Politics at the plaza

Nearly all the candidates running in the Mt Albert by-election spoke at an AUT candidates meeting held in a rather empty Hikuwai Plaza on June 4.
Kiwi Party candidate Simonne Dyer says: “It is difficult. A lot of students just do not care about politics and maybe because it is only a by-election.”
Arguably the most [...]

NZ media failing on human rights issues, says Amnesty International

The New Zealand media seems to lack interest in and knowledge of human rights issues, says the deputy director of Amnesty International New Zealand, Rebecca Emery.
Emery was speaking at a conference hosted by Amnesty International at AUT University last week as part of its upcoming Demand Dignity campaign.
“Human rights are pretty much taken for [...]

University forum recognises NZ’s multi-faith communities

The lives and teachings of Buddha and Jesus were discussed last Friday at AUT University’s Akoranga campus as part of the Spirituality and Chaplaincy Services forum series.
Speakers representing Zen Buddhist and Baptist Christian religions gave a brief overview of their respective beliefs and the historical figures Buddha and Jesus.
Spirituality co-ordinator Amanda Lees explained that the [...]

New graduation dates leave some students out in the cold

Waiting until next winter to graduate because of ceremony date changes has upset many AUT University students.
Traditionally, graduation dates have been in October and in February or March, but the university is trialling dates in August and December so graduation can be closer to the end of each semester.
Director of public relations at AUT [...]

New graduate diploma in Pacific journalism in 2010

By Sarah Urlich
The growing need for Pacific journalists will be addressed with the introduction of a new journalism programme at AUT.
The Graduate Diploma in Pacific Journalism, which was announced at last Friday’s PIMA conference, is a one-year qualification aimed at training journalists to report in the Pacific region.
The course, which will start in 2010, will work parallel to [...]

More Pacific Island reporters in mainstream media

Barriers against Pacific Islanders entering the mainstream media are just a perception, according to a panel of prominent New Zealand journalists.
Pippa Wetzell, Barbara Dreaver, Tati Urale, Daniel Faitaua, Kris Fa’afo’i, Susana Talagi and Vaimoana Tapaleao shared their views last Friday at the PIMA conference at AUT.
One of the major themes to emerge was that these [...]

Pac to the future

“If a Palangi farts it makes the front page, but for an ethnic minority to get into the news in New Zealand they have to rape or kill someone.”
This was the opinion of Thakur Ranjit Singh at the 8th Pacific Media Conference, held at AUT on Friday.
He was commenting on the fact that Aotearoa’s ethnic [...]

Declutter your closet, pick up a bargain at ‘Big Clothes Swap’

Auckland’s Dress for Success will receive a new load of donated clothes this week, thanks to AUT’s ‘Fashion Circus Big Clothes Swap’, where pre-loved clothing will be collected, swapped and sold in a fashion bonanza.
The event aims to make Aucklanders consider how much clothing we throw away each year when it could be recycled by donating it to charity [...]

Voting booths on campus to encourage student voters

AUT students will be able to cast their vote on campus in the weeks leading up to the general election.
The AUT student association (AuSM) has teamed up with the Ministry of Justice’s Chief Electoral Office to arrange for temporary voting booths to be available in the three weeks prior to the election.
AuSM president Jan Herman says [...]

Tagging not a symptom of crime

 AUT security operations supervisor Jesse Pye says there have been a “fair few thefts around the campus in the last few weeks” and tagging isn’t a big deal by comparison.

There have been six burglaries in the last two weeks, including the theft of laptops, video cameras and wine from buildings across AUT.
Pye says this [...]