No 11 July 18 2002 - Communications - University of Canterbury

University of Canterbury • Christchurch • New Zealand
Volume 37 • No. 11 • Thursday, July 18, 2002
Late news:
At its special meeting on
Tuesday, the University Council
expressed its congratulations
to Professor Le Grew on his
new appointment and placed
on record its appreciation for
his positive contributions
during the past four years.
Search for new vice-chancellor under way
– Chancellor pays tribute
The University Council is
wasting no time looking for
a new vice-chancellor and
hopes the successor to
Professor Daryl Le Grew, who
resigned two weeks ago, will
start early next year.
At a special Council meeting on
Tuesday this week, members
discussed how to proceed with the
search and heard the views of the
University a finalist
in art sponsorship
Perhaps Dean of Music and
Fine Arts Jonathan Mane-
Wheoki’s wish that the
contribution the University
makes to the cultural well-being
of the nation be recognised is
gaining momentum?
The University has just been
announced as a finalist in the NBR
Awards for Sponsorship of the Arts
for its support of last year’s Dark
Plain exhibition, which was part of
the Christchurch Festival of the
Arts.
At the exhibition’s opening at
which Prime Minister Helen Clark
officiated, Mr Mane-Wheoki
acknowledged the University’s
contribution to the Arts Festival in
particular and the city’s regions
and nation’s cultural health in
general.
Such a positive input was a
message he wished to have
“shouted from the rooftops”.
The achievement of finalist in the
awards is along with 28 others, with
the winners to be announced in
October.
Council’s Vice-Chancellor
Employment Committee,
composed of the Chancellor, Dame
Phyllis Guthardt, the Pro-
Chancellor, Dr Robin Mann, and Dr
Roy Holmes and Judge Stephen
Erber.
At the meeting Dame Phyllis
announced her resignation as
Chancellor, effective from
December 31.
Last week, Dame Phyllis said while
it was early days yet, she “didn’t
want to waste any time” in starting
the process to find and appoint the
next vice-chancellor.
Professor Le Grew’s resignation
announcement by all-staff e-mail on
Friday July 5 surprised many
people on campus and came four
years and four days after he took up
the vice-chancellorship for an initial
period of five years. Having
accepted the vice-chancellor’s job at
the University of Tasmania from
January next year, his last day at
Canterbury will be September 26.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor,
Professor Bob Kirk (Geography),
will become acting vice-chancellor
on Professor Le Grew’s departure.
Dame Phyllis said the Vice-
Chancellor’s resignation had not
made her change her mind about
stepping down as Chancellor at the
end of the year. The time had come
for some new faces and ideas
around the Council table.
She paid tribute to Professor Le
Grew’s very positive contributions
since he arrived in July 1998. His
four years at the helm had been
ones of major change in the
tertiary education sector and he
had been instrumental in helping
the University adjust and position
itself for the future, she said.
“He has worked hard on building
positive relationships with the wider
community in Christchurch,
Canterbury and throughout the
country. His leadership of the
p. 2
1
Photo by Duncan Shaw-Brown, C&D

History Foundation lecture and award
Does New Zealand have a day
that it could call Independence
Day?
And “When, if Ever, did New
Zealand become Independent?” –
that is the topic Emeritus
Professor David McIntyre
(pictured right) has researched
for this year’s Jim Gardner
lecture.
He will give his findings in the
auditorium of Christchurch Girls’
High School on Sunday July 21.
The free public lecture sponsored
by the Canterbury History
Foundation begins at 3pm.
Professor McIntyre’s long study
of Commonwealth affairs and of
defence and foreign relations
lends itself to this review of how
New Zealand has found and
declared its place in the world.
Recent discussion of the
monarch’s role, past mentions of
republicanism, debates over
globalisation and about links with
other countries make this a
topical subject for a historian
with David McIntyre’s interests.
Before the annual lecture begins,
Canterbury graduate John
Wilson (BA 1964 and MA 1966) is
to be honoured by the
Canterbury History Foundation
for his long-applied energy in
raising public interest in history.
John completed a PhD at
Harvard University with a thesis
on the early 19th century
relationship between Britain and
China – a task for which he
learned to read the documentary
Chinese then employed by the
Imperial Court.
But it is for his local history
work, assistance to other writers,
inspiring support for preserving
historic buildings and sites,
lectures, articles and for his
publishing enterprise that Dr
Wilson is being awarded the
Foundation’s A C Rhodes History
Search for new vice-chancellor under way
p. 1 Council’s appreciation of the work
Canterbury Tertiary Alliance he has done at Canterbury and wish
initiative has been particularly timely him well in his new position.”
in view of the Government’s new
Dame Phyllis reaffirmed the
emphasis on collaboration and cooperation.
financial recovery plan and the
Council’s commitment to the
“He has also been a strong advocate initiatives being undertaken to ready
for the international dimension of a the University for changes such as
modern university, forging teaching the establishment of the Tertiary
and research relationships with Education Commission, the new
universities throughout the world, charters and profiles exercise and
developing links with our
the implementing of the
international alumni and leading the Government’s new funding regime
internationalisation of our
and performance-based research
curriculum and student body. funding.
“On behalf of the University Council Professor Le Grew said his time at
I would like to place on record the Canterbury had been the most
Medal. Dr Wilson is also the
author of books on the Cheviot
estate, the Christchurch
Drainage Board, lost
Christchurch buildings and of
Waikakahi: Fulfilling the Promise
(1999). For the past 19 years he
has edited the national magazine
of the Historic Places Trust and
its Canterbury regional
newsletter.
– continued
stimulating of his career to date. His
departure was tinged with regret but
also pleasure at the achievements of
the past four years.
“Canterbury is now much better
structured and positioned for the
future. The University is more
outward-looking, more aware of its
strengths and its stakeholders, and
better able to take up the many
opportunities that will become
obvious.
“Being a catalyst and shifting a longentrenched
university culture has
been exciting and demanding. I feel
certain that my successor will find a
dynamic force at work here.”
Structure paper
deadline extended
The deadline for submissions on
the proposed academic
structure paper has been
extended until Friday July 26.
Committee for the Review of
University Structures (CRUST)
Chair, Chancellor Dame Phyllis
Guthardt, said the extension was to
provide more time for comment and
enable better co-ordination by the
Academic Administration
Committee of the faculties’
comments on the proposal.
The Academic Board will consider
the faculty and AAC’s comments at
its meeting, which has been
rescheduled for Wednesday July 24.
Dame Phyllis said she had received
a number of submissions from
individuals, departments and
groups, and was looking forward to
receiving more before the extended
deadline.
AFIS 123
clarification
The previous issue of the
Chronicle reported the
University Council’s approval
of the full semesterisation of
AFIS 123 and referred to the
existing 12-point course. In fact,
AFIS is a six-point course
currently taught over the full
year. The change will see the
course compressed and
delivered in both the first and
second semester.
Next Issue: August 1, 2002
Deadline: July 26, 2002
Editor: Paul Gorman
Ext 6260 or 364 2260
Deputy Editor:
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Ext 6910 or 364 2910
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Artwork: Marcus Thomas
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University of Canterbury Chronicle

Photo by Duncan Shaw-Brown, C&D
Colloquium for school students a success
“Globalisation: A contested
idea in a contested world”
was the topic of a colloquium
for academically talented year
13 (seventh form) students at
the University last week.
Nearly 90 students gave up a day
of their holidays to take part in
the colloquium on July 11. The
day was organised by the
University chapter of the Golden
Key Honour Society and hosted
by the University.
Secondary schools throughout
Canterbury were asked to
nominate up to three
outstanding students to attend
but the criteria for selection
were left to each school.
Students took part in a series of
workshops presented by
University staff from 11
departments. They were
challenged to stretch their
thinking outside the square
about globilisation and related
issues.
Jessica Thorn from Marian
College took part in the
workshop on globalisation and
sport. She concluded it was not
just the sporting participants
who had a responsibility to
society, it was sporting
organisations and organisers as
well.
“It was good to meet lots of other
people. We experienced so
many ideas and it’s important to
realise what is going on around
us. As young people, we need
to take responsibility for our
actions.”
Sixteen University of
Canterbury students, who are
members of the Golden Key
Honour Society, facilitated
discussion in the workshops.
University students in the top
15% of their year are invited to
join the society, which
recognises and encourages
scholastic achievement and
community involvement.
Golden Key co-ordinator Tracy
Murdoch, in the third year of a
psychology degree, said the day
had been very successful.
“The students came in a bit
intimidated. Our job was to
spark discussion. They walked
away forming their own views
on globilisation.”
Tracy said University staff
seemed impressed by the way
students processed the
information presented in the
workshops and the way they
presented their conclusions
back to the whole group.
The colloquium was the first
held by the society at the
University and another is
planned for next year.
More information about the
Golden Key Honour Society is
available at http:/
goldenkey.gsu.edu
Lynette Hartley
Comment sought on greater health
sciences role for University
The University of
Canterbury has the
potential to play an increasing
teaching and research role in
the health sciences and
comment is being sought on a
paper proposing the
establishment of a health
sciences centre at the
University to co-ordinate and
nurture this field.
Historically, health education and
health care have been equated
with medical schools and
hospitals but there is increasing
recognition that health care
comprises more than just
hospital-based services, and
education for health-related
careers can come from a variety
of institutions.
The discussion paper, compiled
by Professor Andrew Hornblow
(above), former dean of the
Christchurch School of Medicine
and Health Sciences and an
adjunct professor at the
University, looks at the future
direction of health sciences in the
The School of Forestry is
presenting a series of six
lectures on New Zealand
forestry history, starting this
week.
Topics to be covered include the
“History of Sand Dune Forestry”,
the “Evolution of Radiata Pine
“Silviculture”, the “Development of
Protection Forestry”, the
region. The paper highlights the
needs for inter-departmental cooperation
and strategic planning,
and for tertiary institutions to
work together.
The University already offers a
wide range of undergraduate and
postgraduate papers, either
directly or indirectly relevant to a
career in the health field. Health
research and teaching within the
University currently includes
health policy, information
technology, environmental
health, medical physics and
bioengineering.
More than 100 postgraduate
students are doing theses in
health-related areas and more
than 60 academic staff are
involved in the delivery of healthrelated
courses or have
significant research
collaborations with colleagues in
other health institutions.
Professor Hornblow concludes
the paper with four proposals
which would build on existing
strengths and lead the University
forward as a health education
provider. One is the
establishment of a Canterbury
health sciences centre that would
operate in a similar way to
Gateway Antarctica, providing
core health sciences courses,
fostering inter-departmental
research and encouraging
strategic development.
Copies of the discussion paper
are available for comment by the
end of July from Kathy Watkins
on level six of the Registry,
phone 364 2496 or extension
8810.
Lynette Hartley
History of forestry in New Zealand
focus of lecture series
“Introduction of Economic
Forestry” and “Innovation in Forest
Products Processing”. They will be
presented by forestry staff and
people involved in commercial
forestry.
All the speakers have had long
careers in the New Zealand
forestry sector and can speak from
first-hand experience.
3

When Australian Daryl Le
Grew took the helm on July 1,
1998, he became Canterbury’s
fifth vice-chancellor since the
University was granted
independence in 1957.
His resignation a fortnight ago –
after four years in the job – to take
over the leadership of the
University of Tasmania means the
search for a new vice-chancellor is
about to begin.
In this Chronicle time-line, we
remember some of the moments
and events of the Le Grew era.
July 1, 1998, 3pm: At his first
University Council meeting that
afternoon, the new Vice-Chancellor
says he will take a comprehensive
approach to the building
programme, audit the use of space
and examine ways to reduce the
need to borrow.
July 13, 1998: The University
formally welcomes Professor Le
Grew and wife Jo. A civic reception
was held 10 days later at which the
Vice-Chancellor was presented
with the keys of the city by former
mayor Vicki Buck.
The Le G
April 14, 1999: Professor Le
Grew and Christchurch College of
Education Principal Dr Ian Hall
sign a memorandum of
understanding between the two
institutions.
December 15, 1997:
Professor Le Grew accepts the
vice-chancellor’s job and is
photographed in the garden of
former University chancellor Ian
Leggat.
May 1999: Another signing, this
time with the University of Hong
Kong and its Vice-Chancellor,
Professor Y C Cheng. Memoranda
of understanding were also signed
during the month with the National
University of Singapore and Tongji
University in Shanghai.
July 1, 1998, 10am: On a wet
winter’s morning, Professor Le
Grew settles into the office left
vacant the previous day by his
predecessor, Emeritus Professor
Bert Brownlie. A laptop installed
on his desk that morning is an
early sign of change at the top.
December 16, 1998:
Chancellor Ian Leggat and the Vice-Chancellor make their way along
Worcester Boulevard to Professor Le Grew’s first Canterbury graduation
ceremony.
August 1999: Physics and
Astronomy Department senior
technician Bob Flygenring
receives the inaugural Vice-
Chancellor’s General Staff
Development Award. Professor Le
Grew paid tribute to the work of
general staff on campus and said
he was pleased to see the award
become a reality.
University of Canterbury Chronicle

ew years
October 5, 1999: Occupation!
Under the media spotlight,
Professor Le Grew attempts to
reason with angry students on
level six of the Registry. The
occupation began after a rowdy
rally against fee increases, which
were approved by the University
Council that week.
July 18, 2000: Professor Le Grew
ratifies Canterbury’s involvement in
the Southern African Large
Telescope (SALT) project by
signing an agreement with
Canterbury’s Director on the SALT
Board, Associate Professor Peter
Cottrell (Physics and Astronomy).
Professor Bob Kirk (standing, left)
and Alan Hayward act as witnesses.
May 25, 2001: More than 3000 staff and students from Canterbury and
other local tertiary institutions listen in support of the Vice-Chancellor,
who took the unprecedented step of closing the University for half a day to
protest at the Government’s 2.6% funding increase offered in return for
freezing student fees.
March 2000: The University and
its neighbour, Ilam Primary
School, formalise links. Principal
Lyn Atkinson signs the agreement
watched by pupils Hassan Kamel
(left), Alexander Gee and Peter
Knot.
October 2001: Trustees of the
University of Canterbury
Foundation sign the trust deed in
Professor Le Grew’s office. The
foundation is raising private funds to
generate extra resources for the
University.
April 17, 2002: New Zealand
actor Sam Neill and Professor Le
Grew march to the Christchurch
Town Hall for the graduation
ceremony in which Neill was
presented with an honorary LittD.
December 20, 2000:
Facing up to the media over the
release of the independent
working party report into Dr Joel
Hayward’s MA history thesis, The
Fate of Jews in German Hands.
May 2000: The Vice-Chancellor
thanks Foreign Affairs and Trade
Minister Phil Goff for opening the
University’s Centre for Research
on Europe, which involves
European researchers from a wide
range of fields.
May 3, 2001: In Auckland, the
Vice-Chancellor and his University
of Auckland counterpart, Dr John
Hood, sign the memorandum of
understanding between the
universities.
March 4, 2002, 9am:
The Vice-Chancellor and Human
Resources Director Associate
Professor Bruce Jamieson pass a
noisy but good-natured picket line
during nationwide strike action by
University union members in
support of a pay claim of 8%.
July 5, 2002: Professor Le Grew
announces his resignation to staff
and media. His last day will be
September 26.
5

Photo by Duncan Shaw-Brown, C&D
Campus buzzes during Info Days
The campus came alive during
the July break as a flood of
potential new students explored
it and checked out courses for
next year.
Canterbury University held the
annual Information Days on July 9
and 10 for year 13 (seventh form)
students who are in the process of
deciding what to do next year. The
days gave them a chance to see what
the University is like and get course
advice.
Liaison Events Manager Naomi
Wilde said the days were very
successful this year. The only
disappointment was the cold weather,
but she received lots of positive
feedback.
The days were held in July because
university and secondary school
holidays coincided and students and
their families were able to travel from
other parts of New Zealand and stay
in the halls of residence.
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Students attended presentations by
staff on a wide range of courses and
information was available on
everything from course planning to
budgeting. Students currently at
the University were available to act
as guides around the campus.
Visiting students came from as far
afield as Kaitaia and Katikati, and
twice the number of students stayed
in the halls as last year. Ms Wilde
said engineering and psychology
were particularly popular and there
was a lot of interest in the science
tours. Mature students planning
second semester courses also found
the days useful.
In September, there will be an open
day for year 12 (6 th form) students.
Called Discovery Day, this will be
held during term and the students
will get a taste of the University in
action.
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Lynette Hartley
Secondary school students check out the Info Days departmental displays in
the Engineering Concourse.
University of Canterbury
astronomer Professor
John Hearnshaw (Physics and
Astronomy) is to advise the MOA
(Microlensing Observations in
Astrophysics) group, of which
he is a member, on the
building of a new $7 million
2m telescope to be built and
installed at the Mount John
University Observatory, at
Tekapo.
In what the leader of the MOA
project in New Zealand, Associate
Professor Phil Yock, describes as a
“quantum leap” for New Zealand
optical astronomy, the new telescope
will greatly improve on the
observations made when the project
commenced in 1995 with a 60cm
telescope.
The 2m telescope is to be built in
Kyoto for Professor Yasushi of
Nagoya University, Japan, with
funds from the Japanese Ministry of
Education and Science, initially with
a grant of about $7 million.
Professor Hearnshaw is travelling to
Nagoya University later this year to
advise on telescope design. He will
also assist with its installation at
Mount John.
On July 11 more than 20
secondary school science
teachers visited the Zoology and
Plant and Microbial Sciences
(PAMS) departments for the
opportunity to learn more about
biological research at
Canterbury.
This was the third Teachers’ Day
since 1998 hosted by PAMS to
encourage communication between
high school teachers and University
staff. The day provided teachers
with new materials they can take
back into the classroom and gave
them the chance to network with
colleagues at other schools.
Photo by Matt Walters, PAMS
Major new telescope for Mt John
The telescope will be used for
imaging large areas of the sky to
measure the brightness of stars for
the MOA project, which aims to find
new planets, especially those of
about the same size as the Earth,
orbiting distant stars.
A large CCD electronic camera with
64 million pixels will be used to
record the images. These will
subsequently be analysed by
computer to measure star brightness
and find gravitational microlensing
events. In these events, light from a
distant star is temporarily amplified
by the gravitational field of another
star of intermediate distance on the
line of sight. Small deviations in these
measurements of starlight can show
the presence of planets orbiting
distant stars, including those as small
as the Earth in the so-called
“habitable zone”.
Following installation, which is
planned for 2004, the telescope will
be used exclusively by MOA
astronomers from both New Zealand
and Japan for five years, after which
time it will be available for use for
other projects by astronomers from
the two countries.
Third biology Teachers’ Day held
Dr Ashley Sparrow (left) explains
ecological theory using Lego bricks.
Dr Paul Broady (PAMS), who
organised the day, said academic
staff also benefited from the event
by gaining new insights into the
needs of teachers and incoming
students.
The teachers, who came from as far
away as South Canterbury and
Marlborough, spent the day
listening to talks about new
biological research and participating
in hands-on laboratory sessions.
The topics were diverse, ranging
from electron microscopy to ecology
and from local streams to
Antarctica. One of the most popular
workshops showed how to use Lego
to explain ecological theory.
Head of PAMS Dr Ashley Sparrow
said the day was a great success and
that, by the end of it, teachers were
reporting back enthusiastically on
what they had experienced and what
they could take back to their
schools to help students learn. He
hoped the Teachers’ Day would
continue as an annual event.
Laura Sessions

Photo by Duncan Shaw-Brown, C&D
Kids enjoy hands-on experiences
“If I can just pull this bit here, I might get that bit off.” Five-year-old Finn Lanham
gets to grips with some serious cogs and gears during “Mechanical Wonders”.
More than 100 budding
mechanical engineers visited
the Mechanical Engineering
Department each day during
the Christchurch City
Council’s Kids Fest.
During the two-week semester
break, children have visited the
department to experience
“Mechanical Wonders”, a tour
of various rooms and
mechanical parts. Children and
parents have seen how an
engine works, touched and
played with engine components,
experienced wind speeds of up
to 100kph in the wind tunnel,
watched helium bubbles float in
the air, seen Hamlet the insect
robot and learnt how sound
travels in the reverberation
room, among other things.
New Zealand
Post Scholarship
Christine Elliott, a
postgraduate student in the
Geography Department, has
been awarded a New Zealand
Post Scholarship. Christine’s
research interest is in physical
rock weathering processes and
their effectiveness along a
moisture gradient on the
Victoria Land Coast of
Antarctica. Working with the
Geography Department and
Gateway Antarctica, she will
visit the Antarctic in
November/December and
January/February to carry out
some of her research.
Technical officer Graeme Harris
said it had been an opportunity
for children to gain hands-on
experience with mechanics and
would hopefully encourage some
to return as first-year mechanical
engineering students.
“The response from the kids and
parents has been very
enthusiastic and everyone seems
to have thoroughly enjoyed
themselves. It certainly has been
a busy two weeks.”
Memorial prize
established
The prize commemorating
Associate Professor Ken
Whybrew’s contribution to the
Department of Mechanical
Engineering has been
officially adopted by the
Academic Administration
Committee.
Funds for the prize were raised
by former students, associates
and friends of the late Professor
Whybrew, who died in February
2001.
The Ken Whybrew Memorial
Prize is to be awarded to a
student for excellence in
manufacturing technology on the
basis of his or her performance
in the course ENME 226.
The prize is to be awarded
annually by Council on the
recommendation of the Head of
Department of Mechanical
Engineering.
The prize’s current value is $300.
Trials and achievements at Mt Hutt
Mount Hutt is not only arguably
New Zealand’s finest ski area,
but a winter playground that
saved the Mid-Canterbury town
of Methven from slow economic
death.
The skifield’s evolution is a stirring
saga of latter-day pioneering by a
group of far-sighted, rugged
individuals who overcame almost
insurmountable odds to establish a
winter sports venue in challenging
terrain.
White Gold: The Mount Hutt Story,
published by Canterbury
University Press and launched
recently, is the first book to
chronicle Mount Hutt’s turbulent
development. It covers all its
subsequent trials, tribulations and
achievements through the years to
the present day.
Mount Hutt’s slogan
is “First to open, last
to close”. During a
period from Queen’s
Birthday weekend to
about mid-November,
it notches up about
145,000 “skier days”,
as they are known.
But White Gold is
much more than a
book for skiers – author Gerry
Power describes it as a book for
people who “like a good story”.
It is packed with fascinating events,
incidents and personalities and has
all the ingredients of a gripping
novel: Two of the Rainbow Warrior
bombers skied there before
embarking on their treacherous
mission; other “notable” skiers
included Leonard Bernstein, Cliff
Robertson and Margot Kidder; and
before the skifield was established,
Willi Huber, one of the pioneers of
the development, wintered over on
the mountain in a small hut with
only some pet mice for company.
• Sales
The mice, unfortunately, died of
the cold.
Power is an experienced journalist
who has worked on the editorial
staff of the Evening Post, Dominion
and Sydney’s Daily Mirror. He is a
former Royal New Zealand Navy
public affairs officer and director of
public relations for the New Zealand
Defence Force. He retired to
Methven in 1996 and his interest in
the Mount Hutt ski area led to his
being asked to write this history.
Power admits to not being a skier
“but the first thing you see when
you arrive in Methven is that great
big mountain, and it certainly
grabbed my interest”. He has
subsequently spent a lot of time on
“the mountain”, discovering a 24-
hour operation involving a team of
people from doctors
and engineers, to
snow-groomers and
chefs.
Researching the
history, he discovered
a tale of triumph over
physical and financial
obstacles. Willi Huber,
Noel Chambers, Geoff
Harrow, Peter Yeoman
and the late Lex
Eddington and Doug Hood are the
names that made Mount Hutt a
reality. Doug Hood was the man
behind the access road that many
said was an impossibility.
White Gold is richly illustrated with
photographs, many from private
collections. It was launched in
Methven by the late Doug Hood’s
widow, Mary. Doug Hood
Contractors Limited contributed
generously to the publication of the
book.
• White Gold: The Mount Hutt Story
by Gerry Power. Published by
Canterbury University Press,
paperback, 156 pages. $34.95.
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7

Mech Engineering puts rugby balls through their paces
With the international
rugby season upon us,
rugby becomes a serious
occupation for some –
including those in the
Mechanical Engineering
Department.
TV3 contracted the department
to conduct a number of trials on
the two brands of rugby ball
available, Adidas and Gilbert. A
documentary on the balls was
aired on TV3 last Friday night
(July 12), the night before the
Tri-Nations Bledisloe Cup game
against Australia at Jade Stadium.
“There has been a lot of
controversy over the balls,”
Graeme Harris, Mechanical
Engineering aeronautics
technical officer, said. “Some say
the Adidas ball doesn’t fly as well
in the air, so when kicked it could
be less accurate. As the All
Blacks are used to the Adidas
ball, it may give them an
advantage over visiting teams.
We wanted to see if the balls
were in fact different and if the
hearsay was true.”
Dr Dave Aitchison, a lecturer in
sports engineering, has also been
involved in the testing and
analysis programming.
The work of one of the 20th
century’s greatest philosophers,
Sir Karl Popper, was celebrated
in Christchurch last weekend,
100 years since his birth in
Austria.
Karl Popper lectured at what was
then Canterbury University College
from 1937 to 1945 and during this
period wrote what is arguably his
most influential work, The Open
Society and Its Enemies.
It is widely acknowledged that the
ideas contained in Open Society
provided the philosophical basis
that successfully challenged
communism and led to the eventual
democratisation of Eastern and
Central Europe.
Popper came to Canterbury in 1937
with his wife Hennie and engaged
in a huge range of teaching and
exposition, fundamentally changing
the University’s thinking on
research and the nature of
University of Canterbury Chronicle
During an investigation which
lasted more than three weeks,
the balls were tested and
measured according to the
international rugby ball
standards for more than 15
variables, including mass,
dimensions, inertia, stability,
aerodynamic ability and weight.
But Mr Harris said more could
be done. “There is enough work
to do a PhD thesis on the subject
if someone wanted to - it is a
complex topic.”
The Mechanical Engineering
Department was chosen to
complete the testing because it
specialised technical equipment
enables the balls to be measured
under stringent conditions. Of
the technical equipment, the
computer co-ordinate measuring
machine measured the
dimensions of the balls down to
microns. Testing has also been
carried out in the department’s
wind tunnel. The ball is passed
into the tunnel and the flight path
and the air flow around the ball is
recorded on video and analysed.
“The testing isn’t to determine
which ball is better. It was to see
if there were differences in the
two models of rugby ball. It was
academic work. He also climbed
Mount Cook. Sir Karl died in 1994.
The University of Canterbury’s
Popper Centenary Conference last
weekend at Chateau on the Park
attracted leading Popper experts
from New Zealand and around the
world. These included Dr Alan
Ryan, Master of New College Oxford
and author of books on political
philosophy and the philosophy of
social science, and Dr Anthony
O’Hear from the University of
Bradford, the Director of the Royal
Institute of Philosophy and author
and editor of books on Popper.
Topics covered included “Science
and Democracy”, “Popper and
Analytical Philosophy”, “Popper’s
Utopia” and “Towards an Open
Knowledge Society”.
The conference was organised by
staff from the Philosophy and
Religious Studies, and Political
Science, departments.
The computer co-ordinate measuring machine shows the Gilbert ball is shorter
than the Adidas one.
Wind blowing (from left to right) in the wind tunnel leaves patterns on the
Gilbert ball (left) and the Adidas ball, which are recorded for later analysis.
interesting to see that both balls
had significant differences. The
dimensions were slightly
different – one ball was 20g
heavier than the other and one
Christchurch hosts conference on leading 20 th Century philosopher
ball is bigger, one was shorter –
overall they were significantly
different,” Mr Harris said.
Jane Lucas
Reminiscing about Popper are, from left, Professor Peter Munz, a Canterbury
University College student in the 1940s, Popper book author and Visiting Erskine
Fellow Professor Anthony O’Hear, and Jeremy Shearmur, a student of, and
assistant to, Popper while he was at Canterbury.
Photos by Graeme Harris, Mech Eng. Dept.
Photo by Duncan Shaw-Brown, C&D