Browsing by Author "Dollery, Helen"

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    Fools abroad : the town-gown relationship between Massey University students and Palmerston North at capping time, 1963-1973 : a research essay presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honours in History at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2003) Dollery, Helen
    In May of 2003, a letter appeared in the.Manawatu Evening Standard as part of an ongoing debate in Palmerston North about changes to the city's central green space, The Square. The correspondent questioned the City Council's intention to 'revamp' The Square in order to attract more visitors to the city: The idea is that if we brush up the "image" of the city, then people will flock here and life will become more "vibrant". Well, the city fathers seem to have forgotten that Massey University causes heaps of people to come here who certainly otherwise wouldn't, and if they haven't made the place more vibrant over the last 30 years, then it isn't ever going to happen. The only time it used to happen was when the students cavorted through the centre with their annual capping parade, and the dour councillors cancelled that ages ago (in fact, the cancelling came about after a city councillor was hit in the kisser by a lump of horse manure flung from one of the floats.) ... Recently, on the same day, police moved swiftly to disperse a group of young people who had gathered in The Square - but looked on benignly when another group of young people ran amok, causing fires in Ada Street several times during the evening.1 The difference was, that one group was from one social class and race, and the other from another. Social problems and "crime" are so often the result of the perceptions of those in authority who decide what can be tolerated and what can't... There are three elements in this letter that are of particular interest to this study of 'cavorting students' and 'dour councillors': the impact of Massey University students upon the city in general; the specific impact of student-generated capping activities upon the city's residents3; and the varying flexibility of official tolerance in relation to student activities, as opposed to those of the rest of the city's population - the license granted them to behave in particular ways, at particular times. This study examines the town-gown relationship between Massey University students and Palmerston North residents at capping time, from 1963-73, with particular reference to capping stunts and student processions (Procesh). Other strong facets of student generated capping activity included a Revue, Graduation Ball and the publication of Masskerade, the annual capping magazine. While each of these provides interesting insights into how students celebrated capping, this research exercise concentrates on public manifestations of capping as an indicator of the 'town-gown' dynamic. [From Introduction]
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    Social service, social justice or a matter of faith? : the Palmerston North Methodist Social Service Centre 1963-2000 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History, Massey University
    (Massey University, 2005) Dollery, Helen
    The Manawatu Methodist Social Service Centre ... was created as a means of Christian outreach by providing skilled counselling services and practical help to people in any type of need...without any regard to religious affiliation or profession. ...The aim is to give service in the community as widely as possible, therefore we seek FRIENDS from every part of the community, who will give support to the work. 'Friends of the Social Service Centre' pamphlet, MSSC. 1969 The Methodist Social Service Centre has been seeking, and making, friends in the Palmerston North area for over forty years. Its reasons for doing so, its actions and their consequences, are at the core of this study, which argues that a process of mutual benefit has resulted from the ways in which the Centre has chosen to present itself to its community of users and supporters. The Methodist Social Service Centre (MSSC) was established in 1963 as a formal extension of the pastoral and welfare work of the Methodist Church in Palmerston North, as its founders considered that government and other voluntary agencies were not meeting the demand for family-based services in the city. In following decades the MSSC has broadened its range of services to the surrounding community in response to changing societal needs and the increasingly professional basis of welfare provision. Its staff has a strong history of involvement with many other community-based agencies, and the Centre has been active in helping to establish and support other groups working in the city and region. Throughout changes of style in leadership of the Centre, changes in the programmes and social work avenues pursued and changes not of their own making in the wider community, the Centre's staff have maintained a strong sense of who they are and the values they deem important in their work. The Centre has consciously remained relatively small and has generally avoided large-scale capital developments, preferring to focus on flexibility of service to meet changing welfare needs and demands. This ethos has provided staff and management committees with not only the base to continue and develop their work, but with a platform to develop and foster community initiatives and strong links with other welfare and government agencies. Perhaps more importantly, it can be argued that it has resulted in a wide acceptance of the centre as an important part of the wider Palmerston North community.