Bulletin

Visit by leading IT outsourcing lawyer
One of the world’s leading lawyers specialising in information technology and business process outsourcing, Dr Trevor Nagel, above, recently spent a week at La Trobe University teaching a unit in La Trobe Law’s Global Business Law program. full story

La Trobe's role in disaster reconstruction
La Trobe University will commit up to $1M to aid in the reconstruction of countries affected by the tsunami in the Indian Ocean. full story

It's for the Kids New guide for parenting after separation
A new booklet to help couples in conflict build a better parenting base for their children after separation was launched recently by Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Ms Pru Goward. full story

TIGER opens second eye across the Tasman
Tiger – the Tasman International Geospace Environment Radar – is taking a much larger bite at southern skies following the opening in February of its second radar base in Invercargill, New Zealand, helping to measure the impact of auroras and detect echoes from meteors. full story

130 years of change at Kew Cottages
What went on in Kew Cottages, Australia’s best known institution for people with intellectual disability, since its foundation in 1887? full story

Risks for our education system at home and abroad
The Vice-Chancellors of, and more than 100 senior officers from, Australia’s Innovative Research Universities network, IRU-A, held their inaugural meeting at La Trobe University during February. full story

Reconciliation after the 'Bridge Walks'
‘Five years on from the Bridge Walks - taking the next step for Reconciliation’ will be the theme of this year’s Hyllus Maris Lecture to be held on La Trobe University’s main Melbourne campus at Bundoora on 20 April. full story

Faulty footwear may increase risk of falls
Inappropriate footwear is a major cause of foot problems and may increase the risk of falls in older people. full story

Acacia v Agapanthus - Reshaping Australian gardens
Have a breather from mowing the lawn, stop pruning that rose or tidying that agapanthus – and reflect for a few seconds on this question: why are Australian gardeners hooked on exotic plants at the expense of natives? full story

Kneedeep in water! The message is in the mating croak
In a way some frogs seeking sex partners are the same as humans, only different. The girls go for the boys who can best convince them that they can provide a suitable place for sex and the production of strong healthy offspring. full story

Sweating for science in the Pacific
Success often comes from 90 per cent perspiration and 10 per cent inspiration. This certainly applies in the case of a major project on which archaeologists from La Trobe University and New Zealand’s University of Otago are working in the Pacific. full story

Genetic time machine helps plan forests of the future
La Trobe University geneticists are using a genetic ‘time machine’ – which takes them back millions of years – to help them make recommendations for the future health of our forests. full story

Public sector accountability – A dilemma for demo
Political leaders in Australia and overseas make speeches about ‘good governance’ and ‘accountability’. Similar concerns have been raised by many organisations, including the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program. full story

Tourism students help cancer research
River cruises, winery tours, fashion parades, beach parties... It’s all in a semester’s hard work for La Trobe University tourism and hospitality students. full story

All you've ever wanted to know about Modern Mexico
Want to know something about contemporary Mexico? When Drs Barry Carr and Stephen Niblo of La Trobe University’s Institute of Latin American Studies have finished their current ARC research, there will be excellent local multi-media sources of information. full story

People
Two La Trobe University Faculty Deans - Professor Stephen Duckett from Health Sciences and Professor Roger Wales from Humanities and Social Sciences - have been elected Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia - as has historian and author, Dr David Day. full story

The films of Roy Ward Baker
Manchester University Press has launched a new book on veteran British film and television director, Roy Ward Baker, by Dr Geoffrey Mayer, Head of Cinema Studies at La Trobe University. full story

Space for television on the cultural shelf
Television in Australia will be 50 years old next year – but many still question its cultural credibility. A group of ‘televisionophiles’ comprising arts journalists, writers and academics – including three from La Trobe University – are seeking recognition for television as part of our spectrum of cultural achievements. full story

There's Medicare - and then there's Medicare
Australia has Medicare which provides universal health care to all Australians. The USA has a Medicare too which funds health care for Americans aged 65 and over and younger people with disabilities, about 14 per cent of the population. full story

Speaking Israeli - Language on hybrid wings
Question: When somebody describes something you hold dear as a ‘phoenicuckoo hybrid’, what is he describing? Hint: This particular ‘phoenicuckoo hybrid’ is used daily by most of the 6.8 million citizens of Israel.

Answer: It is the language described variously as Israeli, Israeli Hebrew, Modern Hebrew, or Hebrew – and it is most certainly a ‘phoenicuckoo hybrid’, according to La Trobe University Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Dr Ghil‘ad Zuckermann. full story