Browse: Home / Course Terms / Term 1, 2017

The University of the Third Age

U3A Okeover

Programme for Term 1, 2017

Term Completed

A Members’ Miscellany

Dates: Thursdays 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 March

B Helping Agencies

Dates: Thursdays 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 March

C Ageing Gracefully

Dates: Thursdays 6, 13, 20, 27 April, 4 May

D Issues of Interest

Dates: Thursdays 6, 13, 20, 27 April, 4 May

Scroll down for full details of each course.

Times: 10.00 a.m. - 11.30 a.m.

Enrolments for this term closed on Thursday 30 Mar 2017.

Officers:

Chairman:Howard Harvey021 1363043
Treasurer:Colin Freeman027 2369476
Please hand your enrolment form to the treasurer at the desk if he is available.


Course A

Members’ Miscellany

Course organiser:Neil Fleming

Presenter:Various

2 Mar:
Yvonne Evans on 'A Troop Entertainer Talks About the War in Vietnam'.After training as a primary school teacher Yvonne began singing full time in Melbourne. Later she spent time in Vietnam during the war as part of New Zealand’s participation. That included entertaining the American GI’s as a Kiwi girl in a Maori show-band.

9 Mar:
Roger Tindley on 'A Level Playing Field'.Roger is a former international music examiner. He will look at various facets of the task of maintaining a consistently uniform standard on a worldwide basis. He will also explore the preparation and training for examiners, conduct of examinations and moderation of results etc. and there will be an opportunity for questions and discussion.

16 Mar:
Frank Tay on 'A Brief Guide on Money - Its Creation and Control in the Modern Economy'.Frank will deal briefly with its functions, forms, features and the use simplified balance sheets of the banking system to show the creation and control of money by central banks. The guts of the talk will focus on the tools to influence money supply. Amongst the tools are the official cash rate in NZ, open market operations and quantitative easing in the US. The impact of government deficit financing on the money supply.

23 Mar:
Lois Binnie on 'A Small Mark on a Vast Landscape - My Part in Creating a City in Western Suburbs, Melbourne'.This session will tell of the delights and challenges of landscape, open space and recreation planning at Wyndham City Council.

30 Mar:
Jill Nuthall on 'Health Planners and the Public'.Consultation often gets a bad rap, but can be effective and rewarding. Jill will talk about her work with health planners, professionals, patients and the public testing proposals for changes in services and the way they are delivered.


Course B

Helping Agencies

Course organiser:Denise Burrow and Ann Whitnall

Presenter:Various

2 Mar:
Lois Herbert, Chief Executive Officer, Battered Women's Trust, on 'Family Violence'.She will be discussing types of violence, who it affects, its causes and our role as a community.

9 Mar:
George Patena, who is actively involved with the local Refugee Council and Multicultural Council, on 'Multicultural Christchurch'.The Christchurch City Council has developed the first community led strategy which recognises that it has a leadership role in making Christchurch a city where diversity is welcomed and celebrated. This Strategy outlines what the Council can do in terms of improving service delivery, upskilling the internal organisation and developing authentic relationships to achieve the outcome of a diverse, inclusive and welcoming city.

16 Mar:
Dr. Sue Bradshaw, Korowai Wellbeing Trust, on 'What Supports Young People to Develop Well?'Sue will discuss not only how the Korowai Youth Well-Being Trust does it, but also their plans for improvement and joining in with others in a Youth Hub.

23 Mar:
Sgt. Gary Malzard, Youth Services Co-ordinator, NZ Police on 'The Role Of Youth Aid Within NZ Police'.He will talk about offending by children and young people in New Zealand and how this is handled by Youth Aid. He will also discuss how matters are resolved and what prosecution options are available.

30 Mar:
Sue Ricketts, General Manager of Mental Health Advocacy & Peer Support, on 'Together on the Road to Wellbeing'.Sue will talk about Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Peer Services and also answer associated questions from the U3A members.


Course C

Ageing Gracefully

Course organiser:Peter Moody

Presenter:Various

As we grow older life becomes more fragile and our health can decline rapidly. This course is designed to help us avoid some of the pitfalls so that we might age gracefully.

6 Apr:
Ben Harris, Registered Medical Laboratory Scientist at Southern Community Laboratories, on 'Are Bacteria Our Enemies?'Plagues justifiably induce in us a natural fear of all bacteria, but public health measures, vaccinations and clean water have largely neutralised plagues. Now we should fear too few bacteria, too many antibiotics and being too clean – ‘an epidemic of depletion’. This can lead to debilitation of our health.

13 Apr:
Leigh O'Brien, president of the Christchurch branch of Dietitians New Zealand and chair of the Dietitians Network – Canterbury, on 'Eating Well - Ageing Well'.As we age our body changes and so does what we need to maintain good health. In NZ many older adults are missing out on key nutrients to support healthy ageing. Are you one of them? This talk is about making small changes that can make a big difference in maintaining independence and enjoyment for life.

20 Apr:
Dr. Scott Pearson, Clinical Director, Emergency Department, Christchurch Hospital on 'The Emergency Dept. (ED) - What Is It and What Do We Do?'The ED is the front door of the hospital. 94,000 people come to the ED each year and it's growing by around 3% per annum. Therefore, an individual in Canterbury can expect to pay it a visit there once every 5 years. Scott will describe emergency medicine, what happens when you arrive... and why. He will also explain why he is still passionate about delivering high quality emergency care to people.

27 Apr:
Dr. Brian Deavoll, Consultant Psychiatrist, Clinical Director of Older Persons' Mental Health CDHB, on 'What Do We Really Know About Prevention of Mental Health Disorders in Old Age?'Advancing years can be afflicted with loneliness, substance dependency, depression and dementia. How can we maintain a healthy mental state? Brian will provide us with positive advice gleaned from his experience treating mental health problems in the elderly.

4 May:
Richard Sainsbury, Emeritus Professor, Health Care of the Elderly, Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, on 'Adding Life To Your Years'.A Google search of "Anti-ageing" produces 227,000 hits. Huge amounts of time and money are expended on trying to find the elixir of life or defying ageing. Much of this is driven by consumerism and a youth culture. Maintenance of function and quality of life should be the aims of health care in old age, not life extension or futile attempts to prevent ageing. This talk will discuss some of the ways we can try to add "life to our years".


Course D

Issues of Interest

Course organiser:Tim de Castro

Presenter:Various

6 Apr:
Prof. Martin Holland, Director of the National Centre for Research on Europe, University of Canterbury, on 'BREXIT'.He will talk to us about the challenges facing the UK, likely responses from the EU and the general situation in Europe. If time permits he will also talk about the ramifications of BREXIT for New Zealand.

13 Apr:
Vi and Richard Cottrell on 'Trade Aid'.In 1969 the Cottrells went on an adventure to India and in the north took pity on the plight of Tibetan refugees. Two years later they returned to Christchurch and took a chance on importing $1,000 of rugs from these people. Later at the CSA Gallery they sold the lot in 15 mins. The rest is history.

20 Apr:
Laurie Prouting on 'Mesopotamia and the Proutings'.Laurie will talk to us about this famous high country station, so named by Samuel Butler. Laurie’s father, Malcolm, took on this huge and very rundown property, infested with rabbits, just after World War II. The story is a fascinating one and worthy of this marvellous high country station

27 Apr:
Geoff Spearpoint on 'Outback Huts'.Geoff is a volunteer restorer of back country huts in some of the more remote areas of the South Island. He is a contributor to Wilderness magazine and co-author of 2 recently published books – ‘A bunk for the night’ and ‘Shelter from the storm’. In 2016 he won the NZ Alpine Club’s award for Outstanding Volunteer of the Year. He will relate some of his stories.

4 May:
Deborah McCormick on 'SCAPE'.Deborah is the director of SCAPE Public Art. SCAPE brings free-to-view contemporary art to Christchurch. Deborah has a dedicated team of specialist staff and consultants and has brought more than 167 artworks to our city’s spaces. This includes Neil Dawson’s Fanfare at Chaney’s corner - NZ’s largest public sculpture. Her team is involved with public art management, fund raising, policy and procedure as well as design development.