Graduating in The Big Aporo. New York! New York - Maori Styles! Kia Ora Whanau! This issue, we would like to feature a story that was sent to us from one of our whanaunga in America. It is the story of a beautiful tauira, a graduation ceremony and a stunning korowai - read on to learn more...

Sarah Smith from Ngati Kuri probably didn't realise that wearing her korowai during the graduation ceremony at Hunter College in New York would cause such a sensation.

The story and picture in the New York Times said it all. Amidst the sea of purple gowns and purple caps, there was Sarah, adorned in a stunning brown, white and flickering purple korowai, which had been made by the hapu back in Ngati Kuri to commemorate her graduation, and brought to New York by her parents, Graham and Nettie Smith.

Sarah had entered Hunter College after visiting New York and tracking down a friend who was dancing with a Maori group represented by a Hunter graduate, Bess Pruitt. Ms Pruitt, two sisters and a brother all graduated from Hunter, and in 2002, after Bess Pruitt's 50th reunion, Ms Smith decided to enrol. Hunter College has over 208,000 students enrolled in degree programmes and another 200,000 enrolled in continuing education courses at campuses in all five NY boroughs, making it America's third-largest university.

Sarah is said to be the first Maori to graduate from a college in the City University system. "You have to show you are a worthy recipient," she told the New York Times, after explaining that her family had submitted a request to tribal officials to have the cloak made.

"So there she was, lifting the korowai out of its carrying case and pulling it over the robe, explaining that the tribe had sought permission from the New Zealand government to obtain the feathers of three species. Each figures in the story she said the cloak tells."

"There are feathers from the kiwi to symbolize stability, she said — their feet are planted firmly on the ground because they do not fly. There are the feathers from the kuaka, also known as the bar-tailed godwit, a migratory bird that goes from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern, as she has already done. Then the kuaka returns to the Southern, as she intends to do. And there are feathers from native wood pigeon, the kereru.

When the undergraduates left the dressing room and filed into the music hall, Ms. Smith's assigned seat was on the main stage, the better to let the audience see the cloak. The president of Hunter, Jennifer J. Raab, even had her stand up and turn around. "

"The cloak was blessed before it left Aotearoa, but that did not ward off what Ms. Smith diplomatically called "the complication with customs." When her parents arrived at Kennedy only days before the graduation ceremony, they told customs officials about the cloak and handed over a raft of documents, including a fumigation certificate. Hunter officials said that when Ms. Smith called the Fish and Wildlife Service last month, she was assured that the cloak could be brought into the country. The inspectors at Kennedy, however, refused to release it. It turned out that the kiwi is an endangered species and the kuaka is covered by an international treaty."

"It took calls from the likes of Senator Charles E. Schumer to get the cloak to graduation, Ms. Raab told the crowd. Sarah's mum had never visited New York before and marveled at Radio City Music Hall and the excitement of her daughter's graduation, so far from home. "I didn't expect anything like this," Mrs. Smith said. "This is just magic. I never thought it would end up like this."

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We here at RANGIKAINGA would like to extend our warmest congratulations to Sarah, her whanau and hapu, and all students who are have graduated over the past few weeks.

Also, our thanks to The New York Times, the New Zealand Herald on Sunday and to Simone Colbert for sending the article all the way from Teaneck, New Jersey.

"Despite a predominantly publicly-funded hospital system, their findings suggest that hospital care received by Maori are marginally poorer than that received by New Zealand citizens of non-Maori/non-Pacific origin."

These findings also suggest that Maori patients are more likely to suffer avoidable mistakes in their treatment than non-Maori (Hayman, The Press, 9 June). The research team studied the medical records of 6579 patients admitted to 13 public hospitals, including Christchurch, in 1998.

"One-third of the 850 adverse events which could include infections, allergic reactions to drugs, post-surgery complications, or medication mistakes were considered "highly preventable" and one in seven resulted in permanent disability or death. Preventable adverse events affected 7% of Maori patients and 5% of non-Maori, a disparity which persisted when age, socio-demographic factors and the patients' illnesses were taken into account." The report's co-author, Wellington School of Medicine Associate Professor Tony Blakely said poverty alone could not account for the fact that Maori in their late 20s were dying at twice the rate of non-Maori.

The first episode of Ngati Porou Hauora introduces viewers to the stunning landscape and coastline of the East Coast. Cameras follow Tolaga Bay's well-known GP Paratene Ngata as he consults with patients in te reo Maori. Also, mental health specialist Emere Hohapata visits a client suffering from paranoid schizophrenia in Ruatoria. The episode also features the annual Pa Wars tournament when Ngati Porou hapu compete for supremacy in sports and games.