Latest news with #VictoriaUniversity
Otago Daily Times
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
History of acting training explored
New Zealand's leading theatre educators and practitioners have joined forces to take an in-depth look at the history of actor training in this country in a new book, being launched in Dunedin this week. University of Otago theatre studies Associate Prof Hilary Halba and Victoria University theatre studies Prof David O'Donnell are co-editors of the book, entitled Acting in Aotearoa, which includes contributions from across the country's theatre community. The book will be launched by Lisa Warrington tomorrow at a function hosted by the University Book Shop from 5.30pm. All welcome. — APL
Otago Daily Times
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Female big band to visit Dunedin
After years of being the only woman in the big bands she performed in, Lana Law has embraced the idea of an all-female big band. She tells Rebecca Fox about her passion for big band music. At a diminutive 5ft, there is not much of Lana Law to see when she plays the baritone saxophone. What she lacks in size, she likes to make up for in sound, loving the "really honky", grunty, big sound a baritone saxophone produces. It has been that way since she convinced her music teacher to dig out the saxophone from a storage cupboard at high school. Though when she first saw it, her reaction was "holy moly". "The baritone saxophone stands a metre high so it comes up to just above my belly button if I was to stand it on the ground, so when I play it takes up quite a lot of me." She was not deterred by its size or the fact most people learn saxophone on alto or tenor instruments first. "I played baritone sax through high school and the rest they say is history." Law discovered big band music when a music teacher, who played in a band, took her along to a rehearsal. "That was pretty much it. Something about the brass, something about the groove, usually the swing, that you can't just keep still listening to it. So when I'm playing, I can't keep still either." It sealed her fate — from then on she played in big bands, and she went on to study the saxophone at Victoria University in Wellington. After graduating, she wanted to travel and got a job playing in bands on cruise ships for the next four years. "I was playing in a 10-piece band then, it's a cut-down size one, but I was always the only female in the band." The band was mostly American and Canadian male musicians with the "Kiwi girl" on baritone saxophone. Back home in Christchurch, Law established a teaching career and began playing in different bands. One day, she and another female musician wondered if it would be possible to create a band of female musicians from Christchurch. "And ta-dah, we did." That was nearly 10 years ago. They rattled off a few names, sent out a few messages and in next to no time had volunteers for an 18-piece band made up of saxophones, trumpets, trombones and a rhythm section. "Next minute we had our first rehearsal, in January 2016." About 80% of the band are regulars from those first concerts, with other players coming and going depending on what is going on in their lives. "We have a base of probably about double the size of the band." Many of the members are music teachers in Christchurch, a lot are mothers and some are students. "It's just a really nice environment and full of very responsive female musicians and it's just a joy to work with them all." Due to their busy lives, they do not have a regular rehearsal schedule, instead coming together when they need to, often on a Sunday night. Keeping on point and doing what needs to be done is essential in those rehearsals. The band plays a variety of music and has put together a series of themed concerts over the years. Its first "themed" concert in 2016 was a tribute to Natalie Cole. For the band's first concert in Dunedin, it will perform "The Ages", which honours women who have changed music in the last 100 years. "It's kind of a historical journey through various female arrangers, composers and performers right through from the '30s up until now." Putting together the concert was a bit of a challenge as not all of the music had been arranged for big bands and some was hard to find. "We like to do our research and we like to see what is out there." One of the attractions of the band is that it plays different music to what Christchurch's other big bands play. "It's nice and refreshing. Some I grew up playing in when I was in high school and things like that. So it's nice to see the different styles that each band does. Each have their own niche." It has become so popular male musicians have wanted to join. "I'm like 'well, you're missing a few things'. And they're like, 'but we can put on a wig, we can wear a skirt'." Big bands also enable musicians of all skill levels to take part. "Players who like playing in a group situation, you've got five saxophones, four trumpets, four trombones, so you might not be a flashy trumpet player, for instance, but you can help your section by being a strong third or fourth player, and that goes for any of the instruments." Law leads the band from the alto saxophone as it is easier, leaving the baritone saxophone to another musician, although they reckon she still selects music with some "really cool bari lines it it". Overall, audiences enjoy listening to the band and watching them as they interact with each other as they play. "We've had so much fun and we make such a great sound. It's just a good time but we make sure the music's good because it has to be." The band is not a quiet bunch. "You know if someone does a great solo or there's a line that happens and it sounds really good, you're like 'yeah' and everyone will go 'yeah'." One expects a big sound to come out of a "big band", but there is also a range of dynamics a band can express. "To take you on that emotional journey through the tune so you can feel all the feels in one tune." There are a couple of tunes that give Law "goosebumps" when the band plays them — (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman and Here's to Life . "Those two tunes are ballads, right, so they're kind of slowish but very expressive, whereas we've got other tunes like Let the Good Times Roll , really punchy tunes. So they'll still have the dynamics." Her day job is as an itinerant and private music teacher. So she gigs in the evenings and at weekends. "It's nice to do something that you enjoy, it's something fun that I get to do all day, every day." She also squeezes in two school big bands, which she is taking to Blenheim for the Southern Jam Festival in August, and she is music director of the Christchurch Youth Jazz Orchestra, which plays in the big band festival at Labour Weekend. While down in Dunedin, she will be adjudicating the Dunedin Youth Jazz Festival. It is a role she enjoys, having co-adjudicated the National Youth Jazz Competition alongside the late Rodger Fox. But one of her top priorities while in Dunedin will be to get a photo of the band in front of the railway station. "That's a must-do, isn't it?" TO SEE All Girl Big Band, "The Ages Show", Hanover Hall, Dunedin, July 26, 7.30pm
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Science
- RNZ News
Our Changing World: The dance of the lanternfish
Spinycheek lanternfish (Benthosema fibulatum). Photo: Scott and Jeanette Johnson / uwkwaj via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0). In World War II, naval sonar operators spotted something strange: a 'false seafloor' hundreds of metres below the surface of the water, that mysteriously moved closer to the surface at night. They named it the 'deep scattering layer'. It turned out that the scattering was due to a massive concentration of marine life. Their movement is the largest daily animal migration on earth, involving trillions of critters. Now researchers are investigating the part this commute plays in controlling the oceanic food web, and in the carbon cycle. Follow Our Changing World on Apple , Spotify , iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts It's a tough life in the ocean, says Victoria University of Wellington fish ecologist Professor Jeff Shima. "It's been described as kind of a landscape of fear. Everything's trying to eat everything else and you're trying to eat things but not be eaten yourself." Professor Jeff Shima holds up some lanternfish. Photo: Claire Concannon / RNZ His work on reef fish life cycles has led him to investigate the lanternfish family of fishes. These anchovy-sized, deep-sea fish are so-named because of their light-producing organs on their belly and sides called photophores. With about 250 species in the family, they are found in deep water across the globe, in huge abundances. They make up around 65 percent of the deep-sea fish biomass and are a main player in the deep scattering layer. To navigate the 'landscape of fear' they make a daily vertical migration. Each night they rise from the twilight zone of the ocean (200-1000 metres below) to feed near the surface on smaller prey like phytoplankton, zooplankton and tiny fish larvae. When the sun rises, they retreat to the depths, avoiding predators by matching their belly glow to the ambient light above, effectively making themselves invisible. A lanternfish in the family Myctophidae. Photo: Steven Haddock/Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute While working on reef fish life cycles, Jeff was puzzled to discover that growth rates of larval fish seemed to follow a lunar cycle. Exploring this further has led him to study lanternfish, whose migration is highly sensitive to moonlight. Passing clouds or different moon phases can influence how far lanternfish travel upward. If it's too bright, they stay deeper to avoid being seen, potentially shifting the behaviour of other species - especially the larvae of reef fish trying to return to the reef under cover of darkness. A variety of reef fish larvae and lanternfish collected in overnight nets. Photo: Alisha Gill / Niamh Smith Reef fish hatch offshore and spend their early lives in the open ocean before returning to the reefs as juveniles. These early stages are important, says Jeff. "If we can understand what's driving variation in the survival of baby fish while they're out at sea, that translates into big effects down the road in terms of the size of a fish population or the biomass of a fishery that we can harvest." He would like to figure out whether lanternfish movement and predation, determined by moonlight levels, is influencing when larvae make their return journey. To investigate this, PhD candidates Alisha Gill and Niamh Smith are conducting fieldwork in Moorea, French Polynesia. They use nets to capture and count overnight larval fish arrivals across the lunar cycle, while also keeping track of predator movement using sonar, moonlight levels using a sensor, and ocean conditions such as tides and wind. Alisha Gill and Niamh Smith in French Polynesia. Photo: Alisha Gill Because of their massive numbers, lanternfish might also play a crucial role in carbon sequestration and global climate regulation. Carbon from the atmosphere enters the ocean at the surface - including when phytoplankton photosynthesise, converting sunlight and carbon dioxide into food. By consuming carbon-rich prey at the surface and then moving downwards - where they might release waste or become prey themselves - lanternfish could help transport carbon to the ocean depths much faster than if it simply drifted downwards. Though a lot of carbon is recycled to the surface by ocean currents, if carbon-containing material reaches the seabed floor it can get buried in sediments and locked away for a long time. School of lanternfish. Photo: OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP) However, there's a lot of uncertainty about this process. Lanternfish are fragile and hard to keep alive in labs, making direct study difficult, says Jeff. Instead, the team is analysing the fish's ear bones (otoliths), which store daily chemical records, offering clues about their movements and metabolism. From predator-prey dynamics to climate science, the researchers hope their work will lead to better understanding of how these tiny fish are shaping our oceans. Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.
Newsroom
5 days ago
- General
- Newsroom
Throwaway culture is a recent privilege we just can't afford
Opinion: Images of the Gordon Wilson flats on the Terrace in Te Aro, Wellington, may have persuaded many readers that Chris Bishop was right to amend the RMA so that the flats, owned by Victoria University, would be eligible for demolition. Bishop states: 'The flats sit as an ugly scar on the Wellington skyline,' and that they are, 'emblematic of a failed planning system that prioritises preservation of heritage, no matter the economic cost'. He got one part of that sentence right: the building is emblematic of a failed planning system, that allowed the building to fall into such disrepair that it was perceived widely as a scar on the skyline – a process that many have described as demolition by wilful neglect. It is not my intention here to argue in favour of the flats' heritage status; interested readers can read more about the McLean and Gordon Wilson Flats on Heritage New Zealand's website. Whether you think they are ugly or brutalist or represent a period in New Zealand history that should be preserved, is beside the point. Its heritage listing is being used as a scapegoat. The cold, hard, fact is that there are tons of embodied energy locked in the building, along with 87 housing units, at a time when there is a desperate shortage of housing. Yes, it needs to be refurbished but the fit-out costs would be the same whether it is a new building or a refurbishment. Demolishing this building would be a despicable act of waste – much of the developed world would be appalled. It would fly in the face of many international initiatives, such as the retrofit first policy, now adopted by three London boroughs, and gaining traction elsewhere. The policy is designed to discourage new buildings and encourage a circular economy, reliant on building reuse. Under the policy, developers are required to consider a whole life carbon assessment early in the feasibility stages of a project and assess varying degrees of retrofit, prior to considering demolition and re-build. The priority is on retaining at least 50 percent of the existing building's superstructure, because nearly 50 percent of a typical, large building's embodied carbon lies in the superstructure, with a further, nearly 20 percent, locked in the substructure. Circularity is also soon to be a legal requirement in Brussels, where Article 4 of the Regional Urban Planning Regulations states that: 'Every existing building will be conserved and, if necessary, renovated.' A similar legal framework is also proposed in the EU. Why do we in New Zealand feel that we should be exempt from these progressive principles – are carbon atoms somehow different down under? Sustainability architect Carl Elefante said in 2007 the 'greenest building is the one that is already built'. We now know that that the greenest building is the one that already exists and has been remediated to ensure it performs efficiently. The Gordon Wilson Flats were built as a model of high-density inner-city housing, close to employment and transportation routes. Photo: Wikimedia Commons Operational carbon emissions from buildings account for approximately 28 percent of global energy-related carbon emissions, according to the World Green Building Council. It also states: 'Towards the middle of the century, as the world's population approaches 10 billion, the global building stock is expected to double in size. Carbon emissions released before the built asset is used, what is referred to as 'upfront carbon', will be responsible for half of the entire carbon footprint of new construction between now and 2050, threatening to consume a large part of our remaining carbon budget.' Therefore, when building new, the target should be net zero or, ideally, carbon negative – the latter being an ambitious target that has yet to be achieved in New Zealand. But working with what already exists will always be achievable because we already have it – we have paid for it both in terms of carbon emissions and dollars. Why waste it? Wastefulness is a recent and poorly exercised privilege – one that was inconceivable to, for example, my grandparents, who managed to narrowly survive WWII, and then maintained a frugal existence for ever after, having learnt the hard way what going without really means. Our throwaway culture is exacerbating the climate crisis. Therefore, it is astounding that such a significant and substantial building is being considered for demolition. Yes, we could build new with 'sustainable materials' but as the UK engineer and contributor to Building Design, Anna Beckett, said, this is comparable to a fad diet: 'Ultimately, to consistently reduce carbon we have to build less.' The challenge is building less but delivering more, she explains, and this is where re-purposing existing buildings is so important. The Architecture Centre is currently working on a proposal that illustrates how the Gordon Wilson Flats could be seismically strengthened and refurbished so that the building envelope meets high thermal performance expectations and low operational carbon emission targets. In its proposal, an externally installed, mass timber structure, with steel dampers, would enclose the building, offering a reinterpretation of the original facade. This would ensure high thermal performance as well as increasing the ductility of the building, ensuring that it performs well in an earthquake, achieving at least 67 percent New Building Standard. Initial engineering advice suggests that this is not only a relatively simple solution, but a cost-effective one too. The internal spaces could be retained in their existing form. Retaining the superstructure of the building will save considerable money as the construction time would be reduced and the superstructure would not have to be demolished and re-constructed. Furthermore, this proposal also ensures that concerns about the 'ugly' aesthetic of the building are addressed. The building would be re-envisioned much like the Cité du Grand Parc, in Bordeaux, by Lacaton & Vassal has been, illustrated below. In this way, the site's most significant heritage values would also be retained. It would continue to be used as housing and the important legacy of the flats as a significant piece of New Zealand's social housing history would also be retained. The re-envisioned building could serve as much-needed (and highly desirable), post graduate housing or faculty housing, similar to the Symonds Street flats, which are owned by the University of Auckland and were refurbished for this purpose. The re-envisioned building would be an exemplar of how a large mid-century building can be both seismically strengthened and thermally efficient, one which Victoria University could showcase as a truly sustainable development it could be proud of.
ABC News
7 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Malaysia is striving to become a tech powerhouse in South-East Asia but challenges remain
Natalie Loi is part of the vanguard working to turn Malaysia into a tech powerhouse in South-East Asia. Ms Loi was just 19 when she founded her first tech startup, UnBound, while a business student at Victoria University in 2017. It started out as an education tool — using augmented reality games to make learning more accessible and fun. UnBound has now has expanded and delved into artificial intelligence (AI), and works with more than 100 institutions across South-East Asia, Australia and UK. Ms Loi said the government had been focusing on helping startups likes hers and upskilling young graduates. "As a developing country, we have so much more potential to grow than a developed country," she told the ABC. She said already developed countries had more outdated infrastructure while Malaysia could leapfrog ahead. "There's a lot of space for growth and a lot of potential for skill if you want to make an impact in the world." Once the largest exporter of tin, rubber and palm oil in the world, Malaysia's economy largely relied on its mining and agricultural sector until the 1980s when it rapidly industrialised under former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. The country's focus on its digital economy began in 1996 with plans to develop a "Multimedia Super Corridor" mirroring Silicon Valley in the United States. While the plan was never fully realised, the country's second economic transformation is now well underway. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed fast-forward on growth in the country's digital sector, said trade economist Juita Mohamad. "It was fuelled by increasing e-commerce adoption and also overall digital transformation not just within the private sector, but also the public sector in Malaysia," said Ms Mohamad, who was until recently the director of the Economics and Business Unit at Malaysia's Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs. In 2021, the Malaysian government created an outline for Malaysia's digital economy called the Digital Economy Blueprint. Its goal is for Malaysia to become the "regional leader in the digital economy" by 2030, creating jobs in sectors ranging from semiconductor manufacturing to cybersecurity, software development, e-commerce and creative media. Digital industries are now expected to contribute 25 per cent of Malaysia's GDP by the end of 2025, up from about 17 per cent 10 years ago. The government is putting a major emphasis on AI's role in this digital economy road map, creating a dedicated agency, the National Artificial Intelligence Office (NAIO), under the Ministry of Digital in December 2024. According to NAIO's chief executive, Sam Majid, the office's remit includes "policymaking, partnerships and programs that foster AI adoption across public and private sectors". The NAIO collaborates with individuals like Natalie Loi and organisations such as Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to incorporate AI into Malaysia's everyday economy. Ms Loi said one of UnBound's projects was assisting the government is its implementation of the "smart cities" concept — essentially the digitising of municipal planning and services. "The concept of a smart city is that you want everything to be interconnected," said Ms Loi. Ms Loi said UnBound was developing an AI-driven surveillance system for the Malaysian Public Works Department and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government to assist with "real-time monitoring and intelligent decision-making". One of the most visible signs of Malaysia's digital transformation is the development of huge data centres. Data centres are usually large facilities — on average one hectare in size — that help manage and store huge volumes of digital data. They provide the infrastructure to power tools such as social media, search engines and even ride-sharing apps, and are also essential when it comes to processing AI. Malaysia's strategic location in Asia, relative lack of earthquakes, cheap land and low electricity prices have made it an attractive hub for this key internet infrastructure. The YTL Green Data Center Park in Johor state is one of the biggest in Malaysia, covering 275 hectares (roughly the size of 13 MCGs). Google announced in mid-2024 that it would invest $US2 billion ($3 billion) to develop its first data centre in the country, part of parent company Alphabet's initiative to expand its cloud services in the Asia Pacific. Microsoft has also announced plans to invest $US2.2 billion investment into Malaysia over the next four years. Meanwhile, Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group, is opening its third data centre in Malaysia this month. While these foreign investments are fuelling Malaysia's digital economy, analysts say they could also make things sticky for the developing nation when it comes to balancing its relationships with other nations. "This has been an interesting year for Malaysia, given that there has been a lot of data centres built in the country, not just by Microsoft but also Chinese tech giants and other non-Western investors," said Mark Manantan, director of cybersecurity and critical technologies for the Pacific Forum, a not-for-profit foreign policy research institute that looks into the Indo-Pacific. "Countries which previously were not involved in the direct decoupling and de-risking efforts of the US against China are really going to feel the heat because the US is expanding its reach in terms of curbing China's access," said Mr Manantan. Mr Majid said the Malaysian government was aware of this rivalry between the two big powers. Despite Malaysia's ambition, experts say the country's digital transformation faces challenges. The rising number of data centres could create environmental issues, and according to Nuarrual Hilal Dahlan, a law professor at Universiti Utara Malaysia, the solution may not be straightforward. "Data centres use up a lot of water and electricity so the government has to make sure that there is sufficient resources for these data centres as well as for citizens," he says. Malaysia's National Water Services Commission is trying to address this by preparing strict guidelines for data centres to use alternative sources of water such as rainwater and recycled water instead of potable drinking water for their operations. The YTL Green Data Center Park runs using solar energy but not all data centres are powered with renewables. Professor Dahlan also warned that there might be "hiccups" in the oversight of data centres which is shared between the state and federal governments. The Malaysian constitution states that federal law takes precedence over state laws if there's a conflict, but Professor Dahlan said state governments were "not bound by the advice and command of federal agencies" such as the Department of Environment. There's also scepticism that foreign investments into Malaysia's digital innovation is leading to quality jobs. Ms Mohamad said that the government hopes to create 50,000 new jobs but questioned whether there were enough local workers with the right skills. Azran Osman-Rani, the co-founder of a digital health startup called Naluri, agreed. "A lot of it [the jobs] in data centres involve maintenance and manufacturing but they're not generating a lot of digital talent like software engineers, data scientists and digital marketers," he said. "To me, a real measure that the Malaysian government should focus on is how many of our digital companies can successfully operate and expand beyond Malaysia instead of how many foreign companies we attract." Experts have pointed out that some areas are benefiting more from the digital transformation than others. The Malaysian government is in the midst of rolling out 5G technology across the nation but the rollout has mainly focused on populated and urban areas. Only 90 per cent of households in Malaysia have an internet connection. "Ninety per cent sounds good but … we do see pockets in different communities in the East Coast and also in eastern Malaysia that are still not connected," explains Ms Mohamad. Despite these challenges, young Malaysians like Ms Loi are hopeful for Malaysia's digital future. "AI is opening up a lot of career opportunities, and there's a lot of space for growth and a lot of potential for new skills," she said.
