Year 10 were opting out of science because they perceived
it as a relatively low-paid or low-status profession. “Over the course of
this study it became increasingly obvious that the most cogent single force
acting against the choice of physical science courses was not external, but
rather the culture of school science itself,” he said.
Media contact: Dr Terry Lyons, School of Education, UNE (02) 6773 2983 or
Jim Scanlan, Public Relations, UNE (02) 6773 3049.
A photograph of Dr Lyons is available. Please ring Jim Scanlan on (02) 6773
3049.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at 11:35 AM

Mystery prizes headline golden charity ball

September 01, 2004

alumni from 1954Fancy talking footy with a star player from the National Rugby League? Or afternoon tea with Armidale Mayor Brian Chetwynd?
Then buy a ticket to the Spring Ball at the University of New England and you may be in the running for these and other “Golden Indulgence” packages.
Guests who buy a ticket to the ball, held to raise money for UNE’s Country Scholarships scheme, will be able to take part in a charity auction involving a number of “Golden Indulgence” packages.

Already the National Rugby League (NRL) has committed to putting together a package money cannot buy. Other local dignitaries have also lent their hand, all for a good cause.
Armidale Mayor, Brian Chetwynd has promised to take afternoon tea with the highest bidder, while Northern Tablelands MP Richard Torbay has committed to hosting a guest for an hour while Parliament sits later this year.
The packages have been put together as a novel way of raising money for the scholarships (an annual program helping rural and financially-disadvantaged students).
Held annually, this year’s ball will feature local celebrity auctioneer Andrew Starr auctioning the packages to the highest bidder.
In this, the University’s 50th anniversary, a theme of the ball will also be old-time dancing and Alumni Relations Officer Ms Jennifer Miller has organised a series of dance classes to help guests brush-up on their old-time dancing steps.
Held every Friday in the Junior Common Room at St Albert’s College, the classes, supervised by John and Gloria McLennan, cost $25.
The ball, which will be held in UNE’s Lazenby Hall, kicks off at 6.30pm on Saturday, October 2. Tickets cost $60 each.
Last year, the inaugural ball, more than 180 guests attended, however, more are expected this year.
The ball will be the highlight of UNE’s 50th Anniversary Reunion Weekend, beginning on Friday, October 1.
Thousands of alumni have been invited back to their alma mater for a weekend of activities, including a picnic lunch on the lawns of historic Booloominbah, tours of Armidale and an exhibition entitled Arts from the Arts.
If you would like to book a ticket to the ball, phone 6773 2144.
For media information, phone Lydia Roberts on 6773 2779.


Posted by Lydia Roberts at 12:18 PM