Aus22

A discussion of Australian politics,history and religion

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Name: Aus 22

Age: 71

Location: Melbourne, Australia

 

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State Elections

Saturday 20 March, 2010 - 21:50 by Aus 22 in Politics

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Labor retain government in South Australia despite a swing.

The Tasmania election looks like producing a hung parliament.

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VIDEO: The Yarra at Moomba

Friday 19 March, 2010 - 10:51 by Aus 22 in Default

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Bureau, CSIRO say Australia is warming.

Tuesday 16 March, 2010 - 10:46 by Aus 22 in Politics

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Modelling by these organizations  say that  it is extremly unlikely that the observed warming is due to natural causes alone.

Evidence of human influence has been detected in ocean warming, sealevel rise, continental average temperatures, temperature extremes and wind patterns.

CSIRO , Chief Executive Dr Megan Clark said that both Organisations felt the point had now been reached "to give Australia facts and information threy are looking for and to do so in a way that is very transparent and available.

The evidence in the Tables published  show that Annual rainfall and the ten year mean has deceased since 1970, Maximum temperatures have risen over every decade since 1960, Carbon Dioxide has grown since 1975, Global Mean sea levels have risen since 1900 and ATMOSPHHERIC CARBON dioxide and METHANE have both increased. How can skeptics still deny  this.

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VIDEO: Band at Moomba Parade 2010.

Tuesday 16 March, 2010 - 10:16 by Aus 22 in Default

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University of Melbourne

Monday 01 March, 2010 - 10:04 by Aus 22 in History

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After many years studying for external exams in Intermediate, Leaving and Higher School Certificate I obtain a higher enough mark to enter University. At first I received an offer from Monash University . Thinking that was all I would get I accepted. However when I received an offer from my fantasy the University of Melbourne I changed. My preparation for university was unusual. I had not gone to a normal high school but to a coaching colledge. George Taylors and staff was a good college which duplicated some aspects of a university.

The classes consisted of one hour lectures like the university. Here I learnt to take notes while listening to a fast talking lecturer. At Taylors, there were no tutorials but you could ask questions of teachers and other students. As older students we often studied together in groups. While we had few text books the written notes were relevent and up to date. We had to complete many exercises and assignments so we were used to homework.In many ways it was a better way to prepare for the academic aspects of University.

With lower fees and greater financial assistance, in the 1960s students came from a wider background than they did previously. Most of the students in the past had came from private schools and wealthier suburbs. By 1964,13,672 students were enrolled at Melbourne University a third of them part time. Of these 1664 students enrolled in  my faculty Commerce compared to 7776 in 1957.  I did not receive a scholarship so had to pay the fees.I did not tell my parents there were fees as I was determine to pay them myself.

 A few of my friends at Taylors were fellow students at Melbourne University. These were not Australians but Italians. They were some of the first wave of post war migrants. My own parish in Monee Ponds had now had more people born in Italy than Ireland or Great Britain.

They had more in common with me,at 27, than the younger Australian students as they were more mature. This also applied to the Asian students I met at University. While Australian and Asian students tended to keep apart I mixed with both groups. Many of these Italian and Asian students visited my home.While not good at sport I joined the Debating club which included debates at Pentridge Prison against some bright inmates.

My major was in Economics and my main lecturer was Professor Prest. Sometimes the students found it hard to follow his lectures. It was difficult if you had not done the require reading. If they did the lecture became a road map if not it was hard. Lectures were held in the large Old Arts Public Lecture Theartre. This theartre lent itself to mid-lecture planks with long  rows of seats rising above the lecturer. Students could throw paper planes without being detected. President Prest high above the crowd drone on hoping the majority of students were listening. One day a noise erupted from the backseats ,drowing out his voice. Professor Prest knew how to handle dissent in the old days and ordered those sitting in the back seats to leave. They did, under protest, but the noise continued. There was only one answer to this defiance of authority; he walked saying he would not return. The students were stunned. This was not the working class response to a challenge. The Italian and Asian students went to Professor Prest and asked him to return. He refused at that time, but returned for later lectures when he discovered that the noise had been from a devise placed there under the seats by students who were most likely not from Commerce.

Although I knew I had a higher than average IQ, I still was not used to the high demands of study in this top university. I passed three, out of four subjects , in the first year. One reason was that I  had often to stop studying to do part time work to pay the fees. Also my training particarly in Maths, was not good enough for subjects like Statisitical Methods. However I did well in Economic History taken by Geoffrey Blainey. He recognised abilities that no one else acknowledge giving me honours. I was also given encouragement by many teachers and students. I even stood foe election to the Commerce Students Society. My Asian friends helped with the posters. I was sill interested in politics. Most younger students were attracted to radical causes.

There were plenty of these at the time with Australia becoming more and more entangled with the Vietnam War. The Conservative Prime Minister wanted American support in the Pacfic so offered to help them in Vietnam. Conservative politicians thought we needed great and powerful friends to defend Australia against to defend Australia against the Asian hordes. Students were opposed to the vietnam war partly because they could be called up for military service but also because they did not agree with the America or Australia participation in an Asian war.  A group called the Students for a Democratic Society led by Harry van Morst, were active at Melbourne University. Although not as radical as a similar society at Monash it did lead to escalation of student protests. These included a notable demonstrations against Prime Minister Holt who was greeted by paper planes and cat calls when he gave a speech at the Public lecture Theartre. Perhaps someone should had  warn the organizators of the difficulty of this venue.

There was a division among students as revealed in an article in the student newspaper Farrago under the heading 'Nauty State School Students"on the incident.  There were more students a melbourne from State schools than in the past but student demonstrations were common even when most Melbourne students came from private schools. When President Johnson visited Melbourne in 1967 atudent protestors lined the streets near the university on his route from the airport to the city. While the motorcade was diverted from from some streets near the university, Melbourne university strudents still managed to throw red paint on Johnson's car. My experience at  University taught me to make changes you had to be active in politics. It did not show me the danger of such involvment.

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