RE-APPOINTMENT OF THE AUDITOR

LAUREN McKERLEY

Lauren, the new member of staff at Graduate House, comes to us with impressive public relations and hospitality experience, having been employed in international five-star and boutique hotels in the City of Melbourne. Her family operated restaurants and country motels throughout her early years and she grew up in a customer service orientated environment. In 2000, Lauren made a decision to move out of hospitality in order to update her administrative and computer skills and, to this end, accepted a position as Director of First Impressions with a well-known logistics company. She has recently finished building her own house in which she lives with Lachlan, her eight-year-old son. She enjoys dining out with friends and loves fast cars, especially Jaguars, her ambition being to own one before she is 40. On a quieter note, for relaxation she escapes to a quiet part of the house to read.

TIM BECKETT

This year is the second in which I have been enrolled in the PhD program with the Department of Economics at the University of Melbourne and the first devoted entirely to the writing of a thesis. Though this fact often prompts startled reactions from others (not least amongst the administrative staff at the School of Graduate Studies), it is common the world over for a PhD program in Economics to involve at least a year of coursework prior to the fully-fledged commencement of research. I took my Bachelor and Honours degrees in Economics (including a Major in Political Science) at the University of Tasmania, making me one of only three or four Australians to reside at Graduate House (subject to seasonal variation). This means that, besides meeting people from exotic locales with far more interesting biographies than mine, I escape many of the jokes with which mainland Australians like to target Tasmanians.

The three best things about Melbourne are its coffee, trams and the possums that sometimes come in through the bathroom window.

LOCHANA RAMALINGAM

Lochana completed her Bachelor of Dental Surgery in Singapore. She came to Graduate House in August 1998 for interviews, after applying to the University of Melbourne to complete her Masters in Dental Science in Pediatric Dentistry. She enjoyed her stay so much that, when she returned to Melbourne after being accepted, she decided to stay at Graduate House for the duration of her course. She completed her Graduate Diploma in Clinical Dentistry and Masters and in 2001, went on to a Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons. She worked at the Royal Children’s Hospital as a Senior Registrar in Pediatric Dentistry for a year before returning to Graduate House in February 2003. She is now studying for the preliminary examination held by the Australian Dental Council for assessment of her qualifications for overseas trained dentists.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS AT ‘THE HOUSE’

On Sunday, 17 February Graduate House hosted a birthday party on the occasion of Anne Campbell’s 70th birthday. Anne with husband Peter and son Bruce greeted 27 old friends and new for what was a delightful and entertaining afternoon.

The dining room was a riot of coloured balloons and, after pre-dinner champagne, the guests were served a superb meal prepared by the Graduate House Chef, Johnny Gasparotto.

SIEH NG – THE RESIDENTS’ REPRESENTATIVE

Sieh Ng, the Residents’ Representative of Graduate House, was born in Malaysia and graduated from the University of Melbourne in Microbiology. She is currently engaged in postgraduate research at CSIRO, food science and technology department. Her major interest is in looking at ways of using new innovative, state-of-the-art technology such as the high pressure processing, ultrasonics and pulsed electric field processing in eliminating the pathogens and food spoilage micro-organisms in food. This research aims to enable the food industry in Australia to extend the shelf life of food, thereby bringing an economical return for food manufacturers and consumers. Sieh’s passion for food safety matters elicits many queries from residents about how to store their food, or how long can a particular food be kept in the fridge and still be safe to consume.

Sieh enjoys the role of Residents’ Representative. She has a friendly, down to earth and bubbly personality and her laughter is very infectious. She always has time for others and this, with her sense of humour and fun-loving nature wins her lots of friends. Sieh says that to make one’s stay at Graduate House an enjoyable experience, one needs to show consideration, friendliness, kindness and a readiness to lend a helping hand. She believes through sharing our lives together, one’s life is greatly enriched.

She also believes that residents should be more aware of the dedication of the Graduate House management, staff and the Board of Graduate House, whose aim is to ensure that staying at Graduate House is an enriching experience Sieh really enjoys keeping herself fit. She swims three or four times a week and also enjoys dancing, nightclubbing and dining out. The trendy cafés at Southgate and Chapel Street are some of her favourite places. Occasionally, she shows her culinary skills and prepares the hot and spicy food of her homeland for friends at weekends.