Hunter Students Selected For Sought-After Japan Scholarship

 BY IAN CROUCH

Two Hunter High School students have been chosen to to take part in a state government scholarship to travel to Japan in September.

Eden Holmes from Tomaree High and Elly New from Newcastle Grammar School will join a contingent of 20 students from across the state to learn more about Australia's involvement in the second world war.

They'll visit a number of significant sites including an Australian POW camp, Yokohama War Cemetery, and the Hiroshima Peace Park and Memorial.

More than 180 students applied for the scholarship across NSW through a personal essay and school endorsement process.

The students will visit several significant sites including the Hiroshima Peace Park and Memorial

University of Newcastle book fair aiming for 2023 return

BY OLIVIA DILLON

The Friends of the University of Newcastle are calling on the community to clean out their bookshelves in preparation for the 2023 book fair.

After a two-year COVID-induced hiatus, they are hoping the book fair will return mid-next year.

The Friends are accepting donations of books, CDs, records, DVDs and magazines on Tuesdays between 9am and midday, in the Bowman building at Callaghan Campus. 

Book Fair Convenor Lesley Gent, said any donations from the community will be greatly appreciated. 

"We sort them into categories," she said. "We have 50 categories and we take everything you can think of." 

"We have 28 volunteers who come and sort and pack every week and they haven't been able to do anything for two years so they're very excited." 

Ms Gent also said funds raised from the sales are used to support students across a range of disciplines at the University of Newcastle. 

"We have 10 student scholarships and all the money goes to that. We are all volunteers so we don't get paid. All the money we make goes to scholarships."

Further information including the location of the Bowman Building can be found on the Friends of the University of Newcastle website.

Donations for the Friends of the University of Newcastle Book Fair are now open. 

Domestic Violence Survivors offered Scholarship through the University of Newcastle

BY HANNAH-LOUISE ANDERSON

The University of Newcastle is offering a scholarship to survivors of Domestic and Family Violence to encourage and support their receiving of higher education.

This year thirty-four applications were received by the university for The Helen Maslen Scholarship with individuals describing past and ongoing instances of physical assault, intimidation, and harassment in the home.

The applicants disclosed the impacts of these experiences on their mental health and self-esteem, as well as the resulting homelessness and financial strain that came from leaving their situations.

Professor Penny-Jane Burke, the Director of the Centre for Equity in Higher Education stresses the importance of this scholarship in increasing the visibility of Domestic and Family Violence in the university environment.

"It is important because it raises the issue of domestic and family violence explicitly and how important it is to support women and families who have been victims of domestic and family violence to participate in higher education," says Burke, "...so it's a very important initiative that raises the profile and makes a specific agenda around this really important issue."

A survivor of domestic violence herself, Burke hopes the number, size, and longevity of the scholarship will continue to grow as the improved opportunity to receive higher education, "It is an incredible and important support mechanism for those women who want to access higher education but don't necessarily have the means to do so..."

One scholarship will be available each year for the next five years to anyone that has been a victim of Domestic and Family Violence regardless of age, gender or other factors.

Photo by The University of Newcastle Website