Archive
November 2012
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Welcome to the game show where no one's a winner
30 November 2012
Federal politics is shamelessly vacuous and destructive, and we the electorate regularly reward this state of affairs.
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Solving the world’s wicked sustainability problems
29 November 2012
Professor Dave Griggs explains why cross-disciplinary research is challenging, but necessary in order to address environmental challenges.
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Gonski school funding moves forward but leaves much behind
28 November 2012
Today the Australian Education Bill – the legislation following on from the Gonski review into school funding – was introduced into parliament.
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Overseas ventures a success
27 November 2012
Through the measures outlined above Monash University is actively repositioning for the next ten years of its journey and for ongoing growth in academic excellence.
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Maritime safety and Australia’s duty to rescue at sea
26 November 2012
Australia, like all other coastal states, is under an absolute obligation to undertake rescue at sea wherever and whenever necessary.
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Getting hold of government documents – the saga continues
23 November 2012
Recently, the Supreme Court of Victoria handed down its decision in the first stage of the litigation in which Mr Greg Barber M.L.C. is seeking to have the Court declare the rights of access of Houses of Parliament to government documents.
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ASEAN Human Rights Declaration: a step forward or a slide backwards?
21 November 2012
One of the outcomes of the 21st Summit of the ASEAN in Phnom Penh, was the adoption of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration by the ten member states.
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Online learning glitch: MOOC flaws will be hard to resolve
20 November 2012
Last weekend, The Guardian ran an article entitled “Do online courses spell the end for the traditional university?” Had I been the one writing that article, it would have been precisely two letters long: “N-O”
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Classic milk bar more than a suburban icon
20 November 2012
Visiting local neighbourhood shops is integral to the daily independent living experience of many older people.
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The real lesson from Obama's victory is his leadership style
19 November 2012
Our parties should resist slavishly adopting US campaign strategies.
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Mickey Mouse as Luke Skywalker: Does it really matter?
16 November 2012
On the day before Halloween, the Disney Company announced that they had acquired LucasFilm, the company owned by George Lucas.
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It's essential we think outside the confessional box
16 November 2012
Who says politicians can't sing in unison? This week we've seen the full array of politicians - Green, Labor, Liberal and independent - lining up to dismantle the Catholic Church's institution of sealed confession.
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Generation next: where to for Australia’s young people?
15 November 2012
A new report shows that one in four young Australians are not fully engaged in employment or training despite government targets aiming to get more young people qualified or into a job
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Children’s rights versus freedom of religion: the sanctity of the confessional seal
15 November 2012
In response to the ongoing cascade of accusations and evidence of systemic and decades long child abuse, the federal government finally announced a Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse on Monday.
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Electric bikes at 250 watts… the view has opened up nicely
14 November 2012
If you’ve not ridden an electric bicycle yet, chances are you know someone who has. Or maybe someone rode past you on one and you thought it was a conventional bike.
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The same-sex marriage implications for Australia from the US election and abroad
13 November 2012
The recent elections in the United States have produced a number of interesting outcomes, not least of which is the overwhelming support for marriage equality.
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Church and state oppose a Royal Commission at the expense of clergy’s victims
12 November 2012
Report after damning report is rapidly revealing the dirty secrets of the Catholic Church.
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The world wide web of abuse
12 November 2012
Across the globe, the organised crimes of serial child rapists have been met with disorganisation by careless institutions.
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What we owe them this Remembrance Day
11 November 2012
Did someone say Lest We Forget? Perhaps we already have.
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Remembering the importance of Remembrance Day
11 November 2012
What is the role of Remembrance Day for Australians in the 21st Century? Since the end of the First World War, Australians have faced questions around the purpose of Remembrance Day.
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The conflict at home and abroad: Australian involvement in Syria
10 November 2012
In Syria, the optimism which accompanied the Arab Spring uprising has faded into the reality of a bloody sectarian civil war. Recent media reports have highlighted the involvement of foreign fighters in the conflict, including a number of Australians.
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How tweet it is: Barack Obama and the ‘intimization’ of politics
9 November 2012
2012’s been quite a year for tweeters. First we had the Twitter Olympics. Now, Barack Obama’s first impulse, on hearing of his re-election as President of the United States, was to tweet out thanks to the American electorate.
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Why are some animals blue and others red?
7 November 2012
Why are some animals blue and others red? Explaining the diversity of colours in nature is a central issue in evolutionary biology.
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Rethinking the age boys reach puberty
6 November 2012
Boys are entering puberty earlier than previously thought, according to research from the United States recently published in the journal Pediatrics.
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Australia's Asian-ness is barely visible
5 November 2012
There are too few Asian-Australians in the rooms that matter.
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Talk of a 'nuclear bonanza' is just an elaborate con job
5 November 2012
The push to mine Queensland’s uranium is a con job and the con goes further than the LNP’s decision to take a no-uranium position to the election, only to reverse it months later on the flimsiest of pretences.
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Right beneath your feet: the meaning of the Hajj
5 November 2012
Hajjar's husband left her and her infant son in the desert at God's orders. Alone in an incomprehensible situation, she sat down to wait, believing God would help them.
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Asian century goal relies on unjust rankings for universities
2 November 2012
The Asian century white paper - released this week - presents a clear vision for the role of Australian universities in building links with Asia.
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Shattering the facade of kindness
2 November 2012
In excising the Australian mainland from the migration zone we're excising asylum seekers' lives from our humanitarian concern.
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Aboriginal people are still denied full citizenship
1 November 2012
It is shocking to learn that the non-registration of Aboriginal births remains so prevalent in a wealthy country like Australia, writes Associate Professor Paula Gerber.