Conference demonstrates how 'humour creates community'

October 31, 2006

In his opening address at an international conference on “Humour, Health and Education”, Mikey Robins gave delegates and guests a living demonstration of the way in which humour can – as he said – “create community”.

While doing so, he made serious points about the vital role of humour in the wellbeing of society and the individual that other speakers reiterated during the three-day conference at The University of New England last weekend.

Mikey Robins is one of the best-known entertainers on Australian radio and television. “Laughter is something we take for granted,” he said. “But as a society we need the release of laughter.” He defined “people in a room, laughing together” as an “instant community”.

UNE’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Pettigrew, welcomed the delegates to the University, and spoke about the role of humour in education and scholarship. “One has to have a balance in life,” Professor Pettigrew said, “and humour is an important part of achieving that balance.”

Delegates to the conference came from seven Australian States and Territories as well as from New Zealand. “It was quite different from other conferences in that the delegates laughed a lot,” said the conference convener, Angie Smith (pictured here with Mikey Robins). “The presenters represented three distinct strands: humour scholars from various universities, with backgrounds in health, psychology, education and philosophy; motivational speakers who have become interested in humour as a mood-lifter and productivity enhancer; comedians who make a living from performance.”

Ms Smith, a lecturer and researcher in UNE’s School of Health, explained that the academic papers had been interspersed with papers by the comedians Mikey Robins, Rachel Berger, Fiona O’Loughlin and Judith Lanigan. One example of these, she said, was Judith Lanigan’s paper titled “Professor Judy’s true history of the hula hoop: its use in health and happiness”. “This was absolute magic,” she said – “a true ‘performance’ paper that even had the audience physically involved.”

Subjects explored during the conference included humour and spirituality, the humour of Barry Humphries, political satire, therapeutic humour, humour in nursing, humour at school, humour at work, humour and activism, and humour as a means of coping with pain and stress. The event was hosted by UNE’s Faculty of Education, Health and Professional Studies.

Ms Smith is also the joint coordinator of the annual Armidale Women’s Comedy Festival. This year’s festival, held concurrently with the humour conference, provided the conference with an arts program. A youth humour project, held in conjunction with the conference, involved 15 high-school students in workshops and performances and resulted in the selection of five of them to train as presenters with UNE’s student radio station TUNE!FM. The youth project was supported by The Foundation for Young Australians, the Armidale Women’s Comendy Festival, and Radio TUNE!FM.

Posted by at 04:19 PM

New light on medicine in early modern culture

October 27, 2006

Two scholars from The University of New England contributed to an international symposium on “Humanism and Medicine” held recently at the University of Western Australia.

The symposium explored the complex – and sometimes troubled – relationship between humanism and medicine in the “early modern” era: from the fourteenth century to the eighteenth century.

Randall Albury (Adjunct Professor, School of Classics, History and Religion) gave a paper titled “Vernacular humanism, medicine and political philosophy in The Book of the Courtier”. Professor Albury’s paper analysed the use of the ancient philosophical analogy between medicine and statecraft as it appears in Castiglione’s influential sixteenth-century work, The Book of the Courtier. He argued that this analogy was a key to understanding the political dimensions of this widely-translated and frequently-published work of the Renaissance.

Jane Southwood (Lecturer in French, School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics) presented a paper titled “Why Galen’s teeth fell out: shifting medical attitudes among Nicolas Baudin’s doctors”. Dr Southwood’s paper, prepared for presentation with the technical assistance of Robert Brennan (UNE), focused on scurvy and its traditional link with “melancholy”. It examined the shift to empirical observation exemplified by the youngest member of the five-man medical team on board the two Baudin expedition ships during their 1800-1804 voyage of exploration to “les terres australes” (Australia). It contrasted the newer approach of a doctor trained after the Revolution in the Ecole de Médecine - founded in Paris in 1794 - with that of the older members of the medical team, who were educated before the Revolution and whose post-expedition writings reveal the extent to which their thinking was informed by a tradition built on the authority of ancient texts.

Professor Albury and Dr Southwood are pictured here.

Funded by the Australian Research Council Network for Early European Research and the Cassamarca Foundation, and hosted by the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Western Australia, the symposium brought together speakers from around the world, including the eminent historians Vivian Nutton (the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, University College London) and Ian Maclean (All Souls, Oxford). Subjects covered during the symposium were as diverse as the tensions caused by the arrival of the plague in Saxony in 1575; the transmission of knowledge in published collections of medical letters between 1500 and 1630; ancient theories of tears and weeping; “greensickness” – a disease of virgins; the treatment of medicine in early modern drama; psychosomatic illness in early modern Italy; the definition of madness during a murder trial in Bologna in 1588; the understanding of the body in Renaissance architecture; the “culture of dissection” in seventeenth-century Holland, exemplified in Rembrandt’s paintings "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp" (1632) and "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Joan Deyman" (1658); Caravaggio’s personality, physical appearance, behaviour and painting style, and links with the doctrine of “humours”.

Posted by at 05:06 PM

'Chicken Challenge' sends students on original quest

October 27, 2006

The opposing teams in the inaugural State of Origin Chicken Challenge met this week for the culmination of a hard-fought contest that – in the end – resulted in a draw.

But when the NSW “coach”, Ian Godwin, said his team-members “really got up and ran with it”, he wasn’t talking about a football. He was talking about a scientific quest: the search for an ideally cost-effective chicken feed.

Dr Godwin and his team of students from The University of New England (UNE) challenged a team from the University of Queensland (UQ) to come up with feed formulations that would be more cost-effective than those the UNE team could devise. Using their nutritional skills and computer software, each of the teams formulated three diets from the same list of ingredients. All six diets were then secretly manufactured and coded.

Unaware of which feeds were which, each of the teams tested all six of them in simultaneous trials over two weeks. (The chickens in both groups of 140 were all from the same hatching, and delivered to UQ and UNE on the same day.) The Challenge came to a head last Monday, when the 30-member UNE team travelled to UQ’s Gatton campus to compare results and find out whose diets had been more successful.

“It was so close we were almost into extra time,” said Dr Godwin. “But, in the end, everyone was happy with the tied result. And all the students’ formulas did better than the commercial feed used as a control."

The Chicken Challenge was supported by a Teaching Development Grant from UNE. Dr Godwin, a Senior Lecturer in UNE’s School of Rural Science and Agriculture, explained that the Challenge had “capitalised on students’ enjoyment of competition in helping them to gain a better understanding of feed formulation concepts”.

“In combined workshops at Gatton this week,” he continued, “the students examined all the variables – including environmental factors – that could have contributed to their results.”

The trials had been conducted with scientific rigour, he said, and the results were worthy of being written up as a paper to be presented at a scientific conference. “We plan to do that next year. In this way, the students will have a peer-reviewed paper to their credit before they graduate.

“Those of them who, after graduation, go into research or industry as nutritionists, will hit the ground running as a result of what they’ve learnt through the Chicken Challenge and related programs.”

The Chicken Challenge has been incorporated into nutrition courses at UNE and will be an annual event. The course coordinator, Professor John Nolan, said: “Students are gaining important nutritional skills with a practical knowledge of the chicken industry, and are combining their learning with some friendly inter-State rivalry.”

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows UNE team members Belinda McGilchrist, Tarsha Macklinshaw and Daniel Ham in training for the Challenge.

Posted by at 12:46 PM

'From Use to Management': Australia's water policy in focus

October 26, 2006

One of the world’s leading experts on water management policy says the environment has been “the big winner” in Australia’s move – over the past 20 years – from virtually unchecked use to careful management of its water resources.

John Pigram (pictured here), an Adjunct Professor at The University of New England and a Fellow of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA), has just published a book titled Australia’s Water Resources: From Use to Management. The book documents and assesses this important shift of focus in Australian water policy, and outlines possible future directions.

“Twenty years ago, Australia was using water as if it would never run out,” Professor Pigram said. “People who wanted water were given it, and the environment got what was left. Now that this has changed, we need to ensure that there is accountability for the increasing allocation of water resources to the environment.”

In emphasising the importance of accountability, he said: “No one should be given access to water until they’re prepared to be accountable for it. This should involve a four-phase documentation process: proposal, management plan, monitoring report, and final audit.”

“The environment is working towards accountability,” he continued, “but still has a way to go.”

In addition to “accountability”, he named “efficiency” as the other necessary ingredient in good water management. “We are managing water more efficiently in many ways,” he said. “In the cities we’re managing our storage systems better than we did – and all sorts of recycling schemes are under way. In agriculture, irrigators in NSW and southern Queensland, with their water entitlements cut to the bone, have achieved great efficiencies.”

Australia’s Water Resources, published by CSIRO, examines the critical water-related issues facing Australia at the beginning of the 21st century and the policies and strategies necessary for their management. It offers a wide-ranging assessment of Australia’s water endowment and its sustainable use in the cities, and in industry, agriculture, and outdoor recreation.

Professor Pigram was Director of UNE’s Centre for Water Policy Research from 1987 to 2001 and has had 40 years’ experience in the Australian water industry. He chaired the organising committee for the 10th World Water Congress in Melbourne in 2000, and was elected President of IWRA in that year. He was a founding member of the Board of Governors of the World Water Council in 1996 and continued on the Board until 2006.

He has just returned from Montreal, Canada, where he presented a lecture at McGill University on Australia’s experience in water management.

Posted by at 01:51 PM

'Supervisor of the Year' chosen from strong field

October 25, 2006

The University of New England Postgraduate Association (UNEPA) has made its annual “Supervisor of the Year” award, selecting the winner from a record number of 58 nominees.

The award went to Associate Professor Alison Sheridan, a Senior Lecturer in the New England Business School. The panel of judges (consisting of three students and two staff members from Research Services), in recommending Dr Sheridan for the award, said: “It is clear that Alison sees her role as mentoring students as researchers and future academics – not just enabling them to write a thesis – and that she does this very well.” (The selection process for the award is based on detailed information provided by the nominees’ research students.)

At the awards presentation ceremony last week, the President of UNEPA, Cathryn McCormack, said that the judges had commended Dr Sheridan for her “holistic approach” to the supervision of research students and had said that she was "interested in students as people – not just students".

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Pettigrew, presented the award to Dr Sheridan, who responded by saying that it was “a great honour”.

“My supervision is always as part of a team,” Dr Sheridan said, “and I have had the good fortune to co-supervise with some exceptional colleagues. I believe the breadth of experience and insight that students have access to through two or more supervisors working collaboratively is fundamental to successful supervision.”

“The best thing we can do as supervisors,” she added, “is to create a space where students can find their voice.”

This year, for the first time in the 14-year history of its “Supervisor of the Year” competition, UNEPA awarded two “Honourable Mentions”. The Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Peter Flood, presented these awards to Dr Mary Cruickshank (Senior Lecturer, School of Health) and Dr Margaret Brooks (Lecturer, School of Professional Development and Leadership). Ms McCormack said the judges had highlighted Dr Cruickshank’s excellence in supervising part-time, off-campus students, and Dr Brooks’s commitment in establishing a postgraduate conversation group in her School.

UNEPA’s Vice-President, the Rev. Judy Redman, presented Certificates of Excellence to 18 members of UNE’s general staff nominated by postgraduate students as having provided exceptional levels of service. A special award for “Outstanding Lecturing” went to Marja Caling from the School of Education.

Ms McCormack said the number of nominations for the 2006 “Supervisor of the Year” award was far higher than that in any previous year. “This demonstrates the importance that UNE places on high-quality supervision,” she said, “and the resulting high standard of supervision being provided. We believe the attention that UNEPA has focused on the need for high-quality supervision over the 14 years of this award has been a significant factor contributing to this high standard.”

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here, taken at the presentation ceremony, shows (from left) Jane Davies (Postgraduate Support, Services UNE), Professor Alan Petttigrew, the Rev. Judy Redman, Associate Professor Alison Sheridan, and Cathryn McCormack.

Posted by at 04:05 PM

UNE develops more accurate tools for breast cancer diagnosis

October 24, 2006

Research at The University of New England is developing new, more accurate tools for diagnosing breast cancer that could involve fewer biopsies and lower exposure to x-rays.

Using a technique called “small-angle x-ray scattering”, the researchers have been able to achieve a diagnostic success rate of over 95 per cent. This is much better than the success rates of more conventional techniques: between 70 per cent and 90 per cent.

The technique is similar to that used in determining the structure of DNA, providing resolution to a level almost fine enough to distinguish individual molecules. This and another technique – “second-harmonic generation imaging” – are allowing the researchers to study the structure and distribution of collagen, the protein that holds vital clues to the presence of cancer.

Greg Falzon is working towards a doctorate at UNE. One of his supervisors – Dr Sarah Pearson – is a physicist, and the other – Dr Bob Murison – is a statistician. It is the combination of powerful new physical and statistical techniques that is the secret of the new diagnostic tools. This combination has also enabled Mr Falzon to develop a computer-based method – to be used in a surgical setting – for determining the boundaries of a breast tumour and estimating the probability of the tissue being malignant.

Mr Falzon and Dr Pearson have travelled frequently to the Daresbury synchrotron radiation source in the UK to conduct experiments involving x-ray scattering, while Dr Pearson travels to the University of Sydney to conduct the second-harmonic generation imaging. They are among only a handful of people world-wide who are using this technology for biological research. “Techniques developed in other fields are now proving very useful in medicine,” Dr Pearson said. “Our work is contributing to the research capability of Australia’s own synchrotron, now under construction.” They have also carried out experiments at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation facility at Lucas Heights in Sydney.

Their extended research network includes medical practitioners such as surgeons and pathologists, academics and research students – some of them in the New England region, and others throughout Australia and overseas. The project is funded by the Australian Research Council.

Mr Falzon explained that the accuracy of the diagnostic tools he has developed, if combined with progress in clinical imaging technology, could mean that far fewer biopsies would be necessary. “Studies in the United States have shown that 75 per cent of core-needle biopsies for breast cancer diagnosis did not indicate cancer,” he said. “In hindsight, researchers say that these biopsies would have been unnecessary if better screening and diagnostic technology had been available. This figure of 75 per cent amounts to excess biopsies being performed on more than half a million women in the United States each year.

“The research community wants a secondary screening procedure so that, when a suspicious lesion is found on a mammogram, the lesion can be assessed and a decision made on whether a biopsy should be performed.”

Incorporating powerful new statistical techniques available at UNE, Mr Falzon is developing software that can generate enough information on collagen structure to allow successful diagnosis after only minimal exposure to x-rays. “I’m aiming at an exposure time of 45 seconds, rather than the exposure times of up to an hour currently required by this imaging technique,” he said.

The research is also extending to the diagnosis of brain cancer. “We’ve discovered a series of unique signatures for cancer that are detectable in the brain by the use of small-angle x-ray scattering,” Mr Falzon said.

Earlier this month, he presented a talk on his research to members of the New South Wales Branch of the Statistical Society of Australia, meeting at the University of NSW in Sydney. The meeting was the first of its kind in the Branch’s history, as Mr Falzon delivered his talk from UNE via a video-conferencing link. The Branch President, Caro-Anne Badcock, who travelled to Armidale for the event, said she had been “extremely impressed” by Mr Falzon’s presentation, and hoped that similar events in the future would “get this sort of information out across the country”.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows (from left) Dr Bob Murison, Caro-Anne Badcock, Greg Falzon, and Dr Sarah Pearson.

Posted by at 10:43 AM

High achieving students recognised

October 23, 2006

About 60 high achieving students have been inducted into the Golden Key International Honour Society at the University of New England. The society – which has chapters all over the world and counts Bill Clinton and Ian Thorpe among its honorary members – was founded in 1977 to recognise academic achievement among college and university students in all disciplines. Only students in the top 15 per cent of their discipline are invited to join.

Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor David Rich gave the occasional address at the induction ceremony. Professor Rich said he was delighted to be able to attend “because of its [Golden Key's] close association with, and promotion of, scholastic achievement and excellence and its encouragement of high standards in education”.

“The Golden Key values and objectives correspond very closely with this university’s mission and purpose,” Professor Rich said. “As with Golden Key, excellence and academic achievement are continuing themes; they are what we are trying to offer.”

The treasurer of Golden Key's UNE chapter, Lex Henderson, said the event had been highly successful. “We had great support from the academic staff and the speeches were really inspiring,” Ms Henderson said.

She said the society's purpose was to reward students and recognise the effort they put into their studies. “It's one way of saying look, you have done a fantastic job. We would be honoured if you would join our society.”

She said membership offered the chance to participate in exciting and worthwhile endeavours, such as charity fundraisers and local and international conferences. Ms Henderson recently returned from Scottsdale, Arizona, where she represented UNE at a Golden Key conference.

“They not only help you develop skills for the society, but also personal development and leadership skills,” she said. “They want you to be the best you can be academically and as a person.”

Ms Henderson said international companies including Boeing and Ford were sponsors of the society and that many opportunities, including generous scholarships, were open to those members willing to reach for them.

For more information contact Leon Braun (UNE Public Relations) on (02) 6773 3771. A photo is available to accompany this story.

Posted by Leon Braun at 02:45 PM

Voices over the Internet: UNE staff explore new possibilities

October 20, 2006

Staff members at The University of New England have launched a project aimed at helping their colleagues to make the most of new technologies that allow teachers and students to literally TALK to each other over the Internet.

They established an interest group called “Webtalk” at a staff forum earlier this week.

A member of the “Webtalk” team, Dr Helen Fraser from UNE’s School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, said: “Internet audio is revolutionising online teaching around the world by allowing teachers and students to speak and listen to each other despite being separated by distance and time.”

Dr Fraser explained that “Webtalk” was designed to allow UNE staff members to work together in exploring the possibilities for using voice communication in online teaching. She and her fellow team members – Catherine Clarke (Teaching and Learning Centre), and Isabel Tasker and Associate Professor Kerry Dunne (Languages, Cultures and Linguistics) – introduced participants in the forum to a WebCT site they have created for “Webtalk”.

The site is intended for both experienced and beginning users of online audio. It allows UNE staff members to experiment with communication tools before using them in their courses, to share ideas and skills, and to form working groups on topics of interest to them.

Dr Fraser said that functions already available, and being used increasingly around the campus, included “podcasting” of lectures, voice e-mail, voice bulletin boards, and “voice chat”. “In the near future we will be introducing another tool, that will allow students to talk among themselves (with or without a teacher’s participation),” she said.

The forum also saw a demonstration, by Ian Truswell and Dr Robyn Smyth (Teaching and Learning Centre), of UNE’s broadband video-conferencing technology – technology that is helping UNE to maintain its position as a leader in distance education.

Dr Fraser said that those people at UNE already using Internet audio were finding it beneficial both for themselves and for their students. “The conversational immediacy of Internet audio can reduce the sense of isolation that distance learners sometimes experience,” she continued. "The spoken word is a much more natural means of communication than a written text, and students really benefit from the personal touch.

“For teachers, it offers the opportunity to explain things to students in a natural way, without the constraints of a formal, written explanation.

“’Webtalk’ isn’t only about teaching, however. Kerry Dunne and Isabel Tasker, as well as other staff members of the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, are actively engaged in research into online language learning. And others around the University, working at the forefront of online audio, publish their findings in academic journals. We hope that ‘Webtalk’ will facilitate new collaborations among these scholars.”

“Webtalk” is supported by UNE’s Teaching and Learning Centre, the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the Faculty of The Sciences.

The “Webtalk” Web site is open to all staff members of the University. Those who would like access to it should e-mail Catherine Clarke (cclarke@une.edu.au).

Posted by at 02:38 PM

Lecture to outline chemistry’s war on cancer

October 19, 2006

A public lecture in Armidale next week will explain how chemicals can initiate cancer, and explore the role of chemistry in traditional and modern cancer treatments.

Stephen Glover (pictured here), a Professor of Chemistry at The University of New England, has devoted much of his research activity to fundamental questions of drug design. “Considering the staggering number of possibilities,” he says, “surely there are chemical treatments for all diseases – including cancer – waiting to be discovered.” Professor Glover’s lecture will outline ways in which new drugs are discovered.

Titled “Chemicals, cancer, causes and cures”, the lecture will be in Armidale Town Hall at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 25 October. Entry is free, and everyone is welcome.

“The talk will highlight examples of how manufacturing industry and drug discovery programs have revealed the roles that natural, synthetic, and even food-based chemicals play in the initiation of cancer,” he says.

“Often it is our own metabolism that makes a chemical hazardous. However, in the case of cancer treatments, there is a peculiar contradiction in that many of the drugs used in contemporary cancer chemotherapy resemble chemicals that have been found to cause genetic damage leading to cancer. The talk will outline our discovery, at UNE, of an exciting new class of molecules that damage DNA and that might, one day, find applications in the treatment of disease.”

Professor Glover, whose education and early career in chemistry were in South Africa, joined UNE’s Department of Chemistry as a lecturer in 1985. Next week’s “Inaugural Lecture” celebrates his recent promotion to the position of Professor within UNE’s School of Biological, Biomedical and Molecular Sciences.

The recipient of a Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, Professor Glover’s research interests span biological, synthetic, physical and computational organic chemistry. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute.

UNE Spring Lecture Series 2006. On Tuesday 24 October - the day before Professor Glover's lecture - UNE will present another free public lecture in Armidale Town Hall. Professor Peter Gregg's Inaugural Lecture, titled "The Australian cotton industry and its pests: past, present and future", will begin at 6 pm. (Full report in previous posting.)

Posted by at 10:29 AM

The Australian cotton industry: a scientist’s perspective

October 19, 2006

Peter Gregg grew up on a Narrabri cotton farm during the infancy of the cotton industry in Australia. Now one of the nation’s leading cotton scientists, he will trace the development of that industry – and look into its future – in a public lecture in Armidale next week.

The title of the lecture – “The Australian cotton industry and its pests: past, present and future” – gives an indication of Professor Gregg’s main scientific interest in the industry: pest management. His early experience led him to realise that a management strategy based simply on pesticides would not be viable in the long term.

After gaining Honours and Master’s degrees in Rural Science from The University of New England he decided to investigate the ecology of insect pests, and successfully conducted PhD research in this field at the Australian National University. In 1980 he returned to UNE as a lecturer; since then, his teaching and research have focused on agricultural ecology, crop protection, and insect pest management. His “Inaugural Lecture” in Armidale Town Hall at 6 pm on Tuesday 24 October will celebrate his recent promotion to the position of Professor within UNE’s School of Rural Science and Agriculture. The lecture is free, and everyone is welcome.

Professor Gregg’s research has resulted in an innovative approach to the control of insect pests on cotton farms. He led the research team that developed MAGNET, a commercial product that allows the selective poisoning (using only small amounts of insecticide) of destructive Helicoverpa moths while leaving other, beneficial insects unharmed. Last year this work won the research team an Award for Excellence in Innovation from the Cooperative Research Centres Association. Professor Gregg’s other major awards include the 2004 “Cotton Researcher of the Year” award from the Australian Cotton Growers Research Association.

Professor Gregg (pictured here) is seconded to the Cotton Catchment Communities Cooperative Research Centre (Cotton CRC), based in Narrabri, as Chief Scientist.

His lecture will follow the remarkable growth of the Australian cotton industry from its beginnings in the 1960s to its current status as the third-largest cotton exporter in the world. Looking into the future, with its challenge of climate change and the possibility of continuing drought, he will discuss scenarios such as the development of cotton farming in northern Australia. “The future all depends on water,” he says – a constraint that has reduced this year’s national crop to 30 per cent of its potential in a “good year”.

His audience will gain insight into a technologically advanced industry that now boasts a higher yield than that of any other cotton-growing country in the world and a crop that, through genetic modification, is increasingly insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant. “There is a future for cotton,” he says. That future will rest firmly on the pioneering work of Peter Gregg and his colleagues.

UNE Spring Lecture Series 2006. On Wednesday 25 October - the day after Professor Gregg's lecture - UNE will present another free public lecture in Armidale Town Hall. Professor Stephen Glover's Inaugural Lecture, titled "Chemicals, cancer, causes and cures", will begin at 7.30 pm. (Full report in next posting.)

Posted by at 09:31 AM

UNE stands up against poverty

October 18, 2006

More than 150 people stood up against poverty at the University of New England on Monday as part of an international effort to set a new world record for the highest number of people standing up for a single cause.

The event at UNE was part of an international event called Stand Up Against Poverty, an initiative of the United Nations' Millenium Campaign, which seeks to “inform, inspire and encourage people’s involvement and action for the realization of the United Nations' Millenium Development Goals and support citizens’ efforts to hold their government to account for the Millennium promise”.

According to the Stand Up Against Poverty website, 23,542,614 people in 11,646 locations stood up over 24 hours on October 15 and 16 to set a new Guinness World Record.

UNE Vice-Chancellor Professor Alan Pettigrew, who launched the event at UNE, said Australia needed to “participate strongly” in the fight to eradicate poverty.

“We need to stand up and show our face in Australia as part of that,” he said.

Uniting Church Chaplain Reverand Judy Redman, who helped organise the event at UNE, called on the leaders of wealthy nations to honour their commitment to the Millennium Development Goals and on the leaders of impoverished nations to “make it your first priority to save your poorest citizens”.

“We wish to set a record today to break the record of broken promises and ignoring poverty,” she said. “We call on Australian leaders to help make poverty history. No more excuses. We will not stand for them.”

In addition to helping set a new world record, organisers used the day to launch a project to raise funds to build a school in Bhutan – raising $215 towards that cause – and collect signatures for a petition asking the Australian Government to act on the recommendations of the Senate Committee on Student Poverty.

For more information contact Leon Braun (UNE Public Relations) on (02) 6773 3771. A photo is available to accompany this story.

Posted by Leon Braun at 03:51 PM

Japanese drummers invited to Woodford Festival

October 18, 2006

A traditional Japanese drumming group based at the University of New England has been invited to perform at the Woodford Festival in December – Australia's largest folk festival featuring many well-known acts from Australia and overseas.

New England Taiko includes members who have have been practising and performing together since late 2004 when a group of taiko drummers from Kanuma City in Japan visited Armidale as part of a sister city arrangement. Before the musicians returned to Japan they donated three drums, a gong and several flutes to the University of New England and the city of Armidale.

Associate Professor Hugh de Ferranti, a lecturer in Japanese culture at the university, took on the challenge of mastering this unique form of music and forming a group to play it.

“We had the instruments but none of us knew how to play them beyond the basic strokes we’d learned in a short workshop,” he said. “Although I could play other Japanese instruments I had never played that sort of festival drumming and flute music before.”

Dr de Ferranti said he had learned to play the instruments by making a trip to Kanuma to receive lessons from the taiko and flute players every time he visited Japan. He and his drummers have since become a regular fixture in the Armidale Autumn Festival parade and other local events, performing their energetic style of music in traditional Japanese dress. A photo of the New England Taiko group was also featured in a photographic exhibition that travelled throughout Australia earlier this year, as part of the 2006 Year of Australia-Japan Exchange.

Dr de Ferranti said he was thrilled the group had been invited to play in the Folkloric and Community groups section of the Woodford Festival. New England Taiko was an excellent example of how academics could extend their research skills to have an impact in the wider community, he said.

“This is an ongoing practical musical activity,” he said, “and something I could not possibly do without having expertise in Japanese language and culture.”

The Woodford Folk Festival is held between Boxing Day and New Year's Day every year in Woodford, 75 km north of Brisbane. It originated as the Maleny Folk Festival in 1987, before moving to Woodford in 1994. Famous artists who have performed at Woodford include The Whitlams, Missy Higgins, The Cat Empire, Pete Murray and The John Butler Trio. More than 100,000 visitors attend the festival each year.

For more information contact Leon Braun (UNE Public Relations) on (02) 6773 3771. A photo is available to accompany this story.

Posted by Leon Braun at 09:25 AM

Stories of injury and overcoming inspire Albies students

October 17, 2006

Two former professional athletes who were put out of their sports by neck injuries gave inspiring talks at St Albert's College's annual sports dinner last week.

Ex-professional wrestler Luke Fahy and former Wallaby prop Ben Darwin described their journeys to the top of their sports, their injuries and their subsequent recoveries.

Armidale-born Luke Fahy was only the second Australian to be accepted into the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy, a professional wrestling school run in conjunction with the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) in San Antonio, Texas.

“I never really thought it would happen,” he said, “but I thought I may as well chase the dream.”

Mr Fahy had been with the Texas Wrestling Alliance for just a short time when he injured himself during a training accident.

“I was performing a hip toss – a move I'd done about a thousand times before – but instead of landing on my back I landed on my neck.”

He returned to Armidale where he embarked on a highly successful career in real estate, winning the Real Estate Institute of NSW's Award for Excellence in Residential Sales and coming runner up for the Real Estate Institute of Australia's Salesperson of the Year award in 2006.

“Real estate's been good to me,” he said.

His message to St Albert's students was: “Don't take no for an answer. Anything is possible. There's only one way up from rock bottom and set goals.”

Ben Darwin played 28 games for the Wallabies, including the 2001 and 2002 Tri Nations Series and the 2003 World Cup. His greatest test would come, however, when he suffered a prolapsed disk in his neck during a scrum collapse in a game against the All Blacks in 2003. The injury ended his football career and forced him to reevaluate what was important in his life.

“Despite when something goes wrong, horribly wrong, you have to look at the good side of it,” Mr Darwin said. “I don't have any regrets. I got to have a wonderful experience. I travelled all over the world doing something I loved.”

“The thing is, no matter what you do the actual craft you have is not that important. The friends you make and your family, those are the important things and rugby is just something you do.”

Mr Darwin's girlfriend, Rebecca Trethowan, also spoke briefly at the dinner. Ms Trethowan plays breakaway for the Wallaroos Australian Womens Rugby Team.

The master of St Albert's College, Geoff Johnston, said the speakers were very well received.

“It was a great night,” he said. “We had two very good speakers who gave our students an insight into what happens when disaster strikes and how they reevaluated their lives as a result.”

For more information contact Leon Braun (UNE Public Relations) on (02) 6773 3771. A photo is available to accompany this story.

Posted by Leon Braun at 03:22 PM

UNE political scientist appointed to national civics education body

October 16, 2006

Dr Jim Maher, a political scientist at The University of New England, has been appointed to the Education Reference Group of the Constitution Education Fund – Australia (CEF-A).

CEF-A seeks to educate Australians about their national Constitution and system of government. Focusing particularly on students – primary, secondary and tertiary – it conducts a range of educational activities known as the Governor-General’s Award Programs. Dr Maher’s first meeting with the Education Reference Group will be at Admiralty House, Sydney, on November 2, following this year’s Awards presentation ceremony.

The Director of the Governor-General’s Award Programs, Mr Noel Hadjimichael, said Dr Maher was “recognised as one of Australia’s leading scholars in federalism and power-sharing”.

Dr Maher (pictured here) is the only member of the Group who is not based in a metropolitan centre. “It is important that the voice of regional Australia – and the priorities of those teaching and studying outside the capital cities – be included,” Mr Hadjimichael said.

“Dr Maher’s responsibilities will include assisting CEF-A to engage with the 400,000 young Australians (under the age of 30) who are not enrolled and do not participate in voting,” he explained.

The other three members of the Education Reference Group are also prominent academics – including the well-known authority on elections, Malcolm Mackerras.

New appointments to CEF-A’s Board of Management as Trustees are the Australian author and Foundation Chairman of the Australian Republican Movement, Thomas Keneally, and the former Premier of NSW, the Hon. Barrie Unsworth. They join trustees such as Dame Leonie Kramer AC, DBE, the Hon. Barry O'Keefe AM, QC, and Professor George Winterton.

Dr. Maher has held the position of Convener of Political and International Studies in UNE's School of Social Science, and has organised a number of conferences at UNE focusing on the workings of the Australian Parliament. One of these conferences, in May this year, brought together the Speaker and Clerk of the House of Representatives, Liberal and Labor senators, the Federal Member for New England, Tony Windsor, UNE political scientists, staff and students of the University and local schools, and members of the wider community to critically examine the Australian Parliament. He has also encouraged university students to enter the Governor-General’s National Essay Competition over the past few years. “I feel honoured by the appointment,” Dr Maher said, “and believe it recognises the contribution that UNE’s School of Social Science and Discipline of Political and International Studies have made to political education in Australia.”

“With my experience as a high-school teacher, university lecturer and scholar,” he continued, “I have a broad understanding of the subject and how it is taught, and am looking forward to making a further contribution through CEF-A. I’m a passionate believer in civics education; it is essential, in a vibrant democracy, to have an electorate that can assess policies and make informed electoral decisions.”

Posted by at 03:56 PM

UNE awarded almost $3 million in research grants

October 13, 2006

The Australian Research Council (ARC) has awarded The University of New England funding of almost $3 million for research in disciplines including biological sciences, psychology, mathematics, performing arts, education, human geography, religious studies, and Australian cultural history.

The newly-announced funding for 11 research projects administered by UNE will begin in 2007. Funding for individual projects ranges from $128,000 to $600,000, and is for periods of three, four or five years.

UNE's Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Peter Flood (pictured here), said he was "delighted" by the outcome of the latest ARC funding round for the University. "Our application success rate has improved by about 35 per cent over that of the past three years," he said.

The grants to UNE have been awarded through two funding schemes included in the ARC's National Competitive Grants Program: "Discovery Projects" and "Linkage Projects". Nine of the successful UNE applications were for "Discovery" projects, and two for "Linkage" projects.

Eighteen per cent of UNE applications for "Discovery" grants in this round were successful. "This is only marginally less than the national average of 20 per cent, which includes all of the Go8 and research-intensive universities," Professor Flood said. "This encouraging result augurs well for the positioning of UNE in the Federal Government's forthcoming Research Quality Framework exercise that will redistribute research funding based on both 'quality' and 'impact'."

The titles of the successful projects, and the names of the UNE researchers involved in them, are as follows:

DISCOVERY GRANTS
Ecology of insect herbivore assemblages: influence of climate, evolutionary history and plant traits. Dr Nigel Andrew.

Evolution and development of a lateralised brain: A behavioural ecology
perspective. Dr Culum Brown.

The Amenity Principle: The causes, incidence and land-use planning implications of amenity-led rural settlement in Australia. Dr Neil Argent.

Alternative models of governance for Australian local government: Classification, evaluation and policy. Professor Brian Dollery.

A biographical study of Barry Humphries. Dr Anne Pender.

Behaviour-genetic studies of literacy, language and attention. Professor Brian Byrne, William Coventry.

Basil of Caesarea and the nexus of Greek, Latin and Semitic cultures in late Antiquity. Dr Anna Silvas.

Music and modernity in Osaka during the inter-war years. Associate Professor Hugh de Ferranti.

Sharp transitions in partial differential equations and related problems. Associate Professor Yihong Du, Dr Shusen Yan.

LINKAGE GRANTS
An investigation into the contribution of the national adult education system to the post-conflict reconstruction and development of East Timor. Dr Bob Boughton, Dr Rebecca Spence.

Fire severity, habitat heterogeneity and life histories. Resolving the persistence ability of plants in frequently fired landscapes. Associate Professor Peter Clarke.

A number of UNE researchers are involved in newly-funded ARC projects administered by other universities. These include Dr Neil Argent (two projects), Associate Professor Tony Sorensen, Professor Jim Walmsley, Professor Mike Morwood, Professor Michael Bittman, and Professor Adrian Kiernander.

Posted by at 09:53 AM

Biosecurity course to address growing threat

October 12, 2006

A new course has been established at the University of New England to address the growing threat of biological contamination in Australia.

The new course, a Graduate Certificate in Rural Science (Biosecurity), is aimed at people working in customs, quarantine and national parks, among other fields, and is intended to equip them with the knowledge they need to combat such biological threats as bird flu and introduced pests.

Several Australian universities have introduced undergraduate courses in biosecurity but most of them will not produce their first graduates until 2010. The Graduate Certificate in Rural Science (Biosecurity) can be completed in as little as six months, and will therefore provide a quick answer to Australia's growing demand for biosecurity experts, according to Professor Acram Taji, coordinator of the new course.

“We have already had quite a number of enquiries from people working in quarantine and related fields,” Professor Taji said. “We've also had interest from researchers with the Department of Primary Industries. If you are bringing plant materials into the country for research it is important that you have an understanding of biosecurity issues.”

Professor Taji has also had enquiries from further afield, including Guyra hydroponic glasshouse tomato growers and Withcott nurseries in Queensland, who are concerned about the biosecurity implications of importing seeds for their produce.

“Although these seeds may have been fumigated, it is still possible they could contain undesirable foreign objects bringing diseases into Australia,” Professor Taji said.

Professor Taji said the cane toad plague was a good example of what happened when people failed to pay attention to biosecurity. “When we are taking steps such as introducing predators, we need to have an understanding of biosecurity issues, so we can avoid repeating mistakes like the introduction of cane toads,” she said.

Anyone interested in applying for the course should contact the UNE Student Centre on (0) 6773 4444.

For more information contact Professor Acram Taji on (02) 6773 2869 or Leon Braun (UNE Public Relations) on (02) 6773 3771. A photo is available to accompany this story.

Posted by Leon Braun at 04:26 PM

UNE experts take organic agriculture to a global audience

October 11, 2006

A recently-published book on organic agriculture is testimony to The University of New England’s strong position among the leaders of agricultural developments world-wide.

The book, planned and edited at UNE, will serve as an authoritative text for educational programs in organic agriculture that are emerging throughout the developed world.

Organic Agriculture: A Global Perspective includes contributions from about 50 specialists in 15 countries. The Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Alan Pettigrew, said when officially launching Organic Agriculture that it “covers, in scholarly fashion, the full spectrum from the ground up”. Professor Pettigrew was referring to the book’s comprehensive scope, which includes economic, social, environmental and political issues as well as food production. “To bring all of that together and make a global contribution is a magnificent achievement,” he said.

Organic Agriculture is edited by Paul Kristiansen, Acram Taji and John Reganold, and published by CSIRO. Dr Paul Kristiansen, who has 15 years’ experience in organic farming in Australia, is a lecturer and researcher in agriculture at UNE. Professor Acram Taji has an international reputation as an educator and author in plant sciences. She is Professor of Horticulture at UNE. Professor John Reganold lectures in soil science, organic agriculture and land use at Washington State University in the United States, and has published research papers on organic agriculture in the leading international journals Science and Nature.

During the book launch at UNE, Dr Kristiansen spoke about the growing interest in organic agriculture – particularly in Europe and North America. In Australia, 2.7 per cent of agricultural land was already devoted to organic agriculture, he said. He pointed out that UNE, with its Organic Research Group, was “well placed in terms of the organic scene in Australia”.

One of the members of that group, Dr David Pearson, is a lecturer in UNE’s New England Business School. Dr Pearson is co-author of a chapter of the book titled “Understanding the market for organic food”. With his expert knowledge of marketing practices and principles, he has been able to contribute to what he calls “the whole-of-industry perspective”. Dr Kristiansen and Professor Taji have also contributed to the book as co-authors.

Organic Agriculture includes chapters on soil-fertility management, crop and animal production, breeding strategies, crop protection, standards and certification, environmental impacts, and social responsibility. It will be a unique resource not only for teachers and students but also for farmers, agribusiness and regional planning professionals, and government policy makers. Sales distribution rights for the book have been sold to Cornell University Press in the Americas and CABI Publishing in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here, taken during the book launch at UNE, shows Professor Alan Pettigrew (centre) with Professor Acram Taji and Dr Paul Kristiansen.

Posted by at 02:16 PM

Business success and religious principles: new study

October 10, 2006

A three-month appointment as Visiting Scholar at The University of New England has helped a Malaysian researcher in her exploration of relationships between business success and religious principles.

Suzilawati Kamarudin is a lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in Johor. She has anecdotal evidence linking the success of some Malaysian businesses with the policy-shaping religious principles of their managers.

“Now I want to test that relationship empirically,” she said. “Are people who adhere to the ethical principles taught in the Qur’an more – or less – successful than others?

She was able to gain a clearer, more structured perspective on her project during her time at UNE’s Centre for Business Research working with Dr Bernice Kotey, who is a Senior Lecturer in the New England Business School and Interim Director of the Centre. “Before my visit to UNE I didn’t quite know how to approach the subject,” Mrs Kamarudin said. “Dr Kotey has helped me to develop a research framework that will allow me to collect meaningful data on relationships between religious values and business performance.”

“If I can demonstrate a positive relationship,” she explained, “it could help the Malaysian Government to draw on Qur’anic principles in its efforts to promote business activity within the strongly Muslim, Malay-speaking sector of the community. After all, according to the Qur’an, nine-out-of-ten sources of wealth are based on business.”

Mrs Kamarudin arrived at UNE in July, and returned to Malaysia in early October. UTM has invited Dr Kotey to visit Johor to work with her – an invitation Dr Kotey intends to take up next year. “I’ll also be looking around Malaysia for other collaborative research opportunities,” she said.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows Suzilawati Kamarudin (at front) with Dr Kotey.

Posted by at 02:04 PM

Graduands urged to “live up to your own expectations”

October 10, 2006

About 1,000 friends and family members were on hand on Saturday to see 264 graduands of The University of New England receive their degrees, diplomas and certificates at the graduation ceremony for the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Economics, Business and Law.

Professor Michael Macklin, the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, gave the occasional address. (He is pictured here during the address.)

“The UNE that you have experienced stretches from three years on campus in our highly professional college system to studying fully online and seeing the campus for the first time today,” Professor Macklin told the graduands. “Yet you all have in common that you have made the benefits of higher education your own via this great institution with diplomas, Bachelor's and Master's degrees, and PhDs.

"You - and indeed all graduands here today - will probably be surprised at where your degree will take you. It is unlikely that the disciplinary focus of your studies with which you graduate today will be the focus of your employment ten years hence in 2016. Regardless, you will still need to rely on one thing that you have mastered well at UNE and that is your ability to learn - this will be the mainstay to your future endeavours.

“Your teachers here have provided you with the structure, but it is your responsibility to bring about the change, to create the new world. It is a wonderful university from which you graduate and in which I have been honored to work. You have had the advantage of some of the best teachers in the country - acknowledged with UNE gaining ten-out-of-ten Carrick teaching citations in 2006. With this superb support and your own personal dedication, you have come to this graduation.

“Promise yourself then that you will follow through - that tomorrow and thereafter you will be the person you want to be. Live up to your own expectations. While it is very much safer to stay in the valley, climbing the mountain - smelling the sharp, clear air and feeling the wind blow against your face - beats 'safe' every time. Take life at a rush.”

A total of 1,129 people (including all those who were unable to attend the ceremonies on Friday and Saturday) graduated from UNE this spring.

For a full transcript of Professor Macklin's speech, click here.

Posted by Leon Braun at 11:32 AM

Professor Michael Macklin's Occasional Address

October 10, 2006

It is an honour and a privilege to be giving this Occasional Address today – the University gave me this honour but you, the graduands, have bestowed this privilege.

The UNE that you have experienced stretches from three years on campus in our highly professional college system to studying fully on-line and seeing the campus for the first time today – yet you all have in common that you have made the benefits of higher education your own via this great institution with diplomas, Bachelor and Masters degrees and PhDs.

By the way, I should like to reassure those who are about to graduate with a doctorate in your chosen field that the pain will ease. You have been through one of life’s rigorous exercises and emerged battered but triumphant. Soon you will even be able to smile about it.

You - and indeed all graduands here today - will probably be surprised at where your degree will take you. It is unlikely that the disciplinary focus of your studies with which you graduate today will be the focus of your employment ten years hence in 2016. Regardless, you will still need to rely on one thing that you have mastered well at UNE and that is your ability to learn - this will be the mainstay to your future endeavours.

Joseph Goldstein put it much more poetically than I when he said, “you can’t stop the waves but you can learn to surf”. Today is a time to celebrate your mastery of surfing and to look forward to the next king tides.

In early 1970s, I gained my first academic position; I had no idea that I was entering upon a lifestyle that was then in its death throes.

Workload was an alien term; professors were still gods; for young academics morning tea was mandatory but publishing was optional; eye-watering substantial grants were there for the asking; service to the community was radical politics and students were still spending more time in the refec than in the library.

Recently I was contemplating the issues of fundamentalism in universities. The meaning that I attach to this was well articulated by Terry Eagleton when he said that
“Fundamentalism means sticking strictly to the script…Fundamentalism is the paranoid condition of those who do not see that roughness is not a defect of human existence, but what makes it work.” (22 Feb. 2003)

There is a lot to be said for the ambiguous, the indeterminate, roughness and throwing the script out of the window. I would argue that our desire to create uniformity and sameness is killing academic life.

As a Dean, I suspect that I should have looking for more conformity but I really find it difficult to promote sameness. A single example from my own discipline of philosophy must suffice.

The philosopher Bertram Russell in his seminar work “Principia Mathematica” at the turn of the century devised a schema capable of dealing with null classes.

This lead to the concept of exhaustively describing items according to a defined series of classes – what we now recognise as the zeros and ones of digital language.

The marriage of this philosophical concept and technology brought forth the computer and so the largest industry the world has ever seen was born.

The question to be posed is “If a federal Minister for Education went about picking winners, would she alight upon an philosopher who had a wacky idea about groups that didn’t have anyone in them”?

I have absolutely no doubt that our growing inability within universities to harbour heretics will be held against us. Our scrabble for security will be seen as self-serving and our promotion of rules over passion as a cope out.

A Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius in his book, Meditations, said “I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others”.

You are the only one who will get to live your life. Ultimately it matters little what others think since it is you who has to look yourself in the mirror each morning. In any event, the regard of others is fleeting. For example, how many here today know who built the building behind us or how it came to be part of UNE and yet that story is critical to the establishment of the university in Armidale and hence to the fifty plus years of great work that it has contributed to regional Australia?

We in universities are often busy about many things but we need more often than we do to bring back into perspective what is and what is not important and redirect our energies to what really matter which is our education mission.

These thoughts on the passage of time pass through my mind recently when I was digitising my old photographs and came across some taken of myself as a university student. I say to you graduands that when you get to look at the photographs taken today in some far distant time – and such a time does exist - you too will be amazed at what has happened to you – quite apart from how good you use to look when you were young.

I suspect at this point that I should be telling you to strategically plan your life - set out your goals and work at them – but I am not. Instead I am going to preach a bit of heresy myself and say that chance is going to play a big part in what happens next. If in the future you happen to be in the right place at the right time be smart enough to make it look like you meant it – although it is usually coincidence. Rather than endless planning, my advice is to spend your valuable time on making the most of each day – either that or buy plenty of fridge magnets since they seem to know what we should do.

As a young man, a mentor told me that when my race was done and I was looking into my own grave one of the things that I wouldn’t say would be “I should have spent more time at the office”. I have always found that saying to be an excellent way to get perspective in a world dedicated to frenetic activity.

I am not saying that you will not have to keep up the pace - but if you haven’t realised it already you soon will - that the most important person you are pacing is yourself.

As a weedy Irish migrant kid growing up in the far north of this wonderful continent, I soon learnt that it was a good idea to stick together with other migrant kids most of whom happened to be Italian – they all seemed to be so much bigger -probably because of the mouth watering Italian dishes that I also got to eat in their mother’s kitchens. Of course, it wasn’t possible to talk to these mothers since they spoke only Italian and I English. Consequently I was introduced very early to the simultaneous translated meals at which I showed my appreciation by somewhat exaggerated smacking my lips, rubbing my stomach and making thumbs up signs. I only found out much latter that these demonstrations of appreciation convinced them that I was incorrigibly thick.

Crossed signals will abound throughout your life but armed with courage in your own convictions, you will find you can achieve what you want to achieve. Armed now with your degrees, you can now set out to become the person you want to be and achieve the things you want to achieve.

I decided not to be political today but I must make one aside about a possible course of action for all of us over the next year.

UNE and most public universities are under intense funding pressure. OECD statistics reveal that Australian government tertiary education spending has gone down 7% in the past ten years while other OECD countries have increased their spending by 48% on average. When HECS charges were introduced in the 80’s, a guarantee was given to the then Vice-Chancellors that public spending would not decrease and that universities would therefore be better off with the additional student contributions. This promise was not kept and it was not kept for one simple reason – voters by and large don’t care about education. I fought five federal elections as a candidate and three more as a party official – in not one of those did education register as an issue.

However, all of you here today know the value higher education and so I would like to ask you to at least think about voting at the federal election next year for the candidate with the best education policy. If you don’t then your children and grandchildren will go into their adult lives with higher and higher debt burdens from university study.

Of course, I accept that higher education has private benefit but overwhelmingly it is a public good. Imagine this country and its economy without its professions, without its cultural industries, without almost universal literacy, without public infrastructure, without roads, electricity and clean drinking water. You know what it looks like. You have seen the pictures of stark poverty around the work on your TV screens. Clearly as the old slogan goes “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance”.

But these are matters for tomorrow and the coming year. Today we are enjoying spring in the New England. Here we have four very distinct seasons. We see the passage of time reflected in the world around us. These seasonal cycles intrude into the fabric of our existence.

You too now stand at the intersection of one of life’s seasons. Most of you will be leaving UNE to pursue your careers. Some know what you’ll be doing; others are waiting for the winds of change. Whatever the stance, “moving on” is now part of your season of life.

When we stand on the verge of a new cycle, a new set of experiences, we are often in an unsettled state. Many cultures fear these transitions and established ceremonies such as this out of a felt need to put structure onto flux.

So now you are at your own graduation. Your teachers here have provided you with the structure but it is your responsibility to bring about the change, to create the new world. It is a wonderful university from which you graduate and in which I have been honored to work. You have had the advantage of some of the best teachers in the country acknowledged with UNE being awarded ten-out-of-ten Carrick teaching citations in 2006. With this superb support and your own personal dedication, you have come to this graduation.

Promise yourself then that you will follow through, that tomorrow and thereafter you will be the person you want to be. Live up to your own expectations. While it is very much safer to stay in the valley, climbing the mountain, smelling the sharp, clear air and feeling the wind blow against your face beats safe every time. Take life at a rush.

I wish to finish with an old Irish blessing that seems highly appropriate for those setting out on such an exciting journey:

May you have enough happiness to keep you sweet
but enough trials to keep you strong.
Enough sorrows to keep you human
but enough hope to keep you happy.
Enough failure to keep you humble
but enough success to keep you eager.
Enough friends to give you comfort
but enough faith and courage in yourself to banish sadness.
Enough wealth to meet your needs
and one thing more:
Enough determination to make each day a more wonderful day
than the day before.

Posted by Leon Braun at 11:10 AM

Novelist receives Young Distinguished Alumni Award

October 09, 2006

A 30-year-old novelist has received the 2006 University of New England Young Distinguished Alumni Award.

Emily Maguire – whose second novel was released last week – was presented with her award by UNE's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Pettigrew, during Saturday's graduation ceremony.

Professor Pettigrew described Ms Maguire as a “role model for young graduates wanting careers in the creative industries”, and said she was “self-motivated, determined, and willing to make herself known to people with influence in those industries”.

“She is truly a young distinguished graduate of the University of New England,” he said.

Ms Maguire holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts from UNE, both majoring in English.

Her first novel, Taming the Beast, was published in 2004 to excellent reviews. It dealt with the fallout from an affair between a 14-year-old girl and her high school English teacher, and was described by The Age as a “thought-provoking and searing first novel”.

Her second book, The Gospel According to Luke, also deals with an illicit relationship, this time between the pastor of a fundamentalist Pentacostal youth group and a jaded sexual health counsellor. Ms Maguire said she wrote the book as a response to the rise of fundamentalist groups in Australia, both religious and secular.

“I wanted to address fundamentalisms of all kinds,” she said, “and to explore the different kinds of damage they do.”

The Gospel According to Luke will be launched in Sydney later this month, after which Ms Maguire will travel to the US for a five-city tour to promote Taming the Beast.

After dropping out of high school at the beginning of Year 11, Ms Maguire completed a business diploma and worked at a number of jobs, before returning to study as a mature-aged student.

“I really felt with the low-skilled jobs I had been doing that I had lost track,” she said. “I came back to study and started writing at the same time.”

“I have always written but I do not exaggerate when I say that UNE taught me to be a writer.”

In addition to her novels, she has also contributed opinion pieces to The Observer (UK), The Sydney Morning Herald, and the Griffith Review.

She said receiving the Young Distinguished Alumni Award was “a kick”.

“I went to a selective school, so all my friends were doctors and lawyers. I always felt like an academic loser, so it's really thrilling to have this.”

“The other thing I will say, I feel really lucky to be doing exactly what I wanted, so to get an award for doing what I like seems particularly cool.”

For more information contact Leon Braun (UNE Public Relations) on (02) 6773 3771. A photo is available to accompany this story.

Posted by Leon Braun at 04:26 PM

91-year-old receives law degree

October 09, 2006

Proving you are never too old to learn, a 91-year-old man from the Mid-North Coast of NSW has graduated from The University of New England with a Bachelor of Laws degree.

Allan Stewart, from Tea Gardens, received a standing ovation as he climbed the steps to receive his testamur from the University's Chancellor on Saturday.

Dr Stewart was born on March 7, 1915, a little over a month before the first Anzacs landed at Gallipoli. He already holds a number of degrees from other universities, and has had a distinguished career in dentistry.

He played down the significance of his achievement, describing himself as an "average, middle-of-the-road Australian." "I feel a little humble about it," he said.

Dr Stewart finished what would normally have been a six-year Bachelor of Laws degree in four-and-a-half years - "because of my age", he said.

"There is a saying in law that time is of the essence," he said. "I think if I had let it run too much longer I might not have finished it. I really started off thinking I might not get through the course, but when I got halfway through I thought I had to finish it."

He said he had decided to return to study after his son completed a counselling degree at UNE. "I wanted to get back to university life," he said. "I am a great believer in keeping mind and body active. I have been told that although I am 91 years old, my biological age has not kept up with me."

Completing his law degree presented a number of challenges to Dr Stewart, not least because his course material was mostly delivered over the Internet. "I was not literate in computers at all," he said. "I was completely self-taught as far as that was concerned."

He said he hoped his graduation would serve as an inspiration to other people to take up study in later life. "I think it is an encouragement to the community in general, and to people of my generation in particular," he said.

For more information contact Leon Braun (UNE Public Relations) on (02) 6773 3771. A photo is available to accompany this story.

Posted by Leon Braun at 01:26 PM

Chief Scientist focuses on education, industry links

October 06, 2006

Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Jim Peacock, has emphasised the need for the nation’s education system to engage students in science and technology throughout their school years, and for improvements in the delivery of scientific research results for the benefit of society.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony at The University of New England today, Dr Peacock said both these aspects of scientific development were vital in a nation that had to make rational decisions about energy and climate change, water policy, and the distribution of skills.

Today’s ceremony at UNE was for people graduating in the Sciences, and in Education, Health and Professional Studies. Dr Peacock said he hoped many of the graduands would enter a teaching career, which was “of critical importance for Australia”. He spoke of measures already under way to improve school students’ “engagement” with science.

He went on to talk about the increasing need for “connectivity” between research and its applications in society, and the role of universities in fostering a creative approach to that process.

In introducing Dr Peacock, the Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Alan Pettigrew, pointed out that he was recognised internationally not only for his award-winning research in plant molecular biology, but also for his work in applying those research results in agriculture.

“In 2000 he was a co-recipient of the inaugural Prime Minister’s Science Prize,” Professor Pettigrew said. “This was for his co-discovery of the ‘flowering switch gene’ – a key gene that determines when plants end their vegetative growth phase and begin flowering. This discovery will help boost the productivity of the world’s crops by billions of dollars each year and could also help increase the nutritional value of crops eaten by billions of the world’s poorest people.”

“Dr Peacock has gained valuable experience working in industry,” he continued, “having founded the Gene Shears biotechnology company and instituted the GrainGene initiative and the HRZ Wheat Company – linking research with the production of new wheat varieties for Australia. He played a key role in the establishment of cotton as Australia’s first highly successful biotech crop.”

During today’s graduation ceremony, the Chancellor of UNE, Mr John Cassidy, presented testamurs to about 230 successful candidates for degrees and diplomas. About 260 graduands will attend tomorrow’s ceremony for people graduating in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Economics, Business and Law. Altogether – including those unable to attend the ceremonies – 1,129 people are graduating from UNE this spring.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows Dr Jim Peacock with the Executive Dean of the Faculty of The Sciences at UNE, Professor Margaret Sedgley.

Posted by at 04:21 PM

Ingrid Moses portrait unveiled

October 06, 2006

An official portrait of the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England, Professor Ingrid Moses, was unveiled at Booloominbah yesterday.

The unveiling was attended by more than 70 people, including Chancellor John Cassidy, Vice-Chancellor Professor Alan Pettigrew, Member for Northern Tablelands Richard Torbay, and Australian Chief Scientist Jim Peacock.

The painting, by former Archibald Prize runner-up Matthew Lynn, depicts Professor Moses in full academic regalia on a dark green background. Mr Lynn, who also painted the official portrait of former Chancellor Dr Pat O'Shane, said that while he had pictured Dr O'Shane as being like “glowing coal”, he saw Professor Moses as a “brilliant diamond”.

“Although I work realistically, I am very focused on the essence of the person,” Mr Lynn said. “The exterior is just there so you can see who it is. It's what's inside that's important.”

Mr Lynn is well-known for his portrait paintings, having had many of his works accepted into the Archibald Prize. Two of his portraits have been runners-up in the final prize: a portrait of SBS presenter Jeanne Ryckmans and his 1998 painting of Chinese contemporary artist Guan Wei.

Professor Moses, who flew from Canberra with her husband John to be at the unveiling, said she and Dr O'Shane had decided on Mr Lynn as their portrait artist after viewing his work at the National Gallery in Canberra.

“We said we wanted to be portrayed as strong, intelligent women,” she said.

“Pat said the picture shouldn't be any smaller than the mens'.”

Professor Moses said Mr Lynn had convinced her to sit for the portrait in her Vice-Chancellor's robes because that was the role she was being celebrated in.

“He said, 'If you are just in your jacket you could be any other corporate woman. You are here because you are the Vice-Chancellor'.”

Booloominbah houses a number of valuable paintings, including a 1950 oil on canvas of UNE’s first Chancellor, Sir Earle Page, painted by Sir Joshua Smith, an oil on canvas of Dr Robert Madgwick, UNE’s first Vice-Chancellor, by Judy Cassab, and an acrylic on board of Sir Frank Kitto, a former Chancellor, by Kevin O’Connor.

Professor Moses said it was a great honour to have her portrait hung among these and other former leaders of the university.

“I think these [Professor Moses' and Dr O'Shane's portraits] are very different paintings from the other paintings here, and I think it actually enhances the collection of the university.”

For more information contact Leon Braun (UNE Public Relations) on (02) 6773 3771. A photo is available to accompany this story.

Posted by Leon Braun at 11:53 AM

UNE to conduct research on Burrup Peninsula rock art

October 05, 2006

The University of New England (UNE), with support from Woodside Energy Ltd, is to conduct research on the Aboriginal rock engravings of the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia.

Woodside Energy, as Operator of the North West Shelf Venture adjacent to the peninsula, is offering a three-year scholarship for postgraduate study of the rock art.

The Burrup Peninsula is widely recognised as containing an important concentration of Aboriginal rock art, with more than 10,000 petroglyphs (or engravings) having been officially recorded. Some were created more than 3,800 years ago, and the oldest are estimated to be more than 10,000 years old.

The "Patricia Vinnicombe Memorial Bursary for Rock Art Studies on the Burrup Peninsula, Western Australia" will provide significant funding towards fees, analysis, and a living allowance for a student to conduct three years of PhD research on the art.

Iain Davidson, Professor of Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology at UNE, said the scholarship honoured the memory of Patricia Vinnicombe, a South African archaeologist who had made a major contribution to the study of rock art.

"After moving to Australia in the 1970s, she trained many UNE students in archaeology field methods, and then went to Western Australia where she did pioneering work on the rock art of the Burrup Peninsula and the Kimberley," Professor Davidson said. Dr Vinnicombe died in 2002.

The scholarship is available for any piece of research relating to rock art on the Burrup Peninsula, which is in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

"The student could study the content of the art, or its spatial distribution and associations (including other archaeological evidence), or the chemistry of the rock surfaces – perhaps with a view to developing a dating method," Professor Davidson explained. "Or they could study the impact of heavy industry on the art. Woodside has guaranteed that the research will be as free and open as any other form of university research, and they do not want to influence the outcomes in any way.

"They have done a lot of work already in studying and auditing the art on the Burrup, and are keen to support further study and research in the area."

UNE has a 25-year tradition of teaching the archaeology of Aboriginal rock art. "In offering the scholarship to UNE, Woodside is recognising not only this teaching tradition, but also the quality of our graduates," Professor Davidson said. "Our aim in this collaboration with industry is to obtain the best possible result for all stakeholders in the rock art."

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows, in the foreground, a Burrup Peninsula petroglyph that featured (in a scene with Toni Collette) in the film Japanese Story. The petroglyph depicts a kangaroo.

Posted by at 02:25 PM

Chief Scientist to speak at UNE graduation

October 04, 2006

Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Jim Peacock, will give the Occasional Address at the first of two Spring Graduation ceremonies at The University of New England this week.

Dr Peacock is recognised internationally for his award-winning research in plant molecular biology and its applications in agriculture. He will address graduands in the Sciences, and Education, Health and Professional Studies, during the ceremony on Friday 6 October.

A total of 472 people will graduate on Friday. About 230 of those are expected to attend the ceremony, when an audience of about 1,000 friends and family members will see the Chancellor of UNE, Mr John Cassidy, present them with their testamurs.

A similar number of guests will make up the audience at the ceremony on Saturday 7 October for graduands in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Economics, Business and Law. About 260 graduands (from a total of 657) are expected to attend that ceremony, during which Professor Michael Macklin, Executive Dean of UNE’s Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, will deliver the Occasional Address.

In all, 1,129 people are graduating from UNE this spring.

At Saturday’s ceremony, Arts student Anthony Fisher, graduating with a BA (Honours) degree, will receive a University Medal, and the author Emily Maguire will receive UNE’s Young Distinguished Alumni Award for 2006.

Emily Maguire, who enrolled at UNE as a distance-education student in 2001, now holds BA and MA degrees from UNE and has become a highly successful novelist, essayist and reviewer.

Both ceremonies are due to begain at 10.30 am.

Posted by at 04:13 PM

Students get Ready for Work

October 03, 2006

It's not often students can get a chance to test drive the career they wish to pursue. But thanks to The University of New England's WorkReady program, students are now getting hands-on experience and real industry training through UNE.

"A point that is often raised by business is that graduates, while qualified, lack the extra qualities they need to succeed in a work environment," said UNE's WorkReady Officer, Mike Creagan.

"UNE has a reputation of producing graduates that are industry-ready," Mr Creagan continued. "Our WorkReady program provides an excellent platform for students to learn and understand the challenges that graduates may face once they are in the work force."

The program is becoming popular, attracting 72 students in 2006. Three of those are currently doing work experience in UNE's Marketing and Public Affairs Directorate (MPA).

Murray Bruce, Esther Murphy and Holly Bretthauer (pictured here) have worked at MPA since the beginning of third term, and credit the program with giving them valuable workplace skills.

"WorkReady has been an awesome experience, especially here at MPA," said Holly Bretthauer, a third-year Communication Studies student. "We are learning things that cannot be learnt in a lecture theatre. The people here [at MPA] are very helpful, and I can always ask for help. What's better is that I've actually had real work training - rather than getting coffee, as is often the case with work experience students. I've worked on such events as Ag-Quip and the 2006 UNE Open Day."

UNE has taken steps to provide better opportunities for students. UNE's Public Relations Manager, John Kauter, said WorkReady students always had the enthusiastic approach to work required in MPA and were valuable team members.

"Murray, Esther and Holly have shown a keen enthusiasm for the job," Mr Kauter said. "We gave them real tasks to handle and they didn't let us down. It was as if they had always been a part of the team. It only goes to show what highly motivated and career-ready graduates we are producing here at UNE."

If you are a student interested in WorkReady, or an employer willing to give intelligent and capable students a career start, call Mike Creagan on 02 6773 3102 or visit the Web site: www.une.edu.au/cc/workready/index.htm.

Posted by at 04:22 PM

Indonesian universities seek UNE partnership

October 03, 2006

A former University of New England student, Professor Lefrand Sondakh, returned to Armidale last week as president of a consortium of Indonesian universities and as Rector of Sam Ratulangi University. He led a delegation of five senior academics to seed collaborative arrangements between Australian universities and the consortium of Eastern Indonesia State Universities for mutual benefit.

Sam Ratulangi University is in Manado, capital city of Indonesia’s North Sulawesi Province, and is one of the country’s premier universities. Professor Sondakh, or “Lucky” as he is known, studied at UNE between 1974 and 1982, beginning with a diploma and progressing to a PhD in Agricultural Economics with a thesis titled “Dynamic Programs for Long-term Coconut Replanting in Indonesia.” He lived in Robb College during his first year, and moved into town accommodation when his wife arrived from Indonesia.

Professor Sondakh said it felt good to be back at UNE as president of a university after first arriving as a student more than 30 years ago. “It is UNE I can thank for giving me my academic skills and subsequent achievements,” he said. “I have great respect for the intellectual integrity of UNE scholars and would specially like to thank my UNE supervisor when I was here, Professor Brian Hardaker, UNE has a good international reputation in many fields of study, and while Armidale is a small town it also has a large and supportive international community.”

“I believe in the power of partnership and networking,” he added, “and we should grasp every opportunity to establish good partnerships. I also see it as an opportunity for our governments to get closer together with assistance from academics. Partnerships at university level can help relationships between countries.”

In welcoming the group to UNE, the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Development and International), Professor Robin Pollard, agreed that the visit would present opportunities to develop a partnership for mutual benefit that had potential to promote more intensive cooperation between Australian and Indonesian universities. (Professor Pollard is pictured here with Professor Sondakh.)

“Some universities think short-term and miss many opportunities,” Professor Sondakh said. “UNE, however, is offering a long-term, enduring partnership – we are neighbours with many common reasons to cooperate. I would love to have students from my university come here.

“We want to deal with a high-quality, like-minded university. That is why the Minister for Education asked our group to visit UNE to explore a university-to-university relationship that would benefit both Indonesia and Australia. UNE offers good research opportunities and has resources and a history of support for students, so why wouldn’t we want to make more of that? UNE has the cream of scholars and we want to benefit from their expertise and good standing.”

Posted by at 10:35 AM