Ashburton Courier: December 12, 2019

Page 54, Ashburton's The Courier, Thursday 12 December 2019
Local news at www.starnews.co.nz
Club news
John Driscoll with the coffee machine at Community House.
Coffee machine donated
Those who work at and visit Community
House in Ashburton will be
able to satisfy their caffeine fix in style
thanks to a state­of­the­art coffee
machine donated to the house by
Chorus and More FM’s morning
radio show. Coffee­drinkers can even
programme the machine from their
smartphones. Community House,
which accommodates many diverse
community organisations, was nominated
for a technology freebie from
Chorus as part of a 12 days of
Christmas campaign. The Jura
machine was plugged in on Monday,
while staff set off to buy coffee beans.
Ashburton Hearing Association
The Ashburton Hearing
Association’s Christmas lunch
was awell­attended and avery
pleasantgathering.
Before enjoying adelicious
meal, those present adoptedthe
recommendation of the
committee to appoint Russell
Anstiss as patronofthe branch.
Russell’sappointment reflects
his huge contribution to the
Hearing Association and his
concern for those who are
hearing impaired.
Entertainment at the lunch
included afabulous
demonstration givenbysome
members of Rand RLine
Dancers Group and avisitfrom
Santa.
The dear old chap in the red
suit dispensed gifts to thosewho
have or said theyhave been good
duringthe year.
Everyone must have been good
because they allreceived agift!
The Christmas lunchcapped
off avery successful year for the
AshburtonHearing Association
duringwhich it provided services
to members, hosted the National
Conference,enjoyed various
socialactivities and established a
Named Fundwithin the Advance
AshburtonCommunity
Foundation.
While extendingSeason’s
Greetings to members and
friends, President Aine Whiting
said the branch will continue its
socialprogramme in the New
Year beginningwith abus trip in
February 2020.
U3A Hakatere/Ashburton
Meeting –26November 2019
The final meeting of U3A
Hakatere/Ashburton for 2019,
was held at St David’s Church,
Allenton onTuesday 26 November.
The guest speaker was Professor
Adrian Paterson, who is
Head of the Department ofPestmanagement
and Conservation
at Lincoln University. He has
been at Lincoln for 25 years
where he has taught and
researched animal behaviour,
wildlife conservation and management,
biodiversity and evolutionary
biology. Hetold us what
research shows us about how
evolution influences society and
particularly teenagers. Professor
Paterson began his talk with a
quote from David Brin (2005):
“We are genetically little different
than our ancestors who dwelled
in caves; and yet, equipped
with Neolithic brains, we seek to
design and operate an increasingly
complex human civilization,
while plunging headlong into a
century of rapid change.” The
talk was focused on “ourselves’’,
but was not about individuals. In
any group most peoplewill do the
‘normal’ thing. Professor Paterson
put the question, “What is
normal”. 99% of the time that
humans have been on Earth they
have been hunters and gatherers,
living insmall groups. The foci of
a teenager are themselves,
appearance, relationships. parents,
and health. Each of these
foci were discussed. The influences
on ‘themselves’ begin with
pregnancy. Mother and child
sometimes share the same goals
but more often are in conflict.
The child needing more than the
mother gives. The embryo has to
be implanted and stay that way.
The placenta, aparasitic organ, is
there for the baby, not the
mother. The placenta ensures
that there isagood blood supply
taking nutrients to the baby.
Chemicals are released to help
the baby survive. The mother also
has chemicals that counteract
what the baby is taking. From the
start the baby is looking after
itself. Colic was discussed and it
may be a‘disease’ of affluence.
There is some evidence that
developing countries have very
low levels of colic. A study of
75,000 babies showed that colic
babies were not significantly
worse in any measurements and
were slightly larger. Appearance
is an important focus. Facial
dominance determines how
people are perceived by others.
Symmetry of the face fluctuates.
Agene should build paired traits
the same, such as legs same
length, fingers same width, eyes
same colour. Disruption of
development or slight genetic
mutations will cause imperfections.
This is signal that some
potential mates may be inferior
to other choices. After a 30
second meeting a ‘map’ of a
person can be formed. Relationships
­ How do humans select
mates? Males and females are
likely to have different sexual
selection strategies. A study of
over 10,000 people from 37 cultures
on 6 continents examined
how males and females rated
various attributes in potential
mates. In all cultures women
rated financial prospects higher
than men and women wanted
men older than themselves. Men
wanted younger women and
rated beauty higher than women.
Parents ­the basis ofmany of our
fairy tales isthe conflict between
children and step­parents. This is
understandable from an evolutionary
perspective as the stepparent
isnot genetically related
to the child. Most parents of
adopted children put more positive
support into adopted children
than into their genetic children.
Moffitt and Capsi tested
whether upbringing or genes contributed
to antisocial behaviour
and criminality. They found that
a‘bad’ gene and a‘bad’ environment
determined antisocial
behaviour. Social policy and
social expectations must adapt to
a world in which everyone is
different. Health is another factor
in the development of
humans.
The more that we research the
whys of human behaviour the
more that we see that evolution
has shaped our responses to
situations.
Professor Paterson was thanked
and an end of year lunch was
served.
Shop local because
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