Disqus - Latest Comments for warren_s

Re: City-based university a change for the better

warren_s — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 22:19:41 -0000

The simple question I have is why does the University expect the land from the council for free? I'm sure they'll be expecting to fetch market value for disposal of the land in Newnham... even if the University were to defer payment until the time at which the land at Newnham is sold, this would seem a more equitable outcome.

Re: Changes sought to protect principals

warren_s — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 03:04:23 -0000

You're being absolutely ridiculous. How is bringing back corporal punishment supposed to send the message to parents that violence towards school staff is not OK?

Re: Nikolic and McKim clash on terrorism

warren_s — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 21:28:24 -0000

Why does Mr Nikolic persist in these ad hominem attacks against his political opponents? And what, pray tell, is this ongoing obsession with the current and former occupations of those who disagree with him? It's juvenile and unbecoming of an elected member.

Mr Nikolic needs to remember that he is a servant of his constituents, not a master of them. His combative personality may have been an asset in military life, but as a representative of the people, the electors of Bass, it is nothing but a liability.

Re: Uni move will liven up city in evenings

warren_s — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 01:56:02 -0000

The assertion that moving the campus is going to liven up the city of an evening seems to assume that student behavior is going to be entirely changed - yet at the same time we are told that student accommodation will be maintained at the current campus and that northern suburbs rentals won't be adversely affected.

More likely, the problem lies in the fact that students nowadays only attend campus when absolutely necessary, preferring online access when available, instead having to spend the balance of their time working to afford to attend university in the first place...

Re: ‘Level playing field’ welcomed

warren_s — Sat, 22 Aug 2015 07:12:43 -0000

We already do. My employer (a Melbourne company) collects EU VAT on sales of digital goods to EU residents. It's a nightmare and it's only going to get worse. Smaller online stores will probably just choose not to sell to Australian customers rather than trying to comply.

Re: Campus move the right one for UTAS

warren_s — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 05:01:08 -0000

As a Newnham resident, I look forward to the significant amount of traffic around the uni of a morning and afternoon being concentrated at Inveresk instead! That'll really improve things for everyone trying to get into/out of the city at that time of day!

Of course, that's assuming they can find anywhere to park down at Inveresk. One only has to compare the size of the two sites on Google Maps to see that this at least represents a physical downsizing of the campus and facilities. Perhaps the physics and engineering departments have conspired to make some kind of breakthrough of TARDIS-like proportions? Surely that area is unsuitable to build upwards, even if the council were to permit them to do so above 5 floors?

To me, this proposal is still heavy on questions and light on answers. Chief of which is why investment in new infrastructure requires re-location from such prime real estate at Newnham... oh wait, did I just answer my own question? Get the Inveresk site in a sweet-heart deal, then flog the Newnham campus to a developer for a new suburb at a nice profit perhaps?

Re: Tobacco donations ban 'not needed'

warren_s — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 19:51:00 -0000

"For example, why no ban on alcohol, or gaming, or fast foods, which also have negative health and social effects?"

Great idea Sam, thanks for your suggestion, we should ban all these operators from making donations!

Re: State's MPs stand by their man

warren_s — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 15:39:24 -0000

Do these elected MPs really represent the will of the people here, or merely the will of Eric Abetz?

Re: Nikolic tells colleagues to 'knuckle down'

warren_s — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 21:14:51 -0000

This should be deeply concerning to anyone in the electorate, as it clearly demonstrates an inability to contemplate any sort of middle ground - terms like "political enemy", "warlike nature of political debate ", "backs to the wall" are all unnecessarily combative and immediately paint anyone who doesn't share his ideology as an "enemy combatant."

Mr Nikolic may have flourished under a military command and control structure, however one must wonder whether he has the necessary diplomacy and "soft skills" to represent all of his constituents effectively outside of such an authoritarian structure.

Re: Palmer could be UTAS white knight

warren_s — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 23:23:38 -0000

Why don't we call the Northern entity the "Tasmanian State Institute of Technology"? Then everything old can be new again!

Re: Parent anger

warren_s — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 19:26:25 -0000

I look forward to you all changing your tune next year when your kids' class sizes have been increased and specialty programs like literacy support have all been scaled right back. Remember this in future years too, when we're all wringing our hands over our state's below national average performance on NAPLAN testing.

Despite what the Government wants people to believe, teachers were willing to accept a pay freeze, as long as the Government guaranteed no teachers would be ripped out of our schools.

Rather than negotiating in good faith with teachers, this Government is robbing our kids' future to balance the books because of some ideological position in which they see public education as a cost, not an investment.

Re: NBN roll-out 'hurting region'Business body calls for improvements to NBN

warren_s — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 21:31:57 -0000

A forum on the NBN at 10am on a Monday morning? Who do they think their target audience is? Retirees? The unemployed? Surely something this important should be held outside of business hours to enabled the broadest cross-section of community stakeholders to attend?

Then again, I'm sure a poor turnout will provide the perfect excuse for the current government to continue ignoring the demand for FTTH NBN services in parts of the North-West.

Re: Massive street water slide planned for Launceston

warren_s — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 17:51:43 -0000

Oh man, I thought this was going to be awesome, until I realised they aren't going to be doing it on Balfour St!

Re: Riding on the verge, living on the edge

warren_s — Sat, 25 Oct 2014 21:06:32 -0000

Seems like you're getting miffed at cyclists doing what they're also legally allowed to do. Stunning display of hypocrisy there. Would you really say "too bad, your choice" if we were talking about innocent pedestrians being killed by the inattentive "average driver"?! Bet you wouldn't if it was someone you loved, so for goodness sake, show a little humanity...

As for registration, it's been shown time and again, you don't pay rego for the roads, road upkeep is the responsibility of local, state and federal govt and is funded out of general revenue. Your argument has been thoroughly debunked before, here: http://www.smh.com.au/execu...

Disclaimer: I don't identify as a "cyclist" in the lycra clad sense, I'm just some guy who used to ride his bike to work every now and then.

Re: Northern campus move to Inveresk mooted

warren_s — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 19:39:50 -0000

And what of the specialist AMC facilities at the Newnham Campus? All the new student accommodation which has just been built? It seems that there's been a significant amount of money invested in this campus over recent years, and whilst it may be attractive to some to locate newer developments at Inveresk, it seems wasteful in times of reduced funding for the university to be floating the idea of abandoning Newnham entirely.

Re: Outrage over Abetz remark

warren_s — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 23:10:35 -0000

What more evidence do I want? How about we start with some research studies published in a peer reviewed medical journal? That's what "evidence" is in this context. What you've presented is an anecdote, confounding between people who have an abortion, and those who take the pill, a vague appeal to authority and an assertion that everything you can find on Google is true.

Sorry, that's not how science works.

Re: Students will learn more if bar is raised for teachers

warren_s — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 00:26:10 -0000

The introduction to this op-ed demonstrates clearly something that I've observed over the years that my wife has been a teacher: because almost everyone who voices an opinion on teaching has been to school, they presume to understand what's involved in being a teacher to a greater degree than they actually do. Once the classroom doors close however, there's hours more of lesson planning, marking, assessments, report-writing, meetings, professional development and general bureaucracy that teachers also have to deal with.

It really is a thankless job, and you couldn't pay me enough to do it.

So given that most of the public have a simplistic view or teachers already, is labelling certain teachers as "hopeless" really going to raise the esteem of the profession? What other professions are to be subjected to such an esteem-raising review into "quality"? May I submit journalism as the next cab off the rank? Or perhaps Politicians?

Re: Uni crisis

warren_s — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 23:13:59 -0000

Even still, the packages for academics aren't overly attractive... most professionals who are working in their chosen field earn FAR more - I could salary sacrifice my current wage to get 17% super and still make more than I would if I went and became a lecturer. Being an academic is more a labour of love than a cash grab.

Re: Young, without work? Try fruit picking: Abetz

warren_s — Mon, 26 May 2014 00:21:46 -0000

I thought the mere reference to "bread delivery" showed how out of touch he is! I don't recall the last time I saw an old fashioned milkman doing the rounds, or a paper boy, either...

Re: Learn from poor performance: Hodgman

warren_s — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 22:26:59 -0000

After so many years in opposition it must be hard to break the old habit of talking about what the other guys should be doing. Good on you for establishing a 'directive' - that's really hitting the ground running! Let us know when there's a sub-committee formed, won't you?

Re: Technology adviser seeks preselection

warren_s — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 23:36:28 -0000

Or you're barking up the wrong tree by falsely claiming this group is anything but independent, despite evidence and statements from other co-founders to the contrary.

We're on record in the past as being critical of the State and Federal Labor governments. Here's a sample:
http://www.digitaltasmania....
http://www.digitaltasmania....
http://www.digitaltasmania....
http://www.digitaltasmania....

Re: Technology adviser seeks preselection

warren_s — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 20:29:50 -0000

Of course he won't be. I'll be picking up some of the responsibility for this, as will other members of the group.

Re: Technology adviser seeks preselection

warren_s — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 18:17:41 -0000

Dear "dorothy",

I guess the mark of Digital Tasmania being independent is the amount of criticism we've received from BOTH sides of politics, at the State and Federal level. Trust me, we're on no-one's Christmas card list.

We've made no secret of our strong preference for the Labor NBN vision, but equally so, we've been pretty critical of Senator Conroy's ridiculous attempts to filter the Internet in this country in the past.

I'm sure it's easy for those who may disagree with our stated aims to pretend that we're a one-man band, but this is far from the case, our position on all major issues is based on discussion and consensus. Andrew is just the public face of our group, but there are others behind the scenes fulfilling other roles.

Re: Turnbull in NBN blame game

warren_s — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 03:04:15 -0000

At the end of the day though, you claimed there was "not one" business which would derive a productivity benefit from the NBN, which is clearly untrue.

You have a right to your own opinion, but not your own facts. Please don't dress up your ideological objections to building an NBN as being fact-based, when clearly, they are not.

Re: Turnbull in NBN blame game

warren_s — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 00:13:22 -0000

The fact that you reduce all the uses of the Internet for business to simply "websites" highlights the fact that you're not qualified to comment on the technical advantages businesses are going to gain from the NBN.

I work for a Melbourne company, from Launceston, and I move more data in a day than many people do in a week or a month. Source code, database dumps, graphic assets, not to mention the daily video-conferencing I do.

It's excruciating at times, because even while I have a 10Mbps ADSL2+ connection, I can't push data out fast enough - it maxes out at about 800kbps. The Liberal's NBN alternative will not solve the upstream speed constraint that I've been experiencing for the past 3 years.

And please, do let us in on the next technological breakthrough that will enable communications faster than the speed of light in a glass fibre, because I'm sure there will be a Nobel prize for whomever can solve *that* one.