As some of you will be very aware, there has been a review of ERMA and how it works. Greater minds than mine have produced the report, and greater minds than mine are now picking over it. It was even top of the news stories last night on National Radio.
It makes me think I am not terribly bright. One of the reasons I left teaching was because we were in the news so much. When we were in pay negotiations, it was much quicker to find out how things were going by listening to the news than reading anything from the union or the school. And when things went wrong, our Cditions changed, our syllabus (or whatever it is called these days), the qualifications system, all of it, the way to find out was to read the paper or listen to the news. It started to piss me off. We, the teachers, weren't part of any information loops. So when I left teaching one of the things I wanted to achieve was a quiet life, where the things I did were not fodder for the media. When I started the Masters, I had never heard of genetic engineering, and so the movement of genes between species was a subject that just interested me. Academically. I never realised the implications of what I was getting into.
So in my search for the quiet life, the place I work for is involved in the most vitriolic and politically charged issue in New Zealand. As we say round our house: Good one, Bob!
Posted by Toni at July 3, 2003 07:59 PM