Volume 7 Number 1
January 10 - February 13 2011

Tim Thomas, Half Marathon (alumnus, athletics club member), Kirstie Dench, Cycling (Sports Co-ordinator) and Chris Gronow, 10km run (Commerce/Law final fifth year).

Mind and sinew

The founder of sport at the University of Melbourne Professor Martin Howy Irving was, according to Ernest Scott, author of the first history of the University, “a man of mind and sinew”. And vision. Sport at Melbourne was established at Irving’s initiative on the English model beginning with cricket and rowing, but immediately became a leader in local developments through its pioneering role in Australian Rules Football. Over the next century and a half sport at Melbourne has evolved into the broad and inclusive sphere that accommodates both elite and recreational participants in facilities located in and around the heart of the Parkville campus. Shane Cahill reports.

Alumni

  • Life on the rocky shores

    Three world-class marine biologists, two of whom are alumni, have released the third edition of Life on the Rocky Shores, a fascinating look into one of our unique eco-systems, the intertidal reef, or in simpler terms, our seashore. Lieu Pham reports.

  • Rocking the tectonic plates

    Dr Mark Quigley is something of a geo “rockstar”, capturing the public’s interest in all things seismic in his popular lectures while providing expert on the ground commentary in the aftermath of the recent New Zealand earthquakes. Lieu Pham reports.

Feature story

  • McKenzie Fellows – one year on

    One year after Voice covered the announcement of the inaugural McKenzie Fellowships, named for Professor John McKenzie, Zoe Nikakis talks to the Fellows about how their research projects are progressing. 

  • Let the rhythm take you

    A passion for music and understanding how we connect with it has led to the development of new musical instruments. Rebecca Scott reports.

Partnerships

  • ‘Bring me your problems’

    The Defence Science Institute officially launched late last year will forge close collaborations with researchers across the University of Melbourne, Victorian higher education institutions and industry. Gabrielle Murphy speaks to Professor Steven Prawer about the Institute’s potential to deliver smarter defence solutions for a safer Australia.

  • Bridging the digital divide

    Having access to a computer and knowing how to use it is something most of us take for granted. Gabrielle Murphy reports on how the Opportunities for Carlton partnership is working to close the gap between the IT haves and have-nots in the local community. 

News

  • Have Guide, will wander

    With the advent of 24/7 convenience stores the iconic Australian ‘milk bar’ is becoming a thing of the past, which may help ease that confusion for academic visitors to Melbourne, but for other unfamiliar conventions, the newly launched sixth edition of the Wandering Scholar’s Guide to Melbourne will come in handy. Katherine Smith revisits the Guide.

  • Ironing out deficiencies

    Research into iron deficiency has won Dr Sant-Rayn Pasricha a Victoria Fellowship, taking him to the WHO in Geneva. Rebecca Scott reports.

  • Distinctly different cities

    Professor Craig Pearson, Director of the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, previews a major conference on sustainable urbanisation to be held in Melbourne.

  • Top of the class

    University of Melbourne Extension Program student Zoe Willett has achieved a rare feat – not only receiving the highest score among those taking Psychology as part of extension studies, but also topping the entire first-year undergraduate Psychology class. By Katherine Smith.

  • Welcome to Melbourne!

    If you’ve ever started life in a new city, or just passed through on your travels, you’ll know a local connection can mean the difference between just scratching the surface of a new city or really feeling at home in the community. By Zoe Nikakis.

  • More than 6000 graduate

    In 2010 for the first time, the University offered eligible students the opportunity to graduate at one of the 22 graduation ceremonies, including Engineering at the Royal Exhibition Building, scheduled in December. There was an overwhelmingly positive response to this new end-of-year timeframe, with more than 6000 students electing to graduate at one of the ceremonies.

Profiles

  • New commitment to social work justice

    The new head of Social Work, Professor Marie Connolly, in a career that has taken her to the highest levels of her profession and government, remains more committed than ever to front line social workers, a creative approach and social justice. Shane Cahill reports.

Research

  • Medical tourism versus human rights

    If you enter the term ‘medical tourism’ into Google, more than 2.6 million hits appear. Yet despite this industry’s impressive growth, its social and economic impact on developing nations has been largely overlooked, according to PhD student Kristen Smith, who argues this reflects a global shift towards the privatisation and commercialisation of healthcare which has served to devalue the idea of health as a social or human right. Emma O’Neill reports.

  • It takes all types

    Melbourne academics are developing a new field of analysis to understand the occurrence of types. By Katherine Smith.

Reviews and Previews

  • There’s no time

    Wood, canvas, glass, paint and stone converse with a large mural painting, a two-part ‘door’ sculpture and four luminous paintings. Katrina Raymond previews There’s no time: John Spiteri, Mira Gojak, Bradd Westmoreland, Karl Wiebke at The Ian Potter Museum of Art, at the University of Melbourne.

  • Living in a new world

    University High School celebrates its centenary during which time it has opened up a new world to generations of students and staff. By Shane Cahill.

  • Dream rooms

    Dream Rooms (below) by Matthew Dobson, a student in the Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of Medical Science course, was the winner of the John Masefield Prize in Poetry which was established in 1937 and is available in alternate years.

  • And the party goes on

    Christy Hopwood previews the Melbourne Theatre Company’s (MTC) first production for 2011 where Don, of David Williamson’s Don’s Party fame, saddles up for the 2010 election, older but, it seems, no wiser than he was at his 1969 party.

Student Life

  • Our own Iron Chefs

    Two teams of students each get $40 to buy ingredients to prepare a two-course meal, one of which has to be vegetarian. The catch? The dishes have to be prepared in an hour using only the barbecue pits provided at the University of Melbourne’s North Court. Sumisha Naidu reports on the Food Interest Group’s (FIG) annual Iron Chef BBQ Competition.

Viewpoint

  • From the Vice-Chancellor

    Creating future leaders

  • GDP – could it be past its use-by date?

    Nilss Olekalns is Professor in the Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, at the University of Melbourne. He explores measures of national prosperity and asks if we might not be overlooking something in our favourite economic metric.

  • Free will’s win


    Philosophers have been debating for many centuries whether determinism is compatible with free will and are justifiably sceptical of regular scientific claims that proof exists to show the notion of free will has been eliminated. Neil Levy joins the argument.