Royal Society of New Zealand 2012 Research Honours Dinner

The annual awards evening celebrating top NewZealand researchers was held at Auckland Museum on Wednesday.

Huge congratulations to Distinguished Professor Margaret Brimble, CNZM FRSNZ, School of Chemical Sciences, The University of Auckland, who last night became the second woman to win the Royal Society of New Zealand's Rutherford Medal.

She was quoted by Fairfax at stuff.co.nz

“I am personally very pleased that New Zealand has now recognised me, not for being a woman in science, but for my science.”

The Rutherford Medal was awarded to chemist Professor Brimble, for her world-leading contributions to the synthesis of bioactive natural products.  Part of her work in chemical sciences has been research benefitting those who have experienced brain injury by modifying a naturally occurring peptide found in the brain after an injury, which helps to prevent secondary cell death.

 If you are interested in reading more about her research, please go to the university website for more information.

Other women who won during the presentation of thirteen awards on Wednesday night were:

The Dame Joan Metge Medal for excellence and building relationships in the social science research community.

Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Pro Vice Chancellor and Dean of the School of Māori and Pacific Development, University of Waikato, for inspiring, mentoring and developing Māori researchers.

Professor Janet Holmes FRSNZ, Chair in Linguistics, Victoria University of Wellington, for her outstanding contribution to linguistics.

 

Congratulations to all the winners on Wednesday night, you are inspirations.

I am going to try and focus more on the amazing work of New Zealand women, who, unless they are in film and television tend to slip through the cracks of NZ media, making small headlines no matter how outstanding their work is. Those who are already in their field appreciate them for the work they do, lives they change, and ideas they bring forward.

I will be recognising them here with the original drive due to the fact this is a feminist space, but in the hope that the circle of people who appreciate the work being done will widen. Please don’t hesitate to link to further information on the work these women are doing, or information about their achievements.

Fuck You Earthquake.

Fuck You Earthquake; Mums are still making cups of tea, just on the Barbie.

Fuck You Earthquake; civil defence has been waiting for you.

Fuck You Earthquake; donations and support are pouring in from around the world.

Fuck You Earthquake; people are helping their neighbours who would otherwise be alone.


Fuck You Earthquake; our army is here to help, along with international support.

Fuck You Earthquake; you can’t shake us more times than we can get back up.

Fuck You Earthquake; our medical personnel are top shelf, and prepared for you.

Fuck You Earthquake; the sunset was still beautiful, as will be every sunset from here on.

Fuck You Earthquake; my friend is bruised and scared, but her bottle cabinet is intact!


Fuck You Earthquake; your aftershocks are not as strong as the hands clasped together in support.

Fuck You Earthquake; Bear Grylls is in the south island and would LOVE another excuse to drink his own urine.

Fuck you Earthquake; people are donating blood faster than you can spill it.

Fuck you Earthquake; we have houses in other areas and people who would love to help.

Fuck You Earthquake; New Zealanders are GREAT at making something out of nothing.

Fuck You Earthquake; we will grieve our lost, but no one will ever miss you.


Fuck you Earthquake; we go camping with no electricity for a HOLIDAY – bring it.

Fuck You Earthquake; tonight will be the darkest but tomorrow will get better.


I am not in Christchurch, but I just wanted to say to those that are; the whole country is behind you.
We are here for resources, accommodation, emotional support, blood, love, and financial donations.
So fuck you earthquake, quit picking on Christchurch, because the whole country is behind them.

Xoxo
Scube.

Justice, Kiwi style.

I know that the Ministry of Justice exists to create a fairer and safer New Zealand, and vigilante justice is not recommended. However I had to have a very long laugh when I saw this latest news article.
I haven’t actually seen the video; it was not available when I tried.
A quick run-down on what happened...
In Whangarei two men were apprehended in a citizen’s arrest by some locals who then “kidnapped” them and forced them to dance until the police arrived.Thier dancing was filmed and uploaded to youtube.
Apparently when the police arrived one of the officers had to leave the room, they were laughing so hard.
For all I know was is a distressing and scarring experience for the poor captives.
Not as distressing and scarring as the young man who was stabbed to death by a man so enraged by the frequent and repeated tagging of his fence that he took a life.
I still cannot understand how that could have happened.
The people who held the taggers were apparently killing time until the police showed up, they weren’t trying to bypass the justice system, just get a little extra in on the side.
To be honest,in spite of my interest in human rights my initial and lasting response is good hearted amusement. Our letterbox was repeatedly smashed every weekend a few years back, and we tried to find ways to booby-trap it to surprise the people who were doing it. Ideas that were thrown around (but not used)were making the surrounding area slippery somehow, glass, nails, explosives, packets of anthrax...
We were getting pretty frustrated – letter boxes are not priced to be purchased weekly. A fence is significantly larger, and making the culprits do a dance seems pretty kind in comparison.
I LOVE living in a country without common firearm use, where people can still keep a sense of humour!
I will try and keep this incident in mind and I think we should start a list of possible punishments that can be done without wasting police time. All may be filmed, and distributed, as long as film proof of the crime can be provided.
Perhaps each film should be sent to the ministry of justice and the money that would have been spent organising the justice can go towards cleaning up after the incident.

Petty crime
Littering, spitting or urinating in public, first time shop lifting.
Punishment: Do the chicken dance, or sing the national anthem on film

Heavier duty
Repeated small item shop lifting, disturbing the peace, tagging/destroying minor property.
Punishment: to sing and dance the Macarena whilst wearing only underwear.