y07043

Y 07043

Driving children around can be a hassle. Especially if they are very social or play sport. With having a child being able to drive it relieves the stress of “what time do I have to pick them up?” Or “where are they?” So, the driving age should not be put up. As of August 1^st 2011 the law is going to change to 16 years old. In order to help parents cope it should stay at the current age of 15 years old. As well as this, it will teach young adults how to become independent. Driving also helps them to be more responsible.

In order to help parents cope, the driving age should stay the same. A personal example of this is when I was waiting for my mum and she forgot to pick me up. When parents are driving children around, remembering where they are or what time to pick them up puts a lot of pressure on parents, so it should stay at the current age which is 15 years old for a learners licence.

Teaching young adult’s independence can be hard but letting them drive is an easy solution. When people drive by themselves they have to make decisions that involve no one but themselves. An independent 16 year old would be, letting them driving to sports practices and parking in a good spot by themselves.

Teaching young adults how to be responsible can be a hard task. But letting them drive is a huge responsibility and that’s why it should stay at 15 years old. If you are driving on the road by yourself you have to be responsible because if you’re not someone could be injured or even killed. With driving comes a lot of costs like, warrant of fitness (WOF), petrol and registration. To pay for all that you have money and to get money you have to work. Most 15/16 year olds can’t get a job because they’re not old enough, or big enough. Also if you are involved in a crash that is another huge cost that needs to be payed for.

In summary, the driving age should not go up because it helps parents cope with all the stresses, it also helps young adults become independent, and it also helps young adults become a lot more responsible behind the wheel and hopefully everywhere else.

By Abraham Cole

y09204

Y09204

BATTLE OF THE CENTERS

Picking backs for the Rugby World Cup will be difficult this year as a wide range of players have preformed consistently well in the Super 15 season. A lot of new names have popped up time and time again and we are constantly hearing of these youngster playing out of their skins. These players are proving they are just as good as the senior players .Ive chosen to write about two very well known names that have appeared a lot this season. Robbie  Fruean and Richard Kahui have both proven why they should be picked for the All Blacks this year.

These players have very similar all round stats but different attributes. For example Robbie Freuan is a very explosive ball runner and is very good at running angles off  Sunny Bill Williams. He is good at finding gaps but Richard is a show stopper with his on-the-spot tackles he has the ability to lift his teams intensity which has the effect to determined the outcome of the game.

One thing Robbie Freuan lacks in his test match experience is that he has not proven he can perform his best at top level rugby. He has been criticised that he is not constant. I fell sympathetic for him as he has not had a chance to prove these sports show hosts wrong but still they look past this. His name is been highlighted as a stand out in the Super Rugby season with his blistering speed. In my words “he rips up the opposition back line”. But personally I rate Robbie as one of the stand out players in the crusaders outfit.

 Richard Kahui has played a reasonable amount of test rugby but has not proved that he is consistently at top grade football. He has been put out time and time again by injury and this has a big effect on his All Black future and he could be in doubt for the Rugby World Cup this year but when he does get an oppunitiy he is known to take it.

Everybody knows that Robbie’s strength is ball running. He is very good at running of Sonny’s of loads. For example in the weekend Sonny took the ball to the line and put Robbie in the gap for a try. This proves he has the ability to do it in the Black Jersey. He was also criticised that he is not that good of a tackler. Once again he proved this statement wrong in the weekend when he made some amazing one on one tackles and created some big opportunities for his team that lead to some outstanding trys.

 These two players have different playing styles and have opposite strengths.They  both have weaknessess and the ability to make that tackle or that line brake. 

Y09149

DON'T JUDGE A BOY BY HIS CAR

Boy racers, hoons, reckless drivers and bogans. These words describe an image of a young male driver. All words are negative and don’t accurately portray the majority of young male drivers-just a few who give the rest of us a bad name. There are many reasons why so called “boy racers” behave the way they do. There is nothing else for teens to do on weekends, and it is a hobby for those motor enthusiasts.

Boy racers have been given a bad name because a handful of people are drinking and loosing control of cars and are causing injury and death. These people have given all boy racers a bad name. All they want to do is show off their cars and enjoy their weekends.

The ones that give “boy racers” a bad name are the ones that heavily accelerate, lose traction, race and speed in town.  They put themselves and others in danger just because they want to show off.

Since the teens are bored and have nothing better to do in their spare time they go out and they drink. They break the law and put themselves in danger just because they have nothing better to keep them entertained.

But for those for which it is a hobby  or who are car enthusiasts, they boy race because they have no where else to do boy racer acts or thrash their car. This makes them break the law to do what they love. If their passion is to go fast and have a fast car they will race and have fun  when they have the chance but is safe when they do it.

If people want boy racers to stop, that will never happen because it’s a hobby for some and for others it is to keep them entertained and it will be always happening. In my view there should be an area out of town out of people’s way where boy racers can race, thrash their cars and have fun. This area should be controlled so it doesn’t get out of hand.

Y 09149

Y09160

Y 09160

Sheep & beef. Which is better?

Imagine this: walking down the hill, dogs barking, sheep running, sun boiling hot and then you smell…. Cow effluent. Sheep and beef is a better lifestyle than dairy because it is a more relaxed lifestyle and does not produce offensive effluent. Also sheep and beef pay out is rising faster than dairy farmers.

Sheep and beef is a better lifestyle than dairy because it is more relaxing and you have more time to fix your farm like fences and water supplies.. I strongly believe that sheep and beef are better because you are not in a rush all the time

Sheep and beef is less stressed because if the power turns off in your dairy shed you can not milk. Sheep and beef is a better lifestyle than dairy because it is more relaxing and you have more time to fix your farm like fences and water supplies. Also with milking you only really milk every other season except winter but then you still have to do winter feeding. Dairy is more stressful because you have to worry about all of your effluent consents and permits also your big electricity and water bill. You have to keep your cows in good shape because if they get mastitis or something like that and it gets milked you can face losing thousands and thousands of dollars. I strongly believe that milking as it says is a better lifestyle is not what it is cracked up to be because of the stress.

Another reason why sheep and beef is better is because sheep and beef has a faster rising pay out then dairy. Since about four years ago sheep and beef have lost more people because they have converted to dairy making more demand of meat. Meat prices are now at $120-130 a lamb in New Zealand compared with $90-100 approximately four years ago.

The smell of dairy is not the best either. The smell of dairy can affect towns or cities by the smell and can cause complaints and concerns. Also effluent can get into waterways and will kill fish or anything that may swim in the waters. It can also get into a towns supply if it does not get filted which may cause sickness or disease. I believe that dairy is one of the worst places to work because the smell and constant sickness you get.

In conclusion dairy is not better because it is more stressful, harder work and does not smell or get into waterways from the effluent. Since my farm has been converted to dairy I have not enjoyed being on the farm at all all because of the stress, smell and lifestyle.

Taylor Paterson

Q08213

Should GST Be Excluded on Healthy Foods?

Is the New Zealand Government making healthy eating extremely hard for New Zealand families and pricing healthy foods way too high to reach?  It is certainly obvious that healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables are priced way out of reach for most New Zealand families, and therefore New Zealand should exclude GST from healthy foods.  If the government introduces the removal of GST from healthy foods we would have less obesity which would mean that New Zealand would be a healthier nation. New Zealand would also save money on tax emissions and also the removal of healthy foods would mean that New Zealand children would have a brighter future.

In New Zealand it is obvious that we have an issue with obesity and is killing a huge number of New Zealand citizens.  It is estimated that obese people cost New Zealand around 500 million dollars each year.  This is a huge amount of money and which affordable healthy foods would help the people in New Zealand buy healthy foods.  It is completely clear that most people eat unhealthy simply just because it is more affordable for the average income family.  For example an average family would try and choose the cheapest option.  Let’s say that a two litre drink of fizz would cost around $1.50 and a two litre of milk costing around $4.00 or more.  It is obvious that most families would easily go for the fizz simply just because New Zealand families can afford it.  Prices have shown that in the last three years food has risen 20% and still rising.  It all comes up to if the Government is trying to persuade obese people to eat healthier.  So why doesn’t New Zealand make it affordable to buy healthy foods. 

It is clearly obvious that in New Zealand we spend too much on tax and the Government is also trying to save money that our country spends.  There is one thing that the Government does not understand is that excluding GST would help save money in the tax department.  This is because if New Zealand eats healthy which they should be encouraged to do, we would have healthier people, and healthy people do not usually go to hospitals.  This means that we would have far less hospital emissions because people would not be going to hospitals as frequently and would be saving a huge amount of tax payer’s money for just being healthy.  Another big spender in tax payer’s money would be ACC.  ACC is something else that drains New Zealand’s money so it would be helpful if the recovery process was reduced.  For example a broken leg.  If New Zealand ate healthily affordably, this injured person would be able to eat healthy.  If an injured person ate healthy the injury of a broken leg or any other injury would recover more at an accelerating rate because healthy foods do help the body recover from injury and sickness.  So just by having our nation nice and healthy could help money spent in New Zealand and spend the tax payer’s money on more valuable things. 

It is important for everyone in New Zealand that children get the most out of life such as education, their behaviour and the chance to have a bright future.  Enabling children the chance to eat healthy would guarantee that they would get the most out of everything.  It is proven that eating food that is good for you would help brain activity.  This is very important for a child because having an increased amount of brain activity would guarantee that they would get the most out of their education.  By making shore that children have a high performance in education would mean that children would be prepared for the future and would be able to get more out of life and get a well payed job or career.  Also it is proven that children that eat healthy are more likely to be well behaved.  This just proves that children are eating unhealthy simply because so many families can not afford healthy foods and that is why there are so many behaviour issues in New Zealand.  It we tackle the bad behaviour from when children are young it would stop children from distributing bad behaviour when they turn into adults and this would help stop the amount of crime in New Zealand.  This just means that children eating healthy means that helping eat healthy foods would provide a healthy future.

In conclusion there are not very many reasons why GST should be included on healthy foods except that it only would be helping out the Government.  So just by making it simple to eat healthy foods would for most families make all the difference between obesity, the burning feeling in our pockets of to much money being spent and the most important our children’s futures.  It just means that the Government needs to make a healthy option an affordable option.

M11201

                                          Space exploration

When the Nazi Germany started using rockets as weapons, they found out that using and riding rockets to go to the outer space and explore the galaxy is not a bad idea. This is when the space exploration begun.

The Russians wanted to be the best, when they found out about the idea they started their own exploration. On October 4, 1957 the soviets launched the very first artificial satellite named Sputnik 1. Four years later on April 12, 1961, a Russian Lieutenant Yuri Gagarin became the very first human to orbit the Earth using Vostok 1. But the Americans did not want to be left out. On January 31, 1958 the US launched its very first satellite named Explorer 1. In 1961 Alan Shepard became the first American to fly into space.

President John F. Kennedy set a national goal in 1961 “Landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth within a decade”. This is when the competition got tougher. But the Americans took the victory when the “giant step for mankind” took place on July 20, 1969, this is when the history was made, an American named Neil Armstrong became the very first human to land, explore and step onto the moon.

After a hard year of research, by the early 1970’s orbiting communications and navigation satellites were in everyday use and the Mariner was mapping the surface of Mars and Voyager had sent back detailed images of Jupiter and Saturn, their rings and their moons.

Highlight of the 1970’s was the world’s first American and Russian space mission.

In the 1980’s satellite communications were able to carry television programs, and people were able to pick up the signals using their home dish antennas. Satellites are very useful, in 1986 when the Chernobyl nuclear accident happened; we were able to see the top view photos of it using the satellites.

But there are some bad times. In January 1986 the shuttle Challenger exploded after launch, killing its crew of seven. The Challenger tragedy led to a reevaluation of America’s space program.

The Gulf War proved the value of satellites in modern war. Satellites were used to provide information on enemy troops movements and position, early warning of missile attacks, and accurate navigation. The modern satellites saved many lives in the Gulf War.

The International Space Station is now permanently crewed. With many partners contributing to its system design and construction, with former competitors now working together.

Today scientists are working to replace future space launch system for dependability, safety, and reliability.

Now NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) spends billions and billions of dollars just to find out if man can really live outside the planet Earth and if there really is life in other planets. Is this good for us?

In my opinion, it is good for us because by now Mother Earth is slowly dying due to pollution, over population and global warming, scientist and space explorators are eager to find out the answer to this question.

Do you believe that we can live outside planet Earth? I do, according to http://www.space.com/ scientist found a new planet that could harbor water. This planet is named Gliese 581 C, after its star, Gliese 581. The new planet is about fifty percent bigger than the Earth and about five times more massive.

"We have estimated that the mean temperature of this super-Earth lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius [32 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit], and water would thus be liquid," Udry said.

If Earth is going to die, humans have a chance to survive by living outside planet Earth.

11201 M

M09051

                                      Gambling

It is clear to me that gambling is a big problem in New Zealand. It is not only affecting the people that gamble but their friends and family to. Gambling is to be said to be one of the biggest addictions in New Zealand straight after drugs and alcohol. The difference lies in the fact that gambling addiction is usually harder to detect in people. Gambling addictions can even lead to death due to the financial losses you are going to suffer. It can leave you alone and over your head in dept.

The most obvious consequence of a gambling addiction is the financial losses you suffer as you put everything on the line. Unless a gambling addict repeatedly hits money slot machine jackpots or power ball lotteries, it is mathematically impossible to make money in the long run. The more you gamble the less chance you have to win. The odds are simply too stacked against you. Many gambling addicts find themselves digging deeper and deeper into debt, which only fuels their desire to gamble more, The worst ultimately, a gambling addiction can lead to death not like alcohol or drugs but due to financial losses, no longer able to pay rent or mortgage and is forced on to the street. I can understand that money is hard to keep when you gamble/ do drugs/alcohol in my nanas case smoking that she ended up having to sell her apartment and shift in with us due to financial problems with smoking.

It is clear to me that a gambling addiction has a big impact on not only the gambler but on his friends and family to. As a friend or family member try to help him/her they will usually verbally or even sometimes physically attack them. a gambling addict can even go out of his/her way to push those people away from them. Soon gambling will overtake family and friends in order of importance to an addict. The addiction will soon be so bad that he/she  will start steeling from family, friends through any way possible they can get money e.g. Cash, jewelry, credit cards.

Gambling is so addictive because people tend to start gambling away money that they don’t have thinking that they are going to get the big win but never comes causing them to be over their head in a big debt and trouble. Also a lot of people gamble because it is harder to detect than e.g. smoking, alcohol, drugs. I think that gambling money away that you don’t have is bad because deep down you no that your not going to win but believe you can just ruins your life when you could be saving your money and put it to a good cause in the future.   

As you can see gambling is not the right choice to take as it destroys the friendship between family and friends, leaves you is debt over your head and makes your life a living hell. According to the information I found from http://www.ask.com/ is a fact. I personally have learnt that gambling is just a waste of money will 99% destroys your life.

                    09151 Jared deal