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BU’s Dr Kate Murphy features on BBC Radio 4 taking about women’s history in radio.

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By Dean Eastmond

Bournemouth University’s Dr Kate Murphy (Senior Lecturer in Radio Production) featured on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this Saturday talking about the 80th anniversary of a woman presenting on the radio.

Former actress, Sheila Borrett, applied for the role of Radio Announcer in 1933 and raised a lot of controversy as her job was seen as a typically male dominated position.

“She was very glamorous with that lovely fruity voice and it’s a shame she didn’t go down well…” said Dr Murphy, who has researched the history of women in radio and the BBC.

She added. “The majority of complaint letters came from women”.

With Sheila Borrett’s first broadcast airing on the 29th July 1933, Dr Murphy explained that even though “the BBC was seen as a modern organisation”, Borrett wasn’t as popular and successful as the BBC thought she would be.

Dr Murphy continued by explaining that “there was a huge outcry so the BBC panicked”.

However 90% of positive letters were written by women.

Women had been heard on radio before Borrett, but as experts in their fields of work as opposed to presenters and announcers. Names such as Virginia Woolf were mentioned during the interview as examples of people that had appeared as guests on BBC radio.

Kate also spoke about the subject on the BBC World Service.

Listen to the full interview on The Today Programme

Dean is a student at Budmouth College in Weymouth, who is working at Bournemouth University in the Press and PR Department. He joined BU on a Sir Samuel Mico Scholarship, which provides 10 students from his college with essential work experience for four weeks over the summer.

15-year-old with Asperger Syndrome completes computer networking course at BU

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A 15-year-old with a form of autism is thought to be the youngest in the country to have completed an industry-accredited computer networking course.

Ben Robertson completed the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) course in Network Fundamentals at Bournemouth University.

Ben, who has Asperger Syndrome, is a pupil at Southlands School, a residential specialist school for children with Asperger Syndrome and other associated difficulties, based in Lymington.

He completed the industry-accredited course in 15 weeks, visiting Bournemouth University’s Talbot Campus on a Wednesday afternoon to work alongside staff and students.

The qualification is normally intended for network professionals and certifies the ability to install, operate, and troubleshoot medium-sized computer networks.

“I thought the course sounded interesting,” said Ben, who is about to finish Year 10.

“I enjoyed most of it, but it was difficult.

“I know now how to link up computers and get them to work, and more about how the internet works.”

He added that computer networking is now something that he would possibly like to go into as a career.

“I liked the practical side of it – having to link up different computers to a network and making sure that they all actually work,” he said.

“It feels pretty good to have completed the course, and everyone is proud of me.”

Ben was presented with a certificate for completing the course by Professor Jim Roach, Dean of BU’s School of Design, Engineering and Computing.

Professor Roach said: “It’s a qualification that is recognised across the industry, and you can take it wherever you want to go.

“It’s a really useful qualification, it’s worthwhile and it is something to be proud of.”

Liisa Rohumaa shares her fears for the Royal baby’s privacy on BBC Radio Solent

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By Dean Eastmond

Bournemouth University’s Liisa Rohumaa, a Lecturer in Online Journalism, featured on BBC Radio Solent talking about the arrival of the Royal baby.

Liisa explained how the newly born Royal baby will not have the same privileges with privacy that his father once did.

“If you think of the two big scandalous royal stories of recent years involving Harry and Katherine, one in Las Vegas and the other one showing pictures of Katherine semi-nude.”, she added. “Both of those stories didn’t actually emerge from mainstream media; one was a foreign press agency via a magazine and the other was social media.”

Liisa explained that the lack of privacy the royal family may get will most likely be down to factors such as social media instead of the traditional, almost archaic ways with mainstream print media.

Amateur photography taken on phones and then uploaded onto social media websites (such as Twitter or Facebook) will be the main privacy issues with the family.

Liisa explains that the royal media managers will have “a really tricky situation”.

“The first few weeks will be at the Middletons’ in their house. William and Katherine are keen to have some family time together and that will be the very first test of the embargo on pictures or information coming out or photographers hiding in bushes and all of those sorts of horrible things that people think about when they think about paparazzi.”

Dean is a student at Budmouth College in Weymouth, who is working at Bournemouth University in the Press and PR Department. He joined BU on a Sir Samuel Mico Scholarship, which provides 10 students from his college with essential work experience for four weeks over the summer.

Dr Mark Readman on part time and distance learning in The i newspaper

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By Dean Eastmond

Senior lecturer in media education, Dr Mark Readman, highlighted to The i newspaper how accessible part time and distance learning postgraduate courses are becoming in today’s world for people in work.

“It’s harder and harder for people to take a year or two out of a career in order to study fill time”, he told the newspaper. “Therefore we launched a suite of postgraduate part-time distance learning courses to cater for this market”

Readman then goes onto explain how distance learning courses are not just face-to-computer courses and that long distance students at Bournemouth University receive a lot of face-to-face interaction with staff.

Whether this is on Skype, email, phone or in person, these postgraduate courses are far more interactive and personal than what people may think.

“Whether they’re studying for career reasons or personal development, distance learning lets them fit study into their often already busy lives”.

The report explains how at Bournemouth University MA courses such as creative and media education and screenwriting begin with residential trips to create and fortify bonds and interaction with students and teachers.

Dean is a student at Budmouth College in Weymouth, who is working at Bournemouth University in the Press and PR Department. He joined BU on a Sir Samuel Mico Scholarship, which provides 10 students from his college with essential work experience for four weeks over the summer.

BU Postgraduate student shares her experience with The i newspaper

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By Dean Eastmond

Bournemouth University featured in The i newspaper, with student Francesca Savy talking about her experience on the MSc Business Management course.

Francesca, from the Seychelles, said she enjoys the diversity of her course.

“My options in future are wide open. I could go into marketing”, she explained. “I could go into finance – this course could take me in a number of different directions in any country”.

Francesca told The i that there is only one UK student on her course, adding:

“I was keen to take an international business programme, because I wanted to look into different areas of business”

She continued by telling the newspaper that her postgraduate study at Bournemouth University is based on the high reputation the university has and how there are many accessible opportunities for international students in Bournemouth.

“The Student Union, as well as the teaching faculty, is there to support you and look after you. They take time to know your name. Little things like that really help you feel comfortable.”

Francesca is currently working on her dissertation and is due to graduate in November of this year and cannot wait to enter the world of business.

Dean is a student at Budmouth College in Weymouth, who is working at Bournemouth University in the Press and PR Department. He joined BU on a Sir Samuel Mico Scholarship, which provides 10 students from his college with essential work experience for four weeks over the summer.

Star students win prestigious tourism awards

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By Dean Eastmond

On 18th July 2013, BU students Barbara Neuhofer (PhD in Travel and Tourism) and Charlotte Young travelled to Westminster where they were both presented with prestigious awards.

This year’s Institution of Travel and Tourism Chairman’s Summer Cocktails took place at Terrace Pavilion, in the House of Commons.

Dame Tessa Jowell MP (former Shadow Minister for the Olympics and London) attended the annual event to present the awards to both prizewinning students.

Sponsored by Leeds Metropolitan University, the annual event hosts the ITT Student Awards and is a true celebration of a select few students’ efforts in their own work and research at their universities.

Charlotte Young received one of three awards for CoE (Centre of Excellence) Students of the year.

For Barbara, ITT PhD Student of the Year comes with great delight and her work in Travel and Tourism is of great credit to not only herself but Bournemouth University.

“I feel truly proud and honoured to receive this prestigious award by the Institute of Travel & Tourism,” she said.

“It is a great recognition for my PhD research and I am extremely grateful to Bournemouth University and to all the people who have supported me in my studies, in particular to my supervisor Prof. Dimitrios Buhalis.

“It was a privilege to celebrate this achievement in such a fantastic location, the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was a truly memorable evening for all of us.”

Barbara’s Supervisor, Profess in Technology and Tourism Dimitrios Buhalis, continued: “This is a great recognition of the great progress that Barbara is doing in her PhD and the contribution to knowledge she is producing as evidenced in her publications and her community service through IFITT and other communities.

“I am particularly happy that this is the second student after Dr Andrew Spencer who won the ITT award last year.”

Dean is a student at Budmouth College in Weymouth, who is working at Bournemouth University in the Press and PR Department. He joined BU on a Sir Samuel Mico Scholarship, which provides 10 students from his college with essential work experience for four weeks over the summer.

BU’s Big Dig a Big success

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A team of archaeologists from Bournemouth University (BU) has uncovered the history that lies beneath rural farmland in Dorset.

Delicate glass leaves, a Roman tea strainer and the remains of ritually deposited animals were just some of the finds unearthed by staff and students as part of the Durotriges Project.

The project, otherwise known as The Big Dig, is an archaeological investigation studying the transition from the late Iron Age to the early Roman period in Winterbourne Kingston, near Bere Regis.

The Big Dig is now in its fifth and final year, and this summer’s excavations discovered a prehistoric settlement, Roman villa and two late Roman longhouses, as well as countless finds from the period, including jewellery and pottery.

Dr Miles Russell, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at BU, said: “The key thing this year is that much of the evidence is showing what happens after Roman Britain comes to an end.

“We can see how people came to this land, how they cannibalised the villa, ripped everything out of it and made their own life here before the Saxons arrived.”

As well as staff and students from the university, volunteers and schoolchildren visited the site to help out and experience archaeological excavation first hand.

A public open day attracted more than 620 visitors, and around 50 young archaeologists, aged between 8 and 16, visited the site from as far afield as Poole, Salisbury, Southampton and Taunton.

The youngsters, who are members of Young Archaeologists’ Clubs from across the region, took part in the examination of Roman buildings, geophysical survey and finds processing.

Sarah MacNaughton, of the Poole branch of Young Archaeologists’ Club said: “It was brilliant. The youngsters really enjoyed getting their hands dirty and finding things.”

Find out more about The Big Dig

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis on how to get a good holiday deal

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Professor in Travel and Tourism Dimitrios Buhalis gave advice on how and when to get the best holiday deals on BBC Radio 4 consumer programme You and Yours.

The British Association of Travel Agents say that the market for package holidays is growing again, with more young people choosing to go for ready made package deals instead of creating their own online.

Professor Buhalis said that there are several market conditions that are leading people to go back to package holidays.

“There’s a measure of safety and security,” he said. “They feel the tour operator can look after them in case of emergencies.”

He said that the first principle for getting a good package deal was thinking about demand and supply.

“If you can go against the flow, for example, avoid the school holidays or go to places where there is not an awful lot of demand, it’s very likely that you are going to get some bargains out there.”

He added that the earlier you can book a holiday, the better deal you are likely to get – especially if you are looking to go to one particular destination.

“There are still going to be some bargains at the last minute, but they may be in places that you would not necessarily like to travel to,” he told presenter Winifred Robinson.

He also advised to look at the tour operators’ websites to see what offers are available, and to try ringing hotels directly to see if you can negotiate a better price or get extras for your money.

Listen to the full interview on You and Yours

Professor Matthew Bennett shares top tips for building perfect sandcastle

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With the sun shining and Bournemouth’s beaches filled with excited holiday goers, BU’s Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Matthew Bennett has been sharing his top tips for building the perfect sandcastle.

Also known as ‘Professor Sandcastle’, following his research into the science behind sandcastles and which beaches are best, Professor Bennett was interviewed on BBC Radio Newcastle and wrote a piece for the Sunday Times.

He told BBC Radio Newcastle Drivetime presenter Anne Leuchars that the mix of sand and water was crucial when building a sandcastle, with eight buckets of sand to one of water being the ideal.

“If you’ve got too much then the grains are lubricated and move past one another and don’t lock together, but if you don’t have any water in there, there’s nothing to bind them together.” he said.

“With just the right amount of water, they stick together.”

Other tips included sticking to a simple bucket and spade, as they are the “most versatile, you can create almost anything you want,” and creating a mound of sand and sculpting from that, instead of using buckets of sand as ‘bricks’.

He added that sandcastles were a fun and accessible way to get people of all ages interested and engaged with science.

“Whatever vehicle you use, communicating the passion and the enthusiasm for science is really important, and sandcastles allow you to do that.

“Understanding where the sand came from, it holds a story about our planet and the history of our planet. It’s just lovely, it’s a really fun thing to do.”

Professor Bennett also gave his top tips on local radio station Fire FM and wrote 7 Golden Rules for building the perfect sandcastle in the Sunday Times.

They included the location of the sandcastle – sand on some beaches are better for sandcastle building than others, with Torquay coming out on top in Professor Bennett’s research, and Bournemouth in third place.

He also advised that people should ‘think big’ when it comes to building their perfect sandcastle.

“Size matters in the game of sandcastles,” he wrote.

“A modest pile with perfect towers, battlements and moat is OK, but the huge redoubts that break the beach horizon are what inspire awe and wonder.

“Pebbles, shells, driftwood fragments and feathers all enhance the look – and, let’s face it, a castle should always be built to be seen.”

Listen to the full interview on BBC Radio Newcastle

International events management conference takes place at BU

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Events management professionals and academics from around the world were at Bournemouth University for the International Conference on Events.

Delegates came from as far afield as China and Australia for the three-day Making Waves conference, which was organised by the Association of Events Management Education (AEME) and held at BU’s Executive Business Centre.

The aim of the conference is to share cutting edge research, thinking and industry practice and a number of presentations and workshops took place on subjects ranging from music festivals to the London 2012 Olympics and business events.

Opening the conference, Dr Keith Wilkes, Dean of the School of Tourism at BU, said: “The world would be socially, academically and culturally poorer without events.

“The aim of the conference is to debate the way that we see, think and undertake research into events.”

There were also keynote speeches from important names in events management and education – including Nick Dodds, Managing Director of Festivals and Events International, and PR director Alistair Turner, who has led the Britain for Events promotional campaign.

Nick de Bois MP, who is chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the UK Events Industry, gave the first keynote of the conference.

Nick said events contributed a huge amount to the UK economy and worldwide reputation, and academics and professionals need to work together to represent the industry.

“We know the industry provides invisible benefits and is a major contributor to the UK economy,” said Nick, who ran a marketing and events business before becoming an MP.

“When we host large events and conferences, what they are doing is not just leaving a large injection into local economies, but the opportunity for us to deliver long term growth into the UK.”

He added: “It’s very hard for one industry to bring about change, if it is developing its messages from diverse groups and sectors and effectively speaking from many different voices.

“I hope this conference will address how it will be able to support the case for change, the value of this industry, and how it teaches its young professionals for an industry that will, sure as anything, be very different from what it is today.”

More than 120 delegates from ten countries attended the conference, which was jointly organised by BU, AEME and universities in China and Australia, and sponsored by The Higher Education Academy.

Welcoming the delegates BU Vice-Chancellor Professor John Vinney said: “We have over 600 students from BU studying events and leisure, which I think makes us one of the largest in that particular sector anywhere in the world.

“The School of Tourism is a world leader in tourism research. I would like to say as the vice-chancellor how fantastic that School is and how important it is for the university.

“This is, therefore, a very appropriate venue for holding this year’s conference.”

Glenn Bowdin, chair of AEME, added: “I think that, as our industry moves forward with increasingly credible research to underpin it, industry and academics need to work together to provide a central voice.

“Hopefully, over the next few days we will have a great opportunity to network, to make future partnerships and hopefully develop collaborations and find like minds in terms of what we are talking about.”