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Monday, December 10, 2012
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Local’s death a tragedy By Susan Sandys Mayfield motorcyclist Craig Hyde has been remembered as “fun loving” and “a role model to younger riders” after being killed in a race at Timaru. The 46-year-old was apparently run over by a following rider after coming off his bike at about 12.30pm on Saturday while racing on the International Motor Raceway at Levels. Mr Hyde was in a race of about 25 riders for four stroke bikes up to 250cc. He was riding his Suzuki FXR 150 bucket bike, when his rear tyre slipped on the third bend. He fell and rolled down the track. A following rider, who did not want to be named, said because it was the first lap of the five-lap race, the riders were still tightly bunched, so when Mr Hyde came off his bike it was impossible for another one of his fellow riders to avoid Mr Hyde, who died at the scene. The man said the incident had been a terrible event for him to witness after he had seen another fatal crash earlier this year at the same race track. In that accident a 20-year-old rider died 26 days after being injured. “My wife’s been onto me (to give up motorcycle racing),” he said. “What do you do, wrap yourself in cotton wool and die of obesity or get out and do something,” he said. He said the bucket bikes which Mr Hyde rode “should be at the safer end of the scale” as they reached maximum speeds of just 150 kilometres per hour. They could however go faster around
corners, and the third corner of the track on which yesterday’s accident had happened, he believed the bikes would be travelling about 80 kilometres per hour. He said Mr Hyde had been friendly, a “good fun loving guy” with a great sense of humour. Mr Hyde was a family man with children, and a self-employed motorcycle mechanic based at his home garage. He had recently taken on a staff member as his business grew. He had recently returned back to motorcycle racing after a stint at car racing, enjoying the sport more and believing the people to be friendlier. “He was just having so much fun doing it.” Motorcycle Canterbury secretary Wendy Ashmore said Mr Hyde was a good rider and the accident had been an absolute tragedy. He was a valued member of the club, giving fellow members mechanical advice, and would support the club at events at Ruapuna in Christchurch and at the Levels. The club was family orientated, and Mr Hyde had been a good role model to younger members. “He had a very caring attitude. He was a mentor, would ride with younger members on the race track just to help them,” she said. The incident has been referred to the coroner. No other person was injured during the accident, although in a separate crash a motorcyclist received serious chest injuries and was taken to Timaru Hosptial, where he was reported to be in a stable condition.
Photo Joseph Johnson 081212-JJ-017
Christmas elves and fairies accompany Father Christmas in the Ashburton Santa Parade on Saturday.
Santa rides into town By Susan Sandys About 5000 people turned out for the Ashburton Santa Parade on Saturday. Ashburton Business Association executive officer Sue Cooper said perfect weather topped off a fantastic parade which had given businesses an opportunity to give back to the community. There had been more than 70 floats constructed by businesses and many other
organisations. Police led the parade, followed by ambulance, and the town’s volunteer fire brigade also participated. The parade began at Mona Square, went down East Street, around Baring Square, and then back down East Street. Following the parade a successful Christmas in the Park event was held at Mona Square. “We were just overwhelmed really with the support from
the public, and from people with floats,” Mrs Cooper said. “The floats were fabulously decorated.” The prize for best float was won by the Red Hat Club, while the Filipino community came second and the Ashburton Toy Library third. The parade has been a longtime tradition in Ashburton, and had the novel addition this year of involving dogs in Christmas attire, courtesy of Canterbury Vets.
Photo Joseph Johnson 081212-JJ-029
Twins Shantille and Lydia Hosken, 4, and Latoya Tekapa, 9, twist to Zumba held at Christmas in the Park after the Santa Parade on Saturday.
Ipads set to become common place at Mid Canterbury schools By Myles Hume Within five years, every child in Mid Canterbury will walk to school with an Ipad under their arm, says a local ICT expert. In a recent survey sent out by the Mid Canterbury Fibre Connected (MCFCS) group, regional support co-ordinator Trudy Hulme found 65 per cent of schools in the district were already Ipad focused. That meant 14 of the 23 pri-
mary schools in the district are now driven by Ipads, something that Ms Hulme predicted will only swell. “It’s going to be BYOD (bring your own device) within the next five years, we are going to have students coming to school with tablets and schools are going to have to cope with that,” Ms Hulme said. “It’s just a fact of life, it’s basically going to be an extension of our hand.”
Schools such as Wakanui, Methven Primary and Longbeach School had bought Ipads to enhance pupils’ learning; however Ms Hulme sees it going further than in the classroom. “Kids are going to be taking them home, school isn’t nine till three any more, it’s 24/7,” Ms Hulme said. “It’s going to break down the barrier between home and school, what they are working on at school they can share with their
parents at home. They can also take work from home and show others at school.” Rakaia School has seven Ipads, however principal Mark Ellis is hopeful to purchase “a significant amount”, which will be revealed later next week, and he was considering a trial for an Ipad intensive classroom. He predicted all his pupils would have tablets well within five years, and he was confident the school’s wireless internet sys-
tem could withstand a surge of wifi users. With the fibre network delivered to their classrooms from the EA Networks scheme, he said it meant schools would have the capability to cope. However, he admitted there would be barriers with tablets not being an affordable option for some families, and there would have to be strict guidelines as to how they would be used, such as web browser use and bringing
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ing, with sloped writing and italics, but it is no longer a higher priority,” Mr Melrose said. “There are already schools in Canada who don’t teach handwriting and it is going a similar way in New Zealand, the importance of print is diminishing. “But I think it is still important to do it, a pencil is portable and doesn’t rely on technology. We are still teaching it and haven’t noticed any difference in their handwriting.”
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them to school fully charged. “If we buy 50 of these that cost $500 each, in two years’ time we might be able to sell them for $200 each, it’s just about making it affordable for parents.” When asked what it could mean for school books and handwriting, MCFCS chairman and Hampstead principal Peter Melrose said writing longhand still had a vital part to play in education. “In the 1950s and 1960s handwriting was a major part of learn-
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