From the Vice-Chancellor, Ian Chubb
The commitment and quality of ANU staff was recognised
once again recently, with the announcement that ANU maintained
its spot at number 16 in the world in the THES-QS World University
Rankings 2007. It places is us again at number one in Australia.
The University community celebrates its staff at the annual
staff awards. The 2007 Awards were held on 8 November. More
than 50 members of the ANU community were recognized for their
contribution to making ANU great.
ANU is nothing without its people and, as we approach the end
of the year, we should all draw great pride from our collective
achievements.
Professor Ian Chubb, Vice-Chancellor
For an in-depth analysis of the rankings, click
here.
News briefs
Staff
excellence recognised
A program to introduce primary school students to the wonders
of the night sky was the major winner at the 2007 Staff Excellence
Awards Ceremony. >>
Academics
hammer out election issues
Relations between the Commonwealth and the states have been
in a constant state of crises since Federation, a political
scientist argued at the second of the Devil’s Advocate
Debates series co-hosted by ANU and The Canberra Times. >>
First
national gathering of Sanskrit scholars
More than 50 Sanskrit scholars, performers and enthusiasts from
all around Australia met at ANU on the weekend for the first
National Sanskrit Conference. >>
Best
foreign language essays awarded
Nine ANU students of the French, German and Italian languages
have been awarded prizes by the ambassador of Switzerland as
part of the annual Swiss Prize. >>
Symposium
takes a look at the EU past, present and future
Is Europe the world’s new superpower? This was the topic
up for discussion at the European Union Learning Community symposium
last month. >>
^^
Awards
ANU has received the Resource Recovery Award
in the 2007 ACT NoWaste awards for the Organic Recycling Project
run by ANUgreen. This project was established in June to divert
all organic waste discarded by the residences, restaurants,
cafes and the ANU Union kitchens. The discarded food waste going
to landfill is a toxic biohazard that can poison the soil and
create tonnes of green house gas emissions. By composting onsite,
the University is able to return the nutrients to its soils
and reduce costs. For more information contact Barry Hughes:
barry.hughes@anu.edu.au
or x50111.
Distinguished Professor Brian Anderson of
the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science has been
awarded an Order of the Rising Sun in the name of His Majesty
the Emperor of Japan. The award is for his outstanding contribution
in bringing Australia and Japan together in the academic sphere
including the scheme he initiated to invite Japanese researchers
to ANU and his ongoing collaboration with Japanese researchers.
Dr Rick Kuhn has won a prestigious international
prize for radical writing with his biography of Polish economist
and activist Henryk Grossman. He was presented with the Deutscher
Memorial Prize in London for Henryk Grossman and the Recovery
of Marxism. The book traces Grossman’s experiences
from organising Jewish workers in Krakow before the First World
War, to exile in New York and details his political commitments
and economic theories.
Xian Zhi Soon, a student in the ANU College
of Law, has been named the ACT Young Australian of the Year.
Mr Soon was recognised for his work in creating educational
opportunities for young people as an employee of the NSW Board
of Education. He is now a finalist in the Young Australian of
the Year award which will be announced in January.
Australian Political Studies Association (APSA), which has
its national office in the ANU Research School of Social Sciences
(RSSS), awarded its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award to
J.D.B. (Bruce) Miller. Professor Miller was
appointed founding Professor of International Relations at ANU
in 1962, a position he held until 1987. The award was in recognition
of Miller’s significant contribution to political science
over a period of almost 50 years from the mid-1940s to the early
1990s.
^^
Staff info
November it figures newsletter is out now
The November issue of Statistical Services’ email newsletter,
it figures, is now available. it figures is
being published on an occasional basis and highlights figures
related to research, student, and staff activities. This last
issue for 2007 briefly looks at a Go8 background analysis for
the election. It reviews how ANU fared in the league tables:
the Commonwealth's Learning and Teaching Performance Fund and
the Times rankings for 2007. It also takes a bit of a closer
look at one of Stats Services' own. All four issues of the newsletter
can be read
online. To subscribe to it figures, complete the
online
subscription.
AA+ rating affirmed
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has affirmed its
‘AA+’ long term and ‘A-1+’ short-term
credit ratings on ANU. The outlook on the ratings is stable.
These credit strengths are partially offset by the increasingly
competitive environment in which Australian universities operate,
as well as the University’s low expenditure flexibility
due to a high proportion of staff costs in its total expenditure.
Standard & Poor’s believes that the university is
well placed to compete with other universities for both high
quality students and staff.
Manning Clark House awards
Manning Clark House is offering two national awards for outstanding
contributions to the
quality of Australian cultural life in 2007. Manning Clark House
will honour the accomplishments of both an individual and a
group between November 1, 2006 and October 31, 2007. This is
the second year in which the Canberra-based centre is presenting
the awards. Applications/nominations from all areas of creative
and community endeavour will be considered, including art, dance,
film, history, literature, music, public intellectual life,
science and technology, sport, theatre and the workplace.”
The Manning Clark House awards are presented in association
with ANU, the University of Canberra and the Centre for Australian
Cultural Studies. More information: www.manningclark.org.au
ANU Corporate Express Kids’ Christmas Party
The annual ANU Corporate Express Kids' Christmas Party is on
Sunday 9 December from 2–4pm. The Party is hosted by ANU
for the children and grandchildren of ANU staff and is proudly
supported by the ANU Staff Amenities Fund. The party will be
held at University House and includes afternoon tea, a present
for each registered child, a visit by Santa Claus, face painting,
a jumping castle and more. For more information, click
here.
ANU Christmas Cards
Send Christmas wishes in style with ANU Christmas cards. Choose
from three different designs, each with a matching envelope.
• Flying doves card
• Evening star card
• Bottlebrush card
Cards will be available from Friday 23 November, check ANU Billboard
for ordering details. And don’t forget your 2008 ANU Diary
and Wallplanner which will be available from the end of November,
check the billboard for details.
^^
Research
25
years full of career highlights
Professor Caryl Hill finds it difficult to pinpoint a single
highlight in her 25-year ANU career. >>
^^
Education
In
40 years some things change, some stay the same
When Dr Peter Janssens was at a UK secondary school in the 1950s,
biology was considered a girls’ subject, like knitting
and needlework. >>
^^
Books
Cross-sections:
The Bruce Hall Academic Journal, Volume III
2007.
The
Cult of the Market: Economic Fundamentalism and its Discontents,
Dr Lee Boldeman.
Oceanic
Explorations: Lapita and Western Pacific Settlement (Terra Australis
26), edited by Stuart Bedford, Christophe
Sand and Sean P. Connaughton.
^^
Whether she is perched by the pond or riding on the spot,
Frith Rayner knows a weighty tome when she sees it. >>
^^
Q&A
ANU is home to experts on all manner of subjects. Why not put
your question out there? Or if you know the answer, tell the
campus. Email on.campus@anu.edu.au
with your queries and responses.
Q. Why aren't there more sculptures and artworks dotted
around in the open on campus? Zosha Smith, Fenner School of
Environment and Society
^^
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