BERT: Good morning, Mrs Grey, this is Bert Stock speaking from Finnegan's Flight Centre. I can now confirm your flight to Singapore.
MRS GREY: Oh good. No problems, I hope?
BERT: No, everything is in order.
MRS GREY: So we got the dates we wanted?
BERT: Yes, leaving from Hong Kong on the 25th of July and arriving in Singapore later the same day.
MRS GREY: How long does the flight last?
BERT: Oh, about three hours forty minutes.
MRS GREY: So, we'd get there at...
BERT: 9:45.
MRS GREY: In the evening?
BERT: No, 9:45 am.
MRS GREY: But that means we'd be leaving at...?
BERT: Your flight leaves Hong Kong at 6:05 am.
MRS GREY: So, we'd have to check in an hour before that...?
BERT: Mrs Grey, check-in closes 60 minutes before your scheduled departure. If you arrive after check-in has closed, you will not be able to board the flight and you may forfeit your entire fare. I would strongly recommend that you arrive at the check-in counter at least 120 minutes before your departure time.
MRS GREY: So you're saying we should be at the airport no later than 4:05 am?
BERT: That's correct.
MRS GREY: But we'd have to get up in the middle of the night to arrive by that time! Can't we get a later flight?
BERT: Not on July 25th. Now there is a later flight on certain weekdays but not at the weekend.
MRS GREY: Well, we must go with what we've got then because we're not at all flexible on the dates because of work commitments.
BERT: Can I confirm that you want to return on August 7th?
MRS GREY: Yes, that's the idea.
BERT: Flight VQ 239 will depart from Singapore at 9:20 am on August seventh.
MRS GREY: Oh, that's a much more civilized time. Tell me, the time zone is the same, isn't it? We don't gain or lose an hour along the way?
BERT: There's no change in the time zone so you can expect to be back at around 1 pm Does that suit you?
MRS GREY: Oh, absolutely. I'll have time to unpack before dinner—we're expecting to meet friends at the new seafood restaurant at 8 o'clock.
BERT: Mrs Grey, I'll send you all these details by an email or letter of confirmation. Which do you prefer?
MRS GREY: Well, email is faster but we've been having difficulties with our Internet connection so if you could post it out, I'd appreciate that.
BERT: Now, just one or two other things to check before final confirmation...You're booked on a Liteflite ticket.
MRS GREY: What does that mean exactly?
BERT: Well, you'll only have carry-on baggage, is that right?
MRS GREY: Oh yes, that was the original idea. It's so much quicker not having to wait around at the luggage carousel, but...
BERT: Yes?
MRS GREY: Can you remind me of the allowance again?
BERT: With a Liteflite ticket you're allowed ten kilos of hand baggage.
MRS GREY: I'm not sure that's such a good idea now.
BERT: Oh?
MRS GREY: Well, apparently we're going to have to attend quite a few formal functions while we're away so I think I'm going to need a real suitcase to fit the extra clothes and shoes in.
BERT: Well, that's not a problem—I can upgrade you to the next level and change your ticket to 'Easyflite'. There will be an extra charge of course.
MRS GREY: How much?
BERT: $30 per checked-in item of luggage weighing no more than 22 kilos per item.
MRS GREY: Well, we'll probably manage with just a single suitcase between the two of us. Is it possible to do it like that?
BERT: Yes, of course. You can take the 'Easyflite' option and your husband can stay with the 'Liteflite' ticket.
MRS GREY: Great.
BERT: I'll give you your reservation number now so if you need to make any further changes or enquiries you can just quote this reference, okay?
MRS GREY: Yes, I have a pen and paper—what is it?
BERT: L4GBWF.
MRS GREY: L4GBUF?
BERT: WF.
MRS GREY: Thanks, I've got it now.
BERT: At this point I can actually book your seat numbers. Do you have any preference—window or aisle?
MRS GREY: Oh, not by the window, Bert. You see, I'm quite a nervous flier and I don't like looking out. What's more, my husband likes a bit of room to stretch his legs. Aisle would be good.
BERT: Great. That's sorted then. As I said, I'll send you the details and if you need to talk to the agency again just quote that reference number I gave you.
MRS GREY: Thanks so much. Bye.
Kingstown has been a busy town this year with some high profile and new events happening in and around the area.
In January we hosted the National Kayak Selections and this competition attracted a number of well known paddlers, not just from this country, but from Canada, Ireland, England and Australia. Following this event, we had the nation's top bowls players descend on the township with the National Championships taking place at the Kingstown Bowling Club attracting well over 400 players. It was a resounding success as you could see from the numbers thronging the Bowling Centre in Main Street.
February was the month for the Seriously Social Rafting Competition and this was the first time Kingstown had hosted an event of this nature. It attracted 96 paddlers from all walks of life who enjoyed a great day of fun on the river. After the success of last year's open half-marathon event, this year, in March, we hosted a Women's Only Duathlon in an attempt to get more women involved in sport. The starting point was at the Kingstown pool but an extremely chilly evening saw a huge reduction in the numbers we were expecting. However, approximately 50 participants were not deterred from tackling the event—which for many was their first time—and these hardy contestants went into the first 2.5K run with great enthusiasm. The cycle leg was extremely challenging because it was into a head wind all the way and the last 5K run was no easier. At this point I must thank all the volunteers who took time out to help make this event successful—especially the road marshals who did an excellent job.
We must also thank the Kingstown Creative Pursuits Society for hosting the wonderful Autumn Festival. The women involved put on a magnificent demonstration of traditional and present-day craft work ranging from ancient weaving techniques to modern pottery designs and sculpture. These ladies are highly skilled and they got a good turnout on the day—which, by the way, they are thinking of making a bi-annual event—so we might have a spring festival on its way!
Winter brought with it the annual Kingstown Youth Tournament which was a huge success with the allocated team slots filling up fast. Teams consisted of approximately 15 youths ranging in age from 8 to 18. The teams spent the day on the fields of Prince Park playing a round robin touch tournament system. The event, which drew large crowds of the public who cheered and gave lots of support and encouragement for the teams, showcased some outstanding youth talent.
Now, what's coming up for the school holidays? Well, the town council has several plans lined up to keep the kids busy. Let's get straight into it. Programme One, which will take place around the Prince Park area, has a sports agenda and will have participants engaged in a variety of sporting activities such as Tennis, Athletics, Football and Swimming.
Programme Two is for the somewhat less active and more creative children. They will do most of their activities in and around the Lord Hall area. These will consist of Cooking, Craft, Dance and Hair Styling. You'd be surprised at the number of children who leap at the chance to learn to cook, not to mention the other activities. The Hall will be positively buzzing, I can tell you. This is a great chance for your children to learn a new skill or brush up on one that they're already crazy about.
Programme Three is for the more adventurous children. Because of this we do insist on a minimum age limit of eleven years old. The Duke Recreational Area has been set aside for this programme. Expect your youngsters to learn a lot about leadership and team work as they accomplish some of their missions. They'll engage in activities such as Skate boarding, Rafting, Orienteering, Mountain biking and Trekking.
Well, thank you for your attention, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
TUTOR: Good morning. Now, you've come to discuss how our parliament works, is that right?
LUCY: Yes. It's a bit different from some of the other democracies we've studied and we're a bit confused.
TUTOR: Well, what do you know?
LUCY: We know that the system of government in New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy but we're not sure how the power is shared or who has ultimate authority.
TUTOR: The government is formed from a democratically elected House of Representatives.
TOBY: Is that the same as parliament?
TUTOR: Yes, the House of Representatives is what is commonly called Parliament.
LUCY: And the government advises the Sovereign—who is our Head of State.
TOBY: The Sovereign is the Queen of England, right?
TUTOR: She lives in England and she is the Queen of England but when we refer to her as our sovereign, we say she is Queen Elizabeth the second of New Zealand.
TOBY: But how can she be our head of state if she doesn't live here?
LUCY: I know that. She has a representative here.
TOBY: Oh yes, the Governor General.
TUTOR: That's right. Now, by convention, the Sovereign is the source of all executive legal authority in New Zealand.
LUCY: So she's the boss.
TUTOR: Well, you could say that. However, she (or her representative) almost always acts on the advice of the government—in all but the most exceptional circumstances, that is.
LUCY: So where does the real power lie?
TUTOR: Good question. Our system is based on the principle that power is distributed across three branches of government—the parliament, the Executive, and Judiciary.
LUCY: But Parliament makes the law, doesn't it?
TUTOR: That's right.
TOBY: So what's the point of the other two?
TUTOR: Well, you need a body to administer the law—that's the Executive (made up of Ministers of the Crown)—and the Judiciary interprets the law through the courts.
LUCY: When I'm watching American legal programmes on TV, I always hear people talking about the 'constitution', and how something is 'unconstitutional'. What exactly is a constitution?
TUTOR: It's a document outlining the basic laws or principles by which a country is governed.
LUCY: Do we have one?
TUTOR: No. This would actually make a good topic for next semester's debate. There's quite a bit of controversy over that particular issue. New Zealand has no single written constitution or any form of law that is higher than the laws passed in Parliament.
LUCY: Okay, I think I've got that...the rules about how our system of government works are all contained in the laws that have been passed by Parliament?
TUTOR: Those laws are called Acts of Parliament but there are also other documents issued under the authority of the Queen and some relevant UK Acts of Parliament...
TOBY: Really? But it's all written down, right?
TUTOR: Not exactly—there are several unwritten constitutional conventions as well.
LUCY: I can see why this would make a good topic for debate!
TUTOR: Mmm. Altogether though, our system is quite simple because our parliament is unicameral.
TOBY: What does that mean?
TUTOR: It means there is just one chamber—the House of Representatives—and there is no upper house.
LUCY: I see. By 'upper house' you mean a second house, like a senate?
TOBY: In the American model yes, but the British have a House of Lords as their upper house, don't they?
TUTOR: Yes, but the Lords don't have to be elected.
LUCY: But we have elections every three years to elect our people's representatives.
TUTOR: Yes, and the electoral system is called proportional representation. A lot of democracies have quite different voting systems.
LUCY: Why is ours called MMP?
TUTOR: That stands for mixed member proportional representation.
TOBY: So that's why each elector has two votes.
TUTOR: Exactly—one for a local Member of Parliament for the particular electoral district you live in and one for a preferred political party.
TOBY: So that's where the 'proportional' part of it comes in—political parties are represented in Parliament in proportion to the share of votes each party has won in the party vote in the general election.
TUTOR: Any more questions?
TOBY: No, not at this stage. Thank you for your time today.
TUTOR: Okay, see you in class tomorrow. Bye.
First of all I would like to thank you for enrolling in this optional Ethics course. For some time now I've been pushing to have it made compulsory for all first-year university students...and you'll soon see why. Today's topic is cheating. For as long as there have been tests, assignments and examinations, there has been cheating of some form or another.
How do we define cheating? Well, quite simply, some say it's a violation of the regulations. But what is that set of laws, who composed them, and are they reasonable? Interestingly, a survey of year 7–12 students last year showed that over a third of them cheated by cell phone during a test—some by texting answers and a much smaller percentage by searching the Internet. Over half, yes, over half, of the survey's participants admitted to cheating of some kind. But—and this is the thing—many of the students didn't even acknowledge web-based cheating as cheating at all. Most thought that phone-cheating or downloading a paper off the net was nothing other than a minor offence. So, what's the implication? If it's not a serious offence, is it acceptable?
We live in a digital age where learning is all about sharing information. And, let's face it, students today have seen so many instances of music, videos, images and text copied online without rightful recognition given as to their origin that I'm not sure whether you even fully understand the concept of plagiarism. But we can't blame the digital age alone.
I know that ours is a 'high-stakes' education system—by that I mean there is a great deal to be won or lost by a good or bad grade. If we scrutinise the system, we may well affirm that cheating isn't really dishonest, it's merely a survival skill. For many teachers and students, it's the product that counts, not the process. By process, I mean the way it is produced. You see, when learning becomes nothing more than 'information sharing', knowledge or data aren't figured out and understood; they're just retrieved and passed on. How much is actually absorbed? When we discuss cheating, we must look at the educational environment as well as the morality, or lack of it.
Researchers have found that environments conducive to cheating are those where the focus is wrong. Sometimes instructors have no meaningful relationship with their students, perhaps due to overcrowded classrooms and lecture halls or individual personalities. Secondly, students who cheat are most often the ones who think the task is pointless or the amount of work is overwhelming. If the classroom is a place where learning is genuinely engaging and the emphasis is on openly exploring ideas, there would be no necessity for cheating. A third, and very important, point is that grades and marks matter more to some students than what they're doing; and lastly, achievement is taken to mean outperforming others and these competitive practices encourage cheating.
Anyway, I fail to see the value in working alone and cramming information into short-term memory. Real collaboration and cooperation puts the focus on thinking rather than on memorising. I have to say that it's the actions of teachers, classroom organisation and cultural background that have as much to do with cheating as individual student behaviour.
Of course, some students cheat by plagiarising, or copying, because they simply don't understand the material, nor do they have any confidence in their writing skills. But I think the majority of students end up plagiarising because they just don't know how to cite sources correctly, or how to sum up others' ideas in their own words. These reasons have remained the same for centuries—it's really just that the digital age has made it easier—but remember, teachers use technology to spot plagiarism too so it's also very much easier for them. First year students should have to complete a compulsory writing skills course where the rudiments of proper referencing and summarising are taught.
I also think it's a big mistake if Ethics is not a first year requirement as well. In this university, I think it's only the Computing Department that insists all its students complete a paper in Ethics. Learning and education is not just about cramming facts or increasing your knowledge base, it's about intellectual integrity and honesty and rising to meet higher ethical standards. Now this may necessitate a change in pedagogy and educational philosophy but most importantly it will involve a challenge to engage students in discussion on morals and academic morality.