Archive for August, 2010

The landing of a Westpac rescue helicopter on a sports field at the University of New England yesterday marked the launch of a program at the University that will make it easier for staff members to give money to the charities of their choice.

The new program allows them to make donations to any recognised charity through the University’s payroll – receiving a tax break at the same time.

Yesterday’s event marked the culmination of two years of planning for the program by James Simmons, the Manager of Client Services within UNE’s Human Resources Services Directorate. Mr Simmons explained the origin of the program: a rescue operation in 2007 when a Westpac helicopter lifted a UNE staff member, Brendan Heywood, and his companions from a rock ledge in Oxley Wild Rivers National Park. Mr Heywood was so grateful for his rescue that he sought to have donations to the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service deducted from his pay – a request that led to the development of the University’s “Workplace Giving Program”.

The Chancellor of UNE, Richard Torbay, and the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber, who were there to greet the Westpac helicopter, both paid tribute to the efforts of Mr Simmons and his colleagues in establishing the program. They also expressed their strong support for the work of the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service throughout the region, and their appreciation of the University’s relationship with the service in the context of the “Workplace Giving Program”.

The Business Manager of the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service, Mr Phil Williams, and the service’s Special Projects Officer, Mr Barry Walton, were there for the landing of the helicopter – their presence gratefully acknowledged by the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor.

Dr Torbay said that he had been “a very proud member” of the Westpac Helicopter Advisory Committee ever since its establishment in 1995, and “a passionate supporter” of the service – a service that performs more than 1,200 rescue missions a year. “I’m very proud, as Chancellor, to be part of this ceremony today,” he said. Professor Barber, also speaking on behalf of the University, said: “We want to support the service because our heart is in the region.”

Dr Geoffrey Fox, Chair of the UNE Foundation, was also present for the landing of the Westpac helicopter. He explained that donating to the Foundation – an independent organisation that raises and disperses funds for scholarships, prizes and projects at UNE – was among the options open to staff members planning their “workplace giving”.

After the helicopter landing ceremony, a lunchtime barbecue on the lawns of “Booloominbah”, attended by staff members from across the campus, saw the official launch of UNE’s “Workplace Giving Program”.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows UNE’s James Simmons (centre) with Westpac Rescue Helicopter pilot David Davies and the service’s Special Projects Officer Barry Walton.

A public lecture at the University of New England this week will reconsider the notion of “biblical archaeology”. The lecture, titled “The rise and fall of biblical archaeology: towards a new paradigm”, will be presented by Dr Tom Davis, Director of the Cyprus-American Archaeological Institute in Nicosia.

In his book Shifting Sands: The Rise and Fall of Biblical Archaeology (Oxford, 2004) Dr Davis charted the evolution and demise of “biblical archaeology” as an attempt to ground the historical witness of the Bible in demonstrable historical reality. Before the 1970s, “biblical archaeology” was the dominant research paradigm for those excavating the history of Palestine; today, however, most scholars prefer to speak of “Syro/Palestinian archaeology”.

In Shifting Sands, Dr Davis argued that clarifying the theoretical and methodological framework of the original excavators could make their data more useful for current research – allowing for a more objective judgment of both the accomplishments and the failures of “biblical archaeology”.

Dr Davis’s talk, in the Junior Common Room, Earle Page College, at 5.30 pm on Thursday 2 September, will reflect his further thoughts on this subject since the publication of Shifting Sands. The talk is included in UNE’s “Aspects of Antiquity” lecture series.

The next day (Friday 3 September), at 9.15 am in UNE’s Arts Building (Lecture Theatre A3), Dr Davis will present a research paper in the weekly seminar series of the School of Humanities. The title of the seminar – “An amateur’s dream: George McFadden and the excavation of Kourion Cyprus” – reflects Dr Davis’s keen interest in the history of American archaeological involvement on Cyprus.

Both the lecture and the seminar are free, and everyone is welcome to attend.

Dr Davis, who has done extensive archaeological excavation work in America, Egypt and Jordan, as well as on Cyprus, is visiting UNE under the auspices of the Australian Institute of Archaeology in Melbourne. His visit is especially appropriate because of the internationally significant collection of Cypriot pottery and other material held in UNE’s Museum of Antiquities.

For more information, contact Professor Greg Horsley on 6773 2555.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows the Ishtar Gate, excavated by German archaeologists at Babylon just over a century ago, as reconstructed in the Berlin Museum.

The Sydney-based ensemble Charisma will give a concert of French masterworks in Armidale on Sunday 5 September to raise funds for two local causes: Paws Up, and Sarah McFarlane-Eagle in support of SANE Australia.

The concert, part of the University of New England’s annual program of fund-raising activities known as Celebration of Sharing, will start in the Auditorium of the C.B. Newling Building at 6 pm and will feature trios by the French composers Vincent D’Indy and Louise Farrenc. The concert will follow a masterclass to be given by Charisma for students of the New England Conservatorium of Music (NECOM).

The organiser of the concert, Professor Jennie Shaw, said that she was delighted by the generosity of the three members of Charisma. “We’re very fortunate to have nationally-renowned artists of the calibre of pianist David Miller, clarinetist Ros Dunlop and cellist Julia Ryder willing to give their time and talents,” said Professor Shaw, who is Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of UNE’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. “Their sustained support for regional music making – and, in this case, for two worthy causes – has been outstanding.”

NECOM and the Music discipline within UNE’s School of Arts are sponsoring the concert.

Charisma was founded by Ros Dunlop and Julia Ryder in 1995 to explore and develop music for clarinet and cello. David Miller joined the group in 2003. The group has premiered many works and enjoys an international reputation for lively and virtuosic music-making, receiving critical acclaim for tours in Australasia and Europe. All three musicians teach at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Ros Dunlop, a strong advocate of new music for the clarinet and bass clarinet, has premiered many new compositions by composers worldwide.  She has performed throughout Australia, and in New Zealand, Canada, the UK, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, East Timor and the USA. Julia Ryder has worked with composers such as Messiaen, Xenakis, Ferneyhough and Finnissy and has toured and recorded extensively as a soloist and with Australian and European ensembles. David Miller’s distinguished career in chamber music and as a vocal accompanist has included partnerships with many internationally-renowned artists – including Joan Carden, Marilyn Richardson and John Pringle. He has performed in the UK, New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, New Caledonia, Korea, Vanuatu and Vietnam, and has been honoured as a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to music.

This year’s Celebration of Sharing activities began with a charity art auction organised by UNE’s Marketing and Public Affairs Directorate and held at the New England Regional Art Museum on Friday 20 August. Donated art works with a total value of more than $17,000 went under the hammer in aid of the two causes.

Paws Up is a program for disadvantaged boys who are given a Border Collie puppy to look after and train under supervision. The boys, aged between 15 and 18, have been competing all over Australia in dog high jumping and are now the national champions.

Since 2001, Sarah McFarlane-Eagle has been raising awareness of the effects of mental illness and promoting mental health strategies for all Australians on behalf of SANE Australia, a national charity working for a better life for people affected by mental illness through campaigning, education and research. Sarah’s passion to assist individuals affected by mental health issues began when her brother went missing at Mt Baw Baw, Victoria, during his final psychotic episode in 2001. Sarah is planning a 1,400-km walk across the mountainous, forbidding terrain of Shikoku in Japan in 2011. Money raised from the Celebration of Sharing will assist her to make this walk in support of SANE Australia.

Entry to the Charisma concert on Sunday 5 September will be by donation.

Clicking on the image displayed here reveals a photograph of Ros Dunlop (left) David Miller and Julia Ryder.

Mr Mike Logan, Chair of the Cotton Research and Development Corporation, will be the keynote speaker at the 2010 Robb College Rural Focus Dinner, to be held on Tuesday 31 August. The Rural Focus Dinner is an annual event held in the Robb College Dining Hall at the University of New England.

Mr Logan will be talking about issues related to rural leadership – drawing on his experience in leading the cotton industry through changing and challenging times.

He is a strong advocate for the best use of natural resources, and has a wealth of practical experience. He is a leading practitioner of sustainable agriculture, sustainable irrigation and water management systems in Australia, with his cotton farm being the first in the world to attain ISO certification for compliance with international best practice principles for environmental management.

Mr Logan does consultancy work for agriculture and small business both in Australia and overseas. He has worked on key programs regarding irrigation and climate variability, and has for many years been involved in agricultural research – particularly irrigated agriculture and the environment.

He is a director of the Peter Cullen Trust and an adviser to the National Water Commission and the Department of Environment, Heritage and the Arts, and has been a director of Land and Water Australia, the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation, Cotton Australia, and the Cooperative Research Centre for Irrigation Futures.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the lecture, which is scheduled for 8 pm, but should book through the Robb College office on (02) 6773 1700 or e-mail: robb@une.edu.au.

Hunter New England Health and the University of New England announced today the appointment of Dr Nihad Abu-Asab as a staff specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology at Armidale Hospital and an Associate Professor in UNE’s School of Rural Medicine.

This appointment is one of several in which the University and Hunter New England Health are working together to support the further development of the Joint Medical Program, a collaboration between the University of New England, the University of Newcastle, Hunter New England Health and Northern Sydney Central Coast Health.

Three weeks ago, Dr Elizabeth Cotterell was appointed to the position of Associate Professor in Paediatrics in the School of Rural Medicine.

The Chief Executive of Hunter New England Health, Dr Nigel Lyons, said the appointment of Dr Abu-Asab (pictured here) would benefit patients, staff and medical students at Armidale Hospital.

“We are very pleased to welcome Dr Abu-Asab, who will be joining the Armidale-based Visiting Medical Officer Dr Eugene Mihaylob to provide a comprehensive range of obstetric and gynaecology services for women at Armidale Hospital,” Dr Lyons said. “As a member of the Joint Medical Program, Dr Abu-Asab will also play an important role in training our future doctors as part of their rural-based medical education.

“Attracting high-calibre staff such as Dr Abu-Asab to the New England region is one of the many benefits of Hunter New England Health’s partnership with the School of Rural Medicine (within the Joint Medical Program).”

Professor Victor Minichiello, Pro Vice Chancellor and Dean of UNE’s Faculty of The Professions, also welcomed the appointment.

“Such clinical and academic appointments demonstrate the commitment of the University to further enhance the clinical expertise at Armidale and Tamworth hospitals,” Professor Minichiello said. “The medical students will benefit from Dr Abu-Asab’s extensive training and experience while undertaking their clinical placements at the hospital and attending his lectures at the University. It will be exciting for them not only to learn about the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, but also to appreciate how care is delivered in very different contexts and health care systems.”

The Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Jim Barber, said that the University and Hunter New England Health had in the past month made two announcements about the appointment of medical specialists that would benefit both the New England community and medical students.

“These are strategic decisions aimed at attracting highly qualified medical practitioners to our community and the University in order to develop a centre of excellence in the delivery of medical clinical education,” Professor Barber said.

One of the oldest community radio stations in Australia, TUNE! FM at the University of New England, has begun broadcasting from new studios that will enhance the station’s capacity to serve its University and Armidale communities.

The Chancellor of UNE, Richard Torbay, speaking at the opening of the new studios on Saturday 21 August, said that the station, which provides student volunteers with radio industry training, had “touched many lives”. He said the new studios would allow for even more “involvement and development of skills”.

The event on Saturday also celebrated the 40^th anniversary of continuous broadcasting by TUNE! FM, and Dr Torbay noted that it was the fourth “opening” of the station that he had been part of in his long association with the University. “It gives me great pleasure, as Chancellor, to be part of this opening – and congratulations to everyone involved,” he said.

Among the guests at the celebration were former station managers and volunteers – and local high-school principals. Emily Blackburn, Assistant Station Manager at TUNE! FM, explained that among the station’s plans for the future was a greater involvement of school students. “We’d love the schools to get more involved,” she said. “We’ve got great equipment here and we’d really like to share it. We’ve had quite a few school students here for work experience, and they’ve taken to it like ducks to water.”

Ms Blackburn (pictured here) is the radio station’s only full-time employee. The new Station Manager, Marc Lansdorp, and the Operations Manager, Colin Doak, are employed on a part-time basis, while the hands-on operation of TUNE! FM is run by a cohort of student volunteers – currently about 50 strong.

Mr Lansdorp has extensive experience as manager, producer and announcer at radio stations around Australia, and as a lecturer in radio and sound recording. Ms Blackburn, who comes to her job with a strong background in the music industry in Sydney, was herself a volunteer for three years before taking on the Assistant Manager’s position. She said that while most of the station’s broadcasting over the years had been music programs (with a “popular alternative” flavour), TUNE! FM was now planning to become more involved with the academic and research activities of the University. “We’re approaching researchers to get them to talk on air about their work,” she said. “There’s so much great research happening here. And now that we have the facilities to do so, we’re planning to produce our own current affairs programs. We’re really excited about it.”

The space occupied by the former “Footlights” restaurant, opening onto the University’s Northern Courtyard, was renovated to accommodate the new studios with funding from the Commonwealth Government’s Better Universities Renewal Fund, the University, and Services UNE. They comprise a main studio, a production studio, a music library, and a training room that doubles as a green room for performers at functions in the UNE Bistro.

Simon Paul, the Chief Executive Officer of Services UNE, said that the station’s management was planning for some integration of UNE coursework into the broadcasting schedule – including practical experience in the production and presentation of programs in fields such as journalism, music, and drama. “We want to get full use of the facilities,” Mr Paul said, “and for them to become known as a real educational asset – not just for students at UNE, but also for high-school students and other members of the Armidale community.”

The station uses new automation software designed by Google to facilitate its 24-hours-a-day operation. “We’re one of only about 15 radio stations in the world using this system,” Ms Blackburn said, and Dr Torbay commented that it was now one of the best-equipped radio stations that he had seen.

The station that opened as Radio UNE in 1970 with a pre-recorded message from the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Zelman Cowen, has come a long way in the past 40 years. Dr Torbay recalled some of its “trials and tribulations” (including, in the early years, interference problems and frustration with a low-powered transmission system), but most of all its “fantastic achievements”. TUNE! FM “broke a lot of new ground,” he said, and predicted that the spirit of innovation would continue.

THE PHOTOGRAPH of Emily Blackburn displayed here was taken at the opening of the new TUNE! FM studios. It expands to include Simon Paul (centre) and Marc Lansdorp.

An international authority on Bronze Age Greece will – in a public lecture at the University of New England this week – transport his audience to “Mycenae rich in gold”.

Professor Robert Laffineur, head of the Department of Art History and Archaeology of Ancient Greece at the University of Liège in Belgium, is a specialist in both the Mycenaean culture of Bronze Age Greece and prehistoric metalworking.

Professor Laffineur has undertaken extensive fieldwork on the Greek mainland, Crete and Cyprus, and, since 2005, has been director of the Belgian excavations of the Mycenaean sector of the Velatouri hill at the site of Thorikos in southern Attica.

He is in Australia as the 2010 Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens Visiting Professor. His lecture at UNE, to be titled “Polychrysos Mykene - Mycenae rich in gold: Greek goldwork and jewellery in the Late Bronze Age Aegean”, will be one of a series of public lectures he is giving at universities around Australia on the technical, economic, socio-political, funerary and aesthetic aspects of Aegean precious metal finds.

Professor Laffineur’s lecture at UNE, which is included in the University’s popular “Aspects of Antiquity” series, will be in the Junior Common Room, Earle Page College, at 5.30 pm on Thursday 26 August.

At 9.15 am the next day, Friday 27 August, Professor Laffineur will present a research paper in the weekly seminar series of UNE’s School of Humanities. The seminar, titled “Mycenaean iconography as symbolic expression and status indicator”, will be in Lecture Theatre A3 in the Arts Building.

Both the lecture and the seminar are free and open to everyone – members of the general community, school students and their teachers, and UNE students and staff.

For more information contact Professor Greg Horsley on 6773 2555.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here is of a Mycenaean gold pendant (2 cm high), in the form of a pomegranate, from Enkomi on Cyprus. Now in the British Museum, it dates from the 12^th century BC.

An entertaining and informative talk about “feeding our genes” has won Dharma Purushothaman from the University of New England a place in the Grand Final of the inaugural Australia and New Zealand Three Minute Thesis Competition.

Dharma (pictured here, right) – a postgraduate researcher in genetics – was one of the six UNE finalists who competed this week for the right to represent the University at next month’s Grand Final in Brisbane.

The UNE judges were unanimous in their decision that Dharma’s three-minute talk deserved to win the UNE finalists’ competition. “Engaging” and “entertaining” were among the adjectives they used in describing their reaction to the talk, in which Dharma urged her audience to look after their genes by eating a diet rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, and informed the vegetarians among them that they could find a rich source of Omega-3 in flaxseed oil. Her talk was titled “Feeding your genes for fitness and health”.

Dharma also won the People’s Choice Award, based on the votes cast by members of the audience in the lecture theatre.

The Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Jim Barber, presented her with the awards, which included a $400 voucher (Finalist Award) and a $100 voucher (People’s Choice Award) for purchases at the MAC1 computer shop at UNE.

Receiving the awards, Dharma thanked the University and the staff of the School of Environmental and Rural Science, and, in particular, her supervisors Dr Wendy Brown, Dr Shubiao Wu and Dr Barbara Vanselow. “They are my strength,” she said.

Coming from the southern Indian State of Kerala, she arrived at UNE in 2005 and, after completing a Master’s degree program in genetics, she began work on her PhD project 18 months ago.

“I used to do a lot of public speaking,” she said, “but this is the first time that I’ve ever talked about genetics in public.”

The Three Minute Thesis Competition, for postgraduate research students, started at the University of Queensland in 2008, and has developed into this year’s trans-Tasman event. More than 25 universities in Australia and New Zealand are expected to be represented in the Grand Final. The aim of the contestants is to deliver – in no more than three minutes – a compelling talk on their thesis topic in language appropriate for an intelligent but non-specialist audience.

The six contestants in the UNE Final were all winners of first-round contests conducted within the University’s individual Schools. All six talks were highly praised by the judges, who also offered constructive comments.

The titles of the talks included “Grief and hope amongst Hazara refugees” (presented by Denise Phillips from the School of Humanities), “Autoethnography of a mature-aged student with a mental illness” (Gayle Casselle, School of Education), “Multi-modal sensory processing in common marmosets” (Caralyn Kemp, School of Science and Technology), and “Fighting invasive biofuels crops with the law” (Elodie le Gal, School of Law).

The runner-up in the final, with a talk titled “Resolving competition in the bilingual brain”, was Nathalie Wess (pictured here, left), a postgraduate student from Germany working in the School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences.

UNE is providing financial support for Dharma Purushothaman’s trip to Brisbane to compete in the Grand Final at the University of Queensland on the 21^st of September.

THE PHOTOGRAPH of Nathalie Wess and Dharma Purushothaman displayed here was taken after the announcement of their success in the UNE Final of the Three Minute Thesis Competition.

The University of New England Medical Students’ Association (UNEMSA) has won a national award for its efforts in supporting the local Armidale community.

The National Council of the Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) announced the award – for “Best Community Project by a Medical Students’ Society” – at its convention in Hobart last month.

The award was for the 2009 UNEMSA Charity Ball, which raised more than $9,000 for Armidale Hospital.

Rowan Walker, a third-year medical student at UNE and President of UNEMSA, said that the AMSA National Council had considered projects from each of the 20 medical schools in Australia. “To be recognised like this is a great honour,” Mr Walker said, “especially considering our relatively small number of students and small community.”

The 2009 UNEMSA Charity Ball brought together students and staff members of UNE and health care workers from the community as a way of acknowledging their efforts in training future doctors and providing support for the hospital that serves the community.

“As well as acknowledging the efforts of UNE medical students, this award helps bring the needs of the Armidale community to a national audience,” Mr Walker said. “It’s important that we support the hospital and find ways to ensure that it can meet the needs of the community and students in Armidale. The award will help us advocate for the improvements we need to see in local health infrastructure.”

The 2010 UNEMSA Charity Ball, held in May, once again raised $9,000 for Armidale Hospital.

UNEMSA represents the growing population of medical students (now 180) enrolled at UNE as part of the Joint Medical Program. UNEMSA representatives liaise with the Faculty on academic matters, and organise academic and social events.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here expands to show UNEMSA officers (from left) Rowan Walker (President), Eliza Wziontek (AMSA representative) and Alexander Whitfield (Vice-President) with the “Best Community Project” trophy.

Students at secondary schools from Armidale to Coffs Harbour gained fresh insights into the nature of science when they spent a day experimenting in laboratories at the University of New England last Thursday.

About 150 science students in Years 7-9 took part in UNE’s annual “Science in the Bush” – a day-long program of hands-on activities. Those activities included experiments in physics and chemistry, and investigations in physiology, engineering, and palaeontology. The students also used the techniques and equipment of surveyors to locate a hidden “treasure”, and the properties of fluorescence to solve a “crime”.

Last week’s was the eighth annual “Science in the Bush” – presented this year with financial support from UNE’s School of Science and Technology. “Over the years we’ve put more and more of a focus on hands-on activities,” said the organiser of the event, Dr Chris Fellows. “They make things, mix things, and observe things – that’s what makes the most impact.”

Dr Fellows, a Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at UNE, explained that students often lose their enthusiasm for science – an enthusiasm that most of them develop in primary school – during their high-school years. “At Science in the Bush we’re trying to re-ignite that enthusiasm by giving them an idea of what science, as it’s practised, is really like,” he said.

He said that giving the students access to scientific equipment unavailable in schools – and opportunities to meet professional scientists – was an important part of their experience on the day.

“As scientists at a regional university,” Dr Fellows said, “we feel we have a responsibility to reach out to our local communities – to show them that their university is a centre of cutting-edge scientific activity, and to give them educational access to that science.”

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows Nikki Szafranski from Orara High School, Coffs Harbour, engaged in the surveying exercise (the “treasure hunt”).