Latest news with #CanterburyUniversity
Scoop
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Labour Defends Raising Column As C-word Debate Spirals
Debate over use of the c-word is distracting attention from the main issue of pay equity changes, a law lecturer says. Canterbury University senior law lecturer Cassandra Mudgway who has researched the issue of abuse of female politicians was commenting on the furore that has erupted over its use by both a Sunday-Star Times journalist and Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden. She believes journalist Andrea Vance was justified in using it to provoke a reaction to her article on pay equity changes. Meanwhile, Labour has rejected the idea that it was a poor political judgment to reference a column using the c-word in connection to female ministers overhauling the pay equity scheme in Parliament. Labour's Jan Tinetti asked the Minister responsible a question about the piece during Parliament's Question Time on Wednesday, to which Brooke Van Velden dropped the c-bomb in protest over the slur being used. Van Velden has defended the use of the word, blaming Labour for introducing the column in the first place. "I think it's really important that I shone a light on the misogyny that Labour actually did bring into the House. "They brought it here, I responded." But Tinetti rejected that, and said there was nothing in the quote she referenced in her question that brought misogyny into the house. "I deliberately went through that to find the quote that would mention the economic backhander." It was pointed out to Tinetti that the column in question used the c-word, "that c-word I would never use," she said. "That doesn't mean to say that people's emotions aren't riled by the fact there's been choices made here with the budget, and future pay cuts have been made to women. "This has got people very uptight and very angry, and emotions have risen." She rejected the notion Labour had used poor political judgment by referencing the column, and said the party was having a discussion around misogyny, as well as women taking money off other women in "future pay cuts." Mudgway told Morning Report the use of the c-word by Vance in her article was "a political choice to use uncivil language" to express her frustration over changes to pay equity. The "down side" was that it had now led to debate about who could use it which was distracting from the main issue. "I think focusing on the journalist's choice of words risks obscuring that bigger picture - the fact that thousands of women in historically undervalued jobs just have had their path of pay equity made longer and harder. That's also misogynist harm and we should also be concerned with that." Online misogyny against women MPs was already widespread and it was pointless to focus on just one article, she said. As part of violence, harassment and abuse the c-word was often directed at women, she said. The coalition has criticised Labour for not calling out the column itself, with Finance Minister Nicola Willis taking aim at Labour leader Chris Hipkins directly for his past position of believing men should speak out against gendered abuse. Hipkins said newspapers make editorial judgments about what they are and aren't willing to publish, "and that's a question for the editors and the people writing that material." "Given the opportunity to make that exact statement, he did not; instead, he suddenly discovered free speech, and my view is that actually the standard you walk past is the standard you accept," Willis said. 'A lot of sympathy' for van Velden The chair of Parliament's Privilieges Committee Judith Collins said there was free speech in Parliament and she did not believe the Speaker would take any action to discipline van Velden because "he didn't make any comment on the day". "But I can understand how Brooke van Velden felt. It's all very well for print media to essentially use that word against women like herself and myself and our colleagues and so many people have said how it made them feel. "It was used in anger. It was a disgraceful piece of so-called journalism and I understand how Brooke felt so there's a lot of sympathy I think for the way that she has had to take the brunt of this matter." NZ First MP Shane Jones said it had been the "most extraordinary day of language in the House" and discussion carried over into General Debate later in the afternoon. Chris Bishop said the c-word had been "thrown around a bit" in the last week. "I want to read out some c-words that I think apply to the Labour opposition: callous, cruel and cowardly." He also said the "double standards" and "misleading statements" put out by the Labour Party over the last week were "cruel." "Because this debate all started because of the actions the government took when it comes to equal pay, and we have heard all sorts of nonsense from the Opposition." Hipkins took aim at Bishop too, for "jumping on his high horse", and saying Labour needed to do better. "I can only say I hope he didn't injure himself as he fell off his high horse when it was flying at breakneck speed in the wrong direction. "Because at the same time he was saying we needed to do better, his own party was posting artificial intelligence-generated images of me when he was saying that we needed to 'raise the tone' of the debate."
Otago Daily Times
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Connection explored in collections
An impressive showing of more than 500 portraits are now on display at a Gore art gallery, alongside a transtasman artist's study of New Zealand's largest glacier. Australia-based artist Euan Macleod painted hundreds of images of friend and fellow artist Geoff Dixon while they were on video calls together, beginning in the Covid lockdowns, after Mr Dixon's partner died. Macleod said his friend was a mostly willing and, at times, difficult subject that he painted rapidly, finishing up each painting in about 30 minutes. The 521 acrylic images have taken over the largest curved wall of the Eastern Southland Gallery. The show had its official opening on Saturday and an artist talk on Sunday morning, moderated by Macleod's longtime friend and collaborator Gregory O'Brien. The exhibition also includes a collection of works entitled "Flux", which are studies of Macleod's climbs of the Haupapa/Tasman Glacier in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park. The artist was born in Christchurch and went to the Ilam School of Fine Arts at Canterbury University before moving to Sydney. The mountain-climbing paintings feature ambiguous figures trekking through the frozen scenery. A brightly coloured climber's rope is featured throughout the works, which cuts through the chilly, blue abstracted landscapes and connects his subjects. The climbers were "umbilically linked" during these climbs — although you might not be able to see your partner, you could feel their presence through the tension of the rope. "There's something really good about that reliance on people," he said. At the discussion on Sunday, Macleod put emphasis on the collaborations with his old friends and fellow creatives. The large metal etchings, zigzagged together to become a sculpture in the middle of the gallery, echoing the form of mountains, were an example of that collaboration as it was made with his friend, Townsville-based printmaker Ron McBurnie. The sculpture has been gifted to the gallery. A larger, more fantastical painting of figures crossing a tightrope over the sky and what looks like the Tasman Sea is also featured. "The bridge between Australia and New Zealand," Macleod said. Although he subscribed to the "look and put" school of painting and therefore did not place a whole lot of meaning on his images, it was hard not to notice a theme of connectivity throughout the collection. His works are on show until July 13.
NZ Herald
04-05-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Ministry of Education defends AI guidance amid calls for clarity in schools
'These include algorithmic bias, which risks reinforcing existing inequities if AI systems are not intentionally designed to be inclusive; privacy issues related to the collection and use of student data and raises critical issues about the ownership.' In a self-reported survey, 60% of young people reported using generative AI to assist them with schoolwork. The Ministry does not have requirements to use AI in certain areas of school. Cleaver said guidance has been provided to schools - and it's consistent. 'The role of AI in education must be to enhance teaching and learning and provide assistance to knowledgeable and skilled teachers,' she said. Use of the technology is governed by each school's board. But Canterbury University Associate Professor of Digital Education, Kathryn MacCallum said some schools are adopting it more than others. 'I think the biggest issue is that probably there's not a lot of clarity from the Ministry and NZQA around how we need to engage in this, and some of that is probably a big barrier in terms of using it to its full potential.' MacCallum said there needs to be a bigger focus on AI literacy, particularly for teachers. 'If we do not train all teachers and students on how to use AI, we risk further exclusion,' she said. 'If we don't build our understanding of AI across all stakeholders, we will be unable to leverage it fully.' She believes AI literacy should be something that sits across the curriculum, as it impacts all aspects of learning. Education Minister Erica Stanford has also admitted the Ministry 'aren't giving great guidance and advice'. 'I feel a bit better when I have been overseas talking to my counterparts in other countries that we like to compare ourselves to, [as] they're also struggling.' 'We're not alone in this.' Stanford said the Ministry is 'dipping a toe in the water' in this space. 'NZQA are looking or they have been trialling AI with their assessments, and it's been really successful.' NZQA Deputy Chief Executive of Assessment, Jann Marshall said the technology can speed up time consuming processes and enabling new assessment opportunities. 'For example, starting with May 2025 assessments for Literacy, Te Reo Matatini, Numeracy and Te Pāngarau, Automated Text Scoring will be used on all digitally submitted Literacy - Writing assessments,' she said. 'Using Automated Text Scoring allows us to significantly reduce the time it will take to mark Writing assessments, reducing the workload on markers who are practising teachers and enabling marking to be conducted outside of school holidays.' Advertise with NZME. Marshall said a large-scale trial has given them confidence in the accuracy of the tool, but for quality assurance, NZQA is also using a human check-marking process. MacCallum said NZQA hasn't quite captured the implications of generative AI on assessments - and students using it. 'The approach tends to be fairly risk-adverse' she said. 'For example, NZQA have talked about, you can't use AI in external assessments, and it's becoming very hard to control.' 'And so I think we need to expand our conception of how AI can be used - its benefits as well as its drawbacks and how we actually use it for learning.' The Government's previously committed to have a framework, to provide guidance, similar to what Australia has. Stanford said work has started, but not as quickly as she would've liked. 'But if I'm honest, I've got the Ministry up to their eyeballs.' 'We're rewriting every curriculum area right up to Year 13 because it doesn't exist at the moment. We're fundamentally, changing NCEA to make sure that it's fit for purpose, we're bringing in new assessment tools.' 'I'm not trying to make excuses, but you can tell there's only so many things I can load onto the Ministry.'
Otago Daily Times
01-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Hopes AI can help with farm data
Mahgol Yousefi. PHOTO: SUPPLIED AI could help farmers make their lives easier, a Southland farming open day was told yesterday. Canterbury University PhD student Mahgol Yousefi spoke at the Southern AgriTech and Innovation Day at Waimumu yesterday, talking about the science behind her chatbot-for-farmers project. She was also there to continue her conversations with farmers on how to make their work lives easier with AI, by combining all their data and applications into one interface, she said. Farmers already had multiple apps and information sources they consulted daily, but her project aimed to create a chatbot to provide the information all in one place, Ms Yousefi said. "There are 10 different applications that they need to go find the information that they are looking for and they might not find at the end, or it takes time for them to do that." She hoped to create a dashboard with elements like soil moisture, cow health data and fertiliser all in one place, she said. A chatbot could take all the information and give insight in natural, conversational language, which would be easier to understand. One way the technology could be used was by connecting a weather forecast server with soil moisture data and giving ideas for irrigation planning. Or, in one step further, it could adjust the irrigation settings remotely with a simple vocal command, she said. Her project is funded by crown research institute AgResearch. AgResearch senior science engineer Mos Sharifi said the institute approached the university to research the chatbot around 2021, which was timed quite nicely with the rapid advances in AI in the last couple of years. The technology could be used by farmers to help them with their paperwork and to keep up with regulations, such as assurance reporting, he said. Assurance reporting is when farmers have to provide evidence of their farm's yield as well as their commitment to things like animal welfare and food safety. Ms Yousefi had been working with data from Dairy NZ, which had information on all the standard operating procedures farmers had to follow in the form of hundreds of digital documents, Mr Sharifi said. The AI could scan the digital documents and deliver the answer quickly. "These chatbots can connect the dots," Ms Yousefi said.
NZ Herald
24-04-2025
- Health
- NZ Herald
Dominique McShain-Suson death: Kiwi influencer dies at 21 after colon cancer diagnosis
In her final Instagram post on April 7, McShain-Suson said: 'My life may be short, but I genuinely think I've squeezed every bit out of it. 'I won the lottery with a family that loves me unconditionally, friends who would 10000% donate a liver to me or do anything they could (and probably argue over who gets to do it), and the sweetest husband, Sean, who's been my rock through everything - before and after my diagnosis.' McShain-Suson went on to describe the acceptance she felt after grieving the loss of future 'key adult moments'. Her post was flooded with an outpouring of support from family, friends and followers. McShain-Suson, who studied psychology at Canterbury University, made her final TikTok on April 11. 'Sorry for lack of update, I'm alive but very yellow and veiny and swollen on my stomach which has caused me to gain 7kg which is a lot for my proportions,' she said. The Herald spoke to McShain-Suson last year, shortly after her diagnosis, three weeks before her 21st birthday. Just weeks after returning from a holiday to Asia, the third-year psychology student began experiencing extreme fatigue at the start of the first semester in 2024. Her symptoms escalated to include blood in her stools, alternating constipation and diarrhoea, abdominal pain, and a noticeable loss of appetite. When she felt her liver hard and enlarged, she visited her GP, leading to a series of tests. Blood tests suggested an infection, but a follow-up test a week later revealed further liver deterioration, prompting an emergency ultrasound. That night, she was admitted to the hospital, where scans uncovered large tumours in her liver. A subsequent biopsy confirmed it was cancer. 'Being told you have cancer was different because I was almost like, 'Okay, I'll beat it.' But once I got the incurable diagnosis, that was devastating,' she said. 'Everyone always seems to be guaranteed a future, and processing that you might not get that is really hard.' McShain-Suson said she wanted to spread the message that cancer can strike at any age, urging people to be aware of the early signs. 'People don't realise it's such a blessing to grow old and have babies and do all these things. Now that I've had that opportunity taken away from me, I see things are a lot more of a blessing. 'Nothing is guaranteed in your future.' An obituary for McShain-Suson was published on Funeral Chapels this week. 'Diagnosed with the disease in 2024, Dominique's fight was a testament to her strength and determination. 'Despite the prognosis, she became a beacon of hope for many, using her personal experience to raise awareness about colorectal cancer. 'Her advocacy efforts, including sharing her journey on social media platforms like TikTok, helped shed light on the often-overlooked disease, especially among younger adults.' A service to celebrate McShain-Suson's life will be held in Upper Riccarton in Christchurch on Saturday.
