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T HE U NI V ER S I T Y O F AU CK L A ND A LU MNI M AG A Z INE | AU T U MN 2 0 17 VISION FOR CHANGE GRAFFITI CRIMES Creativity with street cred HAPPINESS How can we have more of it?
ALUMNI PROFILE
Ingenio
The University of Auckland
Alumni magazine
Autumn 2017
IN THIS ISSUE
ISSN 1176-211X
Editor: Judy Wilford
Contributing editor: Helen Borne
Art Direction and Design: Mike Crozier
Advertising manager: Don Wilson
Proofreading: Rupert Alchin, Tess Redgrave,
Julianne Evans Editorial 3
Writers: Tess Redgrave, Julianne Evans,
Margo White, Judy Wilford, Suzi Phillips, Letters 4
8
Vaughan Yarwood
University news 4
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Cover image
Erna Takazawa. Photo: Dean Carruthers
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2 | Ingenio | Autumn 2016
EDITORIAL
TRANSFORMATION
THROUGH
EDUCATION
The University is committed to two of our largest degrees that provide
delivering high impact learning the foundations of a liberal education.
experiences that prepare students to We are in the process of implementing
face the challenges of working and significant changes to the structure of
contributing to an uncertain world, in these degrees, and programmes within
which they are likely to change careers them, to embed clearly-defined, highly
more than five times. marketable skill sets that provide
I
enhanced career and postgraduate study
n 2016, as an expression of this outcomes for students.
commitment, the University renewed Our profile also frames the
what is known as its graduate development of new types of active and
profile, which defines aspirations learning experiences (internships and
for all Auckland graduates and the work placements, for example) that areas (e.g. introductory data analysis,
developmental opportunities that are being embedded in programmes academic integrity, and logical and
every student will have access to while and courses, as part of the University’s critical thinking). The development of
completing a University of Auckland student employability strategy. These a MOOC based on our Logical and
degree. From 2017 our academic opportunities are increasingly being Critical Thinking course has led to the
community is working to embed this made available to students within their enhancement of our face-to-face course
framework to ensure that all students programmes of study and are designed as well as the development of an online
are aware of and have access to the to support them to develop forms of for-credit version for University of
significant personal development knowledge that are acquired in context Auckland students. This option provides
opportunities available to them. and thus increase their professional flexible access for students.
The overarching aspiration shared as well as academic capabilities. The Finally, the University is exploring
by our academic community is that emphasis of these experiences is on the introduction of micro-credentials
a University of Auckland degree will problem-solving, critical thinking and – a type of alternative credential that
transform graduates into independent collaboration. provides students and alumni with
and critical thinkers able to apply their In addition to renewing its graduate opportunities to develop knowledge in
disciplinary expertise in all spheres of profile, the University has harnessed new niche areas relevant to their professional
their lives. Our vision is that University learning technologies and pedagogies goals. These credentials are typically
of Auckland alumni exhibit a number to support student learning. In 2016 modular and delivered in short time
of trademark qualities that set them it invested heavily in a state-of-the-art frames in a range of flexible formats –
apart from other graduates in the learning management system (Canvas) online, blended and face-to-face.
marketplace. These include the ability and technology suite. Our teachers These significant developments in
to develop unique and sustainable and students now have access to a wide the University’s teaching and learning,
solutions to real world problems, and to range of new and exciting technology combined with our ranking as the most
lead and influence others with integrity (including lecture recording tools) to innovative university in Australasia
and fluency across global cultures and support learning within lecture contexts (excelling in knowledge discovery
perspectives. and extend opportunities for engagement and application) will ensure that our
The new graduate profile is central to beyond the classroom. graduates have the best chance possible
the University’s long-term academic plan. We are using our increased capacity of enjoying fulfilling careers in which
It provides academic staff and student for blended and online teaching to they make significant contributions to
support services with a shared framework increase educational opportunities the quality of material and cultural life
for designing and delivering high impact for distinct constituencies of learners, of all New Zealanders.
educational experiences to our students. including off-campus learners. The
For instance, it provides the frame University has expanded its Massive
for a major reconceptualisation of the Open Online Course (MOOC) offerings Professor John Morrow
structure and content of our Bachelor of to provide global access to University of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic)
Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees – Auckland staff in popular curriculum
Autumn 2017 | Ingenio | 3
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
health while reversing malignancy. CREATIVITY AND
T HE U NI V ER S I T Y O F AU CK L A ND A LU MNI M AG A Z INE | S PRIN G 2 0 16
At the very least, broadening the scope
of research might help to address the THE FUTURE
unwanted production of reactive species A two-day summit is being held to highlight
resulting from cancer treatment protocols, the significance of creativity for the future
these species invariably thwarting long of business and enterprise. This inaugural
term survival. event, which aims to create engagement
and collaboration between researchers,
Best regards, business leaders, social entrepreneurs,
Stephen Butcher educators, and artists, is co-hosted by the
Creative Thinking Project, the University
GEORGE of Auckland Business School and the
MASON New Zealand Leadership Institute. The
A life of many layers
FOR ALL
“Creativity: The HeART of Business”
OUR FUTURES Reponse from Distinguished Professor summit will take place on 5-6 September
Can we do it together?
Bill Denny, Director, Auckland 2017. Find out more at:
LIGHT FORCE
Driving scientific advances Cancer Society Research Centre, www.business.auckland.ac.nz/creativity-
University of Auckland the-heart-of-business
The writer asks whether the aim of the
RANKINGS LEAD
RISKS AND Campaign to "dramatically improve
cancer survival rates" is too narrow, by REINFORCED
OPPORTUNITIES focusing on the development of new
treatments. That would be true if it was
all that was going on in the University,
The University of Auckland’s standing
as the country’s leading university was
Dear Judy, but there is much complementary reinforced in the latest QS World University
research in better nutrition, lifestyle, Rankings by Subject, with the University
May I comment on the "For All Our screening and diagnostic technologies; judged best in New Zealand in 37 of the 40
Futures" campaign? I wonder if the not all can be featured specifically in the subjects for which it is ranked.
partnership between philanthropy and Campaign. It was rated best in New Zealand in each
increased capacity can really focus on the The writer notes that “for most solid of the broad subject rankings, including
needs of society and not be limited by its cancers the prerequisite oxidation of 25th in the world in Arts and Humanities.
own funding model, in one of its aims in DNA should be regarded as cancer It featured in the top 50 in the world in 16
particular. causing”. In the vast majority of cases this subjects (up from 15 last year), with two of
That aim is to "dramatically improve is not correct. The ultimate cause of all those in the top 20.
cancer survival rates”. The risk is that the cancers is changes in the sequence of a
funding model is a preconception which cell’s DNA (genome), which gives rise to
prefers the development of new treatments altered proteins (enzymes) that, in certain NEW CHANCELLOR
which demonstrate a productive business
outcome rather than a broader approach
combinations, result in uncontrolled cell
growth and replication (cancer). Most
AND PRO CHANCELLOR
to include prevention and a reduction in of these DNA changes occur during Scott St John became Chancellor of the
the demand for services, including new the normal process of cell division, University of Auckland on 1 January 2017.
cancer treatments. where the cell has to replicate its entire Scott was first appointed to the University
Cancer treatments almost always have genome and the wrong unit (base) is Council in 2009. Since then he has served
side effects because they invariably are occasionally inserted in the new chain. on the Capital Expenditure Committee, the
at least partly indiscriminate in their A small proportion of cancers are caused VC Review Committee and the Finance
destruction of cells or the inhibition of by carcinogens (radiation and some Committee which he chaired. In 2014,
DNA replication. At the risk of attracting chemicals). These alter DNA by either Scott was appointed Pro-Chancellor. This
criticism, I suggest that the jargon used attaching themselves to it or causing year also marks the appointment of a new
by the industry is slightly misleading. oxidative damage to it; both processes Pro Chancellor, Jan Dawson. Jan also served
The reference to “carcinogen” implies a change the structure of the DNA units. as a member of the University Council
causal relationship which does not exist: Whether the individual units of DNA before becoming Pro Chancellor.
for most solid cancers the prerequisite are wrongly inserted during replication
oxidation of DNA should be regarded as or are altered by carcinogens, the end
cancer causing and I suggest the addition result is changes in the sequence of a
of a carcinogen to oxidised DNA should cell’s DNA (genome), which gives rise to
be regarded as consequential. If the scope altered proteins in the cell. The former
of cancer research is expanded to look (majority) process cannot be controlled,
at the causal process prior to carcinogen but much work goes into controlling the
attachment then I suggest there is a much latter: minimising exposure to radiation
bigger opportunity for both prevention (including sunlight), smoking and
and treatments which support good workplace carcinogens.
4 | Ingenio | Autumn 2017
NEWS
ALUMNI POEM
Elegy again
You are on a railway station
in the driest country we had ever seen.
We stand in the heat by a row of shagged
pot plants and I think how green
was always the colour as you came to mind,
a green coat once by a corner in Florence
when you didn’t see me, leaning towards a match.
You are ten yards away and ah, the distance,
even then; or our lying side by side,
your hair that I joked was like a fire
AN EXTRA FRISSON FOR A stalking a step behind you, a smoky
GLITTERING EVENT
brilliance even now, when words like ‘desire’
T
are husks, shells, dead tongues,
as once we reached them down from the living
he wild burst of torrential rain on The impressive new pavilion which
tree, the green sky, and our hands
the evening of the Distinguished housed the event (seen from the inside
brushing like something scorched, loving
Alumni Awards Dinner only above) is built from a combination
served to add to the feeling of warmth of safety glass and sandwich walls,
without the palaver of having to say.
and conviviality for the guests inside the with a floor area of 110 square metres
And the utter ashes of it now, the same
new pavilion and to make it even more and a capacity to hold 1,420 people.
as if I’d read about someone else, un-
memorable for all who attended. Dismantled after the dinner to allow
moved. And you, caged in freedoms beyond flame.
Members of the University community the lawn and tree roots to recover in the
and of the University of Auckland historic garden, it was rebuilt for the
Vincent O’Sullivan
Society were gathered to honour University’s Autumn Graduation and
our five Distinguished Alumni for for other occasions that will follow. It
2017: Carol Hirschfeld, one of New replaces the former Alumni Marquee
Zealand’s best-known and most popular which has hosted many events over the
broadcasters; Ian Hunter, Professor of last 20 years.
Mechanical Engineering at MIT; Dr For more information about our
Lance O’Sullivan, GP and public health Distinguished Alumni see the stories on
champion; Lisa Reihana, an acclaimed pages 8, 14 and 30. To see the photos
artist who is representing New Zealand taken at the dinner and at the Bright
at the 2017 Venice Biennale; and Erna Lights event held the night before see:
Takazawa, the first and only fully- www.alumni.auckland.ac.nz.
qualified optometrist in Samoa, our 2017 The Bright Lights event, always a
Young Alumna of the Year. hit with the audience, features lively,
Each was presented with the intelligent, amusing and occasionally
traditional medallion to mark the irreverent conversations between Finlay
occasion, and gave a speech that offered Macdonald and the Distinguished
fascinating insights into their lives. Alumni.
Vincent O’Sullivan, DCNZM (BA 1959; MA
1960; D Litt 2008) is one of our foremost
NOMINATIONS FOR 2018
writers: a poet, short story writer, novelist,
playwright and editor. He was New Zealand’s
Poet Laureate from 2013 to 2015 and was
Nominations are now open for the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Awards. The honoured writer at the 2016 Auckland Writers
University of Auckland and the University of Auckland Society bestow the annual Festival. A profile of Vincent, written by Tess
Distinguished Alumni Awards to honour alumni who have made outstanding Redgrave, appeared in the Autumn 2014
contributions, through their different achievements, to their professions, to their issue of Ingenio. “Elegy again” was published
communities and globally. To discover more about previous winners, see photos in Being Here: Selected Poems (Victoria
and videos from past events. To submit nominations, visit University Press, 2015). It is reprinted with
www.auckland.ac.nz/daa. Nominations close 30 June 2017. permission.
Autumn 2017 | Ingenio | 5
NEWS
A PROMISE but to create new ways of thriving
together.”
KEPT Alumna Courtney Sina Meredith,
also a writer, describes Max’s book as a
A
“poignant reminder that New Zealand is
longside a “Letter from Oxford”, a journey we are all on together.”
written by alumnus Max Harris Max completed a Master of Public
for the Autumn 2015 issue of Policy and Bachelor of Civil Law at
Ingenio, was a note that said: “Max Oxford University while on a New
hopes to spend the first two years of his Zealand Rhodes Scholarship from 2012
DOWN TO fellowship writing a book on progressive
politics in New Zealand…”
to 2014, and a Law/Arts conjoint degree
(with Honours in Law) at the University
BUSINESS The fellowship to which it referred was
an Examination Fellowship at All Souls
of Auckland from 2006 to 2010. Not
yet 30, he is already acknowledged as a
P
College at Oxford, which is awarded to brilliant New Zealander with singular
rofessor Jayne Godfrey is the up to two exceptional scholars each year talents.
new dean of the Business and qualifies the scholar for seven years
School and the first woman of funding to pursue an approved course
to hold the post, taking over from of study of their own choice.
the previous dean, Professor Greg Right on time, just two years later
Whittred, who held the position for (and about a week ago) Max was
eight years and has left a strong legacy back in New Zealand to speak at the
of achievement. Auckland Writers’ Festival about the
Jayne has a Master of Economics promised book, The New Zealand Project,
from the University of Sydney published by Bridget Williams Books in
and a PhD from the University of April, 2017.
Queensland. Her past academic “This work” writes Max in the
roles include two years as President introduction, “was born out of an
of the Academic Board of Monash instinct that something was not quite
University and three years as Dean right in New Zealand society, that
and Director at the College of politics is partly to blame for this, and
Business and Economics at the that collective political action might be
Australian National University. able not only to address these challenges
FAREWELL
TO DOUGLAS L ast month we lost a highly-
respected member of our University
community when Sir Douglas
Myers died in London, aged 78.
funds for the construction of the
University’s Business School and his
personal gift of $1 million for this
purpose in 2002 was noteworthy for more
MYERS Sir Douglas was best-known to
most New Zealanders as a successful
businessman, and a member and former
than its magnitude. It took the funds
over the $25 million mark and allowed
the University to draw down the full $25
chair of the Business Round Table. To million pledged by the government to
the University he will be remembered as a match private sector donations.
generous friend and benefactor who had a He encouraged young New Zealanders
deep belief in the value of education and to focus on offshore opportunities
in the young people who will lead this through the Douglas Myers Scholarships,
country in the future. which offer outstanding year 13 Kiwis
In 2000 Sir Douglas was principal the chance to study at Gonville and Caius
donor to the University’s visual and College at Cambridge University, where
performing arts centre (named the he himself read history.
Kenneth Myers Centre in memory of “When you meet young people, they
his father) – which he saw as helping to think the world’s their oyster,” he said at
create a partnership between the business the time the scholarship was established.
community and the University. He “They don’t yet know any better than
felt that the building at 74 Shortland to think they can have extraordinarily
Street, bridging the past and present in wonderful lives. What I want is to assist
performing arts, placed halfway between them with those dreams.”
the campus and the CBD, offered a Sir Douglas Myers was conferred with
physical symbol of the new link. an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in
He played a leading role in raising 2005.
6 | Ingenio | Autumn 2017
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COVER STORY
BECAUSE
OF WHO
THEY ARE
This year, for the first time, the majority of the University’s Distinguished Alumni are from
Polynesian backgrounds. They are all high achievers who are having a signficant impact on
their communities.
Tess Redgrave met the three female winners.
B ring together broadcaster Carol
Hirschfeld (54), Head of Content
at Radio New Zealand, with artist
Lisa Reihana (52), who is representing
New Zealand at the 2017 Venice
encouraged to learn Te Reo when I was
young.”
For Erna, whose father came to Samoa
from Japan, the word she knows is not
“half caste” but “afakasi”. “I didn’t feel
Lisa, from a young age, decided she
wasn’t going to be pigeon-holed. “My
mother is English/Welsh, my father is
Māori. I am an in-between person. That
is my gift and I like to investigate being
Biennale, and Erna Takazawa (28), like a typical Samoan. I stood out as this dual hybrid in my art.”
Samoa’s first optometrist, and there is different – an Asian-looking slit-eyed For Carol, who readily admits she had
one thing they all quickly identify in afakasi.” to take beta blockers for her nerves when
common: Each knows what it is like But the minute you learn about these she first fronted our television screens,
to be a “half-caste” or as Lisa jokes “a three women you realise that no matter her mother’s courageous journey to the
hybrid or bitzer”. what life has thrown at them, they city is something she holds close. “I
“I was always aware of the word when have stood firm and met the challenge. think it’s given me the courage to be in a
I was young and it was derogatory,” says Ironically growing up a “hybrid” has difficult place.”
Carol, whose Māori mother left her home been part of the crucible on which their Significantly too, each is a member of
at Rangitukia near East Cape in the early careers have flourished. the first generation in their families to
1950s to make her luck in the city. “Being an afakasi pushed me to be go to university. They take nothing for
“I was aware of a sense of unfairness stronger,” says Erna, who in 2015 was granted and I sense they are having an
as a child,” says Lisa. “My father was one of nine young people from the impact on their communities, not just
the first of his whānau to come down to Pacific to win a Queen’s Medal. “I found because of their work, but also because
the city from up north. He was caned at ways to blend in. That’s why I put my of who they are and where they have
school for speaking Māori so I was never energy into sports and academics.” come from.
8 | Ingenio | Autumn 2017
COVER STORY
Left to right: Carol Hirschfeld, Erna Takazawa
and Lisa Reihana. Photo: Dean Carruthers
Autumn 2017 | Ingenio | 9
COVER STORY
TRAILBLAZER
a Japanese technician, when he worked as
a volunteer at a Post Office and Telephone
Young Alumna of the Year:
Erna Takazawa, BOptom 2012 School
Communication Company in Samoa.
They married and returned to Japan,
where I was born.”
“beenMoney has never
the driver for
of Optometry and Vision Science, But Erna’s mother was one of 16 me. I wanted to go
Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences. children and missed island life.
“So we returned to Samoa and I grew back to Samoa and
up there.” make a difference.
”
I
Erna’s parents stressed the importance
n June 2015, Erna Takazawa did of education to their three daughters.
something that most of us can only At 15 Erna found her vocation when
dream about. She stood in Buckingham her older sister Melissa began having
Palace and shook Queen Elizabeth II’s vision problems. At that time there was “Money has never been the driver for me,”
hand. only one optical shop in Samoa, run by she says. “I wanted to go back to Samoa
“The Queen looked at me and said in an American. Melissa was fitted with and make a difference and do something
her British accent: ‘so Erna are you really distance glasses costing $700. I was passionate about.” She hopes her
from Samoa?’ And I said ‘yes I am but I “I wondered why it was so expensive,” choice inspires other young people to
am part Japanese, you are very good to recalls Erna. “Most people in Samoa return to work in their communities.
notice your Majesty’.” couldn’t pay that much. It also made Erna began working with a few eye
Erna was in London because she had me aware that we lacked any eye care nurses before moving to the newly
won the Queen’s Young Leader Medal specialists in our country.” established Samoa Vision Centre. “I am
(the first Samoan to do so), a top honour She became determined to study still the only optometrist on the island;
awarded to 60 young people across the optometry. Her parents couldn’t afford however we now have an ophthalmologist
Commonwealth each year. to send her overseas to university but and nine eye nurses to look after things
“It was one of the most memorable in Form 7 she won a New Zealand Aid while I am out of the country so we have a
experiences of my life.” Scholarship for developing countries: very good eye team.”
Erna is poised, gently-spoken, and often one of only five science scholarships and Erna goes on community outreaches to
wears a frangipani flower in her hair. the only to the University of Auckland’s rural areas of Samoa and the other island
There is nothing “unmemorable” about School of Optometry and Vision Science. Savaii, taking eye care (free glasses and
her and her remarkable achievements. At There she flourished, taking part in the medication) to the people who cannot
just 28 years old, she is the first and only Tuākana programme and benefiting from come to the main hospital in town where
optometrist in Samoa and the country’s the support of older Pacific mentors. her clinic is based.
National Eye Co-ordinator. Since 2012 In 2012 Erna graduated with First Class In a more recent development she has
she has been single-handedly instrumental Honors, having twice won a New Zealand become a workforce support consultant
in improving access to free eyecare for Association of Optometrists’ award. for the Fred Hollows Foundation NZ and
Samoan children, people with disabilities But despite lucrative offers of work lectures regularly in Fiji, training nurses
and over-65s. in New Zealand and Australia, Erna to take up eye care.
“My Mum was a Samoan cultural returned to Samoa, where she became “This work is really important to
dancer,” she explains. “She met my father, Samoa’s first fully qualified optometrist. me,” she says. “My students come from
all around the Pacific including from
Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga,
Kiribati, Nauru, and Samoa.”
Erna has also worked as a vision trainer
with the non-government organisation
SENESE, training teachers in primary
and secondary schools to detect vision
problems in their students.
“But currently this initiative is not
active due to funding issues. Without
national vision screening for children we
are not able to properly identify if the
reason a child is not learning is because of
their vision or hearing.
“Funding is a big issue for eye care in
Samoa,” she stresses. “My next challenge
is to connect with more funding and find
ways to make eye care initiatives more
sustainable.”
“I want to end avoidable blindness in
Samoa and have the best eye care possible.
“As good as New Zealand.”
10 | Ingenio | Autumn 2017dress maker. She made all our clothes.”
FACE TO FACE Her grandmother was a wardrobe
mistress for the New Zealand Opera
Lisa Reihana (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Hine Company and owned a haberdashery
and Ngāi Tu) Bachelor of Fine Arts 1988, in New Lynn, where Lisa and her three
Creative Arts and Industries sisters were models.
“I grew up around people fixing and
L
making things.
isa Reihana is one of New Zealand’s “Going to the theatre all the time with
most important contemporary Mum opened my eyes to a community
artists. Right now her work is and how it takes a whole lot of people to
wowing the world as New Zealand’s 2017 create a live event.”
entry to the Venice Art Biennale. She A self-proclaimed “social butterfly”, Lisa
has exhibited in New York, Liverpool, was in the top class at Lynfield College,
Brisbane and many cities around the where her teacher Beverley Austin
world. In 2014 she was a New Zealand encouraged her to go to Art School.
Arts Foundation Laureate. Her works But it was a whole different world from
feature in NZ collections at Te Papa, the Blockhouse Bay cul de sac. “There Portrait of the artist
Auckland Art Gallery, New Plymouth’s were very few students of Māori descent
Govett-Brewser; and the University owns at Elam [and no marae on campus at the and original, the work spans 26 metres, is
three. time]. I felt singled out sometimes. This four metres high and 64 minutes long. It
But just as Lisa doesn’t like to be makes you super aware of yourself and foregrounds the complexities of cultural
pigeon-holed in life, neither is it easy to that’s where a knowledge of biculturalism identity and colonisation, re-envisioning
pigeon hole her art. It has encompassed came in; I became hyper-sensitised to scenes of encounter between Europeans
video, animation, story-telling, cultural politics.” and Polynesians set against a utopian
sculpture, textiles, performance, sound Soon after Lisa started at Elam, Tahitian landscape. Famous figures such
and photography. She is described as musician/artist Phil Dadson of From as botanist Joseph Bank, navigator Tupaia
a filmmaker who makes art, has been Scratch fame, set up the Intermedia and Captain Cook feature.
coupled with Michael Parekowhai as department. Lisa, “cresting the new Last year the work brought viewers
a maker of “ethno pop”, and has been wave”, left her sculpture class and into the Auckland Art Gallery again and
hailed “as a New Zealand pioneer of specialised in film-making. Her first short again. It broke records, with more visits
media art, utilising technology to create experimental films developed her interest than any exhibition by a living New
new ways to explore Māori culture”. in animation and she began tackling Zealand artist.
Meet Lisa with her cheeky grin, subjects of Māori culture and politics. Lisa recalls being in the lift at the
and you quickly sense she is a natural One music video Wog Features reflects gallery with a group of senior viewers
“disrupter”. the rising politicisation of indigenous art excitedly going up to see her work again!
“I have always been on the crest of practice. She didn’t reveal who she was but their
something new.” In 1991 she was showcased as one enthusiasm made her aware of how her
This may have started when she of eight “exciting younger artists” by work was creating “a safe space for people
was growing up in a no-exit street in the Moet & Chandon New Zealand to look at our history”.
Blockhouse Bay, where the neighbouring Arts Foundation. Then in 1997 “Lisa creates an immersive environment
children ganged together to rescue she created Native Portraits, a large with digital media,” says Linda Tyler,
native frogs and to barricade the street’s gateway comprising 11 video monitors Director of the University’s Centre for Art
entrance, making their parents pay a toll commissioned for the opening of Te Papa Studies. “You’re plunged into the thick of
to enter. Tongarewa Museum and forming part it and engaged emotionally.”
Her father worked as “a lineman for the of her ongoing Digital Marae project – All Lisa’s recent art has involved
county” with the Auckland Electric Power which recreates mythological ancestral working with big teams of people just like
Board while her mother was an amateur figures in digital format from carvings those she watched her mother work with
actress with Little Dolphin Theatre in historically found on a marae. in the theatre. An art teacher in schools
Onehunga. “Mum was a maker and a In 2007 Lisa took part in Global and at Unitec for many years, Lisa calls
Feminisms at Brooklyn Museum, New this collaborative way of working kanohi
York. ki te kanohi (face to face).
“pioneer
A New Zealand In 2008 Lisa completed another major “The art I do is really just an artifact of
commission for Te Papa Mai i te aroha, the relationships I make,” she says. “They
of media art, ko te aroha (From love comes love). “Art create more opportunities for me to meet
utilising technology has allowed me to examine who I am, my
identity.”
new people and learn more.”
to create new ways By far Lisa’s greatest triumph to date
to explore Māori has been In Pursuit of Venus (Infected) See Lisa Reihana: Emissaries featuring In
”
a cinematic re-imagining of the neo- Pursuit of Venus [infected] (2015-17), alongside
culture. classical French wallpaper Les Sauvages de new photo-based and sculptural works, in
la Mer Pacifique (1804–05). Challenging Venice at: www.artprojects.net.nz
Autumn 2017 | Ingenio | 11COVER STORY
news with John Campbell. Since then up to Auckland Technical Institute
CONTINUING she has been in the public eye as head of
production at Māori TV for five years,
(ATI)’s journalism course and didn’t get
in, she decided to enrol for a Bachelor of
and now as Radio New Zealand’s head of Arts at Auckland the following year.
THE JOURNEY content, responsible primarily for news.
She's also been in the public domain as an
She took the advice of her older brother
and chose subjects that really engaged her:
MC and speaker, and as an ambassador a major in English literature and minors
Carol Hirschfeld for the Breast Cancer Cure Trust. in history, art history and Bhasa (the
(Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata), “I have always just got on with what native language of Indonesia).
Bachelor of Arts 1984, Faculty of Arts. was in front me,” says Carol, of her “University was an essential bridge to
success. Yet she is also very aware of what adulthood. It helped me learn to set goals,
O
is behind her. develop the capacity for critical thought
ne day during the years when Carol’s father Charl is an Australian and gave me insights into many different
Carol Hirschfeld was fronting engineer who came to New Zealand in worlds.”
TV3 News, she popped into the mid-1950s. Her mother, Ngawiki, There were also many hours spent at the
a bank to get some money. “A young was a “Ngati Porou princess” who left student café with her sister and various
Samoan teller leaned over the counter and Rangitukia, a small town about two friends “drinking too much coffee,
said: ‘it's so good to see another brown kilometres from Tikitiki out on the North smoking furiously (we didn’t know the
person on TV’. Island’s East Cape, when she was 15. dangers back then) and dreaming of what
“It’s that simple,” says Carol, using this “Mum was eldest of her family and our lives might become”.
anecdote to reflect on her impact in the was kept home from school to look after From the outside Carol’s career
community. “I hope I show others you can the younger ones. So she had no formal does seem like the stuff of dreams.
have a prominent role despite there not education. It must have taken enormous After University she got into the ATI
being many people who look like you.” courage to leave her small Māori-speaking journalism course, became a cadet
Most Ingenio readers will know Carol’s community to work in the city.” reporter for Radio New Zealand and a
face from our television screens. For 12 Ngawiki moved to Wellington and sub-editor, first at the Auckland Star and
years she worked as a reporter, director, then eventually Auckland, where she was then at TVNZ. The rest is history. Her
presenter and producer on programmes a nurse aid and met Charl Hirschfeld in career has kept growing and changing. A
such as Frontline, Assignment, One News, Otahuhu. They were married for 17 years one-time television director of long-form
Holmes, Fair Go and Crimewatch. In 1998 until Ngawiki died prematurely at the age current affairs programmes, she is now
she moved to TV3, where she read the of 36 of a cerebral haemorrhage. Carol steeped in management.
was 10. “You learn that life means you’ll “I miss deeply the creative side of being
lose somebody you love,” she told E_ someone who produces stories directly
Tangata magazine in a candid interview. and I miss being involved in the hurly
“
But her mother’s story remains warm. burly of the newsroom.”
I feel very strongly When I ask Carol what Ngawiki would But innovation excites her and is part of
that I want to be a think of her Distinguished Alumni
Award, there is a poignant moment as she
her role at Radio New Zealand.
“I am a decision maker and one of the
guardian of credible says: “I hope she’d be proud. She started truly innovative things is to be able to
journalism.
”
this journey.” open your mind and allow diverse input
Carol’s father is now 85 and she is quick into how you make those decisions, and
to assert that he has been her greatest allow others to be part of those decisions.
teacher. “All roads lead to dad. He is the It’s exciting to allow the younger
fairest person I have ever met and that generation to inform the decisions you
sense of fairness has carried over to every make. I want to be a conduit for that.
aspect of my life.” That is how sustainability is achieved.”
Education was “a non-negotiable” Making Radio New Zealand a
in her family. “For dad it wasn’t about sustainable organisation is key. “I want it
whether we could go to university; it was to be recognised by New Zealanders as a
about what we would do there. There was taonga that needs to be cared for and also
an absolute belief in us.” as the ‘go to’ in terms of connecting and
When Carol was 14 she spent a year on informing them. We are involved in story-
Sulawesi in Indonesia where her father telling and hopefully we are truth tellers.
was posted as an electrical engineer. It’s very difficult to know in today’s world.
She looks back on that as “liberating “I feel very strongly that I want to be a
and eye-opening”. She then spent a year guardian of credible journalism.”
with relatives in Bendigo, Australia, and
worked on the local newspaper getting her
CAN WE END INCREASE THE CONTRIBUTION
first taste of journalism. OUR COMMUNITY MAKES TO THE WORLD?
Back in New Zealand she passed
up a 7th form year to work on a trade
magazine Hospitality. When she rocked
12 | Ingenio | Autumn 2017OPINION
VITAL TO
Journalists themselves can band together
and create a non-profit cooperative media
where their salaries and production
become the primary expenses. Without
SAVE OUR
the added pressure of generating greater
and greater profit for shareholders, they
can refocus their resources into great
journalism.
Another alternative is for universities
NEWS
to continue expanding their roles beyond
their own campuses and collectively
build a strong media together—a
media that offers breadth and depth of
knowledge, society-wide. And while
universities too are being squeezed so
tightly that they can barely breathe, they
When the AP wire service’s Twitter feed was compromised must push back, so they can continue to
stand for an educated society, a public
by a hacking group, there were serious, though short-lived interest that benefits all of us. Better
consequences arising from the resulting misinformation. education and better civic knowledge
mean better problem solving for the big
problems that beset us all.
T
Whether we get one or all of these
he hacked tweet falsely declared about the public interest role that an options will be a public service to New
that the White House had been institution, such as the press, provides. Zealand, and maybe, if wildly successful,
bombed. Within seconds the The “fake news” industry is the offer a model for others in the world who
market plunged. During the US election, economic model gone wild. Enabled by are struggling with similar issues.
conspiracy theories, preposterous ones, a free and open internet, the very system
also spread via the internet. In one false that was once thought to spread the Maria Armoudian is lecturer in Politics
claim, the Clintons were running an ideas of democracy and human rights and International Relations at the
illegal trafficking, child-sex ring. One throughout the world has simultaneously University of Auckland.
believer of the falsehood showed up at given us a new creature with which to
the pizza place mentioned, armed with grapple. The young men (in Macedonia)
an assault rifle ready to defend and were just one example of what “news”
rescue the children. gets created when money is what matters
Mass-mediated lies can have real most. They spread fabricated pro-Trump
consequences when they are believed. stories that were then shared through
Sometimes such consequences mean social media, for one primary reason – it
the fabric of society can be torn apart, was how they made the most money.
as in the case of Chile before, during As imperfect as any human institution
and after the coup in 1973. Sometimes is, our news media have been a vital
they can mean life and death: the worst source of information from which
kinds of lies have been used to eliminate we learn about our community, our
entire races of people in the Holocaust, government, our world. What will
the Rwandan, Armenian and Bosnian we, as societies, do in the face of these
genocides. challenges? How will we understand the
But even seemingly innocuous lies policies, the representatives, the systems
make it extremely hard to sustain that either better or worsen our collective
democratic societies, which rely upon lives? Will we be forced to rely upon
accurate, reliable, fact-checked, rational fabrications, insulting tweets and blame-
information from which we – as citizens framing blog posts that give us no true
– can understand government policy understanding of the real factors that got
and decide what is best for us. Bad us to our current situation or where we
information can logically lead to bad should go?
decisions. It’s true of any system. New Zealand is exploring new media
In the political economy of media projects, which as a whole, are hopeful
as a business, where is the line? Which in the quest for building a model. A
value takes precedence? Is it the finances government interested in an informed
that keep profits growing? Or is it the society might shore up its support for its
Dr Maria Armoudian receives her University of
existence of a public service or the very holdings such as Radio New Zealand
Auckland Early Career Excellence Award for 2017.
function of society? When money is and by taking commercial pressure off Photo Sampford Cathie
the bottom line, it is difficult to think TVNZ. But there are other models.
Autumn 2017 | Ingenio | 13ALUMNI PROFILE The FABULOUS HUNTER BROTHERS Ian and Peter Hunter talk with Margo White. 14 | Ingenio | Autumn 2017 Photo: Dean Carruthers
ALUMNI PROFILE
P rofessor Ian Hunter identifies his
first invention as a device he called
the ‘smell-o-meter’, constructed
when he was six from an old meter
thrown out by his father.
the development of the Physiome Project,
an international consortium involving
dozens of research institutions around
the world, of which he is co-director.
The collective aim of the Project is to
He opened it up, wrote “nice” at one build a computational model of a virtual
end and “smelly” at the other. He’d hold human, one that integrates mathematical
the device in front of his classmates and, and physiological information about
in a way that wasn’t visible to them, use organs, tissues, cells, proteins and genes,
his finger to move the dial to one end or ultimately to guide interventions and
the other. treatments in human health.
The Hatsopoulos Professor of Both Hunter brothers have received
Mechanical Engineering at the too many accolades and awards to list
Massachusetts Institute of Technology here. Evidently something runs in the
(MIT) was in Auckland recently family. Is there something in the genes?
to receive a University of Auckland “I don’t think so,” says Ian. “But we had
Distinguished Alumni Award for a father who, whenever we showed an
science, one of five graduates to receive interest in an area, he’d turn up with the
the honour. I caught up with him relevant goodies. If we had an interest in
on the sixth floor of the Auckland optics, lenses would appear. If we had an
Bioengineering Institute, in the office interest in mechanics, mechanical things
of his brother, Distinguished Professor would appear, normally with very little
“who,Wewhenever
Peter Hunter. explanation.” Both Ian and Peter had
had a father “Everyone was fooled, including electronic workshops in their bedrooms.
we the teacher,” he recalls. “I remember
thinking, ‘Wow, the power of
“And then when I had an interest in
chemistry, chemicals and beakers would
showed an interest in instruments’. I had the whole class under appear,” adds Ian. “When the passion
an area, he’d turn up my spell; they were terrified of being
smelly. That was an early foray into
became even greater, my father set up a
chemistry lab in the house.”
with relevant goodies. instrumentation.” Their father, Les, was an electrical
If we had an interest in He laughs. His brother laughs. “And
deception,” adds Peter.
engineer and an inventor who, in
1950, constructed New Zealand’s first
optics, lenses would Let’s begin with a few truncated experimental closed circuit television
appear. If we had an biographical details. Ian describes
himself primarily as an inventor, whose
station in his backyard. This was ten
years before television was introduced in
interest in mechanics, interests include micro-instrumentation, New Zealand. There’s archive footage on
mechanical things micro-fabrication, micro-robotics and YouTube, a short film made by the New
”
medical devices. As well as being the Zealand National Film Unit capturing
would appear. Professor of Mechanical Engineering their father’s “experiment in television”.
at MIT, he’s director of the Institute’s Their mother Mary is featured talking
BioInstrumentation Lab. Over the years to the camera and Peter, a pre-schooler
he and his students have developed in short pants, comes briefly into view
a number of innovative instruments, along with his two elder brothers.
including needle-free drug delivery Ian hadn’t been born then, and who
technologies, confocal laser microscopes, knows if it was nature or nurture, but he
scanning tunneling electron microscopes began following in his father’s footsteps
and a miniature mass spectrometer. The when, aged nine, he built a miniaturised
latter is an instrument used for chemical transistor radio. He then started building
analysis, to characterise smells, detect and selling transistor radios to other kids
undesirable chemicals such as lead or in the neighbourhood. The radio waves
pesticides and possibly assess health were weak back then so he’d rig up an
status by analysing a person’s breath. antenna as part of the service. “Usually
He has more than 100 patents and has a wire that I’d run from a kid’s bedroom
founded or co-founded 25 companies. out to some adjacent tree, and then I’d
Peter Hunter is the Director of the climb under the house and connect it
Auckland Bioengineering Institute to the plumbing, to get a good earth
(ABI), whose pioneering research connection”.
is based on the premise that the Ian recalls getting his first business
physiological function of the human lesson from the mother of one of his
body can be analysed and modeled in young customers, who quizzed him on
the same way a complex engineering his profit margins. “Being nine I didn’t
system can be. His research has led to have a clue, so she said: 'If you add
Autumn 2017 | Ingenio | 15ALUMNI PROFILE
up the cost of your components, the Peter also spent a lot of his childhood
profit margin is when you add on some in his father’s workshop, he says. “It was
additional charge.' I remember thinking more often to help him, rather than to
this was immoral, the notion of charging build my own things. I was there more
more.” He laughs. “But she said you have for company.” He has a vivid memory
to take your time into account. And she of finding a ten-shilling note when he
paid me three times my asking price, so was on holiday in Taupo and, after he
I learned that profit margins could be handed it in to the police station and it
quite significant.” wasn’t claimed, he used the proceeds to
There were other instances of start building his own tool set. His first
precociousness. He was ten when he purchase was a drill and a vice.
published his first journal paper (in the “Oh, I remember that!” says Ian. “You
Australian and New Zealand Electronic coming into great wealth, and buying
Review) in which he detailed the design that beautiful die cast enclosed drill. You
and cost of his single transistor radio. At couldn’t even see the gear, it was hidden
14 he built a gas liquid chromatograph in that grey case.”
(an instrument used for chemical There was also music. Their eldest
analysis). This was after visiting the brother Terry was the most talented, says
University of Auckland and meeting Peter, playing the violin in the national
a chemistry professor who had a PhD youth orchestra. The second brother,
“ It involves a
personal vehicle, one
student who was building one. The
race was on. “My challenge was to see
if I could build one at home before this
Bruce, played clarinet. (Both elder
brothers have passed away.) Ian played
the piano and clarinet, but now plays
that is light, powerful PhD student could. And I did. And it the drums. Peter played the piano as a
and sustainable. It's worked.”
That was the sort of thing the Hunter
child but never really liked it, and took
up classical guitar in his teens – “which I
a vehicle so light its brothers did. Peter, before Ian started still love to play but don’t play very well”.
development depends building and selling transistor radios,
had a repair service in his bedroom,
There were, of course, differences.
Ian, says Peter, was the rebellious one,
on a model of the repairing valve radios for people in the standing up to a sometimes overbearing
human being who is neighbourhood. “It brought in a bit of
pocket money,” says Peter. “But it was a
father. “Partly because of his position in
the family, the youngest, partly because
likely to drive it. What pretty natural thing to do in our family of who he was. He was a very robust
will it look like? Like because our father did a lot of electronics
and all sorts of engineering, so we grew
character when he was little. Still is.” (“I
just didn’t care,” says Ian.) What was
nothing you've ever up expecting to do those sorts of things. Peter then, the diplomatic one? “Maybe
seen before.
”
We’d all built our own radios and the introvert,” says Peter.
gramophones. I think Ian was probably Peter enjoyed school, at least well
a bit more entrepreneurial, so he made a enough. Ian couldn’t abide it. “I hated
better business of it.” it,” he says, going on to say that it was
time away from his workshop and he
resented it. School, as far as he was
concerned, was a waste of time. “It
wasn’t the way I would learn anything. I
was used to learning by doing.” Possibly
because he was the youngest, his mother
let him dodge school on “the flimsiest of
excuses” and he could stay at home and
work on his projects.
Ian remains skeptical about traditional
approaches to education. He has also
received several teaching awards at
MIT, which he suspects is because he
recognises that people learn in different
ways. He’s still a staunch advocate of
learning by “doing” and from your
mistakes, rather than by “sitting and
listening”.
He feels strongly about this, citing
Richard Feynman, the American
theoretical physicist and outspoken
critic of the way science was often
16 | Ingenio | Autumn 2017ALUMNI PROFILE
taught, and who coined the term “robust
knowledge”.
“Which is acquired after you struggle
to build something, or to understand
something, and then get it to work.
That turmoil is what results in robust
knowledge. He would also say that
‘fragile knowledge’ is the knowledge
acquired when you cram for an exam,
and it drains out of your brain in the
days afterward. So I try my best when I
lecture to use an experiential approach,
and I think students appreciate that ...
learning about an area by getting in and
feeling it and smelling it and touching
it.”
He always was something of an
autodidact, says Peter, although not
in those words. “He didn’t do an
engineering degree, but he’s become
the most talented engineer I know. He
was self-taught really. He came into the
whole engineering and physics world
slightly later, but with a vengeance.”
Peter could also be described as an
autodidact. He studied engineering
at University, but later gravitated
toward biology and did his PhD in the
physiology department at Oxford where
he taught himself physiology.
They have collaborated and worked
together often; Peter pitching in with the
mathematics, and Ian with his expertise
in instrumentation. More recently
they’ve been collaborating on a project
that actually depends on bringing their
two areas of expertise together. They things take a long time to mature, and a
won’t divulge any details, other than to lot of work.”
say it involves a personal vehicle, one
that is light, powerful and (using electric
and solar technologies) sustainable. It’s
Peter agrees – persistence is
paramount. “The ability to keep going,
to not give up, is crucial. You go through
“ Anything I've done
that is any good has
a vehicle that is so light its development long periods of drudgery ... the creative taken me ten years.
depends on a model of the human being
who is likely to drive it. What will it
process is mysterious.”
They probably wouldn’t be where they But Peter and I have a
look like? “Like nothing you’ve ever seen were if they weren’t competitive, which tremendous interest
before,” says Ian. Watch this space.
Were there any moments, in either
makes you wonder if there have ever
been instances of sibling rivalry. Or, to in history so we know
of their disciplines, that they would put things more bluntly, were they ever that historically
describe as particularly significant, as
breakthrough moments? Ian waves his
jealous of each other?
“That’s one of the bizarre things,” things take a long
arm up and down, tracing one bell curve says Ian. “I think Peter is absolutely time to mature, and a
lot of work.
”
after another, depicting the way things wonderful, but even as a kid I never felt
are in the world of scientific innovation. jealous. My wife has asked me that on a
“Struggling to solve something, getting number of occasions, but I never have.”
downhearted about it, and then, Peter shakes his head. “No, never.
suddenly the solution hits, and you My only regret is that we haven’t been
become ecstatic. In my case it’s 99 able to spend more time together. There
percent perspiration and one percent are a number of moments in my career CAN WE DEVELOP THE GO-TO PRODUCTS
inspiration. Anything I’ve done that is when Ian’s influence has been absolutely AND SERVICES OF TOMORROW?
any good has taken me ten years. But critical.”
Peter and I have a tremendous interest Says Ian: “And vice versa, over and
in history, so we know that historically over again.”
Autumn 2017 | Ingenio | 17You can also read
