News 2/9 – Vic Debaters Win. Massey’s Cleaners and Entry Standards.

September 2nd 2010 at 8:57am, By Dave Guerin

Vic Debaters Dominant Victoria University debaters came out on top in the Joynt Scroll university debating competition, with their A and B teams contesting the final. It is the 46th time Vic has won the title in 109 years, which is pretty impressive (PS I went to Vic).
Massey Entry The Manawatu Standard has done a story on rising entry bars for university and a roundup of the impact that has on secondary school students. It seems that school students are working harder, with more stress, to ensure a place in university.
Massey Cleaners Massey’s cleaners have won an Employment Court reprieve from redundancy, but largely to discuss redundancy terms. Darien Fenton, Labour MP, has suggested that this sets a precedent because there was no redundancy clause in the employment agreement, so it’ll be interesting to see what others make of it.
Southern ITP Funding NZPA picked up on Grant Robertson’s media release on polytechnic funding and also got some feedback from Steven Joyce. A letter to the editor (third one down) asks why Tim Shadbolt isn’t standing up against the National government.
ITC Success The International Travel College (ITC) is a finalist in three categories at this year’s Westpac Manukau Business Excellence Awards for service delivery, innovation and strategy, and tourism and hospitality.
Student Loans Last week a story broke about student loans and the possibility of debt collectors for overseas students and the sale of the loan book to a private company. Fairfax’s John Hartevelt covered the latter issue a few weeks back as a rumour, but The Wellingtonian (a Fairfax giveaway) got a hot leak that kicked off the coverage last week. It seems that someone in MSD leaked the proposals. The debt collectors one was being considered but the idea of selling off the loans seems a bit stupid. I can’t see how they would be a very appealing buy, given all the tight constraints around policy settings.
Coastal Research Bay of Plenty Polytechnic’s Taiorangahau Pacific Coast Applied Research Centre is hosting a one-day Research Expo.
Cancer Chair Bridget Robinson has been appointed to the newly established position of Mackenzie Chair in Cancer Medicine in the University of Otago, Christchurch.
Snow Games You can pick up the results of the Uni Snow Games at University Sport NZ.
Media Mentions A Massey PhD student is quoted by Russell Brown. Massey’s Jacqueline Rowarth is quoted on higher food prices (for farmers, that is). University of Otago energy studies programme director Bob Lloyd comments on the government’s energy strategy.
Cellist Story The ODT has a nice profile on their new lecturer in cello.
Confused Drug Prices Hours after the drug price study from Massey showed that P had risen from $610/gram in 2006 to $738/gram in 2009, the police reported that 400 grams seized yesterday at Wellington Airport was worth $400,000. So either the price has shot up to $1,000 a gram this year, or the police just make up these figures for effect – it amazes me that this story has both sets of figures but doesn’t query the discrepancy.
Sustainable Business The Sustainable Business Network, which cosponsored some research by the University of Waikato on sustainable business practices, has put out a media release basically saying that their members care more about sustainability(which you would rather expect…). The research seems interesting and has been covered elsewhere.
Bits and Pieces a full list of Culinary Fare winners has been published – CPIT, AUT and North Shore International Academy feature. Unitec’s Department of Performing and Screen Arts is helping to “green the screen” by planting trees. 3 Uni of Canterbury grads have had their animation software used in part of a film that won an Emmy this week. Otago Uni grads have won national dietetics awards.