THE GREEK AUSTRALIAN The oldest circulating Greek newspaper outside VEMA Greece FEBRUARY 2015 Tel. (02) 9559 7022 Fax: (02) 9559 7033 E-mail: [email protected] DIGITAL MOSAIC Capturing theDISCIPLINE True Woman: IN THE Tori HOME Ava Photography PAGE 16/34 GREEK PM HOPES TO VISIT Opening of the Law Term Service in NSW On Tuesday 10 F ebruary 2015, a t the Ca- thedral of the Annuncia tion of the Theot o- kos, His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos con- ducted the Service of the Opening of the Law Term 2015 in NSW. AUSTRALIA PAGE 14/32 He is particularly interested in the Greek Diaspora Greece's new Prime Minis ter, Alexis Tsipras, met with the Australian Ambas- sador in Gr eece John Grif fin and e x- pressed his in terest in visiting the land down under. Official Opening The Prime Minis ter and Mr Grif fin of the Taigum were said t o have discussed the strengthening of bi lateral cooperation Child Care Centre between Greece and Aus tralia, namely On Sunday 8 February 2015, His Grace Bish- in the economic sector. op Seraphim officially opened the St Paraskevi Mr Tsipras showed particular interest Child Care Centre and unveiled the Friendship in the Greek diaspora of Australia, stat- Garden plaque at the Parish of St Paraskevi in ing that he hoped to visit "as soon as the Taigum, Queensland. conditions [in Greece] allowed for it". The two discussed the Greek diaspora PAGE 13/31 and the support such a community pres- ence abroad provides for Greece, acting as a connecting bridge between the two countries. Educational Tour of Greece, June 2015 Follow the Journey of St Paul With the ble ssing of H is Eminence Ar chbishop The tour is open t o all in terested people, whe ther Stylianos, a guided tour titled Journey of St P aul and Greek Orthodox or not. Classical Greece will be departing Australia on June 4, While the r eturn date is June 20, member s of the 2015. group are free to extend their stay in Greece or Europe TRAVEL The group will commence their journey with a pr e- if they choose to. scheduled audience with H is All Holiness Ecumenical Wind-swept beauty Patriarch Bartholomew, before travelling to the places Bookings close March 2, so be quick! This isolated Dodecanese island surprise s where the Apostle Paul first proclaimed the Christian the visitor with it s variety of br eathtaking message in Greece. To see the full itinerar y, go to the News & Events section of landscapes and rich cultural tradition. Professional guides will explain all the major sites in the website of our Archdioc ese (www.greekorthodox.org.au) English. and click on the relevant download. PAGE 20/38 FEBRUARY 2015 2/20 TO BHMA The Greek Australian VEMA Australians and New Zealanders travelling to Lemnos in April In April the Greek island of Lemnos will be flooded the wounded during the unfortunate campaign. with visitors from Australia and New Zealand, including The battle of Gallipoli took place between April 1915 several Australian politicians. and January 1916 during World War I. Its aim was for Navy ships from both countries will sail to Lemnos, the Allies to seize the Dardanelles, thus weakening the along with cruise ships and private yachts for the 100 Ottoman Empire. Lemnos played a significant role in year celebration since the Australian troops (ANZAC), this campaign. Greek Prime Minister at the time, Eleft- disembarked in Gallipoli, Asia Minor during World herios Venizelos, gave his permission to the British gov- War I. ernment to use Lemnos as their base in order to take The event coordinator, Greek-Australian politician control of the Dardanelles. and former Victoria Minister John Pandazopoulos re- The Greek island was also used as a supply station. leased information regarding the celebrations, taking During the war several infrastructure projects were place from April 18 to 21. completed, such as docks, roads, water pumps and a Australian MPs will also visit other locations across rudimentary railroad network, as well as the construc- Greece where Australian troops fought during the First tion of two Australian military hospitals, with surgery and Second World War. Furthermore, in order to show and X-ray equipment. their appreciation for Lemnos’ contribution to the war, Around 4,000 Australian and New Zealand soldiers Australians are planning to organise a cruise ship carry- were hospitalized in Lemnos, while another 150 Aus- ing 100 nurses to arrive on the island in September tralian soldiers were buried in the two war cemeteries 2015, in memory of the arrival of nurses that treated located on the island. Portianou Military Cemetery, Lemnos, Campaign to promote Greek Australian scientist Greek language fights obesity A campaign entitled “Speak Greek in March” will be launched next month in Australia with the participation of Diaspora organisations, schools, mass media and all interested parties. The campaign’s purpose is to preserve and promote the Greek language in the country and establish March as the month of Greek language. The organisers aim to see Greek spoken at homes, schools, businesses and Diaspora organisations during the month of March. It is the month all Greek festivals take place in Aus- tralia in celebrating the Greek National Day of March 25, 1821, when the Greek war of independence started. The original idea belongs to Sakis Zafeiropoulos, President of “Fronditha” Aged Care Center and Channel 31. President of the Greek Community of Melbourne Vasilis Papastergiadis immediately adopted the idea. Director of Melbourne’s Homer College Tassos Douvartzides and Community Schools director Manos Tzimpragos, will also be key figures in the campaign. Greek-Australian scientist and resear- studies on mice to suggest that this cher Tony Tiganis (pictured) may hold process may actually be the cause of the key in the fight against obesity. Tiga- weight gain and obesity. “We believe nis is a professor and Deputy Head (Re- that one potential reason for why we search) of the Department of Biochem- may get fat is that this mechanism of en- istry and Molecular Biology at Monash ergy balance is altered because the brain University. He is in charge of the Tiganis does not respond to insulin and lepton Laboratory which is a Cellullar signalling and does not effectively promote the and human disease laboratory. conversion of white fat to brown fat. In Tiganis and his team have been re- mice we’ve been able to show that if we searching the connection between two instruct the brain to convert white fat to naturally occurring hormones, which he brown fat, mice don’t put on weight says has given scientists new insights in- when they are fed a high fat diet and are to how the brain regulates body fat. The metabolically healthy” Tiganis stated. process conjured by Tiganis relates to Whilst conclusive evidence is still years leptin, a hormone produced by fat acting away, early signs of a ‘cure’ are positive. to suppress hunger and insulin, pro- Prof. Tony Tiganis was educated at The duced by the pancreas in response to the University of Melbourne. He established levels of glucose in the blood after a an independent laboratory in the De- meal. Both of these hormones convey to partment of Biochemistry and Molecular the brain the amount of energy stored in Biology, Monash University in 2000. the body and how much more is likely to His general research interest is in un- be stored as a result of consumption. derstanding cellular signaling networks Once the energy levels are received by in human disease, with a specific focus the brain the body converts white fat on the roles of protein tyrosine phos- storage into brown fat (energy burn). phatases in metabolism, adaptive immu- Tiganis has seen effective results in nity and cancer. FEBRUARY 2015 The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 3/21 A landmark opportunity after elections By Alexis Papachelas - Kathimerini, Athens Good and bad dreams come in equal portions these days, as deep and fright- ening divisions are reawakening in the Greek collective psyche. We see the clash of the classes every day, the ten- sion between those who are pro-Eu- rope and those who are not, we see anger and passion. Greeks are, after all, very passionate people. This has led them to being manipulat- ed by blind nationalism and extreme populism, behavior that created trou- ble both domestically and abroad. And when extreme passions are stirred, the strangest things can happen: the ex- treme right can shake hands with the left, politicians become consumed by their passions and the country becomes blind to how the rest of the world per- Greece has suffered a lot in the past Tsipras could do the following: Sup- win over a large majority and our part- ceives it. five years and its politicians have failed port those who are suffering most. De- ners’ respect. Why this referencing to past trou- to rise to the occasion. Worst of all they stroy vested interests and corruption. The nightmare scenario is that he will bles? Because I see the need for a na- refused to take on the cost of major re- Persuade the truly rich to contribute. be carried away by the powers preach- tional negotiation with our partners forms, transferring the responsibility Break the barriers to entrepreneurship. ing hatred, revenge and conflict with and lenders. We should all support it onto the nasty foreigners, leaving the Learn from China and explain to peo- our partners, and find himself in a posi- and if it succeeds, we should all salute - average Greek feeling poorer and hu- ple, and above all to his own support- tion from which he cannot retreat; that at least those of us placing the country miliated - a terrible predicament for a ers, that privatizations are good for the fear of the cost of battle with entangled above parties - whoever manages to proud nation.