1. Wings Clipped The flight training school that was the focus of a bad IEAA report has closed down. The Wings Flight Training Academy owner said the students were out to get him: “RP Singh is like an innocent-looking rabbit in the forest when you’ve got 10 greyhounds trying to kill him”. I challenge people in trouble to come up with a better quote this year J
2. Glass The Wanganui Glass School’s low enrolments are stirring discussion in the town.
3. New Media Centre Whitireia has moved into a new, much more modern, space after exiting its earthquake prone Wellington Media Centre premises.
4. Treasury BIM The TEU’s Sandra Grey had a post on The Standard last week about Treasury’s BIM – it’s a good opinion piece (here’s a relevant story about mature career changers). Kerre Woodham writes a piece on the same issue claiming that elitism is good – one of her commenters says “university study is a drain on society and serves only to allow communism to find sympathisers”. Hmm.
5. Fake Quals The Commerce Commission is investigating Genesis Eight International College of Security, a security training operator that wasn’t NZQA registered (RNZ). Apparently the operator plagiarised material from Wintec and TSSL (a PTE)
6. Extras: Labour’s David Shearer visited Massey; progress on Otago Uni neurological chair fundraising (plus another story); The Press covers Rod Carr’s salary issues; proposed Christchurch heating system might involve CPIT; visit to Waikato by Chinese university partner; export education links with China; new Pasifika centre at Canterbury; an interesting piece on Asian student experiences in NZ (and a more formal article quoting Auckland’s Manying Ip).

Research & Innovation

1. Kauri Rings Auckland’s Anthony Fowler and colleagues have used kauri rings to deduce how affected we will be by El Nino/ La Nina (SMC, Stuff, NZ Herald, RNZ, AAP, TV3).
2. Storm Petrels Auckland’s Matt Rayner and others have found good evidence of NZ storm petrels breeding in the Hauraki Gulf – they’re only 35g and it’s hard to find them on land (Fairfax, RNZ).
3. Population The population research by Natalie Jackson and a student has generated stories on Waitaki population and Tararua/Waitaki along with earlier stories. It’s a good example of how to generate many stories by providing local angles.
4. Ethics Changes Various Otago and Auckland academics are concerned about changes to government ethics committees.
5. Extras: Otago Uni’s PhD student looking at time banking, Ken Hodge on master’s competitors and Jill Paris on literacy research in Southland; more on Otago Uni’s HIV research (and again and again); Canterbury links with venture capital; Massey hosting finance research conference; Victoria’s Prof Sir Paul Callaghan on clean-tech; Massey’s Steve Corbett on a story about invention; sticK on KiwiNet’s new portal.

Public Issues

1. Public Academics The NZ Herald had a piece traversing the issue of whether there are enough public academics in New Zealand. Personally, having trawled through academics’ public comments for the last two years, I can’t see any great problem at all. Many, many academics are engaged in public debate in New Zealand. In fact, I decided last month to do a monthly recognition of a public academic – first one will be in February.
2. Academic-Bashing? Auckland’s Margaret Mutu has written in Australian academic discussion blog The Conversation about her experiences of “academic-bashing”. Now she overstates it when she says she was nearly “sacked” (Auckland was appropriately supportive of her throughout) but she makes some good points about the public response to her comments about immigration. On the other hand, she did engage in an emotive issue and did not present any particular evidence to support her views (either then or in this latest post), although I imagine the people who emailed her did not present their arguments in as civil a manner as she did.
3. Brothels Otago Uni’s Gillian Abel and Victoria’s Dena Knight comment on brothel regulation.
4. Class Size Massey’s Prof John O’Neill criticises proposals to increase class sizes (Manawatu Standard).
5. Farm Sales AUT’s Rawiri Taonui on farm sales.
6. Extras: Auckland’s Rhema Vaithianathan on NZ businesses; Massey’s Ted Zorn on the Air NZ CEO; WITT’s Margaret Smith on a Waitangi Day panel; Waikato’s Jagdeep Singh-Ladhar on water allocation (Waikato Times); Massey caring for 22 Rena birds; Victoria’s Peter Thompson on public broadcasting; AUT’s Brian Broom diagnoses a columnist; Massey’s Mike Joy on fish quotas.

Students

1. Liquor Ban Dunedin City Council is considering a liquor ban in the main student area of North Dunedin.
2. Olympics Profile of Waiariki Olympic kayakers.
3. Orientation… at Aoraki and Otago Uni.
4. Bullet Problem An Otago Uni student was being held in India after 3 .22 bullets were found in his luggage (Hawke’s Bay Today).
5. High Rents Auckland students are complaining of high rents – the school leaver that is the focus has to weigh up flatting or living with his parents on the North Shore and commuting. And this is a problem how?
6. Extras: Cook Islands student off to AUT, with a recent Otago Uni grad returning; Careers NZ advice to students; Auckland student trialling macular degeneration treatment; Victoria student promoting a jet board while dressed up as a penguin.

Stakeholders

1. Army Friend Auckland won top Territorial employer for their region.
2. Extras: top game at Waikato Game Jam; Otago Uni’s Mike Harte on a local UFB trust; Massey’s museum building in Wellington is being used for a film (again); Canterbury helping with a museum display; UCOL and Massey productions have received theatre award nominations; TWOA teacher in kapa haka competition.

Teaching & Learning

1. Extras: Otago Uni forensic biology summer class; Victoria architecture guest lecture; Massey’s teacher education courses start, along with a new Maori immersion course; AUT hosting a graffiti artist.

1. Youth Unemployment The Reject Youth Unemployment coalition wants to meet Paula Bennett to discuss youth unemployment issues – given it is a leftwing coalition that launched a few weeks out from the election, complained about “the last three years” and is now inviting Bennett to meet via media release, I suspect they may not be that successful in their meeting goal.
2. $500K Waikato has gained a $500,000 bequest from Zena Daysh – and her ashes will be interred in New Plymouth today. Read the releases – she was quite a woman.
3. Taratahi Profile The Taranaki Daily News has written a long profile on Taratahi’s presence in the region and you should read it (NB I work with them but it’s still a good article).
4. Extras: Young Nats dislike Otago Uni student services fees but the Uni and OUSA are getting on with Orientation; Education NZ’s future; ITF research on industry training benefits (Idealog); new IBM storage system at Canterbury; Stuart Middleton on (non-tertiary) education Ministers; the NBR Editor has some research funding suggestions for Steven Joyce.

Research & Innovation

1. Smart Crows Auckland researchers have found out how smart crows are, which we largely knew already, but this time they have video to share.
2. Extras: Canterbury PhD student looking at impact of snow on rural areas; Victoria PhD student on learning languages in a pleasurable way; Waikato Tauranga harbour study (SunLive); Auckland tobacco research; Otago Uni’s Maori research report.

Public Issues

1. Cyber Bullying Waiariki’s Narissa Bayler on cyber bullying.
2. SOE Sales Victoria’s Jason Young questions whether preference for NZers in SOE share sales might breach trade agreements.
3. Extras: Otago Uni’s Nick Wilson on turkey tails; AUT’s Grant Schofield on NZers’ health; Auckland’s Michael Littlewood on savings.

Students

1. Murderer Sentenced Honglin Yu will serve at least 17 years for the murder of fellow Chinese student Jiayi ‘Kiko’ Li (3 News, 3 News).
2. Cancelled Graduation NMIT decided to cancel today’s graduation, given all the bad weather around Nelson.
3. Disliked Graduation Canterbury’s Eric Crampton isn’t a fan of graduations so analyses why people do and don’t go.
4. Extras: Victoria rowers; Massey student’s road-inspired exhibition; Canterbury students win national accounting awards; school principal retires to attend Waiariki; Otago Uni equestrian.

Stakeholders

1. Maori Trade Training Hawkins Construction will join with Ngai Tahu, CPIT, BETA and others to support trade training for Canterbury Maori (The Press).
2. Dr Richie McCaw Lincoln will give Richie McCaw an honorary doctorate next year (and I know that doesn’t make him a Dr) along with some other lesser celebrities with decades of professional work behind them (NZN, Stuff).
3. Extras: Victoria creative writing prize and literary journal; WelTec students upgrading ferry air-conditioning; Massey’s Jan Dixon testifies in a fraud case; Game Jam at Waikato; Canterbury artist in residence Fata Feu’u.

Teaching & Learning

1. Extras: Open Poly’s new science qual for primary school teachers; Waikato’s Holly Thorpe off to teach on a Fulbright.

1. Ag ITO Excels The Agriculture ITO has had a good EER report with highly confident and excellent findings galore.
2. Taupo Language Here’s a nice profile of Taupo Language, and especially founder Rose Blackley, who I always enjoyed working with when I represented English language schools. Note the dig at compliance costs towards the end – might be worth following up.
3. Student Pub…consent may be appealed by neighbours of Canterbury, with parents upset by a school board of trustees agreeing to the building.
4. Extras: Waiariki’s Kevin Uncles on the impact of LBP regulation (look it up); the ODT gives big coverage to the TEU’s views on proposed Aoraki changes.

Research & Innovation

1. Cancer Research The HRC and MOH have put in $2.7m for 3 cancer projects at Auckland (2) and Massey (APNZ, HRC).
2. Enzymes & Microbes Waikato’s Vic Arcus and Jo Hobbs have been creating billion year old enzymes. Other Waikato educators are checking out archaic microbes in Antarctica, with a National Geographic team in tow (Dom Post). Back to the present, Victoria’s David Ackerly is reengineering microbes like botulism or gangrene to create enzymes that activate cancer prodrugs – it’s an interesting media release.
3. Maori Issues A Massey study apparently showed a low number of stories on Maori issues and the Treaty of Waitangi. I understand the first issue being a concern, but the second hardly seems to be a community news staple.
4. Extras: Massey incubator head Steve Corbett likes new handouts to incubators (Minister); AUT’s Paul Cullen off on a Fulbright; Massey-Singapore-Mapp links; EIT’s Anthony Chiappin has helped develop a DIY knitting kit; Otago Uni’s Steve Dawson checking out a pilot whale; two NZ academics attended a classics dinner at Harvard.

Public Issues

1. Election Dodgy coffee bean poll by Auckland’s Andrew Balemi is a bit of fun and probably good for business and media coverage. Victoria’s Maria Bargh on Te Tai Tokerau. .
2. Extras: review of recent speech by Lincoln’s Paul Dalziel; Unitec’s Jonathan Leaver on gas leak problems/solutions; Victoria’s Stephen Blumenfeld on the Qantas dispute and comparisons to NZ.

Students

1. Cats…is being put on in Ashburton by CPIT’s NASDA students – I heard some sing at NZITP’s conference last week and they were great.
2. Extras: barista off to NMIT: Otago Uni student hit by car; NZUSA election guide; Massey student loses boxing match; WITT student’s struggle with poverty; top Dunedin apprentice; Unitec student’s cool chair; Rhodes Scholar; three Dunedin students won $50,000 scholarships to Auckland.

Stakeholders

1. Business on Education Deloitte and Business NZ have released education elements of a business survey – interesting stuff on graduate readiness, LLN skills and industry training support.
2. Lincoln Liked Fish and Game has welcomed a Future Farming Centre at Lincoln.
3. Extras: construction company funding NMIT scholarships; Waiariki Aria 2011 winner; disability studies conference at Otago Uni; Lincoln’s SI farmer finalists.

Teaching & Learning

1. Adult Learners’ Week Well apparently it’s Adult Learners’ Week – I wish I’d known earlier. The week is really about ACE, as this release about the Methodist Mission shows. The Southland Times has a story on the week.
2. Extras: industry award nominations for BOPP fitness lecturers; award for cool bach designed by Unitec staff and students;

1. Quake Skateboard A Canterbury engineering student has designed a skateboard to deal with quake-created terrain.
2. Rena Grounding Over 1,000 birds have died and 130 have been rescued and are at the Massey-run rehab facility (they are contracted by Maritime NZ), included some birds collected proactively to avoid them getting in trouble (Manawatu Standard, 3 News, NZN). Massey’s Malcolm Wright on NZ’s branding and a student off to help on the ground. Waikato’s Willem de Lange offers some thoughts on the spread and impact of the oil slick and Chris Battershill on the oil dispersant used (media release about Waikato’s input). Chris Battershill has been doing so much he rang Canterbury’s Prof David Schiel to come up and help him (The Press). Bay of Plenty’s Poly’s Dean Tully on the long-term marine impacts, while a student and her peers are doing great with the Rena Kai Run to feed beach workers (including a FB page). Otago Uni’s Tom Brooking on other major environmental messes in New Zealand’s history, and a design student using ingenuity to pick up oil on the beach.
3. Tourism Dropped Otago Uni has dropped its tourism offering from a specialist degree to a major within the commerce degree, which is an interesting turnaround from the trend that grew in the 90s for degrees to have more specific names. A win for the traditionalists.
4. Compulsory English? It looks like NZQA might require PTEs to use an international test like IELTS to determine course entry, after many have offered dodgy assessments to boost course numbers (and subsequently award dubious qualifications).
5. Quake Stuff Waikato’s Gail Hutcheson is checking out why people moved from Christchurch to Hamilton; Canterbury’s Jarg Pettinga to give quake-related testimony, while other staff want longer training for structural engineers and better testing facilities.
6. Student Stuff OUSA president Logan Edgar easily won re-election (release), while ten top Uni teachers were named. Lincoln students had a big end of year Garden Party on Friday (The Press, which also covered the Canterbury Tea Party). An op-ed on VSM. The Waikato Times has a big article on the impact of VSM at Waikato and Wintec.
7. Child Witnesses Here’s a good overview of the work on child witnesses done by 5 AUT academics.
8. Cauliflower…cooking has got a Nelson and Napier students into the HSI national schools competition.
9. Dolphins Will Die…according to Otago Uni’s Liz Slooten after a change to fishing regulations.
10. What You Eat Otago Uni’s Winsome Parnell and AUT’s Elaine Rush on nutrition, and then Winsome Parnell and Massey’s Pam von Hurst on the importance of breakfast.
11. Protest More pics and video from the protest at Victoria, via the Workers Party (and more videos). The Dom Post wrote a story on the tensions between having a clear message and a broad church in this and other protests.
12. RWC Normally I only cover NZ tertiary education stuff, but this RWC marketing piece on The Conversation by Adam Karg at Deakin University is well worth a read (as is The Conversation as a whole, which is simply fabulous).
    More on robots vs Mehrtens and one of the robots predicting an Aussie win over NZ (Dom Post, APNZ). Nadege Stoffel of Waikato is supporting her native France (as am I until they meet the ABs). Wintec officemates from NZ and Oz were bantering over the game. Victoria’s Marc Wilson on singing the national anthem. Massey’s Steve Stannard on drinking before the game.
13. Short Bits Waikato: Kudos award for Anne Hume; underground maps; PR business case competition. Brazilian export education opportunities. UCOL: building shift for students; award-winning work by a grad. Otago Uni: Bob Lloyd on solar energy; lots of students in the Miss Otago pageant; Prof Robin Gauld on health quality improvement and with Prof John Highton on population-based funding; piece on the latest Nobel chemistry prize winner by Dr Blackman; Liz Franz on dexterity loss research; student debaters. Canterbury: digitised textbooks. Massey: Andy Asquith on Auckland politics; student photography exhibition; David Tripe on Rabobank’s credit rating. Auckland: Rhema Vaithianathan on bad managers. Victoria: Philip Morrison on home ownership; Prof Matt Visser on the empty universe. Otago Poly: distance student wins ceramic award. Labour’s Grant Robertson on the Refugee Study Grant. AUT’s Emma Beatson analysing a dead whale. Wintec: success for SODA.

dear sirs

we are interest to study English in New Zealand also war

we will study in your school…

The staff considered it internally, suggesting that if the student managed to gather a class of 7 students, the school could organise a war. Since NZQA requires an assessment of students’ suitability, they also realised they might first need to check on students’ previous experience in wars.

In the end the school couldn’t offer the course, but did check with colleagues about whether schools offered the option. Maybe it could be something for Education NZ to check out as they seek to double export education income J

1. Export Ed to Double? Steven Joyce released an international education leadership statement yesterday, focusing on doubling income over 15 years (TV3, NewstalkZB, NBR). ENZ welcomed the statement. Inflation should help, because the $5b target doesn’t seem to be inflation adjusted – 2% inflation would get the government a third of the way.
2. Dodgy Surveillance Law Vic’s Dean Knight is cited here opposing the government’s proposed retrospective law, while this story cites him, Otago Uni’s Andrew Geddis and Canterbury’s Philip Joseph all opposing the law. Good on them.
3. Snapper Food Prof David Raubenheimer, who we have previously met in the Himalayas on a horse, is now checking out the diet of snapper and there’s even a video (but no horse this time).
4. Animal Health There’s a dog cancer treatment trial being run by Massey’s Jonathan Bray and Otago Poly is running a pet weight loss programme.
5. Fires Palmie authorities are said to “condemn fire-crazy mob” although few would welcome such a thing. Anyway, looks like students may have been involved, but an editorial says students shouldn’t just be blamed.
6. ITO Completions A very rare story on ITO completions covers the Agriculture ITO’s work and associated issues.
7. Skills Shortage? Competenz reckons that a skills shortage is looming and that firms need to train.
8. Quieter Classes Natasha Perkins of Victoria is researching how to make primary school classrooms quieter (Dom Post).
9. Iwi Creativity A Massey competition to encourage Maori students to explore their iwi connections has turned up some good art. I like Taupuru Brightwell’s take on Wellington Zoo.
10. WorldSkills Brad Wood, a Competenz apprentice, getting ready for WorldSKills.
11. Tech Start-up Massey’s Steve Corbett reckons it’s the right time for technology start-ups (NewstalkZB).
12. Wood Some visiting experts in building with wood like NMIT’s new building.
13. RWC Victoria’s Marc Wilson and AUT’s Nigel Hemmington on trans-Tasman rivalry.
14. Short Bits Waikato: Stuart Locke’s research on women and board performance (Waikato Times, 3 News); Alan Sampson on youth voters; Kay Weaver’s inaugural lecture. Massey: identifying fish species; an ex Massey lecturer has written a memoir about his time in the WWII German army on the Eastern Front; Rachael Rakena’s Dunedin artwork; . Victoria: Tony Schirato makes some odd claims about sport; Kate Stone on youth and MMP. EIT: rugby player putting study first; ta moko wananga. Waikato and Wintec students winning in a problem gambling reduction competition. Otago Uni: Jim Mann on fighting obesity; academics on surge in dementia. Canterbury: grad survey; award for Prof Tanja Mitrovic; award for alumna. FITEC training awards. AUT: public lecture series on health; Greg Treadwell cited on pilot prank. RNZ reports on tertiary fees. Auckland: Maori research forum.