debate issue 19, 2012

issue19 2012

FEATURE: THE CURIOUS MARS ROVER MISSION + ETHICAL DEBATES ON SCIENCE + QUESTIONS ON THE BEYOND ARTIST of the week | SPORTS | NEWS | FASHION | REVIEWS

CONTENTS

THE PRIZE. Win a Makeover and become the face of our new TV ads.

HOW TO ENTER. 1. Snap a creative self portrait at Atrium on Elliott.

2. Go to Facebook and ‘Like’ our page.

3. Post your photo on our Facebook page.

4. We’ll choose our favourite 4 winners*.

5. Entry closes 31st August 2012.

6. The winners will be notified on Facebook.

TOP TIP The more get u Creative yo r e the Bett e c your Chan ! g of Winnin

MORE INFO AT fb.com/atrium.shoppingcentre *Terms and conditions apply.

FREE PARKING* AT

fb.com/atrium.shoppingcentre

ATRIUM CARPARK *Spend a minimum of $5 at any outlet at Atrium on Elliott and receive your first hour of parking FREE, valid Monday - Friday until 6pm, or receive your first 2 hours FREE on Saturday, Sunday & public holidays until 6pm

ENTRANCE THROUGH CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL

21-25 Elliott Street, Auckland • Ph: 09 375 4960 • www.atriumonelliott.co.nz

WWW.AUSM.ORG.NZ

CONTENTS

Concept01.pdf

5

Editorial

Sports London’s golden names Premier League season outlooks

6 7

8

Artist of the week Miracle Faasavala

1

14/08/12

1:12 PM

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

10

11

COLUMN The Apple Empire – greedy to the core

12

NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

15

RecIpe corner

Feature A curious exploration: a mission to mars Is there life on mars A fundamental debate: Genetic Screening

16 18 20

23

Article Euthanasia: The other pro-choice debate Scientists of the afterlife Scientific inventions and discoveries

24

Letters

21 22

K

AuSM AuSM update

on the cover:

editor Nigel Moffiet nigel.moffiet@aut.ac.nz sub editor Matthew Cattin designer Ceapum Kaushish ceapum.kaushish@aut.ac.nz contributors Matthew Cattin| Jason Walls | Scott Moyes | Ben Parsons | Deanna Berry | Dhayana Sena | Carl Ewen | Nigel Moffiet | Alanna Caveney | Richard Wilde | Morgahna Godwin | Jennifer Choat | Elesha Edmonds

COLUMN I might be wrong

26 27

Social Media Highlights

advertising contact Kate Campbell kate.campbell@aut.ac.nz

Fashion 28 SousStyle: It’s a lifestyle 30

Caffeinated banter

printer PMP Print Ltd.

32 Reviews 34

Science Issue Miracle Faasavala

publisher

Chelsea C’s IT all rights reserved

debate is a member of the Aotearoa Student Press Association (ASPA)

This publication is entitled to the full protection given by the Copyright Act 1994 (“the Act”) to the holders of the copyright, being AUCKLAND STUDENT MOVEMENT AT AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED (“AuSM”). Reproduction, storage or display of any part of this publication by any process, electronic or otherwise (except for the educational purposes specified in the Act) without express permission is a break of the copyright of the publisher and will be prosecuted accordingly.

Inquiries seeking permission to reproduce should be addressed to AuSM.

3

disclaimer Material contained in this publication does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of AuSM, its advertisers, contributors, PMP Print or its subsidiaries.

AT&T

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Proudly supported by

matesRates2012.pdf

1

13/06/12

1:41 PM

WWW.AUSM.ORG.NZ

EDITORIAL

reception jotted down with a pencil and paper. It would have been pretty embarrassing if he turned around four decades later and said “Sorry, folks. Made a little miscalculation.”

It’s been a momentous year in the world of science and ultimately, humanity – taking a few steps forward, as we like to say.

But science is complicated. It often gets to the point where we have to take ‘their’ word for it.

For example, early last month we were told that science had inched closer and closer to the discovery of the ‘God particle’, or Higgs boson, as scientists prefer to call it. Although they have yet to confirm 100 per cent the existence of this particle, scientists are confident that they are on the brink of one of the most important discoveries in over a century; an occasion comparable in stature to the moon landing.

Moon landings we get. We understand the nature of such missions, although the background technicalities and physics might be beyond us, we can all confidently jump on the bandwagon and join the parade.

But the Higgs boson? Shit, I couldn’t even understand the explanation given on a children’s website.

But what I do understand about the Higgs boson is all the cool ‘boy stuff’ they needed to build and carry out in order to find it.

They created a massive race track under the FrancoSwiss border that is 27 kilometres in circumference, costing billions to develop and billions to run. They then gave it a cool sci-fi sounding name – The Large Hadron Collider – with a real geeky modus operandi: “the world’s largest and highest-energy particle accelerator” with the sole intention of “smashing” protons together at close to the speed of light. They weren’t even sure what might happen but they just wanted to stand back and watch all the zillions of particles flying everywhere as a result of the collision! Beats me, but it sounds fucken cool!

This was all based on Peter Higgs’ 1964 theory that he

Well, I’ll leave the Higgs boson there. But if you’re interested, some smart people have posted quite a few YouTube videos doing their best to explain the theory with everyday analogies.

The other momentous event in the world of science is the recent landing of the Mars rover, Curiosity. Its name says it all really. We mortals have always pondered our place in the universe and the mysteries beyond the stars.

Even the discovery of some simple microbes would be enough to shake our souls, throw us off our pedestals, and reassess our place in the world. This, of course, is the big question, but even the small geographical aspects of the discovery are enough to amaze. Mars is home to mountains, valleys and canyons – the biggest in the Solar System! Olympus Mons, for example, is a volcano that rises 27 kilometres (dwarfing Everest which is 9km high) – some people even suggest it could still be active.

So while science is fascinating, fast paced and technically complicated, it also affects our everyday lives; it is ethically challenging. Issues like genetic screening and euthanasia have been brought about through advancements in science and before we know it, we are faced with highly complicated moral dilemmas that we’ve never had to face before. Like all complicated debates, I believe they should be discussed with a great deal of sober reflection and the greatest respect possible for views on either side – there is no easy answer; perhaps there is no answer at all.

If I’m sounding coy or evasive, that’s because I’m always prepared to change my opinions with the belief it’s unhelpful to have extreme views one way or the other.

But for the most part, I support someone’s right to choose.

Yet, we all know science has the potential to take us a few steps forward before hurtling us a few steps back again.

City Campus Level 2, WC Building 921 9805 Mon-Thurs: 8am-5pm Fri8am-4pm North Shore Campus Level 2, AS Building 921 9949 Mon-Fri: 11am-1pm Manukau Campus MB107 921 9999 ext 6672 Mon-Thurs; 9am-3.30pm

governance & leadership Kizito Essuman AuSM Student President 921 9999 ext 8571 kizito.essuman@aut.ac.nz

management

Sue Higgins General Manager 921 9999 ext 5111 sue.higgins@aut.ac.nz

advocacy

Nick Buckby Liaison Manager 921 9999 ext 8379 nick.buckby@aut.ac.nz

marketing

Kate Campbell Marketing and Communications Manager 921 9999 ext 6537 kate.campbell@aut.ac.nz

events

- NIGEL.

Carl Ewen Student Life Manager 921 9999 ext 8931 carl.ewen@aut.ac.nz

media

Go to page 24 for letters and response

Nigel Moffiet Publications Co-ordinator 921 9999 ext 8774 nigel.moffiet@aut.ac.nz

sports

Melita Martorana Sports Team Leader melita.martorana@aut.ac.nz

vesbar

Zane Chase Vesbar Manager 921 9999 ext 8378 zane.chase@aut.ac.nz

volunteers & clubs

Letter of the week wins two movie tickets for event cinemas debate letters policy: Letters need to make it into debate’s mailbox before Wednesday, 3pm each week for the following issue. You must give us your name when submitting letters to be eligible for letter of the week, but you can use a pseudonym for publication if you wish. Any letters longer than 250 words may be subjected to editing. The editor reserves the right to decline without explanation. Most importantly, the views contained on the letters page do not necessarily represent the views of AuSM. Send your letters to debate@aut.ac.nz or if you want to kick it old school, PO Box 6116, Wellesley St, Auckland.

5

Deanna Berry Volunteers Coordinator 921 9999 ext 8911 deanna.berry@aut.ac.nz

www.ausm.org.nz

SPORTS

ISSUE 19 2012

London’s Golden Names

By Scott Moyes If my calculations are correct (and they probably aren’t because I’m a Comms student) the Olympics are finally over. It’s done.

You can stop feeling patriotic and supporting near strangers for another four years. You can stop telling the world of Facebook that we just won gold for a few cheap ‘likes’. The only thing that is left to do now is write an in depth analysis about New Zealand’s triumphs in London and a wank about the 100 medals we now have. And by in depth analysis I mean I’m going to poke fun at all the unfortunate names of athletes that have been broadcast to the world during the last couple of weeks. I’m sure you already know them all. It’s okay though – I’ve put them all in an official sort of list that you can show your buddies instead of trying to tell them in person and not have them believe you.

Lolo Jones:

Werner Muff:

Is an American track and field athlete. She specialises in the hurdles. To be honest the name isn’t hilarious. It’s not even her real name. It’s Lori. It makes me wonder how Lolo even came into existence. But the main reason it features on the list is because it sounds like YOLO, which has slowly but surely driven me insane over the last month or two. It’s about as meaningful as ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’.

I have to mention that directly after Werner Muff on the list I am consulting for point of reference is Markus Munch. That’s real gold right there. Back to Muff. He travelled to London in pursuit of victory with the Swiss equestrian team. He once played football, but was accused of diving.

Sjoerd Hamburger:

Double double cheese cheese burger burger please for Dong Dong. But seriously, this Chinese guy is pretty good. He took bronze in Beijing for trampolining and gold in London.

Dong Dong:

Hamburger represented the Netherlands in rowing during the London Olympics. Not a lot to say here really. This is one of the few names on the list that isn’t embarrassing so much as it is fucking cool. It’s just a pity it wasn’t one of the women shot putters. Most of them look like they’ve been in a serious relationship with a Big Mac at some point.

Karen Cockburn:

Karen is a Canadian trampolonist and sadly not a pole-vaulter like Kim. She won a bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and a gold medal at the 2003 World Championships in Hanover, Germany. She then went on to win silver in 2004 in Athens.

Forgiveness granted though; you’re stuck with surnames unless you marry.

Semen Antonov:

Semen almost passes as Simon in a Jamaican accent (go on say it). But really the parents should just be locked away for this atrocity. You’ve put your kid in a rather sticky situation.

Semen is part of the Russian basketball team. He’s a pretty good shot apparently.

Yoshie Takeshita:

The best by a country mile. I’m sure there’s a way to say it that doesn’t sound shocking, just like that Commonwealth Games women Dikshit. Yoshie went to London as part of the Japanese volleyball team. Apparently her nickname is ‘World’s smallest and strongest setter’, which is kind of funny because it’s not really a nickname at all. I suppose you’d have it over Takeshita.

Kim Yoo Suk:

Kim is a South Korean pole-vaulter. He has competed at the 2004 Olympic Games and 2005 World Championships, however he failed to reach the final in both events. Irony. In July 2005 he made his personal best jump of 5.66 metres.

He did not feature in the medals at London either.

Peter Mankoc:

Destinee Hooker:

Peter is a Slovenian swimmer who specialises in the butterfly.

The ‘c’ in Mankoc actually has one of those little accents over the top of it so you probably say it with a bit of throat (no pun intended). Of note is the fact he is 34 and still rocking it with all the Michael Phelps of the Olympics who whore all the medals.

This one actually made me laugh out loud to myself. I can just imagine the parents thinking, “her surname is going to be Hooker, so let’s call her something charming to counteract that”. They came up with Destinee with a double E for originality and their daughter went on to represent America at volleyball. She was part of the team that qualified for the gold-medal match in London. You could say it was her destinee.

6

WWW.AUSM.ORG.NZ

SPORTS

Premier League season outlooks

By Ben Parsons

Overnight the latest Premier League season began, I mean you can’t win the league on the opening day, but you can go a long way to losing it. Today seems like the perfect day to look at some of the contenders and some that may be struggling come May. Prepare yourself for nine months of excitement, drama, controversy and the best of luck to whoever you support.

The Big Four

(Depending on who you talk to): Arsenal: Arsenal, the chokers of English football in

recent years, have targeted this season as the one to break their seven year trophy drought. Arsenal fans have been sweating all summer over the future of their star Robin van Persie. As I write this, he is still undecided. Arsenal has at least bought players in the offseason with Lukas Podolski from FC Koln, Olivier Giroud from Montpellier and Santi Carzola from Malaga joining the club. For the sanity of fans, Arsenal has to win something this season.

Prediction: 3rd

Chelsea: The European champions have recruited well

during the summer with Marko Marin from Werder Bremen and Eden Hazard from Lille the main signings joining the club.

Chelsea has struggled in pre-season losing to Brighton and losing in the Community Shield to City last week and has lost experience in Drogba and Kalou leaving. New full-time manager Roberto Di Matteo has his job cut out for him this season as he looks to rebuild. The John Terry affair continues to be scab that keeps being picked with the FA looking at a ban which would rule him out of the start of the season.

Prediction: 4th

Manchester City: Last season’s champions have had a quiet summer with only the signing of Jack Rodwell from Everton of note. They can’t blame a lack of funds, but possibly Mancini has decided he has the team to defend their title. With a team stacked with pace and skill, it will be hard to look past City again. Ballotelli and Co will again write their own headlines with behaviour which last season almost outshone the great football they played. Something they will want to change is their performance in the Champions League where they struggled and found themselves knocked out in the group stage.

Prediction: 1st

Relegation Zone: Best of the Rest: Tottenham and Liverpool fans may rue

me for not including them above, but both have done little over the summer to excite me. Liverpool has a new manager Brendon Rodgers and Joe Allen from Swansea City who will look to change the fortunes of the once great club. Tottenham also has a new manager with Chelsea reject Andre Villas Boas taking over from ol’ Harry. Both teams have decent players, but often lack direction and poise to compete for the whole season. Look for Liverpool to make a run at the Europa League though.

Newcastle United

punched well above their weight last season on the back of some excellent January signings. They will make life difficult for the top teams for sure. For Everton and Fulham, the main goal will be to stay injury free as both clubs don’t have deep pockets and this could determine the success of their respective seasons.

Predictions- Tottenham 6th, Liverpool 5th, Newcastle 7th, Everton 9th and Fulham 8th

This season, the relegation zone contenders are hard to identify.

Reading enters the Premier League after a four year absence and as last season’s Championship winners. It is hard to tell whether they will be able to stay up, but they have recruited well with Pavel Pogrebnyak joining from Fulham and Danny Guthrie from Newcastle United. Like all newly promoted sides, they will rely on their home form to keep them up.

QPR had some struggles last season surviving on the last day. Discipline was a major issue with Captain Joey Barton collecting a staggering 10 red cards alone. Some good signings with Ryan Nelsen and Park Ji-Sung, but they were terrible away from home and this could be their downfall in their 2nd season back in the Premier League.

It is hard to imagine a season where Wigan Athletic don’t sleep through the first 7 months of the season , wake up in March and win pretty much every game to survive.

I wouldn’t put it past them to do it again, but they have lost key striker Hugo Rodallega to Fulham. Manager Roberto Martinez hasn’t bought a replacement for him and it is hard to see where the goals are going to come from.

Southampton looks to be the weakest of the three promoted teams back in the league. They have very limited Premier League experience and have done little to bolster the ranks during the summer.

One signing of note is Jay Rodriguez from former Premier League side Burnley. If Southampton begins the season poorly then it could well be a long season back to the Championship for them.

Manchester United: Manchester United look pretty much unchanged from last season. With the arrival of Shinji Kagawa from Dortmund the only major signing, last season’s runners up will be hoping for greater consistency at home this time around. There have been rumours this season will be Sir Alex’s last season in charge so he wouldn’t want to go out in second place that’s for sure. During the summer, the biggest story around Manchester United arguably has been their new ‘picnic rug’ design home strip.

Prediction: 2nd 7

ISSUE 19 2012

ARTIST OF THE WEEK

Miracle Faasavala I’m currently in my third year as a Graphic Design student. I’ve always had a liking for illustration since I was a kid and still have some of my Pokémon crayon scribbles from when I was in primary school. My main interests in illustration are line drawings and character design, which I have developed by re-creating some well-known characters using my distinctive approach in lines and patterns. I mainly use pen and ink for my line drawings and at times do digital illustrations with a tablet and some coffee on the side. My main inspiration would have to go back to my roots, the distinctive lines and patterns from Pacific Tapa is where I get the need to be quite decorated in some of my ‘tribal-patterned’ work. Other inspiring artist/places such as Gabrielle Moreno, the dude with the cool animal drawings ‘Hopkyo’ on Tumblr and Wonderland.

You can follow my online art and creations at

www.miko-mushroom.tumblr.com www.miraclefaasavala.com

8

WWW.AUSM.ORG.NZ

ARTIST OF THE WEEK

9

AuSM team at Northern Tertiary Challenge

$2.00 lunch Wednesdays

All students are welcome to the Marae lunch on City Campus every Wednesday 12pm-1pm. Just come to the Marae with $2 cash and you can make your own filled roll with all fresh and delicious ingredients, tea/coffee, plus a piece of fruit.

SPCA Cupcake Day 27th August

You can look forward to morning tea Monday, 27th August. AuSM will be hosting SPCA Cupcake Day in the Hikuwai Plaza. If you are interested in getting involved, we are still looking for cupcake bakers to donate their goods, please email deanna.berry@aut.ac.nz Or visit www.facebook.com/ausm1 for more info and cupcake ideas!

The Student Big Sleepout

Organised by SIFE AUT in partnership with Lifewise, the Student Big Sleepout is a fundraiser designed to raise awareness of the issue of youth homelessness.

Put yourself in the shoes of a homeless person and sleep rough out in the cold for one night. Listen as guest speakers close to the issue share their experiences. Get a group of friends together and register as a team to raise funds. The night will be informative, challenging and life changing.

Where: AUT Quad, Hikuwai Plaza, AUT City Campus When: 6.30pm Thursday, 23rd August to 7.00am Friday, 24th August Register: Email sife@aut.ac.nz to be sent a registration form.

AuSM Pool Comp

It’s back! Register now for the AuSM Pool competition kicking off in September at Vesbar. There will be weekly heats every Wednesday from 12pm-1pm and finals on 11th October with prizes up for grabs!

Register your interest with kyle. richmond@aut.ac.nz

WWW.AUSM.ORG.NZ

COLUMN

The Apple Empire – greedy to the core.

By Jason Walls What is white, costs over $2000 and is these days pretty much primarily used for Facebook?

If you have ever attended a university lecture, then chances are you will know the answer to this deeply rhetorical question. That’s right, it’s a Macbook.

Whether it is an ‘Air’ or a ‘Pro’, our lecture theatres are dominated by the white skyline of Apple products. And it doesn’t stop there, chances are if you put your hand into your pocket, or the pocket of the person sitting next to you, you’re going to pull out an iPhone, iPod, iShuffle and the list could go on.

In short, Apple is everywhere. Our sleek and shiny friends have become one of the largest and most profitable brands in human history. Earlier this year Apple’s share prices broke the $500 mark, the highest price per single share in history. To put that in to perspective, one share in ‘Trademe’ will set you back $3.70 and a share in ‘Skycity’ would cost a lowly $3.40.

Yes, it would seem that it has become hard to resist the lure to ‘Slide to Unlock’; even the most dedicated hipster couldn’t boast an immunity to the thousands of user friendly apps.

But beneath all that scratch resistant glass and stainless steel, lies a shocking reality. Our late friend Mr. Jobs was at the head of a company with some of the worst human rights abuses in history.

It may not surprise you, but the vast majority of Apple’s labour comes from the People’s Republic of China.

In fact, China is home to hundreds of thousands of Apple employees, 235,000 of who work in a single factory. Villages like Shenzhen, that were mere farming communities before Apple decided it needed to produce a new range of iSo-and-so’s, went from a population of a few thousands to over 14 million in a matter of years. Where there were once open fields of rice now stand mind numbingly massive factories, wafting copious amounts of toxic chemicals.

What seems to be a victory for modern day capitalism is essentially nothing more than a 21st century slave trade.

Behind the walls of Foxconn City plant in Shenzhen, and many other Apple factories throughout China, the workers have been subject to conditions and abuse that have shocked the world.

Despite the fact that China has very similar labour laws to us here in New Zealand, Mike Daisey, author of The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs said that during his visit to Shenzhen, he didn’t meet anyone that “had even heard of an eight hour shift”. In fact in an interview with Bill Maher on Real Time, Daisey points out that many ‘employees’ would work “12 hour shifts, and often 14, 15, 16 hours a day”. A day!

I know I’m not alone when I complain about a mere six hour shift, but a 16 hour work day is unheard of! The phrase, ‘work till you drop’ has taken on a chillingly literal connotation in Foxconn factory after a worker dropped dead following a 36 hour shift. And this is by no means an isolated incidence, however it is hard to tell what other horrors lay untold behind the walls of Apple. Bet that laptop isn’t looking so appealing now?

HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD

Unfortunately, Apple’s complete disregard for the sanctity of human existence doesn’t stop there. According to British newspaper The Independent, these overcrowded work facilities are no strangers to ‘work place accidents’.

In 2010, 137 workers at the Suzhou factory were injured by n-hexane, a poisonous chemical used to help the iPhone screens dry faster. In May 2011, four employees were killed and 18 were injured after a dust explosion in the Chengdu factory and in December 2011, a further 61 workers were injured in a gas explosion at the Shanghai factory.

Sounds like a field day for ACC if you ask me. But of all the horrific stories that came out of these factories, out of all the mistreatment and abuse, none shocked me more than the graphic reports of worker suicide. Since 2009, it has been reported that at least 18 employees from the Foxconn factory attempted suicide by hurling themselves off the massive buildings, as a direct result of the stress of the job. Apple could have responded by decreasing the unreasonably long shifts. Apple could have responded by improving safety regulations. Apple could have even responded by giving the $2 an hour workers a raise. But no. Apple, the most valuable company in the world with a net worth of $460 billion, decided to prevent suicides of their own employees, by putting nets

11

“This is not some underground company with shady ties to the Mafia, this is Apple.” around the factory walls. To catch these ‘valuable employees’ and send them back to work.

DON’T CARE, DON’T KNOW

This is not some underground company with shady ties to the Mafia, this is Apple. Everyone knows Apple! The company that has over $100 billion in the bank just sitting there, doing nothing at all. So how can they get away with this? How can they see the suffering of so many people, and simply do nothing. The answer is simple and is put wonderfully by an Apple executive, “customers over here care more about the new iPhone than working condition in China”. And it’s true, when I pick up an iPad the first thought that goes through my mind is “does this thing have angry birds?” not “how many people have suffered to make this?” But as Mr. Daisey so accurately suggests, “people don’t care, because they don’t know”.

It wasn’t until recently that these horrific stories were uncovered and printed in the New York Times. Since then Apple have decided – completely because of their own moral code and not bad PR of course – that they now “prohibit practices that threaten the rights of workers — even when local laws and customs permit such practices”. When is it that the world allowed companies to protect capital over people? To value money over a human being’s life. Bill Maher makes an interesting parallel with the movie Braveheart between the greedy King Edward, and Apple executives. When asked if the archers should open fire, the Kings mumbles “No, arrows cost money, send in the Irish. The dead cost nothing.” It’s unsettling to think that the world’s richest company has been ‘sending in the Irish’ for years, and the world has been none the wiser. This to me, appears to be an iProblem.

ISSUE 19 2012

NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

A

C

B D

Photo by Erik van Leeuwen

OLYMPICS ► After a week of sympathies, our gal Val was confirmed world champion after Nadzeya Ostapchuk tested positive for steroids in the women’s shotput. If the beard wasn’t obvious enough, Ostapchuk’s golden throw, significantly further than her recent recorded efforts, had suspicions flying. Valerie Adams will have some sort of ceremony as soon as Ostapchuk can be hunted down. ► After an average performance at the Olympics closing ceremony, four members of the original Spice Girls are desperate, bored or broke enough to get back together for a reunion world tour. The odd one out of course is Victoria Beckham who has decided she has quite enough spice in her life already with her hubby David, four kids and her fashion label. When asked why she didn’t want to tour, she replied, “I’ll tell you what I want, what I really really want.”

Florida, USA

AUSTRALIA

► A 5.4 metre long Burmese python has been found and killed in Florida – the largest of its kind ever to be discovered there. The species has thrived in the warm everglades of the state since being introduced as pets 30 years ago and either escaping or being set free by their owners. The snake’s belly was full of feathers and 87 eggs.

Sssssslut.

Tonga, Pacific ► A flight was cancelled to Tonga after scrub fires lit by locals hunting boar had meteorological services crying “volcano”. Satellite images of the cloud were mistaken for an eruption, causing a flight to be delayed. The pig hunters however had an excellent time, bringing home the bacon to their wives and families.

12

► The Australian federal government has taken a big step in the battle to be smokefree, ruling to make cigarette packs bland and unattractive by the end of the year. The packs will soon be olive green, with graphic imagery and warnings and the brand names will be written in “small generic font.”

It has been heralded as the tobacco industry’s worst defeat by some and it is believed the plain packaging will impact sales negatively.

STATISTICS

WWW.AUSM.ORG.NZ

NATIONAL

Olympics

► A recent study discovered that over half of New Zealand nurses have considered throwing in the towel at work because they feel morally stressed. With such high demands on nurses, they at times have to choose between two needy patients, thus neglecting one of care. The high demand on nurses has been put down to an ageing population and patient numbers. ► Unpopular soft core rock band Nickelback has announced a concert in New Zealand, much to the delight of nobody. Chad Kroeger and co will play one night at Vector Arena in November, ruining what will be the best month of the year for major gigs. A petition has started to deem the band a noxious pest under the Biosecurity Act of 1993 to deny them entry to our fine country. You can sign on at www.petitiononline.co.nz to stop this monstrosity.

IMAGE by Sarah K. Andrew via FLICKR.com

► Most kids think that school sucks but soon, they will be able to find out just how much. The government will next month release school comparison tables, inflating and deflating egos all around the country. Principal of Russell School Sose Annandale says “It’s going to have an impact on our self-esteem for our children, and their parents, and for our teachers here who are doing the best job that they can to lift that achievement.”

► Beck has announced his new album Song Reader will be released only as a collection of sheet music.

No disc, no instruments, no music, just the notes on fancy decorated paper. If you can’t read music, tough titties, Beck wants you to interpret the songs and let your heart sing its own song.

USA has won more medals, overall, than any other country with a total of 2652. Followed by Russia with 1204 and Germany 1143. China are steadily climbing with 517.

At the 2012 London Games, Michael Phelps broke Larrisa Latynina’s (a gymnast from the former Soviet Union) record of 18 total Olympic medals.

Phelps has now stood on the Olympic podium 22 times, 18 of which were for gold.

London’s Olympic stadium had the capacity for 80,000 sports fans.

marioanima’s photos via Getty Images

Music

Greece, who hosted the first Summer Olympics in 1896, also won the most medals that year – 47.

This year they sat 75 on the table with two medals.

300 nations took part in the Olympics, and 147 will take part in the Paralympics.

Ninety per cent of the material inside the Olympic park can be reused or recycled, making it the greenest Olympics ever.

13

ISSUE 19 2012

Correctly identify the five differences in the two photos then circle them and drop your entry into your nearest AuSM office, or the box on the side of the red debate stands, or post to debate PO Box 6116 Wellesley St before 12pm Thursday.

What’s up for grabs? Two “squawk burgers” vouchers for Velvet Burger on Fort St, Auckland CBD.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

to our issue 18 winner

Emma Campbell City Campus

1. Which US State is Harvard University located in?

image by eilonwy77 / flicker.com

2. For what band did Charles Manson audition for in the 1960s?

3. How long did Split Enz spend on a leaky boat?

4. Who had the ‘face that launched a thousand ships’?

5. Which of the three original Star Wars films is the longest?

6. True or false: Cats cannot taste sweetness?

7. True or false: Starbucks was named after a character from the book Moby Dick?

8. Which Australian aboriginal word means ‘dead river’?

9. Elijah Wood starred alongside Macaulay Culkin in which film?

10. Who plays James Bond in the movie the Living Daylights?

WORD JUMBLE EDBEAT

Name Phone # Email Campus

How many words of three letters or more can you make during your lecture from the letters above?

(6-8 average, 9-11 good, 12 or more - excellent) *Answers on page 31

14

WWW.AUSM.ORG.NZ

Special Recipe Edition in Support of SPCA Cupcake Day Everyone loves an excuse to treat themselves to morning tea, and what better excuse than a cute little puppy dog in need, or a kitten looking for love? AuSM is hosting SPCA Cupcake Day this year on city campus Monday August 27th from 9am-until all cupcakes are sold. This is a community-driven annual fundraiser for the SPCA and a sweet one at that!

Cupcake Cooks around New Zealand bake cupcakes and sell them, with the money going back to their local SPCAs and the many needy animals they help every day. For more details and to follow AuSM’s cupcake day, search ‘SPCA Cupcake Day with AuSM’ on Facebook. If you would like to be a Cupcake Cook, email dberry@aut.ac.nz.

Puppy-Paw Chocolate Cupcakes INGREDIENTS: ► 1 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (or gluten free baking flour) ► 1/4 teaspoon baking soda ► 2 teaspoons baking powder ► 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder ► 1/8 teaspoon salt ► 3 tablespoons butter, softened ► 1 and 1/2 cups white sugar ► 2 eggs (I use ground linseed 2tbsp mixed with 2tbsp warm water to substitute an egg) ► 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract ► 1 cup milk (I use rice milk)

Dear Agony Aunt I need to go and see the doctor but I am scared in case my parents find out why I have been.

Is there somewhere on campus I can go? I don't want to see my family doctor because I don't trust him. He has been my family doctor since I was a baby.

From Need to go Dear Need to go

METHOD: Step 1 : Preheat oven to 175° C. Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.

Step 2 : In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time (or linseed gel), beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk; beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.

Step 3 : Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

For Icing: ► 2 cups powdered sugar ► 1/2 teaspoon vanilla ► 1/2 teaspoon milk, add more to desired consistency ► 1/4 cup butter Note: Add the milk little bits at a time, thick icing is easier to work with Step 4 : Let the cupcakes cool, then ice each with a spoonful of white icing, smooth. To create paw prints on the cupcakes, use your thumb and imprint the cupcake using cocoa powder with 4 dots around one larger one until it resembles a paw print (see image).

15

Yes, AUT have a medical centre in both campuses. You will have to choose whether you want to be seen as a casual patient or as an enrolled patient. All this means is if you enrol with Health Counselling and Wellbeing (the medical centre) then they take the place of your family doctor and you will get you doctor or nurse appointment free.

If you go and see you family doctor after you have enrolled with HC&W then he/she will charge a fee. The other alternative is you stay enrolled with your family doctor and see a University doctor or nurse as a casual patient. You will be charged a fee for the service and everything remains the same with your family doctor. Let me reassure you that whatever you decide to do every person’s medical notes regardless of family connections is strictly confidential. It is an offence for a doctor or nurse to release any information about you even to your parents without your consent. I hope this helps. For more information call Health Counselling and Wellbeing on 9219992 for city campus and 9219998 for north shore campus.

ISSUE 19 2012

"Just finished analysing some carbon samples so heading out for a drive, YOLO!"

A curious exploration: a mission to mars

By Matthew Cattin

"If in fact you do make contact with Martians, please let me know right away…I've got a lot of things on my plate, but I expect that that will go to the top of the list. Even if they're just microbes, it will be pretty exciting." Obama said during a call from Air Force One to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

W

hen NASA’s exploration rover Curiosity entered Mars’ gravitational pull, it accelerated to over 20,000km per hour. As a comparison, this is more than 450 times the speed of Usain Bolt’s record breaking sprint. And if Bolt fired a 22. rifle whilst on the run, Curiosity would still be hurtling towards the surface of Mars at nearly 17 times the speed of that bullet. The amazing part is however, Curiosity’s landing has been described as “gentle”.

How a room full of geeks at NASA can gently land a rover on Mars from literally millions of miles away is astonishing. But it doesn’t stop there.

Launched in November last year, Curiosity has travelled 566 million kilometres to land on the bizarre and barren landscape of the Red Planet.

Since conquering the moon in 1969, NASA has shifted its gaze even further into the lonely voids of space. Why? Well I’m not really sure. Life here on earth isn’t at all what it used to be and I’m not sure if they will find any answers to earth’s questions out there in the dark.

It makes me wonder whether the mathematical magicians at NASA know more than they let on about the state of the world.

Perhaps they are looking for a plan B? Curiosity is essentially the most advanced portable laboratory ever sent to another planet. The answers it could potentially return to earth will be more detailed than anything that has gone before it. The nuclearpowered rover will spend two

16

WWW.AUSM.ORG.NZ years rolling around Mars, examining the alien landscape.

Throughout its journey, it will transmit photos and other data back to scientists on Earth and update its Facebook page when it gets spare time – “Just finished analysing some carbon samples so heading out for a drive, YOLO!” The project cost $2.5 billion, or roughly $7 from the pocket of every American. Whether this money could or should be used for more relevant issues is up for debate but I have to say, curiosity has always pushed man to the very limits of reason.

The mission has four scientific goals; to find out whether Mars could have ever supported life as we know it, to examine and determine the role of water on the planet, to study the climate and survey the geological landscape. These goals will be reached by the execution of six objectives.

“If Curiosity is remembered for anything, it will be remembered for its pictures,” said Glen Nagle, the spokesman for the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex in Australia, which manages three antennas that communicate with the rover.

To understand the amount of thought and preparation that goes into a successful Mars landing, one just has to think about the orbit of the planets around the sun. As you hopefully know, Mars and Earth orbit the Sun at different distances, Earth travelling an average of 80 million km closer to the Sun than Mars. Like different points on a wheel, planets shuttle through space at different speeds depending on their relative distance to their point of rotation around the Sun. The closer the distance, the faster the orbital speed.

Mars orbits the sun at roughly 24km per second, while Earth orbits at nearly 30km per

second and every 780 days, the two planets align, meaning they are at their closest distance to one another. This is known as the minimum-energy launch window, which means it is the most economical (in terms of speed and distance) time to send a rover over. I imagine it would be like trying to throw a tennis ball from a fast-spinning merry-go-round to a friend walking slow laps around the playground. To organise a journey of such magnitude and to see the rover touch down as light as a petal at its destination is truly a testament to how legit humankind can be when people work together.

“I think it’s fair to say that our science team, and our rover drivers, really everybody, is kind of itching to move… This is pretty spectacular terrain…We don’t see many vistas like this on Earth,” said mission scientist Ashwin Vasavada of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory describing how the rovers rests on gravel-covered bedrock inside Gale Crater, a 96-mile-wide dent in the Martian surface with Mount Sharp in its centre.

17

ISSUE 19 2012

FEATURE

l e i r f e on M e h t Is ars?

David Bowie, Ekeberghallen, Oslo, Norway, June 5 1978. Photo: Helge Øverås

Raising the questions beyond.

By Nigel Moffiet

O

n August 6, Nasa’s Curiosity rover propelled into the Martian atmosphere close to 21,000 km/h. With the aid of billions of dollars in research, engineering and technology, the rover was able to slow to a gentle decent and reach the planet’s surface to fulfill a very important mission: “to assess whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms called microbes. In other words, its mission is to determine the planet’s ‘habitability,’” as stated on Nasa’s official website.

Curiosity’s mission doesn’t shy away from one of the most fundamental questions raised by man, a question that has gained more legitimacy among philosophers and scientists throughout the decades – “are we alone in the universe?”

Indeed, space programmes in the past were always open to the possibility of extraterrestrial life – the famous Golden Records on the 1977 Voyager spacecraft contained sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, ‘just in case’ any other beings out there came across them. This included recorded greetings in a number of languages plus music which included Chuck Berry and Mozart!

Yet, asking this question might raise eyebrows or cause a few smirks; one might immediately think of little green men, UFOs or E.T like creatures with glowing fingers. But if we are to raise this question in a serious light and give it the legitimacy it deserves what direction might we take?

A number of scientists and thinkers, none more so than Carl Sagan, have worked hard to give legitimacy the notion of intelligent life beyond Earth. As Sagan elegantly put it, “Through all of our history we have pondered the stars and mused whether mankind is unique or if, somewhere else out there in the dark of the night sky, there are other beings who contemplate and wonder as we do - fellow thinkers in the cosmos.”

So what are the chances?

In a chapter titled ‘Expanding Our Perspective’ published in Matter and Consciousness, MIT Press 1988, Paul Churchland makes some interesting propositions on this very question – despite the science involved, he breaks it down quite nicely, allowing one of average inquiry (like myself) to dip casually into the bigger picture.

Churchland, who pointed toward the growing consensus amongst scientists and philosophers that conscious intelligence is the “activity of suitably organized matter” developed through billions of years of “chemical, biological

18

WWW.AUSM.ORG.NZ

and neurophysiological evolution” starts the case at the very beginning.

That is, what kind of environment supports such a state where complex chemical compounds can be formed?

Referencing a famous 1953 experiment

by Urey and Miller who attempted to recreate the earth’s pre-biotic atmosphere (consisting of hydrogen, methane, ammonia and water) by subjecting it to a continuous electrical charge, Churchland suggests, in very basic terms, that nature itself has performed a similar experiment with the earth as well as billions of other planets in what is considered a ‘semi closed system’. That is, there is an energy source (i.e the sun and the stars), and the black void of space surrounding us which acts as the ‘energy sink’ where heat can travel.

In other words energy is flowing; it’s not trapped. If it was trapped, complex chemical compounds would not form; they would simply reach a state of equilibrium. Yet, a flowing state of solar energy, through conditions described, creates an environment where infinite orders and complex structures can form (i.e. the foundations and building blocks of intelligent organisms).

PROBABILITIES So the next question is, how many other planets are there in our solar system that meet these conditions?

Scientists like Sagan also made varying estimates on this question, but the outcome is generally the same.

Churchland, however, begins with the rough estimate that there are 100 billion stars in our galaxy that are (excluding a small percentage) believed to be accompanied by a planetary system of some kind. We then have to consider planets that have a suitable main source of elements.

This leaves us with roughly 10 billion planets that are “suitably constituted for significant evolution” including the presence of water or liquid ammonia and liquid methane which are also considered common elements that would be more than capable of sustaining an evolutionary process.

Yet how many of these planets will be suitably placed relative to their energy supplying star? Continuing with these questions and outlining various factors and outcomes, Churchland eventually estimates there to be at least 10 million planets within our galaxy alone where there could potentially be an evolutionary process taking place.

With this in mind, Churchland asks, “in how many of these cases has the

FEATURE

evolutionary process articulated matter to the level of actual life, and in how many of these has it produced conscious intelligence?” He admits this is a question we can only speculate on, albeit, with a great deal of reasoned inquiry – we first have to make the distinctions between nonlife/life and unconsciousness/consciousness.

According to Churchland, we can define a living thing as “any semiclosed physical system that exploits the order it already possesses, and the energy flux through it, in such a way as to maintain and/or increase its internal order”. This has unusual consequences – is a beehive a living organism? A termite colony? Indeed, a human city? Churchland uses these examples to suggest there is only a very small and subtle difference between a living and non-living organism.

The same can be said for conscious intelligence too which is crudely summed up as “the possession of a complex set of appropriate responses to the changing environment”. Yet, we must also consider the creative aspects of intelligence and the ability of a ‘system’ to learn by exploiting the information it already contains.

reminds us, our own planet has only recently surpassed this level of intelligence. With these factors in mind, the chances of encountering highly intelligent life, or the chances of it existing at all within our solar system is pretty weak. However if you want to remain optimistic, Churchland continues with the possibilities with the reduced estimation that there could be at least 100,000 planets that are equal or ahead of us in terms of evolutionary development without forgetting that there are “potentially endless variation in the different forms that life and intelligence can take”.

The last remaining ingredient is simply time – billions of years for complex chemical compounds to evolve into what could be considered an intelligent organism. Considering the 4.5 billion years it’s taken for life to evolve as we know it on Earth, in the scheme of things this is a remarkably short period if we are to compare ourselves with other planets.

Some planets have existed in similar conditions for at least 10 billion years prior to our existence – ample time for an evolutionary process. Perhaps we’re not even ahead in the evolutionary race!

Furthermore, different environments demand different sense organs that would use radically different brains.

We must never assume “that a highly intelligent alien species must inevitably know the laws of arithmetic, or be able to learn a system like language, or have any inkling that these things even exist”. In this sense we must open ourselves up to the possibility the even we could be the ones who are unaware.

GREEN MEN AND FLYING SAUCERS ?

But does this mean we could expect little green mean in flying saucers? The answer is no.

Firstly, the average distance between planets is over 500 light years, so distance is obviously a factor but it is not the most crucial reason for doubt.

We could never assume that planets develop intelligent life simultaneously nor could we assume that intelligent life would last very long – and if it existed at all, who’s to say it would be more intelligent than a simple rodent or an insect? Indeed, as Churchland

19

Life as we know it consists of cells and multi-celled organisms. Yet, such life forms might not be strictly necessary as Churchland takes on leaps of imagination to suggest (using one such example) some biospheres might develop a “single, unified, massively complex and highly intelligent ‘cell’ that girdles the entire planet”. Trying to communicate with such an entity “might be like a single bacterial cell in the local swamp attempting to communicate with a human by emitting a few chemicals”.

Churchland says if an intelligent species were to exist, who’s to say their goals or concerns would be intelligible to us. “A different species might have a singular devotion to the pursuit of higher mathematics, and their activities might make as much sense to us as the activities of a university mathematics department would make to a Neanderthal.”

Suggested readings: Schrodinger, E, What Is Life?

(Cambridge University Press, 1945).

Shklovskii, I.S., and Sagan, C., Intelligent Life in the Universe (New York: Dell, 1966).

ISSUE 19 2012

FEATURE

By Dhayana Sena

A fundamental debate:

Genetic Screening

W

ith the advent of technology and its continued progression, genetic screening and testing has now become a reality most people face. According to the Genetics Home Reference website, a service provided by the U.S National Library of Medicine, genetic testing is “a type of medical test that identifies changes in chromosomes, genes, or proteins…that are associated with inherited disorders.” This testing is predominantly used to “confirm or rule out a suspected genetic condition or help determine a person’s chance of developing or passing on a genetic disorder.” However, such advancement in technology now means we are able to screen foetuses and even embryos for thousands of genetic conditions as well as other genetic factors such as sex and eye colour. Therein lies the problem, as the question that needs to be asked is “where do we draw the line?”

Genetic screening is largely beneficial in that it gives parents the ability to know in advance if their future child is predisposed to genetic disorders.

It allows parents to decide if bringing the child with a genetic condition into the world is worth the suffering that both the parents and the child will have to face. Genetic disorders may consume the child’s life, impeding their ability to lead a normal life.

Many conditions cause a great deal of suffering for parents as well as children who are born with diseases that are sometimes terminal and worsen in adulthood.

MORAL CONCERNS According to Dr. Robert Klitzman, an American psychiatrist and bioethicist, genetic screening offers parents the choice of selecting the embryos they want to keep, choosing those without the genetic mutations or genetic factors, which the parents feel are undesirable. This then becomes a situation where parents are effectively designing their babies, creating the perfect child, free from defects and undesirable physical traits.

This raises some concern and a number of deep moral issues – the ability to screen for genetic defects in babies may lead some parents to choose to abort their pregnancies.

Those with strong moral and religious beliefs may feel that these screenings and resulting abortions go beyond what God intended.

Similarly, by selecting embryos with an ideal genetic makeup and thereby designing a baby, many ask if people should have the power to do this.

In a TVNZ Close Up interview, Dr. Klitzman, who wrote the book, Am I My Genes?: Confronting Fate and Family Secrets in the Age of Genetic Testing, was very unsupportive of genetic screening and raised some fundamental ethical questions around the issue.

Dr. Klitzman further suggested that genetic screening is something only the rich may be able to afford, leaving those who can’t afford such procedures feeling discriminated.

Poor families are then left with other issues such as high medical bills and difficulties getting insurance, while the rich are able to produce perfect, healthy children without having to face the high costs of raising them. Tim Friesen, in his article, The Genetic Testing Controversy, supported this suggestion by posing the question, “will the rich be able to alienate itself from all genetic problems creating a lower class of outcasts?” He further states that, “if gene patenting is allowed to proceed, the cost of genetic tests could skyrocket based on demand. This could lead to only the wealthy being able to afford genetic testing and from this; genetic problems could be isolated to the poor.”

In this way, this practice could be seen as a form of eugenics, defined as “the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics.” What happens then? Will this become a situation where, in the future, there will be a split between the perfect and the diseased? Will there be conflict between the two and will this

20

ultimately become a situation similar to Nazi Germany under Hitler’s regime of creating the perfect master race?

Priya Johnson, who has written an article titled The Pros and Cons of Designer Babies for Buzzle.com, is of the view that genetic traits selected by parents removes the child’s freedom to choose how to live his or her own life. The example Johnson gives is that of a parent “passionate about sport”. Parents with athletic ability, who are keen on sports, are likely to design their child to possess the same athletic ability. The child may or may not want the same but the choice would have been taken away from them.

Johnson further illustrates that this type of genetic engineering will pose a negative impact on society, as it will result in an “increase of unreasonable fear or hatred towards foreigners or anyone who appears different.”

DISTORTED IDEALS In Shopping At The Genetic Supermarket, Peter Singer discusses the impact of a site auctioning egg and sperm, said to contain the most desirable of traits, to the highest bidder. He points out that “this site simply mirrors our current society, in that beauty usually goes to the highest bidder.” He portrays that in society’s eyes, “any gift such as beauty, intelligence, or social skills, will help your children in their quest for happiness and success.” Singer argues that this indicates a distorted view of a future child, “a sense shaped by a society that puts too high a premium on beauty and success.”

Where will this lead us? How far are we willing to go? Over time, it has been predicted that screening will become more affordable and readily attainable. It then becomes something everyone will have to face. Questions of regulation and control will arise as who has the right to decide? Should this screening be controlled by the government or should the choice lie completely with the parents?

WWW.AUSM.ORG.NZ

ARTICLE

Euthanasia : The other pro-choice debate

by Alanna Caveney Euthanasia is classified in many different terms and categories.

Conducted where consent is given by the patient is voluntary. When there is no consent available, it is called non-voluntary. Passive euthanasia entails withholding common treatments, such as antibiotics, necessary for the continuation of life. Active euthanasia is when lethal substances or force are used to kill, and is the most controversial. The word was first used to refer to an easy, painless, happy death, during which it was a “physician’s responsibility to alleviate the physical sufferings of the patient”. This is where infamous assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian comes in. Commonly known as “Dr. Death”, Kevorkian fought for the right to legally choose euthanasia as a means of death for terminally ill patients right up until his own death last year.

A LONG DEBATE

In his early years, Kevorkian worked at the University of Michigan as a lecturing doctor. In 1959, he published a journal article outlining his beliefs about experimentation on death row patients while under complete anesthesia, harvesting of their organs after the death penalty is carried out to transplant into sick patients, and also transfusion of their blood into live patients. The school opposed his proposal and he chose to leave rather than stop advocating his ideas. In 1987, Kevorkian began advertising as a physician consultant for “death counseling”. His first assisted suicide took place in 1990 on Janet Adkins, a 54 year-old woman diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

Charges of murder were eventually dropped as there were, at that time, no laws regarding assisted suicide.

The state did, however, revoke his

medical license, and he could no longer work with patients or practice medicine. Between 1990 and 1998, Kevorkian claims to have assisted 130 terminally ill people, with each individual allegedly taking the final action resulting in their own death.

He is said to have simply set up euthanasia devices that he assembled and constructed, and to supply the necessary medications. To push the button and complete the process was the individual’s sole choice. He had two devices he commonly used, one called the Thanatron (“Death machine” in Greek); a device which injected patients with the lethal doses intravenously. The other device employed a gas mask fed by a canister of carbon monoxide, known as the Mercitron (“Mercy machine”).

Kevorkian was tried four times for assisting suicides between 1994 and 1997. He was acquitted three times, and the fourth ended as a mistrial. However, in November of 1998, Kevorkian allowed 60 Minutes to use of a videotape of him which showed the voluntary euthanasia of Thomas Youk, a 52 year-old male in the end stages of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease (hello Google).

Youk provided full consent, however Kevorkian himself administered the lethal injection. This was significant, as before all individuals had completed the process by their own hand. Kevorkian dared authorities to convict him, or stop him from carrying out mercy killings. Despite Youk’s family describing the death as humane, Kevorkian was charged with second degree murder and delivery of a controlled substance (which he was not allowed to do given his medical license had been revoked) in early 1999. This led to him completing just over eight years of a 10-25 year sentence – he was released in 2007 after being granted parole for “good behaviour”. Some say he

21

revolutionised the concept of suicide as a means to help patients, others say he was too fanatical in his interest of death to “offer real direction to the nation”. Jack Kevorkian died on June 3, 2011, after being hospitalised for renal failure (said to have been brought on by his rumoured Hepatitis B diagnosis, supposedly contracted during the earlier transfusion experiments). It is unknown whether his death was natural or assisted.

WHERE WE STAND

Some governments around the world have legalised voluntary euthanasia, such as the Netherlands and Belgium, but it generally remains as criminal homicide. In “legalised” countries it is still technically referred to as homicide; however it is not prosecuted or punishable if certain legal exceptions are met. A survey in the U.S of more than 10,000 practicing medical professionals showed that only 16% of physicians would consider halting life-support treatments even if the family demanded it, whereas 55% would not, and the remaining 29% say it would depend on the circumstances.

Despite these numbers, in this same survey, 46% say that physicianassisted suicide should be allowed in certain cases. In the U.K, a huge 69% say they support assisted suicide in cases where the patient has an incurable and painful disease; the patients Kevorkian fought for all along. Personally, I feel if you haven’t been through a situation where you’ve seen someone you love in extreme pain because of a disease such as cancer or heart failure, you can’t make an educated decision on this topic. I believe it should be allowed, where the family, physician, and patient, where possible, decides it’s the best course of action to take.

As Kevorkian’s epitaph reads, “he sacrificed himself for everyone’s rights.”

ISSUE 19 2012

ARTIcLE

Scientists of the afterlife

by Alanna Caveney

A

‘body farm’ is pretty much what it sounds like: a farm of bodies. Don’t get me wrong though, this isn’t some serial killer’s mass burial ground or anything. They are essentially research facilities where human decomposition is studied in a variety of settings in order to gain a better understanding of the process, and to develop the techniques for extracting information such as time of death and reasons for death. In basic terms, it’s like a CSI training ground. Five such places exist only in the United States; with the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility being the first. The Farm itself was first established in 1981 (with one single body) by anthropologist William Bass; however, he had a number of donated and unclaimed bodies macerating at an abandoned farm owned by the university during the 1970s. The facility now consists of a much larger (2.5 acre) wooded plot, surrounded by a razor wire fence, with approximately 150 bodies (as of 2007) at any given time being studied in different scenarios – this number rising quickly from just 20 bodies in 2003. Other facilities include the Forensic Osteology Research Station (known as FOREST) at Western Carolina University, the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State Body Farm (FACTS), the Southeast Texas Applied Forensic Science Facility (STAFS) at Sam Houston State University, and the Institute of Criminological and Forensic Sciences at California University of Pennsylvania. Now you see why they’re simply referred to as “body farms”.

THE STUDY OF DECOMPOSITION

The bodies at these institutions are exposed to a number of elements and situations in order to primarily study the sequence and speed of decomposition, and the effects of insect activity. They re-enact many typical crime scene scenarios such as a car accident unseen for days, or a murder victim buried in a shallow grave in order to have more information about the human body

to aid in future crime solving. These farms teach scientists to not only study the body itself, but study the ground around remains for evidence (soil acidity is a key indication of how long a body has been releasing fluids into the Earth), and also to

“The bodies at these institutions are exposed to a number of elements and situations in order to primarily study the sequence and speed of decomposition, and the effects of insect activity.” pay careful attention to the effects of weather and environment on the remains by considering the effects of purification by a hot sun or how decomposition can be disrupted by scavenging animals. As gross as all of this may sound, the work these facilities do contributes largely to solving crimes across America and the rest of the world. If anyone watches the show Bones, almost every conclusion on that show comes from real cases solved using methods and information collected on body farms. Bass and his students don’t just isolate themselves to their studies at the farm, they also receive forensic cases from law enforcement in which they can lend their expertise, prove innocence, and bring conclusions to cold cases and unsolved crimes.

Each existing campus is responsible for studying decomposition in different habitats throughout the U.S, and each facility is also used for other purposes. FOREST in North Carolina is run on a small plot in a rural mountain area and is also used for cadaver dog training. FACTS in Texas studies the desert-like conditions, with the mean annual temperature of Houston reaching 23 degrees Celsius, and has a specific area to study the effect of vulture scavenging, as these creatures are rife in the area. STAFS (also in Texas) has the predominant focus of evidence and

22

its preservation for use in a court of law. They also train students, officers, academics and forensic specialists to better themselves in their respective fields. And the California University of Pennsylvania, located outside of Pittsburgh, has only recently entered into an agreement to operate and is yet to become operational. On each campus, they have corpses which are clothed, unclothed, in the sun, in the shade, in water. They can be found in trunks of cars, houses, automobiles in general. What they aim to do is reconstruct as many situations in which the deceased are found, in as many different environmental situations as possible to get a wider range of data. There have been proposals to open body farms in various locations, both within and outside of the U.S. and few have been successful as of yet. There have been initial steps by Roma Khan to establish a farm in India along the lines of those in the U.S.

DONATIONS OF BODIES

Over 100 bodies are donated to the Tennessee facility every year. Sixty per cent of donations are made by family members of unregistered people who have recently passed away, and over 1300 people have chosen to pre-register themselves while still living. As their research continues to evolve, Bass and his staff continue to identify new methods to calculate the time between death and discovery of a body, body identification and any other variable that might aid in criminal investigations. When asked about the growth of the farm in the future, Bass insinuated that his institute was far too small and a higher percentage of land that has not been contaminated by other burials was required for future success in his programs. They have recently been granted at least 12 acres in addition to his existing lot. Bass has written a book entitled Beyond the Body Farm, in which he describes the lessons he has learned from his seemingly macabre profession, and also talks about his proposed exhumation of the famous escape artist, Harry Houdini.

WWW.AUSM.ORG.NZ

ARTIcLE

by Matthew Cattin I love how science, the art of precision, detail, planning and experimentation can be revolutionised by a complete accident. A fluke brought on by an untidy office or dropped chemical. It’s forever changing. A theory believed for centuries can be reversed in minutes. Here are a few discoveries that have in some shape or form changed our world. Some such as the Higgs Boson has been deliberated over for decades and others, such as Penicillin has been hiding right under our noses, just waiting on a chance to shine.

Gunpowder

Invented by Chinese alchemists in the 9th century, gunpowder is important for mostly the wrong reasons. It was discovered that mixing elemental sulphur, charcoal and potassium nitrate resulted in an explosive effect. When set alight, the carbon from the charcoal reacts with oxygen unleashing carbon dioxide and energy. This reaction is usually slow like a burning flint but the potassium nitrate, an oxidiser, greatly accelerates the chemicals. It was utilized in weaponry and fireworks, ultimately changing the face of warfare and shifting the power to those who understood it.

Penicillin

Penicillium is a naturally occurring fungus which was discovered in 1928 to have antibacterial properties – a giant leap in the realm of modern medicine. Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered the properties of the fungi after leaving staphylococci cultures a few days in his messy laboratory. On his return, he found that fungus had grown on one of the cultures and destroyed the bacteria. “When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly didn’t plan to revolutionise all medicine by discovering the world’s first antibiotic, or bacteria killer. But I suppose that was exactly what I did,” Fleming said. Penicillin was soon found to cure tuberculosis, syphilis and gonorrhea among other infections.

E = mc2

Alexander Fleming - imge by Calibuon, Creative Commons Albert Einstein -image by César Blanco via flicker.com

Einstein’s theory of mass-energy equivalence, E = mc2 is a fundamental equation in nuclear physics which shows energy (E) is equivalent to mass (m) times the speed of light (c) squared. This means a number of crazy things in the world of physics but to us mere mortals, it shows us how much mass is needed to create x amount of energy. This concept can be used for example to calculate the energy potential of a nuclear power station or a hydrogen bomb. Since c2 is an enormous figure, it tells us that a minute mass can unleash humongous energy. To

23

illustrate my point, the largest bomb ever detonated only converted 47 grams of mass into 60 megatons of destruction.

The Higgs Boson Particle

Around 40 years ago, scientists developed a theory to explain why atoms, particles and all that jazz behave the way they do. Because they were dealing with the smallest pieces of the grand puzzle of existence, concrete evidence wasn’t a possibility, until now. Peter Higgs suggested back then that there exists a particle that decelerates other particles to a speed where they are able to join together with other particles. It has been nicknamed the ‘God particle’ because without it, particles would not be able to bond together to form atoms which make up the stars, planets and life. This year, the theory was proved correct in an experiment inside the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider (a 27 kilometre circular tunnel which accelerates particles to nearly the speed of light). Confused? Same. But in terms of science, it basically means the atomic theory model taught to us in college was correct. If the experiment failed, it would mean back to the drawing board. In short, everything we thought we knew about how the universe worked would be wrong.

Mapping of the Human Genome

Over a 13 year stretch commencing 1990, the Human Genome Project identified and mapped the form and function of approximately 20,000-25,000 genes of the human genome. This international research project’s main objective was to ultimately have a greater understanding of our genetic makeup and hopefully advance medicine and biotechnology. The findings offer insight into the effects that variations in DNA can have on humans and more importantly provide answers to how diseases can be diagnosed, treated and fingers crossed, prevented. The Human Genome Project remains one of the largest research projects in history, and its contribution to science is revolutionary.

LETTERS

ISSUE 19 2012

LETTERS Dear debate,

Auckland Transport is also changing the bus network to focus less on the CBD and more Having read Jarred Williamson's article [issue 16] I see he is among on major destinations locally and transport hubs including the many misinformed about the City Rail Link (the projects actual railway stations. The routes will be shorter, more direct and more name), no thanks to the media frequent all day, every day. Yep and Auckland Transport. First of weekends too. This will use the all the link will make Britomart same amount of buses, same route a through station rather than the dead end it is now. This increases kilometers and cost the same as the old network but the catch will capacity as trains don't need go back the same way they came, this be more transfers – the number of modes to get somewhere no means we can have more trains longer matter and this will allow on all parts of the network and more people to go from anywhere build new lines to places like the to anywhere almost anytime airport and maybe even Howick you like just like a car so that's a and the North Shore. So let's go quickish win right there with no onto possible running patterns made possible with City Rail Link: more ratepayers money being spent on operating it than before. a train going from Papakura via Under the new PTOM(public Newmarket will go to Britomart transport operating model) the same way it always has but just passed into law by central once it gets there it will go via the rail link through Aotea, K Rd, government bus operators get Newton and finally Grafton before paid a set price to operate a route with fares going to the council, turning at Newmarket to head meaning subsidies will more back to Papakura and vice versa; not a loop going around in circles than likely decrease, also with diesel trains being replaced with and the Western Line (Swanson electric trains, costs to operate rail to Britomart) no longer has to take the long way around creating services will also decrease. an average time saving of 5 minutes(places like Kingsland,Mt On the issue of light rail(trams), it's an issue of capacity and Albert) or more the further out right of way. A six car light rail you go. vehicle can carry about 400-

600 people in total where as a 6 car EMU(electric train that likes of Auckland are getting) can carry over a 1000. Light rail shares the road with other vehicles and under New Zealand law only has the same right of way as other vehicles (yes trams are still covered under give way rules because of the Christchurch tramway in the CBD and waterfront tram in Auckland at Wynyard). Saying that, light rail does have a place in Auckland's transport future. I'd say the AMETI(Howick/Pakarunga to Panmure) busway should be converted to light rail at least 10 years from now and Dominion Rd should become light rail at some point as well.

I hope this better informs people of transport issues facing Auckland. Also these websites are good places to read about Auckland transport stuff http://transportblog.co.nz/ , http://www.bettertransport. org.nz/forum/viewforum. php?f=1, and finally http:// aucklandmotorways.co.nz/ - Daniel Palenski

RESPONSE Daniel, Thanks for reading and writing in about my column on Auckland’s transport.

I take your point about Britomart becoming a through station. In its current state it is a brilliant example of poor planning.

There aren’t any plans for rail to places like Howick or Botany. I remember reading online a couple of years ago that our then Mayor of Manukau, Len Brown, hadn’t committed to any rail connection to the area. Looking at the Auckland Plan, a strategic map for 2040 shows the Botany area as having some sort of rapid transport link other than rail.

Part of the Pakuranga highway was

ranked the ninth most congested road in New Zealand just this month. A 2021 start date for the Botany connection, while sitting in congestion on a pokey road seems far off! I’m not too sure then if AMETI would be light rail by that time if they were only just starting construction. In any case, I think it should be done right in the first place.

It’d be lovely to have a rail link to the Airport. Some current data from Sydney’s rail link shows in May that around 16% of air passengers use the service. So we need to make sure there is a return for such infrastructure and we spend wisely.

There are great international examples of good systems such as Melbourne and Lyon, France.

24

I am excited for the day when strong connections from outer areas of Auckland arrive. Bus connections to interchanges are a long time coming.

I have a friend who lives in Pukekohe that has to leave home, in the car, before 6.30am in order to make 8ams.

Train services and facilities are a big disappointment there, so many drive.

Situation isn’t great for our friends out West either.

Once again, it’s nice to have feedback from articles! I wish I could give a longer reply, but there isn’t enough room.

- Jarred

WWW.AUSM.ORG.NZ

LETTERS

Dear debate,

Pa sound like a terrible place, however somewhere that, by her own admission, has huge levels of drug use, teenage pregnancy, no respect for education, no respect for the police and high levels of unemployment, does not sound like somewhere I would enjoy living.

In [debate’s issue 15] student profile, Kiwa Huata discussed her thoughts on growing up at Bridge Pa compared with her later education experience in Auckland. The profile presented an excellent comparison between the two hugely different worlds she has lived in and as a New Zealand European student I was interested in reading about her experiences growing up in the Maori community of Bridge Pa. However, what I did take issue with was her repeated references to the “Pakeha ways’ and ‘white system’. This culminated with a statement in which she expressed a desire to ‘fight against’ the white education system. She said that she didn’t want to make Bridge

I’m in no way suggesting that the ‘white system’ of education is perfect for everyone, even some New Zealand European students I have known have felt that they do not fit the systems in place at their high schools or universities. However, instead of making claims that Maori must ‘fight against’ this system of Although I understand that she education and implying that she had only one page of the magazine is here primarily to gain inside knowledge on the workings of in which to explain her opinions and that this is a very small space this system, I feel that if Kiwa directed her obvious passion for in which to outline such complex issues, it seems to me that had she education toward a compromise not benefited in some way from in educational systems all New the ‘white system’ of education Zealanders would benefit and she would still be living in Bridge our country can become united Pa and possibly even subject instead of being constantly to the same issues which she divided across racial lines. described as facing the current residents.

- Matt Barrowclough

RESPONSE Thank you Matt for taking the time to read my profile.

Firstly, you mentioned Bridge Pa does not sound like somewhere you would enjoy living, respectfully that would not appeal to most. However, take a look at many suburbs here in AucklandRanui, Otara, Otahuhu, Onehunga, Grey Lynn, Glen Eden and Henderson just to name a few. These areas are full of unemployment, state home housing, high levels of drug and alcohol abuse compared to other suburbs in the Big City. And yet you will find it is community-based where one household cares for their neighbour and so on.

Families in these areas are in no rush to escape the stereotypical tragedies the media portrays. And if anything, rather than looking at Bridge Pa as a place ‘I wouldn’t want to live in,’ look at it as a place you’d want to live in to help reduce these negative statistics.

Admittedly a number of opportunities have risen for many Maori with the availability of scholarships, corporationcultural diversity Kohanga reo, Kura kaupapa, Whare Wananga, Maori television etc. However, these are just a few in comparison to that of Pakeha who are seven times more likely to be given an academic opportunity than Maori. The reality is the Europeansystem was designed for Europeans. If the system was designed for Maori, it would not be the way it is now. And we would get through school, we would not have poor health, we would have jobs, we wouldn’t be filling up NZ prisons.

Since colonialism we have been forced to live by rules not of our own making.

Although the system has benefited me in some ways – it is the only way to get ahead in today’s society. The irony of the present situation is that European people see themselves as essentially moral, just and fair people. There is no justice while Maori sovereignty is not acknowledged, until all Maori land is returned to us.

The Education system is the major gate which keeps Maori out. There is an invisible barricade over every kindergarten, school and university.

This barricade means “Maori Keep Out: For European Use Only.” Many Europeans can’t see this sign; you must identify yourself as a Maori before you can see it.

Kindergartens are the first educational gate; it has frightened Maori off pre-school education. Maori parents won’t take their children to pre-school, not because they don’t want to, but because it doesn’t meet their cultural needs such as punishing children for speaking their own reo in class. One could tell kindergartens to take down the sign warning Maori to keep away, but the Kindergarten Association won’t listen. As far as they are concerned, because they can’t see the sign, it doesn’t exist. A university of Waikato research team found that the failure of children in Mangere and Otara to achieve in basic skills was related to low teacher expectations and low quality instructional programmes. The children were given instructional databases which would cause their failure and then they were blamed for their own failure.

Or at least their ‘home and ethnic

25

backgrounds’ were to blame. What disturbs me most is that our kids are being taught how to fail. Not just taught to fail but taught how to fail. Academics have long pointed out the relationship between failure at important tasks and lowered self-esteem. Lowered selfesteem shows itself in a life destined for failure. For Maori this shows itself up in depression, high self-mutilation rates, high risk-taking like drinking and driving, and suicide rate up six-fold.

Although I do appreciate what the system has provided for me, I am disappointed with the system itselfhow it does not cater for my needs and my mokopuna’s needs. Today, Maori rangatahi are finding new and innovative ways to create a system for Maori by Maori. Understanding the European system is the first step to absolute sovereignty. I am not entirely blaming Pakeha for what has happened in the past to Maori. I do believe in personal-responsibility; Maori must rise above the system, utilise it to infiltrate right through government, education, health institutions etc. I stand strong by my comment; rather than pointing the finger we must teach ourselves to walk both paths and exist in both Te ao Pakeha and Te ao Maori – that includes Pakeha learning the ways of Maori. I am a woman of my word, but this page is too short for me to give evidence of what I have said so far but if you’d like I could always send you evidence via email.

I do hope this response offends no one!

Thanks.

- Kiwa Huata

ISSUE 19 2012

COLUMN

I might be wrong; in fact I am

By Richard Wilde does in a Truman Show fashion.

I very strongly doubt that this particular belief is wrong, but there are other beliefs I hold which I think are more likely to be wrong than this.

The second issue is about all my beliefs. I believe a very large number of things, and it is simply a given that some of these beliefs are wrong. To think that each and every one of your beliefs is true is a ridiculous thing. We can see this easily by doing a little math – even if you thought there was a 99% chance that any particular belief was correct, you would only have to believe about 70 things for there to be a 50% chance that you are wrong about something (and each of us must have thousands of beliefs). Some of the beliefs that are wrong are likely to be at least somewhat important to me, and “foundational” in that their being wrong implies that a whole bunch of things that follow from them are wrong.

W

e have all been wrong about things in our life – we have believed things that we later discovered to be false. When our beliefs change we were either wrong before or we are wrong now – or both. There is nothing bad about admitting that we might be wrong.

The title of this article – “I might be wrong; in fact I am” is referring to two different issues. The first is about specific beliefs. For example, I believe that Sydney is a city in Australia. I could be wrong about this – perhaps Australia doesn’t even exist and everyone has been conspiring to make me believe it

OKAY TO BE WRONG Given that we know that we are wrong about some things, I think this implies we should have a little intellectual humility. We should keep in mind that, even if we’re pretty certain about something, we could still be wrong about it. And when we discover we were wrong, we shouldn’t be too surprised or embarrassed by it. We need to be flexible in our beliefs in order to have a realistic view of the world, because new data that bears on the truth of what we believe is coming in all the time, e.g. through scientific and personal discoveries.

And what we believe often directly

26

leads on to what we do, so this is hardly a purely theoretical matter.

However, while we can believe that we’re wrong about some things, we can’t believe that we are wrong about a specific belief. We can believe that we were wrong, after changing our minds about something, but it is impossible to simultaneously believe that something is true and false. It is a somewhat unsettling feeling to know that you are wrong about some things – some of them important things – but to be unaware of what they are. But there’s nothing much we can do about this.

DEALING WITH BELIEFS The best way to deal with this is to treat belief as a continuum, and never be 100% certain about anything (although some beliefs will be so close to certainty that it makes little practical difference).

Instead of treating belief as black and white, we should be more probabilistic. Some beliefs – e.g.

Sydney being in Australia – would be very high in probability (maybe 99.99% – it’s difficult to say exactly what that % it should be), while others would be more like 75%. At what point do we stop saying we believe something is not clear – if we believe there’s a 70% chance that God exists, does that count as “believing in God”? There is in fact no answer to this question – because it treats belief as a binary (yes/no) matter!

Living with uncertainty about everything is not easy. But if we care about our beliefs being true, there is no other option.

WWW.AUSM.ORG.NZ

Social Media

Morgahna Godwin The Olympics wrapped at the beginning of the week and little old New Zealand didn’t do too badly. So many proud kiwis. And belated congratulations to Val Adams for the gold medal. We all knew that Belarusian was on the roids.

Geri Halliwell @GeriHalliwell

“Oh what a night! What a party! is melb still in her performance outfit?#spiceolympics”

John Stamos @JohnStamos

John Key @johnkeypm

“RT @EllaC88 Fav moment of the #closingceremony?

Please don’t say the Spice Girls.”

“How good is it to be Val Adams right now? You made it an awesome 6 golds.Celebrate London, Kiwis - this is the icing on the cake.”

Smallzy @Smallzy

“Spice Girls. #OMG my 9 year old self is losing his mind.”

Steve Price @steevprice

“Congrats Val Adams.Shame u didn’t get 2 stand on the top podium @ the Stadium in front of the crowd singing ur anthem.Good 2 c Cheat caught”

BEST COAST @best_coast

“yes, i did in fact cry while watching the spice girls reunion #tweenagain”

Dai Henwood @daihenwood

“Ostapchuk was stripped of her gold. Just take the gold off her, no one wants to see you strip her.”

Now that it’s all over the focus moves to the next Olympics in Rio. Excite. Let’s hope that Belarusian isn’t allowed through the gate, and that our officials remember to enroll Valerie in her event.

And of course we had the closing ceremony which, for most, was like taking a trip back to your childhood, “People of the world spice up your life”. Or maybe it was like taking a trip back in time to an era you’d much rather forget. Either way the Brits didn’t disappoint, staging a great show.

Tamati Coffey @tamati_coffey

“i have to work on my portugese for rio 2016....i think its going to be fun...!”

Jill Kargman @jillkargman

“Olympics 2016 in Rio: celebration of Gisele and the Brazilian wax”

Alexa Chung @alexa_chung

“GIRL POWERRRRRRR oh man Spice Girls” *All images taken from twitter

“I was 14 and living on the streets.”

ENGLISH LANGUAGE

When you’re homeless, you’re alone.

TEACHERS NEEDED

OVERSEAS

You wonder where you will sleep. How will you eat?

People walk past and ignore you. They don’t care.

1

Show that you do.

The Student Big Sleepout

Take advantage of this demand and reduce your student loan with our Qualify-to-Work Course, combining ESOL certification and a guaranteed overseas job.2

What: Organised by SIFE AUT in partnership with Lifewise, the Student Big Sleepout is a fundraiser designed to raise awareness of the issue of youth homelessness.

The night:

Put yourself in the shoes of a homeless person and sleep rough out in the cold for one night. Listen as guest speakers close to the isssue share their experiences. Get a group of friends together and register as a team (up to 5 people) to raise funds. The night will be informative, challenging and life changing.

Call us now to book your place. call: 09 309 5208 or 021 783 746 email: tesol.college@edenz.ac.nz

Where: AUT Quad, Hikuwai Plaza, AUT City Campus When: 6.30pm Thursday, 23rd August to 7.00am Friday, 24th August Register: Email sife@aut.ac.nz to be sent a registration form.

Find out more:

A project of:

www.studentbigsleepout.org.nz

SIFE AUT: www.sifeaut.org.nz Lifewise: www.lifewise.org.nz Email: sife@aut.ac.nz

www.edenz.ac.nz 1, 2 Subject to terms and conditions.

27

John for Male Monday shot by Lianna Tarantin

Erin McKenna of Baby Cakes NYC shot by Lianna Tarantin

Pippa Lord, SS creator shot by Lianna Tarantin

IBN Jasper, Kanye West’s barber shot by Gari Askew

ISSUE 19 2012 Fashion

By Morgahna Godwin

28

WWW.AUSM.ORG.NZ

The blog is based out of New York City and profiles many of its young up-and-coming movers and shakers. Each week Pippa and the team source content to inspire those living as 'non-traditionalists'. A particular section that one can't help but notice is 'Male Monday'. Basically the SousStlye team find the most attractive men out there and get them to cook a meal in their kitchen (often wearing very little). All the while a photographer is taking photos, and an editor is asking questions they think readers will want answers to. A tough job some may say (that's sarcasm).

SousStyle also features a section on home decoration that has attracted attention of Marie Claire and the New York Mag. It's a gold mine of chic room designs and overthe-top styling - a must have for any 'new ten' homemaker.

SousStyle isn't a website telling you how to be someone, it's a current reflection of ambitious young professionals building homes for themselves in a fast changing society.

Check out sousstyle.com

WORTH $4.50 29

Brandy Cunningham from TENOVERSIX shot by Justin Coit

blog created by the photo director at Elle Magazine, Pippa Lord. It's infused with a chic, sexy, minimalist aesthetic said to showcase the 'new' generation of homemakers. Think Martha Stewart without the traditionalism. On the website you'll find the SousStyle Manifesto attesting to everything Pippa stands for namely 'the imperfect perfect'.

One facet SousStyle prides themselves on is the overabundance of food. But this isn't just any food. Only the sexiest of food makes its way onto the glossy digitized pages of the website. As well as the Male Monday feature, SousStyle also calls on some of the biggest foodies in New York City to share their cooking secrets. It's a bank of knowledge for those looking for fresh recipes and ways to throw a party.

Matt McGrath, Photo Editor shot by Heather East

SousStyle is a lifestyle

Dorianne Loshitzer, Trainee Chef shot by Andreas Joseph

David Flinn, for Male Monday shot by Lianna Tarantin

Fashion

by Elesha Edmonds

ISSUE 19 2012

Some call this a VOX POP; I call this the most politically correct referendum of all time.

The Questions:

Caffeinated Banter has so far taken

us on an exploration into the deepest realms of coffee. We have journeyed from coffees historic origins (in a goat’s stomach) to the outer sphere of scientific explanation (not quite mars, but close enough). However it is high time that we looked up from our coffee mugs, moved the mug away from our open lips, closed our mouths, slowly placed the mug onto a table (or flat surface) and glanced at the people around us. It is time we found out what AUT students really think about our beloved beverage.



How do you drink your coffee?

 Describe the first

time you tasted coffee.



What is your average intake of coffee per week?

Some people call this a Vox Pop. Personally I have no idea what on earth a Vox Pop is. Therefore you might as well call this a referendum of sorts. In fact, I decided to carry out this referendum just like our government. I spent a tonne of time and effort getting people’s perspectives, then trashed anything that went against what I wanted to achieve. Democracy? Check!

 If a man/woman/

talking cat, driving a white van, pulled up to you on an abandoned street and offered you a choice between either instant coffee or ground coffee beans, which one would you take?

To make sure I was absolutely unbiased in my survey results, I decided to close my eyes and walk around university, so that I only interviewed the people I bumped into! I managed to magnetically attract crazy Hospo students, intense Physio beauties and brainy Comms kids. Random sample? Check!

Now I advise you to grab a coffee, upgrade to double shot, forget the trim milk, mix in two sugars and see what these loons have to say:

30

WWW.AUSM.ORG.NZ

Esther

19. Physiotherapy

Luke

 “Super-duper weak… like 1/4 coffee with lots of frothy milk and cinnamon.”

20. Event Management

 “With my mouth.”

 “I was about 10, and had been given a cup [of coffee] at church. I thought it was the yuckiest thing I had ever tasted.”

 “The first time I tasted coffee I wept with sheer delight of the magical dark sensation flirting with my inner being. It was almost like it was whispering to my soul saying, ‘I want to be inside you!’”

 “Once a month… if that.”  “Ground coffee beans! I’d rather go without than have instant. Yeah, it’s snobbish, but coffee beans vs. instant coffee, is like cocoa powder vs. real chocolate. No contest.”

 “5.7 cups per week.”  “Depends on the van. If it was a 1994 Ford Econovan, with rusty doors and a coat hanger for an aerial, then I would take the instant coffee and leg it as fast as I could to avoid being stabbed.

However if it were a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter then I’m more likely to take the ground beans and stick around for a chat.”

Jason

19. Communications and Business conjoint.

 “Milk and two sugars.”

Georgina

 “I was on a plane from LA to Sydney and wanted to stay up all night, so I could watch the movies. But I was tired so I asked the air hostess for some coffee. I was disgusted. I went to the bathroom to chuck it all up.”

19. Communication Studies

 “Milk, one sugar, or honey.”  “I had this goal to like coffee by the time I was 16. So I had two coffees a day before my 16th birthday. When I turned 16 I realised that I never liked coffee… but I was addicted.”

 “Five cups a week.”  “I’d probably take the ground… then I would try and kidnap the cat. A talking cat is a gold mine!”

 “Four cups a week.”  “Ground coffee beans. I’d take that risk.”

Jordan

19. Culinary Arts.

Random survey conclusions:

 “Out of a cup...”

- One’s first taste of coffee often results in tears, disappointment and vomiting

 “When I was eight, I was tricked into thinking it was Ribena. I ran away crying.”

- Event management students have very detailed opinions of the world.

 “14…”

- Many students have a secret obsession with chewing ground coffee beans.

FROM PAGE 14

 “Depends. If it was a man, I wouldn’t take either… that’s creepy. If it was a woman, I would take anyone she wanted to get rid of. If it was a cat driving a van then I’d be drunk, so I’d take the beans and chew them.”

- Air hostesses and churches supply coffee.

- Ribena is not coffee.

- Talking cats are normal.

QUIZ ANSWERS: 1. New Jersey | 2. The Monkees | 3. 6 months | 4. Helen of Troy | 5. Return of the Jedi (135mins) | 6. True | 7. True – Starbuck was Captain Ahab’s first mate | 8. Billabong | 9. The Good Son | 10. Timothy Dalton WORD JUMBLE: debate, bated, bead, beat, beet, beta, deet, date, debt, teed, abed, bate, abet, bade, tea, deb, tad, eat, tab, ted, dab, ate, tee, bet, bad, bee, bed, bat

31

REVIEWS

Moonrise Kingdom

Here

Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward and Bruce Willis Director: Wes Anderson | Run Time: 94 min

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes

If Alfred Hitchcock was the master of suspense, then Wes Anderson has surely cemented himself as the prince of peculiar with his latest colourful outing, Moonrise Kingdom. With a massive cast of Anderson favourites and impressive debuts to match, expect the character quirks of The Royal Tenenbaums mixed with the dazzling cinematography of The Darjeeling Limited. This is Wes Anderson at his quirky best.

Set in a small island town off the coast of 1960s New England, Moonrise Kingdom is the courageous love story of two children who elope into the wilderness together. The orphaned yet self-assured boy scout Sam Shakusky (played by up-and-comer Jared Gilman) whisks the sullen Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward) away on a coming of age adventure in the great outdoors. With nought but boy scout knowledge and a knapsack of prized belongings, the pair discovers the importance of understanding, individuality and each other. The young actors succeed wonderfully in their roles, going the extra mile to make it convincing and natural.

Snapping at the heels of the pair is a motley crew of misfits including the amusingly depressing Bill Murray on top form as Suzy’s father, Bruce Willis as the lonely community sheriff and Edward Norton as the dead pan scoutmaster. Keep an eye out also for bright cameos from Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman and Harvey Keitel.

The film progresses at Anderson’s distinctive musical pace, rhythmic and deliberate. Littered with dry character humour, the film uses awkward comedy which I admit,

takes a bit of warming to. Not unlike Tarantino however, the more Wes Anderson films you digest, the better the taste and with Moonrise Kingdom, the flavour is bound to linger.

The cinematography is spectacular, using the Autumnal colours of the wilderness to brilliant effect. One thing that I find irresistible about Anderson’s work is his attention to deliberate imperfections, a technique which he plays on once more to bring out the playful mood of the film. Camera zooms are wobbly, shots are pulled from focus and the stunt work is stylistically amateur – proving that shying away from perfection can create personality blockbusters can only dream about.

The film that swept Cannes to its feet, Moonrise Kingdom may well be Wes Anderson’s magnum opus. Beautifully shot and lovingly scripted, I wore a smile on my face from the establishing shot to the end of the credits.

- Matthew Cattin

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes – a band like no other. Consisting of 10 permanent members and whoever else is up for a fun time, a more spontaneous and free group of people couldn’t be found anywhere. Their shows are an intimate party of grubby bare toes, foot stomping, hand clapping, hugs and smiles and their music is unabashed and lively. With the arrival of their second album Here, ES&TMZ’s have gifted the world nine more beautifully crafted and catchy songs. My only criticism is I would have liked nine more tracks.

Album opener Man on Fire showcases an incredible diversity of sounds, moods and vocals, yet with all that attention to detail, it still sounds fresh and torn around the edges. It seems already the band is using the studio more to their benefit, bringing in an abundance of strange instruments and sounds. That’s What’s Up gives you a pretty darn good idea what’s up. Lead singer Alex Ebert takes the back seat in this one, giving the reigns to Jade Castrinos, something we see a fair bit in this album – quite to my delight. Her Southern rasp and lovely smile is one of my favourite things in this world. What a babe.

A country, bluegrass style (with a touch of gospel) seems to be the feel of this record, quite different to 2009’s Up From Below which sounded more inspired by an Ennio Morricone score. Mayla, one of my favourite tracks off the record, is a beautiful hymn-like tune, splattered with clean guitar trills like trickling water. It’s about as chilled a song as you can get, putting me in a great space for dreamy sleep times.

Child is a delicate guitar ballad sung by guitarist Christian Letts – a fantastic decision by the band. His voice is a lot softer than Ebert’s and what I wouldn’t do for a solo album of this quality. Jade takes the lead vocals for country power ballad Fiya Wata, a powerful track inspiring wound down car windows and sunshine. I have to say though, I dig their live, cut back versions of this particular track more than the recording.

If you haven’t heard of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes, I strongly suggest getting amongst it. They’re not just a band, they’re a way of life and I really do mean that. Watching them play live is a pretty life changing experience - their free spirits are contagious enough to fill any room. Quality album by a gorgeous band.

- Matthew Cattin

REVIEWS

AIR CHRYSALIS

Carry Me Back

Concord Dawn

The Old Crow Medicine Show

Since breaking into the world of drum ‘n’ bass in 1999, the duo of Matt Harvey (Matty C) and Evan Short (DJ Killjoy) became the leading edge in New Zealand electronic music. Taking their name from the home planet of bounty hunter Boba Fett (of Star Wars fame), Concord Dawn released their first album, Concord Dawn in 2000, they proved they were a force to be reckoned with. And after 13 years of bringing drum ‘n’ bass to the masses Concord Dawn continues to lead the way.

With the new album Air Chrysalis, Concord Dawn has continued the momentum that has earned them the reputation for being one of the top artists in their field. While there isn’t anything that overtakes the awesomeness of their past albums, Air Chrysalis delivers a solid dose of wicked DnB. Matt Harvey still has the ability to produce insanely catchy electronic tracks that not only keep the dance floors across New Zealand packed, but that are so much more entertaining and listenable than some of his counterparts.

Traditionally, Concord Dawn has been well known for successful collaborations with local vocalists such as Tiki Taane, Hollie Smith and Scribe, and the new album is no different.

With collaborations from an array of New Zealand artists Air Chrysalis provides some genuinely memorable tracks.

Lead single These Prison Walls featuring Wellington’s Thomas Oliver and the 80’s sounding One Tear featuring NZ pop singer Rikki Morris are two of the standout collaborations that have true crossover potential, but it is in the pure Concord tracks that the album truly shines.

Relentlessly grinding along in unadulterated DnB fashion, the title track Air Chrysalis provides a hauntingly atmospheric sound, while unleashing an array of stealthy musical punishment while slamming your auditory senses from side to side.

Electrocute is another track that stands out for its unique yet familiar sound. These provide some of the strongest tracks produced in NZ electronica in a long time.

It’s refreshing that in a world so dominated by the fad of dubstep, Concord Dawn manages to continue sounding fresh while not succumbing to the current pressures of ‘popular’ electronic music.

The rare thing about Air Chrysalis is the fact that is available as a free zip download from www.concorddawn.co.nz. And like anything, if you are being offered it for free you would generally expect it to sound average. This is far from the case. You are instead being offered a piece of quality music.

One of the surprise tracks on this album for me was Concord Dawn’s collaboration with NZ Hip Hop mainstay Savage. I am personally not a fan of Savage’s later generic ‘hip-pop’ sound, but the track Put Em Up High has an edge to it that Savage has not had since his time with Decepticonz.

The River is another track that is complimented by the collaboration with multi-faceted artist Nina McSweeny. This is the second track on which she has joined forces with Concord Dawn.

The mix of her soulful vocals compliment the trademark sound of Matt Harvey.

- Carl Ewen

It might be a hard sell, but how about a bit of country bluegrass to get you through the day?

Well, if you’re one to profess an open taste in music, I suggest giving The Old Crow Medicine Show’s latest album Carry Me Back a spin. You might be pleasantly surprised and could find yourself tapping your boot heels to an energetic mix of banjo, fiddles and guitars.

The Old Crow Medicine Show have been praised for their contemporary elevation of Southern Americana – Carry Me Back is an album of original material that sounds fresh, vibrant and energetic despite having this old time quality.

After all, band members Critter Fuqua (vocals/banjo/resonator guitar), Kevin Hayes (guitjo), Morgan Jahnig (upright bass), Ketch Secor (vocals/fiddle/ harmonica/ banjo) and Willie Watson (vocals/guitar/banjo) were said to have been raised on Nirvana and Public Enemy.

So reserve all judgment and break down your country music stereotypes; this is a fantastic album.

From the opening track, Carry Me Back To Virginia, there’s no denying the country themes that play throughout, but like all great music from this genre, the storytelling is exceptional. The band is celebratory and rowdy – think The Pouges without the Irish swagger and booze.

But this would make great pub music and it’s defiantly something that would get people dancing.

The album rests heavily in its bluegrass roots but there is also a bit of country/folk mixed

in there too. The track Ain’t it Enough opens up with a Dylanesque mix of harmonica and chords and continues into a lyrical love song which mellows the mood and slows the hyperactive pace of the album down a notch.

If you’re wondering how any of this could possibly sound contemporary, you almost get hints of a Jack White vocal delivery on tracks like Steppin Out – as with the White Stripes and White’s other projects, you could often catch a glimpse of bluegrass that was pumped up a notch and electrified.

The Old Crow Medicine Show keep things acoustic, but they still inject enough drive and aggression into their delivery to stop the songs sounding antiquated or dusty as one might imagine for such a genre.

Admittedly, some of the songs like Country Gal might be a little too much to handle in terms of the barn yard/ down on the farm references. There is also a bit of country outlaw stuff happening here too on tracks like Bootlegger’s Boy, while the track We Don’t Grow Tobacco is a fine piece of musical story telling with historical themes and blue collar struggles.

Overall, I have to love this album simply because it is commercially unaffected. I love music that stays true to its roots and has the ability to weave themes and stories in a complex manner. Carry Me Back has all these qualities and it does a lot to dispel the myth that this type of music is for small town hick type.

- Nigel Moffiet

ISSUE 19 2012

Are we looking for our parents in our partners?

As we all grow up, you cannot deny that there are qualities within ourselves that are close to our parents - the way we do things, our point of view, some of the things we say and so on.

If you are anything like me, or the people I know, you have definitely had moments where you have said something and thought “that is exactly what my parents would say”. This week’s episode is looking at whether or not we look for our parents’ qualities in our partners and in my opinion, the answer is yes - to an extent.

There are things growing up that we become accustomed to and search for in potential partners.

These can range from a wide list of things from doing chores (cleaning and cooking) to the affection we display (lots of hugs

and public displays of affection) and personality (humour, political stances) and even looks.

Yep I said it and no, not in a creepy way where you want to be kissing a replica version of your parent. The fact is that if you like the way you look, you gravitate to those that look similar and sorry to say but the way you look is because of your parents.

So in some ways, features that your parents have (defined chin, strong cheek bones etc) may be what you are drawn to and that’s absolutely fine. The thing I can suggest is don’t hold similarities at a too high standard. No one can ever replace your parents and will never do things exactly the same. Look for the things you like in someone and let them enhance your life with the little quirks that they bring.

Keep an eye out for the Windows U Crew around campus

“Look for the things you like in someone and let them enhance your life with the little quirks that they bring.”

Do a trial, get a USB It’s that easy

Romance: accepting less then we deserve.

Good old romance. From what I’ve seen there are a lot (but not all) of guys that aren’t so great in the romance department. These days the effort to be romantic isn’t given much attention and in my personal opinion this is because, these days, girls are giving it up too fast and don’t really expect the effort. If you are one for romance let your partner know and DO expect them to make an effort. The odd romantic gesture isn’t that hard but again, it works both ways. Girls: if he is putting in the effort, you need to put in the effort too. NOTE: if a guy (or girl) does something romantic it does not mean you have to repay the favour with sexual favours.

If you’re the romantic type and you want romance in your relationship, express that desire.

If your partner truly cares about you, they will make the effort because they will enjoy being the reason you are happy and vice versa. After expressing what you want from your partner, it is up to you to assess whether you are happy and getting all that you need from the relationship.

Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/windowsucrewnz Follow us on Twitter: @WindowsUCrewNZ

A little romantic quote for you readers:

“You don’t love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear.”

34

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

*

It’s our

ET RE Y ST NL D O RE E LF R A STO

l a n i F ek e W

BIG, BIG Annual Sale

100’s of selected AUT texts

ALL 75% OFF!!!

30% off

Psychology, Philosophy,

30% off

Children’s Books*

Politics & Sociology Books*

25% off Travel Books & Maps*

30% off

Education, Business & Computing Books*

PLUS GREAT STATIONERY SPECIALS!!!

Specials available in store only from 20th - 26th August 2012 Excludes textbooks, already reduced & NETT priced items. No holds or special orders.

See in store for details.

*

UNIVERSITY BOOKSHOP Kate Edger Information Commons, corner Alfred & Symonds Streets, Auckland City Phone 09 306 2700 Fax 09 306 2701 www.ubsbooks.co.nz