Search Massey News

Massey News Archive | 6 January, 2004

Massey pays tribute to a great New Zealander
A photographic salute to Sir Peter Blake, athlete, adventurer, scientist and Massey Honorary Doctor.

Press Releases

20/12/2001
High-tech Air Navigation Degree a first
Airways New Zealand and the Massey University School of Aviation have signed an undertaking which will bring both parties together to develop and offer a combined degree course in Air Navigation Services (ANS). These services comprise air traffic management, navigation services and communications.

20/12/2001
Tidings of joy? Or time of great stress!
There are many reasons why Christmas, supposedly a time of joy and fun, can also be an emotionally stressful time of year says head of Massey University’s counselling and guidance programme, Sue Webb.

20/11/2001
Geological Society elects first woman president
Massey University Institute of Natural Resources lecturer Julie Palmer has been elected president of the Geological Society of New Zealand.

20/12/2001
Sport Psychologist appointed to Commonwealth Games team
The New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) has named Massey University sport psychology expert Professor Gary Hermansson as one of the key health team members for next year's Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

19/12/2001
Massey students scoop horticulture grants
Six out of eight grants awarded by the Hawke's Bay Fruitgrowers Association this month have gone to Massey University students.

19/12/2001
Soil management focus of fertiliser workshop
The debate over sustainable soil management and land use is hotting up around New Zealand. Massey University’s Fertilizer (sp. correct) and Lime Research Centre is looking to contribute to informed discussion with it’s 15th Annual Workshop focussing on Dairy Farm Soil Management.

19/12/2001
International recognition for learning disabilities expert
Professor James Chapman, of Massey University College of Education, has been elected Vice-President and President-Elect of the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities (IARLD). He will hold this position for four years, then will serve a four-year term as President.

19/12/2001
Should cricketers walk?
The trend for international cricket players not to ‘walk’, seen in the recent cricket test against Australia when Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie were given not out, sends mixed messages to children, says a Massey University sports coaching expert.

18/12/2001
Improving milk hygiene in China
Director of Massey University’s Agricultural Services Tim Harvey has embarked on a two year Asia Development funded project to improve milk hygiene practices in China’s Guizhou province.

17/12/2001
Older workers find it hardest to gain employment
Older workers are hardest hit when it comes to finding employment according to ground-breaking international research conducted by Massey University.

12/12/2001
Home ownership on the decline in NZ
New Zealand has slipped down the international rankings of countries with a high percentage of owner-occupied housing, according to a quarterly residential market survey issued by Massey University’s Real Estate Analysis Unit.

12/12/2001
Rural market remains confident
The events of September 11 have not impacted greatly on the rural property market, which has recorded a positive outlook for the seventh consecutive quarter according to a Massey University survey.

10/12/2001
Maori Merchant of Venice preview
English, Maori and drama teachers from around the region got a sneak 30-minute preview of The Maori Merchant of Venice at Massey University yesterday.

News

Governor-General opens Museum Building
Film-maker Peter Jackson and his partner and colleague, Fran Walsh, were last week awarded honorary doctorates by Massey University at a ceremony in the Wellington Campus Museum Building.

Matthew Marshall leads the Massey Chamber Orchestra
in "From Inception to Infinity", a work for guitar and string orchestra composed by Philip Norman and commissioned to celebrate the Museum Building opening.

Growth at Palmerston North
Enrolments across the University for the 2001 academic year are up by 1.2 percent on last year. There are also signs – for the first time in three years – that student numbers at the Palmerston North campus have stabilised and could even increase.

End-of-year quiz winner

Partnership a positive model
The partnership between the University and the Wellington Tenths Trust provides the model for improving the educational standards of Maori, says trust chairman Professor Emeritus Ngatata Love.

Online learning symposium success
The tension between the merits of centralisation and devolution was central to debate at the Symposium on Online Learning held at the Palmerston North campus on 9 November. The keynote speaker was Professor James Taylor, DVC (Global Learning Services) of the University of Southern Queensland.

Students the taonga of the future
The Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright, predicts New Zealand’s art scene will be enriched by the opening of the former Dominion Museum as the Museum Building of Massey University.

Massey to train Korean flight attendants
Korean students will be able to get a degree in flight attendance as of next year thanks to an agreement signed between the University and Asea Aviation College (AAC) in Korea.

New challenges for Devlin
After achieving a series of firsts, bests and biggests since arriving at the University in 1989, head of the Graduate School of Business Professor Martin Devlin is stepping down at the end of the year.

ITE attracts international students
The Institute of Technology and Engineering’s Professor Gavin Wall, Aruna Shekar and Roger Armstrong visited India recently, participating in a series of education fairs and promoting the University.

Water supply terrorism concerns
Rob Green, Regional Registrar, Facilities Management has just returned from attending the Water Environment Federation Conference in Atlanta, US, where several sessions were held on security of water supply and wastewater systems in the wake of the 11 September terrorism attacks in the US.

Head Start for new students
Students starting study at Massey University for the first time next year can ensure they get the most out of their course by attending a Head Start programme offered by the Student Learning Centre.

Features

Showcase of fashion students’ work
The inclement weather managed to hold off just long enough for Fashion Show 2001, staged for the first time in the Great Hall of the Museum Building.

Motor skills mastery examined
Nelson Sports promotion organisation Sport Tasman has recently started a programme for pre-schoolers to combat a lack of basic sports skills in primary school children.

Patentable products on show
Turning ideas into commercially viable products that meet end-user needs is a complex process and is part of what makes a successful product developer. The University’s BTech degree in Product Development equips students to do just that.

Third-year product innovation
The Motorcycle Fairing was the major project for the third-year Product Innovation II paper in the Product Development major of the Bachelor of Technology Degree.

Photo among world’s best
A photograph taken by Paul Knight from the School of Language Studies was one of 300 winning shots to be chosen from 40,000 entries in an international competition.

Research and Development

Research into change for Mäori
The most comprehensive study yet into the political, social and economic issues faced by Mäori since 1945 will be soon by commenced by a group of researchers from the University.

Identifying family relationship trends
A pioneering system developed at the College of Education will be used in the United States to help identify relationship patterns within families.

More varying work options
Fancy a sole charge position with no holiday pay, odd hours, no workmates and, in fact, no surety of a job next week?

Massey contributes to Skill Enhancement
Skill New Zealand Pükenga Aotearoa has contracted Massey University Auckland to provide six preferred places for Mäori and Pacific students as part of its Skill Enhancement programme at the Albany campus next year.

Insight into medieval lives
Handbook aids for medieval priests (penitentials) and nunnery rulebooks have meant Dr Julie Smith can offer a unique insight into the lot of ordinary women during the medieval period.

Maximising gain from stored apples
New Zealand may be the number one apple producing nation in the world but we are continually striving to improve the quality of our product.

School software in demand
A recently released Ministry of Education survey shows that 78 percent of New Zealand schools use computer management software provided by a small business run out of the University.

Events

November graduation grows
Graduands from across Massey University’s many disciplines came together last Friday to celebrate their achievements.

Massey vision for Mäori student success explored
More than 25 staff and Mäori students, representing the Albany, Wellington, and Palmerston North campuses, gathered at Te Haonui (Hokowhitu site) recently. The hui provided a forum for participants to share ideas and plan ways to further improve the support services for Mäori students, on all of Massey’s campuses.

Political Studies conference
Labour Minister Margaret Wilson, Green Party leader Jeanette Fitzsimons and former Palmerston North Mayor Jill White will speak on the ‘gender factor’ in New Zealand politics at a University conference on 7 December.

Hui helps encyclopaedia project
A hui was hosted by the School of Mäori Studies recently to discuss Mäori participation in a government-led project to compile an online Encyclopaedia of New Zealand.

Mayor welcomes NetBig students
Palmerston North’s new Mayor Mark Bell-Booth welcomed a group of 13 Chinese students to the region at the Palmerston North City Council buildings recently.

Awards and Appointments

Royal Society medals awarded
Two respected scholars from the College of Business will receive Royal Society of New Zealand (RSNZ) Science and Technology medals this year.

V-C Bursary Awards presented
Six Year 13 students from Porirua’s Aotea College were presented with Vice-Chancellor’s Bursary Awards at their school prizegiving recently.

Fellowship to study Internet use
Post-doctoral sociology student Dr Lincoln Dahlberg has been awarded a lucrative three-year fellowship to study Internet use in New Zealand.

Industries provide research grants
The intensive livestock industries have demonstrated their confidence in the University’s excellence in the provision of research and extension services with the awarding of more than $1.3 million in funding during the last month.

K A North Scholarships awarded
The late Kenneth Arnold North was the original Principal of the Palmerston North Teachers College and is a sponsor of the scholarship offered for the professional development of teachers.

Corporate environmental awards
New Zealand’s most environmentally responsible companies were honoured recently at Parliament in the Unlimited-Massey University Corporate Environmental Awards.

Smales Farm scholarships
North Shore Year 13 students have until 7 December to apply for a $1000 tertiary fee scholarship offered by Smales Farm Technology Office Park in association with the University. The one-year scholarship will be awarded to two female and two male students studying physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering, technology or computing at any New Zealand tertiary institution next year.

Molecular Biosciences’ top teachers
Molecular Biosciences staff recently honoured their top teachers for 2001. The awards were judged on the teaching staff’s SECAT scores over the past two semesters.