Policy, Management & People

1. IBM… has opened its first Delivery Centre at Unitec (Radio NZ), and Westpac has signed a 5 year contract to be its anchor customer (Fairfax).
2. Study Centre Otago Uni has opened its new $3.3m Marsh Study Centre.
3. Early Childhood Centre The Unitec Students’ Association’s kaupapa Maori early childhood centre has undergone a complete overhaul.
4. Grant Robertson… and Damien O’Connor will meet with the CE of TPP today to discuss govt funding changes.
5. Financial Support Massey University Foundation board member Linda Jenkinson says NZ universities need greater financial support from alumni.
6. The TEU… is calling on tertiary providers to back the Living Wage campaign, repeats Radio NZ’s story about funding losses, and says Lincoln is rushing its qualifications review.

Research & Innovation

1. Energy Cultures Otago Uni’s Janet Stephenson has released a report highlighting the importance of efficient energy use.
2. Franchises A Canterbury postgrad student is studying franchisors’ business s development process.
3. Physical Inactivity AUT’s Grant Schofield and Otago Uni’s Phil Handcock on a new report that says NZers’ physical inactivity costs $1.3b per year.
4. Extras: Auckland’s Prof Wayne Cutfield says higher diabetes risk for first-born children; SPARX depression software wins award; Canterbury’s Wendy Fox-Turnbull on the benefits of children conversing.

Public Issues

1. Unhealthy Food Otago Uni’s Louise Signal says the Govt should ban unhealthy food advertising at sports games (NZ Herald, NZCity, Newstalk ZB).
2. Voltaren AUT’s Valery Feigin supports calls for a ban on diclofenac, sold as Voltaren in NZ.
3. Water Rights AUT’s Prof Paul Moon says Ngati Tuwharetoa have the right to charge Ironman NZ to use Lake Taupo.
4. Power Companies Otago Uni’s Bob Lloyd says NZ will be losing millions of dollars by selling power companies.
5. Electric Vehicles Canterbury’s Allan Miller says the price of electric vehicles could be close to that of standard vehicles by 2020 (Fairfax).
6. Trans-Pacific Partnership Victoria’s Robert Ayson says China’s leadership may not be united in their views on the TPP.
7. Water Engineering Waikato’s Earl Bardsley says we need to rethink the way we collect and store water.
8. Breast Milk Auckland’s Jane Alsweiler on the breast versus bottle debate.
9. Extras: Canterbury’s Ken Donaldson on the Quake City exhibition; Massey’s Matthew Barnes on increasing border drug seizures; Otago Uni’s Mark Neild on start-up businesses.

Students

1. Refugee A Burmese refugee plans to study business at AUT.
2. Masterchef A student finalist in Masterchef  NZ says he can’t afford to cook the dish he produced on a student income.
3. Close Friends… from Nelson will take diverging paths this year as they study at opposite ends of the South Island.
4. Student Fall Two Otago Uni students have fallen off the same roof and broken their hand within minutes of each other.
5. Council Prize A Waikato student has won Waikato Regional Council’s water sciences prize.
6. Hillary Scholars A new Waikato Sir Edmund Hillary Scholar has been named the Waikato Secondary Schools Sportswoman of the year, and another will compete at the Te Matatini kapa haka comp.

Stakeholders

1. Living Wage Unionist Len Richards told a conference at AUT yesterday that Aucklanders need $24 per hour.
2. Southland Robots SIT and Auckland have gifted a building and technology, respectively, to a hospital robotics project in Southland.
3. Asset Sales Auckland’s Prof Jane Kelsey and Victoria’s Geoff Bertram spoke at an anti-asset sales rally in Wellington yesterday.
4. Taratahi’s… Steve Hannam spoke at the International Conference on Community Colleges in India at the beginning of February.
5. Southeast Asian Visitors 36 Southeast Asian govt officials are visiting EIT to hone their English language skills and learn more about the region.
6. Hawke’s Bay… Regional Council may lose support from Lincoln University to help study adaptive catchment management measures.
7. David Clark… to meet Otago Uni’s Prof Hank Weiss to discuss cycle safety in Dunedin.
8. Francis Hodgkins Fellow… Nick Austin’s exhibition ‘The Liquid Dossier’ opens tomorrow.
9. Extras: Victoria’s Summer of Shakespeare begins today; Massey’s Mason Drurie to judge Pikihuia Awards Best Short Story; Lincoln holding tourism and hospitality education conference; Auckland’s Melinda Webber to speak at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Teaching & Learning

1. Free Tuition Aoraki will offer free tuition in any course to recently redundant Summit Wool Spinners staff who want to retrain.
2. Rugby Sevens CPIT’s Jason Tiatia has been coaching the Canterbury Sevens team.
3. Vietnamese Internship A Massey accounting student has been working at KPMG’s Ho Chi Minh City office over the past few months.
4. Art Comp A Wintec student is a finalist for the NZPPA People’s Choice art award.
5. Farming Students Taratahi has welcomed 12 Indonesian recipients of Fonterra farming scholarships.