The Graduate Union Newsletter — April 2016 —
W elcome
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to the
A pril 2016 N ewsletter
Graduate House Winter Ball
GU Collegiate Events: Coming Events Monthly Luncheon with guest Joanna Fletcher College Tables with Dr Christoph Breidbach GU Flu Vaccination Day
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Reviews: Women’s Forum March Monthly Luncheon Successful Graduate Pathway Seminar with Charles Kovess GU Tastings Review
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Features Discovering Melbourne
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Puzzles
Endowment
Donate to the future of Graduates
2016 Non-Member Survey Thank you to those Members who have already completed the 2016 Graduate Union Survey. We have also released a non-member survey to get a better understanding of what is seen as being valuable offerings for a membership association. We ask that you share the non-member survey (which you can find on our website’s homepage) with your networks. Thank you.
Crossing Extremities
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News: Resident and Members News The Corporate Identity Crisis PhD Confirmation Presentations Equivalence and Algebraic Thinking University Sector News
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Stories at Graduate House
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Academic and Professional Development Meetings Listings of February 2016
Career Roundtable Session One
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Graduate House Winter Ball
July 22 nd 2016 To be held in partnership with
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GU Collegiate Events
We invite you, Members and non-members, to attend the coming events.
APRIL I TA L I A N C O N V E R S AT I O N D I N N E R
6:00pm
Tu e s d a y, 5 t h , 1 9 t h Come along to dine while learning to speak Italian with an experienced teacher. Me mb e r s $ 1 5 , n o n - m e mb e r s $ 2 0 .
M O N T H LY LU N C H E O N
12:00 midday for 12:30pm
We d n e s d a y, 6 t h Guest speaker Joanna Fletcher will talk about “Family Violence - a new approach or same same but different.� R e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 1 0 , n o n - r e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 3 0 , c o n c e s s i o n $ 3 5 , general public $40.
BRIDGE NIGHTS
7:20pm for 7.30pm
We d n e s d a y, 6 t h , 1 3 t h , 2 0 t h , 2 7 t h Join a game or learn to play the card game Bridge. Enjoy a shared platter for supper, as well as tea and coffee. Me mb e r s $ 2 , n o n - m e mb e r s $ 5 .
I N F LU E N Z A A N D VAC C I N AT I O N D AY
10:00am till 4:00pm
T h u r s d a y, 7 t h Free flu vaccinations are available for all members, as well as for nonmember university students and staff. Va c c i n at i o n i s f r e e . S t ay f o r l u n c h i f d e s i r e d .
F R I D AY D R I N K S a n d D I N N E R
6:00pm to 8:00pm
Fr i d a y, 8 t h An ideal convivial end-of-week wind-down, come along with colleagues for drinks and stay for a meal. B a r a n d d i n i n g r o o m p r i c e s a p p ly.
S P E C I A L M O R N I N G B R E A K FA S T
7:30am to 8.30am
Tu e s d a y, 1 2 t h Non-resident members are welcome to join Resident Members for a hearty breakfast. Fr e e f o r R e s i d e nt m e mb e r s , n o n - r e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 1 5 .
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C O L L E G E TA B L E D I S C U S S I O N I n f o r m a t i o n Te c h n o l o g y
12:00midday for 12:30pm
Fr i d a y, 1 5 t h Dr Christoph Briedbach from Department of Computing and Information Systems will lead the conversation on “Rise of the Machines: Will Australia Survive the Fourth Industrial Revolution?” Lu n c h i s at d i n i n g r o o m p r i c e s .
WOMEN’S FORUM
10:00am for 10:30am
We d n e s d a y, 2 0 t h April’s topic is “Has Handwriting reached the full stop yet?” Join the ladies for a lively discussion and stay for lunch if desired. Fo r u m i s Fr e e . Lu n c h i s at Me mb e r a n d n o n - m e mb e r p r i c e s .
Some MAY highlights M O N T H LY LU N C H E O N
12:00 midday for 12:30pm
We d n e s d a y, 4 t h Our May speaker is Paul Southwick, businessman, entrepreneur and company director. R e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 1 0 , n o n - r e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 3 0 , c o n c e s s i o n $ 3 5 , general public $40.
T W I L I G H T S E M I N A R A N D TA S T I N G S
Ta s t i n g s 5 : 3 0 p m Seminar 6:30pm
T h u r s d a y, 1 2 t h Sample great tastings of food and wine, along with GU canapés and stay for the lecture with guest speaker Alistair Urquhart of Affairs of State. R e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 1 0 , n o n - r e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 3 0 , c o n c e s s i o n $ 3 5 , general public $40.
C O L L E G E TA B L E D I S C U S S I O N Ec o s y s t e m a n d Fo r e s t S c i e n c e s
12:00 midday for 12:30pm
Fr i d a y, 2 0 t h Prof Stefan Arndt from the School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, University of Melbourne will be leading the discussion. Lu n c h i s at d i n i n g r o o m p r i c e s .
G U A N N U A L G E N E R A L M E E T I N G ( AG M ) AND DINNER
AG M 5 : 3 0 p m Dinner 7:30pm
T h u r s d a y, 2 6 t h The 104th Annual General Meeting (members only) is followed by the AGM dinner with guest speaker Leigh Clifford AO, Chairman of Qantas. R e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 1 0 , n o n - r e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 3 0 , c o n c e s s i o n $ 3 5 , general public $40.
Book Now
via our website, by phone 03 9347 3428, by email admingh@graduatehouse.com.au or at the venue, 220 Leicester Street, Carlton.
www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B
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The Monthly Luncheon with
Joanna Fletcher Family violence: a new approach or same same but different? Wednesday April 6th Resident Members Non-Resident Members General Public Concession
12:00 noon for 12.30pm $10 $30 $40 $35
ABN 55610664963
220 Leicester Street, Carlton, 3053 (03) 9347 3428 admingh@graduatehouse.com.au www.graduatehouse.com.au
IAR No. A0023234B
www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B
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Joanna Fletcher Family violence: a new approach or same same but different? Joanna has nearly 15 years’ experience working on issues arising from relationship breakdown and violence against women - in legal practice, policy and management. Prior to commencing as Chief Executive Officer of Women’s Legal Service Victoria (WLSV) in April 2010, Joanna managed WLSV’s policy and advocacy work. She was also the national spokesperson for Women’s Legal Services Australia. Joanna is a member of the Violence Against Women and Children Forum (Victoria) and has been a significant contributor to family violence and family law reform. Joanna has also worked as a Senior Researcher (Family Violence) at the Judicial College of Victoria and as a Senior Advisor in the Family Violence Reform Coordination Unit in state government. At the April Monthly Luncheon, Joanna will be discussing a new approach to Family Violence, focussing on the following points: Family violence has reached epidemic levels in Australia. One in four Australian women has experienced violence from an intimate partner and more than one woman is killed every single week by her current or former partner. Australians are not turning away from this crisis. From the floors of parliaments to social media feeds, the voices against violence are growing. Everyday Australians are saying we will no longer stand by as women’s safety is threatened. As they are murdered. Australia’s first Royal Commission into Family Violence reports on the 29th of March. Victims and advocates, overwhelmed services and the community as a whole have been waiting and hoping for recommendations that will set out a new way forward. A better system that will keep women and children safe. A system resourced to meet demand in the most effective way. Will these hopes and expectations be met? ABN 55610664963
IAR No. A0023234B
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The Graduate Union Presents
College Tables I nformation Technology College Tables are informal collegial lunch-time discussions on a ‘grand challenge’ issue in a graduate school field. The Graduate Union College Table discussion on Friday, April 15th, 2016 will be led by Dr Christoph Breidbach, Department for Computing and Information Systems, The University of Melbourne. Join us for lunch as Dr Breidbach leads discussion on :
Rise of the Machines: Will Australia Survive the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
12 noon for 12:30pm
at Graduate House
Usual Dining Room prices apply
Friday, April 15th
Book online at www.graduatehouse.com.au, by phone 9347 3428, through email to admingh@graduatehouse.com.au or at the venue, 220 Leicester Street, Carlton.
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Dr Christoph BreiDBaCh
Dr Christoph Breidbach is a Lecturer at the University of Melbourne, Department of Computing and Information Systems. He has won multiple awards for his research, teaching, and industry engagement, and previously held positions at the University of California, Merced, as well as IBM’s Almaden Research Center. Dr Breidbach’s publications consistently appear in leading international journals, including the Journal of Service Research, Managing Service Quality, The Service Industries Journal, Service Science, Marketing Theory, and other outlets. He serves on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Service Research, Journal of Business Research, and the Journal of Service Theory and Practice, and holds leadership positions at the International Society of Service Innovation Professionals, as well as the Service Integration Gateway (SIG) Services at the Association for Information Systems.
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GU Flu Vaccination Day In collaboration with ISG (Influenza Specialist Group), Graduate House presents its fifth annual Influenza Vaccination Day. This is a free community service - all Members (resident and nonresident) are welcome; as are all graduates, university staff, their families and friends. Graduate House extends again a warm welcome to the organisations that provide this service and the vaccinations free of charge.
Influenza Specialist Group
Thursday, 7th April, 2016 We encourage everyone to take advantage of the free flu shot by booking their vaccination time on-line - the link will be provided soon. Booking ahead will help us cater for a sufficient number of vaccination formulas on the day. For more information, call 03 9347 3428 or email admingh@graduatehouse.com.au. ABN 55610664963
IAR No. A0023234B
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REVIEWS
Women’s Forum Review Wednesday, 16 th March, 2016 “What enhances our being?”
An opening thought - enrichment is a state of mind therefore “live in the present and look forward to the future.” 1
A manageable state of health and access to sufficient financial resources are always good starting points ... but whatever situation one finds oneself in, a positive frame of mind is crucial, especially if one is able to use one’s own talents and resources to benefit another who is worse off. 2
Each of us will benefit by keeping an open mind and being alert to the incidental things in life that are uplifting ... recognising the “feelgood” occurrences that tend to go unnoticed in even the worst of circumstances, (e.g., Soldiers who experienced life in P.O.W. Camps during the war experienced enrichment when they acquired extra food or participated in group activities such as a camp concert.) 3
Music was regarded as a great source of enrichment ... people who can play a musical instrument or appreciate the music-making talents of others. Many people find enrichment by joining a choir, learning to play a musical instrument or attending an operatic or ballet performance.
4
There are very few situations which cannot provide an opportunity to learn, therefore we should not disregard the value of conversations which encompass the life experience of others even if these challenge fixed ideas or precipitate a new perspective on long-held and secure viewpoints. One participant aptly phrased this notion by referring to those situations as a mechanism for “opening a window to the soul”. 5
Belonging (to a family, community or religious group) frequently provides enrichment especially if one is accepted without judgement and encouraged to participate in the activities of that group. Engaging with the lives of others is a great way to learn about oneself. 6
Children fortunate enough to learn how to develop resilience and a positive attitude to life are blessed indeed. 7
Perhaps we could all learn this by learning to convert w.w.w. from the commonly accepted World Wide Web to “what went well” in my day?
The next forum is on 20th April with the topic “Has handwriting reached the full stop yet?” The forum is free. Lunch is at Member and non-member prices. www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B
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REVIEWS
March Monthly Luncheon Wednesday, 3rd March 2016
Ron Gretton AM OAM Project 2014 - Bristol Boxkite for the RAAF Museum
Image courtesy of Ron Gretton
On the morning of March 1st 1914, Lieutenant Eric Harrison made RAAF history. A military Boxkite was flown in Point Cook, Victoria for the very first time, following its predecessor’s voyage of July 29th 1910 in the UK. 102 years later, including two years of planning and five years of building, a replica of what was built in 1910 and what was at Point Cook in 1914 made an anniversary flight. The Bristol Boxkite was airborne once again. The press was nowhere to be seen, and the historic flight was not documented, but as interest built newspapers began to report on these events. And so Lieutenant Harrison was at
it again a few days later. “I’d give a lot to be with him,” remarked one onlooker in an article from the Mount Alexander Mail, 1914. “A short swallow-like flight over the brown grass followed and the machine came to the ground as lightly as a feather, stopping dead within three or four yards. The landing was a triumph for the young Australian airman…” it was written. “I shall fly every day,” said Harrison. “Till I know every wind that blows hereabouts.” The Bristol Boxkite was originally developed in Filton, Bristol in 1910 by the now defunct British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (later Bristol Aeroplane Company).
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Founded by Sir George White with a starting capital of £25,000, within a few months the Bristol Aeroplane Company was producing the Bristol Bi-plane – the Boxkite, and became the first plane to be exported out of the United Kingdom. Throughout 1910, the Boxkites were sent on sales missions to India, Russia and also Australia, the first mission having arrived in Perth where several Boxkites made their voyage. The mission was then sent to Melbourne where the Boxkites were flown in Altona Bay February 1911, and then in Mascot, Sydney which marked the first flight ever at Mascot. Of a total of 76 Boxkites ever built, 21 were a standard Boxkite meaning there was an equal wingspan, whereas the military type Boxkite, of which 55 were built, had an extended wingspan. When Ron showed us a photo of the very first Boxkite, one couldn’t help but look on in astonishment – the plane was barely whole. “The Boxkite was only purchased as a very elementary trainer,” explained Ron. The
instructor would sit in the front, with the student in the secondary seat in the back, reaching over the instructor’s shoulder to grip the controller column. When the instructor was satisfied that the student could handle the plane on their own, the instructor would eject the aeroplane, the student would come to the front and gain control of the plane. August 17th 1924, the first course for students was then established. There were only four students, but it was enough time nevertheless to prepare aviation students with the essentials, as two weeks earlier marked the outbreak of World War One. The reason for designing and building a Boxkite was simple: to pay homage to and commemorate, on March 1st 2014, 100 years of military flying in Australia. With a starting budget of $70,000, and a little more after seeking sponsorship, Ron Gretton and his colleague Jeff Matthews began their venture to replicate aviation history. In April 2006, official construction began.
There are many parts needed to be made out of high tensile steel. These are various joints for the plane.
Here we have an insight into the internal structure of the plane: the construction of the wing panel with aileron fitted.
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A polyfibre fabric covers the wings. It is lain on the surface with polytac (glue) and set with an iron giving it shrinkage to make it taunt. Polybrush is then applied to seal web of material. An exterior coat of polytone gives it a UV protection against the sun.
The propellor is made out of laminations of maple, Queensland Ash (made in a town called Lightning Ridge) on the Queensland border.
Air Marshall Binskin Chief of Airforce visited the facility, and was “very impressed” with Ron’s progress. Here he sits in the Bokxkite.
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Here the propellor is now installed and the whole module, including motor and fuel tank, is ready to slide into the aircraft.
A front view of the module, as well as the seats which were made in compliance with current regulations requiring a seat belt. The Boxkit of 1924 did not have a seat belt.
Ron’s Bristol Boxkite took its maiden voyage on March 2nd 2014 at 07:40am, 100 years after the original maiden voyage. A true celebration of the Centenary of military aviation. www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B
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REVIEWS
Successful Graduate Pathways Twilight Lecture Thursday, 25th February 2016
Charles Kovess, Passion Provocateur
He began his journey in law. Kovess is a law graduate having graduated with an LLB, Honours and later a Masters. He was also president of the Hungary-Australia Chamber of Commerce, and for the last three and a half years has been working to industrialise hemp. But in 1993, things changed. Known as Australasia’s Passion Provocateur, Charles B Kovess, once a tax lawyer, began seeing things from another perspective and wanted to share his thoughts with us. “There are some interesting thoughts that I want to share with you – some provocative thoughts, after all I am Australasia’s passion provocateur. I deliberately want to be provocative in an alleged institution of learning,” he said. Looking at the journey of careers. “I just want you to think about what you’ve planned in your career. How many of you have planned your career?” He asks the crowd who is familiar with “genius” Buckminster Fuller. A few people raised their hand. “It is literally a crime,” said
Kovess, “that most people… have not heard of Buckminster Fuller.” It is a deliberate strategy to suppress brilliant ideas, he suggested. Buckminster Fuller was an architect, designer and thinker who was in fact a Unitarian and environmental activist who introduced a range of neologisms like ephemeralisation and synergistics, where the former referred to a process akin to recycling. He was a fervent supporter of energy and material production efficiency, and sustainability. “What I challenge you with the thought in this place of learning, is that…if you come out with provocative ideas that don’t coincide with the thoughts of the majority, you will be picked to death.” He’s had his fair share of pickings, he suggested. Kovess, unlike those he lambasts, stands with the proposition of an open mind. People are apprehensive to have an open mind, according to Kovess. He talked about
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presentations he has given where he discussed his belief that humans, with appropriate care, should be able to live to 120. He was not met with fervor. “What you said was fantastic, but when you made one statement with which I disagreed, you lost me!” And that’s what masquerades in our society, our whole society, that if you express an idea that the majority don’t agree with, bang. You get hounded to death.” But perhaps we should be asking why exactly someone thinks the way that they do, suggested Kovess. What we feel we know, is perhaps not as much as we really could know considering the things that we don’t know, and the things that we are unaware of not knowing. In other words, challenge what you think you know. “And Buckminster Fuller is one of the guides to the great principal around how the universe works and the challenge of doing your own thinking. The hardest thing in the world is to be who you are, when the whole world is trying to make you be somebody else,” said Kovess adding that he wants to provoke us to think differently. In 1949 Kovess’s parents, his mother 16 and his father 25, migrated to Australia. Kovess has 5 siblings: his sister a kindergarten teacher, his brothers (an electronic engineer, carpenter, one who was “not interested,”) and his other sister a personal assistant. Kovess has four children (a biomedical scientist and economist, civil engineer and an aerospace engineer) from his first wife, none of whom, he stressed, are lawyers. My happiness, he said to his children, does not depend on what you do with your life, and you are totally free to do whatever you want. His father, explained Kovess, was a great example of that and taught him the secret of happiness. “If you want a career that makes you happy, I have a four-word secret for you,” he declared. But what exactly makes him so qualified to share this so-called secret to happiness? Because he has 51 years of business experience, starting at age 12 when he was a commissioned debt collector, moving on to a top tax lawyer (where at the height of his career, he was earning up to one million dollars per year) and now a professional speaker for the last 23 years. He is 63 and yet the mathematics adds up. To the secret four words: choose to be happy. “Or if four words is too many for you, be happy.” But, he asked, why are most people unhappy? They have a lot of problems, said Charles. “They’re waiting for this illusion of I’ll be happy when. “I’ll be happy when I grow, I’ll be happy when I have children, I’ll be happy when I meet my life partner and so continues the neverending list of conditional statements which prevent us from being content. “This is the game that people are playing, yet Buckminster Fuller teaches that as a human being, your sole long-
term reward for solving problems is not peace or joy or happiness or satisfaction, rather your only long-term reward for solving problems is bigger problems!” So what can we do? “Choose to be happy because they are happy and they have problems.” On the one hand, the evidence of problems means you’re alive, and the size of your problem is in direct proportion to your capability and skill-level. You attract problems that you are now able to deal with. Therefore, teach yourself and your children to stop waiting for the end of problems. ‘Be happy’ was the imperative that Kovess announced as his secret to a more content life. He applies this logic to all aspects of his life: children, work, family and so on. His children’s behavior is not the basis for which he determines his happiness nor are our opinions or the opinions of anyone on the planet. It’s difficult not to consider that as slightly arrogant, but at the same time, if the disregard is guided ethically and with good intent, it is a great message to pass onto people. Why place your personal satisfaction in the hands of another? A need for approval or praise is irrelevant if you have the self-confidence to believe in your own abilities and therefore only require your own approval or praise – all in good measure of course. “If you are waiting for approval from other people, you will be miserable,” asserted Kovess. “If you are waiting for the approval of your parents you are going to be miserable, and if you are waiting for the absence of problems to be happy you are going to be miserable because you have totally misunderstood what this game of life is about.” Independence is key suggests Kovess because without it we hold onto notions that ultimately prohibit us. Education is one of Kovess’s targets. “When I got an Honours degree in law, my father said you know nothing, when I got a Masters degree in law, he said you know nothing. Whatever I achieved, he said that I knew nothing because he was a lifelong learner.” This is the challenge that we all face, explained Kovess. “What we’re telling children about what they need to get on in life is such a lie,” he suggested. What we should be considering is what is actually right (i.e. suitable) for us, for our children, our grandchildren, rather than what society says is right. Kovess’s children attended two different schools, one an independent, the other private. The difference in education, suggested Kovess was relatively indistinguishable. Remember, we should consider what is important to us, not what society says. In 8,400 hours per year, there is only 1,700 that a child spends at school. Therefore what happens at home is actually more important than what happens at school according to Kovess’s logic. (Although, a point
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to consider is what about those children that do not have access to resources, or parents and family that can actually guide them properly.) Nevertheless, what happens in the home is integral to a child’s development more so than what happens at school. “I challenge you to think about what your education philosophy is. I never went to university thinking now that I’ve got my university degree, all my problems are over because all that happens when you get a university degree is that you get bigger problems,” said Kovess. Building relationships is another integral part of success. He has built relationships with the past eight Hungarian ambassadors to Australia because of his passion and his authenticity. “People pick fake.” “The life that I have lived has been deeply influenced by my commitment to this machine that I live in, my body.” If you abuse your body then how can you reach your potential? The core element that makes you human is freedom. Without freedom you are not human, suggested Kovess. “I started this conversation with you being free with who you want to be, not being influenced by the rest of the world.” “The system says don’t behave like that, behave how we want you to behave. What does the system want you to do? The system wants to you to be a good little career person, to run your career so you work hard, borrow a lot of money, pay the money back with lots of interest on it, work like slaves to get to Nirvana, Nirvana being…?” “Death,” calls out one audience member. “Retirement!” Kovess corrected. Kovess suggested that retirement is not a natural act. Trees do not retire, nor do other plants or animals because retirement is akin to death, suggested Kovess. “My challenge to you is: what is a good life for you?” The answer is up to you, but we have to put the effort into contemplation of what exactly do we think that a good career path is. “When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.” – Patañjali So what inspires you? As Buckminster Fuller once said, “you need to do what you uniquely see needs to be done, and you don’t need permission.” Kovess asked whose permission we need to stand
for parliament. Nobody’s. Yet we feel as though we need permission to achieve certain things. Not so. Freedom is what makes us human. Here rests the importance of passion, explained Kovess because when you are inspired, you become a greater person by far. When our aspirations stem from our parents’ teachings, or “indoctrination” as Kovess suggested we are likely to lose sight of our true interests in fear of upsetting our parents. Kovess has seen the affects of this later in life on the senior executives that he coaches. They are often not in the field that they want to be in because of their parents influence. Passion is important and why he ended his career as a lawyer. It was during his attendance at a program at the business school along with 160 others who Kovess sensed that they were not passionate. “I went there as a lawyer and I had no intent of stopping being a lawyer. I spent 16 days at the business school and I stopped being a lawyer.” It was the openness to new ideas that pulled him out of the legal world into the world of public speaking and executive coaching where he has happily, and rather successfully resided for 23 years. “What passion does is liberate you. What passion does is give you a clue to what you’re meant to be doing. The job that we have is to gain selfawareness.” Being the world’s expert on passion, Kovess has developed his own definition, “Passion is a source of unlimited energy from your soul, or spirit, or heart, that enables you to produce extraordinary results.” When you are passionate, you produce things that are above ordinary. This is the journey of a great career, suggests Kovess because when we accept the reality that life is a capricious and enigmatic affair, inherently problematic, we will be happy on your journey. Above all, the way that we can effectively lead a happy and passionate life, he suggests is to balance the mental, the spiritual and the physical, a holy trinity for success. Mistakes and having an enlightened attitude towards them: learning and growth cannot succeed if you are terrified of making mistakes. Any skill that we learn is via trial and error. “We need a whole new attitude around making mistakes, if you are scared of making mistakes, you will cease to learn, if you are not learning you are not growing, if you are not growing, you are dying. The path to a great career is to pursue what inspires you, what you’re passionate about, to be happy on the journey, and to make as many mistakes as quickly as possible because that’s the way for you to develop your skill level.” Thanks Charles for a great talk!
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REVIEWS
GU Tastings Review Thursday, 25th February 2016 Members (Resident and non-member), Rotarians from the Carlton and Richmond clubs, and guests revelled in the delectable culinary and table delights that were in abundance on the night. From organic Australian chocolate by Daintree Estates, and wine from Wild Dog Winery and Maygars Hill to gluten free treats from Nature’s Farms and fine olive oil from Grampians Olive Co, those at Graduate House enthusiastically put on their connoisseur caps for the night. Anthony Hickey of Yours Truly brought with him an exciting range of gluten-free goodies (made in Adelaide) including cacao and coconut balls, cranberry, strawberry, caramel honeycomb, and hazelnut balls covered in delicious chocolate. His wares were a great hit with the crowd, and many bought entire boxes! Victoria Mancuso was our purveyor of fine chocolate for the evening, with a range of dark, milk, coffee, mint and even wine flavoured chocolates. Boasting ingredients which are made purely in Australia, Daintree is one of the few companies which grows its cocoa in Australia – most other brands import their cocoa. Also for tasting on the night was a range of cold-pressed oils from Grampians Olive Co. The uniquely flavoured oils included blood orange, lemon, garlic and their signature olive oil. All oils are certified organic, and are perfect with the golden orange caramelised balsamic vinegar. Our next provider was Luke from Wild Dog Winery based in Warragul, Gippsland. Luke’s stall proved to be extremely popular with the crowd, along with his very unique bubbly pinot chardonnay. Guests are also lucky enough to stay at Wild Dog Winery, with a breathtaking view of the Strzelecki Ranges. Our newest provider, Maygars Hill also provided a selection of wines. Maygars Vineyard is run by Jenny Houghton who in 1994, acquired a 20 acre property near Longwood, Victoria. In 1997 three acres had been hand planted, and now planting has increased to 6 acres - 2 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and 4 acres of Shiraz. Maygars Hill also has a cottage nearby where guests can enjoy the bucolic views of the Victorian countryside, and stay in the three bedroom cottage. We extend great thanks to all of our providers for the evening, and last but by no means least, to the Graduate House culinary team for serving a scrumptious range of canapés made on site.
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FEATURES
Discovering Melbourne We are very proud to have such a disparate and varied membership. Graduate Union Members are all over Australia and the world. This month we present to you the latest Melbourne gems that should be explored, whether you are temporarily passing though the world’s most livable city, or you reside here.
Melbourne International Comedy Festival In and around Melbourne
The Comedy festival is a beloved institution. Every year from March 23rd to April 17th the comic cream of the crop come to Melbourne to cause an uproar - only of the best kind. Laugh along with comedians the likes of Wil Anderson, Tim Vine, Hannah Gadsby and more.
Jurrasic World, The Exhibition
Melbourne Musuem, 11 Nicholson Street For those who were in awe of the work John Hardy, the fictitious creator of Jurassic Park, now is your time to get up close and personal with his work. From the Tyrannosaurus rex, to the Pachyrhinosaurus or a visit to the John Hammond Lab, Jurrasic World, the Exhibition is one for the whole family.
Singing in the Rain
Her Majesty’s Theatre, 219 Exhibition Street When Fred Astaire sang in the rain, the whole world sang with him. The West End broadway hit is in Melbourne for a limited season with all the ditties we have come to know, love, and get stuck in our heads. From May 7th to June 12th.
Tim Ho Wan
206 Bourke Street, Melbourne Tim Ho Wan is the world’s most famous cheapest Michelin starred restaurant, and it’s now in Melbourne. With space for more than 100, which is good news for dumpling lovers, Tim Ho Wan on Bourke has all the signature dishes that it is renowned for. Pan-fried turnip cake, barbeque pork buns and a range of siu mai, Michelin that doesn’t break the bank is finally here, and boy it’s good. If you have any recommendations for places or events of interest for our Members and Residents, email publications@graduatehouse.com.au www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B
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FEATURES
Crossing Extremities From the Gulf War to the LA Riots On the courageous career path of Ned Barakat “Nothing in my sphere of education on risk assessment and probable fatal scenarios prepared me for the hazards of the beautiful doe-eyed and secretive nature of a wondering donkey,” said Neheda (or Ned) Barakat. That’s because this particular beautiful doeeyed wondering donkey that was also pulling a cart with two passengers, had somehow crossed three lanes of oncoming traffic and was charging straight at Ned’s moving car. Swiftly, she managed to swerve out of the way of danger, narrowly avoiding what could have indeed been death by donkey. “My focus was entirely on holding on as tightly as possible to the steering wheel of the car and gaining control. As soon as the car stopped I made sure that my passenger was ok and then realized what an inglorious way to go.” Put it simply: Ned’s job is dangerous. The capricious donkey brazenly meandering towards a car with two passengers is but one example of potential near-death scenarios that Ned has faced in her lifetime, but all with good reason: Ned Barakat is a journalist. “To be a journalist is to have courage,” she points out. It is to be fearless and a little ruthless, but always for the admirable pursuit of uncovering stories for the public interest while remaining objective. Journalists are story hunters usually working in environments that require them to cross great extremities. An example of crossing extremities was in 1992 when Ned led coverage on the LA Riots. “Apart from the physical exhaustion of a rolling coverage, as an observer you struggle to make sense of what is unfolding before your eyes,” she said. “ It started off as a perceived injustice that quickly brought to surface racial and social issues that have been largely swept under the carpet.” For Ned, the story began after the riots when she was following up on leads. She had made contact with two people in South Central Los Angeles, one a pastor of a Baptist Church, Lovely Haines (later on he presided over Ned’s wedding!). The other was a writer, Rutledge McCall, who for a year was undercover working on a book on the South Central Los Angeles gangs. With these two leads, Ned was escorted deep into the complex web of these hoods to assist her research on the cause of the riots. South Central Los Angeles, explained Ned, is far from the seeming grandeur and purported opulence of Hollywood. In 1992, demographic data showed us that South Central Los Angeles was one of the poorest
areas where the majority of residents were black with Latinos and Asians on the outskirts. Unemployment was high and street crime was run by gangs known as the Crips and Bloods – their main trade and money making was from crack-cocaine, explained Ned. She then met the gang in their home. “Their home was sparsely furnished,” she remembered. “There were lots of mattresses in the rooms, one couch, possibly a couple of chairs, walls riddled with bullet holes from drive-by shootings.” The descriptions are nothing if not ominous, but yet behind this exterior depleted of basic notions of humanity, exists a powerful bond between brothers. “I came to learn that despite the appearance of hard criminals they deeply cared for each other so much so they had a familial bond like no other I had ever seen.” “They told me that as small children – I specifically use the term ‘small’ - because they had big dreams of going to university, getting a good job and building a future for their families,” she said. She later added: “But as they grew up they noticed the disparity, the poverty and lack of opportunity – all the elements to make them feel like outliers.” “As they grew up, the dream diminished and the realization grew that they weren’t going to make any money working at McDonald’s. So all of a sudden, moneymaking gang activity was a far more attractive option even if it meant they will die young or end up in jail.” Strangely, she says, she keeps coming back to this story and realizes the parallels with Australian youths going to Syria and Iraq to join Daesh. The problems within the Middle East are another area that Ned is well versed in, having led coverage during the Gulf War and more recently in the West Bank. “At the time of the war, my journalism career had only just begun, and I was lacking the experience to deal with such complex issues including the Israeli angle. I was simply terrified. But one day after landing in Saudi Arabia, the scuds also began landing and with that courage and professionalism kicked in – I realised I had a job to do and better get to it.” Ned was born in Lebanon and by the age of 10 she had already lived in Libya and Australia. In a recent speech she was invited to give to a Jewish Community group, B’nai B’rith in Melbourne, she described her move to Australia, when she was a little girl looking like a rabbit in front of headlights. New people, friends, sights, smells and foods:
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Ned crossing Nablus, West Bank My first day at Armadale primary school the class captain appointed to look after me, the perfect Patricia McDonald, took me to the canteen to collect our lunch: a four and twenty meat pie. One bite and the smell nearly made me faint – not even the tomato sauce made it palatable. I decided to starve rather than continue. Patricia just didn’t and couldn’t understand. Patricia aside, that upbringing taught me that sometimes there is no need to understand but just to accept. The relevancy of that now is that with globalization and technology the world has shrunk. Boundaries no longer give us the space or protection that we once had and with that comes a whole lot of room to make judgments that are limited in merit because it is based on one reference point – our own, explained Ned. “We need to remind ourselves that the world is made up of different civilizations, different ethnic groups and each group consists of multi-cultures. It is in this context that sometimes we just need to understand to accept without having answers for things we find hard to comprehend,” she said. In the current socio-political environment this logic has its merit. While media (mis)representation partly contributes to our perceptions of religion, culture and conflict within the Middle East, and the groups that we have come to know which represent it, e.g. the Daesh, militant and extremist groups ‘Islam’ and ‘terrorism’ have become mutually exclusive terms. This is problematic. “Rather than megaphone hysteria about Islam why not just accept that this is an inexplicable barbaric element of a very small part of a faith group that spans across continents,” she said. Such is the agathokakological nature of humanity, she explained, but it is important not to demonise or condemn groups or individuals without sufficient factual knowledge, or with information that is tainted with prejudice or bias. “Whilst going after public identities whether politics, business and so on and holding them accountable or covering wars and riots are very rewarding, it is always the citizenship of the very rare and few who galvanize the community into doing something good.” She tells me of the story of an elderly man diagnosed with cancer who had no resources or support. Rather, it was the assistance of his neighbours, a husband and wife
team who came to his aid and went beyond providing the care that is part of what makes as human. “Whilst he was undergoing treatment they publicly appealed and managed to renovate his apartment with donations of material and labour to make it livable for his return home,” she recalled. The story almost did not go ahead because of one reporter’s refusal on the basis that it would give free advertising to the traders. Ned, nevertheless, proceeded. The response from those that mattered, the audience, was phenomenal, she said. Many factors make a good story, but the ones that truly stand out are the stories that display courage – the facts that take you beyond the headlines. It’s because these kinds of stories are a reflection of the tenacity, integrity and initiative of the journalist. The other, Ned says, are tales of the human spirit, when people come together to do good. As far back as her high school day Ned knew she wanted to be a broadcast journalist. After starting a media studies degree, she got her big break at Channel Nine News and Current Affairs where she credits the senior journalists and bosses for everything that she learned about broadcast journalism. Since her beginnings at Channel Nine, she went on to be a senior journalist and producer for programs including Four Corners and 7:30 Report, executive producer at Al-Jazeera, a reporter at the United Nations Secretariat, and she was a volunteer during Hillary Clinton’s election campaign and later on Barack Obama’s. In the past a typical newsroom would have been home to more than forty journalists, today we see that landscape changing. You had filters such as researchers, producers, editors before any story went to air or got published. But now it has moved to that individual effort and self publishing at all levels of society making it hard to pin down the facts – a very basic tenet of journalism – and has given rise to “echo chambers.” But Ned remains optimistic about the erosion of a craft she is passionate about. “The pendulum always has to swing from one extreme to the other before it arrives at the middle. And the same goes for journalism. We are seeing the sinister side of technology and I believe we will eventually see the return of well crafted, well considered journalism across the board. The public will realise the value and will demand it.”
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RESIDENT AND MEMBER NEWS
The Corporate Identity Crisis Role of the employee in moments of strife
“I was always interested in research. I wanted to do a PhD to get into the United Nations, because I wanted to work as a public service agent. I therefore desired to undertake a higher degree by research in a country with a top notch university education facility. It is very hard to seek admission in such institutions for preparing necessary platforms to get into the public service,” said Piyush Dhawan, Resident at Graduate House. “The UN will provide me with a platform to travel around the world, across Europe, Africa, Asia and so on through the opportunity to serve humanity. A PhD degree at least is required to enter the UN. If I can’t get into the UN, I could do research for the benefit of institutions around the world” he said. Piyush is currently completing his PhD in business at RMIT. His research topic is on the role of employees as stakeholders during the corporate brand identity crisis. The role of the employees during such a crisis, he explains, refers to whether employees retain their loyalty during that critical situation, and crisis refers to any kind of corporate eventuality, which leading to brand identity crises. Piyush mentions corporate brand identity crises in Australia and other counties around the world in recent years which saw hundreds of employees shockingly underpaid. “What happens
during such a crisis is that employees leave. I am investigating such behaviour - more specifically, employee trust in the corporate brand, their service quality and their citizenship behaviour,” Piyush explained “I am taking a qualitative methodology (interviews with employees) and then I will build my proposition on the relationship between corporate brands and employees.” At an executive level, trust should be imbued within the employees, so that as and when there is a crisis, they don’t leave. Executives need to make sure that employees are committed. Piyush completed his undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering, a Masters in Information Technology Management and a Masters in Marketing. Upon completion of these degrees, he returned to India, where he worked at the High Court in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh and later working at the Punjab and Haryana High Court. At the courts he managed the judges and the pendency of court cases, court cases that needed to be expedited and staff recruitment and their administration of legal procedures. Now in Melbourne, Piyush (Peter) looks forward to what his research will bring, and completing his PhD studies.
PhD Confirmation Presentations Alexandra Veuthey and Damon Luo recently underwent their PhD confirmation presentations at The Melbourne Law School. Alexandra is looking into sports law, and how to better regulate concussion in sport. Damon is looking at uniform conflict laws. We spoke to Damon and Alexandra about their work and graduate pathways. “I came up with this topic two years ago when I was working in Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong,” said Damon. “Both the interregional and international conflict of laws in commercial contracts in Greater China raised
the cost of our business and led to the distortion of competition.” He said that the experience in the financial market made him think about the approach of developing uniform conflict of laws rules for commercial contracts as the solution to the problem of the conflicts. “There are several existing models of uniform conflict of law rules, such as the Hague Principles on Choice of Law in International Contracts and the Rome I Regulation of the European Union, which are all working very well as the effective method to solve the problem of conflict of laws.”
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“Thus I propose to argue the necessity and possibility of developing this uniform conflict of laws rules in Greater China. If this research works, I would extend this topic to the conflict of laws for commercial contracts between Australia and Greater China,” he said. Alexandra’s work examines how to better regulate concussion in sport. Apart from American football, she also examines other sports such as ice-hockey, Australian Rules Football, football and rugby. She uses national case studies, and tries to find the most relevant sports and countries to make comparisons. Alexandra has started her analysis with North America, and then will examine the global situation on other continents, with a particular focus on Oceania and Europe. There are also numerous medical protocols in place. One of the rare consensuses is that if players get concussed, they should not go back to the field in the same match. State laws remain quite minimal, and Alexandra noted that her argument will be that states have to be more proactive to better regulate such a matter. To do this, Alexandra will have to measure medical issues. “It [medical issues] is the starting point of the problem as multiple concussions might lead to CTE and brain disease. And it might also be part of the solution because science will evolve. Researchers might find new MRI methods, new ways to diagnose concussion and CTE. At the moment, MRI is not very helpful, and we can only diagnose CTE with forensic examination’’. Alexandra’s research is unique. No one has taken such a comprehensive approach to the issue of regulating concussion in sport until now. Other examinations have included the situation within one country or within one sport, but not with a comparative law approach.
“I think that my conclusions for the first part will be that the scandal is far from being restricted to the United States and American football. It is spreading out to other countries and sports. Conversely, the solutions remain mainly domestic,” Alexandra explained. Alexandra will then try to come up with harmonised solutions that will compose the second part of her thesis. “The first thing is to make players and sports managers aware that this is a real issue. Going back to the field too early can lead to serious health problems after retirement. Additionally, I would like to make states get involved, because you can’t only wait for sport federations to find solutions,” enthused Alexandra. “I will try to come up with suggestions of improvements. It would be great to have an influence on what happens on the fields.”
Equivalence and Algebraic Thinking Member Dr Max Stephens wants to change the way that children think about algebra. Along with his colleague Cath Pearn (lecturer at Melbourne Graduate School of Education [MGSE], completing a PhD on the bridge to algebraic thinking), they have been looking at how students make a transition from thinking about numbers as calculations in primary school and becoming ready for algebra and algebraic thinking. “Some people think that algebra is all about
introducing letters like x and y and that this really starts in high school,” said Dr Stephens, “but our view is that the foundations for algebraic thinking need to be developed in the primary school years, out of children’s experience with number and number operations.” He suggests that it is not necessarily just a matter of using letters like x and y. Rather, there could be three or four very important ways of thinking about mathematics that need to be cultivated at primary school level if children are to make a successful transition.
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Number sentences (a group of numbers in relationship with each other, not just as a calculation), is one way to look at things. Another is the key idea of equivalence. “We could say, for example, 99+47 = 100+46,” explains Dr Stephens. “Some people will say that they can calculate the left hand side and right hand side, and show that they’re both equal to 146.” “But we really want children in the primary school years to be able to say, ‘You don’t have to work it out as a sum to know that it’s true,’” he says. Dr Stephens explains it like this: say the sum is 99+47. You could add 1 to 99 to give you 100, and, therefore, take 1 from 47. It is being able to look at a number sentence like this and to change to simpler numbers and knowing that answer is still the same as before. This logic also applies to subtraction, multiplication and division. Here are a few examples you might want to think about: Can these be made easier by changing to simpler numbers that still give the same answer: 36 x 25; or 256 – 99; or 7.3 ÷ 0.5? (The answer to the last is 14.6, by the way.) What did you do? The key idea is that of equivalence. Then we can look at what numbers change, how they change under equivalence, and also to generalising your thinking so that this logic doesn’t just work for 99+47. “Children can say: ‘Well we can use it to work out 98+55, or we can use it to add 999 to 256. We can use that method all the time’,” he explained. “We’ve developed a test, we call it an ‘Algebraic Thinking Questionnaire’. It’s about numbers and number relationships, and we’ve used these in grades 5 and 6.” “At the end of 2015 we went to three schools which are part of Cath’s PhD study, and we got responses to our Algebraic Thinking Questionnaire from 160 children in years 5 and 6 from three different schools.” “What was clear is that some children are already thinking algebraically in years 5 and
6. Maybe their teacher has touched upon this kind of thinking, but it seems that from their very personal ways of writing to express their thinking this is something that the students are able to work out for themselves,” he said. In the same grades, he explains, there are other children who struggle to think this way and instead still think about calculations, and not about number sentences, relationships, equivalence and so on. There’s an important message here: if children are not able to get onto this learning pathway, where they can think about number sentences as groups of numbers in relation to each other, not just as calculations, then they are a weak position when in year 7 – typically when students start using as and bs or xs and ys. It is very important, emphasised Max, for teachers in the primary school years to cultivate these ways of thinking based on children’s experiences with numbers and number relationships. Knowing the multiplication tables is a good way of learning number relationships because we can ask if 4x6 is 24, what would 8x6 equal? If children think that they need to know the 8 times tables, then they haven’t quite yet grasped that going from 4x6 to 8x6 is a question of doubling, so 8x6 must be 48. And if 4x6 is 24, then it’s the same as 8x3, because if the 4 is doubled to make 8, then the 6 must be halved to keep the product the same, he explained. “These are the sorts of things that we’re talking about. Not introducing alphanumeric symbols prematurely, but getting young students to think about the numbers that they’re working with and therefore building up confidence so that they can make a move across to algebra without great difficulty.” *Dr Max Stephen PhD (Wisc), MA (Melb), FACE, FISDDE works with the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne, as a mathematics education researcher, lecturer and superviser at masters and doctoral levels.
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University Sector News Extracurricular
The Virtues of Remembering The Mundane
One summer my family and I drove from Melbourne to Adelaide to make it in time for my graduation. It was a 600 kilometre drive — that’s about a 7 hour road trip sitting in a hot car, passing an endless stretch of arid land, counting the naked trees scorched by the unforgiving Australian sun. Then, the time spent seemed insignificant. The conversations, the pep-talks, the packed lunches and pit stops. It was all part of one mundane experience to get us from A to B. We no longer take these trips, and my father has now passed away but these insignificant moments I initially took for granted, mean the world to me. It’s a discovery in retrograde: the essential from the insignificant. A four-part study in Psychological Science led by Ting Zhang explored the tendency to underestimate just how curious and interested we will be for recounting mundane activities such as making breakfast, or a trip to the mall. The first of Zhang’s studies, for example, required participants to create time capsules, with such contents including: last social activity attended, a fragment from a recent conversation, an inside joke, a recent Facebook status, and more. They were then required to
rate how interested and curious they would be in rediscovering these mementos in the future. For the most part, curiosity and interest in retrieving these items was rated low. But then three months later when the participants opened their time capsules and sorted through their collected memories, they found that they initially mispredicted how curious and interested they would be in their rediscovery. Initial predictions were frequently inaccurate. In another study participants were required to recount an average conversation they had. They again predicted that rediscovering the conversation in the future wouldn’t be of interest to them. Seven months later, when they reread their conversations, participants realised that the more they initially thought their experience would be less intriguing in the future, the more valuable in fact the rediscovery was. Again they had underestimated the value that reflecting on a seemingly ordinary moment would have. As one participant noted, “rereading this event of doing mundane stuff with my daughter has certainly brightened my day. I’m glad I chose that event to write about because of the incredible joy it gives me at this moment.”
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Extraordinary events in our lives, are just that: extraordinary. We’re lucky to have these experiences, and they are invaluable memories which weave the rich tapestries of our lives. But there are all these smaller events, ordinary events. At first thought we may think that due to their typicality, these conversations and moments are meaningless, not worthy of recollection. After all, it’s happens all the time to everyone, everywhere. But we will eventually stop having these conversations. We won’t be using the same words, in the same way, or speak to the same people. Parents move on, partners may change, and we grow up. As the age old adage goes: nothing stays the same. In Zhang’s study, three months after participants recounted a typical experience with their partners (an ordinary event) and also recounted their experiences from Valentine’s Day, they found that upon reading their recounts, while they still found the extraordinary event extraordinary, they enjoyed reading their recount of the typical a little more. Thoughts and feelings change over time, and what we find ordinary one day doesn’t necessarily mean we will feel the same in the future. But why do we simply forgo remembrance of the ordinary? Through the final study it was shown that we forgo remembrance because we misvalue the virtues of rediscovering the ordinary. There is unexpected value hidden within the mundane, and there is great pleasure to be found.
When we made it to my graduation I was relieved. While the grandeur of the occasion is still noteworthy to me now, what I find to be more uplifting is the only bit of a conversation I remember having with my father, after the ceremony, during the afternoon tea. We were both hovering by the refreshments, judiciously pruning the available treats to make our prime selection. At one point, my father turned to me. “We don’t have tea at home. Would it be socially acceptable if I took some teabags home?” He asked me, stealthily. I looked at him and scoffed, “please don’t embarrass me right now,” and walked away, fully aware that he would most definitely take the tea bags. My father, the teabag thief. I can’t remember anything else that we talked about, but yet now, these conversations are all I find myself wanting to remember because they made the event what it was. The grandeur has no substance without the granular. Is it merely the event we remember? It’s everything: How we felt, what we said, what we thought, and how we were. As Zhang’s and her team concluded, “people choose to forgo opportunities to document experiences in the present, only to find themselves wanting to retrieve those records in the future.” Featured images: Megane Callewaert / Flickr CC Brian McGuirk / Flickr CC
Reference: Zhang, T., Kim, T., Brooks, AW., Gino, F., Norton, MI., 2014A “Present” for the Future: The Unexpected Value of Rediscovery, Psychological Science, vol. 25, no. 12, pp. 1851-1860.
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STORIES AT GRADUATE HOUSE
Career Roundtables
This year marked the introduction of the Graduate House Career Roundtables. You have probably heard this mentioned before: facilitated by Agnes Banyasz, career strategist at CorpReach (founded by Agnes), who also spearheaded the first faculty-based careers centre at The University of Melbourne that offered a full-range of customised career programs and services for business students and alumni. Key points discussed in the session were: ‘The Start-Up of You’ Everyone needs to develop an enterpreneurial mindset, be adaptable, try to grab the opportunities and ‘run’ their career as if they were running a start-up.
Participants worked in groups, took part in a Q & A session and at the end were asked to write on a ‘leaf ’ one or more things they are taking away from the session. Job searching is not always an easy feat. While some are naturally gifted in the art of interviewing, networking and so on, some can greatly benefit from a little bit of advice. Agnes provided pertinent advice in an engaging method, allowing for a better understanding of certain concepts, which allows for future job seekers, and those looking to transition to enter a competitive market with tools to help them build sustainable and rewarding futures.
The Importance of Self-awareness Self-awareness and reflection on values and personal experience can build a strong foundation for career development. Employment in Australia The group looked at the eight key employability skills most Australian employers use when evaluating applicants.
2016 Graduate House Career Roundtables Next session Thursday, August 4th, 18th book at @admingh@graduatehouse.com.au
“I really enjoyed the way Agnes ran her sessions. They were an exciting mix of interactive group activities and learning, that saw many participants pack the room each week. There was a lot of positive energy as we learned about employability skills, how to find a career path and more.” Robert Manolache, Student in Finance
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Academic and Professional Development Meetings The following groups from The University of Melbourne have convened meetings, workshops and seminars at Graduate House in February 2016 Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN) 19th February 2 attendees
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering - Planning Day 23rd February 30 attendees
Department of Premier and Cabinet - Family Violence Index Stakeholder Workshop 3rd February 40 attendees
Department of Accounting - Honours Accounting Students’ Society 22nd February 12 attendees
Infrastructure Engineering Professional Development 12th February 14 attendees
International Consultants Centre (ICC) Workshop 22nd February 29 attendees
Melbourne Graduate School of Education Melbourne Teachers College 50th Year Reunion 12th February 97 attendees
Melbourne School of Engineering Finance and Planning Team 11th February 10 attendees
UoM Commercial Ltd - Board of Examiners Meeting and Graduate Certificate in Clinical Teaching 1st,15th February 35 attendees
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and University of Melbourne Air Pollution 16th February 45 attendees
The patronage of organisation Members in charitable, not-for-profit, government and professional development sectors is acknowledged, as is that of our many Members who organise functions. Thank you for your patronage. Australia Teachers of Media (ATOM) 11th, 26th February 47 attendees
Australian Asian Association 1st February 6 attendees
Australian Film Base 1 Month Film Course 16th February 15 attendees
Australian Food Hygiene Services Food Safety Supervisors Course 29th February 15 attendees
Australian School of Applied Management 1st, 2nd, 10th, 16th, 18th, 19th, 25th, 26th February 188 attendees
Belbin Australia Belbin Accreditation 15th, 24th February 4 attendees
Carlton Rotary - Heritage Cluster, Lunch and Board meetings 2nd, 4th, 9th, 16th, 17th, 23rd February 139 attendees
Carlton-Parkville Probus Club Inc 9th February 70 attendees
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Academic and Professional Development Meetings CEAV Training - Career Development Practice and Graduation Ceremony 23rd, 24th February 70 attendees
LUNCH MEETING
Fellowship Dinner
David Bennett Fellowship Dinners Australia 29th, 23rd February 20 attendees each day
International Coach Federation (ICF) Victoria Branch 18th February 15 attendees
John Cain Foundation Afternoon Meeting 5th, 23rd February 6 attendees each day
Melba Group Lunch Meeting 26th February 7 attendees
Modern Greek Teachers Association of Victoria (MGTAV) 9th February 9 attendees
National Excellence in School Leadership Initiative 22nd February 12 attendees
Order of St. John Evening Meeting 1st February 8 attendees
Organisation Development Australia (ODA) 23rd February 18 attendees
Pulse Credit Union 13th February 9 attendees
Research, Innovation and Commercialisation 12th, 13th, 15th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 24th, 25th, 29th February 436 attendees Social Education Victoria (SEV) Committee Meeting 10th February 12 attendees Technology Management Technology Performing in a Crisis Management 8th February 22 attendees
Slavery Links
Slavery Links 2nd February 3 attendees
Social Work Department Writing Group 16th February 10 attendees The Graduate Union Collegiate Events and Governance Meetings 2nd, 3rd, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 29th February 491 attendees
Trinity College Foundation Studies Academic Admin 25th February 8 attendees
Turkish Teachers Association of Victoria 12th February 10 attendees
Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) - Board Meeting 18th February 20 attendees
Western and Central Melbourne Integrated Cancer Service (WCMICS) 4th February 40 attendees
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Puzzles
Mind benders for our Members
Sudoku Sudoku is an 81 square grid comprising of nine square blocks, each with nine cells. To complete this puzzle, all blank cells must be filled with a number between and including 1 and 9. Each number can only appear once in each nine celled block, row and column.
Last edition’s results
Kakuro Use the numbers 1 to 9 to fill the empty cells so that the sum of each horizontal block equals the clue on its left, and the sum of each vertical block equals the clue on top. Each number can only be used once per row/column.
Last edition’s results
Please note that there might be more answer combinations possible.
www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B
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Cryptic Crossword
Across 1. 6. 9. 10. 11. 13. 14. 15. 19. 21. 22.
Panic had strange drawback (8) Give weapons to some regular militia (3) Pinched an item of clothing (5) A Greek mountain could be so lumpy! (7) Poor Alex, he’d expelled air (7) City centre layabout in the country (5) Sheep from Ireland seen in a moment (6) Puzzle noticed after dance (6) Hoods for cold birds (5) The state of a man not getting upset (7) College dance, after which one has nothing left (7) 23. An insect for example, not very bright, going backwards (5) 24. Bond is Asian, so we hear (3) 25. Cressida mixed cocktails (8)
Last edition’s results Across: 1. Absolution 7. Eclairs 8. Rotor 10. Erse 11. Positive 13. Gifted 15. Ransom 17. Narcotic 18. Unit 21. Start 22. Idiotic 23. Courtshoes
Down 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 12. 16. 17. 18. 19.
A throne designed for someone else (7) Some pallid yellow colour? (3) Large gatherings of birds - about 500 (6) Having achy pins, I get treatment from a doctor (9) Start of alphabet, in more ways than one (5) Before end of day dining room is littered (5) Characters in Beau Geste emphasising respect (6) Falls for light garments (9) Manxman, for example, doesn’t start defamation (7) Animal from the east seen in parts of Wales (6) Walked leisurely out of bedlam (6) Measure young animal with it (5)
Down: 1. Atlas 2. Skin 3. Lesson 4. Terminal 5. Obtains 6. Detergents 9. Rheumatics 12. Reporter 14. Farrago 16. Sirius 19. Notes 20. Dido
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STORIES AT GRADUATE HOUSE
Dining Room Feedback Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! We were caught in the most deplorable traffic on the way to Graduate House with the trip taking well over an hour from Sandringham. When we eventually reached the venue to find everything set up so beautifully and all ready to go! You are amazing and I cannot thank you enough. The night ran so smoothly with Bill and his team just managing everything like clockwork. The food was delicious and many people commented afterwards about the quality of a “simple” meal which was presented so well and so lavishly. Lesley Bawden, PD International Women’s Day event The lucky feedback-giver for February is Marg Nicoll who won a bottle of Emeri De Botoli Chardonnay Pinot Noir
Your feedback is important Submit a Dining Room Feedback Form to be in the monthly draw and in the running for the year-end prize of a $500 Coles Myers Gift Voucher
f or re se a rc h a n d c ou r sework
The 2016 Annual Appeal will be for the Endowment Fund reserves. The aim with these reserves is to retain a certain principal amount. The interest earned from investment of this principal is then put towards supporting post-graduate students here in college. By increasing the principal we increase interest earned and thus our support for postgraduates. This endowment fund is thus the ‘gift that keeps on giving’. The last decade of changes in post-graduate course structures means a large number of graduates are undertaking (what are referred to as) coursework degrees to gain career entry to the professions (education, law, medicine, etc.). Our awards from the endowment fund thus now include bursaries to support this coursework. Additionally, through our annual Graduate House Research Scholarship, we continue to support postgraduate research students who are undertaking the more traditional masters and
doctoral programmes of research studies in a highly specialised and focused area of their field of interest over (typically) a three to five year timeframe. In recent times we have accessed interest earnings from the reserves to support two of our residents to attend the annual National Student Leadership Forum (NSLF) in Canberra. This is a unique opportunity for our emerging leaders to network, to advance their skills and, ultimately, to recognise how they might contribute positively to our global society. In addition to our general endowment fund for research scholarships, bursaries and NSLF attendance, we are offering opportunities for Members to set up named endowments to support, for example, the establishment of Graduate House Chairs, Fellowships, residencies, etc. More information on this will be provided later this year. The 2016 Annual Appeal will be launched in May. We thus look forward to acknowledging your support and generosity.
www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B
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Phone: 03 9347 3428 Email: admingh@graduatehouse.com.au Website: www.graduatehouse.com.au
The Graduate Union 220 Leicester Street Carlton VIC, Australia, 3053
D onat i on Form 2016
The GraduaTe union of The universiTy of Melbourne inc.
Donation Form From its establishment in 1911, Members have lived, learned and met together to continue the experience of ‘the meeting of the minds’ beyond university as they entered the workforce, had families, became leaders, volunteered across the world and retired. These Members built the organisation through great generosity in the form of donations of funds and buildings, bequests and sponsorship, together with volunteer and pro bono work. We seek always to honour this legacy and to foster a culture of active and contributing membership.
Please give to our unique association of graduates. Your gift is tax deductible and acknowledged in The Melbourne Graduate (please specify if you wish to remain anonymous).
Donor Information TiTle: naMe: daTe of birTh: naMe of orGanisaTion, Group or universiTy deparTMenT/ school: (for orGanisaTion MeMbers only)
Contact Information business: afTer hours: Mobile: eMail: address: (nuMber, sTreeT naMe or posT office box, suburb, sTaTe, posTcode and counTry) My donaTion will be $aud: aT frequency:
once-off
weekly
MonThly
annually
i auThorise The GraduaTe union To send Me a reMinder To send in a cheque or puT Money inTo The Gu accounT
Please complete this section, and the sections overleaf, and send to The Graduate Union 220 Leicester Street, Carlton, Victoria Australia, 3053.
www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B
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Phone: 03 9347 3428 Email: admingh@graduatehouse.com.au Website: www.graduatehouse.com.au
The Graduate Union 220 Leicester Street Carlton VIC, Australia, 3053
D onat i on For m 2 0 16
The GraduaTe union of The universiTy of Melbourne inc.
Method of Payment
Please tick choice of payment and write the amount you wish to donate
To donate, please cut along this line and send the completed form to 220 Leicester Street, Carlton, VIC 3023
cheque aMounT $ payable To The GraduaTe union of The universiTy of Melbourne incorporaTed
bank Transfer aMounT $
accounT naMe: The GraduaTe union of The universiTy of Melbourne incorporaTed bank: naTional ausTralia bank bsb: 083 170 accounT nuMber: 515612137 swifT code: (for inTernaTional Transfers) naTaau3303M descripTion of Transfer: your surnaMe or Group/ orGanisaTion and The word ‘donaTion’ crediT card aMounT $
card nuMber: expiry daTe: cardholder naMe:
/
/
/
siGnaTure:
Direct My Donation to:
Please indicate your preferred donation target
The fund of highest priority and need at the time of my donation Buildings Resident Members Capital Fund I am Interested in Gifting to Name: a space wiThin The GraduaTe union (buildinG, floor, rooM or oTher space) a scholarship or an award To a residenT MeMber a recoGniTion of excellence award for a residenT or non-residenT MeMber a career or reTireMenT developMenT proGraM for an in-career or a reTired MeMber
My Bequest (will) i would like To provide for The GraduaTe union in My will
(please Telephone The GraduaTe union on 03 9347 3428 in This circuMsTance)
ABN: 556 10 664 963
IAR No. A0023234B
www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B
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