News from Victoria University

All-season wickets too bouncy

Victoria University — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:31:01 +0000

Victoria University researchers have demonstrated the all-season synthetic pitches used by some suburban cricket clubs are too bouncy.

The surface with a rubbery underlay is more resistant and can be left year-round instead of the roll-out synthetic mats traditionally used by suburban clubs - but it had also caused complaints from players about dangerously high ball bounce.

Victoria University School of Sports and Exercise Science researchers Dr Kevin Ball and Dr Con Hrysomallis used super slow-motion cameras to measure the speed and angle cricket balls bounced off each different pitch.

Results showed the ball popped up higher on the rubbery pitch compared to turf and traditional synthetic roll-out surfaces.

“The cricketers seem to have been right about the bounce being higher, and that could indeed be a safety issue especially for players moving between pitch surfaces,” Dr Ball said.

Results also showed the ball came more slowly off the new type of pitch.

Meanwhile the traditional synthetic pitches and turf pitches were found to behave similarly to one another in bounce height and speed.

“The fact the new pitches performed differently to the other types has implications not only for safety but also skill development,” Dr Ball said. “Junior players will get used to the slower, higher bounce then progress to the seniors where pitches act very differently.”

Most suburban clubs are using a mixture of these old and new synthetic pitches while the more elite clubs are using turf pitches.

Since the testing, the company producing the surface has adjusted its product to better mimic turf wicket conditions.

Suburban cricket match

Dr Kevin Ball

researcher

Contact faculty, school or department:

School of Sports and Exercise Science, Victoria University

0404 876 480

Kevin.Ball@vu.edu.au

Brimbank mums pass tradition to daughters

Victoria University — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:52:32 +0000

A new book on the glory box tradition of Melbourne’s Coptic women explores the importance of tradition in migrant communities and of craft to bring women together.

Victoria University researchers Professor Marty Grace and Dr Enza Gandolfo worked with a group of Coptic Christian women from Egyptian, Syrian and Lebanese backgrounds living in St. Albans, as part of a joint community arts project initiated by the women’s group and Brimbank City Council.

Professor Grace said the passing down of glory boxes – containing household linen, sheets, embroidery or crockery to young women in anticipation of marriage – had disappeared from much of Australia by the 1970s. But the Coptic community, which had managed to maintain the tradition, now also feared younger generations would let it pass.

Professor Grace said it was important to understand the love and care invested in these traditions to appreciate what was lost with their passing, or even to renew interest in maintaining them.

“What became clear during the project was that it’s not the glory box as a material artefact they’re afraid of losing but what it symbolises: the love and care passed on from mothers to daughters and the cultural continuity associated with it,” Professor Grace said.

She said the tradition symbolised cultural continuity for these women during the process of embracing a new land as well as an important way of bringing women of different generations together.

The research has led to a book Love and Care: the glory box tradition of Coptic women in Australia, launched February 10 alongside an exhibition of the same title at the Hunt Club Community Arts Centre in Deer Park.

The exhibition includes contemporary textile works produced by the women throughout the project, historical handmade textiles and stories of their significance to the women, as well as a series of contemporary artworks produced by the project artist, Tamara Marwood in response to the project. The exhibition runs until April 5.

Love and Care is supported by the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria and the Community Support Fund. The project, received funding and in-kind support from Brimbank City Council and Victoria University.

Book sold at the exhibition, selected bookstores or through Professor Marty Grace. For exhibition details visit brimbank.vic.gov.au

Detail of tablecloth from the women

'See also' internal links:

Marty Grace

Professor Marty Grace

researcher

Contact faculty, school or department:

School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Victoria University

0404 835 614

Marty.Grace@vu.edu.au

Kids heading for diabetes could change their future

Victoria University — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:07:59 +0000

New research suggests exercise early in life could fend off diabetes and heart disease, even for those predisposed to such diseases.

The study by Victoria University’s Professor Glenn McConell and Melbourne University’s Associate Professor Mary Wlodek tested whether exercise could ‘reprogram’ rats with a predisposition to diabetes and heart disease due to being born underweight.

“Those born small are programmed for a higher chance of disease later in life because of their underdeveloped heart and pancreas, but we think you can reprogram yourself by exercising early in life,” Professor McConell said.

In the trials on rats born small, those that exercised from five to nine weeks of age showed a small improvement in organ function at the end of that month, but remarkably, six months later their organs were the same as the healthy control group.

Another group of born small rats were not exercised and showed no improvement.

Professor McConell said a nine-week old rat correlated roughly with a five-year-old child and a six-month-old rat with a young adult person.

“We think this means more activity for children and more physical education in school could really help set them up for better health later in life and even help those predisposed to diabetes and heart disease to re-program themselves in time to avoid it,” he said.

He said trials were now planned with sheep; a larger mammal model with more similar hormones to humans than rats. He said they would eventually like to try it on humans.

The study titled ‘Short-term exercise training early in life restores deficits in pancreatic β-cell mass associated with growth restriction in adult male rats’ was published recently in the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism.

The study was made possible by National Health and Medical Research Council funding.

source: flickr creative commons

Professor Glenn McConell

research leader (exercise science)

Contact faculty, school or department:

Institute of Sport, Exercise & Active Living (ISEAL), Victoria University

0435 962 363

glenn.mcconell@vu.edu.au

2012 Australian University Championships

Victoria University — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:42:18 +0000

All Victoria University students who are interested in competing at a national level, Australian University Sport offers a number of exciting championship events in 2012. These stand alone events provide students the opportunity to compete at a national level in one of seven great sports. Further information on each Championship can be found below.

Event	Date	Location	Organiser	Cost	Contact
Orienteering	6 - 9 April	Stanthorpe, QLD	Orienteering Australia *Held in conjunction with Orienteering Australia National Championships	Entry fees to be set by organisers	Ryan Lenegan - National Event Coordinator ryan.lenegan@unisport.com.au
Surfing	1-5 July	Lennox Head (and surrounds), NSW	Australian University Sport *Held in conjunction with Northern University Games	$130	Ryan Lenegan - National Event Coordinator ryan.lenegan@unisport.com.au
Snow Sports	2-6 September	Mt Buller, VIC	Australian University Sport	TBC	Ryan Lenegan - National Event Coordinator ryan.lenegan@unisport.com.au
Distant Running (full and half marathon and 9km)	16 September	Sydney, NSW	Sydney Running Festival * Held as a category within the Sydney Running Festival	Entry fees to be set by organisers	Ryan Lenegan - National Event Coordinator ryan.lenegan@unisport.com.au
Rowing	24-29 September	Adelaide, SA	Australian University Sport *Held in conjunction with the Australian University Games	$160	Ryan Lenegan - National Event Coordinator ryan.lenegan@unisport.com.au
Triathlon	November (TBC)	Kingscliff, NSW	QSM Sports *Held as a category within the Kingscliff Triathlon	Entry fees to be set by event organisers	Ryan Lenegan - National Event Coordinator ryan.lenegan@unisport.com.au
Twenty20 Cricket	2-6 December	Lismore, NSW	Australian University Sport	$130	Ryan Lenegan - National Event Coordinator ryan.lenegan@unisport.com.au

'See also' internal links:

Sport and fitness

Represent VU in sport

'See also' external links:

http://www.unisport.com.au/Pages/Home.aspx Australian University Sport

http://www.facebook.com/vusport VU Sports Facebook

Ashlee Marks

Sports Officer

Contact faculty, school or department:

Student Engagement - Sport and Health Section

3 9919 4434

ashlee.marks@vu.edu.au

New Year, new job?

Victoria University — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:00:56 +0000

Part 1 Job Applications

Thursday 16^th February 12-1.30pm
Looking to change jobs in 2012? Not sure how to sell your skills and achievements in your resume and cover letter?
Learn how to create a winning job application in this FREE workshop.

Part 2 Interview Skills

Thursday 23^rd February 12-1.30pm
Made it to the interview stage, but not sure how to go about selling yourself? Learn about common interview questions, and how to go about answering them in a way that will impress recruiters. Time will be provided to practise your skills in pairs.

FREE workshops. Bookings essential: 0431 656 360 or thelearningstore.highpoint@vu.edu.au

Get help applying for and getting a new job with staff at The Learning Store

Learning-store-image-small.jpg

'See also' internal links:

Career advice in western Melbourne

Kathy Andison

0431 656 360

TheLearningstore.Highpoint@vu.edu.au

Nadal’s long warm-up may have contributed to loss

Victoria University — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:15:46 +0000

A Victoria University sports scientist says Rafael Nadal’s long warm-up before his epic five-set Australian Open match against Novak Djokovic may have contributed to his loss.

Research by James Zois at Victoria University has looked at optimising warm-up routines. He says many elite athletes are warming up for too long and becoming fatigued for no real benefit before starting the match.

“My research would suggest that Rafa’s long warm-up contributed to his loss, especially if the warm-up was completed on an outside court in the heat of the day in temperatures of around 35 degrees,” Mr Zois said.

The School of Sport and Exercise Science doctoral candidate made the comments after Todd Woodbridge was reported in yesterday’s Age commenting on Rafa’s “extraordinary” hour-long long warm-up in which “he went hard”.

“Beyond the 5 minutes needed to increase heart rate and muscle temperature, then a couple of targeted explosive routines, you can just start tiring players out for no real benefit,” Mr Zois said. “Coaches need to restrict and focus their players’ warm-up so they can save all that energy for use during competition.”

Rafael Nadal. source: flickr creative commons

James Zois

doctoral candidate

Contact faculty, school or department:

School of Sport & Exercise Science, Victoria University

0413 497 090

james.zois@vu.edu.au

2012 iPAB awards – entries now open

Victoria University — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:02:23 +0000

Victoria University’s I Plan A Business (iPAB) competition gives secondary students across Victoria the opportunity to win fantastic prizes. To put yourself in the running, come up with an original business idea.

If you are a Year 10 or 11 student enrolled in a Victorian secondary school, start preparing that business plan now!

Teachers have said how much their students have enjoyed participating in iPAB, seeing them explore essential elements of their school curriculum in new and interesting ways.

VU will host an awards ceremony in early August at our City Flinders campus for entrants - you can bring along your friends, family, teachers, principals. $500 cash prizes are up for grabs!

To register, please email ipab@vu.edu.au

iPAB 2012 - What's your idea?

ipabthumb.jpg

Scott Murray

iPAB 2012 Coordinator

Contact faculty, school or department:

Faculty of Business and Law

9919 1524

ipab@vu.edu.au

2012 Australian Business Week (ABW) Enterprise Education program

Victoria University — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:53:17 +0000

VU is proud to be partnering with the 2012 Australian Business Week (ABW) Enterprise Education program. ABW is one of Australia’s most successful enterprise education programmes for secondary students. In a four-week program, school-nominated year 11 students will participate in activities that will test and develop their business skills, teamwork, leadership abilities and creativity.

Guided by expert mentors, students will be divided into teams and given a variety of tasks. Students will be required to work online for the duration of the four-week program, communicating with their team members from school and home.

Students will meet at the City Flinders campus on 12, 19 and 26 May and 2 June 2012 for full days of activities. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on the final day of competition. Students are encouraged to bring family, friends and teachers along to this event.

Registrations are now open - email Scott Murray at abw@vu.edu.au. Registrations close on Friday 6 April 2012.

Registration costs $100 per student, which will be payable before the program commences on Saturday 12 May 2012.

Students participate in the 2011 ABW Challenge

ABW-thumb.gif

'See also' external links:

http://www.abw.org.au/ ABW Enterprise Education

Scott Murray

ABW 2012 Coordinator

Contact faculty, school or department:

Faculty of Business and Law

9919 1524

abw@vu.edu.au

Victoria University / UTEP program recognised for innovation

Victoria University — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:45:40 +0000

Victoria University and the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) received an honourable mention in the prestigious 2012 Institute of International Education, Andrew Heiskell awards for innovation in international education.

The VU/ UTEP Global Engagement and Learning Program which has led to major innovations in the way both universities operate was recognised in the international partnerships category.

The award recognises the unique commitment that the two universities share in providing an excellent and accessible educational experience for students from culturally diverse and educationally disrupted backgrounds, who are often the first in their families to gain a degree.

The Executive Dean of Victoria University College, Susan Young said: “A global learning community has been established whereby students of both universities study joint subjects, learn about each other's countries, and link up via video conferencing and social networking.

“Because many of the students are from low-income families and need to work to support their studies they are not able to afford exchanges that involve expensive travel arrangements. In addition to this ‘virtual’ student exchange, for the past two years a number of students from each university have exchanged for one semester to work and learn at the other institution. The Students Working as Staff program provides the funding to cover this international experience.

“Teleconferences, video conferences, and social media communications are held between the VU Student Leadership Council and UTEP student leaders to explore differences and commonalities in student leadership roles at the two universities.”

The joint library services have also provided an important link: “Since 2008 the libraries at VU and UTEP have developed a strong relationship of cooperation and shared projects. They have many areas of common interest, in particular the desire to improve the model of integrated educational services at both locations.” Susan Young said.

The Andrew Heiskell awards showcase the most innovative and successful models for internationalising campuses with particular emphasis on removing institutional barriers and broadening the base of participation in international teaching and learning.

The Institute of International Education is a world leader in the international exchange of people and ideas. An independent, non-profit organization the IIE has more than 1,000 member institutions worldwide. The IIE Andrew Heiskell Awards were named for Andrew Heiskell, a former chairman of Time Inc. and a long-time member of the Executive Committee of IIE's Board of Trustees. Mr. Heiskell was a renowned international and cultural philanthropist and a devoted supporter of international education.

VU students on video conference with UTEP.JPG

Susan Young

Executive Dean Victoria University College

susan.young@vu.edu.au

Brazilian Waxing: Short courses in 2012 at City King campus

Victoria University — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:46 +0000

For the beauty therapist who has waxing qualifications and industry experience, we offer the opportunity to learn Brazilian waxing - an extremely popular and profitable salon treatment. The course focuses on developing skills to perform Brazilian waxing for female clientele, in a professional, modest and hygienic environment.

Course content includes:

Prepare the client for Service – hygiene issues, current health regulations, contraindications and hair growth directions
Strip wax and hot wax methods
Aftercare for the client and further treatment

Hours per session: 3.5 hours

Cost: $170

Dates:
07/02/2012
26/03/2012
16/05/2012
25/07/2012
25/09/2012
10/10/2012

Time: 5.30pm – 9.00pm

Location: Room 4002, Level 4 225 King Street, Melbourne

Bookings: Phone: Janet on 9919-8763 or email: tti.shortcourses@vu.edu.au

Salon equipment for waxing and hair removal

'See also' internal links:

Brazilian Waxing

Janet Jenson

Contact faculty, school or department:

School of Service Industries

9919 8763

tti.shortcourses@vu.edu.au