Posted by Matthew Riddle on Oct 24, 2011 in
politics The Fitzroy Legal Service attended the Occupy Melbourne protests referred to in my last post. It questions the role of a local council in silencing free speech, as well as the use of heavy-handed tactics when people were clearly undertaking a peaceful demonstration.
Meghan Fitzgerald, Lawyer at the Fitzroy Legal Service says:
The use of horses to ride directly into the crowd was appalling, and a measure that ordinary people would consider appropriate only in cases of dire emergency and public risk. When you decide to do that serious injuries are almost inevitable, and really call into question the role of the police in serving and protecting the community. I personally observed a significant number of injuries amongst those arrested, including children.
The central issue is that political demonstration is a democratic right, and should be given significant protection by the State. Justifying this kind of aggressive use of force because of inconvenience or embarrassment is really a sign that we need to have a good look at human rights protection in this State.
I couldn’t agree more.
Posted by Matthew Riddle on Oct 21, 2011 in
politics Dear Lord Mayor,
Your actions today in calling in riot police to remove peaceful protesters from our City Square have embarrassed and appalled democratic, fair-minded people in our city. People like me, who are dedicated to the principles of peacefully sharing ideas under the protection of a strong democracy.
That you do not or are not able to share the views of those who protest is not an excuse for such a heavy-handed and needless display of aggravation. I do not accept the arguments you have made on the radio around whatever minor damage there may or may not have been to the square, nor to a few small businesses nearby. Those are comparatively minor wrongs that can be undone. If you really are unable to balance these minor property costs against the rights of people to engage in democratic free speech, I believe you are unworthy of your office.
The pictures taken today of protesters being carried away by police are now being beamed around the world. Meanwhile in New York, Sydney and hundreds of other cities around the world the Occupy protesters have been allowed to continue their protest without harassment. What do you believe this will say about the strength of our democracy — about our willingness to tolerate a range of views? I believe it will reflect very poorly on us.
This is not about a particular position on the issues the protesters are bringing up. It is about decent conduct in public office, and a respect for the democratic rights of your fellow citizens. I call upon you to apologise to the people of Melbourne for making such a poor judgement call today, and I believe the morally responsible thing for you to do following this is to resign.
I would like to add that I am not a member of a political party or protest group. I am a Melbourne academic who is ashamed of his Lord Mayor.
Your sincerely,
Matthew Riddle
Posted by Matthew Riddle on Apr 19, 2011 in
education,
learning spaces 
I’m very excited that our new edited book on learning spaces is finally available for pre-order. There are more details including the preface on the IGI Global website:
Physical and Virtual Learning Spaces in Higher Education: Concepts for the Modern Learning Environment documents real-world experiences of innovators in higher education who have redesigned spaces for learning and teaching. The redefined spaces encompass a broader range of physical, virtual, formal, informal, blended, flexible, and time sensitive factors.
You can order it on Amazon.com
.
Posted by Matthew Riddle on Feb 4, 2011 in
education,
politics Dear Prime Minister,
I write to urge the government to reconsider its decision to axe the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC). While I am a strong supporter of appropriate funding for the reconstruction work in Queensland, Victoria and beyond following the recent natural disasters, I do not believe this decision has been made in the best interests of the nation.
I believe events such as the Victorian bush fires, the Queensland floods, and Cyclone Yasi prove that the Australian government needs to fundamentally alter its thinking on disasters. The government should recognise that we cannot sustain a situation where we must find several billions of taxpayer dollars on an ad hoc basis every time one of these disasters comes along. Of course I will gladly pay the one off levy for the Queensland floods, but I would be even more supportive an ongoing approach that would to pay for a disaster contingency fund for all Australians. With a mining boom, our continued economic growth and projected budget surpluses, this country should be able to compare itself to the Norways instead of the Naurus.
The ALTC is a success story in Australian higher education, and this industry is one of Australia’s largest exports. I have worked in higher education for my entire career since 1990. During this time, I have seen student learning suffer from being vastly undervalued in comparison to research, yet I have seen a great deal of evidence that both are of equal importance. Without excellence in teaching, the top researchers of tomorrow will not be supported to continue in universities. The ALTC was an important way that this imbalance was being addressed in recent years, by rewarding and recognising excellent teachers, and by supporting applied research projects into teaching and learning. Its demise is a giant step backwards for all Australian universities.
I have been lucky enough to be involved in an ALTC funded project on learning spaces. As an early career academic, this is a significant boost to my professional development, but far more importantly it is now having a significant impact on the outcomes for students in my university and beyond, through the establishment of a range of exciting new study environments, including several new collaborative teaching spaces, and the setting up of Faculty learning commons at La Trobe. Our work is being disseminated nationally, and in the coming months my team will publish an edited book internationally. Each of these outcomes — academic development, evidence-based capital investment, student support, and publishing of research — have been made possible only because of the support of the ALTC. This is the sort of thing that will be crushed by the removal of a relatively small amount of government funding necessary to keep the ALTC going.
With changes coming through the Bradley Review and the establishment of TEQSA, as well as important challenges in attracting international students to Australia, it is clearly vital that the government gets the balance right in supporting universities right now. The government will fail in its goal of improving the quality as well as access to higher education in this country if its approach does not include supporting educators through programs such as ALTC. These goals are in tension, and cannot be achieved through regulation alone. Please stand up for the quality of higher education by immediately reviewing the hasty decision to discontinue the good work of the ALTC.
Kind regards,
Matthew Riddle
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Matthew Riddle
Senior Lecturer (Academic Development)
Faculty of Law and Management | La Trobe University | Bundoora, Vic 3086
Posted by Matthew Riddle on Dec 16, 2010 in
dance This year the Australian Hellzapoppin’ Prize was held in its birthplace, Melbourne, in celebration of the 10th Melbourne Lindy Exchange. The venue was the beautiful Ormond Hall, which last played host to the contest in 2008. The judges included myself as head judge, Romona Staffeld (who recently relocated to Melbourne from the US), Russell Turner (Canberra), Cheryl Glasgow (Perth) and Kara Martin (Hobart). Anthony Wheaton did an excellent job as DJ.
Once again we had an extremely hard fought and exciting battle with a lot of highlights. The semi final was particularly tight, and there was some brilliant dancing from all couples. The band, Jason Downes and the Tempo of Doom, played for the Final round, and it was an absolute killer diller. So much so that we had to get them to play another song at a slightly slower tempo! Andy Fodor and Shob Nambiar faced off against Evan Hughes and Noni Clarke, with Evan and Noni edging out their opponents to take the title. Both Evan and Noni have won AHP before, but never together.
Evan Hughes and Noni Clarke, winners of AHP 2010. Photo used with permission, © Lucky & Rice, http://www.luckyandrice.com/
Next year’s AHP will be held in June as part of Devil City Swing, Hobart, Tasmania. The full honour roll appears below:
2010 Noni Clarke & Evan Hughes (VIC)
2009 Francine Jeffrey & Evan Hughes (VIC)
2008 Noni Clarke & Cam Mitchell (VIC)
2007 Cathie Gough & Kieran Yee (VIC)
2006 Annie Ryan & Shane McCarthy (WA)
2004 Noni Clarke & Josh McKiterick (VIC)
2003 Sarah Farrelly & Anthony Wheaton (VIC)
2002 Nicole Smith & John Tenaglia (VIC)
Posted by Matthew Riddle on Feb 20, 2010 in
health,
music,
technology On Australia Day I started the Couch to 5K running program, and I’m now up to week 4. For a while I was using a purpose built C25K app on my iPhone, but I’ve now switched to Runkeeper Pro, which is really excellent. It creates a GPS map of your run and automagically posts it online for you, but the feature I like most is that you can quickly and easily set up your run in intervals. It’s simple to set it up to coach you through an interval program, while playing your own track list in the background. It’s magic. So I have been trying to find the perfect song list to motivate me while I’m out there. Here’s the best set I’ve come up with so far:
1 A-team Intro / The A-Team / The A-Team
2 Nicotine & Gravy / Beck / Midnite Vultures
3 Gloria / Them / The Best of Van Morrison [Mercury]
4 Buddy Holly / Weezer / Weezer
5 Tainted Love / Soft Cell / The Very Best of Soft Cell
6 Lust for Life / Iggy Pop / Nude & Rude: The Best of Iggy Pop
7 Wild America / Iggy Pop / Nude & Rude: The Best of Iggy Pop
8 One After 909 / The Beatles / Let It Be
9 Back In The U.S.S.R. / The Beatles / Love
10 I’m Waiting For The Man / The Velvet Underground / The Velvet Underground & Nico
Posted by Matthew Riddle on Jan 18, 2010 in
music I rarely mention the fact that I’m a teetotaller, because it’s never been a popular move. However, considering the topic at hand, it seems relevant to declare this at the outset. While I don’t drink, I do make a habit of frequenting a lot of venues in Melbourne that sell alcohol and provide live entertainment. Being a non drinker, I always make a point of paying for food and drinks at these venues when I can, because I believe in supporting the live music scene I’ve come to love. Unfortunately, however, the way that the current licensing laws are being interpreted is causing a lot of good venues to close their doors. Why? The liquor licenses are going up, sometimes by very large amounts, on venues that are deemed to be “high risk”. Sadly, this includes one of Melbourne’s favourite jazz venues, Manchester Lane (closed temporarily, hopefully) and now legendary Melbourne music venue The Tote has finally called last drinks.
Being a non-drinker, I’ve never been a fan of drinking or violence, but this really has got to stop. The Victorian government is in the process of throwing away a couple of generations of social capital in the form of our precious live music scene. In my experience, the good live music venues are not usually the ones with the worst track record for angry altercations, and I’d really like to see the research that conclusively shows that venues like Manchester Lane need to justify their existence compared to many of the other night clubs around. Ever seen thugs at a jazz venue? Didn’t think so.
If you think it’s gone too far as well, write a letter, call a talk show, or sign a petition. Or maybe even write a blog article about it, like me. But do something, before it’s too late.
Posted by Matthew Riddle on Oct 21, 2009 in
dance,
education We kicked off with Part 1 of the DJ Masterclass on Monday night, and dare I say it, I think it was a raging success! The recording came out really well I think — I actually had two different methods on the go and both worked. One became a slide-show podcast and the other is just an audio podcast (with a mic in the centre of the table to capture discussions). I think I’m going to continue doing that for the whole series.
I’m now getting more and more inquiries about the class, and we’re running a little online poll about the cost of the course. Basically almost everyone’s telling me it should be exactly the same price as the face to face class ($20 for 3 classes), so I’ve now set up automatic enrolment via PayPal. So if you want to enrol, it’s definitely not too late, just go here:
http://www.matthewriddle.com/moodle/
Posted by Matthew Riddle on Oct 14, 2009 in
dance,
education
If you’re interested in being involved in the DJ Masterclass, drop me a line and I’ll enrol you!
Posted by Matthew Riddle on Oct 11, 2009 in
dance,
education The DJ Masterclass is due to start on Monday week. Since my original email, I’ve been contacted by about 6 or 8 DJs from places outside of Melbourne — people who would like to be here but who can’t. Some are within Australia, and some aren’t.
I’m considering trying to put some of the materials, capture some of the conversations, and even perhaps putting together some new materials so that someone could actually take part in the DJ Masterclass at a distance. For example I’ve begun talking to some international DJs about recording interviews over Skype, and we could even potentially have an online conference using Skype with some of the DJs who aren’t able to be there (the venue has broadband).
I’d like your feedback on whether you think this idea is worth the effort. If the Monday night time slot is not suitable for you, you know of people who would like to be involved but can’t, or you just think it would be cool to review this stuff at a later date, could you let me know?
A reminder that the DJ Masterclass is a 3 week course, starting on Monday October the 19th at 7pm. Since I am putting some resources online in Moodle, you’ll need to enrol beforehand by sending me an email at matthew@matthewriddle.com.
DJ Masterclass Flyer [PDF, 102K]
