The 260 students, accompanied by 65 teachers and parents, travelled to UNE for the University’s annual Year 8 Mathematics Day. It was the biggest number of participants in the history of the Mathematics Day, which is now in its 18^th year.

Working in 65 teams of four, the students had an enjoyable experience of cooperative problem solving and applying mathematics to real-life situations.

“They absolutely love it,” said Brad Giffin, a mathematics teacher at Dorrigo High School who accompanied eight of his students to UNE for the day. “They’re challenged but not stressed. They all have smiles on their faces. And, in addition, it’s a social outing for them.”

Mr Giffin has been bringing teams of students from Dorrigo to the Mathematics Day for the past 11 years, and uses the opportunity to show them around the University’s campus – including its residential colleges and sporting facilities.

Pip Terry, one of Mr Giffin’s students, confirmed that she and her team-mates were enjoying not only the mathematical challenges but also the social side of the day. “We’ve caught up with some of our friends from NEGS (the New England Girls’ School) and PLC Armidale,” she said.

One of two teams from Uralla Central School won the trophy in the central schools division, and a team from Armidale High won the trophy for high schools. The other Uralla team came second in the central schools’ division, with a team from Manilla Central School coming third. Second and third in the high schools division were teams from O’Connor Catholic College (Armidale) and Bellingen High School. Students from Macintyre High School (Inverell) and The Armidale School tied as winners of the “construction” competition, which challenged the teams to build the tallest free-standing tower from the materials provided.

The Year 8 Mathematics Day is sponsored each year by the New England Mathematical Association, the UNE-based National Centre of Science, ICT and Mathematics Education for Rural and Regional Australia (SiMMER), and UNE’s School of Education.

At the end of the day on Friday, UNE’s Professor John Pegg, the Director of SiMMER, thanked everyone involved, and particularly the teachers from the New England Mathematical Association who had devised the questions and answers. He also acknowledged the support of those teachers who, after bringing students to the Mathematics Day for many years, were now approaching their retirement.

Dr Marty Branagan, a lecturer in Peace Studies at UNE, said the festival had “grown organically” out of the film festival, which is now in its third year. “It’s complementing our teaching program by allowing people to engage in more informal discussions about nonviolence,” he said.

The exhibition, Transforming the Human Spirit, presented by the international Buddhist peace organisation Soka Gakkai, was opened on Monday 7 May and will continue till Friday 18 May. It is complemented by a display titled Ain’t Gonna Study War No More, featuring books, posters, buttons t-shirts and other protest movement ephemera. The display includes one of Dr Branagan’s paintings inspired by his aspirations for social and environmental regeneration.

The Peace Festival program this week has included public forums on “Creating value in activism” (with a panel including Dr Rebecca Spence, a UNE-based peace worker, Adam Blakester, a board member of Greenpeace Australia, and Greg Johns, the General Director of Soka Gakkai International Australia), and “Nonviolence: how most revolutions really occur” (with Dr Marty Branagan). A public forum on “Grassroots activism: activism and the democratic process”, with Angela Gates, will be in the Dixson Library’s Letters Room at 11.30 am on Monday 14 May.

Nonviolence Film Festival

The Nonviolence Film Festival will open in UNE’s Lewis Lecture Theatre at 1 pm on Monday 14 May. The film festival, which will continue till Friday 18 May in the Lewis Lecture Theatre at 1 pm (except for a 2 pm start on Thursday), aims to show the effectiveness of nonviolence against injustice and oppression through a public series of free lunchtime documentaries about significant nonviolent campaigns in Australia and abroad. These include the rescue of the majority of Danish Jews from the Nazi Holocaust (Monday 14 May), the first major strike held by Indigenous Australian workers in Western Australia (Tuesday 15 May), the overthrow of the Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos after 20 years of rule (Wednesday 16 May), logging blockades in the subtropical forests of northern NSW (Thursday 17 May), and a satirical take on global free trade (Friday 18 May).

Amnesty International will mount a stall at the film festival, and discussions with Peace Studies staff members will follow each screening. Dr Branagan said that the week-long festival of free films presented by UNE Peace Studies could help people to understand the potential of what he called “the world’s most powerful philosophy of social change”.

Peacebuilding Conference

A major component of the Peace Festival is the conference, Cultivating Peace: Context, Practices and Multidimensional Models, that will begin on Thursday 17 May and continue till Saturday 19 May. Members of the public are welcome to attend the conference sessions (entry by donation) in the UNE Arts Theatre. A keynote address by UNE’s Professor of Peace Studies, Helen Ware, will be at 1.20 pm on the first day of the conference, and that afternoon, starting at 2.30 pm, there will be talks about peace building and conflict resolution in the Solomon Islands, China, Zimbabwe, and India/Nepal.

The conference sessions on Friday 18 May, when the countries under discussion will include East Timor, Ivory Coast, Pakistan and Kenya, will begin at 9 am with a keynote address by Dr Tony Lynch, a UNE philosopher, and continue till 5 pm. Saturday’s sessions, starting at 9 am and continuing till 1.30 pm, will include critical discussion around current theories and practices in peace building.

The conferences speakers – mainly international postgraduate students – are from countries including Kenya, Bangladesh, Japan, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, China, Hungary, and Yap State. One speaker is travelling  to  Armidale  from the University of Peace in Costa Rica.

For more information on the Peace Festival, contact Dr Marty Branagan at marty.branagan@une.edu.au, or phone him on (02) 6771 4948 or (02) 6773 3951.

In his Inaugural Lecture as Professor of Weed Science at the University of New England, Brian Sindel will outline “three secrets for success in controlling weeds”.

Professor Sindel’s lecture, titled “Why weeds: a tale of survival”, will explain why we have weeds and why we need to control them. He will also review the history of weed survival in the Armidale region and its impact on people and agriculture. “Weeds cost the Australian economy a damaging $4 billion a year,” he says.

The lecture will deal with management tactics for local weeds such as serrated tussock, saffron thistle (pictured here) and fireweed.

Professor Sindel has been examining weeds for more than 30 years and has taught at UNE for the past 18 of those years. His work is widely published in scientific journals, and he is recognised as a leading expert in the field. His one-hour lecture, which will draw on the most up-to-date research in discussing weed management tactics, will be of interest to everyone – including, in particular, graziers, agronomists, lifestyle farmers and home gardeners. “Everyone has to deal with weeds,” he says. “They are everyone’s business.”

The lecture will begin at 6.30 pm. Drinks and canapés will be provided in the Town Hall foyer after the lecture, when Professor Sindel will offer his expertise to help members of the audience identify weeds that may be lurking in their garden.

To help with catering arrangements, please e-mail the organisers at events.pr@une.edu.au by Tuesday 15 May if you are intending to go to the lecture.

They have creatively celebrated the supportive network of social bonds within the College by inter-connecting photographic portraits of themselves using individually decorated strings that criss-cross an entire room.

The creation of the Austin College Safety Net has been led by two Austin residents – Samantha Young and Max Dowden – who worked with the local community arts organisation Beyond Empathy in designing the project. Samantha and Max are in their third year of the Bachelor of Social Work degree program at UNE, and their collaboration with Beyond Empathy has been a community placement undertaken as part of their degree program.

The completion of the project was marked by a “launch” at Austin College on Friday 4 May. “We always have the launch at the end of a project,” explained the Executive Director of Beyond Empathy, Kim McConville. “It’s actually the beginning of the movement forward inspired by the project.”

“As we usually work with disadvantaged groups, it’s been a challenge for us – and a wonderful experience – working with a community of university students,” Ms McConville said. “It’s been a harmonious partnership with UNE Social Work, and a pleasure to work with Sam and Max.”

She said that, from a purely artistic perspective, the Safety Net was “an example of lifting the bar” in the quality of such works, and she thanked the Sydney-based photographer Wendy Kimpton and the local artist Myfanwy Gulliver for their contributions to the project. (Both Ms Kimpton and Ms Gulliver were at the launch.)

She also thanked her colleague Narelle Jarry, Beyond Empathy’s Project Manager, for her work as one of Samantha and Max’s supervisors (together with Samantha Ackling, a former Head of UNE’s Robb College and current casual academic in UNE Social Work).

“The collaboration has involved all of us sitting down and seeing how we could celebrate a group of young people looking after each other,” Narelle Jarry said.

Dr Myfanwy Maple, Coordinator of Social Work at UNE, said that this kind of innovative project, based on the placement of social work students in a non-government agency focusing on social change, provided fertile ground for further collaboration between the University and community services. She also thanked the Head of Austin College, Andrea Gledhill, for her support of the two students undertaking a placement within the College.

Max said that working on the project with Beyond Empathy had helped him and Samantha “appreciate the power of art and how it can change people”.

“We organised the portraits because we wanted to identify and celebrate you as individuals,” said Samantha, addressing her fellow Austin College residents. “We also asked you to answer questions about what Austin means to you, and to create your own individual string for the installation.

“In the process you found that there are lots of people you’re connected to – and that in the end we have a ‘net’. There’s always someone there to catch you.”

The ‘Safety Net’ image displayed here expands to show Samantha Young and Max Dowden with the installation in Austin College.

Hosted by UNE and the Community Mutual Group (CMG), the forum will address the value of cooperatives from a regional perspective, and how to go about establishing them at grassroots level. It will also explore their successful operations in Australia and other countries. This year – 2012 – is the International Year of Cooperatives.

Friday’s forum, titled Creating Regional Prosperity through Cooperative Business Models, will be in UNE’s Lewis Lecture Theatre, starting at 2 pm and continuing till 4 pm.

Associate Professor Jo Barraket from the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Non-profit Studies at Queensland University of Technology, and Melina Morrison, Director of Australia’s International Year of Cooperatives Secretariat – both acknowledged experts on cooperatives – will be guest speakers at the forum. Other speakers will include Professor Alison Sheridan, Head of UNE’s School of Business, Economics and Public Policy, Tony Wilson, Deputy Chairman of NORCO, and Mr Peter Tregilgas, Executive Officer of Regional Development Australia for Mid North Coast NSW and author of Social Enterprise Australia.

Professor Sheridan said that the forum would be a useful source of information for teachers and researchers within her School, which has a particular focus on regional business. “It will open up important conversations for us,” she said.  “We welcome the opportunity to discuss – with businesses themselves – the role of co-operatives in regional development.”

The organiser of the forum, CMG’s Executive Director- People, Communities and Credit, Valerieanne Byrnes, said the strength and viability of members owning and directing their own organisations had gained momentum since the global financial crisis. “Business cooperatives came through the GFC in all countries without the consequences experienced by other business types,” she said. “They remained rock solid when many large corporate entities went to the wall.

“As a result, many economists and commentators are now re-examining the cooperative model because it is controlled by members, has a long-term view for the community it serves, and is more flexible in how it deploys its capital, borrows money, and distributes profits. It allows for innovation and shared operations that can be extremely competitive, profitable and successful.”

She said that with small businesses in the regions struggling on many fronts, the cooperative business model could hold the key to overcoming many of the challenges.  Cooperatives of like-minded individuals and enterprises could deliver the necessary scale to be competitive and still serve members’ interests, she said.

Some came with a particular interest in one of the many fields of teaching and learning at which UNE excels. Mitchell O’Donoghue, from Great Lakes College Senior Campus at Tuncurry, was looking into animal science courses, and talked to UNE’s Dr Wendy Brown, who coordinates the Canine and Equine major of UNE’s unique Bachelor of Animal Science degree program. “I liked what I heard,” said Mitchell, who has seven dogs of his own, has worked with a horse trainer, and has done work experience at Dubbo Zoo.

Carl Sully, a Year 12 student from Quirindi High School who has an ambition to study sport science at UNE, said the day had given him “an insight” into what was involved.

Carl, who lives at Werris Creek, added that he had been impressed by the friendliness of the staff and students at UNE.

The friendliness of the campus was an aspect of UNE life that the Chancellor, Richard Torbay, and the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber, both emphasised in welcoming the Open Day visitors. “At UNE you’re going to make friends – and they’ll be friends for life,” Mr Torbay told them.

He said that not only the UNE community, but also the wider Armidale community, “cares about its students”.

“We offer you not just an education but a way of life – an educational experience not just for the mind, but for the heart and soul as well,” Professor Barber said.

More than 1,000 prospective students visited the campus today. As well as travelling in school groups from throughout northern NSW, they came from farther afield accompanied by their parents. Paige Kiehne, from Centenary Heights State High School in Toowoomba, came with her mother Shirley Kiehne to look around the residential colleges as well the academic campus. “I looked at a few of the colleges – and liked them,” Paige said.

The visitors enjoyed the free lunch and entertainment provided – entertainment that included music from two bands, games and competitions.

Sarah Wilson, UNE’s Marketing Manager, pointed out that, by providing a program of informative talks by lecturers in several of the university’s main lecture theatres, Open Day had given the visitors a genuine taste of life on campus. “That experience included the personal contact with lecturers so readily available at UNE,” she said.

This year’s Open Day is extending into a second day, making it available to those unable to attend on a week day. The program on Saturday 5 May will be particularly helpful for distance education students, who will be able to find out – and ask questions – about online learning and library resources at UNE, while tours, a free lunch and entertainment will also be provided.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows Mitchell O’Donoghue talking to UNE’s Dr Wendy Brown about  programs in animal science.

The new works by Steve Thorneycroft and Benjamin Thorn will be performed in a late-night concert, titled “Minimalist Meditations”, in Armidale’s Uniting Church on Friday 4 May.

The concert, beginning at 10 pm, will comprise compositions that either rework Bach pieces or use Bach themes and motifs in a new context.

Benjamin Thorn’s works for the concert include JSB Mandalas, which interweaves themes from several of Bach’s works, and Genug, a reworking of the chorale Est ist genug, so nimm, Herr, while Steve Thorneycroft has written Bach through the looking glass and has collaborated with his fellow composer and performer Steve Tafra on A Reichian reinvention of Prelude #1.

Steve Thorneycroft and Steve Tafra presented a lecture during the 4^th New England Bach Festival in 2008 on their arrangement for two guitars of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, which they presented in a concert performance during that year’s festival.

Dr Thorn, the Artistic Director of the New England Bach Festival, is a lecturer in creative arts education at UNE, and Steve Thorneycroft is a UNE music lecturer. The festival regularly draws on the musical performance talents of UNE staff members and students in a program of concerts that also includes performances by celebrated visiting musicians. This year’s program includes performances by the Melbourne-based harpsichordist Peter Hagen, the baroque group Alchemy, the string trio Terzina and the Lucid Dance Theatre (all from Brisbane), and Australian Baroque Brass.

For the full program, go to: http://www.nebachfestival.com/.

Professor Thoms (pictured here), Head of Geography at the University of New England and an independent scientific auditor for the Murray Darling Basin Authority, will be working at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Mississippi River Monitoring Field Station at La Crosse in Wisconsin and at the nearby Winona State University. He is one of only two Australian recipients of Fulbright Senior Scholarships in 2012.

His aim is to develop skills in the use of new technologies that will help Australian scientists to document the resilience of our rivers in response to major environmental disturbances (such as dam building and climate change) in the past, and thus assess their current and future capacity for resilience.

The cutting-edge technologies employed in these investigations include the use of radioactive isotopes in examining organic deposits in a river system in order to reconstruct the “food web” within that system at different periods in the past as well as in the present.

“The complexity of the food web – a picture of who’s eating what – is an indication of the health of the system,” Professor Thoms explained. “The more complex the food web, the healthier it is. Using these techniques we can build up a time line of the complexity and integrity of riverine landscapes, and correlate that with known changes in climate, land use, and river management.

“Our research group at UNE is in the midst of doing this for the Murray Darling Basin and other large river systems. We’ve been working with our American colleagues, and have been able to record the impact of disturbances such as dam building. And these new technologies will extend the boundaries of our work.”

His interdisciplinary research group is conducting projects on the Macintyre River, the Narran Wetlands, and the Darling and Lower Murrumbidgee Rivers, as well as reconstructing past food webs in the Murray Darling Basin. Two of his research students will be joining him in Wisconsin, and he’s hoping that his Fulbright Scholarship will strengthen and extend the links he has already established with the U.S. Geological Survey and Winona State University. “They’re really interested in how we at UNE are able to get our science out there and used on the ground,” he said, “and how they could build similar collaborative relationships with their own communities.”

Professor Thoms, who is President Elect of the International Society for River Science, will leave Armidale for North America at the beginning of June. He will take up the Fulbright Scholarship at the end of that month after co-hosting a conference at Banff, in Canada, about the impact of wildfires on river ecosystems, and working with scientists at the University of Montana’s Flathead Lake Biological Station.

While excited at the prospect of a laboratory and research vessel of his own on the Mississippi for five months, he sees the Fulbright Scholarship as an opportunity for the advancement of Australian river science in general – an interdisciplinary science that would be aimed at the management not only of rivers themselves, but also of their surrounding landscapes.

The University is expecting more than 1,000 prospective students – including many school groups from throughout northern NSW – to visit the campus on the day.

Starting at 7.30 am with breakfast at the residential colleges, Open Day 2012 will include the opportunity to gather a wealth of information about UNE courses by talking to representatives of all the academic Schools, and to attend informative lectures about academic programs within those Schools.

The lectures will also cover topics such as how to apply to UNE, HECS, and scholarships, and current students will be on hand to answer questions about their UNE experience.

Tours of the academic campus and Sport UNE, and tours of the residential colleges, will run from 9 am to 2.30 pm. The day’s program will include a free lunch, entertainment from two bands, games, and competitions.

Speaking in UNE’s Central Courtyard at 12 noon, the Chancellor, Richard Torbay, and the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber, will welcome all the visitors. “Open Day is our traditional showcase, allowing our future students to experience UNE’s renowned academic, sporting and accommodation facilities, support services, and academic staff,” Professor Barber said.

“This year we are offering a program that extends over two days,” he said, “allowing greater flexibility for those who can’t attend on Friday.”

The Open Day program on Saturday 5 May, running from 9 am to 1 pm, will be particularly helpful for distance education students, who will be able to find out – and ask questions – about online learning and library resources at UNE, as well as obtain course advice and experience a campus tour. A free lunch and entertainment will also be provided on Saturday.

The gala event at Mary White last Friday (27 April) recognised the academic success – as well as service to the community – of Mary White residents.

Mr Torbay told the staff and students at the event that advances in online technology had changed the way in which UNE delivered its courses.  “The use of online technologies and social media are second nature to most students, and they expect that their courses will incorporate up-to-date online offerings,” he said. “For example, in our medical school, all first-year students have been issued with iPads for their coursework and students use video links to participate in medical simulations at the University of California, Irvine.

“In the months ahead, UNE hopes to utilise online technologies to remotely manage farms, deliver health care in retirement villages, and deliver numeracy and literacy programs into homes.”

Mr Torbay said that the possibilities presented by new social media were far-reaching. “For instance, this was demonstrated at the dinner when I ‘tweeted’ about the event and was contacted via ‘twitter’ by students in the room,” he said.

Mr Torbay said the annual Chancellor’s dinner was about recognising and celebrating the hard work of Mary White residents.

The Head of Mary White College, Trent Pohlmann, said that three students – Myles  Kwa, Ali Morrison and Nikola Beilby – were  recipients of the Chancellor’s Award for Academic Excellence. “Myles, Ali and Nikola are worthy recipients of the award and have worked hard to achieve their academic results,” Mr Pohlmann said.  “Cara Kajewski, a medical student, has also been recognised, with a Senior Common Room Scholarship for her efforts that included volunteering during the Queensland floods.”

Mr Torbay congratulated Myles, Ali, Nikola and Cara on their achievement.  “These students are role models for the College and the community,” he said, “and follow in the footsteps of many outstanding Mary White alumni including Dame Bridget Ogilvie AC and the Mayor of Albury, Alice Glachan.”

At the official launch of the Alternative Entry Pathway in Armidale yesterday, UNE’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber, and the University of Sydney’s Vice-Chancellor, Dr Michael Spence, congratulated the six students who had been accepted into the program for 2012.

Around 120 positions will be available in the 2013 intake, with Tamworth and Armidale schools being included to the list of more than 60 eligible high schools – predominantly in the Sydney area.

The number of courses that are eligible for the Alternative Entry Pathway will also be expanded in 2013 to include qualifications in Computing Sciences and Agricultural and Resource Economics.

Professor Barber said that the Alternative Entry Pathway relied on a school’s assessment of a student’s ability to cope with study at university, rather than their Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) or equivalent.

“This pathway has allowed these students to begin their studies at UNE this year and, if they pass their subjects, to be guaranteed entry into the second year of the equivalent degree at the University of Sydney in 2013,” Professor Barber said. “Research shows that students from low-SES backgrounds are disadvantaged in their ability to achieve a high ATAR, and this program provides them with a level playing field.”

Dr Spence said the pathway allowed for the recruitment of the most promising students, whatever their social and cultural background.

“If students show they are capable of academic success, then we want to help them succeed in their chosen studies,” Dr Spence said. “The Alternative Entry Partnership demonstrates both institutions’ commitment to improve the standards for social inclusiveness and access for all to higher education.”

Additional support is on offer to Alternative Entry Pathways students to facilitate their transition to university study.

The program is funded through the Commonwealth Government’s Structural Adjustment Fund.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows the Chancellor of the University of Sydney, Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir, and the Chancellor of UNE, the Hon. Richard Torbay, at yesterday’s launch of the Early Entry Pathway.

The 120 students, all in Years 4, 5 or 6, were participating in a UNE initiative called “UNE 4 ME” aimed at enhancing interaction between the University and the Aboriginal community.

Rob Waters, UNE’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment Officer, told the students that they would one day be Elders and leaders of their community. “You’ve got to keep that in the back of your mind”, Mr Waters said, while emphasising the importance of education. “Once you finish school, anything is possible,” he said – including university studies.

The television and film actor Luke Carroll (pictured here), who visited UNE as guest presenter on the day, also urged the students to “get through the 12 years” of their schooling. Although he was already working as an actor by the age of 12, he said, his mother had insisted that he finish high school, enabling him to gain his Higher School Certificate in 1996. “I’m very glad about that now,” he told the students. “Without education I probably wouldn’t be the person I am now.”

The subject of several nominations for acting awards – including AFI awards for his roles in the film Australian Rules and the television series RAN, Luke Carroll is also a presenter on the children’s television program Play School and an inspirational speaker at schools around the country. “I love kids,” he said. “I started acting as a kid, and am glad to be able to give something back to the youth of Australia.”

The visiting students also heard from some of UNE’s Aboriginal staff members – including Debra Bennell, the Director of the Oorala Aboriginal Centre, and Lorina Barker, a lecturer in history. They visited the Oorala Centre, where they had lunch, and then engaged in indoor and outdoor sports at SportUNE with the help of two of SportUNE’s Aboriginal trainees.

Mr Waters, who organised the “UNE 4 ME” event, said the day had been “a great opportunity for the young students to come in and see – first-hand – the wonderful work that Aboriginal people are doing here at UNE”. “It was a face-to-face role-modelling experience that we hope proves to them that anything is possible,” he said.

Dr Luke Godwin, a leading cultural heritage consultant and academic, will discuss the “drought-proofing” strategies employed on the massive “Wellshot” sheep station in central western Queensland in the late nineteenth century.

Dr Godwin will present a paper prepared by himself and Scott L’Oste-Brown demonstrating that the highest rates of stocking on “Wellshot” were achieved during the period when surface water, rather than ground water, was harvested.

The paper describes the infrastructure and its archaeological footprint, and points out that the use of such technology on “Wellshot” and throughout the region resulted in massive profits for pastoralists during the last few decades of the nineteenth century.

“The pastoralists deployed these financial resources for larger economic and industrial purposes, which in turn triggered unexpected responses that have had political ramifications through to the present day,” Dr Godwin says.

The free lecture – “Water, water everywhere: attempts at drought-proofing properties using surface water infrastructure in central western Queensland in the early 1880s” – will be in UNE’s Arts Building (Lecture Theatre A2) at 5.30 pm on Tuesday 1 May. It will be this year’s event in the annual John Ferry Heritage Lecture series, organised by UNE’s Heritage Futures Research Centre to honour the memory – and the work – of the UNE-based historian Dr John Ferry (1949-2004).

Luke Godwin, who holds a PhD degree from UNE, has 30 years’ experience in cultural heritage management both as a private consultant and in government, and has taken a leading role in establishing and managing many cultural heritage projects associated with large-scale developments in Queensland and NSW. In the 1980s he was involved in a number of heritage projects in the New England region – including research into McCrossin’s Mill in Uralla. He is currently an Associate Professor (Adjunct) in the School of Arts and Social Sciences at James Cook University in Queensland.

Clare McFadden, author and illustrator of the award-winning children’s book The Flying Orchestra, will arrive in Armidale on the 4^th of May to conduct a fortnight-long program of workshops for children and parents, students, teachers, other community groups, and members of the general public. She will be in residence at UNE (staying in Mary White College), where she will be working on a new picture book and interacting with staff members and students.

Her workshops – except for one at UNE for university and TAFE students – will be at the New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM), where she will also be speaking, on Friday 11 May, at the opening of new exhibitions that include a display of illustrations from Madeleine Winch’s well-known children’s book Come by Chance. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for the University to work with NERAM, and to be engaged with Armidale’s cultural community,” said the manager of the “Creative Communities in Children’s and Young Adult Literature” program, Dr Elizabeth Hale. Dr Hale said the program was being conducted in association with Arts New England (UNE’s Centre for Research and Innovation in the Arts) and with partners – in addition to NERAM – including the New England Writers’ Centre and the local branch of the Children’s Book Council of Australia.

It was Dr Hale, a Senior Lecturer in English and Communication Studies at UNE, who obtained the $90,000 grant from the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund to finance the program, which will bring three published writer/illustrators to Armidale in each of the years 2012, 2013 and 2014. “It’s about giving people the opportunity to develop confidence in their storytelling and illustrating, and to discover how you can tell stories through pictures,” she said. “And it’s offering professional role models to people who may want to explore writing/illustrating as a career.”

As well as being a writer and illustrator, Clare McFadden is a producer and facilitator of arts-based programs for children and communities around Australia. Her Armidale program will include work with Armidale Sanctuary, the Indigenous community, and teachers and students of education, as well as workshops for preschool, primary, secondary, university and TAFE students. A workshop for members of the general public, from 11 am to 1 pm at NERAM on Saturday 12 May will, she says, “aim to demystify the process of writing and illustrating a book – from the initial concept to pitching the final product”. She will also be giving a reading of her work at the Armidale Dumaresq Council War Memorial Library, on Saturday 5 May, from 10.30 am.

The second of this year’s writers and illustrators will be Kevin Burgemeestre, the illustrator of children’s books including Bernard Was a Bikie and Thunder Mountain, who will be in residence from the 18^th of May to the 2^nd of June. He, too, divides his time between writing and illustrating children’s books and giving workshops – for schools, libraries, universities and groups of teachers.

The third and last of the “writers and illustrators in residence” for this year will be Tristan Bancks, who will be in Armidale from the 6^th to the 17^th of June. A film maker as well as a storyteller in print, his books include the recent Galactic Adventures: First Kids in Space (UQP, 2011) and My Life and Other Stuff I Made Up (Random House, 2011).

Go to http://www.une.edu.au/arts/writers-in-res/workshop-facilitators.php for more information about the writers/illustrators themselves, and for more details about the program, e-mail creativecommunities@une.edu.au or Dr Elizabeth Hale: ehale@une.edu.au.

Keynote speakers at the 2^nd National Rural and Regional Law and Justice Conference will include the Indigenous educator and researcher Jack Beetson giving “An Aboriginal perspective on rural law and justice”, and the award-winning author and journalist Paul Cleary asking “Is the mining boom a case of too much luck?”

The dinner speaker at the conference will be the leading commentator on rural democracy and justice in the United States, Jim Hightower. The author of five popular books, and twice Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Jim Hightower will be talking about challenges facing rural communities in the United States and Australia – including “fracking” associated with the coal seam gas industry.

Organised by the Schools of Law at UNE and Deakin University, the conference will be at the BreakFree Aanuka Beach Resort from the 18^th to the 20^th of May.

Paul Cleary’s keynote address will examine the current mining boom in Australia with particular reference to its implications for rural and regional communities. He will draw on his book Too Much Luck: the Mining Boom and Australia’s Future, published in 2011, and his forthcoming Mine-Field: the Dark Side of Australia’s Resources Frenzy. Professor Kim Economides, Director of the Legal Issues Centre at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, will deliver a keynote address titled “Centre-periphery tensions in legal theory and practice: can law and lawyers resist urban imperialism?”

Dr Amanda Kennedy, Deputy Director of the Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law at UNE and one of the conveners of the 2^nd National Rural and Regional Law and Justice Conference, said the conference would enable delegates “to share their interest in rural and regional Australia while discussing practical strategies for enhancing social justice in rural and regional communities”.

Dr Kennedy said that topics for discussion at the conference would include strategies for preparing legal students for careers in rural and regional Australia, models for managing rural conflict over natural resource management, and Indigenous inclusion.

Go to http://www.une.edu.au/law/rrljconference/ for more information, the conference program, and registration details, or e-mail the conference conveners, Associate Professor Russell Hogg and Dr Amanda Kennedy, at rrlj@une.edu.au.

The Fashion Parade, which last year raised almost $10,000, is part of the College’s annual “Coast Run” campaign to raise money for the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI).

One hundred College residents are preparing their dance routines for this year’s parade of Armidale fashion, which will be at the Armidale Ex-Services Memorial Club on Saturday 28 April.

“The Fashion Parade, sponsored by Roberts and Morrow, has the serious side of fund-raising,” said the Fashion Parade Coordinator, Karina Marshall, “but it’s also designed to connect the colleges, the University, and the Armidale community. We have the opportunity to work together, have an extraordinary night filled with laughter, and create something truly amazing. In the process, we are all contributing to the work of the CMRI.”

“Every guest, University staff member, and member of the community has the opportunity to participate in a truly magical night,” Karina said. “Everyone is welcome to attend this worthwhile event.”

Other components of the fund-raising campaign organised by Earle Page College’s hard-working Coast Run Committee through the year include a discount card, an auction, inter-floor events within the College, and the annual Coast Run itself from Armidale to Coffs Harbour. A cheque for the money raised by the 2011 Coast Run Committee, convened by Michael Fraser, will be presented to the CMRI during the Fashion Parade.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber, along with Senior Common Room and staff members of Earle Page College, will take part in one of the routines at the Fashion Parade.

Entry to the Fashion Parade will begin at 7 pm for the event to start at 7.30 pm. Tickets, costing $25 for adults, $20 for students with a discount card, and $15 for children under 16 can be bought at the door or from the Earle Page College Office, contactable on 6773 5300.

Ms Brooks’s research informs new laws in the UK that will enhance legislative frameworks to protect Muslim women. She will discuss this project in her lecture on Tuesday 1 May, titled “In other worlds – belonging and security among women of global Islam”.

She has worked with women in Muslim communities in Sri Lanka and the UK, and found that the Sri Lankan women had far greater “voice” in the community than the women in the UK. The key to this difference, she found, was “the percolation of an erroneous and devastating exegesis of the Qur’an in the UK, and the subsequent tolerance of violence and oppression of women from within communities”. “These data have been shown in the House of Lords in the UK,” she said, “to evidence the pressing need for action to protect women in this group”.

In both Sri Lanka and the UK Ms Brooks (pictured here) worked with organisations that, she said, aimed “to protect communities while also providing government with sustainable strategies for migration, settlement, and conflict resolution”.

This lecture will be at 5.30 pm in Lecture Theatre 2 in UNE’s Education Building. Everyone is welcome.

In her lecture on Thursday 26 April she will discuss her project in the slums of the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo – urban areas that the government plans to “gentrify”, involving the relocation of the residents. “The project mapped kinship networks in an effort to work with government to effect a more sustainable and humanitarian relocation plan that protects networks of support, opportunities for employment and education, and mobility,” she said.

“This project responded,” she explained, “to what is, in effect, a slow-onset disaster: government plans that would disperse a very connected and inter-dependent community from the core to the periphery of the city. I enabled the residents to record their social capital, showing that the plans that are articulated as an answer to poverty would in fact make the people poorer. Losing your community constitutes a massive capital loss – especially in a world where all you have is each other.”

This lecture, titled “The place we make together – mapping networking capital in the Colombo slums”, will be delivered at Drummond and Smith College at 6 pm and will be the College’s D.H. Drummond Memorial Lecture for 2012. Members of the public wishing to attend should contact the College on (02) 6773 6700 or e-mail drummond.smith@une.edu.au. The lecture will precede a dinner for College members and invited guests.

Recently published Australian figures reveal that the number of chlamydia cases in people over the age of 50 doubled between 2004 and 2010, and figures from abroad show similar trends in the incidence of a range of sexually transmissible infections – including HIV – in older people. In the UK, for example, the incidence of sexually transmissible infections in older people doubled between 1996 and 2003.

Given the rapidly increasing proportion of older people in the populations of many countries, the researchers say, such figures have serious implications for public health at a global level.

Professor Victor Minichiello, who leads the research at UNE, said that societies needed to overcome a prevailing – although unacknowledged – “sexual ageism”. This would involve recognition of the sexual life of older people by society in general and health professionals in particular, he said, and the introduction of targeted sexual health education programs for older people. “The sexual health message you’d deliver to a 60-year-old is different to the message for an adolescent,” Professor Minichiello said.

“Social and familial attitudes, and fear of professional judgment, often prevent older people from seeking sexual health support,” he said. “Thus the silenced remain silent, and the rates continue to rise.”

Professor Minichiello (pictured here) was invited to join other international experts in a World HIV/AIDS Online Symposium last week, during which he discussed figures that reveal high levels of sexual activity among older people. Examples include a Swedish survey reporting that 68 per cent of men and 56 per cent of women aged 70 were sexually active, and a survey from the United States reporting that 20 per cent of people aged 80 to 94 were still sexually active.

Professor Minichiello said that this level of sexual activity in older people, together with a general lack of awareness within this age group about sexually transmissible infections, was generating an increasing prevalence of these infections in older populations around the world. He referred to evidence of this phenomenon in the United States, the UK, Australia, Canada, Korea, Singapore, China, Kenya, Botswana and Uganda. This evidence is to be presented and discussed in a paper on the global epidemiology of sexually transmissible infections to be published in the July issue of the European journal Perspectives in Public Health.

Professor Minichiello’s own research has revealed low levels of condom use among older people in Australia, and he quoted similar findings from China and Korea.

Taken together, this evidence represented an important discovery that called for urgent action, Professor Minichiello said – the first step being the development of awareness in older people themselves, health practitioners, and policy makers.

“If we do nothing, we’ll see a significant increase in the incidence of these infections in older people, at enormous cost to the health care system,” he said.

Dr Karp, a lecturer in criminology at the University of New England, has documented her experiences – and her reflections on them – in a manuscript titled Conversations with Truckies: Looking at Life Through Glass. She hopes that this work – now the subject of discussions with publishers – will dispel the popular image of the “truckie” as “an irresponsible cowboy”.

While the conversations explore the shadowy world of illegal drug use and its link to road-side prostitution, Dr Karp concludes that truck drivers are no more likely to stray into such worlds than members of other professions. “No driver I have interviewed has denied that the use of amphetamines by drivers in the industry is a serious issue,” she said. “They all felt, however, that identifying the problem as a habit shared by ‘all’ drivers was not just incorrect, but extremely harmful.”

And although there was general agreement in the industry about the serious nature of the drug problem, she said, there were “no designated prevention programs or treatment programs for interstate drivers”. There were only “voluntary programs receiving limited support from workers and family members” who were “desperate to try and fill the gap in combating serious illness and unhealthy behaviour within the industry”.

Jann Karp was an officer in the NSW Police Force for 23 years, and her first book, the well-reviewed Corruption and Crisis Control: The Nature of the Game (VDM Verlag, 2008), grew out of her professional insights – and her subsequent doctoral research – into the lives of hard-working police officers coping with dilemmas generated by an interaction of internal operational structures and external political pressures. Her newly-completed manuscript investigates the lives of interstate truck drivers with the same insightful empathy – the empathy, she says, of  “a working-class girl writing about working-class people”.

Dr Karp observed that drug use could exacerbate the reclusive behaviour of truck drivers already conditioned to a solitary lifestyle. This could take an additional toll on family relationships already under strain through prolonged absence and extensive “black spots” in telephone communication.

“Although it’s an appalling occupation for men trying to keep a family going,” she said, “our conversations revealed that they were generally doing their best under difficult circumstances. I definitely don’t regard them as victims.”

“Truckies are hard-working representatives of a highly-skilled occupation,” Dr Karp said. “Interstate drivers must drive large trucks with a sense of total control. They have learnt their trade from experience, enhancing and developing the necessary skills over years of driving. I have ridden as a passenger many times in trucks and, although I have travelled long distances, I have never felt that the driver was endangering my life.”

Drivers generally agreed that regulation was necessary, she said, but frequently told her that, because of workplace pressures, it was “difficult – if not impossible – to avoid breaking regulations in a minor sense on a regular basis”.

“There’s a gap between the policy makers and the practitioners,” she explained, “with the union acting as a go-between to try to fix the gap that’s been created.

“Every time the ignition goes on, the drivers are under three forms of scrutiny: GPS tracking, the logbook, and point-to-point camera oversight. But in spite of all that regulation they’re just a dot on a screen. There’s no two-way communication in case of accident, and I think that’s ridiculous.”

“I’m hoping that this book will give a much broader view of truck drivers’ professional skills and challenges than is currently presented in the media,” she concluded. “If it succeeds in dispelling the image of a uniform “cowboy” culture it will have served its purpose.”

It will be presented by William Dever, Distinguished Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at Lycoming College, Pennsylvania, who has conducted numerous excavations in Israel, Jordan and Cyprus.

The free lecture, at 5.30 pm in the Gallery at UNE’s Earle Page College, will be the first in the University’s Aspects of Antiquity series for 2012. Everyone is welcome.

A group of scholars calling themselves “revisionists” has recently claimed that the Bible’s Solomon was no more historical than King Arthur. Professor Dever’s illustrated lecture, titled “The Golden Age of Solomon: Fact or Fiction”, will show, however, that archaeological findings reflect the description of Solomon’s architecture in I Kings 9: 15-17. While King Solomon’s kingdom may have been reasonably modest, Professor Dever says, and not the vast empire portrayed in the Bible, it did exist, and has left archaeological evidence.

Professor Dever was Director of the Albright Institute in Jerusalem in the early 1970s, and held the Chair of Near Eastern Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Arizona from 1975 to 2002. He is coming to UNE as the 2012 Australian Institute of Archaeology Visiting Lecturer – a position he holds jointly with his wife Pamela Gaber, who will present a free public seminar in UNE’s School of Humanities the morning after her husband’s lecture.

New light on religion on ancient Cyprus

Pamela Gaber, Professor of Archaeology and Religion at Lycoming College, is the director of archaeological excavations at Idalion on the island of Cyprus and an authority on ancient sculpture from Cyprus.  Her seminar paper on Friday 27 April, titled “Recent excavations at Idalion, Cyprus: new light on Levantine Cult in the First Millennium BCE”, will be at 9.30 am in Lecture Theatre 3 in the UNE Arts Building. Everyone is welcome.

The seminar will focus on two intact sanctuaries found at Idalion: an open-air sacred grove and a sanctuary of “paired deities”. According to Professor Gaber, who has dug at various places in Israel, there are startling similarities between the cult practices evident at Idalion and those of first-millennium BC Israel.

UNE’s Museum of Antiquities, also in the Arts Building, holds an internationally significant collection of Cypriot pottery and other material that would be of interest to people attending the seminar.

For more information on either of these events, phone Professor Greg Horsley on (02) 6773 2390 or (02) 6773 2555.

THE PHOTOGRAPHS displayed here show archaeological remains at Megiddo in Israel, and (courtesy of Professor Pamela Gaber) a limestone statuette of Artemis found at Idalion

Senior appointments at the University of New England’s residential colleges will provide closer links between the academic and collegiate cultures on campus.

UNE’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber, said the recent appointment of Deans and Academic Masters to Robb and Earle Page Colleges would strengthen the academic, sporting and cultural excellence of both colleges.

“These new positions are integral to UNE’s aspiration to become Australia’s pre-eminent collegiate University,” Professor Barber said. The Deans will provide leadership and direction in the social and community welfare and life skills of college residents, while the Academic Masters will provide leadership of the academic portfolio for the college community – including providing advice on academic standards and programs for the residents.

“Generations of UNE graduates have benefited not just from their university education, but from the personal formation that college life provides,” Professor Barber said. “These appointments are about providing residents with the best quality on-campus experience while also re-affirming our commitment to enhance the college system at UNE.

“I’m very pleased with the calibre and experience of the candidates we have appointed, and look forward to the improvements they will bring to the colleges. The high standard of candidates really demonstrates the outstanding reputation of UNE’s college system.”

Robb College

Dean : Michael Barton

Michael Barton joins UNE from Snowy Mountains Grammar School in Jindabyne, NSW, and has worked in a number of boarding schools in Queensland and NSW. He is originally from the Tamworth area and has strong family connections to the New England and North West regions. His background is in the fields of education and leadership – having completed his Bachelor of Education degree program with UNE and postgraduate studies at Master’s level in education and leadership. He is currently completing his doctoral research with a focus on exploring factors associated with students transitioning into secondary boarding schools.

Academic Master: Cameron Moore

Cameron Moore is a Senior Lecturer in UNE’s School of Law. His publications include the book ADF on the Beat: A Legal Analysis of Offshore Enforcement by the ADF (2004) and other articles and chapters on the Australian Defence Force and maritime security. His teaching areas include environmental law, natural resources law and law of the sea. Between 1996 and 2003, Mr Moore was a Legal Officer in the Royal Australian Navy, serving at sea as well as advising on fisheries and border protection operations and the TAMPA incident.

Earle Page College

Dean: Ms Penny Biddle

Ms Penny Biddle (pictured here) comes to Earle Page College with extensive experience working in the university sector, including student accommodation at Charles Darwin University. She has completed a BSc degree program (majoring in Geology and Organic Chemistry), and Master of Business Administration (while living in Eusoff College at the National University of Singapore) and Master of Career Development programs. Penny has relocated to Armidale from Hervey Bay.

Academic Master: Dr Amanda Kennedy

Dr Amanda Kennedy is the Deputy Director of the Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law at UNE. She has BCom/ LLB (Hons) and PhD degrees from UNE, a Grad. Dip. Legal Practice (College of Law), and a Grad. Cert. Law Teaching (Monash), and is admitted as a Lawyer of the Supreme Court of NSW. Amanda’s research interests are in the areas of contract law, natural resources law and dispute resolution, and she is currently leading a three-year project, funded by the Australian Research Council, exploring conflict over natural resources.

THE PHOTOGRAPH of Penny Biddle displayed above expands to include (from left) Michael Barton, Cameron Moore, and Dr Amanda Kennedy.

The results of the survey will give the researchers an understanding of the extent to which anxiety about coal seam gas mining is contributing to farmers’ overall levels of stress.

Methuen Morgan, who is conducting the survey as part of his postgraduate research at UNE, said he hoped the results would contribute an “unbiased, scientific perspective” to the debate about coal seam gas mining, and allow farmers’ anxieties – and their potential health consequences – to be a consideration in policy development and service provision.

Mr Morgan (pictured here) comes from a family farm near Condamine in Queensland and owns a property just outside Armidale. “I’ve seen coal seam gas mining slowly advancing on Condamine landholders for a couple of years,” he said, “and it’s now reached the point where exploration has started on some properties. Although they’re not necessarily against goal seam gas mining, those people I know feel disempowered because of a lack of consultation. I’ll be interested to see if that’s a widespread feeling.”

The survey seeks information on farmers’ expectations about – and experiences of – coal seam gas mining, their involvement in protests or negotiations, and the sources and levels of anxiety in their lives. Participants should be owners or co-owners of a commercial agricultural property, or responsible for making decisions regarding the day-to-day running of a property.

“It’s one of the most comprehensive rural surveys that’s been undertaken,” Mr Morgan said, “and one of the first associated with the coal seam gas industry. We’re hoping that lots of people will view it as an investment in understanding the contribution of this issue to the stress levels of farmers. Those who have completed the survey in pilot studies have said it has been informative, and has allowed them to have their say about this important issue.”

“We’ve developed the survey in consultation with members of the farming community, activist groups, coal seam gas operators such as Santos, and representatives of peak farming and mining organisations,” he said. “We were determined to ensure that the presentation of the survey was unbiased, and have striven to keep it on as unemotional and objective a level as possible.”

The survey will take between 40 minutes and an hour to complete, and is completely anonymous, allowing participants to feel free to express their true feelings. An online version of the survey is at: http://tinyurl.com/csgsurvey, and hard copies (and more information) are available from Methuen Morgan on (02) 6773 2899 or at mmorgan5@une.edu.au.

Students at Bingara Central School were introduced to the cultures of India, China, South-east Asia and East Africa when four international students from the University of New England visited the school last Friday.

It was the inaugural school visit for members of Armidale’s “Students in Harmony” group, which promotes inter-cultural awareness by involving students from around the world in community events.

“It was a real learning experience for the four of us as well as for the school students,” said Indian-born Prashanth Van Houten. “The students showed a lot of interest, the feedback from the school was very positive, and we ourselves developed our presentation techniques and ideas for future events.”

The other three UNE students involved in the “Introducing Cultures” day were Khadijah Saad from Malaysia, Sam Yunxian Li from China, and Sewa Emojong, who has a Kenyan background. They travelled to Bingara on Thursday 29 March, spent the night in the school principal’s residence, and worked with groups of students for the whole of the next day.

“They were particularly interested in our national cuisines and festivals,” Prashanth said, “and in locating our various countries on the map. “And they enjoyed looking at – and talking about – pictures of our native animals.

“They were also very curious about schooling, and were interested in the school environments – comparing those with their own well-appointed learning environment – and school hours.”

The Students in Harmony team worked with secondary students in the morning and primary students – including visitors from Gravesend Public School – for the rest of the day. “As well as arousing their interest in other countries and cultures, we may also have given them a bit of motivation to think about further education,” Prashanth said.

He said the group had been hospitably welcomed by the school principal, Mark Vale, by the school staff, and by the local community. “We’re considering the possibility of similar events at other schools in the area,” he said. “We’d like to work on a ‘cooking & cultural’ show, involving several of us cooking national dishes while displaying multi-media presentations of our countries and cultures.”

THE PHOTOGRAPH, displayed above, of Sewa Emojong and Sam Yunxian Li, expands to include Prashanth Van Houten and Khadijah Saad.

The portrait, now on display in “Booloominbah”, is the latest addition to the University’s collection of portraits of its previous Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors.

Mr Torbay said that the collection was “like UNE’s own Archibald Prize exhibition”, and explained that the painter of Mr Cassidy’s portrait, Vincent Fantauzzo, was unable to attend the unveiling because he was in Sydney for the opening of this year’s Archibald exhibition (in which he is a finalist for the fourth time).

Vincent Fantauzzo, who is renowned for his portraiture, won the Packing Room Prize at last year’s Archibald with a portrait of the celebrity chef Matt Moran, and the People’s Choice Award in 2008 and 2009 for portraits of the actors Heath Ledger and Brandon Walters respectively. He has worked and exhibited worldwide, with exhibitions in India, Vietnam, New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Australia.

Mr Torbay welcomed Mr Cassidy, his wife Mrs Annette Cassidy, and members of their family to the unveiling ceremony, along with Armidale Dumaresq Mayor Councillor Peter Ducat, Mrs Colleen Ducat, and the Deputy Mayor, Dr Jim Maher. Other official guests included UNE’s Deputy Chancellor, Mr Scott Williams, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber, and Mrs Mary Barber.

Mr Torbay said that Mr Cassidy, who was Chancellor of UNE from 2004 to 2008, had made “a significant contribution to education at UNE and in the New England region”. He mentioned in particular Mr Cassidy’s support for the establishment of the Joint Medical Program in collaboration with the University of Newcastle, his involvement in the establishment of the New England Conservatorium of Music, and his role in – and support of – the New England Girls’ School.

Mr Cassidy thanked “the very hard-working people who were here in my day – and are still here”, and wished the University well for the future.

“I’m very much honoured to have been Chancellor, and to have my portrait hanging here,” he said.

“Vincent Fantauzzo’s portrait of John Cassidy carries on a UNE tradition not only of official portraiture, but of portraiture by some of the best Australian artists,” said Michelle Arens, Manager of the UNE Art Collection. “Artists such as Judy Cassab, Kevin Connor, William Dargie, Joshua Smith, W.E.P. Pidgeon and Bill Leake have painted the portraits of the University’s Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors.”

Clicking on the image above reveals a photograph of Mr Cassidy standing next to his official portrait after the unveiling ceremony.

The Occasional Address at today’s ceremony was given by Alan Beasley, who holds a Bachelor of Economics degree from UNE and has had a distinguished career in Investment Banking, Financial Services, and Investment Management. Mr Beasley said that his three years at UNE had been one of the highlights of a “most fortunate life”.

He congratulated all the graduands, urging them to use their “passion and enthusiasm” to “make a difference”. Noting that many of them were about to enter the health professions, he spoke about experiences within his own family that had made him “appreciate the contribution that health professionals make to society”.

During the past 10 years, he said, he had focused his career on raising capital for small, innovative companies – including several in the health and life sciences sectors – and had thus been “exposed to the professional, financial and administrative challenges and complexities of those sectors”.

In introducing Mr Beasley, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber, said that he had “used his considerable expertise not just for his own gain but as a very charitable member of Australian society”.

Today’s ceremony was for those graduating in disciplines related to the sciences as well as medicine and health. Among the 21 people graduating with doctoral degrees were James Clayton and Melissa Danks. Dr Clayton, who works for National Parks  in central Australia, studied the possibility of reintroducing the mala, or “rufous hare-wallaby” (now surviving only in captivity), into the wild at Uluru. Dr Danks, who works at the Australian Museum in Sydney and in research based at the University of Sydney, examined the ecological importance of the relationship between the swamp wallaby and the truffle fungi it feeds on.

(THE PHOTOGRAPH of Dr James Clayton displayed above expands to include Dr Melissa Danks and UNE’s Dr Karl Vernes, who supervised the two PhD projects.)

Three University Medals were presented at today’s ceremony. One of the medal winners, Joanna Newton, who achieved First Class Honours in graduating as a Bachelor of Rural Science, also won the Edgar H. Booth Memorial Prize and Medal for her academic achievements, and a New England Award for her involvement in extra-curricular activities within the University and Armidale communities.

In delivering the Vote of Thanks on behalf of the graduates at the end of the ceremony, Ms Newton emphasised that it was “the people” who had “made the UNE campus so special” for her. “To the lecturers,” she said, “you’re not just another face in a crowded lecture hall”. And the living environment in the colleges provided “support and a sense of family”. She mentioned that one of the best friends she had made at UNE had flown back from Vietnam to see her graduate today.

The Hon. John Watkins, who worked as a teacher for 16 years before his election to the NSW Parliament in 1995, was the Occasional Address speaker at yesterday’s ceremony for people graduating from within UNE’s School of Education. He told the graduands that they were “part of that most precious national resource – Australia’s teachers”.

Mr Watkins (pictured here), who served as Deputy Premier of NSW from 2005 to 2008, held a number of Ministerial positions, including that of Minister for Education and Training. Now Chief Executive Officer of Alzheimer’s Australia NSW, he is involved in some of the major ageing and dementia challenges facing the NSW community over coming years.

“More important than mining infrastructure, more productive than any stimulus package – you are Australia’s walking, breathing future fund,” Mr Watkins told the graduands. “Your choice of education as a profession will bring lasting benefit to hundreds of communities and tens of thousands of students – many not yet born – over the next half a century.”

The Iraqi Cultural Attaché in Australia & New Zealand, Professor Dr Fadhil Farhood Makki Al-Joborae, who was visiting UNE, was the Chancellor’s Official Guest at yesterday’s ceremony.

Julia Gillard, in Seoul for the World Nuclear Summit, was at Gyeseong Girls Catholic School when students from four Armidale schools “dropped in” from a videoconferencing studio at the University of New England courtesy of the National Broadband Network and the UNE-based Australia-Korea ConneXion Project.

O’Connor Catholic College in Armidale is linked to Gyesong Girls School in the project, and the Prime Minister sat with the Korean students as they exchanged information with the O’Connor students about their respective countries’ singers, saints and sportspeople.

When Prime Minister Gillard joined in the conversation, students from Armidale City Public School, Ben Venue Public School and Duval High School had the opportunity, too, to ask her about her impressions of Korea. Those three Armidale schools are linked to three other Korean schools in the Australia-Korea ConneXion Project.

The Prime Minister said the classroom connection was an example of “the future of education” as the NBN opened the world to students.

Led by UNE’s Dr Myung-sook Auh, the Australia-Korea ConneXion Project is funded by the University itself and the Australia-Korea Foundation within the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It also involves partnerships with technology companies that supply the hardware for the schools.

The University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber, congratulated Dr Auh on her leading role in the innovative project. “Broadband is literally opening up the world to students,” he said, “exposing them to people and ways of life that would otherwise be mere abstractions to them.”

“In the months ahead,” Professor Barber said, “UNE hopes to extend broadband into the remote management of farms, the delivery of health care into retirement villages and the delivery of numeracy and literacy programs into the homes of children and adults at risk of being left behind.

“When the school students involved in the Australia-Korea ConneXion Program graduate from university they will take all these advances for granted, and they will have learnt to use the NBN in ways we haven’t even begun to imagine yet.”

Professor Victor Minichiello, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of UNE’s Faculty of The Professions, said UNE was proudly using the technology of the NBN to take education to a new level.

“The Australia-Korea ConneXion Project demonstrates clearly what will become increasingly possible in education,” Professor Minichiello said. “UNE – a regional university – and local schools are demonstrating innovation and leadership in expanding opportunities to understand the cultures and learning styles of different countries, and to be part of a global learning community.”

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, at Gyeseong Girls Catholic School in Seoul. Clicking on this photograph reveals a video image of UNE’s Chancellor, Richard Torbay (seated at rear), and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber (standing), in the UNE videoconferencing studio with Armidale school students during the link to Korea.

The study, which involved more than 100 couples, aimed to test the effectiveness of positive psychology in increasing participants’ levels of excitement with their relationships. The participants, who ranged in age from 18 to 76, were randomly assigned to one of two groups, either participating in an intervention designed to make their relationship more exciting or being placed on a waiting list. Those who participated in the intervention afterwards showed significantly higher levels of excitement and overall satisfaction with their relationships.

“Relationship research has traditionally tended to focus on conflict and negative factors,” according to Kimberley Coulter, the UNE psychology student who undertook the study for her honours thesis. “This study was about looking at the positive factors; at what was going okay but could be improved.

“Excitement is a common characteristic at the beginning of relationships. It’s something most of us experience when we first get together with someone. Unfortunately, research has shown that over time that initial novelty wears off. We wanted to see if we could bring it back.”

The intervention required participants to sit down together and draw up a plan for making their relationship more exciting. It encouraged them to explore new activities together and to be adventurous, spontaneous, playful, passionate and romantic. Suggestions included hour-long kissing sessions, surprising their partner with flowers, taking a bubble bath together and sharing sexual fantasies. Some couples were even advised to play “Strip Scrabble” as a way to turn up the heat on their relationship.

“A number of the participants said the study almost ‘gave them permission’ to try things with their partner they had previously been too shy to try,” Ms Coulter said. “It allowed them to share their fantasies and act them out.”

While not all the suggestions were sexual, “rediscovering their partner as a sexual being” was key to many of the participants achieving greater levels of excitement in their relationship.

“For many of the couples it came down to having gotten in a rut with their sex life,” Ms Coulter said. “Participating in the study helped them overcome that and ‘make things new again’.”

Dr John Malouff, the UNE psychologist who supervised the study, said that a follow-up assessment had shown the effects of the intervention to be  long-lasting.

“People were still reporting increased levels of excitement and satisfaction four months later, which demonstrates a persistent improvement, ” Dr Malouff said. “It just goes to show that a correctly focused effort can go a long way in improving the quality of a romantic relationship.”

The researchers are now planning a new study that will seek to identify other methods for increasing relationship satisfaction.

Media Contact: Kimberley Coulter (0498 002 231) or Dr John Malouff (02 6773 2555).

The former Commonwealth Ombudsman Allan Asher and former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery QC will each be speaking at upcoming UNE Law events.

 Kirby seminar – March 30, 2012

Allan Asher, former Commonwealth Ombudsman, will deliver the next Kirby Seminar in the School of Law, entitled “Ombudsman: Champion of the people?”  The lecture will take place at 12 noon in the JN Lewis Seminar Room, EBL Building (W38) on Friday, March 30.

Mr Asher will be talking about developments in public administration and accountability and in particular the ethical challenges and dilemmas confronting public servants who bring strong social justice commitments to their role.

Mr Asher has been an outspoken consumer advocate and campaigner for nearly 40 years. He was Deputy Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission 1988-2000. He had a special concern for e-commerce and global information technology matters. From 2001 to 2010 he worked in a range of senior positions as a consumer advocate in the UK and Australia including as CEO of Energy Watch UK. He was Commonwealth Ombudsman from 2010 to 2011.

http://blog.une.edu.au/theprofessions/2012/03/20/allan-asher-to-deliver-the-next-kirby-seminar/

Law Ball – March 31, 2012

Nicholas Cowdery will be the guest speaker at the upcoming Law Ball, to take place at the Armidale Ex-Services Club on Saturday, March 31. Prof Cowdery was the Director of Public Prosecutions for the State of New South Wales from 1994 to 2011. That office is the largest prosecuting agency in Australia.

He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Sydney Institute of Criminology, Faculty of Law, University of Sydney, a Visiting Professorial Fellow at the Faculties of Law in the Universities of NSW and of Wollongong and an Adjunct Professor at Charles Sturt University. He is a legal expert consultant to the Commonwealth Secretariat, London.

http://blog.une.edu.au/theprofessions/2012/03/20/get-your-ticket-to-2012-law-ball-on-31-march/

Rhys Ewins and Danial Newman were chosen as members of a group of Australian university students who travelled to Japan in the summer holidays as participants in the Japan – East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS) program sponsored by the Japanese Government.

Their party of 22 students travelled to the devastated coastal city of Ishinomaki where they saw – in Danial’s words – “piles of cars by the side of the road higher than our tour bus”. “They’ve achieved so much – but there’s still a lot of debris left,” he said. “They’re waiting for that to be removed before they can do anything else.”

He recalled that, on the tour bus that was usually full of talk and laughter, “you could hear a pin drop” as they travelled through the devastation. “It was hard to take,” he said.

“Coming from Australia, where it’s easy to forget about the disaster, and where we’ve seen only what the media have shown us, it was confronting to see the reality,” Rhys said. “But we were amazed to find that the people were still so positive and wanting to move on.”

At the local Kirin brewery, which had been destroyed in the disaster, they were impressed to see how the employees had rallied to its revival. “There were hundreds of thousands of bottles everywhere” (as pictured here), Rhys said. “But not a single employee had quit. They had all stayed on to get the plant functioning again.”

Their 10-day tour also included a visit to the Australian Embassy in Tokyo and Tohoku Gakuin University in the city of Sendai, and a night of “homestay” with Japanese families, when the students had a chance to talk about the disaster in more detail, and to experience Japanese domestic life.

The students’ lecturer in Japanese at UNE, Dr Kiyomi Yamada, said that she had recommended them for the tour following contact with the Japanese Embassy in Canberra. “The tour was for students who had never been to Japan,” she explained. “It gave them a good opportunity to experience Japanese language and culture.”

Both Rhys and Danial are hoping to return to Japan soon: Rhys for further study, and Danial as a teacher of English.

Clicking on the image displayed above reveals a photograph of Dr Kiyomi Yamada with her students Danial Newman (left) and Rhys Ewins.

Ms Alshamma arrived at UNE from her home in Iraq last August, and is undertaking a language program at the University’s English Language Centre (ELC) before embarking on her PhD research.

An experienced driver, she holds both Iraqi and international drivers’ licences. To drive in Australia, however, she has to adapt to driving on the opposite side of the road in a car with a right-hand steering wheel, and become familiar with the local road rules. “The rules are much the same here,” she said. “But the steering wheel’s on a different side – that’s the main problem.”

“At first I intended not to drive, and to rely on public transport,” Ms Alshamma said. “But as I have limited time, and need to fit shopping – even on Sundays – into my busy schedule, I decided to enter the International Student Driving Initiative here in the English Language & International Services (ELIS) Directorate. If I’m going to drive, I need to feel confident of my own and others’ safety.”

The new program – the first of its kind at UNE – is attracting considerable interest among UNE’s international students. “We’re trialling it at the moment,” said Mark Cooper, the Deputy Director of Studies at the ELC. “We had a really good attendance at our first meeting – with students of nine nationalities. And now they’re coming in and asking lots of questions – questions such as: “Can I drive my friend’s car?” and “How do I get a licence?” and questions about insurance.”

“We’re printing copies of the Road Users Handbook in their own languages and making them available to students,” Mr Cooper said. They’re part of a “library” of relevant material that they can borrow. They can come in and practise doing the RTA’s online quiz and, when they can do it in front of us to our satisfaction, they’ll be ready for driving lessons. The students who’ve come with an international licence, in particular, will need information. We’re really keen to get them connected to a driving school to have their driving appraised and to get any necessary instruction.”

“Many of our students are under 25, so having the right insurance is a problem,” said Bronwyn Gilson, Manager of International Services and Compliance at ELIS. “We’re able to give them information about that, and about licensing and buying a car, and to put them in touch with a driving school in Armidale.

The Armidale driving school involved is William Smith’s Aussie Blu Driving School. “I’m very interested in helping drivers from overseas,” Mr Smith said. “I’ve had people from various countries – including South Africa, The Philippines, Malaysia, and Arabic-speaking countries – and most of them have been successful the first time. We have the odd language problem, but we can cope with this.

ELIS will include information sessions in all future Orientation programs, and is keen to hear from any international student who would like to participate in the initiative.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here expands to show Sahar Alshamma in the driver’s seat with driving instructor William Smith beside her.