title: A Village in my Hand

authors: Russell, Phillippa Jane

subjects: Samoa

abstract: Since its arrival, the cell phone has been transforming culture and the ways in which we live, exist and interact with life. With minimal access to telecommunications, since 2006 it has become ubiquitous in Samoa. 
Using observation and semi-structured interviews based within two villages in rural Samoa, this thesis has explored the influence of the cell phone upon Samoan daily lives. It investigates how it came to be in Samoa, what perceptions surround the cell phone and how it is seen to have contributed and influenced daily activities, culture and customs of villagers.
Similar to research and literature into mobile telephony on other cultures, affordances provided through the cell phone such as micro coordination and increased connectedness are also being experienced in Samoa, reducing time and space and facilitating activities that required a fair amount of coordination into activities of micro-coordination, also creating greater access to economic opportunities, such as work and the possibility of entrepreneurship. Nonetheless it appears influences such as locality and social status seem to affect the degree of   use for Samoans.  
The ability to have greater privacy provided by the cell phone in combination with being able to be perpetually in contact with others across time and space predominantly through communicative methods like SMS or texting seem to be challenging traditional expectations surrounding authority especially around familial relationships. What looks to be the difference between similar experiences in other cultures is the speed to which this technological affordance has been integrated within rural Samoa which had no previous telecommunication availability prior to 2006.  This combined with the absolute social and customary expectations placed on the values of obedience, respect, love, selfless service and Christianity appears to be accentuating the ‘loss of parental control’. 
Traditional  customs such as gift giving have been adapted by the service provider and  transferred into the use and practice surrounding the cell phone into daily activity and use by Samoans resulting predominately in the transference of money but does also include the gifting of cell phones. 
Crossing multiple disciplines this thesis explores a number of topics surrounding the cell phone and highlights the need for   further research establishing a primary base from which to build upon.

text: A Village in my Hand Since its arrival, the cell phone has been transforming culture and the ways in which we live, exist and interact with life. With minimal access to telecommunications, since 2006 it has become ubiquitous in Samoa. 
Using observation and semi-structured interviews based within two villages in rural Samoa, this thesis has explored the influence of the cell phone upon Samoan daily lives. It investigates how it came to be in Samoa, what perceptions surround the cell phone and how it is seen to have contributed and influenced daily activities, culture and customs of villagers.
Similar to research and literature into mobile telephony on other cultures, affordances provided through the cell phone such as micro coordination and increased connectedness are also being experienced in Samoa, reducing time and space and facilitating activities that required a fair amount of coordination into activities of micro-coordination, also creating greater access to economic opportunities, such as work and the possibility of entrepreneurship. Nonetheless it appears influences such as locality and social status seem to affect the degree of   use for Samoans.  
The ability to have greater privacy provided by the cell phone in combination with being able to be perpetually in contact with others across time and space predominantly through communicative methods like SMS or texting seem to be challenging traditional expectations surrounding authority especially around familial relationships. What looks to be the difference between similar experiences in other cultures is the speed to which this technological affordance has been integrated within rural Samoa which had no previous telecommunication availability prior to 2006.  This combined with the absolute social and customary expectations placed on the values of obedience, respect, love, selfless service and Christianity appears to be accentuating the ‘loss of parental control’. 
Traditional  customs such as gift giving have been adapted by the service provider and  transferred into the use and practice surrounding the cell phone into daily activity and use by Samoans resulting predominately in the transference of money but does also include the gifting of cell phones. 
Crossing multiple disciplines this thesis explores a number of topics surrounding the cell phone and highlights the need for   further research establishing a primary base from which to build upon.

year: 2013

title: Real Options Analysis of Carbon Forestry Under the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme

authors: Tee, James Seng Khien

subjects: climate change

abstract: In 2008, the New Zealand government passed climate change legislation called the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZETS), designed to create a carbon price in the economy. Under the NZETS, new forests planted on and after 1st January 1990 (known as post-1989 forests) are eligible to earn carbon credits and sell them domestically and internationally, with a condition that the credits will have to be repaid back upon harvest of the forests. The amount of credits that have to be surrendered is proportionate to the extent that carbon stocks decrease in the forest land. This research explores the effects of the NZETS on new post-1989 forests. The NPV/LEV and the Real Options valuation methods are respectively employed to analyze fixed harvest and flexible harvest forest management decisions. This approach is applied to study the cases of timber-only forestry (i.e. no NZETS) and carbon forestry (i.e. with NZETS). The major advance of this research is the development of a double Random Variable Real Options methodology that incorporates both stochastic timber and stochastic carbon prices into the calculation of the bareland forestry investment opportunity under the NZETS. Through the work of this thesis, it is shown that the NZETS increases the valuation of bareland on which radiata pine is to be planted with a single rotation or a perpetual series of rotations, especially for the case of flexible harvest forest management. The NZETS will very likely lengthen the rotation age of forests and increase forest carbon sequestration, which contributes positively towards climate change mitigation in New Zealand. The Real Options valuation method can generate optimal harvest price thresholds that help forest owners to decide when to harvest. This thesis concludes with a scenario analysis of potential implications of lengthening the forest rotation age on carbon stock management in New Zealand.

text: Real Options Analysis of Carbon Forestry Under the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme In 2008, the New Zealand government passed climate change legislation called the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZETS), designed to create a carbon price in the economy. Under the NZETS, new forests planted on and after 1st January 1990 (known as post-1989 forests) are eligible to earn carbon credits and sell them domestically and internationally, with a condition that the credits will have to be repaid back upon harvest of the forests. The amount of credits that have to be surrendered is proportionate to the extent that carbon stocks decrease in the forest land. This research explores the effects of the NZETS on new post-1989 forests. The NPV/LEV and the Real Options valuation methods are respectively employed to analyze fixed harvest and flexible harvest forest management decisions. This approach is applied to study the cases of timber-only forestry (i.e. no NZETS) and carbon forestry (i.e. with NZETS). The major advance of this research is the development of a double Random Variable Real Options methodology that incorporates both stochastic timber and stochastic carbon prices into the calculation of the bareland forestry investment opportunity under the NZETS. Through the work of this thesis, it is shown that the NZETS increases the valuation of bareland on which radiata pine is to be planted with a single rotation or a perpetual series of rotations, especially for the case of flexible harvest forest management. The NZETS will very likely lengthen the rotation age of forests and increase forest carbon sequestration, which contributes positively towards climate change mitigation in New Zealand. The Real Options valuation method can generate optimal harvest price thresholds that help forest owners to decide when to harvest. This thesis concludes with a scenario analysis of potential implications of lengthening the forest rotation age on carbon stock management in New Zealand.

year: 2011

title: Just take a second to breathe: Empowering youth through mindfulness at Atawhai 2019

authors: McAllister, Suzanne Maree

subjects: Mindfulness

abstract: This research was an evaluation of The Kindness Institute’s 2019 Atawhai programme. It examined the effects that exposure to mindfulness-based skills, Māori cultural practices, mentoring, and the creative arts had on a cohort of marginalised youth. Specifically, the research aimed to determine (1) if learning mindfulness-based skills helped the youth to positively deal with challenges, (2) what effect learning mindfulness-based skills has on their positive and negative emotions and (3) were youth empowered to share the skills they learned within their homes, families and communities to enable a wider benefit from the mindfulness-based skills. Participants included 12 youth who attended the Atawhai programme during 2019. They all completed shortened versions of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Adolescent Self-Regulatory Inventory (ASRI), The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ), Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) and Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) at seven stages over a nine-month period from March 2019 to December 2019. Self-report debrief questionnaires and researcher observations were recorded during the October 2019 residential intensive of 5 days. Inferential statistics (repeated measures ANOVA and post-hoc paired t-tests) indicated a statistically significant increase in positive emotions (p<0.01) with a large effect 1.07 over the duration of the evaluation period from March 2019 to December 2019; the October 2019 intensive, p<0.01, d=1.37; and the April 2019 intensive, p<0.01, d=1.89. Statistically significant decreases in anxiety (p<0.01) with a large effect d=1.99 were indicated over the duration of the evaluation period from March 2019 to December 2019; the October 2019 intensive, p=0.07, d=0.57; and the April 2019 intensive, p≤0.01, d=1.19. Self-report measures indicated the youth; found the mindfulness-based skills beneficial, preferred a particular skill over others, and found their mentors supportive in helping them incorporate the skills into their daily lives. Youth reported they had continued their mindfulness-based practice outside Atawhai and were regularly sharing the skills within their homes, families and communities including their schools. These findings suggest the Atawhai programme has a profound and significant positive effect on the wellbeing of the young people it serves.

text: Just take a second to breathe: Empowering youth through mindfulness at Atawhai 2019 This research was an evaluation of The Kindness Institute’s 2019 Atawhai programme. It examined the effects that exposure to mindfulness-based skills, Māori cultural practices, mentoring, and the creative arts had on a cohort of marginalised youth. Specifically, the research aimed to determine (1) if learning mindfulness-based skills helped the youth to positively deal with challenges, (2) what effect learning mindfulness-based skills has on their positive and negative emotions and (3) were youth empowered to share the skills they learned within their homes, families and communities to enable a wider benefit from the mindfulness-based skills. Participants included 12 youth who attended the Atawhai programme during 2019. They all completed shortened versions of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Adolescent Self-Regulatory Inventory (ASRI), The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ), Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) and Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) at seven stages over a nine-month period from March 2019 to December 2019. Self-report debrief questionnaires and researcher observations were recorded during the October 2019 residential intensive of 5 days. Inferential statistics (repeated measures ANOVA and post-hoc paired t-tests) indicated a statistically significant increase in positive emotions (p<0.01) with a large effect 1.07 over the duration of the evaluation period from March 2019 to December 2019; the October 2019 intensive, p<0.01, d=1.37; and the April 2019 intensive, p<0.01, d=1.89. Statistically significant decreases in anxiety (p<0.01) with a large effect d=1.99 were indicated over the duration of the evaluation period from March 2019 to December 2019; the October 2019 intensive, p=0.07, d=0.57; and the April 2019 intensive, p≤0.01, d=1.19. Self-report measures indicated the youth; found the mindfulness-based skills beneficial, preferred a particular skill over others, and found their mentors supportive in helping them incorporate the skills into their daily lives. Youth reported they had continued their mindfulness-based practice outside Atawhai and were regularly sharing the skills within their homes, families and communities including their schools. These findings suggest the Atawhai programme has a profound and significant positive effect on the wellbeing of the young people it serves.

year: 2020