FEAST OR FAMINE

The Canberra Business Council partnered with Roy Morgan to determine the Australian Capital Territory’s economic performance and standard of living. Often other surveys amalgamate ACT results with New South Wales statistics. The Canberra Business Council wanted to determine ACT-specific outcomes. T he Roy Morgan State of the Nation – Focus on the ACT Report , issued on 30 August 2012, reinforced information previously known to the capital’s residents. According to the report, business confidence in the ACT was over 10 points higher than the national average (123.4 compared to 110.2 nationally) and the highest in the nation. It was three points higher than the mining boom State of Western Australia and 20 points higher than Queensland. This is a good indicator of the strength of the ACT’s economic performance. Other findings included that the ACT has a higher household income compared to the national average, and that there is double the number of degree-educate...

The Bureau of Meteorology reported that Canberra had its coldest winter in 12 years, with night temperatures averaging below zero for the first time since 1997. The minimum temperature averaged minus 0.4 degrees Celsius, which was more than a degree below average. After a wet July August had average rainfall (at 119.5 mm). Because of the cold overnight temperatures and average rain, the day temperatures were quite high. The maximum averaged 13.2 degrees Celsius, nearly one degree above normal. T he overall average temperature was 6.4 degrees Celsius over winter, which was the same as Canberra’s long term average temperature, but it was the coldest in 12 years. Snow fell on August 16 in Canberra, but it came and went rapidly with leaving a layer on the ground, except on the Brindabella ranges. It was more of a snow shower that caused the day temperature to drop below 3 degrees with the minimum at minus 4 degrees. The snow line was between 600-800 metres through most...

On Friday August 31 we will experience what is known as a "blue moon." The blue moon occurs approximately every 2.5 years when there is a second full moon in a single month.   It happens when the first full moon is early in the month and the last full moon is four weeks later, still within the same month. August’s first full moon appeared on August 2. It only happens in months with 31 days, usually August and December, and only every two-and-a-half years. The last blue moon occurred on 31 December 2009. The expression "once in a blue moon" is used colloquially to mean “not very often” or “rarely.” The moon does not actually change colour, although it occasionally appears to change colour due to dust particles in the atmosphere.   Some people say that when you get two full moons in one calendar month, the second one brings surprises and occurrences that turn up suddenly - “out of the blue.”

The returning London Olympians had their last public ‘welcome home’ parade in the nation’s capital, Canberra on Tuesday August 28 after seven celebrations in nine days. Thirty-four Olympians attended the Canberra parade, including: Archery – Elisa Barnard and Taylor Worth; Athletics – Luke Adams, Lauren Boden, Melissa Breen, Chris Erickson, Claire Tallent, and Jared Tallent (silver medallist, 50km walk); Beach Volleyball – Natalie Cook, Louise Bawden, and Becchara Palmer; Boxing – Luke Jackson; Canoe/Kayak – Jessica Fox (silver medallist, slalom); Hockey bronze medallists – Nathan Burgers and Glenn Turner; Modern Pentathlon – Ed Fernon; Rowing – Scott Brennan, David Crawshay, Kimberley Crow (silver and bronze medallist, single and double scull), Brook Pratley (silver medallist, double scull), Tess Gerrand, and Karsten Forsterling; Sailing – Matthew Belcher and Malcolm Page (gold medallist, 470 class), Swimming – Angie Bainbridge (silver medallist, women’s 4x200m freesty...

All five tertiary institutions in the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra) held their Open Day on Saturday August 25 in order for the public to gain information on courses, campuses and lifestyles. The Australian Catholic University (ACU) – ‘Your future starts here’ – is open to students from all beliefs and backgrounds. Over 20,000 students are enrolled across ACU’s six campuses in Brisbane, North Sydney, Strathfield, Melbourne, Ballarat and Canberra. The Canberra Campus (Signadou) has undergraduate and postgraduate study in education, nursing, social work and theology ( acu.edu.au ). The University of Canberra (UC) – ‘ Australia's Capital University’ – received the maximum five-star rating for both getting a job and graduate outcomes in the latest Good Universities Guide ( canberra.edu.au ). The Australian National University (ANU) – ‘Where would you like to learn?’ – is situated centrally in the nation’s capital at the Acton campus. It has a...

The following is an extract of a radio interview on 24 August 2012 with Madison Brightwell, focusing on my third novel, Bardot’s Comet . The full interview is 29:17 minutes and can be heard on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/strategic-book-club/2012/08/24/author-martina-nicolls Madison Brightwell: What can readers expect in your third novel, Bardot’s Comet , because it is very different from your previous novels, The Sudan Curse and Kashmir on a Knife-Edge, which are primarily about specific countries? Martina Nicolls: My first two novels are factional stories - fiction based on fact - about my work in Sudan and Kashmir. Bardot’s Comet is historical literary fiction.   In Bardot’s Comet , the reader immediately knows that a famous female mathematician and astronomer is dead – she’s been murdered.   The time period is 1966-1969, so it is unusual for a woman, such as Prudence Bari, to rise to fame in a non-traditional, or male dominated field of work. The novel i...

New Scientist (18 August 2012) reports that Golden Rice can prevent blindness. It contains a precursor to vitamin A deficiency which blinds an estimated half a million children each year, particularly in undeveloped countries. The problem is that it is genetically modified, and therefore there are many opponents to its use. There is another alternative. A sweet potato, grown naturally in Uganda, contains a lot more beta carotene than other sweet potatoes. Beta carotene helps stave off vitamin A deficiency because it is converted into vitamin A in the body. About half a million children in Africa and Asia suffer blindness every year due to the lack of vitamin A in their diet, which is vital for vision and the immune system. Of those who lose their sight, 66% die within months. Aid agencies currently treat vitamin A deficiency with high-dose vitamin A capsules administered twice a year. However, eating locally grown food rich in the vitamin would be more practical ...

The Canberra Times reports that the number of Torres Strait Islander medical students has increased dramatically in the past decade. It now matches the ratio of indigenous to non-indigenous people in Australia for the first time. Last year, 80 of Australia’s 3,241 domestic first-year medical students were First Nations peoples, which is 2.5% of medical students and an increase of almost one percent on 2004 figures. The reason to celebrate is not only due to the increase, but also because 2.5% of Australia’s population is Torres Strait Islander – and this is the first time that there has been parity with the ratio of indigenous to non-indigenous population in Australia. The main challenge now is for all of them to graduate. Previously only about 30% of First Nations students did not complete the course (compared with about 2% of other students). This was mainly due to family and cultural commitments, financial difficulties, and discrimination, said Associate Professor Peter ...