Archive for February, 2009

The annual Earle Page College Coast Run fund-raising campaign, which last year raised $35,000 for the Children’s Medical Research Institute, is under way for 2009 – the Coast Run’s 30^th year.

Culminating each September in the Coast Run itself (from the University of New England to Coffs Harbour), the campaign has a variety of fund-raising components. One of those is the Earle Page College Charity Coast Run Discount Card. At a cost of just $20, the card entitles its holder to discounts at about 50 businesses around Armidale.

“The card is a fantastic way for students to save money and, at the same time, to help support medical research,” said this year’s Discount Card Coordinator, Myee Gregory. “It’s an investment. One student last week saved $148 on her textbooks. As well as the 15 per cent discount at the United Campus Bookshop, the card can be used multiple times at the participating businesses until the end of November.”

The Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Alan Pettigrew, is the Coast Run’s Patron. Professor Pettigrew bought one of the discount cards last week when he officially launched this year’s campaign. He said that, as a former medical researcher himself, he was “a particularly enthusiastic supporter” of the students’ activities to raise funds for the Children’s Medical Research Institute.

“Their involvement in this campaign adds a dimension of social engagement to their UNE experience,” Professor Pettigrew said. “And in working together to achieve such worthwhile results they develop valuable skills and make lasting friendships.”

Myee Gregory is the daughter of the Coast Run’s founder Brent Gregory, who is now a lecturer in UNE’s School of Business, Economics and Public Policy. “While we hope to raise a record amount of money this year for the Children’s Medical Research Institute,” she said, “our aim for 2009 is to do this while having fun, so that people who are involved in the Coast Run enjoy the experience and become inspired to continue to serve their community.”

“The discount card, which is being sold outside the United Campus Bookshop until the middle of next week, is designed to benefit students,” Ms Gregory explained, “with discounts available at 18 food outlets and 13 clothing and beauty businesses, as well as savings on office needs and leisure activities.”

The card is available from the Earle Page College office (phone 6773 5300), and will be on sale in the first few months of this year at Armidale’s Markets in the Mall and Autumn Festival.

Coast Run fund-raising activities later in the year will include a fashion parade in May and an auction in August.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here, showing Professor Alan Pettigrew and the Earle Page College Coast Run Convener, Ben Bowman, expands to include Myee Gregory. It was taken when Professor Pettigrew launched this year’s Coast Run campaign, buying a discount card.

New England writers, at whatever level of experience and accomplishment, will have an opportunity next month to discuss their craft with several distinguished authors as well as with each other.

The University of New England’s Writing Workshop 2009, to be held on Monday 30 March, will be not only an expression of the University’s role in the creative life of the New England community, but also a celebration of the richness of that creative life.

The focus of the full-day workshop – the first of its kind at UNE – will be “research and writing”. “Whether you’re writing a scholarly tome or popular fiction, you still have to do the research,” explained one of the facilitators of the workshop, UNE’s Dr Anne Pender. Participation in the workshop is free, and the day will include hands-on experience as well as informative presentations.

Visiting presenters will include: Professor Jane Goodall from the University of Western Sydney, author of the novels The Walker (2004), The Visitor (2005) and The Calling (2007), and the scholarly study Stage Presence: The Actor as Mesmerist (2008); Professor Jenny Hocking from Monash University, the author of biographies of Lionel Murphy (1997, 2000), Frank Hardy (2005) and Gough Whitlam (2008); Dr Leigh Dale from the University of Queensland, Editor of Australian Literary Studies and author of several scholarly books. They will each speak about the role of research in their own writing.

Among the UNE-based presenters will be Associate Professor Melanie Oppenheimer, the author of several social history books, who will draw on her experience of researching, writing and producing programs for ABC Radio National when she talks on “Writing and researching for radio”. Lorina Barker, an Associate Lecturer in UNE’s School of Humanities, will discuss her experience of making a documentary film – as part of her doctoral research – about her family’s involvement in the shearing industry, and Wendy James, a UNE research student and award-winning author of the novels Out of the Silence (2005) and The Steele Diaries (2008), will speak from her own experience on “the myriad ways in which experience can be transformed by writing”.

Dr Pender said the workshop would realise her long-held ambition to convene an event, involving both UNE and the wider community, reflecting the variety and quality of writing in the New England region. “We’re hoping it will attract scholars from the University as well as the many people writing in a variety of genres throughout the community,” she said.

She and her fellow workshop facilitator, Dr Fiona Utley, pointed out that all the visiting presenters were experienced writers for a general – as well as for an academic – readership. “The workshop will demonstrate that, while research can be used in many ways and with many different outcomes, it’s the same set of skills that are involved,” Dr Utley said. “It will provide an insight into how scholarly research informs the popular imagination.”

The workshop is an initiative resulting from activity under the former Federal Government’s Research Quality Framework. Sponsored by UNE’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, it is designed for scholars in the arts and humanities, writers for a popular audience who want to enhance their research skills, writers of biography, autobiography and memoir, history, fiction, and narrative non-fiction, writers and producers of documentary films and radio programs, and investigative journalists.

For catering purposes, participants are required to register. For more information on the workshop (including a program) and registration details, go to http://www.une.edu.au/arts/events/writing.php.

More than 300 people are embarking on the educational adventure of their lives this year through the University of New England’s Pathways Enabling Course.

The “Pathways” course is designed for people who don’t have the educational qualifications required for entrance into university. It enables them to acquire the skills and confidence they need to undertake undergraduate studies while also gaining credit towards a degree.

The course is free, takes one year of part-time study, and is taught via distance education (with an optional residential school).

This is the second year that UNE has offered the Pathways Enabling Course, and its popularity this year is supported by the comments of last year’s students. “I’ve gained so much knowledge about writing at an academic level, what’s involved in studying at university, correct referencing styles, time management skills, and what’s expected of you as a student,” one of last year’s students said.

Others reported that the course had enabled them to develop confidence in their ability to succeed, and to develop “a thirst for learning”.

The Acting Director of UNE’s Teaching and Learning Centre, Dr Robyn Muldoon (pictured here), said the Pathways Enabling Course allowed students to develop the skills to set them on the pathway to success, rather than “jumping in at the deep end”.

“It’s suitable for young people who – for whatever reason – have been unable to finish high school,” Dr Muldoon said.

The program is also suitable for mature-age students, who – particularly in the current economic climate – are seeking to enhance employment opportunities.

“University study can often be difficult for mature-age students,” Dr Muldoon said. “So many students who go straight into study after being away for a long time really struggle. The great thing about the Pathways Enabling Course is that it provides academic and transition support, while remaining flexible. Students benefit by studying at home, at their own pace, while still enjoying UNE’s renowned online support.”

Under the guidance of UNE Learning Advisers, students are required to successfully complete four units: two foundation units and two from the degree of their choice. The foundation units cover aspects of academic literacy and the requirements of successful university study, information literacy related to finding, selecting and using information, computer and Internet skills to facilitate effective learning, and the numeracy and statistical skills required in first-year units of study. The degree units are credited to one or other of UNE’s undergraduate degree programs, most of which are accessible through the Pathways Enabling Course.

Last year’s students – even those who were unable to attend the optional residential school – felt that the online environment kept them in touch with their teachers and fellow students. “The teachers were very supportive, and they will leave a lasting impression on me,” one of last year’s students reported. “The message board is managed really well, and this enabled all of us to feel included, and that we were not alone,” another said. And another commented on the “great mix of age, gender and race” of people in the course.

“Students only need a computer and Internet access to undertake this course, which has set new standards for university alternative entry,” Dr Muldoon said.

The Director of the Italian Institute of Culture in Sydney, Dr Annamaria Lelli, will be a guest at the University of New England next month during a weekend of events highlighting the richness of Italian culture past and present.

On the evening of Friday 6 March, Dr Lelli will officially open a travelling exhibition that illustrates the work of archaeologists in uncovering artefacts from beneath the seas, lakes and rivers of Italy. The following evening (Saturday 7 March), Dr Lelli will attend a recital in UNE’s Lazenby Hall by the world-renowned Italian pianist Roberto Cominati.

The exhibition of fully-annotated photographs and diagrams, assembled by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, has already travelled to major centres around the world – including Budapest, New Delhi, Singapore and Sydney. It is currently on display in the Learning Commons on the ground floor of UNE’s Dixson Library, where its official opening on the 6^th of March will take place at 5.15 pm.

Presented by the Institute of Culture, the exhibition has been brought to UNE and mounted in the Dixson Library by the Board of the Museum of Antiquities (within UNE’s School of Humanities) and the University’s Discipline of Italian (within the School of Arts). Dr Mario Inglese, Lecturer in Italian at UNE, said the exhibition was one expression of the strong relationship between the Italian Government and the University. Its visit to UNE is part of a program of events this year organised by the Museum of Antiquities to mark the Museum’s 50^th anniversary.

Dr Inglese (pictured here), whose UNE lectureship is sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, works to promote interest in Italian culture – as well as the Italian language – throughout the New England region. He said the exhibition, which continues in the Dixson Library until the 20^th of March, would inform visitors not only about Italy’s sunken archaeological treasures, but also about the latest technological advances in bringing them to light.

At the exhibition opening, finger food and Italian wine will be served to the accompaniment of Italian music (Vivaldi and Corelli) played by a string trio from UNE’s Discipline of Music, and the free event will conclude with a presentation on marine archaeology by Associate Professor Tom Hillard and Dr Lea Beness from the Department of Ancient History at Macquarie University. Among their archaeological fieldwork, Dr Hillard and Dr Beness have carried out underwater exploration at Torone in the Chalkidiki, northern Greece. The following day, the Dixson Library will be open between 5 and 6.45 pm to enable concertgoers to visit the exhibition.

The recital by Roberto Cominati at 7 pm on the 7^th of March is the first concert in the Musica Viva Armidale (MVA) 2009 Subscription Series. Robyn Power, a member of the MVA committee, said her initial concept of linking the concert with the work of UNE’s Italian Discipline in promoting Italian culture had received a boost through the arrival of Dr Inglese at UNE four months ago, and his collaboration with the Museum of Antiquities Board in bringing the underwater archaeology exhibition to Armidale. “The ‘Italian weekend’ developed through a coming together of lots of things,” she said.

Before the concert, the President of MVA, Nickie Murcell, will introduce Dr Inglese, who will welcome Dr Lelli and speak briefly about this “coming together” of cultural events mediated by the Italian Discipline at UNE.

Roberto Cominati, the winner of several major piano competitions, has delighted audiences around the world with performances that (in the words of one critic) are outstanding for their “sense of refinement and clarity”. His Armidale concert will include Barcarolle and Ballade No. 1 (Chopin), Sonata No. 1 (Schumann), Mirrors (Ravel), and three pieces from Études Tableaux Op. 39 (Rachmaninov).

In keeping with the weekend’s Italian theme, Italian wine will be served during the interval.

THE PHOTOGRAPH of Dr Mario Inglese displayed here shows him standing beside the underwater archaeology exhibition in UNE’s Dixson Library.

Leading researchers and practitioners from around the world are coming together for the very first time to assess the evidence supporting the use of complementary medicine.

The first International Evidence-based Complementary Medicine Conference is to be held at the University of New England, NSW, from the 13^th to the 15^th of March.

The participants will include international authorities on complementary therapies such as Professor Alexander Panossian, Director of Scientific Projects at the Swedish Herbal Institute in Gothenburg, and Simon Mills from the UK, who established the world’s first university centre in complementary medicine.

They will also include eminent researchers and practitioners of orthodox medicine, such as Professor Frank Rosenfeldt, Head of the Cardiac Surgical Research Unit at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, and Professor Kerryn Phelps, the first woman president of the Australian Medical Association. Professor Rosenfeldt will present the results of his research into improving the success of procedures such as cardiac bypass operations by using nutrients including fish oils and antioxidants.

The conference will thus provide ground-breaking insights into the interactions between orthodox and complementary therapies. One of its organisers, Associate Professor Graham Lloyd Jones from UNE’s School of Science and Technology, said one aim of the conference was to identify and explain both positive and negative interactions, so that positive interactions can be encouraged and any negative interactions avoided.

“Over 40 per cent of the Australian population now admits to using some sort of complementary medicine or therapy,” Dr Lloyd Jones said, “and this number is increasing. It’s vitally important, therefore, to assess the evidence supporting the use of these therapies – especially their use in conjunction with orthodox medicine.”

For example, Kerry Bone, an Associate Professor in UNE’s School of Health and Director of Research at MediHerb, will review the clinical evidence relating to the use of complementary medicines in cancer care – especially in the context of concurrent orthodox medical treatment.

“This conference will be highly relevant to the professional development and clinical practice of medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists and natural therapists, providing them with new insights about the efficacy and safety of natural treatments,” Mr Bone said.

A session on “complementary medicine and the brain” will include talks titled “Natural products as cognitive enhancers” and “Herbal and nutritional treatments for depression and anxiety”. Other topics for discussion at the conference will include clinical evidence supporting the use of herbal medicines such as gingko, black cohosh and pine bark, the function of compounds such as omega-3 oils, and the role of complementary medicine in facilitating healthy longevity, improving aged care, and managing conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Dr Lloyd Jones and his postgraduate students at UNE will present the results of their ground-breaking research on the bioactive components of plants used in traditional Aboriginal medicine.

For more information – and registration details - go to: http://www.conferencecompany.com.au/compmed/

THE PHOTOGRAPH of Associate Professor Graham Lloyd Jones displayed here expands to show him working with research student Nicholas Sadgrove.

A scientist from the University of New England will travel to Botswana in southern Africa next month to contribute to a program aimed at protecting a unique wetland environment and the livelihoods of its local fishermen.

The Okavango Delta is the largest wetland system on the international Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. Dr Glenn Wilson (pictured here) from UNE’s School of Environmental and Rural Science is helping the environmental managers of the Delta to establish a program of research into the relationship between its fish populations and flood levels.

“Small communities all along the Okavango River are directly dependent on local fisheries for their daily protein and livelihoods,” Dr Wilson said, “and so getting the balance right between human and environmental water needs is critical.”

After an initial visit to the wetland last November, Dr Wilson is returning there in March to conduct a short course on research methods for staff of the University of Botswana’s Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre and fisheries agency staff, and to initiate fieldwork aimed at providing information on the life cycles of the fish species (more than 70 of them) in the Delta.

Dr Wilson, a Senior Research Fellow at UNE, is an authority on the breeding behaviour of fish in wetland areas. His research in the Lower Gwydir region of north-western NSW has helped to provide an understanding of how fish, planktonic animals, water chemistry and wetland plants respond to environmental and other flow releases from Copeton Dam upstream.

“The Okavango River flows from Angola through Namibia and then down into Botswana, where it expands into the huge wetland system of the Delta,” he explained. “The river has the usual conflicts between upstream irrigation/industry use of the water and downstream needs for flooding. Namibia and Angola are still developing their water resources, and considering the use of dams and other water-diversion technologies for irrigation and mining. This would have a severe impact on flooding in the downstream wetlands of Botswana – including their fisheries and ecotourism industry.

“The Okavango Delta is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Africa, with one of the continent’s highest densities of animals such as elephants, lions, hippos, giraffes and zebras.”

“Among other things, this is a great opportunity to test the ideas we’ve formed from research in the northern Murray-Darling Basin about how fish use river flows and flooding in their spawning,” Dr Wilson said.

“It reinforces the fact that, here at UNE, we have knowledge that’s applicable to river ecosystems around the world.”

Several UNE students and alumni have attended an international conference of a prestigious academic honour society in Canberra this month.

The Golden Key International Honour Society Asia-Pacific Conference was hosted at the Australian National University in Canberra. The theme of the conference was “Focused on the Future”.

All Golden Key members throughout the world were invited to attend the event. Keynote speakers included: former Governer General Major General Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC, Professor Ross Garnaut, Olympic champion Ian Thorpe, Comedian Anh Do, Vice-Chancellor and President of ANU Professor Ian Chubb, and a myriad of business, community, career development and academic leaders.

The conference agenda included various workshops that took as their focus themes central to the Golden Key International Honour Society: the importance of community service, personal & career development and the changing global context.

The Vice-President of Golden Key’s UNE chapter, Nick Flood, said a private viewing at the National Museum of Australia was a highlight of the conference, along with the “Heart of the Nation Dinner” also held at the National Museum.

“It was a great opportunity to forge new friendships with other members who have also been recognised as leading scholars at their universities throughout Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Thailand,” Mr Flood said.

Membership to the Golden Key International Honour Society is by invitation only on the basis of outstanding academic performance. Membership places individuals among a select group of individuals from around the world, eligible to join a community of high-achieving individuals with access to exclusive scholarship, networking and career opportunities, plus a host of other benefits. UNE will induct a number of new members into the society in September.

Throughout 2009, the UNE Chapter of Golden Key aims to increase its involvement on campus. This involvement will take various forms, most prominently community service initiatives. Current members of the society are urged to contact the committee at goldenkey@une.edu.au to discuss opportunities for involvement in planning and facilitating these activities.

About 1,000 new students had an initial taste of campus life at the University of New England today – the first day of Orientation 2009.

“Orientation” is a program of events designed to welcome new students to the University, and to introduce them to all that UNE has to offer, both academically and socially.

In his official welcome this morning, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Pettigrew, emphasised the University’s commitment to fostering the intellectual and personal growth of its students. “We’re here to support you and give you every opportunity for success,” Professor Pettigrew said. During this week’s Orientation program, new students will be able to find out how to access that support.

They will also be set on the road to academic success with introductory sessions including a “Toolkit for Success” at 10 am tomorrow (Tuesday 17 February), an “Academic Skills Fair” from 10 am to 4 pm on Wednesday and Thursday, and a program of “Academic Orientation Sessions”, introducing specific study programs, running over several days this week.

During this morning’s opening ceremony Alicia Zikan, the representative of undergraduate students on UNE’s Council, welcomed all the newcomers on behalf of the University’s student population. After assuring them that “the UNE experience will change your life”, she supported that assertion by speaking of her own experience. After enrolling at UNE as a distance-education student in 2001, she had her first experience of Armidale/UNE life later that year when she attended her first residential school. As a result of that experience, she – together with her husband and children – moved to Armidale four months later.

“Lifesaver Day” was an important part of today’s program. “Lifesaver Day” is when student and community organizations and local businesses set up stalls to alert new students to the vast potential for involvement – both on and off campus – in sporting, cultural, and community-oriented activities. Today there were about 100 stalls crowding UNE’s Lazenby Hall and Central Courtyard.

Attending Orientation was Chloe Hamilton, who said the prospect of living on campus and studying for a Bachelor of Arts degree was “exciting (and a bit scary)”.

Chloe comes from Kangaroo Valley in southern NSW. With an ambition to become a museum curator and researcher, she plans to major in archaeology and palaeoanthropology. She chose to come to Armidale because of the quality of UNE’s archaeology program, and the University’s attractive environment. “I’m looking forward to getting into it,” she said.

A resident of Drummond and Smith College, she’s also looking forward to playing basketball in her leisure hours.

This year, for the first time, all new students were issued with a USB drive donated by the local Harvey Norman store. This drive holds a directory of information that will assist students in the coming weeks.

The experiences and needs of rural teachers in a number of countries are remarkably similar and point to specific types of support important to their teaching practice, according to a keynote speaker at the first International Symposium for Innovation in Rural Education (ISFIRE).

The symposium is taking place at the University of New England this week.

Associate Professor Patricia Hardré from the University of Oklahoma told delegates that experience in nine different countries showed the importance of support such as access to specialised mentoring taking into account the local culture of the areas to which teachers are appointed.

‘This helps teachers realise the role of local culture, and specific issues that may have an impact,’ Dr Hardré said. ‘It helps them to be not only better prepared and more aware of local requirements, but more confident in the teaching approaches they adopt.’

Ongoing professional development was also critical, Dr Hardré said – for good curriculum development and the educational development of students, as well as the personal development of the teacher. And rural teachers typically had much less access to professional development than their non-rurally-based counterparts.

She added that, in working with rural and remote communities, a ‘symbiosis between teachers and community’ was also important. ‘Community leaders need to be identified and brought on board to work effectively with teachers in schools,’ Dr Hardré said. ‘This is an education that has to go both ways.’

The symposium also heard that, with a limit being reached on the extent to which small schools can be closed or amalgamated, the challenge for educational authorities and governments was in ‘developing policies that would provide these schools with the support they need to be successful’.

Professor Dennis Mulcahy from Memorial University in Canada spoke on this subject, highlighting a number of policy changes that he said would be needed in the areas of programming, resource provision, teacher education, professional development and distance learning to enable these schools to succeed.

‘Governments and educational authorities must go beyond the mere acceptance of the remaining small schools as a necessary if regrettable reality,’ Professor Mulcahy said. ‘They must embrace and celebrate these small schools as not only viable but as valuable resources for the sustainability and development of the communities they serve.’

Speakers from around the world are attending the four-day event, which offers an international forum for sharing research findings, innovative ideas and evaluated approaches to boost education in the bush. International data confirm that for many countries the learning achievements of students in rural areas are often significantly lower than those achieved by peers in metropolitan areas.

The symposium, which runs until Saturday 14 February, is a joint initiative between the National Centre of Science, ICT and Mathematics Education for Rural and Regional Australia (SiMERR Australia) based at the University of New England, and NURI-Teacher Education Innovation Centre at the Kongju National University in South Korea (which will host the next symposium in 2011). More information is available at: http://www.une.edu.au/simerr/ISFIRE

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows Professor Youn-Kee Im, Head of the NURI Teacher Education Innovation Centre at Kongju National University in South Korea (left) and UNE’s Professor John Pegg, Director of SiMERR Australia. It expands to include Associate Professor Patricia Hardré (University of Oklahoma, USA) and Professor Dennis Mulcahy (Memorial University, Canada).

Research scientists and postgraduate students from around Australia, and visitors from Malaysia, France, Finland and Brazil, are taking part in an advanced genetics course at the University of New England.

UNE’s Animal Breeding Summer Course, now in its eighth year, is unique in Australia. It has become known around the country and throughout the world as a source of current information on animal genetics at an advanced level, and a meeting place for young geneticists. This year, a new topic of investigation has been the genetic factors contributing to the welfare of animals kept in groups.

An international leader in this field, Dr Piter Bijma from Wageningen University in The Netherlands, is leading this part of the course. Dr Bijma’s work is enabling breeders to select for animals that, although faster-growing, are not aggressive.

“Anything we measure on an animal depends on other animals,” Dr Bijma explained. “An animal can have a poor growth rate because it’s in a pen with a faster-growing, more aggressive animal. There has, traditionally, been a trade-off between welfare and yield in animal production. But by breeding more friendly animals we are hoping we can improve welfare and yield together.

“The growth rate of a pig, for example, depends very much on the genes of another pig in the group. If one has good genes for social interaction, the other will grow better.”

Among the 30 participants in the two-week Summer Course, which began on the 2^nd of February, has been an international group of UNE postgraduate students.  The course focused on the latest advances in quantitative genetic theory during the first week before, in the second week, turning to the breeding of “friendly” animals. The leader during the first week was Professor Bruce Walsh from the University of Arizona in the United States, a well-known evolutionary and quantitative geneticist.

Sarah Truran is one of three PhD students from the University of Adelaide taking part in the course. “It’s been fantastic,” Ms Truran said. “The teachers have amazing knowledge, and have given us valuable resources. I’m familiar with Dr Bijma’s work, and it’s great to hear from him in person.”

“UNE is the only university in Australia to teach postgraduate courses at this level,” said the course coordinator, Professor Julius van der Werf from UNE’s School of Environmental and Rural Science. “The popularity and effectiveness of the Summer Course confirm UNE’s role as a ‘centre of excellence’ in teaching animal genetics at this level. The material from these courses is mostly available on the Web, and I hear from many people around the world who use them.

“It’s important for all young scientist to start networking,” Dr van der Werf explained, “and this course, based on a European model, is designed not only to communicate the latest developments in breeding practice and genetic theory, but to facilitate networking at both national and international levels.”

A PHOTOGRAPH of participants in UNE’s Animal Breeding Summer Course, 2009, can be seen by clicking on the image displayed here.