Thanksgiving Day 2013

This special holiday is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November each year and began in 1863 during the Civil War when Abraham Lincoln named it as a day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens”.

Many Americans believe that the first Thanksgiving Day it began in 1621 when the Pilgrims Fathers celebrated their first harvest in the New World. The “day” actually consisted of a three day feast and along with the 53 Pilgrims were 90 Native Americans. Squanto was from the Patuxent tribe and helped to teach the new arrivals how to catch eel and grow corn; he also became an interpreter after learning English during visits to England.

In 1782 Thanksgiving Day was declared to be the fourth Thursday in November and in 1789 George Washington, as President, made the final proclamation to forever set the day for “the many and signal favours of Almighty God”.

It is a time for family gatherings with turkey and pumpkin pies being on every menu.   The days prior are the busiest for the transport industry with planes and trains booked months in advance, but even places like McDonalds close by noon to allow staff to get home to their families.

All around the country there are Thanksgiving Day parades with Santa Claus included to signal the start of the Christmas season. The most famous being the Macy’s Parade in New York. Many people spend the day watching the parades on television as, due to the time zones, they spread across the country with Hawaii being the last.

Among other celebrations are American Football matches, professional and college, golf and auto-racing and although out of season other sports hold matches or races on the day.

The day after is often known as Black Friday as this is when the Christmas shopping begins and the ‘black’ refers to the shop’s bank balances going into the black. It is also when many of the large shops show off their decorations, having had staff in to put them up during the holiday and overnight.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our American staff, students and friends

Important notice for Evening and Weekend students re- printing top-up kiosks

The kiosks where you can top up your printing / photocopying account are currently out of action.  To top up you will need to go to Information and Enrolments in the Rakaia Centre Atrium which is open Monday to Thursday 8am to 5pm and Friday 9am – 4.30pm. If you will be using the Library to print or photocopy during evening and weekend hours please remember to top up your account at Information and Enrolments at times indicated above for this week.

If you are not sure how much print credit you have currently you can log in to any computer and check this by hovering over the paper cut icon in the bottom tool bar.

Just for this week you can also check your current print credit on the two photocopiers next to Room L131 in the Library by swiping your CPIT student card on these machines and using your PIN number. Your total will appear on the screen where you swiped your card.

Please note: The above machines will be replaced on Friday with new photocopiers.

The new top up kiosks should be available from Monday 2nd December next week. Watch this blog, our Facebook and our Twitter for new information about this also.

We are sorry for any inconvenience caused due to this changeover and upgrade in technology. If you have any printing or photocopying problems ask a librarian for assistance.  You can also ring 03 940 8089 or email library@cpit.ac.nz.

Cakes, cupcakes, biscuits, slices, tarts, confectionary and so much more………

November for some has become synonymous with Movember  and fundraising for and creating awareness around men’s health in regard to prostate and testicular cancer.

On Monday 25^th of November the CPIT Staff Wellbeing Committee is holding a bake sale in order to raise funds to support Movember and also that of the Breast Cancer Foundation.  Bring your appetite and your spare change to the Atrium on Monday 12 – 1pm, or Trades VF block and purchase some delicious baking knowing your money is going to worthy causes.

The Library is rich in resources on both these subjects.  For further information you can check out What women (and their men) need to know about prostate cancer or In the pink : a guide to breasts, cancer and living well.

For those who like to test their skills with a  quizz give this Movember ‘literary moustache’ one a go.

Just in – there are two magnificent gingerbread houses available for purchase kindly donated by Mike Meaclem from Food and Hospitality to the Movember cause………. so make sure you come by the Atrium on Monday lunchtime and see what goodies are on offer.

Team Moon Rover clocked at 51 sec in the RBTGP

Congratulations to Team Moon Rover whose feat of engineering and “lean action”  clocked up a speedy performance at 51 seconds.

Missed the race? Don’t worry you can view the action of the fourth Red Bull Trolley Grand Prix 2013 which screened last Saturday on Channel Four  by following these steps if you are a CPIT student or staff member –

1. Use either Firefox or Google Chrome web browser.

2.Click on this eTV link or just Google eTV .

3. Select Christchurch Polytechnic from the dropdown option and enter your CPIT username and password

4. Search for Red Bull and choose the Channel Four video or click this direct link.

Team Moon Rover’s segment begins at 14.07 however watching the full 60 minutes of action won’t disappoint! 

Well done guys! I know you all had a blast while putting CPIT on the map at this prestigious event!

Introducing Team Moon Rover – Catch them racing this Sunday

Kurt Tayong, George Prattley, Harry Loughnan and Steven John Pritchard are four of our intrepid engineering students who have built a machine they will race at Auckland domain this weekend in the Red Bull Trolley Grand Prix which will be televised on TV3 this weekend on Motorsport at 3.10 PM.

Go to Team Moon Rover’s Facebook page to read about the incredible work that has gone into their venture and watch their test runs. Of course it wouldn’t be Grand Prix training without a crash – mind you they did reach their current top speed of 85 km/h before this! For more information they are also profiled on the Redbull website.

Below are Kurt, George and Harry who kindly agreed to kit up especially for a pre-race photo for our blog.

Thanks guys and best of luck for Sunday! You rock!

Remember remember the 5th of November…

Who would have thought that every year we would celebrate a failed terrorist attack on the British Houses of Parliament!  However, since 1606 (the year after the event) effigies of Guy Fawkes have been made from straw, newspaper and dressed up then burned upon Bonfires to symbolise the botched ‘gunpowder plot’ against King James I and senior members of Parliament.

Guy Fawkes Night has lost a lot of its original religious meaning (read here for a bit more history), but the night has evolved into a more social event with spectacular firework displays and to be honest who really needs an excuse to have fireworks!?  So this November 5th head along to the huge fireworks display at New Brighton Beach, this year with a James Bond theme for the music.  Sounds great.

Though fireworks are fun and exciting, remember to think of our four-legged friends and keeping them safe and calm.  Here are some useful tips for keeping your pets safe this week.

Finding our social media just got easier

Have you noticed lately the new addition to our library homepage at http://library.cpit.ac.nz/ of our Twitter and Facebook links? Like us on Facebook and keep up with the latest. For example, if you go to our Facebook today you will see our notification that Primo Library Search (our library catalogue) may be unavailable due to maintenance tomorrow, Sunday 3 November between 5pm and 8pm.