Two a penny

.

Jamaica has joined England as a genuine threat to netball’s traditional powerbases at next year’s Commonwealth Games by stunning the Silver Ferns 53-50 in Kingston today.

The winners capped a glorious week to celebrate the sport’s 50th anniversary in Jamaica, notching just their second win over the Silver Ferns in 44 attempts.

And it comes just four days after completing an equally rare one-goal victory over world champion Australia.

Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken, who also watched her side require extra time to deny England on this trip, admitted a bridging of the gap was a concern 12 months out from New Zealand’s title defence.

The world No 4 Sunshine Girls shared both series , an ominous development that suggests the gold medal match in India next October will not automatically be a trans-Tasman affair.

“It’s not just about Australia any more,” she told .

“The reality is we need to prepare for three different styles going into Commonwealth Games – England, Jamaica and Australia. .”

Jamaica’s compelling second quarter propelled the game beyond the Silver Ferns’ reach as they outscored to world No 2 13-5 – confining shooters Irene van Dyk and Maria Tutaia to just six attempts. You get someone like Romelda (Aiken) one day then a moving circle with (Australians) Sharelle (McMahon) and Susan Pratley.

“We lost a bit of our courage and our willingness to work off the ball.

“We lost our drive on attack, they tightened up (defensively), we made a few errors and suddenly we’re examining at only six attempts in that quarter – we can’t win games on that,” Aitken said.”

Aitken said different umpiring interpretations – the local official gave the Jamaican circle defenders more leeway – knocked New Zealand off kilter though it was not an excuse. Jamaica really upped the pressure and we got distracted, we didn’t stick to our structure.

The Silver Ferns started impressively, skipping out to a six-goal lead midway through the opening stanza at the National Indoor Stadium.

The Silver Ferns started impressively, skipping out to a six-goal lead midway through the opening stanza at the National Indoor Stadium.

Van Dyk shot a perfect 16 from 16 to the main break but the Jamaican duo had the luxury of making nine more attempts – an imbalance that engineered a 27-21 advantage for the hosts.

Jamaica then wrestled the initiative by ruling the 15-minute period to halftime – clogging the supply lines to van Dyk as the Silver Ferns’ passing accuracy deteriorated.

.

Four glaring van Dyk misses in the third quarter and concerns over the Jamaican umpire when she controlled New Zealand’s shooting end prompted Aitken to pull her ace shooter (19/23) for the more mobile Paula Griffin in a bid to erase a four-goal deficit on the home stretch

.

New Zealand’s provincial rugby players have been itching to get behind a good cause, and it’s fair to say they’ve found one and it’s growing on them.

Beards are back – well they are on the Air NZ Cup scene anyway as the nation’s footy players go hirsute in the name of a cause they believe is worth a little discomfort for.

In case you’ve been wondering why there are so many bearded rugby players running round in the Air NZ Cup these days, well it’s all about raising awareness for the NZ Blood Service and the NZ Leukaemia and Blood Foundation.

McPhee had decided to go a bit old school and grow a beard for the season, and Stevenson suggested they should get a good cause behind it.

It started with an impromptu discussion between pioneer whiskers-grower Jack McPhee of North Harbour and Sky Television’s popular rugby colour man Scotty ‘Sumo’ Stevenson, and soon developed into a fully grown “Beards for Blood” campaign.

“The support’s been fantastic,” said Stevenson. With Harbour already having an association with the Blood Service, it was decided to get a bit of a national theme going to raise awareness in the area of blood donation and also to provide some support for the Leukaemia and Blood Foundation which deals with serious blood-related illnesses. “Just about all the teams in the competition have now got at least a player or two with a full beard on supporting the cause.

“What is impressive is how many boys have said ‘yep, we’re in’.”

The idea is that around the last week of the regular season the beards will get the chop, and hopefully some money, and awareness, will have been raised for the cause.

Northland and Manawatu have adopted the concept team-wide, but Stevenson said selected players from Harbour, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago had also got behind the concept. It shows how community minded they are, and how tuned in they are for something as important as this,” added Stevenson. .

Stevenson said the drive was about raising both awareness and money. That saves lives. That saves lives. Honourable mention also went to Cory Jane’s “pretty boy” effort at Wellington, while Stevenson felt the less said the better about what Northland’s Karl Haitana had come up with.”

Stevenson felt early contenders for most impressive beards in the competition included McPhee’s Ned Kelly-inspired look, some fairly lush growth from Doug Tietjens of Manawatu and a typically solid effort from Canterbury’s Corey Flynn.

.

Police are calling on motorists to dob in bad drivers after a horror weekend on the roads propelled the toll to its highest level in two years.

Five people were killed in a smash north of Taupo on Friday and six others died in separate accidents during the weekend, prompting police to describe the roads as “killing fields”.

By last night, 143 people had died on the roads this year 12 more than at the same time last year and 20 more than in 2007. .

Transport Ministry figures show there has been a significant increase in road deaths in the 40-plus age group in particular.

“It has been an absolutely tragic weekend and it is fair to say speed has been a factor.

Police say road-safety messages about speed are still not getting through to drivers and unless that changes more families will lose loved ones. We are begging people to slow down and make it home safely,” Inspector Peter McKay said.

The van burst into flames and four occupants were killed.

On Friday evening, five people died when a Toyota van and Chrysler car collided on the SH1 north of Taupo. The passengers were Lottie Purukamu Taitapanui, 45, of Hastings; Anna-Marie Kemp, 22, of Auckland; and Ratapu Taitapanui, 3, of Hastings.

The driver of the van was Wellis Lauano, 23, of Auckland.

Police say it appeared the car had shunted a BMW before losing control, crossing the centre-line and colliding head-on with the van.

The driver of the Chrysler, Peter Pie, 42, a Corrections officer of Turangi, was also killed.

They described it as one of New Zealand’s worst crashes in recent years.

They described it as one of New Zealand’s worst crashes in recent years.

Ad Feedback –>
loadAd(’300×250′,’STORYBODY’,300,250);

“We will take action if we get any reports because one phone call can prevent a death.

“We get a lot of people who say they don’t want to bother us, but we encourage any people to contact us if they see dangerous driving.”

– ,

– Sponsored links –
add_batch_ad(‘adSPONSOREDLINK1′, ’310x16_SPONSOREDLINK’,'SPONSOREDLINK1′);
add_batch_ad(‘adSPONSOREDLINK2′, ’310x16_SPONSOREDLINK’,'SPONSOREDLINK2′);
add_batch_ad(‘adSPONSOREDLINK3′, ’310x16_SPONSOREDLINK’,'SPONSOREDLINK3′);
add_batch_ad(‘adSPONSOREDLINK4′, ’310x16_SPONSOREDLINK’,'SPONSOREDLINK4′);
add_batch_ad(‘adSPONSOREDLINK5′, ’310x16_SPONSOREDLINK’,'SPONSOREDLINK5′);
add_batch_ad(‘adSPONSOREDLINK6′, ’310x16_SPONSOREDLINK’,'SPONSOREDLINK6′);
add_batch_ad(‘adSPONSOREDLINK7′, ’310x16_SPONSOREDLINK’,'SPONSOREDLINK7′);
add_batch_ad(‘adSPONSOREDLINK8′, ’310x16_SPONSOREDLINK’,'SPONSOREDLINK8′);

– Next National story: –
Crash driver’s wife says sorry

– National Homepage –

. I can’t stress that enough

.

Cultural differences mean some Chinese students are unwittingly cheating at university, the head of the Christchurch International College says.

has obtained figures on academic misconduct at Canterbury, Otago, Victoria and Auckland universities. .

However, a request for data on ethnicity was declined. Another was fined for photocopying a previous year’s assignment and submitting it under their own name.

One Canterbury student was fined $200 for submitting an essay lifted off the internet.

An Official Information Act request for data on the ethnicity of academic misconduct cases was declined by all four universities.

Last year, one student was excluded from the university for plagiarism.

In a preliminary ruling, the Ombudsman agreed the data should not be released because it “would be likely to endanger the safety” of people.

has continued to appeal to the Ombudsman for access to the declined requests dating to March 2007.

However, Waikato University reported 143 of a total 222 cases of proven academic misconduct there in 2006 were by Chinese students.

“The phrase `endanger the safety’ of any person has generally been accepted as meaning there must be a substantial risk that a person’s life is likely to be put in peril or there is danger that their physical safety will be jeopardised,” the preliminary decision said.

Christchurch International College principal Mei Ding Dawson said there was “some culture difference because of the way Chinese education is tied to memory”.

Pakeha students were responsible for 28 cases and Maori 10 of the 222 cases.

“We think if something is good, you just memorise that and then you copy that.

“It’s changing but the [Chinese] education system is still not that like New Zealand in that way,” said Dawson, who is Chinese.

“They probably don’t understand, I would say,” Dawson said.”

Ad Feedback –>
loadAd(’300×250′,’STORYBODY’,300,250);

Student orientation for international students arriving in New Zealand was not favourably explaining differences to Chinese students. I don’t think they should get anything special, but maybe they should get orientation or educate the Chinese, especially the new ones just coming from China. “When you’re in Rome, you must do what the Romans do.”

New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations co-president Jordan King said the rules about cheating were clear and most students followed them. They need to be educated or need to be told that you are not accepting the Western cultures.

“I think that could potentially come in to it in some of those cases but, obviously, I haven’t seen the breakdown of the background of those particular students who have infringed.

“I guess there is always the question of English as a second language and international students and perhaps perceptions of the rules and misinterpretation of the rules around plagiarism and proper operating in the New Zealand university context,” King said.

“There could be some cultural differences at play when it comes to that sort of thing and, obviously, new students, international students participating in the tertiary sector, probably have a reasonably difficult time adjusting after that first instance,” King said.

“There could be some cultural differences at play when it comes to that sort of thing and, obviously, new students, international students participating in the tertiary sector, probably have a reasonably difficult time adjusting after that first instance,” King said.

Tertiary Education Union national secretary Sharn Riggs said there was “a swathe of issues around international students” getting support.

“I think the institutions do their best, but it’s not just a case of language difficulties, there are different cultural approaches to learning,” Riggs said.

A Canterbury University spokesman said academic staff were encouraged to help students understand the concept of academic integrity, and how to do proper referencing.

“UC works with academic staff to help them recognise situations where there is risk of cheating and helps them develop forms of assessment which minimise opportunity for plagiarism,” the spokesman said.

Auckland University said it was dealing with more cellphones being taken into examination rooms.

.
Aussie super savings to KiwiSaver deal ‘not in jeopardy’

By VERNON SMALL Thursday, 11 December 2008

FinanceMinister Bill English has rejected claims that cuts to KiwiSaver jeopardise a deal that would allow $4 billion in superannuation nest eggs to be brought back from Australia.
Former finance minister Michael Cullen said an agreement with Australia in July to allow the two-way transfer of superannuation funds could be at risk because of the cuts.
That memorandum has yet to be signed.
At the time, Dr Cullen and Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan said they were confident that KiwiSaver and complying Australian superannuation accounts were mutually compatible and that outstanding policy issues could be addressed in time for a memorandum of understanding to be ready for signing by the end of October.
But a spokesperson for Mr English said Treasury officials had talked to their counterparts in Australia.
Labour leader Phil Goff said Dr Cullen had asked in Parliament if the matter had been raised with Australia and was met with "a stony silence".
Dr Cullen said agreement with Australia was possible because of the similarity of contribution levels between Australia's 9 per cent scheme and the 8 per cent, plus tax breaks, in New Zealand. "The Australians say they have got no problem whatsoever with the changed contribution rates to KiwiSaver," he said..
"Because we had rough comparability, it was not an issue . [but] they are clearly not comparable any more.. At present there was only a 1 per cent compulsory contribution from employers, though that would have stepped up to 4 per cent under Labour."
Mr English said the "locked-in" component of KiwiSaver was the essential feature."
The Australian Government holds about $15 billion in unclaimed superannuation funds, and it is estimated up to 30 per cent of that could belong to New Zealanders who no longer live in Australia. "The fund here is essentially a 5 per cent scheme, not a 9 per cent scheme, and only 10 per cent of KiwiSavers have a 4 per cent employer contribution, so [Dr Cullen] doesn't know what he is talking about.

.
Under current law, there is no way to access those funds till their owner turns 60

.
Hunt for WMDs hits Hauraki Gulf

Monday, 15 September 2008

Weapons of mass destruction are on the hit list for New Zealand Customs and the military today as ships from several nations patrol the Hauraki Gulf.
The ships and air force aircraft will be part of an international exercise involving several countries which will test New Zealand's ability to find and stop a shipment of material used to make the weapons.
The Australian navy patrol boat HMAS Maryborough and the French navy patrol boat FNS La Glorieuse, were also in Auckland for the exercise which would include ship-boarding and the searching of vessels and containers.
Exercise Maru, which begins today and lasts until Friday, was being led by the New Zealand Customs Service and involved the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the New Zealand Defence Force, several other domestic agencies and the Ports of Auckland.
He said it was an example of New Zealand's strong commitment to the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) – an international initiative to stop illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction.
"The exercise will have a strong law enforcement focus on preventing the proliferation of WMD-related materials across our borders, including examining the legal issues which arise after a WMD item has been intercepted," said Robert Lake, New Zealand Customs Service Deputy Comptroller of Operations.
She said the weapons were built with an array of components that may have "perfectly peaceful, legitimate, everyday uses as well as weapons applications.
Customs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said the exercise was aimed at stropping the shipment of technology and materials used to build weapons of mass destruction, and not about halting the transport of a one-piece weapon.
She said New Zealand could be used by weapons traffickers as a staging point for materials used to make weapons of mass destruction.
"Chemicals used as cleaning agents could be used in weapons production and medical products could be used in the production of agents for biological weapons," she said.
-