News in brief
SA gets tough on bullies
The South Australian government is working to crack down on bullying in schools
with its introduction of a special training package distributed this month
across all state schools. A key tool in the kit is a copy of UniSA adjunct
Professor Ken Rigby’s book Stop the Bullying: A Handbook for Schools.
Internationally recognised for his ground breaking research into bullying, Rigby
has identified that one in six school students in Australia report being bullied
in some way on a weekly basis.
The new package hopes to equip teachers and counsellors with the skills to deal with bullies and their victims by encouraging early intervention.
The kit includes guidelines for education workshops; for conducting and reporting student surveys on bullying; for developing anti-bullying policies; and for dealing with a whole range of bullying issues from racism to cyber-bullying. Information leaflets will also be available for parents. All state schools will be required to have an anti-bullying policy in place within the next 18 months.
An image of partnership
Thanks to a new partnership with Olympus Australia, UniSA will now have the
capacity to look into some of the minutest problems and help find a solution.
The company has donated thousands of dollars worth of the most sophisticated
imaging equipment to the University to establish UniSA’s Olympus Imaging Unit –
including light microscopes, state of the art high resolution digital cameras
and image enhancement and analysis software. The equipment will help to progress
a major study, Ticks of the World, being undertaken by Dr Ross Andrews to help
control tick borne diseases.
But the new imaging unit will also play a vital role for SA businesses by providing high tech imaging services to local manufacturers. UniSA students will also have the opportunity to learn and practice microscopy in a diverse range of investigations.