Universities have an important part to play in addressing global tensions not seen since the lead-up to World War 1, according to award-winning journalist Stan Grant. The ABC presenter and former foreign correspondent delivered the message in his keynote address to 140 University of Wollongong delegates this morning. “We live in a world that is ideologically contested, a world of great power rivalry, a world of increasing fracture and division and a world where our political leaders now speak openly about the prospect of global conflict, of prospect of a war with China,” Mr Grant said. “We have not spoken…
Author: River Mccrossen
Emergency services treated three students for chemical burns this morning after a lab spill on campus. The University of Wollongong said one male and two female students were exposed to an acid during a routine class experiment in the Bld 43 Science Teaching Facility. A UOW spokesman said the students were wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). “Emergency services were called and the affected students were treated on-site before being transported to Wollongong hospital for further medical care,” the spokesman said. “UOW is currently investigating the incident and will report it to SafeWork NSW. “The University is committed to the safety and…
An investigation continues into historic racism allegations against a Wollongong high school. The NSW Department of Education launched the investigation into claims by former Wollongong High School of Performing Arts (WHSPA) students in August. The students claimed staff threatened to revoke performing roles from students who objected to black and yellow face during musical productions of The King and I in 2013 and Hairspray in 2015 Juan Gomez, who left the school in 2014, took part in The King and I. “The option that we got given to be part of the show was to proceed to get a spray…
It’s not often you spot someone in their late nineties at a protest, but every Friday, every week for over 100 weeks, the late activist Bill Ryan was a permanent fixture at Sydneys Martin Place, right up until he died in December. His age and his status as a Kokoda veteran has drawn the bulk of media interest over the decade, but what legacy does he leave behind? River McCrossen spoke to the sons of Bill Ryan.
*Michael is a Cambridge graduate who says he worked at a UK-based ‘essay-mill’ for almost a decade. From 2011 to early this year, he wrote and quality-checked hundreds of pages to be passed-off as someone else’s work. While recent Australia-based research suggests students will more often outsource to people they know, there is also an industrial side to contract cheating that Michael says is better run than many corporations he has worked for. Michael told his story to River McCrossen. Naturally a lot of people involved in contract cheating want to stay as far out of the spotlight as they…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ900tsGxXY With US protests and the conronavirus taking up the news cycle, it’s easy to forgot there’s a royal commission underway into the 2019-20 bushfires. River McCrossen breaks down what the commission is looking at and the highlights from the first hearings.
The University of Wollongong (UOW) has rejected reports of potential major job losses following a faculty reshuffle. The Illawarra Mercury reported on Wednesday non-academic jobs would go after the university revealed a $90 million shortfall left by reduced international enrolments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. UOW Chief Operating Officer Damien Israel said the report was “misinformation”. “There’s a lot of reporting that I’ve read online about major job loss and things like that. I just want to make it clear that that’s not the case,” Mr Israel said. “I don’t know where that information is coming from, so it’s misinformation.”…
Anyone within five kilometres of the University of Wollongong campus can now order alcohol home delivery from UniBar. It comes as UOWPulse re-opens a few campus services under eased social distancing restrictions meant to contain the spread of COVID-19. In an email to students on Tuesday, Pulse CEO Alf Maccioni said the popular chip roll is also making a return to campus. “A range of UniBar favourites including the chip roll will be on offer through the new UniBar take away menu. Food can be pre-ordered for pick-up or delivered direct to your desk or study area,” Mr Maccioni said.…
A Wollongong artist has welcomed the proposed move by Wollongong City Council to subsidise live music. Musician Lizzie Jack said venues forced to shut during the coronavirus lockdown may struggle to hire performers after restrictions are lifted. “Finding the money to pay artists when they haven’t had any kind of revenue come in, I think that will be a challenge for them,” she said. “I think it’s almost like starting from scratch again, because they obviously still have bills and stuff to pay.” The council will look at ways to subsidise live music under a $2.3 million post-COVID-19 economic recovery…
The Wollongong Homeless Hub is bracing for an uptick in rough sleepers when a six-month moratorium on residential evictions ends. The NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced last month that tenants financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic could not be evicted due to unpaid rent. Wollongong Homeless Hub manager Mandy Booker said the compounding rent debt at the end of the six-month period could lead to a spike in homelessness. “(People may be) putting debt off, or think that they’ll be going back to work in the next six months, and that’s actually going to create a whole new wave of…