Nau mai haere mai and welcome to your weekly newsletter.

As many parents of university-age children know, sending an excited first year undergraduate away to live in a hall of residence involves a good deal of trust, not to mention expense. Mostly it’s the beginning of a grand adventure where lifelong friendships are forged. But as many of the submissions to the parliamentary select committee inquiry into student accommodation have made clear, not everyone has the same experience.

University of Waikato legal expert Myra Williamson has been following the inquiry closely and examining where current laws and guidelines could be improved. In particular, she writes, it is time students in halls were afforded the same rights and protections as tenants in rented flats, and accommodation providers required to meet minimum standards of pastoral care.

There is a lot more to read here and on our homepage, including a critical look at Australia’s recent deportation of a 15-year-old New Zealander, and a heartfelt celebration of children reading real books in an increasingly digital post-pandemic world.

Thanks as always for your support and readership. Until next time, mā te wā and all the best.

Finlay Macdonald

New Zealand Senior Editor & NZ Editor: Politics, Business + Arts
www.shutterstock.com

NZ student accommodation is expensive and under-regulated — here are 10 ways to fix it

Myra Williamson, University of Waikato

Submissions from students and parents to a select committee inquiry suggest the student accommodation sector is overdue for tougher regulation.
Shutterstock/Chris Tefme

New Zealanders have a right to be angry when Australia deports a 15-year-old

Patrick Keyzer, Australian Catholic University; Ian Coyle, La Trobe University

Deportations of non-citizens living in Australia not only tear families apart, they ignore the fact a person has already paid for their crime.
Steven Bostock/Shutterstock

New Zealand businesses must adapt to a fragmented post-COVID global economy

Peter Enderwick, Auckland University of Technology

New Zealand businesses need to plan for a post-COVID recovery in a global economy more complex, uncertain and ambiguous than before.
www.shutterstock.com

After a year of digital learning and virtual teaching, let’s hear it for the joy of real books

Kathryn MacCallum, University of Canterbury

Lockdown life accelerated the role of digital technology in the virtual classroom, but there is still no substitute for physical books in children's lives and learning.
Shutterstock/Kwangmoozaa

New Zealand needs urgent action to tackle the frightening rise and cost of type 2 diabetes

Jim Mann, University of Otago

Almost a quarter of a million New Zealanders have type 2 diabetes. If nothing is done to change the current trajectory, the number will increase by 70-90% within 20 years, warns a new report.
Leaders can make rules in a pandemic, but it takes everyone’s compliance for them to work. Ada daSilva via Getty Images

Culture matters a lot in successfully managing a pandemic - and many countries that did well had one thing in common

Leah Cathryn Windsor, University of Memphis

A new study finds egalitarian nations have had fewer COVID-19 deaths than individualistic ones like the US, a new study finds. But women's leadership may have something to do with their success, too.
Shutterstock/Stokkete

The show must go on, but it’s time to re-think how we fund the arts in NZ

Jonathan Baker, Auckland University of Technology

Some hard decisions need to be made if we are to get better value-for-money performing arts funding from central and local government.
East Aleppo after Syrian forces, backed by Russia and Iran, recaptured the city in 2016. www.shutterstock.com

Ten years on from the Syrian uprising, what has prevented an end to the tragedy?

Hanlie Booysen, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Three crucial factors have determined the fate of Syria, including the failure of the United Nations to stop the carnage.

From our international editions

View from The Hill: Morrison sets up his own women’s network but will it produce the policy goods?

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

With his cabinet reshuffle Scott Morrison hopes to make his “women's problems” a whole-of-government challenge.

We’ve discovered a new rule of nature. It explains why animals’ pointy parts grow the way they do

Alistair Evans, Monash University

Teeth, horns, claws, beaks, shells and even plant prickles — the power cascade rule can be observed far and wide throughout nature, much like the famous golden ratio.

Four Aboriginal deaths in custody in three weeks: is defunding police the answer?

Robyn Newitt, Western Sydney University

In the wake of four Aboriginal deaths in custody in three weeks, the government needs to reassess the police and corrections systems in Australia.

Resistance to military regime in Myanmar mounts as nurses, bankers join protests – despite bloody crackdown

Tharaphi Than, Northern Illinois University

Young people in Myanmar have rallied daily since a Feb. 1 coup, demanding democracy. Now, ever more middle-class professionals are backing their cause, offering food, legal advice and moral support.

Derek Chauvin trial begins in George Floyd murder case: 5 essential reads on police violence against Black men

Catesby Holmes, The Conversation

Research on racism and policing in the US, explained by the experts who study it.

This 400-year-old botched nose job shows how little our feelings about transplants have changed

Alanna Skuse, University of Reading

Though Renaissance concerns about 'borrowed flesh' might seem outlandish and out of date, they are surprisingly relevant to the modern surgical landscape.

Cycling is ten times more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities

Christian Brand, University of Oxford

Active travel can help tackle the climate crisis earlier than electric vehicles – even if you swap the car for a bike for just one trip a day.

Indonesia’s car sales tax cut may harm the environment, requiring another policy to reduce emissions

Haryanto, The Purnomo Yusgiantoro Center ; Filda Citra Yusgiantoro, The Purnomo Yusgiantoro Center

Indonesia's car sales tax cut could damage the environment as more cars on the streets will increase carbon emissions.

Top three take-away lessons from the Suez Canal blockage

Dirk Siebels, University of Greenwich

Direct implications for maritime security are unlikely. But there will be ripple effects in the shipping industry and in many commercial sectors.

Landmark study shows how child grants empower women in Brazil and South Africa

Leila Patel, University of Johannesburg; Natasha Borges Sugiyama, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Wendy Hunter, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts

Findings show that income transfer programmes must operate in deliberate coordination with ancillary social service institutions to deliver the maximum benefits for women’s empowerment.