Sunday, January 27, 2013

Publishing icon Ita Buttorse has been named 2013 Australian of the Year.

The 71-year-old former magazine editor was officially awarded the prestigious title by Prime Minster Julia Gillard on the lawns outside Parliament House at 6pm this evening.

The Alzheimer's awareness advocate, was given the honour for a groundbreaking media career and her role in raising awareness of health and media issues.

The Nine Network personality began her career as a 15-year-old copy girl at The Australian Women's Weekly and quickly became a cadet journalist on the women's section at the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph.

At just 23 she was appointed women’s editor of these two newspapers and, in 1971, created Cleo magazine for Sir Frank and Kerry Packer.

Three years later she was appointed editor of The Women’s Weekly.

In 1980 she became the first woman editor of an Australian metropolitan newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, and later the Sunday Telegraph.

She was the first woman appointed to the News Limited Board in 1981.

In parallel to her media career, Buttrose continues to champion social and health issues.

Since 2011 she has been National President of Alzheimer’s Australia and is also Vice President Emeritus of Arthritis Australia.

She has been Patron of the Macular Degeneration Foundation since 2005 and now uses her profile to raise awareness of breast cancer, HIV/AIDS and prostate cancer.

Emeritus Professor Ian Maddocks was named Senior Australian of the Year for his efforts to advocate peace and his work in palliative care.

He has been a key leader for many years in both the Medical Association for the Prevention of War and the International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War - an organisation which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its work in 1985.

After promoting the development of palliative care in southern Adelaide for some years, Professor Maddocks was appointed Professor of Palliative Care at Flinders University in 1988, pursuing a rigorous teaching and research program as well as caring for his patients.

He was elected first President of the Australian Association for Hospice and Palliative Care and first President of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Palliative Medicine.

Recognised internationally for his work in palliative care, tropical and preventative medicine, Professor Maddocks’ texts are used world-wide.

25-year-old Afghan refugee Akram Azimi was added to the National Honour Roll as 2013 Young Australian of the Year.

Azimi arrived in Australia in 1999 and is now studying a triple major - law, science and arts - at the University of Western Australia.

He now uses his leadership and pastoral skills to help young people in remote and rural Western Australia and in 2011 co-founded a student-run initiative to raise awareness about Indigenous issues in universities.

Australia’s Local Hero 2013 is Indigenous community leader Shane Phillips of Redfern, Sydney.

At 48, Phillips is a respected member of the Redfern Aboriginal Community in Sydney and is regarded as the voice of the community on issues including juvenile justice and Aboriginal deaths in custody.

He is the full time CEO of the Tribal Warrior Association, a non-profit organisation directed by Aboriginal people and elders that offers training for employment and helps at the grassroots level with emergency relief for struggling families.

Phillips also operates a mentoring program to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people. 

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Elks top Australian team in Castleberry Tournament

Playing as unfamiliar of an opponent as possible for a high school basketball team, the Burleson Elks opened the Castleberry Holiday Tournament with a 44-31 victory over Australia Southwest on Tuesday.

The Elks led throughout the contest against their opponents from another continent as the Australia Southwest team, comprised of high-school age players from multiple regions in Australia, is participating in a basketball tour. It was this particular group of Aussies’ first game together.

Burleson snapped a lengthy losing streak and improves to 4-10 on the year, and Coach Ted Tomchesson said it was just what the Elks needed.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had one of those,” Tomchesson said. “To get a win against somebody from another continent, I guess that makes it that much better. It’s good for us. Hopefully this will help get us some confidence going into the meat of district.”

Southwest had six players come in at 6-foot-4 and taller, but the Elks used their speed and athleticism to keep the bigger Slammers at bay.

Burleson opened the game on a 9-2 run and held a 15-4 lead after the first quarter of play as the Slammers took some time getting adjusted to the speed of the American game.

“Generally, the game is played at a little bit different speed over here than it is over there, so we tried to take advantage of that as much as we could,” Tomchesson said. “But I’ll say this, they made a great adjustment playing at our speed in the second half and it made it a little interesting then.”

The Elks forced Southwest into seven first quarter turnovers. Burleson turned the ball over only four times in the first half while Southwest committed 12 turnovers.

Zach Bonham’s 3-pointer midway through the second quarter gave the Elks their largest first-half lead at 23-7, but the Slammers ended the half on a 7-3 run to pull to within 26-14 at the half.

After a 3-pointer by Doug Mullendore to open the third quarter, Southwest scored six straight points to make it a 29-20 game, the first time since early in the first quarter it was less than a double digit deficit. The Elks scored only eight points in the third quarter, but the Slammers managed only six points, and Burleson held a 34-20 lead heading into the final frame.

The Elks extended their lead to 39-20 to open the fourth quarter. Midway through the final period, however, the Slammers went on a 8-0 run to get to within 11 points, but it was a case of too little, too late for the Australians. Burleson was able to run the final couple of minutes off the clock to preserve the hard-fought victory.

Southwest committed 21 turnovers in the game compared to only 10 for Burleson. The Elks also out-rebounded Southwest.

Bonham led the Elks with 10 points while Chance Pennington added nine points off the bench and hauled in eight rebounds. Vincent Spradley scored six points for Burleson and Adrian Rodriguez added five points.

After the game, the two teams posed for a group picture and Australia gave the Burleson players gifts.

“I think that’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” Tomchesson said. “Very rarely do you get to play anybody out of state, let alone out of the country or out of the continent. That was a great opportunity for both teams and I’m glad my kids enjoyed it.”

The Elks play at 7:30 p.m. today.