Hillside news is great — now let’s go electric

THIS is splendid news about Hillside. One could cavil about this being merely a restoration to the status quo, but that would be churlish.

Well done, Shane Jones and David Parker — and a nod to Clare Curran behind the scenes.

Mr Jones’ fondness for railways is seen in the upgrading of the Northland line, and now the South a beneficiary. But while you are at it, Shane, could you convince your colleagues (the Greens would certainly be happy) about the merits of electrification of the main line from Northland right through to Southland? In which case, Hillside could add electric locomotive maintenance to its skillset.

OK, costly — but there might be a neat, if somewhat ironic synchrony, were the costs of electrification to be borne by royalties coming from the anticipated Otago offshore oil and gas exploration.

R. Gardner

Waverley

Marine sciences

WOULD you ask a builder to sell his tools and reduce his staff then expect him to carry on a successful business?

It makes no sense to order marine sciences to dispose of their research boats and ditch key staff, just when we desperately need information about how climate change is affecting the oceans and threatening survival on this planet.

The University of Otago’s competitive funding model pits department against department and division against division.

It inhibits collaboration, it gobbles up large sums for advertising, and it ignores the bigger picture.

Funding decisions are frequently driven by the needs neither of students nor of the nation but by departments closing defensively in on themselves.

I believe that the corporate funding model, introduced in the 1980s, has had its day. I beg the administration to think again about the vital importance of marine sciences.

Jocelyn Harris Professor emerita, English and

linguistics University of Otago