DEBATE | ISSUE 10 by Debate Magazine

debate ISSUE 10 | MAY 2015

debate

CREDITS EDITOR Laurien Barks laurien.barks@aut.ac.nz SUB-EDITORS Matthew Cattin Amelia Petrovich Julie Cleaver

CONTENTS

DESIGNER & COOKIE FAN Ramina Rai rrai@aut.ac.nz CONTRIBUTORS Amelia Petrovich, Ethan Sills, Ava Wardecki-Locke, Matthew Cattin, Mahafrin Variava, Anita Tranter, Daniel Haines, Julie Cleaver, Nicole Hunt, Caterina Atkinson, Fiona Connor, Dion Eade, Conor Leathley, Shivan, Molly Dagger, Tyler Hinde, Kerryn Smith ADVERTISING Harriet Smythe hsmythe@aut.ac.nz

Pg 3 Editor’s Letter

Pg 24 Ten Ways to Learn A New Language Fast

Pg 4 Vice Prez Sez Pg 6 Ten Ways to Be the Most Annoying Person in a Tutorial

Pg 20 Ten Days to Live

Pg 8 Top Ten Worst Pokémon

Pg 32 Ten Years With Harry

Pg 10 10 Rad and Mostly Regrettable Fashion

Pg 33 Kids in Tents

Fads from 10 Years Ago…

Pg 34 Why We Love the Number Ten 10eva

Pg 11 Top Ten Op Shops

Contributions can be sent to

debate@aut.ac.nz

Pg 36 Ten Questions You’ll Ask Before Your

Pg 12 Art Competition!

PRINTER Debate is lovingly printed by Soar Print

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

Pg 26 Tenception Perceptions

Quarter Life Crisis

Pg 13 Cool Shit

Pg 39 Ten Moustache Cookie Reviews

Pg 14 2001

Pg 40 Ten Best Films Of The Last Twenty Years

Pg 16 Wanna Cuppa Tea?

Pg 42 A Green Decade

Pg 18 Ten Ways to Make Someone Grin

Pg 44 Food Review

Pg 20 Top Ten Winter Survival Tips

Pg 45 Puzzles

Pg 22 Ten University Cut-Backs

Pg 46 Recipe

Cover photo by Ramina Rai

DIRECTORY

AUSM.ORG.NZ

CITY CAMPUS Level 2, WC Building ph: 921 9805 Mon-Thurs: 9am - 5pm Fri: 9am - 4pm NORTH SHORE CAMPUS (Temporary Location) AE112; Office D ph: 921 9949 10:30am - 1:30pm

SOUTH CAMPUS MB107 ph: 921 9999 ext 6672 Mon-Thurs: 9am - 3:30 GOVERNANCE & LEADERSHIP April Pokino april.pokino@aut.ac.nz

MANAGEMENT Tuhi Leef tuhi.leef@aut.ac.nz

VOLUNTEERS Romulus Swanney rswanney@aut.ac.nz

STUDENT MEDIA MANAGER Victoria Griffin vgriffin@aut.ac.nz

CLUBS Josh Tupene jtupene@aut.ac.nz

ADVOCACY Siobhan Daly siobhan.daly@aut.ac.nz

FA C E B O O K . C O M / A U S M D E B AT E

EVENTS Carl Ewen carl.ewen@aut.ac.nz

3) When your fourth grade teacher gives you a card, a hug, and tells you she’s there if you need anything when she learns that your cat died, that’s more than a “nice” moment. That unique little exchange is what you’ll look back on for the rest of your life when you’re scared to help someone that you don’t know too well because it might seem “weird.” It wasn’t weird when Mrs Falk did it…it’s not going to be weird if you do it. 4) Don’t feel ugly when you see your school photo this year. Or any years. Those posed-statue photos have no value to you in the long run. You’re much more natural when you’ve contorted your lips and crossed your eyes – those are the photos you end up keeping for your scrapbooks.

E D I TO R ' S L E T T E R Hey All, Ten has taken over the office this week, my friends! With a tenthemed tenth issue, we’ve done our best to pack this thing with enough ten-itemed lists, ten-year-old representatives, and decade-old stories to keep you satisfied for the next ten years. I’ve got a pretty decent memory, so I looked back over the past to try and find some inspiration for this letter. Ten days ago (from the time of writing this) I went shopping with a pal for a Mother’s Day gift. Ten weeks ago, I was a sub-editor at Debate and was interviewing my cousin for an article. Ten months ago, I was pet sitting a dog that looked like a black wolf and peed on the floor right in front of me one night. I remember that I drank feijoa cider in bed that same night though, so the ten-month-old random memories aren’t all bad. However, I found the most inspiration in my memories that are roughly ten years old. A lot happened a decade ago, and there are definitely a few bits of advice and encouragement that lil Laurien would’ve appreciated back then. So without further ado, the ten things I needed to hear ten years ago: 1) A full head of cornrow braids is not a good idea. No matter how much the tropical island culture touches your heart, no matter how cool you think it is to have beads in your hair, exposing people’s eyes to that much of your pasty scalp just isn’t what’s best. For anyone. Seriously. Don’t. 2) Grades don’t necessarily equate to smarts. I mean, I’m not saying good grades are a bad thing, but don’t feel like an idiot whenever Wesley gets a higher grade in math class. The fact that you don’t punch that mofo in the face when he throws rocks at you during recess makes you smarter than a thousand Wesleys. And just generally more likeable.

5) People have sex for fun…not just because they want babies. I feel that telling you this now will give you a bit of advanced warning so you’re not shocked to the point of tears when your aunty accidentally tells you in a few months’ time. 6) It’s unrealistic to expect the big romantic events of your life (ie. first kiss, first date, proposal, etc.) to be magically sound tracked to Vanessa Carlton’s A Thousand Miles because: a. No matter how much you’re convinced it’ll be okay, asking a dude to stop making a move so you can chuck a Vanessa Carlton CD in is always going to be a buzz kill. b. In a few years you’ll want to change the sound track to Christina Perri’s A Thousand Years and you’ll feel like all the effort you put into said daydreams has been made redundant. 7) Tell Mum that you really don’t like the tofu “meat” that she puts in your sandwiches. It won’t hurt her feelings, and it’ll keep you from gagging in front of your classmates on a daily basis. 8) The fact that you live in a little house and your friends live in big houses winds up being one of the best inadvertent teachers you have. You don’t have a cool theatre room, or games room, but you get to live in a different country every summer. Your “extras” can’t be held in your hand, but that’s what makes them so valuable. Little house = big life for you, m’dear. Mum and Dad did things right, so thank them more often. 9) Speaking of Mum and Dad, they’ll teach you to give a little bit of the money you earn, or receive at birthdays to a good cause. Don’t think of that as a “church thing.” Think of it as a “life thing.” 10) There’ll come a time over the next few months when you think it’ll be a good idea to see how many snails you can eat in a minute in front of a crowd of people. It’s not. Have a good week, Laurien

VICE-PREZ SEZ Kia ora everyone! Yay it is week 10 already! That means we only have five weeks left, and for some people less than that! It also means that exams are getting closer and closer. I do hope all is well, it has been a while since we all had a break. So I know we are all probably guilty of this, but I am going to talk about the 10 things I do to procrastinate, because lets be real - it happens. 1. I talk to anyone I can find about everything and anything, and if I can’t find someone, I start to text and call people. Even my mum. This can last hours.

2. I eat! Because you always need to eat. But I don’t buy something, because nobody has money for that. I make something; I cook a big feed, or even start prepping the next meal. 3. I start to clean. This is something I hate to do, but it beats having to do that assessment that is due. Dishes, washing, vacuum, mop, bathroom, and even my car. 4. Bake. I start baking like there is a school fair on that I have to attend. And not just one cake, it has to be cupcakes as well. It can’t be out of a box either - that’s way too fast. 5. I start to write ‘to do’ list. On the study I need to do, the work I need to do, other things I want to achieve or buy. After the list is done, I make little post-it notes to put on the wall that remind me to do it. 6. I start to find work at work to do, even if that means reading over the AuSM constitution again! And I still don’t fully understand it. 7. Watch a movie or catch up on a TV series, or even start a new one. My two new ones are The Walking Dead and Black-ish. 8. Play some old ass computer games. So, I play Age of Empires 2, (yip, I said two). I also play Heroes of Might and Magic 3. 9. Then there is the PlayStation. I use the PlayStation 3 to play PS1 games like Crash Bandicoot, which is the best, and Spyro. 10. The last-resort thing I will do to get out of study is EXERCISE. I don’t even know if it’s worth doing over study… So now you know my 10 things I do to avoid study. I hope you don’t do the same. Take this as a list of things to avoid. Please feel free to contact me on urshula.ansell@aut.ac.nz to talk about anything, ask questions you have, or need help with anything. Here is a quote from the 10 things I hate about you: “Just 'cause you're beautiful, that doesn't mean that you can treat people like they don't matter.”

life experience. My outlook on life since becoming an ambulance officer has made me believe that people need to be a little less serious, a little funnier, and not get quite so hung up on the small things. Things can go from okay to unimaginable levels of bad in a moment, without warning.

SRC SEZ Hello, My name is Kyall Thompson, originally from Nelson (top of the South Island). Having moved to Auckland in 2014 to study at AUT, it is a bit of a change for me as I have come from being a teacher - teaching 3D animation for film and games, a volunteer qualified firefighter (QFF) for the NZFS, a tour guide for a family company, and even a summer camp councillor in the USA leading outdoor trips.

I feel I can relate to a wide range of students and staff, from people that are struggling to people that just have a few questions. Who am I? And how can I help you? I’m the AuSM AUT South Campus Rep - voted by you, the students and staff. I’m currently a second year Bachelor of Health Science paramedic student. I see my main role as a point of contact between AUT and the students, and the students and AUT. I can’t promise I have all the answers, and I definitely can’t wave my hand and fix everything in an instant. But I try! I’m a great point of contact to either get an answer for you, or point you to where you can find an answer, or even letting AUT know your problems or concerns. I am most easily contactable via Facebook either by private message or the AUT South Campus Facebook page. I’m regularly at South Campus three to four days a week, and can be found near the paramedic rooms by the gym, or upstairs in the café. I’m always keen for a game of pool and a chat, so if you see me around say hi. Cheers, Kyall

I’m probably a little older that most at uni, and have a little more 5

TEN WAYS

TO BE THE MOST ANNOYING PERSON IN A TUTORIAL

by Amelia Petrovich | Illustration by Tyler Hinde Maybe you didn’t have any particularly outstanding talents in high school, perhaps your mum didn’t hug you enough, or possibly you’re just bored. Whatever the reason, somehow you have found yourself skimming over an article designed to teach you how to be an absolute pest. As an author, I’d like to engage your attention, but as a friend I am urging you to turn back now. Most of this list has been born of my unique brand of hatred, in need of an outlet around the start of winter and exam study. Please, for the love of God, if you value the sanity and respect of those around you, do not strive to be this person…but if you’re sadistic and wish to excel in the art of irritation, do read on.

1) Click your pen a lot. Go on do it, just do it. You’ll make lots of friends. Cicadas find mates by clicking, I’m sure you’ll do well too…

2) Get a crazy good mark, tell everyone around you. Don’t get me wrong, ain’t nothing wrong with being proud of your achievements. But if the rest of your table has failed dismally and are sobbing into their Macbooks, it’s probably not the most tactful time to mention your A-.

3) Get an abysmal mark and undermine everyone else’s work Similarly, if you didn’t get the grade you wanted, now is not the time to scoff and say that the essay was “like, for total pussies anyway man”. Accept it, breathe and move on. At the end of the day, that assessment cost you (or someone) fees. You’re not too cool for effort, friend.

4) Talk the whole way through the tutorial/ lecture I don’t know about you, but a lot of people were taught from a young age to not talk whilst others are talking. It’s rude as heck, there are five year olds that have mastered that concept. Pull your big ugly head in.

5) Arrive half an hour late, Starbucks in hand. I honestly do not understand how anyone can have the audacity to show up that late with such a crappy brand of coffee. Thirty minutes is ample time to find some decent medium-roast goodness. It is my civil duty to inform you that a double frappa-mocha-choco-fluff-accino from Starbucks is likely to lose you (awesome, coffeeappreciating) friends.

6) Scroll through your phone for most of the class then turn around and ask what we’re doing. No one is going to tell you. If you were perusing Instagram for twenty minutes and missed key instructions, it’s going to take another twenty minutes to bring you up to speed. Nobody has time for that; they don’t like you that much (especially after that stunt with the Starbucks).

7) Remain completely silent when we’re all asked a question Oh come on, be a bro, please don’t force me to end this painful, collective silence all on my own again.

8) “When I was traveling Europe on my gap year…” Let it go, let it go. We get that you’ve been to Prague and seen cool stuff, that’s cute. Just know that you can verbalize personal experiences without rubbing your ‘#wanderlust’ in our faces. No matter what we say, we are jealous and it’s lame.

9) Never respond to group messages, ever. If you really want to be a hideous, stressful pain, wait until you’re popped into a group for a 45 percent assignment. Once this has happened, be sure to never contact your fellow group-mates again. They will all stress out and have to organize everything on their own until the presentation day, when you will miraculously show up and be grouchy that everyone is so frantic. Cheers.

10) Eat an apple. This one sounds mean, I know. Apples are really good for you, but they’re also stupidly loud and full of squirty juice. It’s just one of those times you won’t win no matter what you do.

Do I Really Have To Catch Them All? by Ethan Sills

For last year’s Top Ten issue, I highlighted ten of the best Pokémon, based on their design, abilities and backstories. However, not all Pokémon can be the very best like no one ever was. For every Charizard and Mewtwo, there are dozens of Magikarp, Bidoof and Dunsparce you catch because you have to and then promptly shove away into the depths of your PC. Here are just ten of the worst Pokémon ever inflicted upon fans:

Mega Venusaur

Poor, poor Venusaur. The rejected child of the original starters. Blastoise has the awesomeness of two giant cannons, Charizard has the fame and the fact that it’s a dragon, but with Venusaur, its clear they didn’t have any ideas for it. A strange flower-toad-dinosaur-wart hybrid, it’s not surprising that Venusaur has never set the world on fire. But Game Freak had the chance to make it awesome again through Mega Evolutions, which gave them free reign to redesign old Pokémon. Naturally, the original starters were first up: Blastoise gained arm cannons, Charizard slimmed down and become more ferocious, and Mega Venusaur… grew some more leaves. For shame, Game Freak, for shame.

Garbodor

A sentient, fighting trash bag isn’t a bad idea, in theory. If executed properly, it could have been a welcome addition to the Poison type family. Instead, we got Garbodor, a near-literal pile of crap. There is a lot to dislike here, but the trashscrunchie hairstyle particularly irks me. When it comes to Poison types, these games clearly peaked with the snake they imaginatively called Ekans, and Garbodor deserves a spot just to highlight this types poor treatment in the games.

Diggersby

A rabbit based Pokémon should be an adorable, cute little creature you’d be happy to force into battle. A rabbit based Pokémon should not be a forty-year-old man with a number of unsavourable fetishes. Just look at that face; the grip of its hands; those oversized finger-ears… nothing about this is right.

Phantump/Trevenant

This was a tough call to make, as there are a surprising number of Pokémon whose PokeDex entries mention either being possessed or originating from dead things. But Phantump is one of the creepiest: according to its entry, Phantump are born through children getting lost, dying, and their spirits possessing already dead trees. Charming. To make things worse, it then evolves into an angry, tree-spider monster. I suppose if I died and got turned into a tree, I’d be a bit peeved as well. But considering the game is about children roaming through forests whilst battling powerful criminal organisations, it makes you wonder how many people might have failed before you.

Miltank

Pokémon games require you to bring down mob bosses and save the world, but all that is a walk in the park compared to the unstoppable force of nature that is Whitney’s Miltank. Faced at Goldenrod Gym in the Johto games, this Miltank is basically undefeatable thanks to no Fighting types available beforehand, meaning you go in with a type disadvantage and get torn apart with an Attract-Rollout-Milk Drink triple combo. Miltank may not be trying to drown the earth or create a new galaxy, but she definitely is the true villain of the games.

Spinda

While most Pokémon are created to be decent fighters and have strengths in battle, there are just as many terrible Pokémon whose sole existence is based around a gimmick or one trait that, while interesting, makes them fairly pointless. Smeargle, Castform, Shedinja, Chatot, Deerling: there are plenty of examples, but I’m going to single out Spinda. Its gimmick is that the markings on its body are unique to each single Spinda, with over 4 billion possible designs based on the 32-digit number that is assigned to a Pokémon when first accounted. A truly unnecessary, overcomplicated and pointless gimmick which, unlike other one-note Pokémon, doesn’t distract from how utterly weak and useless Spinda is.

Zubat

Haunting you from each game to the next, Cave Herpes has rightfully earned it’s nickname: step one foot into any cave, tunnel or dark, mountainous area without a Repel, and Zubat will be all over you. While not a terrible Pokémon, if it was a bit less common and less prevalent through the various games, then Zubat and its evolutions would be a lot more bearable.

Barbaraclekémon

Barbaraclekémon makes sense. It’s just an ugly, poorly designed, unnecessary waste of space, and I’ve probably spent more time trying to work it out then they spent designing it.

Combee

The only gender-specific entry on the list. Female Combee get to evolve into Vespiquen and go on to be an average Bug type fighter. Male Combee, however, are cursed to never evolve, stuck for eternity with terrible stats and a move set of four. I applaud Nintendo for trying to be realistic with their designs (Combee/Vespiquen inspired obviously by worker and queen bees), but they shouldn’t put out pointless Pokémon as a result.

KlefkiIt

KlefkiIt is a sentient keychain. That is all.

3) Ultra low-rise flared jeans with no waistband It’s pretty safe to say that 90 percent pants in the mid 2000’s were totally regrettable. The hip-bone-revealing, denim, bellbottom trend that we saw waaaaay too much of in this era is basically the epitome of every denim eyesore known to mankind. 4) Ruffle miniskirts It’s like a frilly ruffle covering your ass - how could we have thought that it looked cute? If it weren’t for Lindsay Lohan rocking one in Mean Girls, this froufrou-nappy-cover-lookingtravesty would not have made it as a big time trend. 5) Stick on diamante tattoos Who doesn’t remember chucking one of these sparkly numbers on for your school disco and attempting to re-use it as much as you could until it wouldn’t stick anymore? There is no doubt that one of these sacred pieces of glitter and glue turned your already questionable outfit from drab to ’05 fab. I must admit though, I’m guilty of occasionally wandering into two-dollar shops, and secretly hoping they still stock them.

10 RAD AND MOSTLY REGRETTABLE FASHION FADS FROM 10 YEARS AGO… While it seems like it was just yesterday that we were waiting for Kanye’s freshly dropped ‘Gold Digger’ to play on C4, the reality is that the golden year that was 2005 was a whole decade ago. Besides musical guilty pleasures, the year 2005 has left us with memories of some of the most cringe-worthy fashion trends imaginable. So in remembrance of this fashion pinnacle, we round up 10 of some of its most memorable moments.

by Ava Wardecki-Locke

1) Von Dutch trucker hats I would like to extend a massive sarcastic thank you to Ashton Kutcher from his Punk’d days for being the catalyst for the trucker cap trend. These caps seemed to be the cherry on top of literally any ’05 outfit whether it actually matched or not. I think it’s pretty safe to say that if you didn’t own a Von Dutch cap, you sure as hell wanted to. Bonus tacky points if you owned one that was pastel pink, camo print, or had metallic embroidery. 2)Butterflies, butterflies everywhere These little critters basically owned the ’05 accessory scene. They were absolutely everywhere: clipped into hair, sequinned onto the back pockets of jeans, dangling off a belly bar, and tattooed on what seemed like every second girl’s lower back.

6) Jelly bangles I’m pretty sure we all, at some point, dragged our mum through the mall to find and spend our hard earned pocket money on a pack, or five, of these bad boys. Black, fluoro, glitter and major props if you found some glow-in-the-dark jelly bangles. We’ve had jelly shoes flourish back into fashion, and I’m predicting that these petroleum products are gonna be next. 7) Boob tubes This was the staple wardrobe item of practically every “cool girl” of ’05. We all thought they were pretty cool, but I’m glad the world now sees that they are in no way flattering to any boob or body shape. 8) Sweatbands These again, are another prime example that practical sportswear items should not be made into trendy fashion accessories. I’m glad to see the trend well and truly vanished, and for it to be left up to the athletes to rock. ‘Nuff said. 9) Teeny tiny underarm handbags Shout out to Paris and Nicole, and other mid-decade ‘it-girls’ for being the fairy godmothers of this highly impractical trend. Microscopic, un-useful and mostly downright tacky, you could barely even fit your flip phone into one of these. Let’s not fail to mention the gaudy and often fake Louis Vuitton patterned leather that adorned these silly little numbers. 10) Tank tops over absolutely everything Couldn’t decide between two of your favourite tank tops? No problem, wear the two at once! Want to wear a tank top and cover your shoulders at the same time? Chuck it over a tight t-shirt! It’s freezing cold but you still want to wear a tank top? Just wear it over a skivvy!

4) Vixen Vintage– St Kevin’s Arcade, K Road Vixen Vintage is an eclectic mix of all things amazingly vintage. This store stocks everything we love in men and women’s fashion from the 50s through to the 90s. I can guarantee you’ll have a blast browsing through their perfectly curated selection of vintage prom dresses, stunning sequined numbers, power suits, vintage leather, bomber jackets and indie-rock t-shirts. I’d also recommend perusing the jewellery cabinet and shoe selection for gorgeous treasures. 5) Tango – Little High Street Tucked away in the arcade of Little High Street (where good ol’ Smoove used to be) lies Tango – a perfect slice of the bygone eras. This store is pure eye candy with myriads of incredibly beautiful fur coats, dress jackets, evening dresses shoes and handbags and, occasionally, the odd authentic top hat or two. 6) Recycle Boutique – Auckland City

T O P 10 O P - S H O P S

This store has absolutely everything: a humungous range of men and women’s fashion, a killer shoe selection, reasonably priced accessories and a large selection of great designer pieces. With constant flow of new stock coming in, no two visits to Recycle Boutique are the same.

by Ava Wardecki-Locke

7) SaveMart – Onehunga

1) SaveMart - New Lynn This is, hands down, the biggest second hand shop I have ever come across in my entire life. Despite being a regular customer here, I am still overwhelmed by it’s grandeur every time I wander on in. They have isles and isles of absolutely everything you could imagine, for pretty decent prices. Sure, you might come across some downright ratty clothes, but I can guarantee you will walk out of there with a gem or two! 2) Paper Bag Princess – K Road

“ The air smelled of boozy sweat, Lynx Excit e, swelling ovar ies and desperation. I headed f or t he bar t o prepare myself.”

Paper Bag Princess is every devoted op-shopper’s dream: there’s a large selection of colours, sizes and styles for everyone. The clothing here is usually contemporary with a few gorgeous vintage pieces from the 80s and 90s thrown in the mix. What makes this store even more amazing is that most of their items are 20 dollars or less, and on top of that, we lucky students are entitled to a discount when we flash our ID! 3) Cockspurs Vintage - New Lynn Cockspurs Vintage is relatively new on the second-hand vintage clothing scene. This small store oozes vintage Americana funkiness, and is a hidden gem of Auckland’s second hand clothing map. The clothes here are all authentic vintage pieces handpicked from the USA, and are in the most amazing condition. You’ll find 50s denim, embroidered western shirts, gorgeous vintage party dresses, genuine leather and vintage accessories galore!

Although it’s at least half the size of it’s New Lynn chain, SaveMart Onehunga is a wonderful place for finding gems for your closet. Unlike most men and women’s fashion stores, it’s refreshing to see that here the men’s section is almost as extensive as the women’s. And of course, most of the clothes here are super easy on the pocket! 8) Amber La Vintage – Devonport Amber La Vintage is a picturesque boutique in a gorgeous white villa in Devonport. Here you’ll find an adorable collection of fun and feminine genuine vintage clothes, mainly from the mid century. They have a large selection of vintage accessories to match, and also stock a whole lot of Smoove, Reworked Vintage, and Retrospeck’d vintage dresses that are worth a look at too. 9) Pre-Loved: Auckland City Pre-Loved is one of the newest additions to Auckland’s op-shop scene. It stocks mostly contemporary and stylish second hand women’s clothing as well as clothing samples and outlet items. I was extremely impressed with this store’s range of rad shoes and accessories and it’s reasonably pricing. 10) Tatty’s - High Street While items here can be a bit on the pricey side, the clothes are of good quality and are always in excellent condition. Here you’ll be able to pick up some great basics and staple items for your wardrobe, as well as some trendy designer pieces. 11

N I W

These are more than a f ew o f m y f a vo u r i t e t h i n g s

It’s competition time at Debate again! And since it’s issue 10, we thought we’d ask y’all to draw, paint, or photograph 10 things that you think are the bomb-diggity! Whether you’re into raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, or pizza with four kinds of cheeses, we want to see it on a page! There’s a $50 Gordon Harris gift voucher up for grabs for first prize, so get your entries in! You can either email them to rrai@aut.ac.nz, or fill in this page with your masterpieces and leave it in one of our red stands. Competition closes June 8th.

W H AT I S YO U R N A M E:

CA M P U S:

E M A I L:

COOL SHIT

I MOUSSED HAVE IT

M Y B O DY I S R E A DY

Karen Murrell Lipstick in Violet Mousse will get your lips bang on trend with the new take on minimal makeup sashaying down the autumn/winter catwalks around the world. Designed to unravel and plump lips with a warm pink/violet hue suited to all skin tones, Violet Mousse is just as appropriate worn to a breakfast meeting or touched up for after-work dinner drinks. Available at selected pharmacies and health food stores nationwide. RRP: $29.95

The cold weather can cause skin to become dry and dehydrated, not ideal in a season when many look to take a break in warmer climates. The simplest way to banish winter skin and keep it looking and feeling great is to switch to richer moisturising cream packed with pure plant oils, like certified natural Trilogy Ultra Hydrating Body Cream. Available in face and body cream, as well as instant bronzing gel, Trilogy products are available at selected Farmers, pharmacies, department and health stores nationwide. RRP: $29.90

I WILL SURVIVE

WE HEART ART

In-laws coming around for dinner? Earthquake imminent? Squashed in the middle seat on a long-haul flight? Don’t panic! With the help of Lonely Planet’s new book, How to Survive Anything, you will always prevail. Retailing at $29.99, this book will have you laughing in the face of adversity with its clever writing and witty illustrations, you’ll learn how to deal with any challenge no matter how extreme or mundane. We have one copy to give away to the person who can email in their sure-fire way to survive a hangover. Email submissions to lbarks@aut.ac.nz

A major programme of new exhibitions drawn from the world’s largest collection of New Zealand art is now on view at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Presenting works by the country’s art luminaries such as Michael Parekowhai, Colin McCahon, Fiona Pardington and Bill Culbert, these exhibitions explore the network of connections that have influenced New Zealand art from the early 20th century to today. The featured exhibitions run for different periods of time, so pop in to the Auckland Art Gallery to be sure you don’t miss out. 13

by Matthew Cattin

The year I turned 10 was rather a tumultuous one. The world changed forever one sad day in September, Peter Blake was cut down in his prime, and to top it off, Shaggy was still a relevant musician. Crazy. To get into the spirit of the issue, I’ve dug up Now That’s What I Call Music 9 from the depths of my wardrobe, the unfortunate soundtrack to my year. I’m sad to say I still know the words to every tune, but boy oh boy, there are some memories on here… Santa left it in my stocking at the tail end of 2000, and it barely left my discman for the next 12 months. These are the songs that taught me about life. Afroman introduced me to the concepts of smoking weed and cunnilingus in Because I Got High, City High opened my eyes to inequality in What Would You Do? and DJ Otzi taught me how to party like my prepubescent days would never end. My music tastes did get a little cooler throughout the year, however, as I discovered the triumphs and frustrations of mix tapes. Without iTunes or broadband, the options for attaining new tunes were limited; I had no pocket money to spend on albums and LimeWire took an hour per song to download (if the progress wasn’t interrupted by phone calls, of course). The only sensible option therefore, in those dark times, was the classic mix tape – a relic from the 80s. Each night, I would lie in bed with headphones on, my finger (aching with pins and needles) reaching out of bed to the record button by the floor. It was a painstaking process, but the results were so worth it. In all of my uncool 10-year-old glory, one of my favourite past times of the era was ice-skating. It was a rare treat – I was no prodigy – but I used to love circling the rink like a goldfish, the top 40 hits pounding out over the ice. You just can’t beat the freedom of skating to Wheatus, Nelly Furtado and Atomic Kitten – no high comes close, not even the school’s annual Blue Light Disco. It’s sure making me feel old to mention, but 2001 was the year Fellowship of the Ring hit cinemas, putting New Zealand on the map. Looking back, I’m quite surprised my folks let me go to the cinema to see such a violent, dark film, but their ignorance was absolutely to my advantage. I fell into a deep obsession with Middle Earth, even attempting to read the novel, before realising I could barely lift the hardcover edition above my head, and decided to settle with rereading the first four Harry Potter books. 2001 was also the year dominated by Shrek, and you couldn’t go a day without hearing somebody proclaim they were making waffles in a poor Scottish accent. What a time to be alive.

Perhaps my bias is shining through, but I seem to recall children’s TV being the bee’s knees back in the day too. Tenyear-old Matthew was absolutely spoilt for choice from the moment he got home from school, right up until the six o’clock news started and dad demanded the couch. Hey Arnold!, The Wild Thornberrys, The Fairly OddParents, SpongeBob… And then later in the evening, those shows that helped us all grow up in those formative years; Friends, Scrubs, Smallville, That 70s Show… Yes, television has become incredible lately, what with huge budget productions and Hollywood actors, but I’ll always have a soft spot for classic early 2000s TV.

Even in my ignorance, I could tell the world had changed in an instant this was a big deal. The year will always, however, be remembered most for one thing. It was a month to the day after my 10th birthday when I was woken by mum one morning before school. Two towers I had never heard of before had been hit by planes, apparently on purpose. Even in my ignorance, I could tell the world had changed in an instant – this was a big deal. For the next few months, the world held its breath, in shock, and in anticipation. Images of bodies suspended in mid air, skyscrapers plunging to meet their foundations, and grubby firemen, tears making tracks down dusty cheeks filled the media. It was a lot to take in at that age, but I began to understand just how ugly the world could be. Looking back, I realise just how impressionable I was at that age. I listened to everything on the radio (and enjoyed it), I would watch whatever was on TV, and my worldview was shaped completely by the media. My tastes were essentially a blank canvas. I was a sponge, absorbing everything in my path, completely unsure of what was deemed cool, or not. There was undeniably a thrilling sense of freedom that came with such an open mind, but also a danger of being receptive to bad influences. Luckily, with JK Rowling, Tolkien, and Shaggy on my side, I turned out alright, but it’s so interesting to contemplate who I would be now had I had different experiences as a young’un. So here’s to you, 2001, thanks for the life lessons, the Shrek quotes, and the infectious pop melodies that put a rhythm in my ice skates that ‘Botany Paradice’ won’t ever forget.

“Wanna cuppa tea?" by Amelia Petrovich A long time ago, when I was young and naïve, I thought that you only made a cup of tea when you ‘felt like tea’. How foolish I was. A year in Ireland and general maturity has made me realise that actually, there are a multitude of fabulous reasons and excuses to indulge in this particular beverage. Not only are there endless reasons for tea, there are also endless types of tea, each spectacular and magical in their own way. Every occasion is a tea occasion and there happens to be a tea for each and every tea occasion too, hooray!

1) Have some tea because it’s cold. Ain’t no better way to warm up frosted hands than with a nice cup of tea. You don’t even have to drink it super-fast, just hold onto it and let it hug you toasty!

Tea recommendation: Try for as many small sample bags/packs of tea as humanly possible. That way there will be a tea for everyone and you can all be adorable and compare flavours.

Tea recommendation: Any type of tea will warm the cockles of your heart; just pour a bit of hot water in your mug to heat it up before you brew.

7) Have some tea because you’ve just eaten. Did you know that drinking certain teas after eating can aid digestion and curb cravings? All cravings except for successive tea cravings of course, don’t curb those.

2) Have some tea because you just woke up. Congratulations! You’re up and out of bed! You need something invigorating and yummy to wake you all the way up, don’t you? Tea recommendation: Something zesty and fruity, lemon or lime flavours work well. 3) Have some tea because you’re going to sleep. Tea is the ultimate snooze inducer, sipping a hot cup of tea before you nod off is sort of akin to tucking yourself in and kissing your own forehead. Tea recommendation: Chamomile tea is the sleepy classic which helps drag you off to dream land. 4) Have some tea because you’re happy. Maybe you did a cool thing today, or maybe you’re just feeling suddenly perky. Either way, good on you! I think you probably deserve a cup of tea. Tea recommendation: Pick your favourite tea, to make that happy feeling last even longer. 5) Have some tea because you’re sad. At my house we have a quote written in vivid on our dining room table. It reads: ‘I’ll put the kettle on’, but translates as ‘I’ll just temporarily solve all our problems’. This is a fact and truth of life. Go have some tea, you poor wee thing. Tea recommendation: Again, whatever flavor is your favourite and will make you smile inside; possibly with lots of milk and honey, if appropriate. 6) Have some tea because you have mates over. Impress your buddies and make them all cups of tea to chat over, it’s a super cute time.

Tea recommendation: Peppermint tea is a good one for digestion, it also kind of makes you feel like you just brushed your teeth, but in a tasty way. 8) Have some tea because someone is being awkward. If you’re hanging out with someone and struggling to make conversation, ask if they’d like a cup of tea. At best, it will get your chat flowing smoothly as you potter around with the kettle but at worst, at least you’ll both end up with tea! Tea recommendation: Best to stick with your basic English breakfast tea here, everyone likes English breakfast. No need to make things more awkward than they are already. 9) Have some tea because you’ll look good on Instagram. Anybody who knows anything knows that you’ve only really downed a cup of tea if you post about it later; so hipster chic. Tea recommendation: Any kind of green tea, its pretty and everyone will think you’re an Insta-health blog. 10) Have some tea because you haven’t had tea in a while. What?! You brave soul, how have you survived thus far? Put the kettle on immediately, this must be fixed! Tea recommendation: Anything close by and on hand, we need to bring your tea and tannin levels back up to stable.

TEN WAYS TO MAKE SOMEONE GRIN FROM EAR TO EAR! by Mahafrin Variava This little article may or may not bring about what young people describe as “dem feels” and if it doesn’t, that’s okay (you cold soul, you!). If it isn’t obvious from all the ugg boots you’re seeing around University, winter is just around the corner and I wrote this article to give everyone the warm fuzzies, but that wasn’t the only reason why. I feel like I had a bigger issue at hand. In all seriousness, we’re waking up to sad news every day. Boko Haram and ISIS dominate our news feed, but so do failure, loss and poverty. As individuals and as communities, we then have to shift and focus our attention on these issues, and the reality is that they consume us. In the rigmarole of it all, we’ve forgotten the simple and small joys in life that could give us a short, but well needed, break from everything else we need to focus on. So without further ado, here’s 10 jolly good ways to make someone smile (you may get a thrill out of this too actually):

10) I’m almost certain your work mates wouldn’t mind

donuts. I know mine wouldn’t. Shout your workmates something nice! This doesn’t have to be expensive. Make truffles/brownies, bake a cake, take in a pot of butter chicken or a bucket of KFC. Go wild! This could be anything. If you’re working part-time/full-time, team work becomes a huge focus of your job. You never know who at work may be struggling with issues at home and may just “have” to put a brave face on and make it to work! They could use some donuts. I know I could. You know what else? Share it with those at work you may not get along with. Nothing says “let’s put our issues aside” like a good brownie.

Surprise Treats! Come rain or shine, we see young people from charitable organisations asking for donations for Nepal, for animal welfare, etc.etc, signing petitions and whatnots. So let them know that although they’re getting paid for it, their work isn’t going unnoticed. Buy one of them a chocolate and say “you’ve been standing out here all day, you’re doing an awesome job for a good cause,” because you know what? It takes some real effort to keep your head held high after being ignored by a whole swarm of people, out of which no one takes the time to just “listen” to what you have to say. You could extend this to a class mate you think may be struggling academically, or is under stress, perhaps even someone you’ve been meaning to meet for a while, or even better – someone who you haven’t spoken to in ages. I mean what’s the worst they can do if you offer? Refuse? Sadly, that then becomes their loss – not yours!

8) Say “thank you” to one person today: That could be

anyone who’s making a difference in your life. No matter how big or small. I think it’s worth it. Do it through a text, do it through a sneaky sticky note on a mirror, do it through a Facebook status, make it elaborate over a dinner or some KFC chicken!

Ask someone how their day went! “How was your day, Mum?” Ah this one gives me the fuzzies because it doesn’t have to be just Mum. It could be your partner, it could be Dad, it could be your siblings, your friends, or your flatmates. I especially like Mum because she wakes up early, gets breakfast ready, remembers all our appointments, and only shuts her eyes when she’s content that her family is well-fed. So if for a few minutes, they’re the centre of someone else’s attention – that’s awesome! It means that the work they do is being noticed and it isn’t going in vain.

6) Offer to help someone with their chores: I feel this one is self-explanatory. If it isn’t. Well…..*smiley face*

5) Compliment someone about a job they’ve done well. I don’t know about you guys, but there are times when people I know are under estimating the work they can do or the quality of work they’re already doing. Ever found yourself saying “I don’t know if I’m good enough!” or something like “I don’t think my essay is good enough”. Ever heard your friends say it? I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think any one of us need validation from another person about how great we are, or how great we look, or how great our work is etc…but, at some point – it’s good to be acknowledged for the work you do to reaffirm that it isn’t going unnoticed.

4) Send someone a text saying you’re thinking of them:

Anyone, anyone that comes to your mind as you read this. It may be someone you’ve kept an awkward silence with? It may be an ex you haven’t spoken to in a while. It may be that estranged sibling you hardly keep in touch with.

3) “Do you need help?” Ask someone if you could be of assistance. I quite like this one. It’s free. It doesn’t cost me anything, and it sure as hell doesn’t cost them anything if they decide to take my help. So why should I still want to do it? Well, one would think you could make networks, a new friend, your future employer, and the list goes on. But more importantly, it makes a person’s day because it shows them there’s good in the world. “Good” could look like several things that offer assistance or aid. Go out of your way to do something small for someone else, take the time to get to know a person, even just to be by someone’s side as they cross the road. It’s that simple.

Hold the door open for someone. This could be a stranger, your family, your friends, your flatmate, or even your employer. Again, self-explanatory.

Smile. Just smile. They say the best things in life are free. I’ll relate this example back to my dad. He turned 60 this year *insert good wishes here*. Despite his age (and his not-to-retire in five years plan) there hasn’t been a single day where I haven’t noticed him waking up at 5:30am to head to work, only to return home at 7:30pm. Yes, he works a 14 hour day and yet, not once have I seen my dad frown. He also takes public transport because he’s never been one to sit behind the wheel of a car. The winters are the worst when he forgets his umbrella. And yet – he’s always smiling. That makes my day. It’s such a brave and genuine gesture that there’s no faulting it. Ever. So smile at those you don’t know, smile when you meet someone, smile despite all the challenges you may face because you could pass these attitudes on to someone else and it could, in fact, change the course of their day!

TOP 10 WINTER SURVIVAL TIPS FOR STUDENTS By Anita Tranter Some of us embrace winter by actively hibernating. We eagerly reach for our slippers and onesies, only too happy to be stuck inside with our wheatie bags and Milo during the shorter, colder days. Others may be in full-blown grieving mode, longing for the glorious warmth that only sunshine and hot sand can provide to the bones. Winter can be an especially hard time on students who are also parents, nannies or babysitters. Having one or more children vying for your attention, or squabbling with siblings makes it frustratingly impossible to focus on study, and unfortunately time lost is gone forever. I feel your pain sunshine-lovers, parents, and students: being stuck inside sucks! But does it have to? Staring at the same four walls makes it extremely difficult to focus on those bloody teensy words in the texts, and more often than not, a great deal of time gets spent day dreaming or on Facebook (or a combination of both). I’m here to give you some ideas to break up the four-walled monotony that is winter so that when you do hit the books, your brain is totally there with you.

1. Watch thunder storms: I don’t know if this is obvious to everyone

or just to me, but if you have the chance to sit and watch lightning, it can be a beautiful and awe-inspiring sight. It’s as if the sky is a present and the lightning is the surprise gift; you don’t know when it’s coming. Enjoy it, listen to it, and be afraid of it. Get out the Milo and Gingernuts and just absorb yourself in the moment. Using your senses to observe nature is a good way to practice mindfulness or meditation. You don’t have to think “I will only think about the thunderstorm, nothing else” because then you probably will think of other things, but just sit and watch, and be awed by what you see.

2. Live vicariously through other people: Winter is a great

time to read for enjoyment. Instead of moping around about what you can’t do, hit up the local library and immerse yourself in someone else’s story. Here are a couple of amazing real-life read suggestions to get you going: I am Malala: The girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai & Christina Lamb; Lost in the Jungle by Yossi Ghinsberg. Of course it doesn’t hurt to immerse yourself in an alternate reality either, The Giver by Lois Lowry is a quick, deep read about a bizarre dystopia which is certain to get you thinking. Or you can always get yourself up-to-date with Game of Thrones.

3. Explore your world:

Take the sprogs to your local Chipmunks or Lollipops Land. They sell coffee and snacks and kids are entertained for hours, leaving you to sit in (relative) peace to study. Rain or shine, going to the beach for a walk does wonders to settle the soul - and the children - as they expend any spare energy. Go in jackets and gumboots, get them to have running races or chase the dog. Don’t have a dog? That’s okay, just get them to harass, ahem, ‘Play with’ other beach-goers dogs. If you are lucky enough to wander the beach alone, absorb your surroundings (see tip #2). Take your lovely sprogs to play “grown-ups” at a café. Some cafes have kids play areas now, and most will serve ‘fluffies’ – frothed milk with chocolate on top and marshmallows (of course!) for around a dollar. Giving kids one on one attention without screens means they are less likely to bug you when you need time to yourself to study.

4. Bake: It can be enjoyable for some… But in a practical sense, you could make

mini-quiches in a muffin tray and pack them into your freezer ready for semester two. Utilising your monotonous four-walled area can help you get organised in advance, saving you money which would be much better spent on Mr Whippy when summer finally does roll back around. Your kids, younger siblings, or kids you babysit will love to bake and will enjoy the measuring, mixing and licking spoons.

5. Movie nights: Make the most of those dark and stormy evenings by having a movie night. Don your PJs or onesie, crank up the microwave to make your own popcorn, get out your plushest snuggle rug and slippers, and usher your flatmates or offspring towards the glowing square box. Thankfully Netflix has arrived in New Zealand, just in time for winter! It has hundreds of movies, documentaries, TV series and Ted talks available at your fingertips! At around 12 dollars a month, it is a much cheaper alternative to Satellite and is much more user friendly.

6. Scheduled study: Yes, this tip is not new. Set yourself study days or times

and schedule breaks. If you say to yourself, “I will break for 30 minutes at 10.30am”, then at 10.30, get up, make a coffee, move around, micturate, etc, but don’t even think about anything you’ve been working on! If you are a computer fiend who must be in front of a screen during breaks, then do yourself a favour: Hop onto Youtube and watch kittens riding robot-vacuums. When you resume your work, you will be in a different headspace than when you last attacked the assignment, enabling you to have a fresh perspective of your work. It is especially important to adhere to a study/ break schedule throughout winter so that you keep a positive atmosphere in your home. If you do nothing but study without allowing yourself time off, you will feel trapped by those ever-present four walls.

7. Mulled wine: I have never tried mulled wine. All I know about mulled wine is that Jamie Oliver (the Naked Chef ) says mulled wine is like “Christmas in a cup”. So it must be good. Who doesn’t love Christmas? Or wine?! Traditionally, mulled wine is a festive drink used around winter or Christmas in Europe and America. The wine is heated with spices and sweetened with sugar, and sometimes fruit may be added. It is drunk warm or hot. Despite never trying it, I have made a winter-resolution to try this alluring beverage, and I encourage you to do the same by stepping outside your comfort-zone to try something new. Or just try something comforting.

8. Get Active, Stay Warm: Getting your gear off in winter is tough

enough and can make exercising in winter hard work. It is easy to get de-motivated and just stay home, however if you want a relaxing work out, how about a swim at the hot pools? Lots of old people say swimming is good for fitness and heck! It’s even a bit fun! If you have sprogs, it can make it a little less relaxing, but they will love you for the outing and will hopefully harass you less when you have your nose in the books. If you don’t have sprogs, I suggest borrowing some. Why on earth would you borrow someone’s children?! Because: a) you will win points with the parents for future favours, b) children under 16 are FREE to get into the local pools, and c) adults in attendance with children only pay around a dollar to swim. It’s a win/win situation.

9. Get your culture on: Put on some gummies, grab a raincoat or brolley

and get out there to enjoy the cultural smorgasbord of Auckland. Check the local paper for gallery exhibitions. Some will cost money, but some are free. New Zealand can be very outside-the-box when it comes to artistic expression – forget paintings! You could be in for a wildly mind-blowing experience! Museums also put on various special exhibitions for limited time periods, so whatever your flavour, there is bound to be a museum with an exhibition that interests you. Or if you’re interested in the actual smorgasbord of Auckland culture, head to the local flea markets or night markets where you can sample an array of flavours at a fraction of the cost.

10. Debate: If you really, truly must hibernate for the winter, stay informed about

apocalyptic events by reading Debate. Or failing that, just read Debate anyway ‘cause reading makes you sexy. 21

10 CUTS THE GOVERNMENT HAS MADE TO MAKE LIFE HARDER FOR STUDENTS by Daniel Haines

Since 2010 there has been over 20 cuts to student support making your life harder #thestruggleisreal

1. It is now a criminal offence for an ex-student to be behind in their Student Loan repayments If students are living overseas for more than six months and knowingly defaulted on their overseas-based repayment obligations, they can be arrested and detained in New Zealand until they have repaid your Student Loan. Obviously, any students who borrow have an obligation to pay back their Student Loan, but more logic and common sense needs to be used to recover payments. Regardless of the ability for students to pay, they are required to make repayments based on their total Student Loan balance, and not their current income; and unlike domestic students, they can't have their employer automatically deduct the repayment from their wages. Treasury advised this law would increase noncompliance, and the New Zealand police have said they do not want

to use their resources in this way – preferring not to be Inland Revenue’s debt collectors. This law is a political gimmick to beat up on students, and a missed opportunity to tackle the real issue of student debt. 2. Students aged over 40 restricted to 120 weeks of Student Allowance, including anything used before they were 40 AND students aged over 65 are ineligible to receive allowances. This insidious change undermines lifelong learning. New Zealand’s universities, wānanga, and polytechnics, are publicly owned and should be accessible by New Zealanders. Using age as a factor to retrospectively restrict allowances is probably challengeable under the Human Rights Act 1993. Many mature students return to study to just complete an extra qualification they need to up-skill and retrain, before going back into the workforce. This change means education is restricted to those with the ability to pay, not the ability to learn.

3. Repayment rate increases from 10 percent-12 percent After students start earning, or are predicted to earn, over $19,084 annually – less than full-time minimum wage – 12 percent of their income is automatically deducted to repay their Student Loan. This makes New Zealand’s Student Loan repayment scheme one of the most aggressive in the world. To put this in perspective, in Australia, students are not required to repay their Student Loan until they earn more than $53,245, and even then, repayments start at four percent and increase in bands until is peaks at eight percent – after earning $99,070 per annum. The $19,084 Student Loan repayment threshold was frozen in 2012 and will continue until 2017. 4. Post-graduate Student Allowance removed Students are now ineligible to receive an allowance if they are engaged in postgraduate study. Arguably, this is when students require the most support, as it’s when their study programme is the most difficult. This is also a bigger problem because although they can borrow the living costs, it’s significantly lower than the allowance. Restricted support for postgraduate study means students enrolled in advanced programmes will be less likely to live and study in New Zealand, a loss economically, culturally, and socially. 5. All exceptions to 200-week limit on Student Allowance removed Full-time students studying for more than four years will no longer have access to a Student Allowance. Almost all conjoint programmes, and longer qualifications like medicine, require a study programme beyond 200 weeks. Additionally, students who require additional support, for example, bridging or foundation courses, can also use up their 200 weeks before they finish their programme. In sever cases, students near the end of their studies and find they are unable to continue to receive support and will be forced to abandon their studies. This has particularly negative effects on equality groups who often need more time to understand their passions, and complete their qualifications. 6. Parental income limit frozen. No longer adjusts with inflation making fewer students eligible for Student Allowance. Up the age of 24, the ability for students to receive a Student Allowance is means-tested against their parents combined income. Targeted support is often arbitrary and unfair, even the architect of the scheme, Lockwood Smith, said ‘I was never happy with it… it was so transparently unfair.’ Since 2012, if a student lives at home and the combined parental income is

greater than $84,164, or if the student is living out of home and their parents combined income is $91,144, that student can’t get a Student Allowance. By freezing the income limit, as parental income increases, more students will be locked out of Student Allowances. 7. Introduction of a 7-EFTS lifetime limit on borrowing for tuition fees. The group most vocal about this change has been medical students. As medical students can’t specialize after seven years of study, and for most students who transfer into medicine from health, can’t even finish their degree before reaching the seven year cap. This directly contributes to the brain drain and sends our brightest young things overseas. It also severely restricts the ability for many students to choose postgraduate study. 8. Access to the Student Loan scheme is removed for students who didn’t pass half of their papers in the previous two years. Of course students should pass their studies; but sometimes there are circumstances that need to be considered when assessing poor performance. After engaging in study, many students discover the programme isn’t for them, they might suffer a personal tragedy, or there could be other extenuating circumstances that explain poor grades. If students are just cut-off, they are saddled with a huge debt and nothing to show for it. 9. Student Loan establishment and administration fee. In 2011 the government increased the Student Loan establishment fee from $50 to $60 – this is the upfront cost required to open an account with Studylink. Also, the Government introduced an annual $40 administration fee for students who still owe Student Loan debt. This is has been criticized as ‘interest by stealth,’ since Student Loans have been interestfree since 2006. Together the establishment and administration fee generated $32.8 million dollars in revenue for 2013/14. 10. Residency requirements for Student Allowance and Student Loan A change in 2013 increased the time a student has to wait before accessing Student Loan and Allowance – from two, to three years. This requires immigrants (including Australians, and members of the Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau Islands) to have resided in New Zealand under the Immigration Act 2009 for three years. The problem with this however, is that these New Zealanders don’t enjoy the same rights and privileges as other New Zealanders.

1 0 wa y s t o l e a r n a n ew l a n g u a g e f a s t !

by Julie Cleaver I’ve never been the best at learning foreign languages. I always believed that I was a) too old to become fluent and b) not naturally gifted at languages, making me unable to learn anything; and then I met Frank. Frank used to have the same views as me. At school, he flunked French. At university, he literally got an F in Spanish. However now, despite it all, he’s fluent in Spanish after only 12 months of study. This amazed me. How could someone go from being so bad at learning languages to becoming fluent in just a year? The way he did this was simple; he changed the way he learnt. Frank said he knew he was never stupid, but people had just been teaching him the wrong way. Frank introduced me to Tim Ferriss, the writer of ‘The Four Hour Work Week’ and an all-round epic dude. Tim knows five languages and has shared his secrets in his book and online. Motivated by the fact that I may actually be able to learn a new language, I looked up Tim’s tips and began studying! Although I am not fluent yet, like at all, I have already gained good results in just a few weeks. So I’ve compiled the top ten pieces of advice I acquired from Tim, Frank and my own observations, in the hope of passing on the inspiration I obtained and sparking some self-belief in you!

1. Learn the important words first In every language there are a few words that get repeated again and again. Apparently in the English language just 300 words make up 65 percent of all written material! So if you learn 14 new words every day, in three weeks you’ll know 300 words. That’s already enough to go out and have a conversation or even read a magazine (with a dictionary by your side for the other 35 percent of words). That’s step number one; learn the most important words first as that gives you a good basic understanding of the language. 2. Learn like words Did you know, right now, at this very moment, you already know a ton of vocabulary in heaps of different languages? I kid you not. This is because the amount of foreign words that cross over with English is insane. For example, all the romantic languages, like Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese, have borrowed heaps of English words. Even Japanese shares a lot of vocab with English. So there are literally thousands of words you would already recognise such as: absoluto (absolute), abstracto (abstract) and abrupto (abrupt) in Spanish and in Japanese nekku

(neck), bouya (boy) and namae (name). Familiarize yourself with the pronunciation of these similar words and your vocabulary will increase by the thousands! 3. Immerse yourself without travelling You don’t need to travel to interact with your new language daily. Seriously, I’ve seen people in Cambodia who barely left their hotel room, ate in restaurants and complained at the lack of English speakers and signage. Dude, you’re in Cambodia, why should the locals have to speak English? This brings me to my point: travelling will not automatically make you fluent. Living in a new country for a year will not help you in the slightest unless you go out and get amongst it. It’s all about how much you disperse yourself in a language and that can be done in the comfort of your own home. By listening to radio stations, Youtube channels, songs and podcasts in a different language, you will be able to hear that language spoken daily and get immersed in it. This is also excellent for learning pronunciation and slang!

4. Use free resources There are apps aplenty these days, and the best ones for learning new languages are free! DuoLingo is just one of the many awesome applications out there that will help you speak like a pro in no time! Of course there are also many resources available to you online that are free and very helpful. So to get ahead, utilize the free, global web of knowledge that is out there! 5. Forget kids, adults are better at learning languages There’s a common misconception that children are better at learning languages than adults. Although kids soak up their environment naturally and learn languages without even realizing what they are doing, studies show that adults, when taught in the correct way, actually pick up new languages better than children. So forget kids, realise that you can actually learn a language at any age and get onto it! 6. Make international friends Before I went to Korea, I learnt a whole bunch of vocab on an app. When I was there and actually started speaking, I was laughed at. My friends told me that I was speaking old Korean, the equivalent to Shakespearian English. The internet and apps are great resources, but never try to learn a language without input from native speakers. This is because languages are dynamic and culturally specific. So make some friends! It’s ideal to befriend a foreign person who wants to learn English so you can teach each other. There are a bunch of ways to find foreign friends here in Auckland. I’d recommend going to the international office, clubs (as in uni clubs, but night clubs would work as well if you’re up to it), couch surfing websites and just taking to people on the street! Having someone to speak a new language to can make all the difference. Without thou practice and only thy grammar, your conversational skills will be wherefore art thou lost. 7. Feel free to make mistakes The above point brings me to my next tip; embrace mistakes! Sure people will laugh at you for speaking like an egg, but just laugh along with them and learn from it. So as soon as you know a couple of sentences, don’t be afraid to speak to people, screw it up, then correct yourself, as this is the best way to get fluent fast! If you do this you will learn so much more than someone who never speaks outside their comfort zone. Polygots (people who know over five different languages) recommend making at least 100 mistakes a day, because that way you know you will be using the language a lot. 8. Plan a trip Although you do not need to travel to learn a new language, planning to go to a country where your desired language is spoken will boost your motivation by

a million percent. I’m pretty sure that’s why schools bribe you with overseas trips like ‘if you take French for five years, we’ll take you to New Caledonia, at an extremely overpriced expense!’ That bribe wasn’t enough for me at the time, but backpacking around Central and South America for a year definitely gives me the motivation to learn Spanish. Brazilian beaches here I come!

By listening to radio stations, Youtube channels, songs and podcasts in a different language, you will be able to hear that language spoken daily and get immersed in it.

9. Get the accent down Frank said he listened to Spanish rap before he went to Mexico. Although his vocab was really limited, his accent was so on point people thought he was a native Spanish speaker. Focus on the pronunciation of your new language to really fit in and sound legit. Study people when they speak; do they use their hands? Roll their r’s? Curl their upper lip? Have a lisp? Once you get the accent down and learn to kick it like a native, you’ll find it much easier to speak and be understood. 10. Make goals and stick to ‘em! Learning a new language takes time. It’s challenging and requires a lot of study and effort. If you are not willing to put in work daily, you will get nowhere. Tim recommends utilizing the old SMART goals theory, which stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. My main goal is to be able to speak Spanish conversationally by the end of 2016. Currently, my smaller goal is to learn 14 new Spanish words a day so that in three weeks I will have increased my vocab by 300 words! There are also online tests you can complete which can make the goals more specific. For example, “I want to speak Spanish at a B1 level by the end of December, 2015”. Check out the European Common Framework online if you are interested in this. It’s definitely not easy to learn a new language, especially with uni work and the omnipresent distraction that is Facebook. I’ve set goals and failed to achieve them. I’ve tried again and then failed again; but that’s okay, because I’ll keep going until I crack it. Frank and Tim have taught me that learning a new language is actually achievable, so no matter how many times I cave into laziness, with persistence and desire, I know I’ll get there in the end. ¡Adiós amigos!

Tenception Perceptions interviewed by Laurien Barks We’re all about ten this week, so I decided to treat my article like I treat melancholic love films, photos of sunsets, and all things salted caramel: I went overboard. I popped into a local primary school, got a hold of 10 ten-year-olds (with plenty of adult permission, and zero candy bribes), and had a chat to them about ten different topics that tend to be popular amongst the pages of Debate mag in any given issue. I thought it may provide a (much) younger perspective into the way we see the world as adults, provide us with some quirky solutions, giggles, and if we were lucky, some “aha” moments that only childhood perception can provide. These fantastic younguns didn’t disappoint. Turns out you can learn a lot when you lay out some colouring pencils, have a casual sit down, and adjust your brain so you’re able to focus on at least four too-excited-to-wait-until-one-kidis-done-talking-to-tell-you-this conversationalists at once.

FINANCES: Ashton What’s the best way to make money?

To save and um...work, I think. And not spend it on things you want, more the things you need.

Awesome, man! Don’t look so nervous, there aren’t any wrong answers. Can you give me some examples of what things you want look like, and what things you need look like?

Well, the things you need are things that you need daily. So like, you need a bed to sleep, and um, and food to eat, and water to drink. And the wants are things you just want because they look cool or they do something cool. Maybe you have to like spend money on things that...that like...you buy a house, you can buy a bed, a fridge. And...yeah!

Do you think you can be happy without much money? Yeah!

Good! Why do you think that?

Because I don’t need money because I’m with my family, so they give me all the warmth I need. And love. And love is really all I need.

RACE: Ency

ENVIRONMENT: Chanel

Did you know that in some places, people with dark skin commit the same crime as a person with white skin, but they get punished more harshly for it?

Can you tell me what’s going on with the environment right now?

*frowns* No.

What are you thinking right now?

That’s not fair for the dark skinned people! Because, um...the dark skinned people don’t have the same opportunities as the white skinned people.

Why is that unfair?

Because the dark skinned people don’t have anything wrong, but the police is still treating them meanly.

What would you say to me if I said “Yeah, but it’s okay because they have darker skin.” Uh...that’s really mean. I think you should think that they’re just as good as white skinned people.

Um, the environment at school needs some working on, but it’s pretty good.

I’m glad to hear that it’s at least pretty good. What about the environment of the world, the climate and things...do you know much about what’s going on with that? Mmmm, no. No but I’ve heard that some animals are facing extinction.

What do you think about that?

It’s really sad, and I’m just really sad about it.

It is, isn’t it? Unfortunately a lot of that comes down to how humans are treating the earth. If you were in charge of stopping animals from becoming extinct, what would your solutions be do you think?

I would just, um, maybe just help people to pick up rubbish, clean the rivers and stuff. I would say to people “Just try your best to pick up all the rubbish around you.”

HEALTH: Liveleen

SOCIAL MEDIA: Orla

What does it mean if your body is healthy?

Do you know much about Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter?

Awesome! And what do people have to do to have a healthy body?

Some people think that social media is changing the way people see reality. Kind of like it makes them more concerned with what’s on their accounts than what’s happening in real life. What kind of thoughts are in your head when you hear me say that?

It means that you’re going to live a healthy and really good life, and can be able to live longer than people who eat junk food all day.

They have to have a low level of sugar, salt, and fat. And oil. Five plus a day of fruit and vegetables, and bread and things - six plus a day. And dairy products too.

And what does it mean if your mind is healthy?

It means you have energy in your body from food. You have to eat less sugar and salt and more of the foods that have energy but not too much energy.

Sometimes people’s minds can get pretty sad when they’re unhealthy, what do you think makes a mind unwell like that?

I have an Instagram that I link to people, to my friends. People use it just for like sharing photos, things they’re doing in life, important milestones.

It’s actually not good for the world, because if you don’t focus on what’s happening around you, something could happen that you don’t want to happen when you’re focused on something virtually instead of real life.

Good answer...now, do you have a Facebook account? No.

Um like...getting angry for no reason? Like putting stress in your mind. Or getting sad about things.

Alright, I’m happy to hear that, I’m pretty sure it’s not allowed.

So what kind of things do people get angry about that are for no reason?

Probably for the best, aye. But if you did have a Facebook account, how would you use it? What kinds of things would you post?

Like if your brother steals a pencil, or just comes into your room. It shouldn’t make you too angry.

No, you have to be 16 or something now.

Keeping in touch with friends, and showing holiday pictures, and important things. Just casual.

That’d be annoying, but yeah, maybe not something to get too angry about, aye. Well, what are some things that you think people have to do to keep their mind healthy? Ummm, try to stay calm and not get too angry. To not think about that topic too much, think of something happy and better.

What do you think about that’s happy and better?

About what I have, and the things that I’ll get in life probably.

BEAUTY: Daniel Who’s the most beautiful person you know? (After many resounding “Ooooooohs” from everyone else in the room),

LOVE: Ava Do you think you’ll get married? Mmmm...yeah?

Uhhhhhhhhhhh...myself! I am the most beautiful person I know.

Yeah? And what will your partner be like?

Now that’s a pretty cool answer, man! If I was blind and asked what you looked like, what would you tell me?

That sounds like the dream partner! What would make them nice?

I look like a guy with curly hair. I have blue eyes. I have freckles. Yeah, don’t know.

What makes you the most beautiful person you know? Because I’m myself, and not anyone else.

That’s awesome. So what if you had a clone, and that clone came up to you and said “Daniel, I’m not feeling too great today, I’m not feeling beautiful.” What would you say to him? I would tell him, “Just be yourself and don’t let other people let you down.”

Nice.

When they are kind to you, and they help you - like uh...if you’re stuck they can help you, or if you’re having trouble doing something. Smart and funny and kind.

I know you’re still no where near this yet, but from what you’ve seen in maybe your parents or your aunties and uncles, or in films, what do you think falling in love feels like? It makes you feel happy - it looks happy too. But I don’t know. It just is.

Do you think it’s okay for boys to marry boys and girls to marry girls? Yeah, because you can like whoever you want to like.

Why do you think some people don’t think the same way you do when it come to gay marriage?

I guess because they’re the same gender, so it seems weird to some people. But it shouldn’t be because they can like whoever they want to like. They’re doing their own thing.

TECHNOLOGY: Jenny What kind of technology do you have at home?

A desktop computer, my mum and dad have a phone each, and we have a tablet and an ipad.

You know, when I was your age, computers were no where near as fancy as they are today, and we didn’t have things like iphones or ipads. What do you think future technology is going to look like? Ummm, maybe more high tech than our normal phones. Like things you can do. And other technologies, maybe the shapes will be really different and stuff. I’ve seen this video that someone wanted to do an iphone 7, like if you wanted to swipe the thing out, you go on safari, and it’s sort of in the air and stuff.

Whoa, really? That’s crazy! See we have stuff like that, and the technology we have now, and we really have a world full of it. Do you think there’s a downside to a life that’s so full of technology? Um well, people sometimes get really addicted to texting and stuff instead of actually communicating to other people. And some people are always looking down at screens and stuff.

Is that harmful to humans, do you think?

Yeah, especially to eyesight and stuff. Everyone’s head will be down in the future. No one will be looking up.

BEING A GROWNUP: Gavin

POLITICS: Angelina

What do you think you’ll be doing in 40 years? When you’re 50!

So right now in New Zealand, a lot of people can’t afford a house to live in. What do you think of that?

Probably be doing, uh, like selling houses. And other stuff I like at that time.

Yeah probably. One or two kids.

I think that they should lower the level of the houses so people can afford it as well. I think making it so expensive is because they are just greedy. Who is “they?” The people who are selling the houses for a lot of money.

What are three life lessons that you’re going to teach them?

Do you have any solutions for the super expensive houses?

Do you think you’ll have kids?

1) Not to lie, because sometimes when you lie the other person can’t tell that you’re lying and something bad might happen. 2) Not to litter, because you can harm a lot of animals and destroy their habitats. 3) To work hard, because you can get a good job when you grow up and have a happy life.

Those are some good lessons. What’s your biggest fear about being an adult?

Probably stuff I don’t know right now, that I’m not aware of? Around how much a house costs, or getting a business and stuff.

That can be scary, I think you’ll be okay once you have the ‘know-how’ though. What are you most excited about when you think about being an adult? Uh, you can do almost whatever you want. I would probably do the stuff that I can’t do right now, like um... drinking coffee and stuff.

Yeah. My solution would be to lower the house funds. And if people have a lot of junk in their house, they should sell it so they have more money. If they have a job, they could work more hours, and um...they could go around selling their stuff.

Well that’s definitely something to think about! Funny you mentioned jobs, because it’s also really difficult for some people to find jobs right now. What do you think of that dilemma?

I think that everybody should have a trial first, and if they do well in the job. But if some people, who are managers, just see the person but they don’t give them a job. But I think they should give them the job and see how they go for a while.

Oh I see, so kind of skip the interview, and see if they can prove themselves? Yeah!

Cool! Any advice for people trying to find a job?

Um, my advice for them is: if you don’t get the job, just keep on trying, and if you do get the job, try your hardest.

by Nicole Hunt

Exam season is upon us. It’s that time of the year where our logical thought patterns become overruled by daydreams of tropical island escapes. We lock ourselves in our rooms reading ten Wikipedia articles a day, and binge eat on a week’s worth of junk food while our minds drift into the abyss of what we’d rather be doing. At this stage in the game, getting water boarded seems slightly more enjoyable. Since our minds are currently already adept to the hypothetical, I pose you this question: What would you do if you had ten days to live? Plot holes aside, in this scenario you are aware of your impending doom, your body can operate at full capacity, and doctors insist there is no cure. I asked a few of my friends this question as “research”. Their answers ranged from “contact all my friends and try to give them my pets” to “do all the drugs”. Surprisingly, a number of my case studies would continue on with their normal schedules. They have either perfected the art of living, or already began doing all the drugs. I tried not to contemplate too much on my answer, as I realized if you were given this news so suddenly, sanity would be void. Inconveniently, my natural reaction to anything emotionally chaotic is to cry. I wish I could instead transform into a rational problem solver, but I’ve learned to accept this reflex of mine. Upon hearing the prophecy of my death, I would be wearing an ugly crying face all day, hopefully not every day. I don’t have a bucket list written down, although I do have an evolving mental list of vague and elaborate dreams. It’s a good idea to write these things down, as it helps to see tangible goals. My list consists of travelling, with a dash of good deeds. If I didn’t already have the next few days off, I would call my boss and tell her I’m not coming in. Fortunately, I have the whole week off. The whole month off as well. I’m unemployed.

My first stop on the rollercoaster would be my hometown, Kawerau, in the Bay of Plenty. But, before I left this little, big city I would make a few stops. I would tell the guy I’m dating that he’s a fool for treating me so nonchalant. I would tell my flatmate that I know she borrows my clothes and puts them back in my wardrobe without telling me. I would guilt trip my other flatmate into making red velvet cupcakes. Finally, I would tell a handful of friends I loved them. Spending time with your family and/or friends is a no brainer here, and it’s not hard to figure out who matters the most. They’re the ones who raised you, the ones who are there to support the aftermath of your bad decisions, and they have the couch you can sleep on for a while if you graduate and discover no one in your field is hiring. Those are the keepers. For the last year or so, I’ve been itching to spend my savings on a ridiculously expensive camera and become a full-time photographer. I guess it would be now or never. It’s strange how death would be the incentive for finally pursuing a dream. Unreasonably pricey camera in tow, I would take out a hefty loan and fly my family out to my mother’s home country, Philippines. I would document the remainder of my days, which would be filled with food, fiestas, and night swims in paradise. There are infinite possibilities in a day, yet we live trapped in loops repeating the same few days over and over again. The common theory seems to be if we get through today, we can work on our dreams tomorrow. Life is always harder than we imagine, and I don’t have the solution on how to make it easier. But, I urge you to chase whatever comes as natural to you as breathing does, and don’t wait too long to act. This includes the people, places and passions you want to pursue. Figure out how you would spend your last days. Your answer is in there.

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Older generations have events and spectacles like the moon landing or Princess Diana's death to bring them together: we have Hogwarts, Dumbledore and Voldemort. Reluctantly, I began reading. I prepared myself to hate it, and started with that thought firmly in mind. It took me a week to make it through the first book; the first few chapters did little to draw me in, while the middle dragged, being far too exposition-y for what I was used to. Yet by the next weekend, I spent a few hours reading the final climatic chapters, huddling up in my bed despite it being the middle of the day, waiting, wondering, excited to see how it would end. Despite knowing who Quirrell really was from the movies, I still reached that chapter stunned by the revelation, enthralled and drawn in by J.K. Rowling’s masterful storytelling.

TEN YEARS WITH HARRY by Ethan Sills

A decade of being a Potterhead by Ethan Sills It was impossible to ignore Harry Potter growing up. With Philosophers Stone coming out when I was two, and the first movie when I was seven, the series was always around. Being the sensation that it was, it was the sort of book that teachers would read in class in attempts to engage us, and most TV shows aimed at kids would bring it up at some point. For a long time, I resisted; It just didn’t seem like the sort of thing I’d be interested in. Looking back, I don’t know why I disliked it; it was just an irrational, young child thing, I suppose, but I just remember not being a fan at all. I watched the first two movies on video and didn’t care for them, and in Year 5, I sped through the activities when we had a Harry Potter week to avoid dealing with it any longer. It was not until my final year of primary school that the world of Harry and Hogwarts finally entered my world properly. I always was an active reader, just not of anything Potter related, and regularly re-read the same books over and over again from my school library. It was around April/May 2005 when my librarian, the lovely Mrs Caldwell, got sick of me requesting the same books constantly, since most of them were the only copy the school had. She asked if I had ever read Harry Potter, and when I said no, she forced me to check it out.

I read Chamber in a week, before knocking off Prisoner in two days. Goblet and Phoenix took longer, but within two months, I had rewatched all three movies that were out (and even then was disappointed in how the books were adapted), and when Half Blood Prince came out on 17th July, my poor mother had to buy three copies of the book so me and my siblings could read it without waiting for the other. In less than two months, I had become a Potter-holic. Ten years later, I have never looked back. I think there is something quite glorious about having this piece of pop culture that so many people reading this magazine have grown up with. It may seem like a corny and overused hyperbole to make, but there is a definite magic to these books that I have rarely experienced elsewhere. Sure, I read plenty of multi-part kids series after this one, ones that I became addicted to and have re-read with as much enthusiasm, but experiencing Harry’s journey has been the one that has stayed with me the most. I think what makes it so great is that millions and millions of people around the world have read this. Older generations have events and spectacles like the moon landing or Princess Diana’s death to bring them together: we have Hogwarts, Dumbledore and Voldemort. I can go through life knowing that I can turn to someone my age and, likely, spout off a few spells and names of professors, and know there is some common ground between us no matter what may be dividing us. There isn’t much point to this article: no moral, purpose or goal. I just want to put my love for these books out into the world. Having just been to the Readers and Writers Festival and heard so many people talk about their love of books, you could say that this is a call for you all to find that one book that mesmerises and inspires you, but that’s not what I wanted to do here. Hedwig’s death still haunts me, angry Dumbledore in the movies still annoys me, and every time I pick up these books, I still get excited about the journey ahead. It’s as simple as that.

TEN by Ali Thair

W H Y W E L OV E R O U N D N U M B E R S 10 E VA by Amelia Petrovich | Illustration by Kerryn Smith My birthday is July 10th. I’m not telling you this because I’m expecting presents in a month or so (though any donations would be gratefully accepted), I’m telling you because this clearly makes be an expert in everything ten-related. Every year I write, say, and submit the number ten along with my details umpteen times. I’ve grown used to the way that the number ten looks and the way that it feels in my mouth when I say it. The number ten has even come to possess definitive qualities for me; it feels neat and orderly to think about, like a completed assignment or a perfectly drawn circle.

My mother likes the number ten possibly even more than I do, being lucky and well-rounded enough to have her birthday on October 10th (the tenth day of the tenth month, but a little less than ten months away from my own birthday… in fact, the gap is exactly nine months… which actually makes for some fairly disturbing math if you think about it long enough). Constant repetition and familiarity with the number ten has her now holding it in high regard, just like myself. It sounds a bit strange to admit to really, really liking a specific number, but actually, neither of us is alone in this at all.

There was a study done in 2012 and published in 2013 (by real, actual science-y people, I’m not making this up) into the way people chose to pay for the downloadable puzzle video game ‘World of Goo’. Now, ‘World of Goo’ was just your run-of-the-mill time wasting game but in 2012 to celebrate its anniversary, the people who distributed the game decided to get a bit experimental. People were able to download the game and pay for it electronically for whatever price they liked. That sounds like total anarchy, right? Apparently not. What the study ended up showing was that, even when given a choice, 57 percent of those who purchased ‘World of Goo’ paid in round amounts ending with a zero (like $10.00) and an additional 4 percent chose round, half-dollar amounts. Because all the payments made were electronic, those conducting the study reckoned this had nothing at all to do with a widespread dislike of small change, and just about everything to do with people just really, really loving round numbers.

I feel like a lot of us are in agreement that mental shor tcuts are pretty cool when it comes to numbers; however there are some people out t here who rec kon not all shor tcuts are equal. According to similarly science-y smart people (the folk over at ScienceBlogs.com specifically), our lust for sexy round numbers like ten has a lot to do with the way that we learned to count as children. Much of the Western world works with the decimal system and deals in lots of ten (think about percentages for uni grades, or how ten hundred meters make one kilometer) because when we’re young we count on our eight fingers and two thumbs to avoid confusion (and actually, as an adult I still tend to count on my fingers and thumbs to avoid confusion). Ten is a number that our brains really, really like to deal with because it is simple and pretty darn satisfying. The number ten and numbers that are divisible by ten are frequently used to mark milestones (like Debate Magazine’s tenth issue for 2015) or plot goals (like writing an article at least 1,000 words in length) because our minds are so ready to latch onto them. Adam Alter, a professor of marketing and psychology at New York University, says that we pretty much like round numbers because they’re basic as hell.

“We like things that are simple, that are easy to process, that are easy to understand… they’re very powerful, very visible and they’re easy to recall and remember,” he says. So I suppose, in a way, number ten lovers like myself are being really lazy and taking the easy way out in some regards. But lets face it, numbers aren’t really the most exciting aspect of life, so if there is a mental shortcut when it comes to thinking about them, why not hit that up, right? I feel like a lot of us are in agreement that mental shortcuts are pretty cool when it comes to numbers; however there are some people out there who reckon not all shortcuts are equal. If our love for round numbers stems from the way that we learned to count as children, it stands to reason that people who learned to count in different ways prefer to live their lives by different numbers. Traditionally, many groups in the Middle East and Asia prefer the ‘base12’ numbering system, which has its origins in counting by finger joints rather than individual fingers. Take a look at your hand right now and place your thumb on the joint closest to your palm on your first finger. That right there is “one”. If you move up and touch the next joint you’ll find “two” followed by “three” on the last joint. If you continue doing that for both hands, you’ll end up counting twelve joints in total. There is a bit of crossover you can spot for both basetwelve and the decimal system. We still talk about having “a dozen eggs”, there are 60 minutes in an hour and we’ve got twelve months in a calendar year. Twelve is no super seductive whole number, but it’s a handy thing to have around. In actual fact, some people think base-twelve numbering is so cool that we should all switch to it permanently. These people are officially called ‘dozenalists’ and there are a fair few more of them than you might think, enough to make up entire societies in places like Britain and The U.S.A. The Dozenal Society of Great Britain (or DSGB to their nearest and dearest) say that working in lots of ten is “not the best choice for humans”, explaining that twelve as a number has greater “factorability” than ten and therefore is a whole lot easier. These guys hold conferences and generate forum discussion worldwide in the hope that one day, we as a society will abandon the number ten and adopt twelve as our pet favourite. Say what you like though, twelve may be “factorable” and full of mathematical goodness, but for me (and evidently a lot of other people as well), the number ten is where it’s at. Some might give it a 9.563/9.579, but I think most of us would be inclined to simply say “ten out of ten”.

TEN THINGS YOU WILL ASK YOURSELF BEFORE YOUR QUARTER LIFE CRISIS by Fiona Connor My quirky American History teacher used to say “aaaaalllrighty class, let’s get down to-et”. In this case, as readers of this article, you are the class. We, as students of AUT, are here at university to learn; to broaden our knowledge on subjects we feel passionate or inquisitive about, and hopefully gain skills that will allow us to flourish in a career path related to that of which we are studying. But there are some areas we won’t cover in our lectures; about relationships, personal acceptance and, in general, life. In the majority of cases you are either fresh out of high school or you have taking a break away from education, and are now ready to get back into study life. If so, this one’s for you.

are asking them now or whether they will come up in your not so distant future, I hope to aid you so that these tough questions, are a little less questionable.

As we so bittersweetly leave the days of high school in our past, life begins to take a new shape that encourages us to think for ourselves, be responsible for our actions, and make mistakes only to grow and learn from them. I’ve compiled a list of ten questions one is bound to ask themselves, as they approach the age of 25. I speak from opinion, experience and research. Class, I hope you are sitting up and taking note, because whether you have asked these questions before, whether you

Why aren’t I good enough? Undoubtedly, over the years before we hit the quarter of a century mark, this will come up at least once. And what I have learned is – you are good enough. We may never understand why someone didn’t text us back, answer our 2:00am phone call, end something we thought was sweet, or accept our proclamation of love via a friend request but chances are, it wasn’t even us.

Where did the time go? Carpe Diem. For those who did not have the divine privilege of studying Dead Poet’s Society and learning that precious phrase, Carpe Diem means to ‘seize the day.’ Though it’s a little easier said than done. Life goes on around us, even if we choose not to acknowledge it. Embracing time is to change from an unconscious state of mind to an actively engaged conscious mindset.

Do they like me? “When a guy wants to be with you he will make it happen” – wise words from chick flick, He’s Just Not That Into You, and I personally take this as gospel. If you’re sending three texts before they send one, is that not a giveaway? Sometimes we don’t want to read the signs for what they really are, however I am a firm believer of “if it’s meant to be, it will happen.” Should I be doing this right now? Ha. I love this. Nine times out of ten: no. If you have to ask the question “should I be doing this right now,” then it is most likely you are doing something you are not meant to be doing. It is up to you and your own judgement as to whether or not the risk is worth it, contextual to your situation. The bigger the risk, the sweeter the view should be. If your safety is coming into play, don’t be a dumbass. What do they say about me? Who the fuck cares? Once you become settled, confident and a believer of yourself, it only takes hearing nasty things being said about you to make you realize that those people are the ones you want to avoid anyway. People who talk about others in a highly negative way are only reflecting their internal thoughts of themselves, or expressing their jealously. Don’t buy into drama because that’s all it is, and the only place that belongs is on the TV screen. What was I thinking? Learn from your mistakes. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” This is truth. Everyone messes up. Everyone. Whether it’s drinking one to many beveys at your local and rushing off to see a crush stone-cold pissed, or falling in love with Mr. Flawless who you now see for only faults.

All of us mess up in a mound of different ways that have a variety of impact to our lives, but it is reflecting, growing and changing how we come to develop as the person we aspire to be. Being careful and taking caution with decision making will aid in avoiding any later question of intent. Why is she with him? Be it ‘she with him’ or ‘he with her,’ this is one that may strike when you least expect it. And that will suck the most. We see hot guy, ugly girl, and hear of the female bestie in love with local gangster. Respecting your friend’s choice is a sure way to avoid any sticky situations here. Am I on the right career path? Living in New Zealand, between the expectations to go to university set by parents, the success of others around us, and a pressure to know what to do for the rest of our lives can amount to severe uncertainty and worry for young people. Some people know what they want to do with their lives, some people need to learn from experience and have time to figure it out, and either are awesome and as respectable as each other. Should I have stayed with them? I believe if a relationship has ended, it has ended for a reason, otherwise it wouldn’t have ended. Second thoughts about the end of a relationship are so natural, and if the relationship meant anything to either person, there will always be some emotions that you can’t necessarily control. Don’t let that get the better of you. But hey, if you really are second guessing circumstances, pick up the phone. Does this make me look fat? Good. Wear it. 37

1 0 M O U S TAC H E C O O K I E S Reviewed by Laurien Barks, Ramina Rai, Julie Cleaver, Amelia Petrovich, and Dion Eade | Images by Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar

OREO MARSHMALLOW

CINNAMON

NUTELLA

This cookie represents the same feeling I have towards Ryan Gosling – I want it all over me and then eventually fall asleep wrapped in its heated embrace. Is that weird? A delicious mix of chewy baked Oreo alongside the soft pillowy marshmallow, all snuggled inside the luscious bosom of the cookie. -Ramina

Chowing down on this cookie is the ideal way to do the cinnamon challenge, cos you don’t throw up afterwards and feel like you’ve made a terrible life choice. The spices are in yo face, but not in an aggressive way, especially as there’s sugar dusted on the top. The cinnamon flavour makes me feel like Christmas is coming, which really, is what you want in a cookie. -Ramina

As Nutella was such a massive part of my childhood, I had high hopes for this cookie, maybe a little too high... The cookie, which was plain with a gooey Nutella center, was so overly sugary that even I, a self-proclaimed sweet tooth, found it sickening. It was definitely delicious, but next time, I’ll choose a different flavor. -Julie

WHITE CHOCOLATE AND MACADAMIA I’ve never seen the appeal in the white chocolate and macadamia equation, and I still don’t. I love Moustache and was hoping that they could cure my macaapathy, but no. The whole concept is still average to me. That being said, the cookie part was as warm, sweet, and fluffy as ever, so if you’re a fan of this combo anyway, and are in need of a cookie, I’m sure it would be just peachy!

-Amelia

PEANUT BUTTER For a gal who’s made of 60 percent water, and 40 percent Reese’s peanut butter cups, this cookie was destined to be a part of my life before my lips even grazed it. With a chewy chocolate exterior, and nothing but peanut butter and melty chocolate in its sweet, sweet squishy centre…it’s a Reese cup on steroids. All I want to do is curl up in the gooey goodness and live out the winter in its warm embrace.

-Laurien

SNICKERS

BLACK FOREST

CHOCOLATE CHUNK

BACON

CAKE

Ain’t nothin’ to snicker about here - pretty sure this cookie would mess you up if you dared. Packing a mean punch with fists of nougat and caramel, this is a cookie to be taken seriously. For the lesser sweet tooths out there, the plain base and chocolate bar chunks provide a less rich Moustache treat in comparison to the rest of their selection. But, you know, it’s still a cookie so… it’s not for the faint of sweet hearts. -Laurien

If the name of this cookie doesn’t give away the level of mysterious joy that lies within, the texture, taste, and experience will. I liken this cookie to that of a nature hike; a beautifully simple foliage that is the sweet and tender chocolate cookie base. The chewy, berry lolly-like parcels throughout surprise you around corners, like untouched waterfalls – a wander through the black forest isn’t as scary as it sounds. -Laurien

Ah, the ol’ classic… You can’t go wrong with this bad boy. The chunks of Whitaker’s dark chocolate are strong and rich, which is potentially why this cookie was so attractive to me. This is the ultimate treat when served with a glass of milk on the side. It’s a yes from me. -Ramina

Mmmm bacon. Mmmm cookie. Both are pretty darn delicious, so hey, why not combine the two and have double the goodness with half the effort? I gulped this cookie down along with the angry tears I had shed at the death of my cookie treat. It was sweet. It was salty. It was bacon. It was gone. Moustache have done me yet another solid by making yet another delish cookie. Get one! -Dion

Alright, so I gave the Chocolate Chunk cookie a great review, does that mean I should then go and eat a Chocolate Chunk cookie CAKE? Apparently so. When unveiled from its box, I gasped, much like a mother would as their baby is unleashed from the womb. It was beautiful. It’s not a cake I would recommend for any with potential health issues, but to all people with clear arteries, I say, indulge in this while you have health on your side. -Ramina

HALLERTAU BREWBAR AND RESTAURANT 1171 Coatesville-Riverhead Highway, Auckland

reviewed by Molly Dagger

Hallertau Brewbar and Restaurant lies within the idyllic countryside of Riverhead in West Auckland. It’s best known for its distinctive, unpasteurized and unfiltered craft beers. Hallertau has a very rustic feel to it, with its wooden menus and its large, old-fashioned taps. The fact that you are sitting in the same room as the towering steel vats add to the whole beer indulging experience. Our visit began by going on a Brewery Tour, where we were shown the whole process of craft beer making. We tasted the barley kernel and were shown how it is turned from a strange little crispy seed into the beer we were soon to taste. Seeing how much science is involved was rather amazing! The grand tour finished with what I had been most anticipating – the beer tasting. In honour of Debate’s tenth issue, I felt like it was only right for my mother and I to taste ten beverages together. Now, I’m usually not a beer person at all, yet I was pleasantly surprised with Hallertau’s array of craft beer. My beverages were served majestically in a grand wooden stand, accompanied by a small card with a blurb about each beer. I tasted Hallertau’s original four beers. Unlike various commercial beers, which I’m sure you are familiar with, these four beers reflected the natural and honest way they were produced.

They were significantly more aromatic and flavoursome than any other beer I have ever come across. My personal favourite was their number two beer, Statesman Pale Ale. A sensation of floral goodness hit my nose as I swirled my glass, followed by bursts of tangy citrus, which embraced my taste buds as I took a sip. Tastes of soothingly sweet honey were also in the mix. My fifth beverage was their Granny Smith Apple Cider, which was nothing like the common alcoholic lolly water I’m used to – it was much more refreshing and dignified. The menu looked absolutely delicious, but as we were focusing our taste buds on the array of beers laid out in front of us, we went with a couple of finger food dishes. The baby sourdough cob with smoked aioli, salmon and onion jam was delightful. Although, I did run out of onion jam for my bread, which was quite saddening. Our fat chips with mustard mayo hit the spot and were a perfect accompaniment to our drinks. Food and drink prices varied, but you do get a good bang for your buck. The Brewery Tour and tasting was an affordable $25 per person – perfect for a student. Just 20 minutes west of the city centre, Hallertau Brewbar and Restaurant is absolutely the place to visit next time you are looking to adventure beyond the city limits with your posse. 39

10. Gone Girl (2014)

BEST 10 FILMS OF THE PAST 20 YEARS

(NOT INCLUDING BEST PICTURE WINNERS) First thing’s first. You will not agree with this list. Secondly, this list will not include any films that won the Best Picture Academy Award - they have already had their time in the sun. Without future ado! by Connor Leathley

A David Fincher classic. This film is another study of character, but this time focuses on marriage. It challenges the notion of the white picket fence mentality, that the supposed dream scenario may, in fact, be a lie. Oh, and it is also extremely critical of the media. Though it may be a bit excessive in the character portrayals of some media types, the way that the media can act, especially based on presupposition and lack of impartially, is telling. And a Tyler Perry shout out too. He is actually one of the better characters in this movie.

6. Toy Story (1995)

5. Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

4. The Dark Knight (2008)

A film that many of us grew up with, and boy, it has not aged a day. It was the first feature-length computer animated film to be released, and the first of what eventually would become a trilogy. It also inspired a generation to be paranoid about toys. At its core, it is a heart-warming tale about friendship, overcoming stereotypes and obstacles, and that there is no place like home.

Martin Scorsese’s ode to the millionaire Jordan Belfort, whose dubious morals and explicit lifestyle inspired this tale. On the surface, it is a departure from the traditional Scorsese, who is better known for gangster flicks. But in telling the story of the troubled Belfort, who has the appearance of everything, it is one of his best. With Leonardo Di Caprio as the lead, many thought that this would be his chance to finally snag his first Oscar. While he was fantastic, the best performance was likely Matthew McConaughey, carrying out perhaps the most memorable scene of the year.

The best super-hero movie of all time, so great in fact, that it actually transcends the comic book genre. Though on the surface it is a classic tale of good versus evil, the acting performances and the storytelling create a narrative never seen in a comic book genre film. Is it society’s fault that the Joker was created? Is Batman even the good guy? As you may well know, it also featured one of film’s most captivating villains in the Joker, performed by the late, great Heath Ledger, in his Oscar-winning performance.

9. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

8. The Big Lebowski (1998)

7. Inglorious Basterds (2009)

One of the more memorable war films of recent times. Considered unlucky not the win the Best Picture Oscar (losing out to romantic-drama Shakespeare In Love), it is packed with a great cast - names such as Tom Hanks, Matt Damon and Vin Diesel, with Steven Spielberg as director. Though it takes place in World War Two, it does not gratify the violence taking place, but rather laments the horror of war, and the displacement of family. How many people taking part in the war were not soldiers, but normal civilians? Oh, and its opening scene on the Normandy beach is nuts.

Two words. The. Dude. All this guy wants to do is drink White Russians and compete in a bowling tournament with his buddies. Instead, what transpires is one of the most compelling, convoluted tales that you will ever see on screen. In typical Coen fashion, you are never really sure of what is going on, or if any of what you’re seeing actually matters to the story.

Can’t have a list of top films and not include Quinten Tarantino. Though arguably his best films came out over 20 years ago (see Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs), Inglorious Basterds has the chops to stand up with the best of them. Set during World War Two, it follows various stories: a Jew hunter, Americans’ looking to claim Nazi scalps (literally), and a French female movie owner who is being wooed by a German soldier. The stand-out of the film is Christoph Waltz, who captured his maiden Oscar with the portrayal of Hans Landa, the Nazi officer who demands attention every time he is on the screen.

3. The Matrix (1999)

2. Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

One of the seminal science-fiction films of the late 90s. Its storyline make us question reality, and its special effects make us want to test gravity. Though it is most famous for Neo’s (the main character, played by Keanu Reeves) bullet dodging ability, the Matrix world itself is something that pushed it into iconic territory. Though it inspired many copy cats (and two crappy sequels), do not let that diminish the awe that this story inspires. What path would you choose? The blue pill, or the red pill?

The beginning of Peter Jackson’s grand book-to-film trilogy adaption (which would eventually net 17 Oscars over the three movies). While the third received the majority of the Oscar love, the first film sets the bar that the rest follow. It starts the trilogy off, mixing optimism with the overt evil that is Sauron, and reminds you that it is not you physical stature that will determine your worth, it is the size of your heart, and the people that you surround yourself with.

1. There Will Be Blood (2007) The life and times of oil tycoon, Daniel Plainview (played by Daniel DayLewis). If you like characters who enjoy milkshakes and making money, then Plainview is the one for you. There Will Be Blood is an interesting character study into the human psyche - how far people will go to achieve success, and at what cost. It also makes you wonder what success actual is; is it making money, or being surrounded by loved ones? This movie also features one of the greatest acting performances of all time, for which Day-Lewis was rewarded with the Best Actor Oscar. 41

A GREEN DECADE by Shivan Ten years ago the headlining events that confronted us were predominantly centred on the war between the United States of America and Iraq. In 2005, the U.S. troops’ invasion of Iraq was well underway, and at this point the U.S. lost nearly nine billion dollars in the Iraq war, and 106 troops were killed in the month of December, alone. These were the important events that took place a decade ago and researching into these unfortunate events, all I saw from the images of the invasion was a sea of khaki and olive green soldiers. It got me thinking about the origination of this uniform these men pride themselves on, and the influence this uniform has in the world of a civilian. An army’s uniform is more than just a simple way to distinguish their fellow men from the enemy. An army’s uniform represents the unity that these men have amongst themselves. It represents the pride and patriotism they hold for representing their country and loved ones back home. It has practical elements of camouflages and various features for survival and ambush. In the 1940s, your uniform was the most noteworthy piece of clothing an individual owned, it became a common place for not only soldiers, but women joining the war effort as nurses and other positions in the military. During this time of war, fashion became a political issue because it was seen as unpatriotic if you were found wearing anything other than your uniform. War was not just found in the battlefield, but became part of your daily life. From propaganda posters found on the streets, to the way we dressed every morning, the 1940s were a time where war consumed the smallest aspects of our daily life. After the Second World War, there was no longer a need for uniform in our daily life, a burst of individual freedom and expression started to emerge. However, maybe it was the practicality of the uniform is the reason designers started embracing elements of the military into fashion. From Thomas Burberry’s introduction of the gabardine trench coat from the battle field to closets of civilians, to Yves Saint Laurent’s trailblazing idea of creating women’s pants in the 1960s - though the jump to civilian fashion was late, the designers took inspiration from the war and incorporated its practicalities into the daily lives of civilians. Today the evolution of the military style is in full force; designers like Ralph Lauren and Balmain gather influences from this war period and bring elements from it into the 21st century. These designers consider the modern day women as soldiers, and believe their strength should be reflected in the clothes they wear. We recently conducted our own photoshoot to show our take on the military style. If you are going to do a strong look, I believe you should keep it simple, which it why I styled our mode, Tina, in a statement olive green, knee-length trench coat. Keeping with the strong look, Tina was styled in leather pants, a black sports bra, and heavy makeup. Here are some tips on how you can incorporate military into you daily look.

1. You can start simple by incorporating leather boots with a statement coat like we did.

2. Incorporate soft colours to bring a touch of femininity, making your look a little softer, or add leather to go even stronger.

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Mexican Chicken TENders

Ingredients: • • • • •

1 package of taco seasoning mix 1 egg 1 cup of crispy bread crumbs 400g chicken breast Salsa, chipotle, fresh tomato, guacamole, etc. for dipping

Method: What better way to celebrate Issue ten than with chicken TENders? You can make these bad boys in a number of different ways. Try swapping the taco seasoning for BBQ sauce for a more smoky rendition. Or parmesan and herbs then served with tomato dipping sauce for a bit of Italian flair. You could take away the whole ‘seasoning’ technicality and just toss the things in a vat of grated cheese and bacon bits if you really want to treat yo’self…there’s no limits really! Go nuts, kids.

1) Heat the oven to 200C, and spray a large cookie sheet with cooking spray 2) In a large resealable bag, place the taco seasoning mix. In a shallow bowl, beat egg. In another large resealable bag, place bread crumbs. 3) Cut the chicken into strips 4) Place the chicken in the taco seasoning bag; seal and shake to coat 5) Dip the chicken into egg. Place chicken in bread crumb bag; seal and shake to coat. 6) Place the chicken on the cookie sheet and bake 15-20 minutes until chicken is no longer pink in the centre, and the bread crumbs are golden brown.

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