29 October 2008
29 October 2008
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| Almost one in four applicants placed Monash University as their first choice destination for 2009. |
New figures show demand for Monash University courses continues to grow among Victorian school leavers.
The number of first preference picks to study Monash University Commonwealth-supported courses in 2009 hit an all time high of 12,876 compared with 11,096 last year, an increase of 16 per cent.
Almost one in four total applicants placed Monash University as their first choice destination.
Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) data released last week also showed a total of 85,442 selections for a Monash University Commonwealth-supported place, a 9 per cent increase on last year's total of 78,216.
VTAC is the primary vehicle for Victorian school leavers to apply for university selection.
Monash University Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Larkins said the strong student interest reflected the growing prestige of a Monash degree.
"We welcome the figures, which reflect student demand for teaching and research excellence, a wide range of double degree choices, course flexibility and the ability to study towards a chosen profession from day one, all of which are key features of the recently launched Monash Passport," Professor Larkins said.
Professor Larkins said there was generally strong first-preference demand for Commonwealth-supported places across the University's 10 faculties including Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences courses (up 39 per cent), Science (up 19 per cent), Engineering (14 per cent up) and Information Technology (up 18 per cent).
Monash University is Australia's largest and most international university, with six campuses across Melbourne and in regional Victoria, plus international campuses in Malaysia and South Africa.
Monash University was recently ranked at number 47 in the world by the Times Higher Education Supplement and is one of the youngest universities in this prestigious group.
29 October 2008
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| Professor Kate Burridge |
Keeping pace with the chaos of a living language has become a life-long passion for Monash linguist Professor Kate Burridge.
More new words are being created today than in any other period in the rich history of the English language.
"You think you know where language is going and then it does this incredible about-face or does something completely different," Professor Burridge said.
"Ask a dictionary maker today and they'll say more new words are being produced than ever before.
"Grammar is evolving as well; we're not just losing words and gaining words, but we also lose and gain constructions."
A prime example is the ever-controversial "gonna", which Professor Burridge said would eventually push out the word "will", the same way that "will" is pushing out "shall".
One of the major forces behind such rapid language shift is not what is said, but what is left unsaid.
Taboos, the subject of Professor Burridge's 2006 book Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language co-authored with Monash colleague Professor Keith Allen, is responsible for some of the English language's most spectacular lexical gymnastics.
She said English speakers' unending attempts to avoid directly mentioning the unmentionable has stimulated language change and literally given new meaning to hundreds of words.
"English speakers get interested by the fact that certain languages have many words for snow or camel, but look at the lexical richness of English -- with around 2000 terms for a wanton woman," she said.
"We tiptoe around something linguistically and recruit another term that's maybe nearby."
Under such forces, general terms take on a new specific meaning, such as "insane" -- once a general term for poor physical health -- becoming a euphemism for mental illness. "Insane" has itself now become a taboo in some circumstances, its meaning too abrupt to describe mental illness.
Another example is the word '"coffin", which once described a box, but is tainted by the taboo of death. Now the only time the word is used outside the funeral industry is by bakers, who maintain a tradition of using the word to describe a container.
Professor Burridge said that while some traditional taboos concerned with topics such as sex and violence were beginning to relax, others had risen to take their place.
"Since the 1980s English speakers have become queasy about how to talk to, and about, others," she said.
"This has resulted in a rise of '-ist' taboos -- sexist, racist, ageist, religionist language."
Professor Burridge spreads the word on the dynamics of the English language through regular appearances on ABC radio and ABC television's 'Can We Help?' Professor Burridge is Chair of Linguistics in the Linguistics Program in the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics in the Faculty of Arts.
29 October 2008
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| Professor Mark Peel |
History lecturer Mark Peel believes teachers have the capacity to transform people's lives.
He has been recognised by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council for his use of imaginative problem-solving tasks to engage students.
"Many students struggle to find a voice in traditional tutorial formats. A teacher's task -- and most important legacy -- is to help students develop this voice," Professor Peel said.
"In one of the largest units I teach, The American Civil War, all students take part in a role-play called The Convention, which is set after the outbreak of war in 1861.
"Each tutorial group represents a particular constituency, preparing and presenting a manifesto to the class. The class then negotiates in an attempt to find a way forward that doesn't involve escalation of the conflict.
"Over the years, the quality of the manifestos and visual presentations has been remarkable, with the careful research in contemporary sources often reflected in the research essays that students write later."
Professor Peel said the quality of student engagement was perhaps the most impressive.
"In the two weeks before The Convention each group uses an online discussion board to declare its interests and seek alliances," Professor Peel said.
"Students can only use concepts and words that would have been known to the people of the time and they must work effectively as a team in order to develop strategies and manage negotiations.
"The response to this activity has been overwhelmingly positive, both in terms of enhancing their understanding of the issues faced and building capacity for problem-based and collaborative learning.
"Just as important is the extent to which collaboration and role play develop the potential of particular students, some of whom struggle to find a voice in traditional tutorial formats. Having experienced success in these tasks, they are transformed."
Professor Peel was also recognised for his contribution to tackling the transition and welfare problems that can affect students, both at Monash and at other universities.
"Between 1997 and 2002 I interviewed Year 12 students and teachers from thirty schools across Victoria, and nearly one hundred students moving from school to university," Professor Peel said.
"This research helped identify the real issues behind student transition and also convinced academic staff of their role in student welfare and progress.
"It is particularly gratifying for this aspect of my work to be recognised, especially when it has impacted on the way that universities approach the issue of supporting students' academic progress and retention."
Professor Peel is Deputy Head at the School of Historical Studies in the Faculty of Arts.
29 October 2008
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| Professor George Hampel AM QC |
A Monash University law professor and former Supreme Court judge has called for the introduction of high-level compulsory training and assessment of all aspiring Australian barristers to address the problem of incompetent representation of clients.
Professor George Hampel AM QC said every state's Bar should introduce rigorous assessments to ensure lawyers had acquired a minimum level of competence before they could act as barristers.
He said solicitors should also have to pass some form of assessment and accreditation before they were allowed to act as advocates.
"The overall quality of barristers in Australia is good but a significant minority of barristers do not have sufficient skills and should not be representing clients," Professor Hampel said.
"Judges are constantly reporting cases of barristers showing insufficient preparation, legal research, knowledge of basic case law, legislation and advocacy skills.
"Ultimately the people who suffer are clients, who face a serious risk of injustice."
Professor Hampel said the court system also suffered from poor advocacy because it was much harder for judges to conduct cases and run an efficient system when they were receiving insufficient assistance from barristers and other advocates.
"Training courses are compulsory for aspiring barristers in most states but most courses don't conclude with aspiring advocates being assessed to ensure achievement of adequate competence in basic skills such as development of case theory, witness examination, presenting argument and addressing juries," Professor Hampel said.
"The assessments that do exist are not adequate for ensuring basic competence."
Professor Hampel has chaired the Australian Advocacy Institute (AAI) since 1991. The organisation is a world leader in advocacy training and conducts workshops for advocates in all common-law countries.
The AAI has just released a manual, written by Professor Hampel, which outlines the fundamental principles underlying competent advocacy and how they can be most effectively taught and assessed.
Professor Hampel said he hoped all states in Australia would use the manual as the basis for training and assessment of advocates.
Professor Hampel leads Advocacy: theory and practice in the Monash Postgraduate law program.
29 October 2008
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| Around the Bay participants celebrate after the event. |
TeamMONASH™ was well represented in the recent Melbourne Marathon and Around the Bay in a Day events.
Over 500 runners and walkers from TeamMONASH™ competed in the annual Melbourne Marathon event on 12 October.
It was third time around for Monash alumnus Kenny Cheng (BA Commerce, 2003) who completed the 21.1 kilometre event.
"I compete in these events with some of my friends; the team atmosphere is great," Mr Cheng said.
More than 400 TeamMONASH™ riders competed in Around the Bay in a Day on Sunday 19 October. Monash received two awards, one for entering the largest university team, and another for entering the largest team overall.
The next TeamMONASH™ event will be the Portsea Swim Classic, on Saturday 17 January, 2009.
29 October 2008
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| Dr Simon Campbell |
For Monash postgraduate Dr Simon Campbell, the sky's the limit.
In a unanimous decision by the Astronomical Society of Australia, Dr Campbell has been awarded the Charlene Heisler Prize for the best Australian Astronomy PhD thesis in 2007.
Dr Campbell's thesis Structural and nucleosynthetic evolution of metal-poor and metal-free low and intermediate mass stars impressed the judging committee with its scope and the clear way it linked theory and observation.
Dr Campbell said it was an honour to receive the award and welcome recognition for years of hard work and effort.
"My thesis was a study in stellar evolution, using computer codes that include the necessary physics to follow the entire lifetime evolution of various types of stars," Dr Campbell said.
"It focused on stars born just after the Big Bang -- the first generation of stars that lit up the universe.
"These stars were also the first to release newly-formed elements into the universe, often referred to as pollution, through supernovae and stellar winds.
"This pollution or 'stardust' has now found its way into more modern stars like our sun, as well as planets and even living things like us!"
Dr Campbell also investigated the second generation of stars.
He said the two generations were of particular interest because astronomers had recently discovered a group of stars in the Milky Way galaxy that have very little pollution.
"This means that they are extremely old -- they are 'stellar relics' from the early times of the universe," Dr Campbell said.
"Understanding them through stellar modeling should give a big insight into the early stages of the evolution of our galaxy and possibly the universe in general."
Dr Campbell thanked his supervisor Professor John Lattanzio from the School of Mathematical Sciences in the Faculty of Science, and his fellow PhD students for their inspiration and support.
Dr Campbell is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA) in Taipei, Taiwan.
22 October 2008
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| Stepping out: Monash staff members Ann Tapley, Jaswin Bal, and John Whale. |
For the past five weeks, more than 2000 Monash staff stepped out for better health, participating in the 10,000 Steps Challenge.
More than 245 teams from across all campuses counted their steps along the challenge, walking a virtual route that visited all Monash campuses.
The Monash team that completed the challenge first was the Step Warriors team, from Monash South Africa. The All Sorts team from the Gippsland campus recorded the highest number of steps.
A celebration event was held last week at the Peninsula, Caulfield and Clayton campuses with special guest speaker Dr John Tickell.
Congratulations to all staff who participated in the Challenge and remember to keep walking 10,000 steps a day.
29 October 2008
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| Stephen Anderson, 'Blue and Yellow Flow' 2008. |
Stephen Anderson's mesmerising paintings, currently on exhibit at the Switchback Gallery at Gippsland, explore process and psychological states and show the influence of the Indigenous culture he is immersed in.
Mr Anderson, who recently completed the Master of Visual Arts course at Gippsland Centre for Art and Design, works as the Youth Program Coordinator at the Milingimbi community, Northern Territory.
Milingimbi is an island community just off the coast of Arnhem Land with a long, rich tradition of creative and cultural works including bark paintings, carvings and weavings.
Mr Anderson was formerly a ceramic artist so his work is also influenced by decorative and patterning traditions in pottery.
Monash art and design lecturer Julian Holcroft said: "Stephen's paintings are a high-wire act that folds tactile and performative actions such as markmaking, patching, and stitching into a complex mathematical system of realignments, displacements and divisions."
Switchback Gallery is open 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, and located at Building 6S, Monash University, Gippsland campus.
For further information, telephone +61 3 5122 6261.
The exhibition runs until Thursday 6 November, 2008.
29 October 2008
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| Monash environment consultant Michelle Giovas, Danielle Evans from John Morris Scientific, Faculty of Pharmacy Resources Manager Paul Dover and lecturer medicinal chemistry Dr Bim Graham. |
A new water saving device will save nearly one million litres of water a year for the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
A $20,000 grant from the Monash Office of Environmental Sustainability will allow the faculty to install recirculating chillers for use with rotary evaporators (rotovaps) in its eight laboratories, instead of using flowing water.
Evaporation and separation are key steps in many laboratories. The rotovap is a device used in chemical laboratories for the efficient and gentle removal of solvents from samples by evaporation.
Key components include a condenser which has a coil through which coolant passes, and a vacuum pump to substantially reduce the pressure within the evaporator system.
The chillers save water by replacing free draining water through the condenser with recirculated, reused chilled water.
Faculty resources manager Paul Dover said each unit would save around 120,000 litres of water per lab, equating to one million litres a year.
"In the past two years the faculty has purchased two solvent purification systems and installed diaphragm pumps to replace water driven vacuum pumps on our rotovaps, both initiatives leading to significant water and financial savings," Mr Dover said.
"This new initiative will build on these savings and our commitment to environmental sustainability in our day to day operations.
"We thank the Office of Environmental Sustainability and in particular Michelle Giovas for supporting the project."
1 October 2008
I trust that everyone is now aware of the Monash Passport model, to be launched formally during the Education Expo on October 8 as part of the Educate08 celebration of excellence in learning and teaching at Monash, which will be held from Thursday October 2 to Friday October 10.
The Monash Passport offers students a broad menu of opportunities, combining degree programs with international exchanges, leadership programs, work training programs and volunteer and research opportunities as a grounding for outstanding careers.
The hallmarks of the Monash Passport are embedding opportunities for students to:
Details of the exciting Educate08 program and the Monash Passport model are accessible through the Monash website.
Participation in sport is, for many students, a highlight of their university experience and nowhere is this better supported than at Monash. On Sunday evening, September 28, I officially opened the 2008 Australian University Games (AUG) at the Melbourne Town Hall. Monash University is the Principal Partner University for the Games. These Games will encompass approximately 7000 participants competing in 28 sports making it the biggest University Games to date. There will be more participants than in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Monash University has 520 students taking part and of course many other students and staff are involved in the organisation of the Games and as volunteers.
Monash University was placed second in the AUG in 2007 and taking into account the non-AUG sporting events was placed first overall in sports in 2007.
Importantly, it is not only in sport that Monash students are taking part in activities that add to their university experience in areas other than academic achievement. Our debaters again performed outstandingly well at the World Championships and Monash is the fourth ranked university in the world in debating. Student theatre, the Monash Philharmonic and the many other Clubs and Societies provide opportunities for students to pursue a wide range of interests. Many other students are active participants in volunteer organisations such as the Oaktree Foundation, Engineers without Borders, AISEC, Students in Free Enterprise and Golden Key as well as many others within the University and in the community. Other students play leadership roles in student associations.
Monash University is strongly committed to giving students the opportunity to undertake a range of activities outside the classroom that help them to develop personal and life skills beyond anything that can be achieved through academic studies alone. Lifelong friendships are commenced, often crossing national boundaries. Organisational, leadership and communication skills are developed and personal interests are fostered outside work that enrich the lives of our students and often form the basis for lifelong activities.
Such activities well and truly prepare students to "Adopt as your fundamental creed that you will equip yourself for life, not solely for your own benefit but for the benefit of the whole community" as exhorted by Sir John Monash.
29 October 2008
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Name: Ludo Masole
Course: Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Clayton campus
Year level: 2
What is it about your course and the University that helped you to choose Monash?
Recent years have seen a major shift in medicine from the autocratic, didactic way of learning things to an approach where the patient is seen as a whole individual as part of a community. Monash strives to do that, calling it a holistic approach to health and health care. That is what drew me most to Monash.
What is your favourite subject and why?
I have an interest in microbiology. I am particularly interested in infectious diseases, and microbiology is a big part of that. I also like obstetrics. Just the thought of taking care of someone as they prepare to bring a life into this world is just fascinating.
What challenges are ahead for you this year?
I am about to sit a vertically integrated assessment that covers all the material we have learnt since year one. I am also part of Botswana Medical Students Association (BOMSA), an initiative run by Botswana medical students studying all over the world. We are planning a health promotion campaign at three sites in Botswana to inform the community about measures they can put in place to lower their risk of obesity, hypertension and type 2 diabetes.
What will be your ideal career (and what will it involve) when you graduate?
I would like to become either an infectious disease specialist or an obstetrician. I would also like a career that does not consume all my time (though this one will consume a lot), because I would like to enjoy my life outside of work too. Bottom line is I want to live a full life, and be able to look back and smile on what I have achieved.
What is it about your course that holds your interest or is particularly satisfying?
As I go through the course I feel more and more like a doctor. The fact that I am going to use what I am taught and what I will experience to heal people and make them happy holds my interest. It satisfies me to know that I will actually make a difference, small as it may be. The difference we are making through BOMSA, although it is challenging, is also very satisfying.
Of all the places in the world you would like to visit/re-visit, where is your favourite destination and why?
I would love to visit Croatia. It looks so beautiful and serene. My favourite destination is Botswana. This never used to be the case when I lived there, but since moving away from home I miss it so much and towards the end of the year am constantly thinking of home and my family. I wouldn’t trade home countries with anyone.
What is the best piece of advice you have received?
My mother once told me to believe in myself and that is the best piece of advice I have ever received.
What is something about yourself that most of your fellow students wouldn’t know?
I have a three and a half year old daughter. She lives in Botswana with my parents and is the best thing that has ever happened to me. She inspires me to be the best I can be because I want her to be proud of me.
29 October 2008
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The man who coached the Hawthorn Football Club to AFL Grand Final victory this year is a Monash graduate.
Alastair Clarkson completed a Monash Master of Business Administration (MBA) a decade ago and partly credits that experience with his success on the football field.
The Hawthorn-Monash connection doesn't stop there. CEO Ian Robson is an economics graduate and three 2008 players (Tom Murphy, Josh Kennedy and Tim Clarke) are currently studying at Monash University.
For further reading see the latest issue of Monash Magazine.