P-cubed Newsletters

Contents HeadsUp I was clearing out in the dusty, spider-colonised space under the old homestead on the weekend and came across a heavy box with large objects wrapped in newsprint. On close inspection the wrapping was sheets of 1989 copies of the NZ Herald. In the...

Contents HeadsUp So, we’ve descended a level. The main indicator as I walked the beach this evening was the smells of deep-fried food and fresh-roasted coffee from up at the shops. Last night, however, two parties raged across the valley with a crowd singing ‘happy...

Contents HeadsUp Kia ora koutou. It’s Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori language week). Polling last December revealed that over 80% of New Zealanders see te reo as part of their national identity and something to be proud of. We have come a long way as a nation since the...

Contents HeadsUp It’s an old cliché that a week is a long time in politics. Perhaps a new one should be that a day is a long time in Covid. Within 24 hours we were gone from Symonds St. I sometimes think of that half-eaten apple I left on my desk in a distracted...

Contents HeadsUp Last week all New Zealanders were reminded of the ever-present possibility of a Delta-variant outbreak and the likely response: ‘short, sharp’ Level 4 lockdowns. ‘Be prepared’ is the imperative at all levels, Meanwhile I was having my own little...

Contents HeadsUp At least on Level 6, last week seemed consumed by conversations about a letter in that very unscientific but high-impact journal, The Listener. The best responses are invariably the most pithy. Rangi Mātāmua, a new Fellow of Te Apārangi / the Royal...

Contents HeadsUp I’m reminded of my islandnes here on Waiheke as I write these words while a storm rages outside and ferries are cancelled. It was 1624 that John Donne wrote the lines “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part...

Contents HeadsUp Most of us are slow learners when it comes to mātauranga Māori. Research or ethics applications these days appear to demand otherwise. But I’m convinced that slowing down is the only way. We need to be slow learners. There is no quick fix. Where I...

Contents HeadSup At our recent School retreat day, I took a risk. Would it seem ridiculous? Would it not? A while back when I pondered aloud what to include in the day, Joe Fagan had said to me “ I’d love to know more about my colleagues and what they love to do...

Contents HeadSup There’s a poster I pass on the final few metres on my walk to Building 302 each morning that says “Welcome to the University of Auckland. Please bear with us while we are under construction”. Of course it refers in the first instance to the massive...