1. Focus on the Numbers Te Wananga O Aotearoa is focusing more on the numbers, in preparation for performance funding, according to the TEU. I’m going to write more about this later today.
2. Otago Poly Entry Great story this morning in the ODT about Otago Poly’s new approach to entry - I will write more about that one.
3. Student Loans Peter Dunne, Revenue Ministers, has dismissed claims by Labour MP Grant Robertson that the government was setting up a private loans company. Dunne is, however, making a loans announcement last today and will be talking about a new online system, offshore borrower payment arrangements and possibly offshore debt collection. Radio NZ has an interview with Dunne here. 
4. Massey Cleaners There’s a medium-sized story about Massey Uni’s cleaners here.
5. Policy Conference Victoria Uni’s Institute of Policy Studies is co-hosting a Reconstituting the Constitution with the New Zealand Centre for Public Law. It builds on an earlier constitutional conference ten years ago (which I attended as then-president of the Republican Movement of Aotearoa New Zealand).
6. Dyson Awards Two NZ entrants have made the top 20 global shortlist for the Dyson Awards.
7. Ecotourism Waiariki Institute of Technology is partnering with Tai Poutini Polytechnic to bring the Ecotourism NZ Conference to Rotorua.
8. Miss SI A Gisborne woman (I guess she grew up there), now in her third year of accounting at the University of Canterbury, has been named Miss South Island.
9. Bits and Pieces MIT’s Toque D’Or students got covered in local paper here and here. The University of Otago School of Business is co-hosting a major international business case competition at Queenstown that begins on Sunday. Former Massey University Professor, Ian Warrington, has been made a Fellow of the International Society for Horticultural Science. Massey Uni researchers are seeking personal accounts of near-death experiences.  Motorcycle designer John Britten’s daughter has been selected as one of 10 finalists in the Westpac Young Designer competition - she’s a CPIT student. A liquor ban in Chch will affect students. The NZ Herald’s history series has some university and educational coverage today. A Waikato Uni car was in a crash yesterday.
10. Nanotech Beads “Polybatics on verge of deal for nanotech payloads that use ‘stressed-out’ bacteria” was the headline for this release which would either consume you with curiosity or (more likely) make you move on. Anyway. Massey is involved and the curious can read about it.
11. More Accidents?  The Government review of safety in adventure tourism and outdoor commercial sector understated the extent of the problem, a Massey Uni academic says, because many industry injuries go unreported.
12. Ban YouTube? Otago Uni academics want to ban some YouTube videos that have tobacco in them. I’ve quoted the start of their release below and it illustrates their approach – some videos have pro-smoking content or smoking imagery even though advertising is banned (sharper readers will note that advertising does not equal imagery…). Eric Crampton also commented on this.

“Just published research has found an extensive use of leading tobacco brand names and brand images on YouTube, closely associated with pro-smoking content or smoking imagery. This is despite the obligation in 168 countries to ban the advertising of tobacco, under a World Health Organisation agreement.”