DEBATE Issue 3 | March 2018
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O ON N S SA A LL E E N NO OW W
Contents
For The Sake of a Roof :: Page 22
Explain Like I'm Five: Economics Page 12
How to Save Money Without Losing Friends Page 14
Dumpster Diving Deeper Page 16
Cryptocurrencies: Is it all just a load of bollox? Page 28
C OV E R I L L U S T R AT I O N BY H O P E M C C O N N E L L
EDITOR Julie Cleaver debate@aut.ac.nz DESIGNER Ramina Rai rrai@aut.ac.nz ADVERTISING Julie Cleaver julie.cleaver@aut.ac.nz
CONTRIBUTORS Abigail Johnson, Angel Chen, David Evans Bailey, Dayna Patel, Hayley White, Hope McConnell, Jake Kampkes, Jean Bell, Kurt Schmidt, Laura Brookes, Lydia Burgham, Melissa Koh, Mya Cole, Sarah Pollok, Shivani Rajan
PRINTER Nicholson Print Solutions DISCLAIMER
Material contained in this publication does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of AUTSA, its advertisers, contributors, Nicholson Print Solutions or its subsidiaries.
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 AUT STUDENT ASSOCIATION (“AUTSA”). 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 AUTSA.
PUBLISHED BY
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In my opinion money is such a weird thing. It can control whether you live or die, the type of education you get, the way your brain is wired, your ethics and personal choices, and literally everything else that has anything to do with humanity. Obvious, you say? Of course. But to me it’s crazy to think that money is so important in almost all societies, yet it’s just a made-up concept. Like every story book you’ve probably ever been read as a child, money is also a fiction that only exists in our imaginations. Sure, notes and coins are physical, and so are banking buildings, ATM machines and credit cards but other than that, money only exists in our massive collective consciousness. Imagine if one day we all stopped believing in the fiction that is money and we just stopped using it? It would be pretty difficult to trade. “I’ll put together one Debate Magazine for two weeks of rent,” probably wouldn’t quite work as a trading deal, unless my landlord is secretly a massive Debate fan (never say never!). So as someone who works with words, ideas, concepts and abstract things like a bunch of pages stapled together in what we call a magazine, I sure am grateful that money exists.
Editor’s Letter Hey! Nice to see you again. Thanks for picking up a copy of Debate. Every issue is made with a crap load of passion and love from everyone involved, and I hope you can all feel that. Also, you may have noticed that every issue is themed, and this mag is all about the Benjamins, baby. That’s right, we’re talking about money.
But maybe there are better money systems that could be used, where big banks and businesses don’t control everything. If you’re into this, you’ll love David Evans Bailey’s piece on demystifying cryptocurrencies (page 28). Or, if you’ve ever thought about saving coin by dumpster diving, Mya Cole’s brilliant feature on page 16 will definitely be your jam. There’s heaps of other golden stuff packed into this special longer edition of Debate (more pages to accommodate more ideas!), such as Laura Brookes’ investigative feature on strange places students are forced to live in Auckland due to our messed up housing crisis; an interview with AUT’s main man, the ViceChancellor Derek McCormack, about why the heck AUT’s fees keep going up; an ‘Explain Like I’m Five’ segment on how the economy works; as well as all our usual good stuff, like blind dates, recipes, events, news, puzzles and more. Enjoy the mag and the Easter Break, and see you on the other side! Julie
Can't get enough of Debate? Check out our website, like or follow us on social media, or email the editor to get involved. www.debatemag.com
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What's On?
Cheap, free and koha events around town
Chlöe Swarbrick: AUT Edge Leadership Series Where: AUT City Campus, WA224/B When: Monday 9 April, 12pm – 1pm What: Join Chlöe Swarbrick as she talks about her journey to becoming the youngest MP as a Green Party member. To attend, register on CareerHub: careerhub. aut.ac.nz. How much: Free
Fake News Pub Quiz Where: Vesbar, AUT City Campus When: Wednesday 28 March, 5pm – 11pm What: Think you're the next Patty Gower? Get your 'Make AUT Great Again' cap and head over to the AUTSA Fake News Pub Quiz! Prizes available. How much: Free
AUTSA Student President Voting Where: Check your personal AUT email address When: 28 March – 20 April What: Have your say on who will represent you and your fellow students for the next two years as AUTSA Student President! How much: Free
Employability Matters Conferences Where: WA224 – City Campus Conference Centre When: Monday 10 April – Friday 13 April What: Presentations include Vodafone, The Warehouse Group, Xero, Chlöe Swarbrick (mentioned above), Lightbox, Datacom, Fletcher Building and BNZ. To attend, register on CareerHub: careerhub.aut.ac.nz. How much: Free
Culture & Society Career Fair Where: WA224 – City Campus Conference Centre When: Thursday 12 April, 11am – 1pm What: Join the Schools of Education, Language & Culture and Social Sciences and meet some employers keen to get to know you, no matter what year you are in. How much: Free
Volunteering Expo Where: WG306 – City Campus WG Building Foyer When: Tuesday 10 April, 11am – 1pm What: Exhibitors include Coastguard NZ, Greenpeace, MOTAT, Rainbow Youth, Red Cross, IHC and AUTSA! To attend, register on CareerHub: careerhub.aut.ac.nz. How much: Free
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news
Fee increase a necessary evil, says AUT Vice-Chancellor By Jean Bell
horrific amount of stress,” says Tupp.
The hike in fees faced by AUT students in 2018 is a necessary step, according to the university.
Tupp applauds the resources the university offers, like the health, counselling and financial services, but says the university system may be forcing students to need these support services because of the increased stress involved with being at university.
For domestic students, their fees will have a two percent increase while international students enrolling for their first year will have an increase of four percent. AUT’s Vice-Chancellor Derek McCormack says the increase in domestic student fees barely covers the surge in running costs for the university, thanks to inflation. “The increase helps to keep pace with the increase in the costs the university bears with things like salaries and rents,” says McCormack. However, Acting Student President of AUTSA Nadine Tupp reckons AUT’s upper management can forget what it’s like to be a struggling student. “It could be seen as necessary from the university’s side of things... but from a student who is already struggling to make rent and buy food, it just adds to a
“I’d love to see the university recognise the pressures students are under and what being a student nowadays entails and what that means for our mental health especially,” says Tupp. For domestic student fees, the government sets an Annual Maximum Fee Movement percentage, and universities are not allowed to increase fees beyond that. This year the maximum increase was two percent, as it was in 2017, but international student fees have no increase limit. McCormack believes it is becoming more financially challenging for universities to deliver an education that matches student expectations, especially with pricey facilities and students being unhappy with the size of classes. “Those problems are a result of the lack of
attention to the proper funding of universities,” says McCormack. As with most unis, the government helps out AUT with some funding through the Student Achievement Component (SAC), which covers a range of things, part of which is performance-based. However, McCormack says this isn’t enough. “The rate of [SAC] has only risen by one percent in several years and that doesn't keep pace with inflation,” says McCormack. “So the two percent domestic fee increase barely covers the cost of inflationary increases.” However, according to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s inflation calculator, inflation only rose by 2.2 percent from 2016 to 2017 (quarter one), which is approximately the same rate that the university increased domestic fees by. Also, while having pricier fees may allow the university to provide better facilities, Tupp believes the impact on students may negate the benefit of the resources. “If you’ve got stressed students who can’t use that learning environment [because they’re stressed], you haven’t succeeded,” says Tupp.
“A number of students from Auckland thought they weren’t getting adequate coverage of criminal law and a number of them started to come over here.” Professor Rickett says the new lecturers enabled the school to reopen the LLM (Master of Laws Programme) with a criminal law specialisation. “We have probably got the best criminal law academics in New Zealand – or at least the strongest complement of criminal law lecturers in New Zealand – which means that we are enabled to create a focus in our teaching and research on criminal research. It’s not our only focus, but a focus.” The new lecturers inc lude criminal law specialist Professor Warren Brookbanks (who co-authored New Zealand’s main criminal law textbook), criminal and human rights expert Professor Kris Gledhill, children’s rights and youth law specialist Alison Cleland, and criminal law and youth justice expert Khylee Quince (of Te Roroa/ Ngā Puhi and Ngāti Porou iwi). As to why the lecturers moved, Professor Rickett says money had nothing to do with it. “The salaries for law staff are pretty much the same as they get anywhere. Criminal law and youth justice expert Khylee Quince. Photo: Supplied.
Auckland Uni law lecturers switch to AUT
“I don’t attract these people by paying them more. I don’t attract them by doing anything other than offering them largely a fulfilling environment in which to work.” One of the professors, Kris Gledhill, says AUT’s culture is what attracted him to make the change.
And money had nothing to do with it.
"I moved universities because I formed the very clear impression that I would find much more encouragement to develop new ideas at AUT."
By Julie Cleaver
Senior lecturer Khylee Quince says she was partly inspired to move to AUT to help develop South Campus’s law programme.
Last year four highly regarded lecturers from the University of Auckland’s Law School moved to AUT and several Auckland Uni students followed their lead. According to Professor Charles Rickett, the Dean of Law at AUT, the new staff members boosted the calibre of the faculty, particularly within the criminal law field. Professor Rickett says this criminal expertise is what attracted some UoA students to move across the road to AUT.
“The move to AUT presents an exciting opportunity to be involved with developing a legal education programme at the South Campus, particularly in terms of equality of access for Māori and Pasifika students.” The ex-UoA lecturers, alongside other new and old staff members at the Law School, helped create two new initiatives within the faculty, which are the Centre for Non-Adversarial Justice and the Centre for Indigenous Rights and Law.
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news
Fees-free, do we all agree? By Hayley White
After reading the Debate’s first Issue, ‘Back to School’, I was slightly surprised at how little the increase in new students coming to AUT was – only 2.4 percent! I myself, as a first-year student, was not in the slightest influenced by the new fees-free scheme, having decided already that I was coming to university no matter how much I had to pay. But I was interested to know whether the same could be said for some of the other first-year students. Here’s what they had to say:
Hazel, Diploma of Applied Sciences Did the fees-free scheme by Labour influence your decision to enrol at AUT? No, it didn’t. Why not? It had more to do with my course being here, not that it was free. Do you believe this scheme could increase enrolment at university, or is it, in your view, pointless? It can increase the people that come in, but to be honest, the first year’s kind of pointless. It should be offered to those
who are completing their degrees.
Daniel, Bachelor of Computer and Information Sciences Did the fees-free scheme by Labour influence your decision to enrol at AUT? Yes. I’d say it did, of course. Why? Free-fees – you don’t have to pay it back! Are you aware that this year has only seen a 2.4 percent increase in enrolments? No, I didn’t know that. Do you believe that this is linked to the fees-free scheme? Or because of a growing interest in further education? I don’t think it has anything to do with Labour really, I think slightly it has something to do with Labour, but it’s just more people want to go to university.
Jessica, Bachelor of Communications Did the fees-free scheme by Labour influence
your decision to enrol at AUT? Nah, but I imagine that it would with other people. Why not? Because my dad wouldn’t let me not go to university. But all the fees have done is mean that it helps me in the future, so my future self is happy about that. The StudyLink loan wouldn’t affect me right now because I won’t be paying it right now. Do you believe that this scheme could increase enrolment? I read in the earlier Debate issue that it didn’t, so I’m not sure. So, it seems the majority agree that the fees-free scheme did not impact their decision to come to university, although I’m sure we can all agree that it has made stuff that little bit easier for students regarding future debt. This is only the first step, as the Ministry of Education itself has said that they plan to implement a threeyear fees-free scheme by 2024, so watch this space!
This is following in AUT’s footsteps, which was the first university in New Zealand to gain the accreditation. Nadine Tupp, the Acting President of AUTSA, says the tick will help the Association work towards its mission of giving a voice to AUT’s diverse student body. “Being Rainbow Tick certified gives AUTSA something tangible where we can see our values of inclusivity, diversity and progressiveness being reflected. “It demonstrates that we are a work environment and a service on campus that embraces our diverse staff and students and is inclusive of the Rainbow community, but the teaching and learning of these values extends to all people we work with and for here at AUTSA.”
AUTSA first student association to get Rainbow Tick AUT’s Student Association, AUTSA, is the first student association in the country to gain the Rainbow Tick certification.
The Rainbow Tick is awarded to organisations who complete a Diversity & Inclusion certification process. The organisation must demonstrate an understanding of values and a welcome attitude towards gender diversity. To get the tick, AUTSA staff had a training day focused on strengthening inclusivity. It also updated its constitution, job descriptions and other documents to incorporate nonbinary pronouns and other inclusive values.
Food pantry for students, coming soon AUT students will soon have access to a free pantry stocked with a wide range of living essentials, such as food, moon cups and more. The new AUTSA initiative is called ‘Foodie Godmother’ – a name which encompasses the caring and nurturing aspirations of the programme. A pantry will be set up on all three campuses inside the AUTSA Offices. Foodie Godmother is also organising community gardens on AUT’s North and City Campuses (South coming soon), which will have fresh produce available to any AUT student that needs it. Lastly, it will hold regular clothes swaps, where you bring some old stuff and swap it for something new. Watch this space!
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Funding an overseas exchange – did someone say scholarships? By Shivani Rajan
Dollar dollar bills. Mula. Something Kylie Jenner has a lot of. That’s right, we’re talking money. An exchange overseas may sound like an expensive decision, but the crew at The International Office want to send as many students on an exchange as possible, so we’ve come up with ideas to not let money stop you from studying abroad.
Fees-shmees Since you remain enrolled as an AUT student, you continue paying your tuition fees here. This means you don’t pay anything to your overseas university and you avoid the costly international student fees. If you’re eligible for student allowance while at AUT, you continue receiving this money while overseas too. Not bad, aye?
StudyLink – tick!
Scholarships!? On top of the support from StudyLink, The International Office offer scholarships between $2,000 and $4,000 for certain partner universities. There’s also a massive $5,000 Māori scholarship available too!
You see me I be work, work, work, work, work, work Because of the difference in seasons, most students will have a two to three month break between finishing studies at AUT and starting classes at their overseas university. This is a great time to pick up extra hours at your part time job and to host fundraisers with family and friends. Money from hosting raffles, sausage sizzles and generous sponsorships will add up and contribute greatly to your expenses while studying abroad.
Another option is to receive living costs from StudyLink while you’re overseas. Once your exchange has been confirmed, the dates you receive living costs will be changed to your academic dates overseas. And speaking from experience, being on the other side of the world with no income and then seeing that weekly payment pop into your account feels like a blessing from the New Zealand
Save!
Gods.
If you’re interested in going on an exchange, get in touch with Shivani, AUT’s Exchange Coordinator: aut.student.exchange@aut.ac.nz
Lastly, and this is obvious, but remember to save, save, save! If you’re considering an exchange now, your future-self will thank you if you start saving now.
10 Ways to Save a Buck in Auckland By Abigail Johnson | Illustrations by Dayna Patel
Auckland – what a place. With its beautiful (totally warm, not at all haunted) villas and its gorgeous… motorway… who’d want to live anywhere else? But the land of opportunity can get expensive from time to time. Here are ten ways to scrimp in the City of Sails. 1. Live with your parents. Better yet; don’t pay board. Sell it as an investment – eventually you’ll look after them with your extremely valuable arts degree. incor r
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2. Only eat expired. Avocado toast?! More like soft crackers and funky Mi Goreng! d
3. Do your make up at Farmers. Why buy when you can beat your face with testers? Beware: the strange clinical lighting and communal-usage nasties may make you feel sick. 4. Wait for that trust fund to kick in. Your parents set that up, right? That’s happening, RIGHT? 5. See movies on the cheap days. With the long lines providing extra distraction, now’s your chance to sneak in.
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6. Use your ex’s Netflix. You broke up with them, not Riverdale. 7. Hawk K’ Road designer seconds on TradeMe. “Never worn” by me! 8. Avoid expensive habits. Like smoking, drinking and having children before you’re at least 50.
9. Make smart identity choices. Be born into money. Be born straight. Be born white. 10. Move to Tauranga.
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Explain Like I'm Five Economics and the Debt Cycle
Every issue our resident engineer and all-round smart person Kurt Schmidt explains complex stuff so a five-year-old could understand it (admittedly, a pretty smart five-year-old). Illustrations by Hope McConnell.
Buying and Selling When you buy something, a transaction takes place. Every transaction consists of a buyer exchanging money or credit (borrowed money) with a seller for goods or services. And the economy is simply the sum of all the transactions that occur. Luckily we all know what money is, but what about credit? Well credit is like money except it’s created when someone wants to buy something they can’t afford. To do this they borrow money from someone and agree to pay the full amount back, plus interest. Take a second to thank whatever god you believe in that our student loans are credit loans without interest. What a deal! Unfortunately our loans do eventually have to be paid off and, because you’re spending more than you have now, at some point in the future you will have to spend less to pay back the loan. This is unless the loan was used to increase your productivity. This brings me to our next point - productivity.
Being Productive Productivity is the amount that is produced per the amount of time or resources that are put in. For example, a first-year law student may spend 20 hours writing a report, whereas a law professor may finish the same report to a better standard in two hours, making the professor way more productive. The main way economists like to measure the productivity of a country is using what's called the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP for short. Remember we said that the economy is simply the sum of all transactions? Well GDP is that sum. It’s the monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country's borders in a specific time period. So how does this relate to real things? Well, let's start first with how pricing is set. We all know there's no such thing as a free lunch, so it’s fair to say that all transactions come at a price to the buyer; if you want something, it’ll cost you. Interestingly, the price of something doesn’t actually depend on what you’re buying, but depends instead on the quantity of the something available and the amount of people trying to buy it. This is what old white men call ‘supply and demand’, and when this causes prices to rise, the rise is what is called ‘inflation’. To put this into practical terms, if people stopped buying houses in Auckland, then the prices would drop and I could actually afford one.
Here Comes the BOOM So what does supply and demand have to do with productivity? Well, demand comes from people needing things and supply comes from people producing things. When you spend more, someone else earns more. Earning more makes people richer, and the goblins in Gringotts Bank prefer giving loans to rich people. This is called being ‘worthy of credit’. And being credit worthy makes lenders feel comfortable lending out money. When there is more demand, there is more supplied and more people getting richer. When more people are richer, more people can loan money, making them even richer. A snowball of wealth then begins to form and we end up with what is often coined a ‘boom period’. Unfortunately, the boom is only one part of the cycle, and it’s the side of credit we love. But like every bad relationship, there's a hate side. And on the hate side, bad credit is to blame, and it results in dropping GDP and those soul crushing terms, a ‘recession’, or even worse a ‘depression’.
Hello Recession When credit is used to buy something that increases a person's productivity and hence their output (think of a farmer buying a tractor), they are able to pay back the loan plus interest and still have money left in their pocket. This is called using credit to buy a productive asset. Even a student loan can be looked at as a productive asset; you create a large amount of debt, sure, but your future earning potential becomes so much higher that it easily offsets the debt over time. Now remember, when you take out credit and create debt, you gain money for now but promise to pay it back in the future. This means if your productivity doesn’t increase, you will have to spend less in the future to make up for the greater spending now. The amount that we have to pay back compared to our income is called ‘the debt burden’ and, yes, it really is a burden. When our debt burden becomes too large, it causes another cycle like the one we described above, but this time in reverse. First you spend less because you’re paying off that hefty investment property in Otahuhu and because you spend less someone else earns less. When earnings drop, so does creditworthiness. The goblins get scared and loan less, and the cycle reduces transactions and hence the GDP. All of a sudden, hello recession! And all because too many people spent too much credit on non-productive assets and created a debt burden they couldn’t afford to pay off. Moral of the story: don’t buy fast cars, TVs, yachts or houses on credit you can’t afford, as you will be help create a recession. (And yes, houses are non-productive assets, as they don’t actually make anything for the economy, they’re just places people live.)
Want to know more? Read an extended version of this piece online: www.debatemag.com 13
How to save money without losing friends To fuel Sarah Pollok’s wanderlust, she spent years packing lunches, missing dinners and working way too many part-time hours. Here’s how she did it, without losing friends.
Two weeks ago, I got off a plane at Auckland International Airport, exhausted, dishevelled and utterly broke. It had been over seven months since I’d been home, three of them spent ‘studying’ abroad, and the rest travelling as much as possible, with a wander-lusty Instagram feed to prove it. But just like how I didn’t post the low lights, many average days and mistakes of epic proportions, you also wouldn’t see the three years of hard yards that got me overseas. The dinners not eaten out, missed Friday night drinks and unattended concerts. The early mornings answering phones at a reception desk, or late nights spent babysitting bratty kids. This was the scrimping and syphoning and saving that almost killed my social life, as I became the weird chick who always had a packed lunch, at least four different part-time jobs and an exhaustive knowledge of free events. Here’s how I managed to bank some cash, without becoming a total recluse.
Tell Me What You Want (What You Really, Really Want) It seems simple, but getting intentional about your financial priorities is a key if you want to stick to your saving goals. Because everyone prioritises money differently, and your mates’ might be different from yours. For some, money well spent was on a new car engine or a daily flat white from that painfully hip café on K’ Road. Or it’s a flight to Otago to see the bros or dinner and drinks on a Friday night out. For me, it was travel. None of these is more ‘right’ than the other, but different. So ask yourself, what do you really want to save for? And is any significant amount of money going somewhere else?
Make a Budget I know I know, even writing the ‘B’ word makes me yawn, but from experience, the adults have a point; it really does help. Keeping track of your monthly purchases makes you realise that the big drain on your savings often isn’t the one-off large things, but the daily little ones that add up over time. By creating a budget and keeping track of your spending, you’ll see that in a year, the daily coffee becomes $1,640 and those harmless weekend drinks costs you $2,000.
Tell Your Friends
missing out, try eating something decent beforehand and only ordering a small meal or a side.
Counter Offer Before Going with the Flow Auckland is a big city with a lot going on, so chances are if your mates what to go out and spend some dollars and you don’t want to miss out, there will be a free alternative. So get smart about the free events happening in your city and always have a free (or at least cheap) option to offer. You can find some of these events in the ‘What’s On’ section of this very magazine or, of course, online. However, if your mates all want to get tickets to that comedy show, or fly to Wellington for the weekend, it’s up to you to either join in or back out; don’t drag the chain.
We Get it, You’re Saving Want to lose friends as fast as possible? Become that person that never shuts up about how broke they are, because the only thing worse than having to stick to a budget is hearing a friend constantly whine about how difficult it is and how poor they are. I get it, saving is probably one of the most un-exciting parts of life but it doesn’t mean you don’t have any money, just that you’re being intentional about how you spend it – a fact that your friends don’t need to be reminded of every two hours.
Bringing up finances with your friends can be awkward at the best of times, but clarity trumps cringe any day of the week. Telling your close mates about your financial goals not only saves you from feeling the pressure to make up increasingly creative lies for why you can’t stay for another beer or see that film tonight, but stops them from feeling offended or confused when you turn things down. If they aren’t a total tool, they’ll understand.
Embrace the FOMO
Don’t Suggest Potluck
Remember, the Cool is Yet to Come!
Venture into the online world of financial blogs and pennypinching articles, and it won’t take long for you to see the same stupidly useless suggestion tirelessly repeated; offering potlucks instead of eating out. Now, I’m sure ‘spend-savvy Suzie’ does make a kick-ass lasagne that her friends love, but you and I know that when your crew want to go for Friday night dinner or hung-over Saturday brunch, the suggestion potluck ain’t gonna fly. A lot of socialising is done over dinner plates, so if you find yourself
When you reach a point where you can’t stomach another side salad, another water instead of beer, or another night spent in when everyone else is out, just remember: the cool is yet to come. Because there will be a moment when you sit in that new car, book those flights, pay off the last of that loan, or whatever your ‘thing’ is, and it will worth all the potluck dinners in the world.
Odds are that eventually something will arise that just isn’t in your budget. Whether it’s a Spark Arena concert or a weekend getaway, the time will come when you simply have to say no and embrace the FOMO. Yes, it will be awesome, and no, you won’t be there but this is the moment when you hold onto the following point…
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feature
Dumpster Diving Deeper In the name of journalism, Mya Cole jumped into rubbish bins in the middle of the night to find out what dumpster diving is like in Auckland. She writes about her experience as it happens, and ponders whether saving money and being eco-friendly is worth the stank. Illustration by Hope McConnell.
Dumpster diving is one of those things that most of us can say we have at least thought of doing, be it for novelty or for necessity. Having so far lived a fruitful life full of dumpster-created dinners made by my beautiful friends, I thought it was time to put the hard yards in myself and get inside a couple of dumpsters. For those who haven’t heard of it, dumpster diving involves looking through rubbish bins outside of supermarkets and food vendors and taking food that they’ve thrown out that is still perfectly edible. Technically dumpster diving could be classed as illegal but it’s still a bit of grey area as the law does not specifically cover it. Depending on who catches you, it could be framed as theft or trespassing, so bear that in mind when you make your decisions about whether to do it or not. Disclaimer: I am not a professional dumpster diver. In fact, I have about zero idea of what I’m doing (despite all the reading I did on online forums). Your attempts may be more fruitful than mine. The rest of this piece is written as it happened.
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We manage to snaffle some slimy bananas out of their bins and run away giggling like maniacs. The First Trip SUNDAY: It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon, and I’m putting off writing this article – putting off having to jump into what will most likely be a dirty, sticky dumpster. I am sitting in my cosy bed, reading a book that I am probably learning nothing substantial from. I’ve forgotten that earlier in the week I invited my friend Shannon to come and scour some dumpsters with me this evening. So naturally I am surprised when she shows up dressed all in black, giving off the air of somebody who is ready to do something a bit ambiguous and potentially illegal. We spend a few hours waiting around at mine, discussing what we will do if we are caught and going on bouts of selfrighteous rants, raging against the people who would hypothetically reprimand us. After we have come up with an impressive amount of cover stories and indulge in the incorrect use of the word ‘fascist’ innumerable times, we are ready to go. It is 10pm.
We roll out to the ‘burbs, having read that we will have better luck in the ‘nicer’ neighbourhoods. First mistake: it’s 10pm. Countdown is still open. Idiots. We cruise out the back of a slightly more ‘boutique’, if you will, supermarket. It is closed but there are still some people working in the store room. We manage to snaffle some slimy bananas out of their bins and run away giggling like maniacs. To be 100 percent honest, my heart is pumping really fast. I am tired and full of adrenaline, so we call it a night.
The Fruits of Last Night’s Labour MONDAY MORNING: It’s morning and I peel a couple of bananas to chuck in my smoothie. There is nothing wrong with them, minus the slime, which is easily washed off. Slightly brown, these free fruits are perfect smoothie material. After this first taste of perfectly good food taken from the bin and at least $5 saved, I can’t wait to go on my next venture – slightly
more prepared this time. WEDNESDAY: It’s now a couple of days after my first trip to the dumpsters (albeit not the most successful haul). I speak to my good friend who is well versed in the art of dumpster diving. She puts her thoughts on the matter exceptionally eloquently and we have a conversation about how we as humans can help to rectify what we are doing to our planet and people. For some, it may be quite easy to forget that growing food is a process; it is process where the earth creates sustenance for us. However, we have come to abuse this process through mistreating our soils and making them infertile, which is an unsustainable practice that desperately needs to stop. It is also easy for some to forget that people have grown this food; that this may be their livelihood and their pride and joy, and for it to just end up in a dumpster destined for decay may be deeply saddening. We also talk about how taking food from a bin can be done for monetary reasons. For those with less money it could be their only option, or it could just be a thrifty way for people to save a bit of cash.
The Second Trip SUNDAY WEEK 2: The second Sunday has come around and once again I am lethargic, but determined. Shannon rolls up and we decide to leave the house at a more appropriate time this trip: after 12am. Broadening our horizons, we decide to visit more than just the richer inner-city suburbs. Already we have more luck; Countdown is closed and we are armed with boxes and head torches. Being the instigator of this Sunday night outing, I am the one in the dumpster and, I won’t lie to you, it stinks. Shannon stands outside, a cardboard box at her feet. We find bananas (a popular throwaway item), broccoli, an abundance of potatoes, kumara, onions, oranges, capsicum and more. Sorting through so that we would only take the really good stuff, we ended up with a half full banana box of fruit and veg. Onto our next location, a ‘boutique’ supermarket. Here we find a bit more fruit and veg, however the true highlight of this dive is the abundance of bread obviously baked that morning, but gone unsold. We
also find some misshapen cans of lentils and beans, which is a more than welcome score. Feeling pleased with our success, we decide to go home and sort through our findings. As we went through our haul, I must admit, it did make me feel a sense of overwhelming sadness for the food we didn’t save. Vowing to meet up again on our next free night, Shannon and I decide we want to see what we can salvage and then pass on food to people and organisations truly in need.
Reflections Over the next few days I make some delicious meals from our dumpster food and altogether I must have saved between $60 to $70 dollars. I’ll admit, I did use supermarket spices and a few other staple ingredients. However on the whole, the bulk of my meals came from the bin. I understand that dumpster diving is not such a popular way to get free stuff, however it is effective, and despite what you might think, it is hygienic if you are smart about it. Just make sure you wash your fruit and veggies and don’t eat it if
you think it has been contaminated. Soak it in a water/vinegar solution to kill mould and germs, and only take the stuff that can be peeled if you’re that worried. Another important thing to keep in mind is to only take what you need. If you are taking stuff that is not going to be eaten or donated, don’t take it. You’re just perpetuating the cycle of wasting food. Only take what will be used. The last point I will make is that if you do end up going dumpster diving, follow the golden rule: leave it cleaner than when you arrived. If you don’t do this, all it will result in is locked dumpsters, inconvenience for other people and more stigma around the people who do participate in dumpster diving. Dumpster diving is not a dirty or bad thing; it is earth conscious, inventive and a good step in the direction of having less food waste. Using the resources we have available to us is not rocket science; we have an abundance, so why not be thrifty and share with those who go without?
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treat yo'self
Treat Yo'self
*** We have a new way of entering competitions! *** To win any of the prizes below, head over to Debate’s Facebook page (/autsadebate) and fill out the competition survey pinned to the top of our timeline called ‘GIVEAWAYS – Treat Yo’self Issue 3’. Fill it out using the key word ‘DOLLABILLZ’. Make sure you like our page to be in to win! Winners will be drawn on April 30.
$800 of Cookie Time up for grabs In Issue 2 we gave away 50 buckets of Cookie Time cookies, and the giveaway was SO POPULAR our pals at Cookie Time have hooked Debate readers up once again with 50 more buckets to give away! Each bucket of the Limited Edition Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Christmas Cookies is worth $16, which means we’re giving away $800 worth of cookies (on nom nom). Read the instructions at the top of the page to find out how to enter. Also, if you love Cookie Time as much as we do and need to make some extra cash, you’ll be stoked to know that applications are opening on April 30 to become a Christmas Cookies Seller. Run your own business, reap the rewards and spread the goodness of cookies while you’re at it!
Save Money. Period. Fifty percent of the world’s population is well aware of how damn expensive sanitary products are. That’s why our new pals at Oi (Organic Initiative) are giving one lucky reader an Oi Zero Waste Cup (a menstrual cup) and five Oi products (including 100 percent certified organic and biodegradable pads, liners and tampons!). Read the instructions at the top of the page to find out how to enter. Also, every AUT student can get a massive 20 percent discount on all online orders for this month only (March 26 – April 26). To activate the discount, use the code 'aucklandaut'.
Free BurgerFuel The Debate crew is absolutely obsessed with BurgerFuel; we eat it on hot dates, with our pals on cold winter evenings, and on late nights after dancing our shoes off (literally) in Ponsonby. We realised that all of these occasions have one thing in common: they’re with other people, proving that BurgerFuel is best enjoyed shared. If you also love going to BurgerFuel with your lover, mother or other, you’ll definitely want to enter the draw to win one of 10 ‘Shout Your Mate a Burger’ vouchers. When you purchase a burger this voucher will entitle you to one free burger of equal or lesser value. Read the instructions at the top of the page to find out how to enter.
Turmeric Sport Supplement Supplements are often the last thing on students’ shopping lists (I’m not talking to you, Sport and Rec students!). But finding the right one for your body can really enhance your physical and mental health. Good Health Turmeric Sport Complex (valued at $67.90) is a good one to start with, especially for all those who play sport, go to the gym, or just love to dance around their rooms. This supplement contains both turmeric and magnesium along with other key ingredients to support overworked muscles during rest and also help your body’s recovery process. It’s also endorsed by your old mates Richie and Gemma McCaw, so you know it’s legit. Read the instructions at the top of the page to find out how to enter.
Lush Crush <3 Being a poor student means you often miss out on some of the finer things in life, like wine that costs more than $8; any occasion that involves the word ‘brunch’; and adding colourful, delicious bath bombs to your tub soak-sessions. But FOMO no mo’! Our besties at Lush are giving one super special reader a massive prize pack full of 10 bath bombs. This is a ginormous gift valued at $100, so make sure you enter the draw to be in to win! Read the instructions at the top of the page to find out how to enter.
Save $ with StudentCard StudentCards give you heaps of discounts on food and drink venues, like Liquor King, Revive, AUT’s café and more; entertainment, like Jump and Rialto Cinema; clothing, like JeansWest and Pascoes; and so much more! They’re amazing little cards that are valued at $20 each and this week Debate is giving away 10 of them! Read the instructions at the top of the page to find out how to enter.
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feature
Bella Hernandez and Francis Collier, a Mexican/Kiwi couple, bought their first home in Auckland â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a home on wheels. Photo: Laura Brookes.
For the Sake of a Roof From bathrooms to tents, house vans to apartments housing 16 people, today’s uni students are living in crazy circumstances just to make ends meet. Laura Brookes meets these people and finds out more.
“If you want a house, stop buying smashed avocado.” If there’s one message that sums up the existential housing crisis of our generation, it’s this one. The resounding sentiment that if only we had acquired the emotional strength to boycott smashed avocado, we’d all be home owners by now. But I’ve done the math, and I’m not convinced. If I purchase a $17 smashed avocado once a week and decide from this day forth that I shall boycott the highlight of my week, I’ll be able to afford a 20 percent house deposit on a typically priced Auckland house in exactly 181 years*, after missing out on approximately 9,412 smashed avocado meals. *This is not taking into account inflation, rising house prices, or the sobering fact that I probably won’t live to be 205 years old. Now, it’s not like we’re the first generation to struggle with the cost of inner city student living. Students have been living on the two-minute noodle diet far longer than we’ve been complaining about the millennial obsession with smashed avocado. But when I hear of students living in a tent on someone’s lawn, renting out a bathroom, living in someone’s garage or putting up a cardboard box ‘wall’ just to accommodate two individuals in one space, that’s when I can say with confidence we’ve got bigger fish to fry than our weekend brunch habits.
With all that in mind, I thought I’d introduce you to a few of those friends, because this is their reality.
How Many is too Many? I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with hostels, caught between the desire to make new friends all day every day and wanting my own space. But I can put up with it knowing I’ll be gone in a few days’ time. We all put up with it knowing that it’s the exception to our lives, not the rule. But how would you cope if this was your day-to-day life? Steward Issac could tell you. The 25-year-old IT student spent six months of last year living in a three-bedroom city apartment with 15 other people – and paying $135 a week to do it. “Everything was ridiculous. There was no privacy in the house – at all. I was also sleeping terribly. I’d get maybe three to four hours in a night, because with so many people around, the light would constantly be turned on in the bedroom. I used to try covering my bed with blankets [to block out the light] but it was still too difficult to fall asleep.” Months rolled by and the parties continued and the quiet never came. Steward found it increasingly difficult to focus, and instead resigned himself to staying late hours at university simply to ensure his assignments were done before returning home.
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Steward Issac, 25, currently lives in a two-bedroom apartment with five other people in Auckland City. Photo: Laura Brookes.
“I couldn’t do anything for myself… and studying in that environment was impossible. People would be watching TV, listening to music, talking… and I can’t just say, ‘hey, I’m studying, be quiet’, because the house was shared by all of us.” Admittedly, that was never where Steward planned to live as a student. His idea was to live in the suburbs, but upon realising that waking up three hours earlier than his first lecture of the day to wage war against traffic wasn’t altogether ideal, he was forced to accept his current living conditions as a necessary evil, of sorts. Unsurprisingly, his stint in that house didn’t last. After six months he gave in, moving into a two-bedroom place housing eight people. Four months later, Steward shifted again – this time into his current living quarters – a two-bedroom city apartment shared by six people, each gifted a 10-minute limit on bathroom usage to keep everyone sane, clean, and on time. Both changes were an improvement on his previous living quarters, says Steward, but still served as a reminder that living like a hostel-goer as a student in the city could no longer be called the exception to the rule. In fact, it had started to look more like the rule than ever before. “I’ve never stayed in a hostel in New Zealand… I’ve stayed in hostels back in India. But where I’m living now, that’s what it
feels like. A strange hostel life.” And with the added costs of food, power and utilities, god knows his bank account could probably get a better deal out of an actual hostel. At least he’d get a free breakfast.
Making the Most of it Okay, so the market can be bleak – I get that. And without smashed avocado, it’s even more miserable. But if there’s one thing you need to know, it’s that life isn’t all 16-person living spaces, tents, bathrooms, garages and pedantic bathroom schedules. We’ve got options. Meet Bella Hernandez and Francis Collier – a Mexican and a Kiwi making the most of their options. The Eden Terrace couple are proud owners of a Daihatsu Delta Truck house van, purchased for $20,000 at the end of January from a Karikari couple, who themselves have built more than three houses on wheels. With the freedom to drive anywhere, the comfort of a bed to crash on, the convenience of all the usual utilities, a wondrous array of patterned cushions and the coolest vase I’ve ever laid eyes on, it’s safe to say I’ve been wondering whether I should invest in one, too.
If you’ve ever watched Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, you might consider this the less glamorous version of a well-deserved transformation. There’s no Ty Pennington, no film crew capturing the grand reveal, no bus to move, and no million-dollar budget; just a couple of graduates doing what they can to invest small and make it into the property market on their terms. After all, who wants to waste money on a home they’ll never actually own? “We were living in flats with people before and it was nice, but Francis and I have been together for nearly four years so we wanted our own space,” says Bella, 25. “It’s something young adults want – your own space, because that’s different [to flatting]. But we never wanted to ask the bank for a whole lot of money, so we asked ourselves: ‘how can we do it in a smart way and also in a cool way?’ It will lower our cost of living and help us to save more, so why don’t we just do it? So much of our income before that was going into rent – and for something that we don’t even own in the end. That’s the main reason we did it like this.”
community space for little houses on their own patch of land. “[Owning this] is a dream for us… and I would tell students that it’s good to dream, because you really can make whatever you imagine possible,” says Bella. “It’s also good to learn how to save well. In this generation, we’re used to having everything instantly. If we Google for information, we can know everything within minutes. But when it comes to saving, it takes time. It takes patience, and that’s what this process has taught me.”
fun facts
A small, self-catered room at AUT’s Wellesley Student Apartments costs $10,312 per year As of January 2018, the average rent in central Auckland was $550 per week, according to TradeMe data San Franciscans have been eating smashed avocado since 1885 – and buying houses. (We know this from newspaper clippings about smashed avo recipes which date back to that long ago.)
Bella and Francis got a good deal. They ventured outside the box. They tried something a little different to make Auckland work for them and, thankfully, it has. But for many of us, the rising rate of Auckland’s housing prices – aka the ‘housing crisis’ we’ve all come to know and love – is sinking our dreams down the wastepipe. The ones where we stamp our name of ownership over a house within our lifetimes, and not 205 years later. Or at the very least, keep a roof over our heads as we try to do good in this world.
A mechatronics engineer by trade, Francis first dreamt of building the house van himself. He would make what he could from scratch, source parts, keep it eco-friendly and selfsustainable, and voila! His creative thinking and building skills would have seen the project through to a brilliant finished product, says Bella, who trained as a speech therapist. But after discussing the idea with relatives and realising it could cost them more, both in money and time, they instead decided to purchase.
Living in any major city is not cheap. But when students are pitching tents on lawns, renting out bathroom spaces or living in cramped 16-person apartment spaces just to get by for the sake of a degree… Houston, we have a problem.
Now that they’re living their dream, the couple’s goal is to make hospitality the hallmark of their little home. They plan to host as many people as possible in their home, and eventually build a
Because if we can’t afford to buy houses, then little luxuries like brunch are something we truly ought to treasure.
Something’s gotta give – and soon. But it won’t be my smashed avocado.
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Living like you’re a Real Housewife of Auckland when really you’re just a broke student By Lydia Burgham
Ah Auckland. The city of sails, brunching, spending too much on caffeine and pretending like you’re a millionaire. I’ve lived in this metropolis for two years on a student budget and feel absolutely qualified to tell you how I’ve managed to survive. Not just survive but THRIVE. Thrive like the Real Housewife of Auckland I pretend to be. Fake being rich until you actually believe you are (bank balance, who?) First and foremost, you cannot expect to be a real housewife/husband in this cruel, cruel city without embracing your new identity. A real Aucklander does not conform to such south of the Bombay Hills norms, like anxiously checking their account balance. There is power in ignoration, and if you believe you are financially well-off (granted you don’t have an awkward encounter with a declined card), you will become financially well-off. You CAN eat out and not break the bank (and it will be worth it) The quintessential image that you must portray to the world if you want to truly live like an Aucklander is that you eat out on a regular basis. The one meal that will cement this status is brunch. Brunch is not simply an amalgamation of breakfast and lunch – it’s a lifestyle. Auckland cafés do it best, and that’s just a fact. A decent brunch will normally set you back about $25, which is steep for one meal, especially when it usually consists of the cheapest ingredients known to man (eggs and bread). However, the price needs to be assessed from a different perspective. Because brunch is technically accounting for two separate meals, it can actually be well worth it.
For a brunch fit for true Auckland royalty, you can’t go past Major Sprout. All I’m going to say about that magical place is that they have pancakes with candyfloss, maple syrup AND marshmallows. Essentially the food Instagram of your dreams. Look like you belong among the Auckland social elite even though your wardrobe says otherwise First year uni students take note: you have entered the glorious land of student discounts, and it’s time to take advantage of every, single, one. Sign up to UniDays and haul that ASOS wardrobe like there is no tomorrow. Fulfill your champagne dreams on your beer budget with sale racks and op-shops. Even designer labels have amazing end of season sales, so if you spy something you absolutely have to have, refrain from your millennial instant gratification complex. Wait three months and if you still love that beautiful coat that costs more than your weekly rent, don’t fret: it will most likely either be in store at a heavily discounted rate or left on a lonely rack in an op-shop somewhere. Some outfits are worth hunting for. Be cultured, darling One of my favourite things about Auckland is all of the art one can consume. Whether you’re musing through the city taking in paintings or going to the theatre and pretending to be an art connoisseur, the art in Auckland is truly a dream. But you argue, with your index finger raised in accusation, how does one afford to be ‘cultured’ when one can barely afford an Uber? Well, let me let you in on a secret, dear reader, there are an abundance of free or low cost shows if you know where to look.
If you’re into comedy, you can’t look past Basement Theatre’s Snort, which is a weekly improv comedy show featuring various notable New Zealand comedians. It will only set you back $12, and you’re pretty much paying for the priceless gift of guaranteed laughter. What’s more, you’ll get to say you saw those comedians in action when you head back home for uni break and spot them making guest appearances on Jono and Ben and 7 Days. (Let’s be real, we only watch ye olde television when we’re back home with the parentals.) Traditional art consumers (or even you non-believers) will be pleasantly astonished upon visiting Auckland’s (free) Art Gallery. Walk around, take in art you pretend to understand, and I promise you, your brain will thank you for it later. It is truly one of my favourite places in the city, and well worth giving a gold coin donation if you have some leftover funds. Auckland is also the place to be for live music at an affordable cost. Forget playing upwards of $20 for entry to a sub-par nightclub just to be hit on by some creepy dude while pretending to jam to a DJ you’ve never heard of. Instead, look on websites like undertheradar.co.nz to find an artist playing a show and stalk them on Spotify. It’ll be worth it when they hit the big time and you can tell your friends that you were partially responsible for their rise to fame. There you have it readers, those were my very best tips for how to thrive in a city full of endless expensive experiences. Spend your cash wisely, and keep in mind that it is often experiences, not things, that will bring you the most happiness.
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Cryptocurrencies Is it all just a load of bollox? AUT PhD student David Evans Bailey explains what cryptocurrencies are and decides whether they’re worth the hype. Illustration by Angel Chen.
You can be sure of two things in my experience. First, when someone tells you that something is the next best thing since sliced bread, it won’t be. The second, when someone tells you that you will make a ton of money on something, you won’t. The reason you won’t isn’t that they are lying, but the money has already been made by the people who knew about it before everybody else got in on the act. Cryptocurrencies have been around since 2009. So what? And what are they anyway? Simply put, they are a type of money which only exists on the internet. Pretty much everyone has heard about Bitcoin and when it first arrived on the scene, probably most people, including me, were going “WTF is that?”. In a nutshell, Bitcoin was a way of manufacturing a currency in virtual reality which could then be used to buy things in virtual reality, and by extension in the real world too. What needs to be understood before anything else is the myth that many people have about money. Despite common opinion, money isn’t a real thing; it’s a medium of exchange. Money was invented to allow people to go and buy stuff without having to exchange their eggs directly for
bread, and so on. There have been many forms of money, including things like cowry shells, which were used in the past as money in both China and Africa. Money became the significant thing it is today mainly because someone invented banking as a way for people to store their money and decided to use bits of paper instead of gold and silver. Some would say it all went downhill from there. Once upon a time, and economists will give you this definition, money was said to be an idea backed by confidence. The confidence part was the idea that you can use it to buy something from someone else. Today that is still usually the case – you can walk into a shop with some money and pretty much be assured that you can pay for things you want. Crypto or virtual currency is the same thing as physical money, but in virtual reality. There is no Bitcoin that is an actual coin – it doesn’t exist, it just exists inside a set of computers. Around that then comes a lot of software that allows it to work. And in fact, there now are over 1,300 virtual currencies, and Bitcoin is just one of the biggest and well known.
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You are probably wondering how on earth cryptocurrency works and how it is that people can’t just nick your money from the World Wide Web. The inventors of these currencies thought of that, obviously. They use something called ‘blockchain’. Most people will have heard of this by now, and it has become one of the latest buzzwords. A blockchain is simply a way of keeping transactions made in cryptocurrency secure. Every time you use your currency, add to it or sell it, the information is written in the computer transactions called ‘the blockchain’ and through some clever techniques it can never be erased. The blockchains are stored in various places on the internet and then some other people known as ‘miners’ use software to check and verify it. By doing it like this, the currency is not only in the public domain, but it’s being constantly checked by other people. The miners get paid when they can show that they’ve verified something fully. Sounds complicated, and it is, but because it’s all in the public domain it actually
To buy and sell things on the web, you just access your wallet and bingo! The blockchain setup has been tried and tested for many years, and so it’s pretty safe overall.
becomes a lot more secure and accessible than traditional banks.
all have their own central banks, which is effectively the money that a country owns and circulates within its borders. The banking system is naturally suspicious of something it has no control over, and that has no proper regulations, such as Bitcoin. Nevertheless, the bankers are not stupid, either, and can see when there is money to be made. For example, in order to buy Bitcoin or any other virtual coin, you have to spend some of your actual real-world money. See how that works? You have to put some of your money into Bitcoin
If you own any currency, like Bitcoin, you keep it in something called a ‘digital wallet’. This is something only you can access, and it’s a bit like your own personal bank account. Nobody can trace cryptocurrency to you as an individual, as it’s all done through identification numbers and stuff like that. As long as you have your wallet, you can get access to all your transactions and your money.
Crypto or virtual currency is the same thing as physical money, but in virtual reality. “If this cryptocurrency stuff is so good, then why isn’t it taking over?” I hear you ask. A good question, but between the cryptocurrency and you is, of course, the banking system and all of the bankers. The financial systems of the world are already set up – there are lots of rules and regulations to be followed, and countries
What cryptocurrencies do, at the moment, is free you from the banking system. You can get your Bitcoins and go and play on the internet and buy what you want, as long as people will take them. to get some Bitcoin. Then you can use your Bitcoins all you want until they run out. Or, if you keep them, then just like anything else the banks have a finger in, the value goes up and down compared to real-world money. That is why people have made, and also lost, a fortune in things like Bitcoin. They buy them, sit on them and then try to sell them when they have more value. It’s a bit like buying a house, except that houses generally go up in price and cryptocurrencies go up and down and up and down.
The banking system is naturally suspicious of something it has no control over and that has no proper regulations. It’s kind of like going to a foreign country and buying some currency, then you come back to New Zealand and find that all the Malaysian Ringgits you have left in your wallet are now worth de nada. The difference is you never went anywhere, just a short trip to your computer and back. You are probably thinking by now, ‘what on earth is the point of all
this?’ And that’s also a very good question. The point is that what cryptocurrencies do, at the moment, is free you from the banking system. You can get your Bitcoins and go and play on the internet and buy what you want, as long as people will take them. You can even do jobs and get paid in Bitcoin. You can even pay for real-world things in Bitcoin or other virtual currencies. It’s just another way of doing business. The added bonus might be that your Bitcoin, or whatever it is, might be worth more than it was a few months ago, and so it might also be an investment. (But beware, the operative word in that sentence is ‘might’.) You can be sure that if there is money to made and a good thing to be had, the people who have made the most have already done it before anyone else knew about it. Once it’s hitting the headlines, then roll on the scammers and the con artists – the people who prey on the human nature of wanting to get something for nothing. The saying that ‘there is no such thing as a free lunch’ remains as true as it ever was. There are people in the know and then there are people not in the know. The ‘in the know’ people are the ones who make the killing. The others usually come in too late to capitalise on whatever ‘get rich quick’ scheme is now being pedalled. Cryptocurrency, for use as a currency, is not bollox at all, but speculate in it at your peril, for in that arena you could definitely lose more than your underwear.
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Sales and Fails Jake Kampkes walks us through the good, the bad and the ugly of retail. So, my friend, you want to work in retail? You’ve made a terrible decision, but hey, you’re a student, so your other option was hospo and screw that shit. Lucky for you, I have kindly put together a list of things to look forward to (and dread) when working in retail.
The Good Hours Students are perfect for retailers as they want the shifts that no one else does (evenings and weekends) and are keen to take more hours during the Christmas/summer period. Also, students are usually desperate enough to work Boxing Day (ew). This means that you can usually get shifts that work around your uni schedule, so it’s a win-win.
them a dime. This manifests itself in the pay (minimum wage, please send help, Jacinda), the uniforms (to get that sweet, sweet, dehumanisation) and the respect for your time (“I know it’s 7am on a Sunday morning and you’re hungover as hell, but could you start an eight hour shift in, say, twenty minutes time?”). Note that there are exceptions to this rule, but as a rule of thumb: if you work in a mall, you’re screwed.
The Ugly Customers
Mates You’re likely to be saddled with co-workers who are also young, outgoing and borderline alcoholics. Retail tends to select people with these traits… or reinforce them. It’s kind of a downward cycle. Either way, these are my kind of people. They’re your comrades-in-arms and you get to despise your manager, store and customers together. As a team. Just the way God intended.
You Actually Have a Shot You’re actually quite likely to get this job, and not just because retailers scrape the bottom of the barrel when it comes to employees (although this may be why). In an industry where ‘doesn’t steal’ is a glowing recommendation, someone who’s not dumb (“You got in to uni, right?”), willing to work shitty hours and desperate enough to take the pittance that retailers pay (see below), makes you the perfect fit.
The Bad Overwhelming Apathy Large companies do not give a flying fuck about you and would feed you to piranhas if they thought it would earn
The difference between an excellent day in retail and a terrible one is a single bad customer. I’ll preface this by saying that customers are just people, and most are lovely. But unfortunately, there’s that small group of ass holes that will attempt to break your faith in humanity. They start by coming in with a problem (real or imagined) and expect you to fix it “NOW!”. When you can’t fix the imaginary problem on the spot, the ass hole customer will huff, call you a racist/sexist/ demeaning slur, and demand to speak to the manager. Just keep cool ‘cos you’re a better person than this whinging ass hole. Don’t let it ruin your day. And remember that it’s OK to have a quick cry in the loos afterwards. You’re not the first and you won’t be the last. You also don’t have to admit it unless you’re dumb enough to submit an article to Debate Magazine. Despite the negative tone of the article, retail isn’t all that bad. In my opinion, give it a go. It’s the best of a really bad bunch of options available to students. You might even enjoy it. Plus, at the end of your sentence, you are allowed access to that hallowed group of Those Who Have Survived Retail. Because wherever you go in the world, you will have the instant comradeship of those of us who know what it’s like.
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clubs
AUTSA's got a club for just about everything
Marwa Saad
Nic Watson
“I started going to MSA meetings even before I started going to uni. I heard about the club through my sisters and went to my first lecture in year 11, so around six years ago. I got a lot out of those events because they were lectures and activities aimed at the Islamic youth that taught me how my religion fits into my day to day life. But this year we aim to make the club less lecture-based and more community and fun-based.
“I wanted to do something at university on top of just my normal class work, so when I got chatting with Eva, the founder of the AUT Economics Society, I thought it would be a great way to do something business-related that wasn’t an assignment or essay!
Fourth year Architectural Engineering student Club: AUT MSA (Muslim Students’ Association)
This is my fourth year at AUT and I know there are a lot of Muslims on campus, but people often just stick to their little groups and don’t mingle. So we want to make MSA all about meeting and connecting. It’s not about preaching and teaching people how to be better Muslims – not at all. It’s more about bringing the Muslim youth together. We host all sorts of fun events, like Islam Awareness Week (12-16 March), quiz nights, end of semester celebrations and more. And you don’t have to be Muslim to come! Sometimes non-Muslims rock up and just hang out because they’re curious, and that’s awesome. We really want everyone to feel welcome and just come say hi.
Third year Economics student Club: AUT Economics Society (AUTES)
I love thinking about how our economy is structured and figuring out why businesses behave the way they do, so I guess AUTES gave me a place to have these discussions with other passionate students. While I’m doing a double major in Economics and Sustainable Industry, AUTES is actually made up of a range of majors; some of our members study accounting or graphic design but are just really passionate about business. My favourite events last year were definitely the speaker sessions. We had professionals come and speak from organisations like the Auckland Council, Bank of New Zealand, NZ Super Fund, Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the Warehouse Group. I think these networking events are such an advantage, because a lot of business is about ‘who you know’.
Being part of this club has helped me a lot during my time at uni. It’s helped me find a new community at AUT that I felt comfortable in. But mostly MSA helped me create that support network I needed, since I was able to meet a lot of awesome people who I could relate to and learn from. It definitely helped me feel less lost. So don’t even think about it – grab a friend and just come along!”
That being said, ‘what you know’ is also pretty important too, so I got a lot out of AUTES’ peer-led study groups. They’re an awesome way to get help with questions or issues, but it’s also super low commitment, which I think a lot of students appreciate. You can drop in or drop out as much as you’d like, we really just want to be a place where business savvy students can find support and community.”
Search ‘AUT MSA’ on Facebook and Instagram, or email them at autcity.msa@gmail.com
Want to know more? Hit them up at @autecosoc or autes@aut.ac.nz
For more info, email clubs@aut.ac.nz with your name, AUT ID number, phone number, email address, and the club(s) you would like to join. They’ll forward your details to the appropriate club leaders.
blind
date
Every issue, we bribe singletons with free food and bevvies to go on a blind date, organised by us. The only catch – they have to write about it after.
The Bachelor
Married at First Sight
The prospect of food and a date was too good to resist. So, with many seasons of The Bachelor under my belt serving as encouragement, and few emails to and from Debate later, I found myself smiling across a table with my date for the evening. Ordering showcased how different two people can truly be, as my date’s pre-planning met my spur of the moment selection.
“I’d soooo go on that! You know… if it wasn’t being filmed for TV,” has become my new saying during the weekdays while watching Married at First Sight with the fam. Enter stage right, Debate Magazine – setting me up on a blind date with free food, similar to that on TV, minus the cameras and weddings.
Moving on from complete strangers in the space of a meal is quite a different experience to the usual. At first, I felt pretty nervous, but conversation flowed the entire time. As it turned out, my date was incredibly cool. Topics jumped from the mundane to international travels, a mutual appreciation of club bangers and everything in between. As we became more comfortable around each other, laughter and smiles continued to radiate cross the table. My thoughts kept flitting between chats to how much Debate had really hooked it up. I recall being straight up surprised at how throwing two people together had resulted in such a great evening. My match-maker definitely got it right. The night closed out typically, with the front of house commenting on how I looked a lot less pale than I did at the start of the evening. And also, we swapped numbers (booyaa!). Overall I give the date a five out of seven, because giving a rating out of 10 is too mainstream. And who knows, maybe we’ll see each other again? Watch this space Debate readers…
When date night rolled around, and I stood awkwardly outside Burger Burger with my wing-woman. We wrongly identified three guys as ‘date guy’ until we spotted ‘actual date guy’. Being a natural hugger, I had joked to my friend that I would formally shake the guy’s hand to introduce myself… well, that backfired. I completely blanked and actually extended my arm to him like it was a business meeting. It was that exact moment I thought maybe I wasn’t destined for MAFS after all. Thankfully, the nerves were mutual, and my date was a total sweetie pie. Much to my surprise, we had a lot in common, so conversation flowed easily. I took comfort in hearing it was his first blind date too. His humour was A+ and we had a great laugh together. When I told him my niece shared the same food allergies as him, he responded with “Aww, crack up!” followed by an uneasy, “Oh no, wait… I don’t mean crack up...” which only made us laugh harder. It’s always nice when you meet someone you can laugh with over stupid stuff. I’d say the hug at the end of the date (#progress) and me putting my number into his phone is a pretty good indication of how the date went. So depending on whether he texts, there could be a second date… Otherwise MAFS, I’m ready for you!
To get involved, email us with your name, age and sexual preference: debate@aut.ac.nz 35
recipe
Apple Orange Jam Recipe Recipe and photography by Melissa Koh
Bruised apples? Next. Overripe banana? Noooo. Odd-shaped fruits? Dodgy. Orange peels? Bin it. In today’s urban society, the value of fruits tend to be measured based on aesthetic qualities rather than nutrition and flavour. But what happens to the produce that is rejected or has gone past its pristine state of freshness? The famers’ efforts have gone to waste. The energy used to produce and transport to retailers across the world has also gone to waste. More energy is then used to transport them to landfills, contributing further to global warming. Instead of encouraging such wasteful behaviour, we can start
embracing misshapen produce and minimise food waste. Moreover, imperfect produce is cheaper. Plus, embracing a no-waste mentality can help you save money! Fruits lacking good looks or pristine freshness can still possess vast potential in appeal and taste. Under your capable hands, this produce can regain appreciation and value. Odd-shaped fruits do not taste different from uniformly shaped fruits. Overripe bananas are great in muffins. Bruised fruits, when cooked, will not indicate any signs of inferiority. Making marmalade out of orange peels is a great way
to transform trash to treasure. When it comes to prolonging the lifespan of produce, there are a myriad of preservation techniques you can apply – jam-making being one of them. Be a champion of sustainability – financially and environmentally – starting with this jam recipe! It does not require immaculate looking apples. It also utilises orange peels that would have otherwise gone to the bin. It's best served on wholemeal seeded toast, top it off with sliced cheese for a delicious sweet and salty contrast.
Ingredients
Method
• • •
1. To be added to the pot: peel and core apples, then chop into small pieces to facilitate the cooking process. Grate lemon to obtain zest. Slice in half and extract the juices. Add to the pot.
•
500g apples (2 large or 3 medium sized) 1 small lemon (zest and juice) Peel of one orange (without the white pith) 380g caster sugar
•
20g brown sugar
You will also need: •
•
A medium sized pot, tall enough so that the raw ingredients do not fill up more than half the pot. The jam will bubble vigorously when cooking, therefore having a tall pot can prevent splattering. This recipe will make enough to fill a 550ml jar. It is vital that you sterilise the jar before using it. To do that, simply wash the jar and lid with hot soapy water and rinse. Place the jar without the lid in an oven pre-heated to 90°C for 10 minutes. Soak the lid in boiling water for 10 minutes and allow it to dry completely before using.
2. Remove the white pith of the orange peel by placing the skin exterior side flat down on the board, with your knife parallel to the skin, slide it between the white and orange part and continue sliding from one side to the other, removing as much white pith as possible. The white pith is bitter, and you won’t want a bitter jam. 3. Julienne (slice to form thin strips) the orange peel. Add to the pot. 4. Place the pot over low heat to gently cook the ingredients. Stir frequently to ensure that the bottom does not burn. It is crucial NOT to add the sugar until a later stage. 5. After 15 minutes, the ingredients should soften. While stirring, apply pressure to mash the apple. If you like some texture in the jam, leave some chunky bits like what I did. You can use a potato masher if you prefer a smoother puree-like texture. 6. At this stage, pour in the caster sugar. Increase the heat a little, and continue cooking for 10 minutes. Stir frequently. 7. After ten minutes, the mixture should thicken. Add in brown sugar and continue cooking and stirring frequently for 5 minutes. The jam should be ready by then. To test its doneness, simply spoon out on a cold plate. It should be thick like a soft gel. If it is a thin mixture that spreads and flows, it means that the jam has not reached the ideal temperature and needs more cooking time.
Melissa Koh is a third year BA student double majoring in Culinary Arts and English & New Media. Follow her dining and cooking adventures on Instagram: @melicacy
37
WORDFIND
puzzles
Money money money mooon-naay… MON-NAY!
CashMoney
Payroll
RichBitch
Finance
Dough
YoungMoney
Salary
GettinPaper
Scholarships
Saving
Greenback
StudentLife
Funds
HousingCrisis
Spending
PartTimeJob
DollaBills
BankNote
BenjaminsBaby
TheApprentice
Circle all the words in the wordfind, tear this page out and pop it into the box on the side of the red Debate stands. Do it and you could win a motherflippin’ sweet prize!
Loved last issue’s ‘Explain like I’m Five’ section on foils? Think you’re an expert? Try solving this problem, submitted by ASE – AUT Student Engineers. Send your answer to debate@aut.ac.nz and if you’re right, you could win a rad prize. Imagine a 747 is sitting on a conveyer belt, as wide and long as a runway. The conveyer belt is designed to exactly match the speed of the wheels, moving in the opposite direction. Can the plane take off?
Name:
Email:
lockers
lock it in
Hire a WG building locker at the City Campus for 6 months or a full year! $20 half year $40 full year Pop into the AUTSA office to hire one!
Don’t break the bank...
Come see us for all your print requirements. GRAPHIC DESIGN • COURSE MATERIALS PRINTING • PHOTOCOPYING • SCANNING BINDING • STAPLING • LAMINATING
AUT CITY CAMPUS Level 3, WA Building 55 Wellesley Street East AUT NORTH CAMPUS AM105, AM Building 90 Akoranga Drive AUT SOUTH CAMPUS MC215, MC Building 640 Great South Road
Phone: 09 921 9244 Email: aut@fxprinthub.co.nz pinklime.co.nz/aut 39
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If you are, OR want to be a high achiever in areas such as: - academia - leadership - community service - national sporting …then we want to chat with you over lunch.
Bring a friend and come join us for a casual lunch and tell us how your scholarship experience has gone OR what you would like to see if you were to apply for a scholarship. Select from four dates at each AUT Campus: Weds Weds Weds Tues
21 March 28 March 04 April 10 April
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Confirm your lunch spot and preferred date to lisa.warner@aut.ac.nz
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