Prize giving a write pleasure
Written by Steven Schwartz on October 24th, 2008
It was my pleasure last night to meet the winners of the Macquarie University Vice-Chancellor’s Writing Competition for 2008 and to share in their pleasure as they received their awards.
Eleven prizes worth around $15,000 in total were presented by our various sponsors.
Competition judge Dr Willa McDonald told the audience how challenging the judging had been, […]
Macquarie writing competition: the winners
Written by Steven Schwartz on September 25th, 2008
I am pleased to announce today the winners in the various categories of the Vice-Chancellor’s Writing Competition. Congratulations to all of you – I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your essays.
There were around 160 entries into the competition, more or less evenly spread across the four categories, with the lowest number being received in the English […]
Free speech – have your say
Written by Steven Schwartz on August 11th, 2008
Recently I chaired the Big Ideas Forum hosted by the Centre for Independent Studies at the Sydney Opera House. Scholars and commentators such as Frank Furedi and Ayaan Hirsi Ali discussed the topic ‘The Ideas of the Enlightenment in the 21st Century’.
The Enlightenment, of course, refers to that time beginning in the 17th century when […]
Ethical research: time to take an oath?
Written by Steven Schwartz on July 23rd, 2008
Macquarie University is currently in the midst of a large project to develop an ethical framework for the university.
Thus, it is apposite to note that the University of Toronto is now asking medical researchers to take an oath that says: “I promise never to allow financial gain, competitiveness or ambition to cloud my judgment […]
Assessing the benefits of Gmail
Written by Steven Schwartz on July 21st, 2008
In a follow up to my earlier earlier blog on Gmail, the University of Auckland has now moved students and staff who wish to shift to web-based Gmail service. Macquarie was first in Australia to move students to Gmail but staff have not yet been (officially) moved, although responses to the blog made it clear […]
Open Access: what do you think?
Written by Steven Schwartz on July 3rd, 2008
I am thinking about bringing a paper to the Macquarie University Senate on Open Access, the subject of an earlier blog.
A draft of this paper appears below. I would like your feedback. Have I missed anything? Can the paper be improved?
For more information on Open Access, you might like to consult this guide.
DRAFT - Open […]
Our next debate: ‘free speech has its limits’
Written by Steven Schwartz on June 30th, 2008
Between 1901 to 1973 more than 500 books were banned in Australia, and for much of that time the list of forbidden publications was kept a secret by various federal agencies.
These titles are revealed in a new work – called Banned in Australia - edited by Macquarie researchers Dr Nicole Moore and Dr Marita Bullock, […]
So, what about a new email system?
Written by Steven Schwartz on June 27th, 2008
The New South Wales Department of Education has bypassed Outlook and other email systems deciding instead to move their one million plus email accounts to Gmail.
Macquarie University did the same thing for student email accounts in September last year. Macquarie students have six gigabytes of storage, so no more annoying notices about exceeding the allocated […]
How Macquarie’s MULTILIT transforms young lives
Written by Steven Schwartz on June 23rd, 2008
Most people who choose a career in education do so “to make a difference”. They work in schools, colleges and universities across all kinds of areas – science, maths, languages, history and the like – and they dedicate themselves to improving the lives of the students they come into contact with.
I recently read a […]
Philanthropy: not just a matter of give and take
Written by Steven Schwartz on June 18th, 2008
Every year Americans give millions of dollars to their universities. Leading institutions such as Harvard and Stanford, for example, receive quite extraordinary sums - hundreds of millions of dollars.
An article in University World News this week pointed out that the value of Harvard’s endowment – donated money or other financial assets - grew to […]