Vale - St. George's College
Vale - St. George's College Vale - St. George's College
THEGEORGIAN A MAGAZINE FOR THE ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF ST GEORGE’S COLLEGE December 2010 Issue 3 Volume 34 INSIDE THIS ISSUE From the Warden | Tony Blair Faith Foundation | Annual Giving | Valedicts 2010 | SCR Mini Dinners Going With the Flow in the Kimberley | Uni Games | Winthrop Singers | Fresh Start Recovery Programme | Teach for Australia Victorian Georgians | Georgian Cocktail Party | Don Aitken | Sam Hammond
- Page 2 and 3: The Georgian The Georgian is a quar
- Page 4 and 5: From the Editor Welcome to the fina
- Page 6 and 7: Annual Giving 2010 The St George’
- Page 8 and 9: Valedictory Dinner 2010 The Valedic
- Page 10 and 11: SCR Mini Dinners Each year, the Sen
- Page 12 and 13: Going With the Flow The life of a u
- Page 14 and 15: Uni Games 2010 The past few years h
- Page 16 and 17: The Winthrop Singers Trip to China
- Page 18 and 19: The Little Dragon Georgian Presiden
- Page 20 and 21: The Little Dragon Teach for Austral
- Page 22 and 23: The Little Dragon Georgian Cocktail
- Page 24 and 25: The Little Dragon Vale Sam Battle H
- Page 26 and 27: The Little Dragon Mailbag & Visitor
- Page 28: Interested in getting in touch with
THEGEORGIAN<br />
A MAGAZINE FOR THE ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF ST GEORGE’S COLLEGE<br />
December 2010 Issue 3 Volume 34<br />
INSIDE THIS ISSUE From the Warden | Tony Blair Faith Foundation | Annual Giving | <strong>Vale</strong>dicts 2010 | SCR Mini Dinners<br />
Going With the Flow in the Kimberley | Uni Games | Winthrop Singers | Fresh <strong>St</strong>art Recovery Programme | Teach for Australia<br />
Victorian Georgians | Georgian Cocktail Party | Don Aitken | Sam Hammond
The Georgian<br />
The Georgian is a quarterly publication produced by <strong>St</strong> George’s<br />
<strong>College</strong>, an Anglican residential college within The University<br />
of Western Australia.<br />
Founded in 1931, <strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong> is a co-educational<br />
college that provides promising students of diverse disciplines<br />
and backgrounds with a collegiate education, aimed at<br />
enhancing their aspirations, developing their capacities<br />
and encouraging them to lead and serve.<br />
2 The Georgian | December 2010<br />
Applications for residency for Semester 2, 2011 and<br />
Semester 1, 2012 are currently being accepted. Application<br />
forms are available online at www.stgeorgescollege.com.au<br />
The Georgian is also available online at www.stgeorgescollege.<br />
com.au/alumni/georgianmagazine<br />
<strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong>, Mounts Bay Rd, Crawley WA 6009
Contents<br />
5 From the Warden<br />
6 Annual Giving<br />
8 <strong>Vale</strong>dictory Dinner<br />
10 Senior Common Room Mini Dinners<br />
Guest speakers this year were Melodie Potts Rosevear<br />
from Teach for Australia and <strong>St</strong>ephan Lewandowski<br />
from UWA<br />
16 Winthrop Singers Trip to China<br />
19 From Helping Businesses to the Business of Helping<br />
Fresh <strong>St</strong>art Recovery Programme CEO Jeff Claughton<br />
(1970) writes about his work with drug addicts<br />
20 Teach for Australia<br />
21 Victorian Georgians<br />
22 Georgian Cocktail Party<br />
25 <strong>Vale</strong> Don Aitken (1942)<br />
The Georgian | December 2010 3
From the Editor<br />
Welcome to the final<br />
edition of The Georgian<br />
magazine for 2010.<br />
Now that the challenges faced by <strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong> in the wake<br />
of the massive hail storm in March have, for the most part, been<br />
resolved, the <strong>College</strong> looks forward to celebrating the completion<br />
of the major building works. The Grand Opening, which will include<br />
the formal naming and dedication of Newby Wing, Hackett Dining<br />
Hall, Rogerson Room and Elsey Room, will be held on 31 March<br />
2011. Our four major benefactors , David Newby (1962), Sir John<br />
Winthrop Hackett, Jean Rogerson and John Elsey (1941) are<br />
pictured below. More information can be found in the Warden’s<br />
report (p 5).<br />
I am incredibly appreciative of everyone who so willingly gave their<br />
time to assist with this year’s Annual Giving Programme, and the<br />
entire <strong>College</strong> community is very grateful for the strong show of<br />
support from those listed on page 6. Thanks especially to Peter<br />
Wreford (1963) for all of his contributions, including article writing<br />
and letter signing. The much needed work in the Dining Hall is<br />
taking place during the summer break and is due for completion<br />
in time for the start of the academic year in February 2011.<br />
Thank you to those who have contributed articles. Jeff Claughton<br />
(1970) wrote about his work at Fresh <strong>St</strong>art Recovery Programme<br />
with Dr George O’Neil (p 19) and Sara Peet (2003) wrote about<br />
Teach for Australia (p 20). Current residents Lucian Watkins<br />
reported on his trip to China with the Winthrop Singers (p 16) and<br />
Akram Azimi outlined his experiences in Singapore at the Tony Blair<br />
Faith Foundation Faith and Globalisation Conference (p 7). Thank<br />
you also to the <strong>Vale</strong>dicts for writing the paragraphs about their<br />
future plans, which were read out at the <strong>Vale</strong>dictory Dinner (p9).<br />
A number of images were supplied by our current residents. Jarrad<br />
Seng supplied the main photo on the cover of <strong>Vale</strong>dict Catherine<br />
Miles and her father David Miles (1974), as well as the photos of<br />
the <strong>Vale</strong>dictory Dinner (p 8), the Georgian Cocktail Party (p 22)<br />
and the chapel (p 15). Charles Bogle was the photographer at the<br />
SCR Mini Dinners (p 10).<br />
This volume includes a photograph of <strong>College</strong> Chef Andrew<br />
Kennedy picking the beetroot (p 3) that was planted amongst the<br />
ornamentals in the garden beds around the Quad. A report on<br />
this project (in conjunction with UWA) will be included in the next<br />
edition of The Georgian. Those interested in the <strong>College</strong> grounds<br />
are invited to attend the UWA Friends of the Grounds tour of the<br />
gardens at <strong>St</strong> George’s on Thursday 29 September 2011.<br />
I invite you to join the <strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong> Group on UWA’s Alumni<br />
Connect web site www.development.uwa.edu.au/alumni (p 17).<br />
The dates for our Christmas Carol Services in the Chapel can be<br />
found on page 15 and 21.<br />
Thank you to everyone for their contributions. Submissions and<br />
suggestions are always welcome. Creative writing of 400 words or<br />
less is also welcome.<br />
I hope you enjoy this edition of The Georgian magazine and I wish<br />
you all a safe and happy festive season.<br />
JOSEPHINE EVANS (1988)<br />
EDITOR, THE GEORGIAN<br />
GEORGIAN@STGEORGESCOLLEGE.COM.AU<br />
DAVID NEWBY (1962) JEAN ROGERSON SIR JOHN WINTHROP HACKETT JOHN ELSEY (1941)<br />
4 The Georgian | December 2010
From the Warden<br />
A “Grand Opening”<br />
of the main elements of<br />
the recent major building<br />
program is scheduled for<br />
31 March 2011.<br />
This opening will include the formal naming and dedication of<br />
Newby Wing, Hackett Dining Hall, Rogerson Room and Elsey Room.<br />
Newby Wing was occupied on 24 March this year, two days after<br />
the 22 March hailstorm. The 30 student rooms and the two<br />
tutor fl ats of Newby Wing, together with the 18 student rooms of<br />
Memorial Wing which came on-stream in July 2007 has resulted in<br />
a more than 30% rise in student numbers which now total 210.<br />
<strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong> is committed to the view that coming to The<br />
University of Western Australia and residing in a college, with its<br />
range of great benefi ts, is a vastly superior university experience<br />
than that provided by living off campus. The <strong>College</strong> needs to<br />
balance the need and the will to provide the college experience<br />
to a greater number of young men and women with not allowing<br />
numbers to grow to the extent that the intimacy of the college<br />
community and the overall college experience is compromised.<br />
David Newby (1962) studied Law at UWA. He was at <strong>St</strong> George’s<br />
<strong>College</strong> for four years, 1962 – 1965, being Senior <strong>St</strong>udent in his<br />
fi nal year. He was Western Australia’s Rhodes Scholar in 1966<br />
and spent two years at Wadham <strong>College</strong>, Oxford University. David<br />
became a partner at Robinson, Cox and Co at the age of 28 and<br />
in 1977 he joined the Mars Group. He subsequently became<br />
senior advisor to the Mars Family and Vice President, General<br />
Counsel and Secretary of Mars, Incorporated, 1998 – 2004 in<br />
Washington D.C. David forged a strong bond with <strong>St</strong> George’s<br />
<strong>College</strong>, not least with his Warden, Dr Reynolds, who David<br />
regarded as a wonderful mentor.<br />
David Newby’s extraordinary generosity, together with the<br />
funding partnership negotiated with UWA and support from other<br />
Georgians, in particular Sir Rod Eddington (1968), enabled <strong>St</strong>age<br />
2 to be completed. In addition to Newby Wing the <strong>St</strong>age 2 works<br />
included a new kitchen and servery, another common room (Music<br />
Room), a space for bicycles, a workshop and considerable storage.<br />
The March hailstorm resulted in signifi cant damage to the Dining<br />
Hall. Roof tiles were broken and as a result much of the canite<br />
ceiling was water damaged. The <strong>College</strong>’s comprehensive insurance<br />
cover will ensure that the majority of the costs of replacing dormers,<br />
replacing all of the tiles and fi tting a new ceiling will be covered<br />
by insurance. In addition the walls are to be re-rendered, the fl oor<br />
renovated and the windows repaired. These works will be carried out<br />
in the period November 2010 – February 2011.<br />
The Dining Hall is to be formally named after our great benefactor,<br />
Sir John Winthrop Hackett, exactly 100 years after The University<br />
of Western Australia was constituted by an act of the West<br />
Australian Parliament. Hackett was the principal driving force for the<br />
establishment of The University and its fi rst Chancellor (1912 – 1916).<br />
Jean Rogerson was a very prominent UWA identity for many years<br />
and served for three years from 1983 on the <strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong><br />
Council. Ms Rogerson died in 1993 and by her will she directed<br />
that The University and each of the colleges along ‘<strong>College</strong> Row’ be<br />
her benefi ciaries. The old kitchen which had served the <strong>College</strong> well<br />
for 80 years has been gutted and renovated and is now a common<br />
room, decorated as a café. This space will be named Rogerson<br />
Room in recognition of Jean Rogerson’s most generous bequest.<br />
John Elsey (1941) studied law at UWA during which time he was<br />
a resident at <strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong>. His two periods at the <strong>College</strong>,<br />
1941 and 1946 – 1948 were interrupted by service in the RAAF in<br />
the European theatre. Towards the end of his life and subsequent<br />
to his death Mr Elsey was a very signifi cant benefactor of the<br />
<strong>College</strong>. The old servery which adjoins the Dining Hall has become<br />
another common room which acts from time to time as an annexe<br />
to the Dining Hall. This space will be named after John Elsey in<br />
recognition of his great generosity and commitment to the <strong>College</strong>.<br />
31 March 2011 promises to be a memorable and exciting day<br />
of celebration and refl ection as <strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong> enters its<br />
81st year.<br />
JOHN INVERARITY<br />
WARDEN<br />
The Georgian | December 2010 5
Annual Giving 2010<br />
The <strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong> Foundation acknowledges with gratitude the following individuals<br />
for their generous support during Annual Giving 2010. In addition we are grateful to the<br />
donors who requested anonymity for their gifts. Thank you also to those whose gift was<br />
received after this list was published. JE<br />
Friends of the<br />
<strong>College</strong><br />
Mr & Mrs Anderle<br />
Mr & Mrs<br />
Anderson<br />
Mr & Mrs Bennett<br />
Ms T B Bui<br />
Mr & Mrs Butler<br />
Mr & Mrs Clark<br />
Mr & Mrs Courtney<br />
Mr & Mrs<br />
Dallimore<br />
Mr & Mrs Edgeloe<br />
Mr & Mrs<br />
Evernden<br />
Mr Gay & Ms<br />
Maclaine<br />
Mr & Mrs<br />
Gildenhuys<br />
Dr & Mrs Harrison<br />
Mrs C Healey<br />
Mr & Mrs Hunt<br />
Mr & Mrs Ireland<br />
Ms Johnson &<br />
Mr Longman<br />
Mr & Mrs Kikeros<br />
Mr & Mrs Krause<br />
Dr & Dr Kruger<br />
Dr Lian &<br />
Mrs Chen<br />
Mr & Mrs Lokon<br />
Mrs J Martain<br />
Dr Rae<br />
Mr Redko & Ms<br />
Albina<br />
Mr Rodgers & Ms<br />
Evans<br />
Mr & Mrs Salmon<br />
Mr Tan & Ms Mak<br />
Ms Taylor & Mr<br />
Ahmat<br />
Mr Van Den<br />
Ouweland<br />
& Ms Robinson<br />
Mr & Mrs Woulfe<br />
1930s<br />
Professor M N<br />
Brearley<br />
Mr C P Farrow<br />
Mr E F<br />
Biddiscombe<br />
6 The Georgian | December 2010<br />
Professor A K<br />
Collins<br />
1940s<br />
Mr W E Ewers<br />
Dr B E Balme<br />
Mr R O Cook<br />
Professor A R H<br />
Cole<br />
Mr J B Doyle<br />
Dr J J E Glover<br />
Mr D B Sugden AO<br />
Dr J T Jefferies<br />
Mr J G Marsh<br />
Mr E P Anderson<br />
Mr A G L Elliott<br />
Mr E G Hayman<br />
Mr P T McCulloch<br />
Professor P R<br />
Jefferies<br />
Mr R A Piesse<br />
Professor J C<br />
Riviere<br />
Mr W D Gobbart<br />
Mr T D Hoar<br />
Mr B W S James,<br />
OAM<br />
Dr S G Webster<br />
Mr W S Cooper,<br />
OAM<br />
Mr E N Fitzpatrick<br />
Mr E R Palmer<br />
Mr T J Poutsma<br />
Mr J O <strong>St</strong>one<br />
Dr P B Tunbridge<br />
OAM<br />
Mr L G Wilson AO<br />
Dr I P Barrett-<br />
Lennard<br />
Mr M C P Clifton<br />
Mr J R Greenway<br />
Mr H D B Norman<br />
Mr R S Sadka<br />
Mr M Bailey<br />
Mr J N Mora<br />
1950s<br />
Dr J S Gladstones<br />
Mr J C M Slee<br />
Dr G E Bevan<br />
Mr K J Cuming<br />
Mr D D B<br />
McNaughton<br />
Mr F J F Owen<br />
Mr A L Vincent<br />
Mr D R Grant-Frost<br />
Mr M C Hay OAM<br />
Mr J H M<br />
Honniball<br />
Dr A J Peck<br />
Dr R D <strong>St</strong>urkey<br />
CVO AM<br />
Dr R L Chase<br />
Dr J C Hanrahan<br />
AM<br />
Dr C J Powell<br />
Mr G P Garnett<br />
Mr H C Grant-Frost<br />
Mr E N Mouritz<br />
Dr J W Parry AM JP<br />
Mr R E S Argyle<br />
Mr R D P Clifton<br />
Mr R W Jahn<br />
Mr I L K<br />
McNaughton<br />
Mr J A Rodgers<br />
Mr G R Hogbin<br />
Mr I J V Sanderson<br />
Mr D K B Sewell<br />
Mr D R L Burt<br />
Mr W F Dunne<br />
Mr M D Mercer<br />
Mr P H <strong>St</strong>ewart<br />
Mr C J C Trott<br />
Mr P R E Wann<br />
Dr J W Copland AO<br />
Mr J E Ryan<br />
Mr D A Short<br />
Mr H T Wood<br />
1960s<br />
Dr A A Burbidge<br />
Mr R D Collister<br />
Mr D F de Fredrick<br />
Mr J P W Farr<br />
Rev'd A G Forsyth<br />
Dr G A Lefroy<br />
Dr L A Waldon<br />
Mr K R Wark<br />
Dr R J Atkinson<br />
Mr J J Brayshaw<br />
Dr P R Jackson<br />
Dr R I T Prince<br />
Mr B B Baker<br />
Dr A N J Blain<br />
Mr D A Cannon<br />
Dr F T A Lovegrove<br />
Mr R L MacMillan<br />
Mr R W Mercer<br />
Mr A D N Adams<br />
Dr W L Baker<br />
Dr T M Height<br />
Dr D J Lord<br />
Dr R B Whitwell<br />
Mr P A Wreford<br />
Mr P K Edwards<br />
Dr P C Healy<br />
Mr J A Horner<br />
Mr J M Johnston<br />
Dr S J Miles<br />
Mr B Wills-Johnson<br />
Mr R R Barttelot<br />
Mr R A C Cullen<br />
Mr D A McTaggart<br />
Mr M F Monaghan<br />
Mr D L Armstrong<br />
Mr W A James<br />
Mr R F Turner<br />
The Rev'd E P<br />
Witham<br />
Mr G W Heberle<br />
Dr B E F Hockings<br />
Mr P Koomsup<br />
Dr A E S Tan<br />
Mr S K Craddock<br />
Dr H Derham<br />
Mr P M Randell<br />
Mr P T Trend<br />
Mr G P Walker<br />
Mr N D Askew<br />
Dr G G Jacobs<br />
Mr J J Neil<br />
Mr W S Peters<br />
1970s<br />
Mr D F Burges<br />
Mr I Goldsmith<br />
Mr M J Young<br />
Mr C I Blyth<br />
Dr J T Gliddon<br />
Mr T R D Mason<br />
Mr P Tremlett<br />
Mr A S J Loh<br />
Mr A R Lord<br />
Mr G W Rich<br />
Mr P K L Liau<br />
Mr A P Baird<br />
Mr J P Bargiev<br />
Mr C P Rayner<br />
Dr R J <strong>St</strong>orer<br />
Mr M P Thornton<br />
Mr R E Bailey<br />
Dr I J Johnston &<br />
Ms B Maclean<br />
Mr K H MacLeay<br />
Mr J R Packham<br />
Mr N A R Cameron<br />
Mr T W Hall<br />
Mr J I Rick<br />
Mr C T Engelke<br />
Mr I J A Ilsley<br />
1980s<br />
Mr D Beilby<br />
Mr M W Jones<br />
Dr J N Openshaw<br />
Mr D C J Pike<br />
Dr M J Atherton<br />
Ms S A Blakely<br />
Mr C E Carter<br />
Mr M R Evangelisti<br />
Dr & Mrs Horn<br />
Mr R A<br />
O'Callaghan<br />
Mrs W White<br />
Mr S D Hicks<br />
Mr S B Watters<br />
Mrs M M Cooney<br />
Mr S Trevisan<br />
Mrs A M Dennison<br />
Mrs M R Wolff<br />
Mr T Darbyshire<br />
Miss E Dickson<br />
Ms J F Evans<br />
Dr S R Manson<br />
Mr S J Robertson<br />
Dr K A Shepherd<br />
Mr & Mrs M<br />
<strong>St</strong>ickells<br />
Mr I & Mrs A<br />
Cunningham<br />
Ms M Darbyshire<br />
Mrs R H Potts<br />
Mr P D Robinson<br />
Mrs J E Spencer<br />
Ms K J Teale<br />
Ms R S Wark<br />
Dr J S Watson<br />
Mrs J H Wills<br />
1990s<br />
Mr J E Bowie<br />
Mr J S Fabling<br />
Mr N K Fahie<br />
Ms A Agnello<br />
Mrs S M Bath<br />
Mr & Mrs O & D<br />
Charlesworth<br />
Ms M J Humann<br />
Miss E Murray<br />
Ms W F Coad<br />
Mr J & Dr J A<br />
Maldon<br />
Mr J D Power<br />
Mr D P Curnow<br />
Mrs M Lochore<br />
Dr J A Love<br />
Mr S J Witham<br />
Mr V Sarmazian<br />
Mr K W Karlsen<br />
Dr A Turner<br />
Mr S Kargotich<br />
Mr G V Ng<br />
Mr W K Goh<br />
Mr I Mukmin<br />
Ms T Murphy<br />
Mrs D Blackford<br />
Mr K A Kerr<br />
2000s<br />
Mrs M K Duff<br />
Miss J D Loton<br />
Mr S D Cowan<br />
Mr S J Gliddon<br />
Miss J R Burgar
Faith, Globalisation and Wandong Noodles<br />
L-R JADE ROBERTS (2007), JON BAKER, MICHAEL SHELDRICK, TONY BLAIR, AKRAM AZIMI, DANIEL STEPNIAK (2000)<br />
My experience of the National University of Singapore’s<br />
Faith and Globalisation Conference (30 July to 2 August<br />
2010) was life affirming.<br />
Made possible by the Tony Blair Faith Foundation (TBFF), the<br />
spiritually and intellectually rich, intense and vibrant gathering<br />
represents for me a quintessential fl ashbulb memory.<br />
With its vision of faith as a potential unifying global force in the 21th<br />
century and with the aid of cutting-edge internet technology, the TBFF<br />
is devoted to promoting understanding of the major religions and<br />
connecting young people around from around the world.<br />
This vision is based on the understanding that constructive<br />
interfaith dialogue is the most effective and peaceful means to<br />
a more harmonious world, because the opposite, silence and<br />
miscommunication, has clearly been the cause of much disharmony.<br />
A prerequisite for conference attendance was a deep passion for<br />
interfaith issues. Fortunately, I have received much experience of<br />
this during my residence at <strong>St</strong> George’s (with its very strong focus<br />
on fostering inter-faith education and discussion).<br />
As for Singapore, it was everything I had expected: perennially well<br />
lit, humid and bursting with life in everything direction. This was<br />
perhaps epitomised by my accommodation, the immense high rise<br />
student residences of NUS, which like most buildings in Singapore,<br />
attempted to conquer the sky.<br />
On the fi rst day of the conference I met some exceptional and<br />
inspiring students from universities from all over the world,<br />
including McGill, Peking, Monterrey and Yale University. I listened<br />
to the insights of esteemed professors on faith and globalisation.<br />
I explored fi rsthand the different places of worship in Singapore<br />
(a truly multicultural society) and studied how people of different<br />
faiths interact, confl ict and accommodate each other when their<br />
sacred spaces are often within earshot of one another.<br />
Interestingly, all these centres of worship expressed, in words<br />
and actions, genuine respect and appreciation for the “others”;<br />
I think this “we are all in this together” mentality, can partly be<br />
explained by the fact that everyone is, to some extent, a foreigner<br />
in Singapore.<br />
On the second day of the conference, I had the pleasure of<br />
meeting and conversing with Tony and Cherie Blair.<br />
On our last night together, we had an eight course Asian meal that<br />
I am still savouring—what a way to say goodbye to new friends!<br />
The next logical step following the conference is the<br />
commencement of a unit called Faith and Globalisation at UWA,<br />
which will feature cutting edge technology utilising Internet based<br />
global collaborative education.<br />
Finally, the conference made me refl ect on my own spirituality<br />
and I have reached the following conclusion: I am not certain that<br />
Gods exists, but I am certain that God is not non-existent either.<br />
Perhaps this is the lawyer in me playing it safe—Pascal style!<br />
AKRAM AZIMI<br />
AKRAM IS A FOURTH YEAR COLLEGE RESIDENT AND IS STUDYING<br />
SCIENCE/LAW<br />
The Georgian | December 2010 7
<strong>Vale</strong>dictory Dinner 2010<br />
The <strong>Vale</strong>dictory Dinner was held in the<br />
Dining Hall on Wednesday 27 October.<br />
The 20 <strong>Vale</strong>dicts were each presented<br />
with a plaque of the <strong>College</strong> crest and<br />
the following prizes were awarded:<br />
The Leeman Cup – Suze Rijks<br />
The Lindsay Scott Prize – Alistair Marchesi<br />
The Newby Prize – Alex Wood, Joel Krause and Matt Sims<br />
The <strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong> Prize – Murray Smith<br />
The Georgian Prize – Charles Bogle<br />
The Victorian Georgian Prize – Ash Blackwell<br />
The Maxwell Newton Scholarship – Asha Chauhan<br />
The Newby Fund – Tao Mantaras<br />
The Gascoine Memorial Bursary – Lisa Craft<br />
1 L-R SARA DAMIANI, JARRAD SENG,<br />
ELLE LINFOOT 2 CLAIRE BAILEY<br />
& NICK TRAVERS 3 CATHERINE<br />
MILES, PIPPA LUND, HANNAH<br />
THORNTON 4 SHANA SYLVESTER<br />
5 L-R BACK ROW CATHERINE<br />
MILES, RACHEL PATERSON, CHERYL<br />
WHEATLEY, HANNAH THORNTON, PIP<br />
LUND, GIULIANO BOSIO, LYNTON<br />
BENNETT L-R MIDDLE ROW SARA<br />
DAMIANI, TENDAI MUDZIMU, SHANA<br />
SYLVESTER, ANDREW AHMAT,<br />
CAMERON FOSBERY, MATT SIMS,<br />
DAMIEN PONTIFEX, ELLE LINFOOT,<br />
GREY JOHNSTON L-R FRONT PATRICK<br />
ANDERSON, TRENTON WARBURTON<br />
6 L-R ALEX WOOD, TAO MANTARAS,<br />
ASHA CHAUHAN, CHARLES BOGLE,<br />
LISA CRAFT, SUZE RIJKS, MURRAY<br />
SMITH, JOEL KRAUSE IN FRONT:<br />
ALISTAIR MARCHESI<br />
8 The Georgian | December 2010<br />
1 2<br />
3 4<br />
5<br />
6
2010 <strong>Vale</strong>dicts<br />
Andrew Ahmat<br />
Andrew has completed his Physics Honours and while he has no<br />
defi nite plans he would like to take a few years off to travel before<br />
possibly undertaking further studies overseas.<br />
Pat Anderson<br />
Pat is not yet sure where to apply the life skills he has gained from<br />
the last 3 years.Although he has received numerous offers from hair<br />
modelling companies, he would rather spend the rest of his life doing<br />
something which he holds closer to his heart. This probably means<br />
inheriting his old man’s lawn mowing business.<br />
Claire Bailey<br />
After graduating with an Arts Degree Claire hopes to get a job in<br />
the public sector. She is also considering postgraduate studies in<br />
public health or health promotion. If that doesn't keep her occupied<br />
she plans to gain a better understanding of string theory and the<br />
quantum-critical state of electrons, thus solving the mystery of high<br />
temperature super-conductivity.<br />
Lynton Bennett<br />
After spending more time at <strong>College</strong> than anyone who has been here<br />
less than 6 years, Lynton will be travelling overseas before starting work<br />
at the Department of Premier and Cabinet in February. John Inverarity<br />
once told Lynton’s parents that they had better not keep their son away<br />
from <strong>St</strong> George’s for too long otherwise he would get the shakes. We will<br />
soon fi nd out if this was a joke or a statement of fact.<br />
Giuliano Bosio<br />
Giuliano will be graduating in Civil Engineering. He is considered to be<br />
the “Hall B Patriarch” after residing there for 4 years. He will be back<br />
in Perth next year after summer holiday in Mauritius, his country of<br />
origin. He plans to work casually during 2011 in order to travel and<br />
start his Masters in 2012.<br />
Sara Damiani<br />
Sara hails from California and is affectionately known as the <strong>College</strong><br />
matron. She came to <strong>College</strong> in 1935 to study medicine. Now that<br />
she has fi nally fi nished her degree she is ready to compete to be<br />
the world’s least muscular (but very pleasant and certainly pretty)<br />
orthopaedic surgeon.<br />
Cameron Fosbery<br />
Cameron is undertaking a Diploma of Graduate Education next year,<br />
after which he will use his fi nely honed verbal skills to (in his own<br />
words) “teach children how to do stuff. And get paid for it. Wicked.”<br />
Grey Johnston<br />
Grey feels very fortunate to have spent his fi ve years studying<br />
Engineering and Economics at <strong>St</strong> <strong>George's</strong> <strong>College</strong> and is very sad to<br />
be leaving. Grey accepts that the next fi ve years can not possibly be<br />
as good, but is still excited about the future. He hopes to do some<br />
postgraduate study before contemplating the prospect of employment.<br />
He is, however, extremely concerned about his chances of survival as<br />
he will not have Nicola, Jess, Margaret, Colleen, Sonja, Leanne and<br />
Anne-Marie looking after him!<br />
Elle Linfoot<br />
Elle has completed her Arts Degree and will fi nish Law next year. Over<br />
the summer she will undertake vacation clerkships at commercial law<br />
fi rms to fi nd the right fi rm with whom to spend her graduate years. Elle<br />
would eventually like to settle in mergers and acquisitions<br />
Pippa Lund<br />
Pippa has lived at <strong>College</strong> for 3 years. If you haven’t seen her, it<br />
is because she has been watching movies or sleeping or eating<br />
copious amounts of chocolate. Ironically she is about to graduate<br />
from Exercise and Health Science. She hopes to continue next year at<br />
Curtin in a Masters of Occupational Therapy.<br />
Rachel Paterson<br />
After four years, Rachel is leaving <strong>St</strong> George’s and UWA with Advanced<br />
Science Honours in Genetics. She spent her fi nal year studying an<br />
inherited eye disease and is applying for PhD scholarships to continue<br />
her studies in Medical Research.<br />
Damien Pontifex<br />
After fi nishing uni Damien wishes to travel and take a break, but<br />
also fi nd an overseas university at which to do Honours and a PhD in<br />
Nanotechnology. Whilst pursuing these studies he plans to discover<br />
something new and amazing that will change the world and allow<br />
him to retire and cruise around the world on his yacht while still<br />
reasonably young.<br />
Matt Sims<br />
Simsy will graduate this year with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of<br />
Education and hopes to teach in a high school in 2011. He has loved<br />
living at <strong>College</strong>, especially since he moved away from the notoriously<br />
rowdy South G and into the glorious heights of South B, with all the girls.<br />
Shana Sylvester<br />
Three years ago Shana moved to Perth from her village market in<br />
Kenya. She was very excited by all the new things she found here –<br />
for instance, the big grey things you ride into town had wheels instead<br />
of trunks. Next year she will be starting a post-grad course in speech<br />
pathology at Curtin.<br />
Hannah Thornton<br />
Hannah Thornton is the energetic RA who cycles or walks everywhere<br />
FAST! Hannah will graduate from Geography and Environmental<br />
Management and will commence Honours next year in Urban and<br />
Regional Town Planning. Any towns Hannah plans will be greatly<br />
biased towards cyclists and motorist should be aware that they will no<br />
longer have right of way.<br />
Nick Travers<br />
Next year Nick hopes to continue to save the world one equation at a<br />
time, pursuing an Honours Degree in Applied Financial Mathematics.<br />
Nick has thoroughly enjoyed his four years at the <strong>College</strong>. He hopes to<br />
one day prove that thinking in binary is not necessarily as limiting as<br />
one might think.<br />
Trenton Warburton<br />
Trent is graduating with Honours in Biomechanics and is not exactly<br />
sure what he is doing next but hopes to be in elite sport somewhere.<br />
He is looking at doing a PhD but he is pretty keen for some time off fi rst.<br />
Cheryl Wheatley<br />
Everyone at <strong>College</strong> knows Cheryl Wheatley. She has been here for 4<br />
years, and during that time she has probably had a lengthy dialogue<br />
at you. As much as Cheryl can talk, she is also kind and caring which<br />
makes her perfect teacher material. Cheryl will graduate from Health<br />
and Physical Education this year after graduating from Sports Science<br />
last year.<br />
The Georgian | December 2010 9
SCR Mini Dinners<br />
Each year, the Senior<br />
Common Room (SCR)<br />
organises a number of<br />
events to facilitate the<br />
communal life of the<br />
<strong>College</strong>. Mini Dinners,<br />
Wine & Cheese Nights<br />
and Careers Evenings<br />
are some of the events<br />
designed to achieve this.<br />
A Mini Dinner is an opportunity for all members of the<br />
<strong>College</strong> to attend a formal occasion at which a guest<br />
speaker will present an address. Our residents benefi t from<br />
the content of that address as well as the context in which<br />
it’s presented. Residents are also welcome to invite their<br />
parents and guardians to attend the evening.<br />
Senior Academic Tutor Sarah Gador-Whyte organised this<br />
year’s Mini Dinners, the fi rst of which was held in August.<br />
The guest speaker was the CEO of Teach For Australia,<br />
Melodie Potts Rosevear. The primary objective of Teach<br />
for Australia is to improve student outcomes in areas<br />
of educational disadvantage. They do this by recruiting,<br />
training and supporting university graduates to teach in<br />
disadvantaged high schools for two years. Over time, a<br />
network of alumni will form, who are interested in and<br />
knowledgeable about schools and education, committed<br />
to educational equity and destined to become exceptional<br />
leaders. Georgian Sara Peet (2003) is moving to Victoria<br />
in January to take part in the Teach For Australia program,<br />
see page 20 for her story.<br />
The second SCR Mini Dinner was held in October and<br />
Professor <strong>St</strong>ephan Lewandowsky was the guest speaker.<br />
Professor Lewandowsky is a Professorial Fellow at the<br />
School of Psychology at UWA, and he spoke to dinner<br />
guests about the psychology of climate change denial.<br />
Georgians who assisted with the Annual Giving Programme<br />
by signing letters were also invited to attend, and enjoyed<br />
the opportunity to chat to current residents.<br />
JE<br />
10 The Georgian | December 2010<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
4
5<br />
7<br />
9<br />
11<br />
1 L-R SARAH GADOR-WHYTE, MELODIE POTTS ROSEVEAR, OLIVER MASHININI<br />
2 L-R MARGO DARBYSHIRE (1989), MICHELLE DUFF (NURZENSKI 2000),<br />
WARREN DUFF 3 BOB LESCHEN (1951) & MICHELLE REINDERS 4 ANNA<br />
CURRY & PETER WREFORD (1963) 5 BERNARD HOCKINGS (1967) & DI<br />
HOCKINGS 6 MICHAEL BARGIEV & JEMMA SANDERSON (1998) 7 L-R HARRY<br />
WOOD (1959), IAN SANDERSON (1957), PETER WANN (1958) 8 ALEX HALL &<br />
JARRED LOCKHART 9 L-R LISA CRAFT, TALISHA GOH, ASH BLACKWELL 10 L-R<br />
CONNIE SMITH, REBECCA GRAHAM, GERARD MAZZA, MICHELLE HEPWORTH 11<br />
L-R CAITLIN MOUSTAKA, CONNIE SMITH, HANNAH THORNTON, CATHERINE MILES<br />
12 L-R DAMIEN PONTIFEX, ALEX WOOD, MARK DODD<br />
6<br />
8<br />
10<br />
12<br />
The Georgian | December 2010 11
Going With the Flow<br />
The life of a university student is full of timetables,<br />
deadlines and a myriad of extra-curricular commitments,<br />
but in visiting the beautiful Kimberley we were taught<br />
the value of just going with the flow of life.<br />
It was a cold winter’s morning when the 15-strong group from <strong>St</strong><br />
George’s <strong>College</strong> gathered, bright eyed and bushy tailed for what<br />
was to be the beginning of an unforgettable week. We made our<br />
way to the airport with a mixture of trepidation and excitement for<br />
although some had made the trip before, none of us were quite<br />
sure of what to expect on our journey.<br />
This was the third year that a group from <strong>St</strong> George’s had attended<br />
the Kimberley Youth Camp. Traditionally held on the banks of<br />
the Fitzroy River next to the Looma Aboriginal Community, this<br />
year was different. We would be travelling to One Arm Point, a<br />
community approximately 200km north of Broome, where we were<br />
to be camping on the beach along with the kids from Looma who<br />
were coming by bus to meet us there.<br />
We stepped off the plane at Broome airport expecting warm<br />
sunny skies but were surprised to fi nd out that even Broome can<br />
be overcast and cold. Soon we hit the road, the bitumen quickly<br />
turning to red dirt, but we made good time and eventually arrived<br />
12 The Georgian | December 2010<br />
in One Arm Point. Heading out to the beach, the cars were fi lling<br />
with excitement. What would the kids be like? What activities<br />
would we do? Would we be able to pitch our tents so that they<br />
stayed upright?<br />
While some of ‘the lads’ settled in by kicking the footy with the<br />
Looma boys, the rest of our crew chatted around the fi re pit<br />
with our fellow campers and the camp organisers. The camp<br />
is organised and run by Pastor Jamie Short from Looma with<br />
assistance from the Crossroads Bible church in Perth. Whilst they<br />
kept us nourished, both physically and spiritually, it was our duty<br />
to run activities for the kids during the day.<br />
On just one of the days we worked together in our four teams<br />
in many ways: completing a near-impossible obstacle course<br />
exhibiting supreme jumping, climbing and teamwork skills;<br />
displaying our passion and skills in sweaty volleyball games and<br />
exploring our creativity through sand sculptures of people, boats<br />
and local animals. After lunch, we went swimming at the beach
ST GEORGE’S, CROSSROADS CHURCH, LOOMA AND ONE ARM POINT CAMPERS<br />
before we jumped in the buses and went to the local fi sh hatchery,<br />
where the locals had a laugh scaring us while feeding the aggressive<br />
barramundi and beautiful turtles. Arriving home from the hatchery,<br />
everyone collaborated to make to huge banners to remember the<br />
camp, with handprints and pictures all over them. Relaxed basketball<br />
and football games kept us busy outside while we waited for dinner.<br />
Afterwards we played Jamie’s ‘Six Senses’ game – involving hilarious<br />
activities including singing, Chinese Whispers and blindfolded<br />
volunteers smelling the worst thing imaginable – Lucian’s 3-day-old<br />
smelly socks.<br />
As much as we enjoyed the organised activities, it was during down<br />
time that we got to really bond with the kids. During mealtimes there<br />
were always jokes being shared as the cheeky wit of the kids was<br />
on full display. We witnessed their amazing athletic ability during<br />
the casual games of basketball or kicking the footy. In fact, there<br />
was rarely a moment during the whole trip that someone wasn’t<br />
bouncing or kicking a ball around the place. Even when we were<br />
meant to be sleeping we got to know our new friends, with the girls<br />
often chatting and dancing with one another late into the night.<br />
It wasn’t all plain sailing, however. On the second day we received<br />
a storm warning and had to evacuate the beach, moving to the<br />
school and the hall in the middle of town. This storm caused<br />
the road to Broome to be closed down and we were told that we<br />
might be staying put for the best part of another week. As much<br />
fun as we had been having, by the fourth night some of us were<br />
beginning to miss our creature comforts, such as sleeping indoors<br />
on a bed. But you’ve got to go with the fl ow, so we set about<br />
making plans for more activities, whilst keeping an eye on the skies.<br />
By mid-afternoon the next day, news came through. The road<br />
to Broome was open but with more rain coming, it would not<br />
stay that way for long. We decided to make a dash for it, quickly<br />
packing and throwing our gear into the 4WDs. Saying our goodbyes<br />
were the toughest part of our trip, made more diffi cult by what<br />
had become an unexpectedly rushed departure. Although it had<br />
been just a few short days, we had formed very strong friendships<br />
and connections. Hugs and well-wishes were exchanged, as were<br />
contact details. We waved goodbye and as we pulled out of town<br />
we shed some tears, for we had fallen in love not only with the<br />
beautiful Kimberley, but also its beautiful people.<br />
We must thank <strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong> for providing us with this<br />
opportunity, as well as the Goodeve foundation, Tony Munday,<br />
UWA’s Equity and Diversity Department and the Bunbury Women’s<br />
Interest Group for their fi nancial support which made this journey<br />
possible. We also thank Pastor Jamie and the Crossroads crew for<br />
inviting us to join them and for looking after us for those four days.<br />
A special mention goes to Richard Pengelley who organised and<br />
supported our group before, during and after the trip, becoming<br />
a friend and mentor to us all. But most of all, we thank the kids<br />
of the Looma and One Arm Point communities. They made it one<br />
of the most unforgettable experiences that we will ever have, and<br />
taught us about their lives, ourselves and the importance of just<br />
going with the fl ow.<br />
STEVE LOFTHOUSE, AKRAM AZIMI & ROSE DEVEREAUX<br />
“The most unexpected and heart-warming moment for me was the afternoon of our last full day at the camp, I was<br />
getting doted on by two young Indigenous girls – Eliza was painting my nails while Shevaun put make-up on my face.<br />
Everyone else kept laughing at me when they walked past and I couldn’t work out why – when they fi nally held a<br />
mirror to my face, I was shocked to see that my face, neck, shoulder and arm had all been covered in the darkest<br />
shade of foundation I have ever seen. Shevaun giggled “Now you’re like me, a blackfella”. I had been accepted.<br />
ROSE DEVEREAUX<br />
The Georgian | December 2010 13
Uni Games 2010<br />
The past few years have<br />
seen a marked increase<br />
in the number of <strong>St</strong><br />
George’s <strong>College</strong> residents<br />
representing the University<br />
in intervarsity sporting<br />
competition.<br />
This phenomenon is no doubt due to the athletic prowess of<br />
Collegians, but also the allure of the many off-fi eld attractions of<br />
the Australian University Games. Uni Games was hosted this year<br />
by UWA over the fi nal week of September, and in a spectacular<br />
result for the home team the University emerged from the<br />
competition as overall champion for the fi rst time in the history<br />
of the Games.<br />
Both the current and former residents of the <strong>College</strong> made<br />
signifi cant contributions to this victory, and six were named in<br />
the respective ‘Green & Gold’ teams which recognise the players<br />
of the tournament in each sport. Ben Anderson (2008) and Pete<br />
O’Rourke (2006) were selected in the Green & Gold team for<br />
football, and along with George Cunningham and Tom O’Rourke<br />
(2005) were part of the University side that won gold in Aussie<br />
Rules for the fi rst time. Rachel Paterson and Emily Randell were<br />
members of the UWA women’s footy team that missed seeing<br />
fi nals action on percentage, and Rachel was again awarded Green<br />
& Gold selection for her performance.<br />
The University men’s and women’s soccer teams both won gold,<br />
and women’s team captain Adele Gardiner (2008) was rewarded<br />
for her part in the victory with Green & Gold selection. Swiss<br />
import Beat Roethlisberger was given Green & Gold selection for<br />
handball for his performance as part of the UWA side that was<br />
University<br />
Prize<br />
Winners<br />
The Engineers’ Club Prize was awarded<br />
to Daniel Engelke by the Board of<br />
Examiners in Engineering, Computing<br />
and Mathematics. The prize goes to the<br />
student who has gained the highest<br />
average mark in the foundation core units<br />
for the degree of Bachelor of Engineering<br />
completed within the fi rst year of full-time<br />
study. Daniel received this award for his<br />
end of year exam results in 2009. He is<br />
14 The Georgian | December 2010<br />
a second year student at the <strong>College</strong>,<br />
from Bunbury.<br />
The Board of Examiners in the Faculty<br />
of Medicine, Dentistry and Health<br />
Sciences awarded Ashleigh Punch the<br />
Hlavacek Prize. The prize is awarded to<br />
the student who has obtained the highest<br />
aggregate marks for the Level 1 core units<br />
in the course for the degree of Bachelor<br />
of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery.<br />
Ashleigh received this award for her end<br />
of year exam results in 2009. She is now<br />
completeing second year Medicine at<br />
UWA and is from Mandurah.<br />
The UWA Centenary Trust for Women<br />
awards 5 scholarships each year. Two<br />
pipped by Curtin in the gold medal match. There were fi ve <strong>College</strong><br />
representatives in the netball competition; Kate Edgeloe, Pippa<br />
Lund and Emma Reynalds (2008) were part of the women’s team<br />
whilst Grey Johnston and Tao Mantaras played ‘mixed’ for the UWA<br />
Mighty Ducks. Kate was another of the <strong>College</strong> residents rewarded<br />
with Green & Gold selection.<br />
The <strong>St</strong> George’s connection continued throughout the entire<br />
spectrum of sports. Malindi Haggett and Alice Henderson were<br />
both members of the victorious UWA women’s fencing team, whilst<br />
George Croucamp and Aria Lokon, who took up fencing in order<br />
to get to the Games, competed with valour but somewhat less<br />
success. Rowan Clark (2008) and Todd Allen (2006) were part of<br />
the lawn bowls team that had to settle for bronze for the second<br />
year in a row, and Leo Allen (2008) was part of the rugby 7’s team<br />
that just missed out on gold. Finally, Alistair Marchesi and Nils<br />
Matthies were members of the sailing team that won the inaugural<br />
Uni Games match racing competition in dominant fashion and<br />
Alex Watson again rowed successfully for the University.<br />
In what has been a successful year for sport at the University,<br />
residents of the <strong>College</strong> were also key players in the eleventh<br />
successive victory by the University in the Tertiary Sports WA<br />
competition, as well as members of the various University sporting<br />
clubs and the UWA team which triumphed in the inaugural TSWA<br />
Regional Challenge. The leading role of Collegians in sport at<br />
the University is set to continue in 2011, especially as Alistair<br />
Marchesi and Emma Reynalds (2008) have recently been elected<br />
to the positions of Sports Council President and Guild Sports<br />
Representative respectively.<br />
GREY JOHNSTON<br />
GREY WAS THE UWA SPORT COUNCIL PRESIDENT FOR 2010<br />
HE IS A FIFTH YEAR COLLEGE RESIDENT STUDYING ECONOMICS<br />
AND ENGINEERING<br />
students from <strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong> were<br />
among the recipients this year:<br />
Michelle Reinders has won the Miles<br />
Family Scholarship for a rural student in<br />
the Faculty of Life and Physical Sciences.<br />
Michelle, from Bunbury, is a second year<br />
student at <strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong>.<br />
The Margaret Mills (nee Summers)<br />
Memorial Scholarship, for study in<br />
the fi eld of clinical biochemistry or<br />
endocrinology, was awarded to fourth<br />
year <strong>College</strong> resident Rachel Paterson,<br />
from Busselton.<br />
JE
Chapel Report 2010<br />
As usual it’s been both a busy and<br />
a quiet year in the chapel. After the<br />
Commencement ceremony (where<br />
the chapel was packed), came the<br />
great storm of March ’10. The chapel<br />
suddenly became its own rainforest<br />
meditation centre – complete with the<br />
sound of running water streaming down<br />
the walls. In spite of this challenge, our<br />
regular pattern of prayer and worship<br />
(Sunday Eucharist and Thursday<br />
Evensong led by the UWA Winthrop<br />
Singers) continued albeit in rather cold<br />
and damp conditions.<br />
Highlights for the year included our Easter services, annual<br />
Requiem with war poetry for Anzac Day (this year Rutter’s), the<br />
college play, numerous concerts, 25 weddings, 5 baptisms and<br />
a couple of funerals. We had a delightful <strong>Vale</strong>dictory service in<br />
October and at the time of this going to print, we are looking<br />
forward to the 50 Year Club service in late November and our<br />
wonderful Christmas carol services at 7pm on 16 and 17<br />
December and midnight mass at 11pm on Christmas Eve.<br />
A lovely addition for a while this year was a late Sunday evening<br />
‘Chill Out in the Chapel’ relaxation session. The roof has<br />
been repaired, the bell and bell tower await repair, and in the<br />
meantime the chapel continues to be a home for prayer, music,<br />
drama and Christian fellowship. In fact the Sunday evening<br />
worshipping community has donated over $1500 this year to<br />
Anglicare for its work with homeless people in Perth and to<br />
the Pakistan Flood Relief Appeal. Thanks to my colleague Rev<br />
Michael Wood (the UWA Anglican chaplain), and to tutor Sarah<br />
Gador-Whyte and her husband Michael Champion for their<br />
continuing support.<br />
Have a safe and meaningful Christmas.<br />
RICHARD PENGELLEY<br />
CHAPLAIN<br />
Christmas Carol Services will be held at the Chapel on December 16th and 17th at 7pm. The<br />
Winthrop Singers will be singing carols they have recorded on their second CD, ‘A Mediterranean<br />
Christmas’, which will be available for sale after the Carol Service: what a lovely Christmas present<br />
the new CD will make!! The CD will also be available for sale at the <strong>College</strong> Offi ce.<br />
The Georgian | December 2010 15
The Winthrop Singers Trip to China<br />
A GREAT RECEPTION FOR THE WINTHROPS' FIRST CONCERT<br />
In early August of this year, I was fortunate enough to travel<br />
to Beijing with the Winthrop Singers to participate in the<br />
29th International Society for Music Education (ISME) World<br />
Conference. This experience has been, without a doubt, one of the<br />
most formative of my life so far, not only because it was musically<br />
challenging, but for the wealth of knowledge<br />
I gained about China and its culture.<br />
Our week in Beijing was jam-packed to say the least. We gave four<br />
concerts in total; two concerts at the Conference Centre (within<br />
walking distance to the Olympic Bird’s Nest and Water Cube), a<br />
concert at the National Centre for the Performing Arts and a Fringe<br />
Concert in conjunction with a local choir, the Beijing Baroque<br />
Choir. Our performances were well received and enthusiastically<br />
applauded by hundreds of local Chinese. Our fi rst concert was<br />
attended by over 400 people – a reception we did not expect!<br />
As well as performances we gave a workshop in Kodaly and chord<br />
singing, led by our esteemed director, Nicholas Bannan. This was<br />
a tremendous success and we were asked to be in approximately<br />
10,000 photos! What was rewarding for us was that we could<br />
communicate and share musical knowledge with complete<br />
strangers, which demonstrated in my eyes the power of music,<br />
particularly choral singing.<br />
Aside from the Conference program, we had plenty of time to fi t in<br />
some culture. On the second night we watched the Peking Opera,<br />
which was a both an eye-opening and ear-blasting experience. The<br />
next day we visited the Bird’s Nest, the extraordinary architectural<br />
centrepiece of the 2008 Olympic Games, which was aweinspiring.<br />
It literally blew my mind to behold the athletics track on which<br />
Usain Bolt and other athletes had performed their miracles.<br />
Shortly after, Richard Pengelley and I swam in the practise pool<br />
inside the Water Cube, which no doubt had been a dream for<br />
Richard for some time. We also walked through Tiananmen Square<br />
and strolled through the Forbidden City amongst crowds hundreds<br />
of thousands strong. Equally fun was bartering for tacky goods at<br />
the Silk Markets, and the favourable exchange rate ensured that<br />
16 The Georgian | December 2010<br />
everyone got a “bargain”. The absolute highlight for me was having<br />
a traditional Noodle dish for my birthday (on the fi fth day) and<br />
then climbing a 900 metre high section of the Great Wall. It was<br />
amazing to get up so high and above the smog of Beijing. Equally<br />
thrilling was to imagine the work that must have gone into such a<br />
massive engineering task.<br />
Beijing surprised me in many ways. Firstly, the infrastructure is<br />
world class. The highways, railways, malls and facilities were top<br />
drawer; sometimes we had to remind ourselves that we were in<br />
a Communist country. We were given a reminder of this when we<br />
got lost trying to fi nd an Italian restaurant and found ourselves<br />
in the Russian District; a precinct that I assume was built when<br />
the partnership with the former USSR was strong. Secondly,<br />
the people were so enthusiastic to meet us especially at the<br />
Conference. Our tour guide, Mary, was a particularly kind lady<br />
and we were able to communicate with many Chinese thanks to<br />
her fl uent translations.<br />
THE WINTHROP SINGERS PANDA TO ALL TASTES....
Overall I really enjoyed the Winthrop Singers Tour to China;<br />
I believe we made strong cultural connections at the Conference<br />
and represented The University of Western Australia and <strong>St</strong><br />
George’s <strong>College</strong> to the best of our ability, both in performance<br />
and our Workshop demonstrations. I would like to thank Nicholas<br />
Bannan, who conceived the idea of going to ISME and led us<br />
with distinction, the University and the <strong>College</strong> for giving us the<br />
opportunity to travel, my fellow choir members for being such<br />
great people to travel with and Richard and Jo Pengelley for<br />
providing logistical and moral support.<br />
LUCIAN WATKINS<br />
LUCIAN IS A SECOND YEAR COLLEGE RESIDENT,<br />
STUDYING ARTS<br />
<strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong> resident choir,the Winthrop Singers, has<br />
performed Evensong or a Eucharist every Thursday in term time<br />
since its formation in March 2007, writes their conductor Nicholas<br />
Bannan. The choir operates an outreach policy that has taken<br />
them to Albany, Denmark, New Norcia and Geraldton to provide<br />
workshops and concerts and fl y the fl ags of UWA and <strong>St</strong> George’s.<br />
Increasingly they have addeda bracket of songs from Broadway<br />
and Hollywood to the sacred repertoire they sing in Chapel. This<br />
turned out to be a life-saver on their fi rst overseas tour in August,<br />
as their danced versions of Broadway classics proved immensely<br />
popular with Chinese audiences, and also because a sensitive<br />
censor drew the blue pencil through some of their initial selection<br />
for being ‘too Christian’. With some judicious re-balancing of<br />
programmes, the Winthrops surmounted this hurdle, andas the<br />
ISME Conference is carried out under UNESCO protocols with<br />
regard to cultural openness and freedom of information, were<br />
able to perform sacred music written by UWA students to great<br />
acclaim. Chaplain Richard Pengelley and his wife Joanne took the<br />
wonderful photographs that accompany this article, and proved<br />
indispensible to the success of the tour in their roles as pastoral<br />
advisors and tour leaders.<br />
NICHOLAS BANNAN<br />
THE WINTHROPS INSPECT CHINA'S ANSWER TO THE RABBIT-PROOF FENCE<br />
alumniConnect – the new<br />
networking site for UWA<br />
graduates!<br />
The University of Western Australia has launched a new<br />
networking website that will enable its graduates to develop<br />
greater professional and social links with the University and<br />
its alumni.<br />
Developed exclusively for UWA, alumniConnect is a<br />
professional and social networking site that has taken<br />
advantage of emerging technologies to bring together more<br />
than 60,000 graduates worldwide – all within a safe and<br />
secure online environment.<br />
alumniConnect is free of charge and allows graduates to<br />
stay connected to their friends, get connected at reunions<br />
and stay tuned to UWA news and events. As a registered<br />
alumniConnect member, you will be able to:<br />
• create your personal profi le<br />
• search for other graduates in the alumni directory<br />
• develop your own groups and networks based upon your<br />
interests, location or other commonality. A group has been<br />
set up for <strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong><br />
• submit and signup for events, see who else has registered<br />
• search for jobs and direct your career<br />
• upload and share photos within your group<br />
• build custom content from a wide range of feeds and<br />
online tools such as YouTube, Google, Flickr and many<br />
more.<br />
If you like the sound of extending your UWA connections<br />
and getting access to members-only features and benefi ts<br />
all in one place, then contact the alumniConnect Team at<br />
alumniconnect@uwa.edu.au with your full name, your UWA<br />
degree (including your last year of study).<br />
For more information visit<br />
http://www.development.uwa.edu.au/alumni<br />
MILKA BUKILIC<br />
The Georgian | December 2010 17
The Little Dragon<br />
Georgian President’s Report<br />
MICHELLE GODLEY (1993) & CAITLIN MOUSTAKA<br />
It is that time of year again…November has arrived, Christmas<br />
is fast upon us and 2010 is drawing to a close. This is my fi nal<br />
report as President of The Georgians and I would like to take this<br />
opportunity to thank the Georgians who have been members of<br />
the committee for their support, friendship and hard work.<br />
Throughout the year The Georgians aim to host a number of events<br />
designed to allow people to maintain their social connections<br />
with past students and associations with the <strong>College</strong>. Thanks go<br />
to Ian Clarke (1976) who hosted the After Works Drinks event<br />
at Macquarie in September and Justine Maldon (1994), John<br />
After Work<br />
Drinks<br />
@ Macquarie<br />
Courtesy of Ian Clarke (1976), a hard-working group of<br />
Georgians were delighted to enjoy after work drinks at<br />
Macquarie on <strong>St</strong> Georges Terrace in early September.<br />
Georgians spent 3 hours discussing power boating<br />
on the Swan, iPhone app development, mentoring for<br />
<strong>College</strong> residents, happy departures (of a career kind),<br />
rain (or the lack of it) in the Wheatbelt, the GFC and a<br />
host of other delightful topics over a wonderful array<br />
of beverages and canapés in the board room. A lovely<br />
view saw dusk turn to night as we beheld the glittering<br />
lights upon the Swan. Photos were taken, however<br />
an Apple iOS4.2 update saw fi t to revert the author’s<br />
iPhone to its original state, sans said photos.<br />
A most enjoyable evening thank you Ian!<br />
Georgians are invited to contact The Georgians for<br />
the next After Works drinks in Perth via the editor –<br />
josephine@stgeorgescollege.com.au<br />
RUSSELL O’CALLAGHAN (1982)<br />
18 The Georgian | December 2010<br />
Watson (1989) and Russell O’Callaghan (1982) who organised<br />
and hosted the annual Cocktail Party in October. The last event of<br />
the year was the Annual Georgian Picnic, held on the <strong>College</strong> front<br />
lawn in November. Thanks to Justine Maldon (Milton-Smith 1994)<br />
for all her hard work organising such a great day.<br />
Being President has been an honour and a privilege and I have<br />
loved the opportunity to be involved in the <strong>College</strong> once again.<br />
As a member of The Georgian committee I have been able to see<br />
a different side of <strong>College</strong> to that which I saw as a student in the<br />
mid nineties. <strong>College</strong> and the past and current students are a<br />
refl ection of the amazing, committed and passionate people that<br />
are responsible for the welfare of students, ongoing sustainability<br />
of <strong>College</strong> and providing opportunities to students to aspire to<br />
great things. At a recent formal dinner at <strong>College</strong>, which I shared<br />
with a number of current students, I discovered that once a <strong>St</strong><br />
George’s <strong>College</strong> student, always a <strong>College</strong> student…the pranks<br />
are largely the same, as is the support and camaraderie!<br />
I encourage anyone who is interested in The Georgian committee<br />
and participating in the <strong>College</strong> community to join The Georgian<br />
committee by attending the AGM at 5pm on Saturday 5 February<br />
2011 at the <strong>College</strong>.<br />
Have a great and safe Christmas.<br />
MICHELLE GODLEY<br />
PRESIDENT<br />
Georgian<br />
Careers Evening<br />
On Monday October 11, students gathered on lounges and beanbags<br />
in the Junior Common Room, listening to fi ve Georgians sharing their<br />
life experiences and career advice. Richard Paton (1979), Brett Watson<br />
(1987), John Watson (1989), Brian Pontifex (1988) and Angus Turner<br />
(1995) entertained and provided pearls of wisdom in a very informative<br />
and interactive ‘career panel’ session.<br />
Afterwards, wine and cheese was served providing an opportunity for<br />
mingling and individual chats between students and the fi ve professionals.<br />
The Careers Evening is part of the new <strong>St</strong> George’s Careers Program<br />
offered to students in the <strong>College</strong>, alongside assistance with job<br />
applications, writing CVs and generally looking for work beyond Uni days.<br />
In 2011, the <strong>College</strong> would also like to match students to a Georgian<br />
mentor – someone who would be willing to provide individual advice<br />
during the course of a student’s degree. Thank you to those Georgians<br />
who have already responded to the call in the last magazine. If<br />
you would like to help as a mentor, and/or participate in a Careers<br />
Evening next year, please contact either Josephine Evans (josephine@<br />
stgeorgescollege.com.au) or Sarah Grimes (sarah1grimes@gmail.com)<br />
before 10 January 2011. Interstate and overseas Georgians are also<br />
welcome to mentor via email and Skype.<br />
SARAH GRIMES (1999)
The Little Dragon<br />
From Helping Businesses to the Business of Helping<br />
FRESH START EXECUTIVE OFFICER DR KHIM HARRIS (1983) AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER JEFF CLAUGHTON (1970)<br />
When my son Daniel (1998) graduatedwith a MBBS in 2004 I<br />
had no idea that I would be following his footsteps into a career<br />
in Medicine. Having spent a very long time in the fi eld of public<br />
accounting I thought I would continue to work as a taxation and<br />
business consultant. However I now fi nd that in my role as CEO<br />
of the Fresh <strong>St</strong>art Recovery Programme in Subiaco, I am more<br />
interested in patients than in budgets!<br />
The Fresh <strong>St</strong>art programme was founded in 1998 by Dr George<br />
O'Neil and helps families struggling with addictions. With a focus<br />
on treatment and recovery from opiate addiction, we have assisted<br />
more than 7000 patients in the past 13 years. Each week we run<br />
two treatment days when we usually see between 10 to 20 patients<br />
for opiate detox. We work holistically with patients to address the<br />
many medical and social issues that are typically presented by<br />
someone recovering from what is usually a long-term addiction.<br />
This is an enormous task and we rely on a staff of over 70 and more<br />
than 60 volunteers to provide this service. There is an enormous<br />
amount of “heart” involved in this work and everyone contributes<br />
far more than their job title or role description would suggest.<br />
The choice of treatment for a drug user who is seeking help has<br />
an enormous effect on the user, their family and the community<br />
as a whole. The two main choices available in Australia are<br />
maintenance and abstinence. Maintenance treatments include<br />
methadone and buprenorphine, which aim to transfer addiction<br />
from illicit drugs to a safer alternative, are well-known and widely<br />
accessible. Abstinence and recovery-focused programs such<br />
as Fresh <strong>St</strong>art, however, are much less common. Our program,<br />
which uses naltrexoneto assist with withdrawal and relapse<br />
prevention,aims to help the drug users cease their addiction.<br />
It is well documented that drug users have a reduced ability to be<br />
a productive member of society and this has a huge effect on the<br />
whole community. Fresh <strong>St</strong>art’s approach is to help whole families,<br />
not just the family member who presents with an addiction<br />
problem. The majority of our patients present with a member of<br />
their family or with the aim of reuniting with their family. This is a<br />
powerful motivation for their recovery. The whole family unit needs<br />
to be involved in the prevention of drug use and this need for<br />
involvement transfers across the whole “family” at Fresh <strong>St</strong>art.<br />
In early November it was announced that Dr George O’Neil<br />
has been shortlisted as a West Australian fi nalist for the 2011<br />
Australian of the Year awards for his work<br />
My work at Fresh <strong>St</strong>art is like nothing else I have ever done. I gain<br />
great support and encouragement from my own family who I’m<br />
sure sometimes wonder what happened to the accountant.<br />
Daniel in the meantime has gone to work as a GP in the Northern<br />
Territory. He lives in an indigenous community in Arnhem Land and<br />
when I visited him last year he seemed to spend a lot of time fi shing<br />
and hunting. I have offered him a job here in Subiaco but I don’t<br />
think I can compete with the fringe benefi ts he is currently enjoying.<br />
JEFF CLAUGHTON (1970)<br />
JEFF WORKS AT FRESH START WITH KHIM HARRIS (1983), WHO<br />
IS THE EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE ORGANISATION.<br />
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FRESH START RECOVERY<br />
PROGRAMME OR IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT THEIR WORK,<br />
VISIT THEIR WEBSITE WWW.FRESHSTART.ORG.AU OR CALL<br />
(08) 9381 1333.<br />
The Georgian | December 2010 19
The Little Dragon<br />
Teach for Australia<br />
L-R TOSHA PATEL (2006), KRUTI PATEL (2003), JESS MACGOWAN (2004), STEVE LOFTHOUSE, SARAH PEET (2003)<br />
I always told myself that<br />
I would never be a teacher.<br />
Having grown up surrounded by my parents and their friends, who<br />
were teachers, teaching had never interested me and I wanted to<br />
branch out into something new.<br />
I studied geology and graduated at a time when there was a boom<br />
in the mining industry, so it was assumed that I would easily fi nd a<br />
well-paid job. After fi nishing my degree, instead of actually getting<br />
a job I decided to skip that natural progression and trotted off<br />
overseas for a year. This, of course, was when the GFC exploded<br />
in our faces. The job that I had lined up for my return fell through<br />
and I came back to Australia broke and jobless – and so began<br />
the hunt for work.<br />
I had been searching for about a month when I came across an<br />
ad in the paper for jobs at Scitech, Western Australia’s hands-on<br />
science centre with exhibitions, programs and services designed<br />
for people of all ages. The job was with Scitech’s outreach<br />
department, and promised travel all over WA taking science to<br />
the children in places like the Kimberley, Pilbara, Cocos (Keeling)<br />
Islands, remote aboriginal communities and also other less<br />
interesting places like Bunbury. The idea of travelling around the<br />
<strong>St</strong>ate for work appealed to me instantly (even if it was to Bunbury)<br />
and I thought that it would be fun to work at Scitech – but only for<br />
a year of course, just until the industry recovered enough to start<br />
recruiting again.<br />
Two years later, I am still at Scitech, and I love it. I have been to<br />
some amazing places and done some amazing things, all the<br />
while communicating my love of science in the most fun way<br />
possible – blowing bubbles and exploding things. I now coordinate<br />
the Outreach Early Childhood program, and have had amazing<br />
opportunities developing the program and building all sorts of<br />
crazy exhibits. Recently I organised a day-long photo shoot that<br />
saw 20 children under the age of 5 come through and model for<br />
20 The Georgian | December 2010<br />
an activity book that I am creating – who was it who said never<br />
work with children or animals?<br />
Scitech gave me a passion for education that I never expected,<br />
and I seriously considered applying to study for a Diploma of<br />
Education and getting into teaching. When I said this to a friend<br />
of mine, she told me about a program called Teach for Australia.<br />
This program, she said, takes enthusiastic and motivated university<br />
graduates with a passion for education, but no education<br />
qualifi cations, and sends them out to disadvantaged schools to<br />
teach in their fi eld. They pay our university fees and a salary while<br />
we are simultaneously teaching and studying.<br />
This sounded like the perfect opportunity for me, it ticked all the<br />
boxes as far as I was concerned – it provided me with a Diploma<br />
from Melbourne University; it put me into the classroom straight<br />
away(I didn’t have to wait); there is a fabulous support network<br />
and mentoring structure in place; it paid a salary AND uni fees<br />
so I didn’t have to live like a student again; and we would be<br />
placed into schools in disadvantaged areas. This last point might<br />
seem like a strange thing to consider a highlight, however, having<br />
travelled around the <strong>St</strong>ate and visited all sorts of different schools<br />
and educational institutions in all different settings and locations,<br />
I really wanted to get out there and make a difference in the<br />
places that need it the most.<br />
So I decided go for it, and submitted my application with about 30<br />
seconds to spare (I’m not joking – it’s time stamped 11:59pm).<br />
After a rigorous interview process, I was accepted into the program<br />
as part of the 2011 cohort. After a short, but intensive stint in<br />
Melbourne to learn everything there is to know about teaching<br />
in 6 weeks, I will be heading out to Warrnambool, a town about<br />
3.5 hours out of Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road. I will<br />
be there for 2 years, teaching secondary science, and hopefully<br />
putting my Scitech experience to good use by engaging with and<br />
motivating students to love Science as much as I do!<br />
SARA PEET (2003)
The Little Dragon<br />
Victorian Georgians learn of home and far away<br />
The VGs held another<br />
happy function on 1st<br />
October. Around twenty<br />
Georgians and partners<br />
gathered at a new<br />
venue, The Swiss Club,<br />
conveniently situated<br />
near the city centre. It is<br />
always difficult to somehow<br />
capture a little of the very<br />
busy lives of the thirty<br />
to fifty age group. It was<br />
pleasing that a number<br />
of new business attendees<br />
were able to join us.<br />
The luncheon was timed to coincide with a trip to the Eastern<br />
<strong>St</strong>ates by Warden John Inverarity. He gave us a comprehensive<br />
word and pictorial account of the extensive work entailed in fi rst<br />
repairing the damage from the severe hail storm over the <strong>College</strong>,<br />
and then the signifi cant additions to the structure raising the<br />
accommodation capacity to 210 residents. <strong>College</strong> has changed<br />
vastly from the days of the older Georgians but certainly for the<br />
better. It always was, but is now an even better place to not only<br />
practice an academic, but also learn more about life itself through<br />
those vital late teen, early twenties in a student’s life.<br />
Tim Richards (1982) accompanied by his wife, novelist Narelle<br />
Harris, followed John with a fascinating insight into the “Life of<br />
a Travel Writer.” As well as visiting almost every continent in the<br />
world, Tim told us something of he and Narelle’s lives while living<br />
Dates for your diary<br />
Thursday 16 December 2010 | 7pm Christmas Carol Service in the Chapel<br />
Friday 17 December 2010 | 7pm Christmas Carol Service in the Chapel<br />
Friday 24 December 2010 | 11pm Christmas Eve Midnight Mass in the Chapel<br />
Saturday 5 February 2011 | 5pm Georgian AGM at the <strong>College</strong><br />
Tuesday 12 April 2011 Canberra Georgians <strong>St</strong> George’s Day Lunch<br />
Thursday 29 September 2011 | 9.15am UWA Friends of the Grounds tour of the<br />
garden at <strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong><br />
in Poland soon after the Wall came down. We certainly have some<br />
very interesting and capable members in our ranks. While Tim<br />
told us of many good times in their lives he spoke also of the<br />
signifi cant challenges one encounters in the life of a travel writer.<br />
The formal side of the luncheon closed with an account by Ted<br />
Mouritz (1955) of the progress of the Victorian Georgians Travel<br />
Prize. Three participants to date have visited Victoria in connection<br />
with this award. While each has valued their visit, VGs feel that<br />
the terms of the prize need to be reviewed further so that VGs can<br />
be more involved, other than just contributing money. And further<br />
participants can learn more of what is available in this state in<br />
our efforts to help them per medium of this prize. (Ted has since<br />
held a further review and will be contacting VGs and the <strong>College</strong><br />
directly, to advise certain recommendations).<br />
While most business attendees at the luncheon slipped away<br />
around 2.00pm, the rest stayed till after three testifying to the<br />
good fellowship enjoyed on top of the excellent Swiss menu of<br />
an hour or so before. Many expressed their satisfaction with the<br />
venue and it is likely we will meet their again.<br />
Our next function is an after work drinks gathering in the rooms of<br />
Sir Rod Eddington (1968) on 2 December. George Lefroy (1960)<br />
P 03 9867 2115 is organising this with Rod and Georgians will be<br />
contacted directly with specifi c details.<br />
Looking forward to seeing all who can attend on 2 December, and<br />
the compliments of the season to all others.<br />
BOB LESCHEN (1951)<br />
The Georgian | December 2010 21
The Little Dragon<br />
Georgian Cocktail Party<br />
The Georgian Cocktail<br />
Party was held on Saturday<br />
2nd October from 6.30pm<br />
to 9.30pm. The event was<br />
well attended with upwards<br />
of 60 people attending<br />
throughout the evening.<br />
The night was nominally an informal reunion for 1990 and 2000<br />
Georgians and Mark Flannagan (1990) entertained all present<br />
with anecdotes from the past and a toast to the Freshers of 1990<br />
and 2000.<br />
All present enjoyed themselves immensely and we hope they will<br />
drag some more Georgians along next year!<br />
A big thank you to the <strong>College</strong> Offi ce, Catering and Kitchen <strong>St</strong>aff,<br />
Lynton Bennett, <strong>St</strong>eve Lofthouse and the Georgian Committee for<br />
their invaluable help on the night.<br />
JOHN WATSON (1989)<br />
22 The Georgian | December 2010<br />
2<br />
1<br />
3<br />
4
The Little Dragon<br />
6<br />
7 8<br />
9<br />
1 L-R SHIN MUKAI (2007) & SIMON<br />
PRATT (2004) 2 RYAH PRENTICE<br />
(EASTMAN 1992) & ANDREW PRENTICE<br />
(1988), WHO MET AT A GEORGIAN<br />
COCKTAIL PARTY IN THE 1990S. 3<br />
CAMERON YAP, CAITLIN MOUSTAKA,<br />
RACHEL ANDERSON, ARIA LOKON 4<br />
L-R EDWARD MCLARTY (2000), KIRRI<br />
FALCONER (TRANTER-ROOKE 2000),<br />
EMILY BASTIAN (FERGIE 2000), NICOLE<br />
IRELAND (2000), MICHAEL SNELL<br />
(2000), PETE DEWING (2000) 5 L-R<br />
ANITA CUNNINGHAM (STRATFORD<br />
1993), AMY DAY (HUTCHISON 1992)<br />
HOLDING BABY ELLA CUNNINGHAM,<br />
SARAH LYNE (STRATFORD 1993),<br />
WENONA HADDINGHAM (BIRD 1993)<br />
6 L-R CRAIG CARTER (1982), LUCY<br />
CARTER, ANNA CATTELLI, GRAY PORTER<br />
(1973) 7 L-R DANIEL DEMPSTER<br />
(2003), EDWARD MCLARTY (2000),<br />
PETE DEWING (2000) 8 L-R EMILY<br />
LAING (2004), NENA SALOBIR (2004),<br />
AMELIA MIBUS (2004) 9 L-R MICHELLE<br />
GODLEY (1993), JANE MACEY (1991),<br />
PAOLO DE CAROLIS, DAVE THOMPSON,<br />
GISELLE FABLING (1993)<br />
5<br />
The Georgian | December 2010 23
The Little Dragon<br />
<strong>Vale</strong> Sam Battle Hammond (1937)<br />
From beginnings in<br />
WA tin shack to<br />
Melbourne University<br />
EMERITUS Professor Sam Hammond (1937), whose three decades<br />
as an educator at Melbourne University included tenure as Dean<br />
of the Faculty of Arts in the mid-1970s, has died of pneumonia<br />
at Lorne Hospital. He was 91.<br />
His time at the University, where he began as a lecturer and<br />
progressed as reader, professor and fi nally dean, was marked<br />
by his intellectual rigour, creativity, administrative skills and<br />
diplomacy.<br />
Hammond, who loved statistics, became President of the<br />
Australian Psychological Society when it was established as a<br />
separate entity from the British society. “I like to watch numbers<br />
dance, literally,” he said. “I like to follow a trail of numbers and<br />
look at a pattern of things.”<br />
This led to his ground-breaking research with a longitudinal study<br />
of males that spurned many studies across a range of disciplines.<br />
One of fi ve siblings born to Sarah (nee Ashworth) and William<br />
in Kelmscott, Perth, his mother was from the bush settlement of<br />
Gingin, while his father was an Englishman who arrived in Australia<br />
as a stowaway and shipwreck survivor.<br />
William had been apprenticed to an undertaker but hated the work<br />
and when a bloated cadaver burst open in front of him, he fl ed<br />
and secreted himself on a ship. After jumping ship in Australia, he<br />
eventually became a fettler, married and had children. The family<br />
lived at Gunyidi, a tin shack settlement on the railway line that<br />
runs from Perth to Geraldton.<br />
There was not even a primary school, so the young Hammond<br />
would run alongside passing trains begging newspapers from<br />
passengers to further his reading. Later, he was sent to an<br />
aunt in Armadale, south of Perth, for schooling. There was very<br />
24 The Georgian | December 2010<br />
little money, and when he was aged 13 his father was sent to a<br />
sanatorium, where he died of tuberculosis a year later.<br />
His mother scrimped and saved and took in ironing and with<br />
the help of family and a scholarship, Hammond got an education.<br />
His sisters did not have the same opportunity.<br />
In 1936, Hammond began an Arts Degree at The University of<br />
Western Australia on a Hackett bursary. He lived at <strong>St</strong> George’s<br />
<strong>College</strong> for the 4 years of his degree. An honours student, he found<br />
academic life easy and was confi dent of obtaining a scholarship<br />
to Cambridge or Oxford when World War II began.<br />
He spent the war years in Melbourne and Tasmania as a Captain<br />
in the Army’s Psychology Corps, and on a weekend stay in Lorne<br />
he met Marjorie Lochhead, a city girl who loved to dance.<br />
They were married in 1943.<br />
In 1946, with the war over, Hammond was asked back to the<br />
University of Western Australia, but his stay was short-lived.<br />
He was recruited to the new Psychology Department at Melbourne<br />
University.<br />
About that time, he and Marj bought his 14-year-old brother,<br />
Theo, to live with them and complete his schooling.<br />
On retirement in 1983, he and Marj engaged Theo, by then<br />
an architect, to design the house they built in the heathland<br />
overlooking the sea at Aireys Inlet.<br />
A year after moving in, it was a smoking ruin, burnt to the<br />
ground on Ash Wednesday 1983. All their possessions were<br />
gone. Undaunted, they rebuilt and continued to live there, with<br />
Hammond continuing to work on his research every morning.<br />
Hammond's son, Robert, died in 1999, and he is survived by Marj,<br />
their son Ian, daughter Barbara, and nine grandchildren, and two<br />
great grandchildren.<br />
KIM NEUBECKER<br />
FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE AGE NEWSPAPER, 23 AUGUST 2010<br />
<strong>Vale</strong><br />
Don Aitken (1942)<br />
James Buttsworth (1956)<br />
John Clarke (1944)<br />
James Davies (1946)<br />
Samuel Hammond (1937)<br />
Guy Neville (1938)
The Little Dragon<br />
<strong>Vale</strong> Don Aitken (1942)<br />
“Living at the <strong>College</strong><br />
was a real STROKE OF<br />
LUCK” said Don Aitken<br />
(1942) in his memoirs.<br />
In his Senior <strong>St</strong>udent’s report for the 1944 Dragon, Don observed<br />
that the <strong>College</strong> provided more than just a room and meals. He<br />
referred to the spirit of unity created by <strong>College</strong> sporting teams, his<br />
involvement being in rowing, cricket and football. He also referred to<br />
the role of traditions in the life of the <strong>College</strong> and residents of the<br />
<strong>College</strong>, who were a cross-section of the University, learning to live<br />
as members of a community instead of as individuals, which was a<br />
valuable lesson for life. His personal growth during his four years at<br />
the <strong>College</strong> had a signifi cant impact on the rest of his life.<br />
While he was living in the <strong>College</strong> he completed a Bachelor of<br />
Engineering degree in Civil Engineering, graduating with Honours.<br />
His memoirs record that a particular benefi t for him was that Frank<br />
Gamblen (1940), a senior lecturer in Maths at UWA, was a Senior<br />
Member of the <strong>College</strong> and very willing to assist as an expert tutor.<br />
Following his graduation, Don joined the Main Roads Department<br />
as an Assistant Engineer. After involvement in materials research<br />
and construction work, he spent 12 months in the UK gaining<br />
wider experience. Upon his return he played a major part in<br />
the installation of the fi rst traffi c lights in Perth and in 1953<br />
he commenced a demanding period in charge of various<br />
Departmental regional operations throughout the <strong>St</strong>ate. In the<br />
process he gained a thorough knowledge of the <strong>St</strong>ate’s road<br />
needs and the road construction techniques required to suit<br />
widely differing geographical conditions. He was appointed Chief<br />
Engineer in December 1963 and then in April 1965, at the age of<br />
40, he was appointed Commissioner of Main Roads – the youngest<br />
ever appointed to that position. Upon his retirement in October<br />
1987, he had been the longest serving Commissioner, having held<br />
the position for over 22 years.<br />
A tribute published by Main Roads states that: “Don oversaw a<br />
period of unprecedented expansion of the road network across<br />
Western Australia and had a profound impact on the manner in<br />
which Main Roads delivered the <strong>St</strong>ate’s road programs. This brought<br />
Main Roads to both national and international prominence, forming<br />
the basis for the high regard the organisation is held in today”.<br />
Don Aitken was a visionary leader and a great manager and<br />
nurturer of people. He always had the big picture in mind and a<br />
vision of what he wanted to achieve. He then went about taking<br />
people with him on the journey.<br />
He advocated strongly for the preservation of signifi cant tracts<br />
of land for the purpose of future arterial road systems and,<br />
signifi cantly, as the freeway routes of this system developed there<br />
was a central corridor reserved for fast transit public transport.<br />
This reserve provided the opportunity for the highly successful rail<br />
lines recently created north and south.<br />
He received a considerable number of awards for his professional<br />
achievements, including an Imperial Service Order, the Australian<br />
Road Federation’s John Shaw Award and the Institution of<br />
Engineers Australia’s Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Award. He was<br />
WA Citizen of the Year for the Professions in 1982 and he was<br />
appointed an Offi cer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1988.<br />
His community service activities included terms as Chairman<br />
of the Government House Foundation, as Warden of the <strong>St</strong>ate<br />
War Memorial and as a member of the UWA Senate for 24<br />
years. During his time on the UWA Senate he was Pro Chancellor<br />
for seven years and Chancellor for nine years (1981 – 1990).<br />
As Chancellor he planted a tree outside the <strong>College</strong> Chapel in<br />
February 1988, during the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury.<br />
At his Memorial Service in Winthrop Hall, the Vice Chancellor of<br />
The University of Western Australia, Professor Alan Robson said<br />
“Don Aitken was one of a handful of outstanding individuals<br />
over the last 100 years who helped to pave the way towards<br />
our University’s success. Don’s loyalty to his alma mater was<br />
recognised with an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Engineering<br />
from this University, and Don’s dedication to his profession and<br />
his voluntary interests would see him awarded acclaim on both<br />
<strong>St</strong>ate and national levels. Dr Donald Aitken’s intellect and loyalty,<br />
as a member of the University Senate, then as Pro Chancellor<br />
and fi nally as Chancellor, set our University fi rmly on its path of<br />
becoming the internationally recognised institution it now is.”<br />
Don Aitken was born in Midland on 8 January 1925 and attended<br />
the local school in Midland and then Guildford Grammar School,<br />
where he enjoyed great academic and sporting success, before<br />
moving into <strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong> at the beginning of 1942.<br />
His connection with <strong>St</strong> George’s <strong>College</strong> was further strengthened<br />
when he married Margaret Wiseman in the <strong>College</strong> Chapel in<br />
January 1954. He told his family that the luckiest day of his life<br />
was when he and Margaret decided to get married. Their marriage<br />
was only a few days short of 50 years when Margaret passed away<br />
in January 2004. Together they created a close and loving family<br />
with sons David, Michael and Nick and daughter Jo Menzies, their<br />
spouses and their offspring, a total of 14 grandchildren.<br />
Don developed a sudden age related illness and passed away<br />
peacefully on 2 September 2010, surrounded by members of<br />
his family.<br />
DAVID AITKEN<br />
The Georgian | December 2010 25
The Little Dragon<br />
Mailbag & Visitors<br />
Dali’s sculpture of <strong>St</strong> George Slaying the Dragon was<br />
discovered in the courtyard of Chateau Pommard, Burgundy,<br />
France by Andrew Baird (1975) and Tanya Channell on their<br />
travels in July 2010. Tanya is pictured with <strong>St</strong> George.<br />
REBECCA BALL (1988) AND HER DAUGHTER BRIDGET IN POKHARA,<br />
NEPAL ON A SHORT BREAK<br />
Rebecca Ball (1988) has relocated from New Delhi to<br />
Jakarta. She has been living in India for the past 3 years<br />
where she was working at the Australian Trade Commission,<br />
and will take up a similar post in Jakarta. She writes<br />
that she is sad to leave India but Jakarta will be another<br />
adventure, and as the role is regional (covering all ASEAN<br />
markets) she will still travel quite a lot.<br />
26 The Georgian | December 2010<br />
Congratulations to Sarah Freedman (Booth) 1991 who had a son<br />
Jake Grafton, brother to Max and Jessica.<br />
Congratulations to Krista McMeeken (2008), a fourth year law<br />
student at UWA, who was awarded the Law Council of Australia’s<br />
John Koowarta Reconciliation Law Scholarship in March this year.<br />
Originally from Esperance, Krista is the full time carer for her<br />
mother and sole income earner in the family. The scholarship<br />
allows her the means to purchase text books, a laptop and other<br />
educational resources to continue her studies, which would have<br />
otherwise been fi nancially impossible.<br />
Law Society of Western Australia President Hylton Quail said<br />
“Krista is an outstanding student and has achieved so much<br />
already. She is a very deserving recipient of this scholarship<br />
and a shining example to young people from all walks of life.”<br />
Krista previously won the Western Australian Outstanding Female<br />
Aboriginal of the Year Award in 2007 and was also a nominee<br />
for Western Australian Young Citizen of the Year in 2008.<br />
The John Koowarta Reconciliation Law Scholarship Trust has<br />
previously funded 11 scholarships to indigenous students who<br />
have all since been admitted into the legal profession.<br />
Alison Wieser, granddaughter of George White, popped in<br />
to the <strong>College</strong> to take photos of the Gardener’s Cottage and<br />
the gardens. George White was the fi rst gardener at the <strong>College</strong><br />
and had the task of planning and planting our beautiful<br />
gardens.<br />
He was the <strong>College</strong> Gardener from 1931 until 1957, apart<br />
from a period of war service. He lived in the Gardeners Cottage<br />
with his wife Agnes-May and their four children. Alison is the<br />
daughter of George and Agnes-May’s daughter Margaret, and<br />
lives in New South Wales.<br />
uniPrint 82817
The Little Dragon<br />
1 NEIL CAMERON (1978) VISITED THE COLLEGE WITH HIS MOTHER<br />
MARGARET. HE SAYS THAT HE IS STILL LEADING A DOUBLE LIFE AS<br />
A TAX CONSULTANT AND A FARMER IN QUEENSLAND.<br />
2 NORMAN SIM (1976) VISITED THE COLLEGE WITH HIS SONS<br />
IVAN AND JUSTIN. NORMAN LIVES IN MALAYSIA WHERE HE IS THE<br />
CORPORATE DEALING MANAGER AT KENANGA INVESTMENT BANK<br />
BERHAD. NORMAN REPORTS THAT HE WAS PLEASED TO BE ABLE TO<br />
VISIT ST GEORGE’S COLLEGE AGAIN AFTER SO MANY YEARS AND<br />
SEE THAT THE COLLEGE CONTINUES TO PROVIDE A WONDERFUL<br />
ENVIRONMENT FOR STUDENTS.<br />
3 DAVID MCNAUGHTON (1951) & IAN MCNAUGHTON (1956) FLEW<br />
IN FROM ENGLAND AND SYDNEY RESPECTIVELY. THEY STAYED AT THE<br />
COLLEGE FOR A NIGHT BEFORE GOING TO ALBANY.<br />
4 SARAH WIESE (DAVIES 1989) DROPPED INTO THE COLLEGE<br />
TO UNLOAD CURRENT RESIDENT CHERYL WHEATLEY’S CANOE IN<br />
PREPARATION FOR THE BLACKWOOD MARATHON.<br />
5 RORY MCLEOD (2008) POPPED INTO THE OFFICE TO COLLECT HIS<br />
COLLEGE RUGBY JUMPER AND TO PURCHASE A COLLEGE MUG AND<br />
A COPY OF BLESS EM ALL.<br />
6 A PEACOCK FROM THE ARTS FACULTY AT UWA SPENT A MORNING<br />
WANDERING AROUND THE QUADRANGLE IN OCTOBER.<br />
1<br />
3<br />
L-R JOHN INVERARITY, NORMAN SIM (1976), IVAN SIM, JUSTIN SIM<br />
MARGO DARBYSHIRE (1989) AND KEITH SUTER (1988)<br />
L-R CAM FOSBERRY, SARAH WIESE (DAVIES 1989), JOHN MASON<br />
5 6<br />
2<br />
4<br />
The Georgian | December 2010 27
Interested in getting in touch<br />
with long lost Georgian friends or<br />
organising a Georgian get together?<br />
The <strong>College</strong> is happy to help – email Jo Evans (1988)<br />
at georgian@stgeorgescollege.com.au or call on (08) 9449 5555.