title: Habitat of grace : biology, religion and the global environmental crisis

authors: King, Carolyn M.

abstract: The Fifth Mission Statement urges the Anglican Church to be, or become, involved in the world-wide effort by all thinking people, of any faith or none, to find workable ways to alleviate the global environmental crisis. As it stands, however, the Statement is an incompatible mixture of contemporary scientific and religious environmental concern set against a Biblical background that had no such concern. Therefore, public exhortations based on the Fifth Mission Statement taken at face value are unlikely to succeed, especially if addressed to secular audiences.

The environmental crisis is a moral issue, because it concerns the process of reaching communal decisions about the allocation between competing groups of common resources in short supply, such as finance for conservation, access to forests, fisheries, clean water, clean air, etc. The relevant context for understanding the moral dimensions of environmental protection must include contemporary biological and philosophical knowledge, because we need to understand what decisions are required, and the origin and nature of the ethical context of those decisions, as well as the reasons why so many people ignore the interests of the environment on which we all depend.

In this thesis I have explored some ways in which the insights of secular science can be incorporated into the Fifth Mission Statement, which will help Christians make a constructive contribution to the secular debate. From economics we can learn why the current free-market model is so subversive and why management of environmental common goods is so difficult; from game theory, why the personal restraint for which green activists plead is often not rational, except within the context of stable community life; from primatology, what are the evolutionary and social bases of morality and intelligence; from anthropology, how the combination of intelligence and socially-mediated morality as a conditional strategy has coaxed our primate and tribal human ancestors over time from rampant xenophobia through cautious trading of goods and ideas through to the philosophical analysis of true human ethics. The biological account of the origin and general operation of morality is very different from the theological and philosophical one, but is backed by a large and growing body of empirical evidence. It must be considered by any moral exhortation intended, like the Fifth Mission Statement, to be credible to non-Christians. The Christian understanding of true altruism (charity) remains a matter that goes beyond biology and into the realms of grace.

An updated Christian theology of creation, and further development of the Fifth Mission Statement along these lines, will arm the Church to play a leading role in the environmental debate. Christian theologians should be among the very first to respond to E.O.Wilson's call for consilience between all branches of learning (Wilson 1998), since the unity of all knowledge is an ancient belief of the Church. Rational, passionate and updated Christianity could make a real contribution to developing some solution to the environmental crisis, to the extent that any solution is possible: otherwise, it will remain, as in the past, part of the problem.

text: Habitat of grace : biology, religion and the global environmental crisis The Fifth Mission Statement urges the Anglican Church to be, or become, involved in the world-wide effort by all thinking people, of any faith or none, to find workable ways to alleviate the global environmental crisis. As it stands, however, the Statement is an incompatible mixture of contemporary scientific and religious environmental concern set against a Biblical background that had no such concern. Therefore, public exhortations based on the Fifth Mission Statement taken at face value are unlikely to succeed, especially if addressed to secular audiences.

The environmental crisis is a moral issue, because it concerns the process of reaching communal decisions about the allocation between competing groups of common resources in short supply, such as finance for conservation, access to forests, fisheries, clean water, clean air, etc. The relevant context for understanding the moral dimensions of environmental protection must include contemporary biological and philosophical knowledge, because we need to understand what decisions are required, and the origin and nature of the ethical context of those decisions, as well as the reasons why so many people ignore the interests of the environment on which we all depend.

In this thesis I have explored some ways in which the insights of secular science can be incorporated into the Fifth Mission Statement, which will help Christians make a constructive contribution to the secular debate. From economics we can learn why the current free-market model is so subversive and why management of environmental common goods is so difficult; from game theory, why the personal restraint for which green activists plead is often not rational, except within the context of stable community life; from primatology, what are the evolutionary and social bases of morality and intelligence; from anthropology, how the combination of intelligence and socially-mediated morality as a conditional strategy has coaxed our primate and tribal human ancestors over time from rampant xenophobia through cautious trading of goods and ideas through to the philosophical analysis of true human ethics. The biological account of the origin and general operation of morality is very different from the theological and philosophical one, but is backed by a large and growing body of empirical evidence. It must be considered by any moral exhortation intended, like the Fifth Mission Statement, to be credible to non-Christians. The Christian understanding of true altruism (charity) remains a matter that goes beyond biology and into the realms of grace.

An updated Christian theology of creation, and further development of the Fifth Mission Statement along these lines, will arm the Church to play a leading role in the environmental debate. Christian theologians should be among the very first to respond to E.O.Wilson's call for consilience between all branches of learning (Wilson 1998), since the unity of all knowledge is an ancient belief of the Church. Rational, passionate and updated Christianity could make a real contribution to developing some solution to the environmental crisis, to the extent that any solution is possible: otherwise, it will remain, as in the past, part of the problem.

year: 1999

title: A new approach to fitting linear models in high dimensional spaces

authors: Wang, Yong

abstract: This thesis presents a new approach to fitting linear models, called “pace regression”, which also overcomes the dimensionality determination problem. Its optimality in minimizing the expected prediction loss is theoretically established, when the number of free parameters is infinitely large. In this sense, pace regression outperforms existing procedures for fitting linear models. Dimensionality determination, a special case of fitting linear models, turns out to be a natural by-product. A range of simulation studies are conducted; the results support the theoretical analysis. 

Through the thesis, a deeper understanding is gained of the problem of fitting linear models. Many key issues are discussed. Existing procedures, namely OLS, AIC, BIC, RIC, CIC, CV(d), BS(m), RIDGE, NN-GAROTTE and LASSO, are reviewed and compared, both theoretically and empirically, with the new methods. 

Estimating a mixing distribution is an indispensable part of pace regression. A measure-based minimum distance approach, including probability measures and nonnegative measures, is proposed, and strongly consistent estimators are produced. Of all minimum distance methods for estimating a mixing distribution, only the nonnegative-measure-based one solves the minority cluster problem, what is vital for pace regression.

Pace regression has striking advantages over existing techniques for fitting linear models. It also has more general implications for empirical modeling, which are discussed in the thesis.

text: A new approach to fitting linear models in high dimensional spaces This thesis presents a new approach to fitting linear models, called “pace regression”, which also overcomes the dimensionality determination problem. Its optimality in minimizing the expected prediction loss is theoretically established, when the number of free parameters is infinitely large. In this sense, pace regression outperforms existing procedures for fitting linear models. Dimensionality determination, a special case of fitting linear models, turns out to be a natural by-product. A range of simulation studies are conducted; the results support the theoretical analysis. 

Through the thesis, a deeper understanding is gained of the problem of fitting linear models. Many key issues are discussed. Existing procedures, namely OLS, AIC, BIC, RIC, CIC, CV(d), BS(m), RIDGE, NN-GAROTTE and LASSO, are reviewed and compared, both theoretically and empirically, with the new methods. 

Estimating a mixing distribution is an indispensable part of pace regression. A measure-based minimum distance approach, including probability measures and nonnegative measures, is proposed, and strongly consistent estimators are produced. Of all minimum distance methods for estimating a mixing distribution, only the nonnegative-measure-based one solves the minority cluster problem, what is vital for pace regression.

Pace regression has striking advantages over existing techniques for fitting linear models. It also has more general implications for empirical modeling, which are discussed in the thesis.

year: 2000

title: Taku manatawa, taku manapou. The learning of te reo Māori in adulthood: Perceptions of its contribution to overall wellbeing

authors: Rolleston, Jamie Huia

subjects: maori

abstract: Ko te tāhuhu o tēnei whare rangahau ko te toiora o te tangata. Ko te tūāpapa o te whare, ko te reo Māori. E toru ngā pou tūhono i te tāhuhu ki te papa, mō tēnei rangahau ko aua pou ko te oranga wairua, ko te oranga whānau, ko te oranga tinana. Ko tā tēnei rangahau he āta mātai i aua pou e toru e toko ana i te toiora o te tangata, ā, kia mātai hoki i te hononga o te reo Māori ki aua pou e toru me te toiora tangata.
Ko te pātai matua kei te aroaro o tēnei rangahau ko tēnei : He aha ngā hua o te ako i te reo Māori hei reo tuarua mō te hunga pakeke ake i te tekau mā waru tau?
E toru ngā wāhanga o te pātai matua:
1. He aha ngā hua ā-wairua?
2. He aha ngā hua ā-whānau?
3. He aha ngā hua ā-tinana?
E toru hoki ngā huarahi i whāia ai kia rapua he whakautu ki aua pātai. Tuatahi ake, i tirohia ngā mātātuhi maha e hāngai ana ki te toiora tangata (Upoko tuarua), arā, ko ngā kōrero a ngā mātanga o te ao whānui, o te ao Māori hoki kua whakawhārikitia kētia ki runga i tēnei kaupapa. Ka rua, i tīmata āku ake ketuketunga ki tētahi pākiki ā-ipurangi, ā, i tukuna atu tēnā ki te marea kia whai māramatanga mō ngā momo pānga a te reo Māori ki a rātou (Upoko tuatoru). Ka mutu, i uiuitia tokorima ngā tāngata kia rongo ai i ō rātou wheako ako i te reo me ngā hua i puta mai ki a rātou (Upoko tuawhā).
E ai ki te hunga i whai wāhi mai ki tēnei rangahau ko te hua nui o te reo Māori ko te whai hononga ki te ao Māori me te tuakiri Māori. I puta mai tēnei kōrero i roto i te pākiki me ngā uiuinga. He mātotoru ngā kōrero a te hunga nei mō te kimi i te mea ngaro, ā, mā te ako i te reo Māori i kitea te mea i te ngaro, anō nei i whakakīkīngia tētahi rua ki roto i te tangata. I roto i te pākiki me ngā uiuinga i kumea mai ai i te hunga nei ngā kōrero mō ō rātou oranga i mua i te ako i te reo, i te tīmatanga o te ako i te reo, me te nāianei hoki, ā, he mārakerake noa te kitea he hoa haere te whanaketanga o te reo Māori me te whanaketanga o te taha Māori o te tangata me tōna māramatanga ki a ia anō, ā, mā reira e piki ai he taha toiora o te tangata. I tua atu i wēnei hua, he maha kē atu ngā hua o te reo i puta mai ai i te rangahau nei, ko te whai hononga ki te taiao, ki te whakapapa, ko te whakapiki māia, ā, ko te whai mahi hoki ētahi o ngā hua i tino kitea i roto i ngā whakautu a tēnei hunga.

text: Taku manatawa, taku manapou. The learning of te reo Māori in adulthood: Perceptions of its contribution to overall wellbeing Ko te tāhuhu o tēnei whare rangahau ko te toiora o te tangata. Ko te tūāpapa o te whare, ko te reo Māori. E toru ngā pou tūhono i te tāhuhu ki te papa, mō tēnei rangahau ko aua pou ko te oranga wairua, ko te oranga whānau, ko te oranga tinana. Ko tā tēnei rangahau he āta mātai i aua pou e toru e toko ana i te toiora o te tangata, ā, kia mātai hoki i te hononga o te reo Māori ki aua pou e toru me te toiora tangata.
Ko te pātai matua kei te aroaro o tēnei rangahau ko tēnei : He aha ngā hua o te ako i te reo Māori hei reo tuarua mō te hunga pakeke ake i te tekau mā waru tau?
E toru ngā wāhanga o te pātai matua:
1. He aha ngā hua ā-wairua?
2. He aha ngā hua ā-whānau?
3. He aha ngā hua ā-tinana?
E toru hoki ngā huarahi i whāia ai kia rapua he whakautu ki aua pātai. Tuatahi ake, i tirohia ngā mātātuhi maha e hāngai ana ki te toiora tangata (Upoko tuarua), arā, ko ngā kōrero a ngā mātanga o te ao whānui, o te ao Māori hoki kua whakawhārikitia kētia ki runga i tēnei kaupapa. Ka rua, i tīmata āku ake ketuketunga ki tētahi pākiki ā-ipurangi, ā, i tukuna atu tēnā ki te marea kia whai māramatanga mō ngā momo pānga a te reo Māori ki a rātou (Upoko tuatoru). Ka mutu, i uiuitia tokorima ngā tāngata kia rongo ai i ō rātou wheako ako i te reo me ngā hua i puta mai ki a rātou (Upoko tuawhā).
E ai ki te hunga i whai wāhi mai ki tēnei rangahau ko te hua nui o te reo Māori ko te whai hononga ki te ao Māori me te tuakiri Māori. I puta mai tēnei kōrero i roto i te pākiki me ngā uiuinga. He mātotoru ngā kōrero a te hunga nei mō te kimi i te mea ngaro, ā, mā te ako i te reo Māori i kitea te mea i te ngaro, anō nei i whakakīkīngia tētahi rua ki roto i te tangata. I roto i te pākiki me ngā uiuinga i kumea mai ai i te hunga nei ngā kōrero mō ō rātou oranga i mua i te ako i te reo, i te tīmatanga o te ako i te reo, me te nāianei hoki, ā, he mārakerake noa te kitea he hoa haere te whanaketanga o te reo Māori me te whanaketanga o te taha Māori o te tangata me tōna māramatanga ki a ia anō, ā, mā reira e piki ai he taha toiora o te tangata. I tua atu i wēnei hua, he maha kē atu ngā hua o te reo i puta mai ai i te rangahau nei, ko te whai hononga ki te taiao, ki te whakapapa, ko te whakapiki māia, ā, ko te whai mahi hoki ētahi o ngā hua i tino kitea i roto i ngā whakautu a tēnei hunga.

year: 2015