How many uni admin staff is too many?
Increasing the University of Otago’s administration staff from 2100 to 2500, with barely an increase in teaching staff at 2100, is beyond ridiculous.
It reminds me of possibly the first letter I ever wrote to the editor regarding a comment by, I think, the chairman of the Otago/Southland health board who said: "We run a tight ship with only 468 admin staff."
I replied that my father was Superintendent in Chief of Southland Hospital in the late ’70s early ’80s and he had one fulltime secretary, one halftime secretary, about half a dozen largely disabled men pushing trolleys around with files (no computers then), and about 15 or 20 book-keeping staff. About 25 staff max in all.
If Otago needed twice as many that would mean about 75 staff in all. About 16% of the staff required to run a tight ship as claimed by the chairman of the joint health board. Using similar logic I reckon 400 admin staff (16% of 2500 ) is plenty for the university.
Driving pedestrianisation
The situation at the Knox Church corner is only part of the massive design failure in the central city. Every intersection now has the kerbing so that there is only one lane of traffic at the lights. This means that any turning vehicle that cannot turn because of oncoming traffic, or pedestrians, will block the entire intersection. Central city gridlock is guaranteed.
Was this perhaps deliberate in order to dissuade vehicles from entering the central city or just sheer incompetence?
Furthermore, on the one way south, traffic turning right towards the CBD are prevented from turning both at the start and end of the go phase for straight ahead traffic, just to cater for the non-existent cyclists and pedestrians.
Out to pasture
I occasionally read "Passing Notes" by Civis on Saturday mornings. It has always amused me that this column resides on the far right of the broadsheet.
Recently I have noticed a number of letters suggesting Civis has become something of an irrelevant anachronism. I must say that after reading the piece from July 15 I think I agree.
Civis laments the passing of the values of some of our historical pillars such as M. J. Savage, F. D. Roosevelt and the Attlee British government and goes on to talk of the merits of giving "citizens the chance to vote for effective action".
Civis has clearly not got the memo — the New Zealand order has changed. The values and parties he reveres above are relics of a colonial past.
Get with the times Civis or perhaps consider a well-deserved retirement.
Grateful thanks
Last weekend I was riding my mountain bike in Wānaka and crashed. I was knocked out for a good 30-40 seconds and when I woke up I could not remember what the day was, who my parents were or anything like that. One of my friends went and got his dad, who is a paramedic and someone (I don’t know who) called the ambulance. I was hurried to the Wānaka medical centre then flown to Dunedin Hospital. I was kept there for a night and a bit of a day then released.
I am so grateful to all the people who aided me and want to publicly thank them: the kind spectators at Lismore jumps, George and Pete, St John Wānaka ambulance service, Wānaka Medical Centre, Otago Southland Rescue Helicopter Trust, Dunedin Hospital paediatric unit and my big brother Mac.
Memories of the good and bad spirit of cricket
The bad spirit of cricket was apparent in the 1971 Plunket Shield game Central District v Otago.
With Otago’s last pair at the wicket, a contrived run-out of Barry Milburn saw Otago lose by 4 runs. Peter Semple, who played that day, remembers it well.
Good and bad spirits were also evident at the Melbourne Cricket Ground when Australia played Pakistan at the height of the Packer circus. Rodney Hogg having played a defensive shot decided to leave his crease to pat down the pitch. He was run out. Took the long walk back but was recalled by the Pakistan captain back to the middle only to be told by the umpire that the decision could not be overturned. He probably smashed the wickets and stormed off.
But the good spirit was alive and well when Alec Moir, an Otago bowler playing in a test match against West Indies, declined to run out a batsman who had fallen whilst attempting a run. As the song goes "there’s good and bad in everyone" and the spirit will find its own leave.
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
