April Edition 2008

Melbourne University Magazine for Alumni

Indigenous PhD graduate says Special Report: ‘Our Future’, Literary Review: Alumni in Focus: The Personal
Australia’s apology well overdue: Melbourne hosts Rudd’s first major Alumni in print: page 08 Discoveries of Unpolished Gem
page 04 policy conference: page 06 author Alice Pung: page 015

From America’s
Deep South –
Melbourne Law alumnus Richard
Bourke on the challenges of
defending death row prisoners
 Alumni
Volunteering
www.unimelb.edu.au/alumni
The Value of Mentoring
By Erin Stapleton
Chloe Thomson graduated with
Honours from a Bachelor of Agricultural
Science in 2004. While in her final of year
of study, she discovered the mentoring
program, run by the University of
Melbourne, and originally got involved
as a student being mentored.
Now, Chloe is a Communications
Manager for Certified Organics Limited,
a small company which produces
plant‑derived herbicide, which is certified
organic, and distributed to food growers
Australia-wide. She is responsible for all
written communications the company
produces, including newsletters,
product information booklets and
website maintenance. This position
provides her with an opportunity to
utilise the skills she gained from her
Agricultural Science degree, drawing
on her knowledge of sustainability
and crop maintenance, while working
with the growers themselves.
Previously, Chloe worked at the
Victorian Strawberry Industry group as a
Development Officer, where she was also
able to promote change and the industry
by working directly with the growers.
As a graduate, Chloe sees the value
of the mentoring program as an
invaluable experience for the students
involved, as well as for the mentors
themselves. She notes that contacts
and industry knowledge are both vital
in the Agricultural industry, and the
Architects for Peace
By Michelle Burder
Beatriz C. Maturana was born in
Santiago, Chile, and she left for
Australia in the mid-eighties due to the
political situation in her country. Beatriz
completed her architecture degree at
RMIT in 1992 and a Master of Urban
Design at the University of Melbourne
where she is currently a PhD candidate
focusing on architecture education.
She has been a guest lecturer at RMIT
University (Public Art) and The University
of Melbourne where she tutors.
Beatriz has worked with the Overseas
Project Corporation of Victoria,
Australian Volunteers International
(AVI), the Ministry of Housing (Victoria)
and the City of Darebin. Between 1994
and 1996, she worked in Nicaragua
lecturing in architecture at the National
University of Engineering and assisting
Habitat for Humanity. In 2001, as
part of a multi-disciplinary team, she
visited Baucau, Timor Leste, to support
in the establishment of a planning
framework. Her architectural work
includes childcare centres, maternal
and child health, sport pavilions,
residential and urban design projects.
In February 2003, in the weeks
preceding the bombing of Iraq, Beatriz
founded Architects for Peace (arch-
peace) a humanitarian, not‑for‑profit
organisation aiming to provide an
alternative discussion forum on issues
concerning the built environment.
Beatriz is the initiator of the intentCITY
street forum (2004), Under-Construction
Workshop (2005), Transported (2007),
words@bld50 (monthly seminars), arch-
peace’s editorial, and most recently the
mentoring program assists students
to develop both these aspects.
Chloe became a mentor because she
wanted to show Agricultural Science
students the wide ranging opportunities
available to them when they graduate
and expects to see some of the students
she has mentored in an industry
context over the coming years.
As a mentor, Chloe has found that the
program assists her to stay in contact
with the university, and updates her on
how the Agricultural Sciences course
has changed since she was a student.
pro-bono architectural service. The pro-
bono service acts as a bridge between
community groups, non‑profit agencies
and charitable organisations that need
architectural services but cannot afford
them. Current pro-bono work is being
undertaken in Timor Leste and Sudan
and there are three projects under way
in Melbourne. An important feature of
the pro‑bono approach is that it works
in collaboration with local professionals
and communities. Architects for
Peace now has approximately 320
members from across the world.
The organisation’s focus is on providing
a network for architects, planners and
engineers sharing similar concerns
about global development, ecology,
social and urban equity. Beatriz
Photo supplied by Chloe Thomson
For more information about the
mentoring program at the University
of Melbourne, and registering as a
mentor, please contact the Career
Mentoring Connection on the University
website www.services.unimelb.edu.
au/careers/student/mentoring
For more information on volunteering
opportunities at the University of
Melbourne visit www.unimelb.
edu.au/alumni/volunteering
Photo Fred Kroh
believes that a focus on professional
ethics and social responsibility is
paramount to tackling social problems
and climate change. She also believes
architects are in a position to widen their
knowledge so as to help to challenge
prevailing perceptions of progress in
developing countries – there is much
to learn from the rest of the world.
Locally, Beatriz has focused on a
critical issue for Melbourne – public
transport. As she expressed recently
in her presentation to the Sustainable
Living Festival, “public transport
is not a traffic issue it is an urban
issue, one with far-reaching social
and environmental implications”.
Alumni
Preferences 013
Survey 2008
You will notice that the format of our Melbourne
University Magazine has changed for this issue,
following some of your helpful feedback. These
changes are part of our determined efforts to
continually refine the way we engage with you.
As you know, the University is working to enhance our
alumni programs and the way we communicate with
you. We will be conducting an ‘Alumni Preferences
Survey 08’ in the months ahead. This survey will enable
you to tell us how we can address your particular
preferences. In turn we will report back to you on
findings. We will then strive to deliver those benefits,
services and opportunities that mean the most to
you. There are also some great prizes to be won.
You can register your interest in participating
in the survey at www.unimelb.edu.au/alumni/
preferences or by calling +61 3 8344 1155.
I do hope you will take a few minutes to register. We
look forward to bringing you a more developed and
relevant range of benefits, services and opportunities
through a better understanding of your preferences.
Sincerely,
Professor Warren Bebbington
Pro Vice-Chancellor
(University Relations)
Alumni Preferences Survey 2008
What are the alumni benefits, services and
opportunities most important to YOU?
Register now to participate in our survey at
www.unimelb.edu.au/alumni/preferences