BULL Magazine 2011 Issue 8 by BULL Magazine

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TRAVELLING THE AXIS OF EVIL LETTERS FROM JANE EUROPE IN CRISIS? FESTIVAL SEASON IS NIGH

WHEN STUDENTS TOOK OVER UNI ISSUE 08, 2011

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D R E H BE WRITE FOR BULL MAGAZINE IN 2012

thebull@usu.usyd.edu.au BULL_08 CARL_v002.indd 2

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ISSUE 08 CONTENTS

News Columns Competitions What’s On Interview Campus Chatter Student Lifestyle Travel Fashion Food & Booze Environment Science & Tech Entertainment Reviews Mindgames The Bull Pen Caught on Campus

“LET THE LUNATICS RUN THEIR OWN ASYLUM”

EDITORS

Paul Karp Alex McKinnon Kira Spucys-Tahar Anne Widjaja Lewis d'Avigdor usubullmag@gmail.com CONTRIBUTORS

Heydon Letcher, Tom Langshaw, Olivia Gao, Adam FarrowPalmer, Daniel Paperny, Casey Cunningham, Stuart Bryan, Grace O’Neill, Pierce Hartigan, Robert North, Misa Han, Eleanor GordonSmith, Connie Ye, Xiaoran Shi DESIGN

Carl Ahearn Anjali Belani PUBLICATIONS MANAGER

Chris Beaumont LIKE US WWW.USUONLINE.COM FACEBOOK.COM/USUBULLMAGAZINE

The views in this publication are not necessarily the views of USU. The information contained within this edition of Bull Magazine was correct at the time of printing. This publication is brought to you by the University of Sydney Union and The University of Sydney. ISSUE 08, 2011

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AXIS OF EASY THE YEAR ACCORDING TO JANE CRISIS CONTROL

’TIS THE SEASON

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05 06 08 17 24 31 33 34 35 36 37 38 40 43 45 46

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BULL USUONLINE.COM NEWS

1 1 Students get into the spirit of things at the Interfaith Week Fun Fair. 2 The USU has stopped selling cigarettes on campus.

NEWS INTERFAITH WEEK The first-ever USU Interfaith Week wrapped up on Friday 14 October ending a week of events, discussions and activities centred around the diversity of faiths on campus. With more than 1,000 students on campus claiming membership to one of the many different faith-based Clubs and Societies on campus, directors Kate Wilcox and Sarah Segal put together a program of events that would bring these people together to celebrate spiritual diversity and encourage conversation. Interfaith Week 2011 kicked off with a launch featuring the presidents of several different faith-based Clubs and Societies. Over the next week, debates, panel discussions, public talks and workshops were held by Clubs such as the Buddhist Society (Unibodhi), the Australasian Union of Jewish Students, the Evangelical

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Union, Christian Students Uniting, Catholic Society of St Peter, the Muslim Students’ Association and others. A Faith Fair held on Eastern Avenue attracted droves of students with music, stalls, food and performances while the week was brought to a close with the fun and unique Interfaith Poetry Slam event held at Hermann’s Bar.

USU ANNUAL DINNER The USU celebrated a busy and successful year at its Annual Dinner held last Friday at the Refectory in the Holme Building. The black-tie event was attended by students, staff and alumni who have spent 2011 working tirelessly for the Union. Several University figures also attended, including ViceChancellor Dr Michael Spence and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (education), Derrick Armstrong. For the second year, the USU rewarded some of the most

outstanding members who made significant contributions towards the Union in the past year. The Union Blues award recipients were announced at the dinner after several dozen nominations were received. The 2011 Union Blues recipients were: Anshu De Silva Wijeyeratne, Bridie Connell, Cameron Creigh, Luke Liang, and Marina Lauer. Former USU President and Vice- President Patrick Bateman and Courtney Tight also received Union Blues – demonstrating admirable continued dedication to the USU. The USU also awards an Honorary Life Membership to an alumnus or friend of the Union, who display tremendous commitment towards helping the USU achieve its goals. In 2011, John Blount was announced as an Honorary Life member for active involvement in various Alumni organisations. Mr Blount was a USU President in the early 70s and spent much of his career in the Australian diplomatic service, working In Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Denmark and Holland. Previous Honorary Life Members include radio and television personality Adam Spencer and accomplished neuroscientist and journalist, Dr Robin Fitzsimmons. The USU’s debating team was honoured for another success-filled

campaign in 2011. Veteran USU debater, Tim Mooney won the prestigious Chancellor’s Award for Most Outstanding Debater of the Year. The best of the USU’s Clubs and Societies were also announced during the night. The Speleological Society was declared Best Club with less than 100 members, while music-lovers Beat the System took out the big prize – announced Best Club with more than 100 members. The Annual Dinner also featured a guest-speech by television star and former USU member, Juila Zemiro. The lively RockWiz host recounted tales of her days at the University of Sydney in the early 90s, where she exhibited her passion for acting and comedy on the stage in the USU’s Cellar Theatre and became a regular in Theatresports. The night also featured a special animated video that highlighted a number of interesting facts about the Union.

USU CEASES SALES ON TOBACCO The University of Sydney Union has ceased the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products through its outlets as part of the USU Board’s commitment to a healthy campus environment. As a new policy on smoking on campus is currently under review by the University, the USU has taken the step of ceasing selling tobacco products on campus. The move comes ahead of a pending decision on the University’s ‘smoke-free’ campus policy proposal, which will go to the University Senate later this month. The USU will provide assistance to customers seeking locations of alternative local tobacco suppliers.

LEONARDO DI CAPRIO VISITS MANNING Apparently…

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ISSUE 08 COLUMNS

COLUMNS EDITOR’S NOTE PAUL, ALEX, KIRA, ANNE & LEWIS

his is your final edition of Bull Magazine for 2011. It has been an amazing year and it has been a true privilege to report all your campus news and keep you informed of current events. This edition will be no exception - we are definitely going out with a bang! Check out our chief correspondent Jane Wallace, our picks for the best festivals this summer, a history lesson on the philosophy strikes of the 70s and a glimpse into the Axis of Evil. We chat with an up-andcoming actor, explore Tibet and look at returning retro fashion trends. We’ve got a journey through Europe in the midst of the economic crisis, whale watching, the launch of an international students’ mag and all your usual reviews, puzzles and laughs. If that’s not enough to distract you from endof-semester blues we don’t know what will! A huge thank you to all our contributors this year – without you our publication wouldn’t have been possible. Thanks also to the incredible Chris Beaumont for keeping us in check and always being good about deadlines, and thanks too, to our most excellent designers – Anjali Belani and Carl Ahearn who make this magazine so damned gorgeous. And finally, thanks to you, dear reader, for diving in to our magazine each month, giving us feedback, ideas and love. It’s been real. Love, The Editors

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PRESIDENT’S DESK SIBELLA MATTHEWS In October the Union celebrated. We awarded our Clubs at the C&S Luau-themed Awards night for their hard work and achievements such as best t-shirt, best publication and best major event. At the USU Annual Dinner, we recognised the outstanding contribution of seven individuals by presenting them with a Union Blue – the highest award given to current students at the University of Sydney by the USU. We also toasted the University at the USU Annual Dinner and celebrated our cooperative relationship as we continue negotiations. In addition to that, we’re also celebrating you – our wonderful members. Without your support, we wouldn’t have the means or mandate to do what we do, and for that we’re very grateful.You’re our strongest asset during these negotiations, and that’s why we’re asking you to join the Are You With Us campaign, a giant conversation about what makes student life great, and why we’d be willing to fight to keep it that way. It’s a conversation between our 13,000+ members, and the greater University community, demonstrating why we value an independent, student-run Union. You may have heard that the Federal Parliament recently passed legislation allowing Universities to levy a compulsory student fee up to the value of $263 for student services and amenities. The Union strongly believes that these fees are best directed to and administered by the democratically-elected student-run organisations on campus, that is, those bodies that are in touch with student needs and wants, and will make sure that student money remains in student hands. Over the coming weeks, the student organisations on campus including the USU, SRC and SUPRA will be lobbying the University to ensure that you truly benefit from the services you will be paying for. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts so please don’t hesitate to contact me at president@usu.usyd.edu.au, and stay in touch through the Board Blog at http://yourunionboard.blogspot.com. In the meantime, good luck with exams!

STUDENT PROGRAMS ALISTAIR COWIE Over the past couple of weeks I have been sitting on and advising various awards committees. Collectively, these committees have determined the recipients of the Union Blue, Honorary Life Membership, Clubs of the Year and Volunteer of the Year. What distinguished the recipients is their unstinting generosity to others. A great man once said, an honour is not without profit, except in its own country... or something... but these people, and many others like them – your peers – selflessly give of their own time for the benefit of others – friends, colleagues and even strangers. I am always impressed by what students here are willing to do for their communities. This great University is made up of many small parts: there are dozens of ways to slice the pie. Post grad/undergrad; full-time/ part-time; local/international; faculty; department; club; sport; red hair... But to use (yet another) tired cliché, we are so much greater than the sum of our parts. The USU strives, in partnership with the University, to offer our students the senses of community without which life is intolerable AND the opportunity to lead, frame and create those communities. This year, whether you had a beer on the Manning balcony, handed out a how-to-vote flyer on Eastern Ave, lunched on a sausage as you passed a Club BBQ, or cheered your team as it scored a try, you participated in and contributed to the country’s best, deepest and most engaging university experience. Give yourself a pat on the back; and thank the person beside you. You both rock. Good luck in your exams and assignments and have a safe holiday. We’ll see some of you at O-Week or around the traps next year. For those of you leaving us to make your way in the world: prosper well and don’t forget that the best days of your life are always ahead of you. Excelsior!

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BULL USUONLINE.COM COMPETITIONS

NSW Permit no. LTPM-11-00367

CAPTION COMPETITION

WIN A DOUBLE-PASS

TO SHARK NIGHT 3D! We’re giving out FIVE double-passes to the shark-tastic 3D horror flick – Shark Night 3D. We’ll pick five of our fave captions and the winners will win a free double-pass to this terrifying movie – just in time for summer! SHARK NIGHT 3D – only at the Movies November 10 A group of friends spend a weekend at a lakeside house only to find that WIN danger lurks beneath the waters. Yet ! their biggest fear is realised when they discover that the lake’s shark inhabitants are not their only enemy. www.iconmovies.com.au

OM NOM NOM – Send us your funny caption for your chance to win!

For your chance to win a double pass, email your wittiest caption along with your name and details to usubullmag@gmail.com

ISSUE 7 WINNER! “Lo and behold, I found my perfect match... twice.” Congrats to ASHLEIGH GREEN, winner of the $50 Coles Gift Card!

WIN TICKETS TO THE MISFITS! What needs to be said about the Misfits? Punk deities, ghoulish icons and benchmark-setting music icons. Their reign at the peak of punk music has lasted more than 30 years, and they’re every bit as groundbreaking, influential and monstrous as ever. Don’t miss your chance to see them at here on campus when they hit Manning Bar on 1 December. We’re giving away ONE double-pass to see these legends of hardcore – wear your fiend skull with pride and get involved. Simply send your name and details to usubullmag@gmail.com to go into the draw to win. Tickets are on sale now at manningbar.com

WIN!

Entries for all competitions close 4 November 2011.

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Join us today for just $55.

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$ROP IN TO ONE OF OUR FACILITIES VISIT www.susf.com.au or call: Sports & Aquatic Centre: 9351 4978 The Arena: 9351 8111

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BULL USUONLINE.COM WHAT’S ON

WHAT’S ON YOUR GUIDE TO THE PLACES TO BE ON CAMPUS. WE’LL GIVE YOU THE WHEN AND WHERE – YOU SHOW UP AND ENJOY. TO SEE EVERYTHING THAT’S GOING ON (AND THERE’S A LOT) VISIT WWW.USUONLINE.COM AND CLICK THE CALENDAR.

WEEK 13 MONDAY 24 OCTOBER WRITERS SOCIETY AGM 2pm, Isobel Fidler, Manning House

SYDNEY UNI LEGO SOCIETY AGM

SAILING @ SYDNEY AGM 6pm, Badham Room, Holme Building

TUESDAY 25 OCTOBER SYDNEY UNIVERSITY DRAMATIC SOCIETY (SUDS) AGM 4pm, Cellar Theatre

5pm, Hermann’s Bar

FINEARTS SOC AGM SYDNEY UNIVERSITY MUSICAL 4pm, The Loggia, THEATRE ENSEMBLE (MUSE) AGM Manning House 5pm, Holme Reading Room

SCIENCE REVUE AGM 5pm, Bohdan Bilinsky

SYDNEY LAW REVUE AGM 6pm, Holme Common Room

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SYDNEY UNIVERSITY RADIO GROUP (SURG) AGM 6pm, Isobel Fidler Room, Manning House

SLAMDUNK SOCIETY AGM 1pm, International Student lounge, Wentworth Building

SYDNEY UNIVERSITY PHARMACY ASSOCIATION MEETINGS

USSS AGM - SPECIAL CONSTITUTION VOTE 4pm, Manning Meeting Room 1

2pm, SUPA Office

SUDA AGM 6pm, Hearth, Wilkinson Building

WEDNESDAY 26 OCTOBER INTERNATIONAL AND GLOBAL STUDIES SOCIETY AGM 4:30pm, Reading Room, Holme Building

HERMANN’S TRIVIA 1pm, Hermann’s Bar

CUBESOC AGM PROJECT 52 COMEDY NIGHT

5pm, Manning Bar

7pm, Hermann’s Bar

ARC GENERAL MEETING COSTUME SOCIETY AGM 5pm, Isabel Fidler, Manning House

EPICSOC AGM/PICNIC/BBQ 11am, Manning Squash Court BBQ

5pm, Hearth, Wilkinson Building

SUBW SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING 7pm, Reading Room, Holme Building

THURSDAY 27 OCTOBER MUGS AGM 12.30pm, Purcell Room, Mechanical Engineering Building

WEEKLY POOL COMPETITION 4pm, Level 4, Wentworth Building

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ISSUE 08 WHAT’S ON

TOP PICKS PAPA VS PRETTY & THE VASCO ERA Friday 28 October, 8pm, Manning Bar

SUUNS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 5pm, Meeting Room 1

SU EVANGELICAL UNION AGM 2pm, Reading Room, Holme Building

ARTS REVUE AGM 2pm, TBC

CAPTURE THE FLAG SOCIETY AGM 4pm, Hermann’s Bar

SU MOVERS AND SHAKERS AGM 4.30pm, Isabel Fidler, Manning House

MADRIGAL SOCIETY AGM 5pm, Quad Philosophy s249

HILLSONG CAMPUS AGM 6pm, SUV Meeting Room

FRIDAY 28 OCTOBER PAPA VS PRETTY & THE VASCO ERA 8pm, Manning Bar

SCISOC GENERAL MEETING

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as letting your hair down and thrashing out to celebrate the end of a heinous semester. Lucky for us, indie rockers Papa vs. Pretty and The Vasco Era will be providing us with that opportunity on the last day of semester at Manning Bar. Both bands are hitting the road together in the lead up to the release of The Vasco Era’s self-titled album. Don’t let the obscure rock band names fool you; both bands are bringing some much needed talent to the deadened local rock scene. Papa vs Pretty’s debut album United In Isolation was released earlier this year and earned them comparisons to the likes of Muse and Thom Yorke. Following a rigorous tour schedule all over the country, the band has just finished touring with punk heroes The Vines. The Vasco Era’s most recent single release ‘Child bearing hips’ also shows that the band is rocking out even harder than ever, and they’re certainly giving other established (and somewhat stale) rock acts like Children Collide a run for their money. And two for one! What indie rocking hipster could ask for more?

12pm, Loggia, Manning House

SU FLAIR SOCIETY AGM

PROJECT 52

1pm, Isabel Fidler, Manning House

Wednesdays 7pm, Hermann’s Bar

IGM YOUNG AUSTRALIAN LEBANESE AND ARAB ASSOCIATION

Every Wednesday at 7pm, the best crowd of Sydney insiders fills Hermann’s Bar to watch some of Australia’s best comedians. Project 52 is officially the finest Sydney has to offer after having won the 2011 Time Out award for Best Sydney Comedy Night and the Sidney Critic award in 2009 and 2010. Local young comedians show off their stand up, sketch, improv and story telling skills and the odd international guest has been known to join them on stage. They’ve hosted comedians like Tom Ballard, Jamie Kilstein, Dr Brown, Die Roten Punkte, and the World Champion Improvisers. They’re always looking for new people to get involved but if you’re more inclined to watch, this is one night where you’re guaranteed to actually laugh out loud!

5pm, Badham Room, Holme Building

MISFITS Thursday 1 December, 8pm, Manning Bar As part of their ‘Devil’s Rain’ Australian Tour, 1970s punk band Misfits will unleash their rage against society at a performance at Manning Bar. Misfits have always played aggressive, confrontational music with violent lyrics, coupled with timeless vocal melodies bred from 1950’s rock and roll. Having developed a ghoulish persona, Misfits have created a brand of anarchy all their own. They craft their own instruments, costumes and elaborate stage sets and a must-see for any fan of hard-core metal punk.

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BULL USUONLINE.COM FEATURE

“LET THE LUNATICS RUN THEIR OWN ASYLUM” BULL_08_ANJ_final.indd 10

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ISSUE 08 FEATURE

LEWIS D’AVIGDOR PLUNGES INTO SYDNEY UNIVERSITY’S RADICAL PAST TO SEE HOW UNIVERSITIES MIGHT BE RUN.

t is a pretty radical idea that students could run the University of Sydney.Yet that’s exactly what students were demanding in the early 1970s. Students wanted to democratise the university, from departments and faculties to the Senate and the Professorial Board. Simply put, students wanted meaningful control over their university.

In 1973, two PhD candidates, Liz Jacka and Jean Curthoys proposed something unspeakably controversial at the time. They wanted to teach a course entitled: ‘The Philosophical Aspects of Feminist Thought.’ It was swiftly rejected by the University’s Professorial Board. But Jacka and Curthoys dug their heels in and staged a historychanging strike, one that lasted nearly a month and was one of the most tumultuous periods in the history of Sydney University. Their actions attracted extensive media coverage and led to the extraordinary schism of the Philosophy Department into two which operated side by side until their amalgamation in 1999. As the student body turns over every three years, it is unsurprising that we know little about this history. In the early 70s at Sydney University, the 60s were by no means over. ‘Turn on, tune in and drop out’ and ‘Make love, not war’ were not yet passé. Australian troops had recently pulled out of Vietnam, a war which had radicalised and polarised the nation. The Vietnam moratoriums were the biggest anti-war protests in Australia’s history. While federal Opposition Leader Billy Snedden described the protestors as ‘a bunch of political bikies pack-raping democracy,’ the protesters felt that they were taking democracy to the streets. Democracy meant more than parliamentary representation. Students were at the heart of these protests and universities were hotbeds of debate and dissent. When the Governor of NSW, Sir Roden Cutler came to Sydney University to give a speech, he was mobbed by students and hit square in the face with a rotten tomato. An atmosphere of anti-authoritarianism prevailed on campus. Students were suspicious of ‘cops on campus’ and desired to control their own space. When Michael Matteson, a draft-resister on the run, was arrested and handcuffed by police outside the University campus, hundreds of students surrounded them, pulled out boltcutters and set him free.

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In those halcyon days, protests at the university were manifold, both serious and occasionally farcical. Bob Gould, the late owner of Gould’s Bookshop in Newtown, was tracked by ASIO to the Blue Mountains where he was reportedly training an armed guerilla insurgency in concert with his organisation, Society for the Cultivation of Rebellion Everywhere (SCREW). Most students were not quite so radical. Nevertheless, many were challenging the very foundations of the university, wanting it to be more than just a degree factory, a place where students could seek knowledge for its own sake and understand their place in society. In 1967, student Max Humphries organised a series of sit-ins at Fisher library when library fines were increased from 10 to 40 cents for the first day and 20 cents thereafter. Students felt that they should have been the ones to make the decision, as they had to pay. Over 1,000 students signed a petition and 250 attended the sit-in, in what Honi Soit labeled the “seventeen days that shook the campus”. Around the same time, several hundred students and staff set up a ‘Free U’ in Redfern, deciding that they had had enough of the authoritarian strictures of Sydney University and wanted to come together in a cooperative pedagogical environment. As the founding members put it: ‘The Free University of Redfern and Paddington has no bosses and has no workers, has no staff and has no students, has no administration and no bureaucracy. It does have a lot of people who through courses and activities are trying to understand themselves and society.’ Another notable protest occurred in 1970, when the university changed its entrance rules without telling applicants. Victoria Lee wanted to study archeology at Sydney University, but had not studied the required subjects at school. Consequently, she enrolled at Macquarie, on the understanding that she could transfer after

a successful year. However, when she applied to Sydney, she was told that the rules had been changed without publication. Students jumped to her defence. In an impressive display of solidarity, 600 students occupied the administrative offices in Sydney’s Main Quadrangle for three days in support of Victoria Lee and increased participation in university government. Given these recent events, when the feminist course was proposed in the philosophy department in 1973, the university was not exactly peaceful. But nobody could have predicted the ensuing disturbances, which regularly graced the pages of The Sydney Morning Herald,The Telegraph and even Women’s Day. The course had been approved by the Philosophy Department, which since November 1972 operated democratically. First-year students were given the same voting rights as professors in the department. The course also scraped through by one vote in the Arts Faculty. For most courses, that would have been the end of the matter, but the authority to pay the two women, Liz Jacka and Jean Curthoys, lay with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor William O’Neil. After receiving objections from the rather conservative Challis Professor of Philosophy, O’Neil referred the matter to the Professorial Board, for further consideration.

Women’s studies as a discipline, was in its embryonic form, and was fighting to be accepted. David Stove, a lecturer in philosophy and an outspoken critic of feminism saw no place for such subjects and wondered if next it would lead to ‘a course for little babies’. The Professorial Board, listened to various objections and voted to reject the course in June 1973. Philosophy students were outraged by this decision, and immediately called meetings to go on strike. Ken Brimaud, wrote in the Union Recorder (the Predecessor to Bull ) that “[The Professorial Board’s] decisions seriously offends against the basic idea of a university as a single community of scholars, in pursuit of higher learning. Instead, it reflects intellectual

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BULL USUONLINE.COM FEATURE

oppression.“ Academics and students from several departments voted to go on strike. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that 2,000 students and staff joined the cause in following weeks. As the strike gathered momentum, it became chameleon-like; embracing a mixture of hopes and demands. The strike captured elements in broader society, with the union leader Jack Mundy placing a green ban on the university through the Builders Labourers Federation. A tent embassy was set up in the Quadrangle, with a large banner declaring: ‘Sisterhood is Powerful’. The Philosophy staff

After receiving objections from the rather conservative Challis Professor of Philosophy, O’Neil referred the matter to the Professorial Board, for further consideration.

“The strike created a community and catered to that increasingly large group of students who demand a life-style experience from the university.”

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room was ‘liberated’ and turned into the strike headquarters, which became a frenetic hive of activity where tactics and strategy were debated and strike bulletins produced daily. Henry Mayer, a Professor in the Government Department painted a positive picture of the strike.“The strike created a community and catered to that increasingly large group of students who demand a lifestyle experience from the university, ‘It’s the first time I have ever talked to anyone here, I am learning a lot about the power structure through common action’, was a typical and common remark,” wrote Mayer in The Australian.

The strike encouraged radical re-education with alternative lectures on topics such as ‘How to Depose a Professor’, ‘Gay Studies’ and ‘Democratisation of Education.’ Like all social movements, the strike was a kaleidoscope of competing interests. For some, it was primarily about the sexism displayed by the university in barring the course. For others, it was about democraticisng the university ran by ‘God Professors’. Indeed, support for the strike did not preclude displays of overt anti-feminism. Glorfindal Eunuchwarbler (presumably a pseudonym) wrote in Honi Soit on 19 July, 1973: “The general idea of the whole thing was to keep the Philosophy Department’s democratic ideas working, and show that the board couldn’t just veto it without a fight at least, the specific issue being dealt with (and therefore the less important concern) was the appointment of Curthoys and Jacka. But oh no, the heavy handed women’s lib f--kwits jumped on the band wagon and “Sexism” was splattered round the campus until it ran diarrhea-like from everybody’s arseholes, which seemed to be the part most people were using as a mouth.” Those within the strike also began to question the autocratic tendencies of the strike itself. Indeed, those who had become disillusioned by the strike became its strongest critics. John Mills, a lecturer in philosophy exemplified this position, returning to work just two days after going on strike: “What happens now is simply that before such meetings a small clique decides on a course of action consistent with their political aims for the department,” he said. “The agreement on aims has been used more and more by the clique to induce students into agreement on methods. In place of dictates by a shamelessly elitist professor we have manipulation (admittedly more subtle) by an elitist clique of the opposite political colour.” Regardless, the strike gathered momentum and on 25 June a mass meeting in the Quadrangle was attended by 1,000 students and staff. Later on that day, about 150 students invaded the Professorial Board meeting with a petition demanding the course be approved. Finally, under increasing pressure of negative press coverage, the course was approved following an inquiry conducted by the University Senate. The appointments of Jean Curthoys and Liz Jacka were duly made and the strike movement celebrated a famous victory. The immediate legacy of the protest was a divided department. Some of the more conservative staff in the Philosophy Department no longer felt that they could work in such an environment and petitioned the Vice-Chancellor to divide the Department. From 1974 until 1999, a quarter of a century, there existed two philosophy departments at Sydney University, the abstrusely named Department of General Philosophy and the Department of Traditional and Modern. The former department, where the radicals resided, operated according to democratic principles for almost six years. Despite ultimately collapsing, the experiment in radical democracy encourages us to reconceive how universities may be run. It was real student activism on real student matters and it worked. Put that on your placard and wave it.

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ISSUE 08 FEATURE

HEYDON LETCHER WENT TO THREE OF THE WORLD’S MOST MALIGNED COUNTRIES… AND LIVED.

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he rite-of-passage journey of Australians backpacking to Europe definitely lacks punch. It’s a carefree holiday, not an adventure, missing the surprise of finding your Georgian border-town Lonely Planetrecommended hotel to be a low-end brothel with voyeuristically thin walls; the surrealism of a $12 per minute monitored (the heavy breathing was deeply weird) phone call from Pyongyang to folks back in Sydney; or the absurdity of a Zimbabwean $100 trillion dollar note, paradoxically the most worthless souvenir ever. The Bush Administration’s infamous ‘Axis of Evil’ and ‘Outposts of Tyranny’ label put the likes of Iran, North Korea, Syria, Zimbabwe and several others in the mainstream news tickers as hostile places, overrun with corrupt dictators, oppressive martial law and pure paranoia of the West. Is that the case? There’s only one way to find out.

IRAN

One trip aboard an ancient Iranian Aseman Airlines Fokker 100 from Dubai to the ammunition bunker-lined airstrip of the salty and humid Iranian portside city of Bandar-eAbbas: 900,000 Iranian Rial ($80 USD). A genuine Persian silk carpet in Esfahan: 100. Cash. Right here, right now. One Mastercard, two Visa cards, and countless Amex traveller cheques rendered useless by Western financial sanctions: Priceless. Bloody priceless. My time in Iran was indeed a lesson in why you read a travel guide before you arrive in a country. But there are experiences no guidebook can replicate. The fear of an unpleasant run-in with the basij, a local ‘state security’ militia; when a initially friendly Iranian points to the reverential billboards of Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei and mutters ‘terrorist’; or the omnipotence of the Iranian military with soldiers often waving away camera requests with a casual motion of their AK-47s. Traveller-suspicion is par for the course in this region, but the history and culture is too breathtaking to let it deter you – a point demonstrated by Iran’s notorious MiddleEastern neighbour…

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BULL USUONLINE.COM FEATURES

SYRIA

I squirm nervously. The Syrian immigration official has now been studying each page of my passport for a good 25 minutes. He seems to think I’ve been to Israel. The only assurances I’ve been able to give him that I haven’t is through Ahmed, an Iraqi merchant who sidled up to me in the line at the Kilis-Azaz border between Turkey and Syria and offered to help translate. Christ I hope he’s legit. I’d heard a story of a traveller who entered Syria and made it all the way to his youth hostel in Damascus, only to pull out his youth hostel membership card and have the receptionist spot the ‘Tel Aviv Youth Hostel’ stamp one entry up. He was immediately deported. The immigration officer waves me though and thankfully, I don’t suffer a similar fate. I soon find myself in Aleppo, Syria’s secondlargest city - a regional trade centre dating back to Roman times. Its souq, a labyrinth market of rug merchants and spice traders, is the vibrant heart of the Old City and the exchange I make between a large Syrian rug and two pairs of jeans in my jam-packed suitcase is one I don’t regret. The bustling marketplace is bounded by equally significant historical sites. On one side is the imposing Citadel of Aleppo, originally a Muslim fortification during the Crusades, and on the other is the Great Mosque Al-Jamaa al-Kebir from which the traditional muezzin (mosque prayer leader) empties the markets on a daily basis. So strong is the faith that within the prayer hall, locals leave padlocks for a few days in the belief that the mosque’s baraka (blessings) will imbue the locks with extra strength. But the drawcard of travelling to Aleppo is as much its souq as it is the Dead Cities around it. Unlike iconic ancient sites in Europe, such as the Colosseum or the Pantheon, where fences and stern officials prevent you from taking souvenirs, the antique ruins of 5th century basilica and basalt-chiselled lions are entirely unprotected. If you had a ute and a couple of mates, you could actually take a statue or two home.You also get the impression that a few Syrian pounds going the taxi driver’s way would assure you his assistance. There appears to be a paradox wherever you travel in Syria. A peculiar oscillation between

no rules at all and complete government control. Syria is in many respects a highly-regulated and restricted state, where the government’s intercity buses screen anti-Semitic movies as they ply the well-trafficked route between Aleppo and Damascus, and where Facebook and BBCWorld are often completely inaccessible; and where Syrian President Bashir Al-Assad, like his father Hafez in Hama in 1982, is prepared to massacre hundreds on the streets.Yet, meanwhile you’ll find unimpeded, free access to these incredibly valuable monuments. It is a society where a woman’s testimony in court is worth precisely half that of a man, and the US is denounced as an infidel state but, in part due to Western financial sanctions, the US dollar is king and the only currency the major (state-run and owned) banks wish to deal in. This paradox is most evident in Damascus where charcoal black chadors are commonplace, but the local youth hostel owner warns against spending too much time after dark near Martyrs’ Square (Al-Merjeh), which is apparently, a well-known area for prostitution. But for those keen to see a sharper end of conflict in the Middle East, a trip to Quneitra is a must. Quneitra, once an administrative capital, is now a ghost-town except for the UN checkpoints. As you near the closed border with Israel you encounter more and more Syrian army outposts, which look distinctly low-tech in comparison to the sophisticated satellite communications technology lining the Israelicontrolled Golan Heights. The Golan Heights divide Israel and Syria and, since the 1967 Six Day War, have provided the Jewish state with a crucial tactical height advantage. Getting there is understandably a little tricky.You begin by approaching the Syrian Ministry of the Interior in Damascus. This non-

descript, grey building is without any identifying features except for the dozen or so t-shirt wearing young men who appear to be chilling outside laughing and smoking. The fact that they are cradling machine-guns is the only real tip-off that it’s a government office. Handing over your passport to one of these guys along with a wad of Syrian currency left me with a sinking feeling that I would never see my documents again but sure enough, an hour later, I have my permit and am assigned a ‘tour guide’. According to Lonely Planet, the guide is actually a Syrian intelligence officer and while his commentary of the history of the Golan Heights was non-existent, his tirade against Israel was as on-message as you could ever believe. His main function apparently is to prevent you from walking into one of the many active minefields, though my gruff and rather chubby guide, who introduced himself as an Army Colonel, simply shouted ‘mine!’ whenever he thought I was straying too far away from the main ‘sights.’ The Colonel was particularly keen to recount the story of the local bullet-ridden and collapsing hospital, helpfully signposted as ‘Quneitra hospital – Destroyed by Zionists and changed into a firing range’ - in case you missed the theme being pushed by the tour guide. Politics aside, what is remarkable is that you only need spend a few days in Syria to be aware of the consistent generosity and friendliness you experience as a foreigner. This isn’t the meaningless ‘and the people were just so friendly’ drop-in line. It’s the kind of place where the local Aleppo hotel owner (who charged about $10 a night) would – at no extra cost and without invitation – offer you warm Arab bread and the strongest Turkish-style coffee available, purely because he knew you were about to head out for a big day of sightseeing. Because you’re clearly a traveller, locals would stop to ask how you are finding the city and then moments later invite you to share sweetened Arab tea and dinner with them. With good humour and warmth they offer tips on anything from restaurants to checking the authenticity of a rug

“The fact that they are cradling machine-guns is the only real tip-off that it’s a government office.” 1 1 Quneitra Hospital within the Syrian military-controlled area of the Golan Heights. The pockmarks and ammunition casings stand remain since the Israeli withdrawal in 1973 following the Yom Kippur War.

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ISSUE 08 FEATURES

NORTH KOREA IRAN

SYRIA 2

3 While not as renowned as Cairo’s Khan el-Khalili or Istanbul’s Covered Bazaar, the fragrances of spice stalls, the bargaining of traders and the bustle of the crowd makes this Syrian Souk a delight to visit. 4 The Great Mosque (Al-Jamaa al Kebir) in Aleppo.

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2 Syrian President Bashir Al-Assad surveying the town of Quneitra with the communications towers of the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights in the background.

ZIMBABWE 3

(ask the carpet merchant if you can put a flame under the carpet: an authentic carpet is woollen and will be largely flame resistant, a take-off nylon one is not and will therefore be easily spotted). As warm and hospitable as Syrians really are, to an American Immigration officials’ eye, a trip to Syria sets off alarm bells. Upon my arrival in the land of freedom and liberty, I find this out only too quickly. I am quizzed about whether I travelled to Syria on my own or with religious friends, whether I spent time at outdoor camps or transported a large amount of money with me. If it isn’t already, coming up with better questions to discern a terrorist should be priority number one for the Department of Homeland Security. I’m not a terrorist but if I were, these questions were anything but subtle. Tired as I was after a 15-hour flight, I remember clearly my 10-minute mini-grilling. It was going pretty smoothly until the final question. ‘What religion are you?’ This question, at the end of a series of inquiries about my travelling history,

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caught me off-guard. I chose to play it safe and replied: ‘Church of England.’ My grandparents would be proud. Only problem was, the LAX immigration official appeared confused. ‘What’s that?’ As an official of the world’s defender of liberty, her level of suspicion about my religion in order to determine whether I may enter the United States was concerning. Granted, few 18-years-olds have Iranian, Syrian, Georgian and other ‘squiggly writing’ stamps (as the immigration official so pleasantly described them), but this seemed a little unjustified. I decided my indignation could wait until after I’d been fingerprinted and let in. ‘Um, Anglican’ I replied. A look of recognition dawns on her face, ‘Oh, you mean Episcopalian. Welcome to the United States.’ That aside though, Syria makes for an interesting trip. Or at least it would, when it’s safe. I was lucky enough to visit Syria before the recent crackdowns and, with the regime’s brutality and restrictiveness on the increase, it appears as if Syria is not going to turn into a modern, high-tech Dubai or more democratic Qatar any time soon.You get the sad feeling that Syrian society is likely to endure more days on the bloody, not cutting, edge of the Middle East, doubtless a shame for those intrigued by all it has to offer.

ZIMBABWE

In a country where supermarket shelves regularly ran empty, it is hardly any surprise when the local Barclays Bank advised us that we could not withdraw any US dollars, the adopted Zimbabwean currency, until a delivery arrived from Harare later that morning. Such is life in Victoria Falls, the once prosperous tourist centre bordering Zambia hit hard by financial sanctions. Travelling through Zimbabwe is a stark reminder of the effect of Mugabe’s ironfisted rule, a lesson you learn firsthand from conversations with Ndebele tribesmen, massacred at the hands of Mugabe in the 1980s, and through the paradoxical tales of locals who used to receive untold trillions as their weekly salary yet would be unable to purchase a single loaf of bread given the astronomical rate of inflation. While the BBC may be refused entry to Zimbabwe, its English traditions are still clear to all with one prominent hotel advertising the best ‘clubhouse north of Johannesburg’ – ‘the Prince of Wales enjoyed it here in 1925 – you will too!’

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ISSUE 08 INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW ALEXANDER ENGLAND “I had just landed this TV series, so some of my character’s anxiety was mirrored in real life.”

oung Australian star of new TV drama Wild Boys, Alexander England, found his entry into acting as rough and tough as the show itself. Recovering at home from a knee reconstruction after an on-set accident with a horse, England talks with Kira Spucys-Tahar about getting into the industry.

WHEN DID YOU DECIDE YOU WANTED TO BE AN ACTOR? Acting was sort of something I enjoyed at high school. There it’s about comedy and making your mates laugh more than drama or anything, but I did feel it was something I enjoyed doing. When I finished up school I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I didn’t always think I wanted to act. I did some visual arts studies at uni, but it wasn’t intensive, I didn’t feel like I was learning a lot. Then my parents bought me a short course at the Victorian College of Arts (VCA)– two nights a week, a serious actor training-focused course. I absolutely loved it. I decided it was definitely something I wanted to study, so I set my eyes on a VCA course which was just full on serious acting training each week. From there my passion grew and I really committed to it. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST ACTING JOB? I graduated in 2009, so last year was my first year out of VCA and it’s really tough to get a good job! I did theatre and plays with my mates, profit-share style where you split anything your earn. I think I earned somewhere around 150 bucks. But it was really fun. It’s great to work with people you know and be part of something. Wild Boys is my first proper paid gig. It’s great getting money to do something you love. SO WILD BOYS HAS BEEN YOUR FIRST BIG BREAK. WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE? It’s been my first move outside the theatre scene, my first thing in front of the camera. Screen and theatre really are two very different disciplines - you need different skills and

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training. Wild Boys shot for six months and it was great to learn and pick up things from the other actors on set. TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER, CONRAD FISCHER, ON WILD BOYS. The character is a young guy who is quite happily smithing away and gets roped into the gang totally not of his own volition – a nice guy who finds himself in some tricky circumstances. He’s the naive one. It didn’t require a whole lot of getting into character - I had just landed this TV series, so some of the character’s anxiety was mirrored in real life. There were all these skills required for the show. We mucked around and did stuff with a farrier; how to handle the horses and pick up their feet. Then once Conrad joins the gang there’s horse riding and guns and stuff, so we had horse riding training and firearms experts teaching us to work with replica guns. The horse riding wasn’t successful though. I fell off in the first week of shooting and then I had an accident with a horse in the final week. I guess it was a nice bookend to the shoot. I’m actually recovering at home now after having a knee reconstruction! ANY PLANS TO TRAVEL TO THE US? I’m happy to stick around in Australia. There are some good projects here. I’m happy to stay with my friends, family, the Australian culture, and work towards making it good here. I feel like you need to get experience here before you think about moving. Maybe down the line, but I’m happy here for the moment.

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BULL USUONLINE.COM FEATURE

THE YEAR

ACCORDING

TO JANE ALEX MCKINNON AND JANE WALLACE LOOK BACK ON THE YEAR THAT WAS.

t all started one fateful day in March. As I was trawling through the usual adverts for Chinese herbal aphrodisiacs and threats of legal action from the Church of Scientology that constitute most submissions to Bull’s Gmail account, an interesting subject header caught my eye. It read: ‘Pauline Hansen: Please Explain’. The ensuing letter to the

HER CLAIM THAT THE NSW LABOR PARTY WOULD NARROWLY WIN THE MARCH ELECTION WAS AS BOLD AS IT WAS INCORRECT:

March 17 2011 Dear Ed itor, I predic t Election that the March 2 w Labor w ill result in a h 6 2011 NSW ung parl ill get 47 iament. the prim seats wit a get 46 s ry vote. Libera h 33 % of eats with l Nation als will vote. Ind 44% of th e Labor a pendents and G e primary cross th re ens will e line. get Thank Y ou, Jane Wa llace

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ISSUE 08 FEATURE

editor claimed, in chunky red text: “Pauline Hansen is the greatest Liberal Party figure since Sir Robert Menzies. She could make NSW extremely unstable by replacing Barrie O’Farrell as NSW Liberal Leader shortly after the NSW State Election...” It signed off with: “Please explain? If you are seeing me now, I have been murdered”.

With that, it began. Like clockwork, emails from one Ms Jane Wallace would appear at least four times a week. Each one was an intelligent, rational dissection of the daily happenings in politics, sport, or a bizarre synthesis of the two. We’ve received 148 so far, many of them with multiple letters, sent to fellow student publications as well as mainstream outlets like 2GB’s Ray Hadley and Channel 7’s Sunrise and Sunday Night. Despite that, most likely you’ve never heard of her. She’s been published everywhere from The Australian to Green Left Weekly (Google it if you don’t believe me), but for some unfathomable reason always finds herself relegated to the Letters page or Comments section, where her insights go unappreciated amidst the comparative rabble of crazy old women’s incoherent rants from their suburban bungalows. I think I can speak for the entire editorial team when I say this mysterious, irrepressible woman is more than merely a valued contributor. She is our spirit guide, if you will,

2011 h 26 Marc the ding r, poun dafi and e r Edito a s d sher orce ader Ga a Ker tion f Coali of Libya le er Kristin d s force Labor lea . g and NSW ally KKK othin N . e e n ro Kenn umbe . r now n efeat B.O s i umbe . B.O y can d rld’s n o w d e th nobo erica, ’s les Am u r stralia . B.O ates. s, Au le a t W uth one s ew So les N tate. u r O . B.O er one s es. B. notic BO is e n o numb y . r at eve this world is wh B.O. t counts in a is wh ful, today. r e , w o p kisses e and v o L With allace Jane W

a shining example of what great writing can be. She inspires us to be better. Until now we have been extraordinarily selfish, keeping these regular nuggets of wisdom all to ourselves. This, we realise now, has been a grievous error on our part, and one for which we apologise unreservedly. Wisdom is like the butterfly; to constrain it is to suffocate it. It must be set free so the world can better see its beauty. In that spirit, we present to you now select passages from Ms Wallace’s emails that capture the major events of the year. In order to best convey the essence of Wallace – let’s call it Wallessence- these passages have not been edited or abridged in any way. We would not presume to tamper with art. The only change we have made (and reluctantly) is one purely of design; the multi-coloured, 16-point Impact font the emails are usually written in proved too difficult for our designers to reproduce. Readers, it is my honour to present Jane Wallace: A Year in Retrospect. Over to you, Jane.

ON THE DEATH OF ‘OBAMA BIEN LADEN’:

May 2 , 2011 Editor , Obam a Bien Laden is dead The K ing is d ! ead! L ong Liv Yours e the k fratern ing! a Jane W allace lly,

IN WHICH JANE MAKES A HITHERTOUNNOTICED CONNECTION BETWEEN THE COALITION OF NATO FORCES IN LIBYA AND THE NSW LIBERAL PARTY:

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HERE, JANE MUSES ON CONTROVERSIAL FELLOW PUNDIT ANDREW BOLT SCORING HIS OWN TV SHOW:

SO THAT WAS 2011 THROUGH THE EYES OF JANE WALLACE, BUT WHERE TO NEXT? FORTUNATELY, AS JANE HAS PROVEN ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS, SHE HAS THE ABILITY TO PEER NOSTRADAMUS-LIKE INTO THE FUTURE:

June 10, 2011 Dear Editor, lly great comic e been some truly rea In Australia, there hav lms, reality fi , ies ov television ,m characters invented for stage, and pay the s, era op p soa ion vis television shows, tele television. e Dame Edna dary examples includ , Reg Reagan, Some Australian legen on nst Gu an rson, Norm Hoges Hogan, Everage, Sir Les Patte ul Pa dile Mick Dundee, oco Cr k, ne ma Ze n Arthur, Mavis Sta n The Fruiterer, Uncle Mel Gibson. , Graham Kennedy, Co rse cou of d de, Skippy an Bramston,Rodney Ru w Bolt" who plays ud to present " Andre Now , Australia is pro stralian upper Au Know nothing" Un a political 'Know all, ion shows, news vis tele lity rea ws ne ke on ws ( also called class knockabout blo sho ion vis tele news satire vision comedy comedy soap operas, tele ng grams) and morni pro TV s air aff nt rre cu cartoon programs. it Gough Rudd? of "Andrew Bolt'? Is What is the real name nt? Bruce Wayne? Ke k lar ?C a a Obam Howard Menzies?Osam Everage? Steve Martin? Woody Edna Paul Hogan? Dame Mel Gibson? ?or y rre Ca Jim Allen? up character e to life comedy send "Andrew Bolt "is a tru alia. superstar now in Austr bor Party hater " Andrew Bolt" , the La May he live forever as lover !! and the Liberal Party laughs. lt " for your comedy Thanks "Andrew Bo Yours fraternally, Jane Wallace

Dear Editor, As France's greatest ever film star Gerard Depardie u recently reminded us all, its time to use the crystal ball to shed the past and to make future predic tions . My Six Future Crystal Bal l predictions are : Prediction One: United States Of America and its superpower third world banana republ ic economy will return to the black under USA President Bar ack Obama who will be reelected in 2012 ! Prediction Two: In the nam e of Prince Charles ( the modern Prince John) , David Ca meron , the modern day Sheriff of Nottingham, will comple tely destroy modern day Robin Hoods and all modern day Englis h outlaws forever ! Prediction Three: By the end of South America, Eastern of the 21st Century, the countries Europe , and Africa will be the richest countries in the wo rld with the world's highes t wages and lowest unemployment rate s. Prediction Four: The 201 2 Olympic Games will be held in Sydney Australia . The London 2012 Olymp ic Games will not be hel d in England due to riots. Prediction Five: The Re d And team , Sydney Swans , and White Australian Rules AFL the Red And White Nation League team, St George al Rugby Illawarra will not lose ano ther football game in 2011.

JANEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S THOUGHTS ON THE PASSING OF THE CARBON TAX:

October 13 2011 Dear Edit or, On Octob er Conquero 14 ,1066, at the Bat r defeated tl King Har e Of Hastings , Wil old of Eng liam The As a result land. , classes an for the next three to d ruling el ite of Eng four hundred years land spok Only the p e French . the upper oor classe s and work ers then sp On Octob oke English er , Tastings, Ju 12 2011 at 9.30 am lia the Co , at th e Battle O nqueror d f Car efeated K As a result ing Tony o bon Tax , f Abbott. classes an for the next three to d ruling el ite will on four hundred years ly speak L , the upper Only the p abor. oor classe s and work ers will sp Only the m eak Green ass media . will speak Liberal an Yours frat d National ernally, . Jane Walla ce

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August 18, 2011

Prediction Six: In Austra lian federal politics , The Liberal National Party will force Labor to a federal byelect ion in the seat of Dobell ( Wyong and NSW Upper Central Co ast) very shortly. The Liberal Nation als will win this Dobell fed electorate by election and eral this will force Labor to an early federal election before Christma s 2011. Once the Liberal Nation al Co Election 2011, Tony Abbot alition wins the Xmas federal t will become the longes t serving Australian Prime Minister ever by defeating the exi sting current record held by Sir Rober t Menzies ( 1949 to 196 6) ! Tony Abbott Australian Prime Minister will make Australia a republic ! A new Australian National flag , new Austra Of State and a new Austra lian Head lia National Anthem wil l soon follow. Julia Gillard will be the last Australian Governor Ge neral and Kevin Rudd will be the first Australian President ! Yours Predictably, Jane Wallace Prediction Seven: I must get home to see "Colum bo" on television at 4 pm 1600 Th ursday Afternoon.

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ISSUE 08 FEATURES

CRISIS CONTROL TOM LANGSHAW LEARNS NOT TO BELIEVE EVERYTHING HE READS IN THE NEWS.

eadlines in papers all over the world have used particularly fiery language to describe the state of the European Union, picking words that equally dumbfound and terrify their readers. The issue is ‘flaring,’ countries saddled with debt spark ‘contagion,’ as Europe enters the ‘zone of uncertainty.’ Meanwhile, the rest of the world is watching smugly, waiting to dance on the ashes of the European Union.

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“We like to think of Europe as one diffused museum in which we can wander freely.”

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pparently, the continent has become a frivolous playground for the rich and powerful and/or an apocalyptic Hellscape, whose impending financial collapse will suck us into a deathly and inescapable global vortex. Maybe it’s the sweet weed-infused air of Amsterdam clouding my perception, but this continent certainly hasn’t felt like one giant death-trip. Sure, I’ve missed out by a matter days three sets of riots in Athens, London and Rome (which I guess makes me a near-veteran of the nearly-riot circuit). And, yes, there are sad signs of decline that plague the Old World, particularly in the south. Regardless, we tend to paint Europe’s portrait in broad brushstrokes. It is common to wax lyrical about the continent’s ‘past life’, and to wax cynical about its present. Consider two central ideas that the Australian and American media habitually employ when discussing the contentious area

THE DEBT CRISIS (SORTA) EXPLAINED ANNE WIDJAJA

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“I’ve been travelling around Europe for that last three months now and apparently there’s some sort of epic financial crisis unfolding around me. ”

of ‘The Future of Europe’ (often suffixed with a big, condescending question mark). On the one hand, commentators like to think of the place as a hollow shell, past its prime: the enfeebled relative we have relegated to the nursing home, only to hear from in times of medical emergency. On the other hand, it’s often seen as overcrowded, congested, and unable to cope with flows of migration. We like to say, with more than a little schadenfreude, the colonisers have become the colonised. But you can’t be the wheat and the chaff; the labyrinth and the deadend.You just can’t mix your metaphors like that. This confusion highlights how we misread Europe. It helps us to see why the separation of past and present is not always a straight-line trajectory: why Europe is neither the Alzheimer’s patient, nor the child who forsakes the history of their ancestors. Nostalgia and amnesia are merely extremes on a long, measured continuum. I don’t want this to sound like a smug travelogue, wrapped in a gauzy veil of sentiment, and nor do I mean to de-legitimise the claims of those who are truly suffering in Europe. I am not blind to the problems, failings and contradictions of the continent (and the EU).

Figuring out what the hell the European debt crisis is about is not an easy feat. The Huffington Post’s attempt to explain the crisis using Lego pieces is so difficult to follow that even the casting of Jean Claude Junker, the Euro Zone Finance Minister, as a Yoda Lego figurine is more confusing than funny. The European economy is in a very messy state and a good place to start unravelling it all is at the very beginning. In a nutshell, after the GFC, several countries in Europe borrowed

and spent too much money tied up in sovereign debt bonds—which the government auctions off to foreign countries and the private sector. Governments have now borrowed too much and are not able to pay it back, and this is what causes a sovereign debt crisis. Specifically, the problem began with ‘PIIGS’: Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain. When these countries joined the EU they were able to borrow money at interest rates that were the

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ISSUE 08 FEATURES

I’m also aware that signs of economic decline take years, even decades, to show up as cracks in the pavement. Even so, our received wisdom about the sovereign debt crisis is fairly one-dimensional. The media’s conception of European economics often rests on flimsy cultural cliché: the Greeks and Italians are passionate and enjoy their leisure time with infinite feasts under the sun, while their frugal northern neighbours reliably clock in to work on time. Precisely because we entangle class, nationality, and cultural clout when discussing Europe, we begin to lose sight of cause and effect. Mostly, what has become apparent to me is the great yawning gulf between Europe’s policymakers and its people. There are grey areas between these ‘big pictures’ and the everyday minutiae which often contradict them. Like the lifelong resident of Naples who apologised to me for the mountains of rubbish in the city’s streets, yet still bristles with pride for her hometown; or the stern Dutch man who confessed to me that of course he bears no resentment for his country bailing out the South because they’re part of the European family and it’s natural behaviour for a civilised Union of nations. place for centuries, millennia – which we so For some, this is a place of quiet prayer and often deride as snobby entitlement. Many will remembrance, like the geriatrics who lovingly dismiss these attitudes as knee-jerk defensive tend to gravestones at Cimetière du Pèremechanisms to waning influence on the world Lachaise (resting place of Jim Morrison and stage. It is partly that, but nostalgia does not feel Oscar Wilde, among others.) Some locals have forced or kitsch. admitted to me that they would find it difficult Most importantly, for the vast majority to live in Australia, because they would miss of people here, the ‘history’ and ‘culture’ that the oldness, the diversity, and the tradition of saturates the continent is not everyday reality. their continent. Perhaps most incomprehensible We non-Europeans like to think of it as one for Australians (we of the nomadic/pioneer diffused museum in which we can wander freely, mentality) is this sense of ownership – the living vicariously on the shoulders of giants. At the same time, we say to the darker side of their knowledge that your family has lived in this

same as countries such as Germany, but unlike Germany they were slack with managing their finances. Now, theoretically, these countries could just increase their debts until they’re back on their feet. But the debts they are now trying to take out are being charged at a much higher interest rate because of the risk associated with these countries not being able to pay this money back. This can lead to reduced confidence levels in the economy and ultimately lead to

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recession and near bankruptcy. This is when countries need ‘bailout’ money. Greece was the first to take a bailout from the IMF and other European countries, and now Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain have followed and suffered the same fate. Generally, nations can (in a way) get rid of their debt by printing more money in their central bank and making it less valuable. However, printing money won’t save the PIIGS because the European Central Bank (ECB)

past, ‘blow off the dust, clear away the cobwebs; forgive and forget.’ It is simple for us to deny the emotional pull of this history, beyond art galleries and tacky souvenirs. We send a sort of warped message – we will try your pasta and your prostitutes, but keep your neuroses to yourself. It’s easy outside of Europe to dismiss the entire EU project as a pipe-dream concocted by flaky lefties, and it’s just as easy to knock the extravagance, the insularity, and the cultural myopia of the place. Europe is unapologetically a continent that divides, inside and outside. But decline is not always terminal. It’s difficult to envision the Ninth Circle of Hell as you relax in the sun on the island of Ios, sample the food in Naples, or wander through markets in Barcelona. Ancient Rome certainly didn’t fade to dust in one day.

sets monetary policy for all nations in the EU. If the ECB prints more money it affects all the countries which use the Euro. Because of this economic connection across the EU, when the ECB increased money supply to buy Italian and Spanish bonds to help out, political tensions amongst European powers rose. Stronger economies such as France and Germany argue that the ECB are making policy decisions that benefit one country over others and increasingly feel burdened by

the pressure to bail out the others. Stalemate has ensued. So why should we care? Well think about what happened with the GFC. We are living in a world which is intricately connected by the tubes of a global capitalist network, and as we’ve seen it only takes one economy to collapse before we’re all screwed.

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BULL USUONLINE.COM.AU CAMPUS CHATTER

CAMPUS CHATTER I’M NOT A STALKER, BUT...

TO THE GUY IN THE SUPERMAN COSTUME ON EASTERN AVE, You’re my kryptonite. Lois Lane TO MY MBLG DEMONSTRATOR, Your DNA is splendidly sexy- as is your smile. If only there wasn’t a restriction enzyme between us, if only you could be the adenine to my thymine. The e.coli mass murderess

TO ALL THE GUYS WHO SECRETLY LOVE NERF GUNS, When the zombie apocalypse comes, I know who I’ll be turning to first. Innocent civilian

TO THE PERSON WHO SIDE-SWIPED MY CAR IN THE LAW SCHOOL CARPARK, You should have at least left a note! Someone saw the make and number plate of your car, so fess up! Driving me crazy TO MY SECOND YEAR MICROECONOMICS TUTOR, For you, there is no substitute, for we are perfect complements. I am indifferent to your clothes and the way you style your hair. Just know that as long we are in the same room, my preferences are well behaved. With your convex curves, I struggle to take notice of the graphs you draw on the board. But alas, I only wish to know what would maximise your utility: coffee, or lunch? Don’t worry, I ain’t no Slutsky TO THE PEOPLE PLAYING SNAP IN THE LAWBRY, No. It is not okay to play snap. Play a quiet game of chess or maybe actually study or something, but don’t play snap! Cranky Crocodile TO THE DADDY-LONG-LEGS DUDE, I am not a grass-hopping or a Q-tip head! I am one helluva sexy spider. Haters gonna hate TO DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME, Thanks for brightening up my day! Sleepy head TO THE GUY WHO STUDIES ON FISHER LEVEL 3 AND SNUFFLES ALL THE TIME, There are people here trying to study and none of them want to listen to you sniff every 15 seconds. Tissues are cheap. Ask me and I’ll even give you one for free. Please just blow your nose! Kleenex Kid

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TO MY COURSE READER, I am sorry that you are covered in a thick and visible layer of dust. Forgive me before exams? Bad student TO THE GIRL RIDING HER FIXIE DOWN CITY ROAD LAST WEEK, Watching you flick your hair so eagerly as you rode past that guy was funny. Watching you stop paying attention and riding into that street sign was funnier.You made my day. Content Commuter TO THE GUY WHO WALKS AROUND CAMPUS CARRYING BOTH HIS BACKPACK AND HIS GIRLFRIEND’S DELICATE HANDBAG, You’re quite a gentleman. It’s a relief to know chivalry isn’t dead. Either that or you’re seriously whipped. Charm school undergraduate TO THE LECTURER WHO STORMED OUT MID-CLASS BECAUSE THE PROJECTOR STOPPED WORKING, You cancelled that lecture like a boss. Thug-lovin’ TO THE BRENNAN MCCALLUM AUTOMATIC SENSOR DOORS, Short people are students too! I’m sick of enthusiastically waving at strangers in attempts to enter the building. Sorry I don’t possess ‘the force’. Not a Jedi TO THE SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE COMRADES, Where are you? Everyone else is providing free barbeques, t-shirts and badges, but not you guys. How capitalist and bourgeois. Spread the wealth. Trotsky’s lament

20/10/11 1:53 PM

ISSUE 08 CAMPUS CHATTER

PLEASE, HAVE A COW ELEANOR GORDON-SMITH IS SO OVER OVE GRAMMA GRAMMAR FIENDS I am so ove over you.Yes, you. You’re the g guy commenting on Facebook p posts with grammar co orr rrec ections acting like it won you ec corrections th the he ar argu gume gu m argument. You’re the guy who tturns tu rnss ar rn aaround oun in tutes and says ‘I th hin inkk yo yyou’ll u’llll find it’s whom’.You’re u’ think an n iirritating rrit rr itat it a in ng pedant and I hope ssomebody so ome mebo body dy chokes you to death dy w wi ith th the the he tex with texta you carry around to co orrreecct ap apo correct apostrophes. Here He re’s how you know you’re Here’s p pa art rt o part off thiss irritating trend of pseu ps eudo eu do-int do do-i ne pseudo-intellectuals; somebody b bo boug oug u ht h yyou ou Lynne Truss’ Eats, bought S Shoo Sh hoo o ts ts, an and Leaves. Shoots, Go G od I h God hated Eats, Shoots, and L Le avess..Wh av W y did it make the New Wh Leaves. Why York Yo rkT Tim imes es bestseller list? It was es York Times 228 pa 22 ag gees o 228 pages of the sound a mind maakes ke wh he it dies. It’s the sort makes when

ere it is, the final instalment of Bull’s Variation on a Scene for 2011. You’ve weaved together a story over the year with more twists and turns than a game of snakes and ladders, taking elements from each previous story to carry through to the next. It’s creative writing at its best – so a big thanks must go out to all those who contributed. Till next year!

BULL_08_ANJ_final.indd 25

of book staff know to put in the window at Christmas because everybody has that weird Aunty whose only personality trait is a fixation with correct comma use. In the total absence of any other knowledge about her, all her acquaintances bought it for her and soon, circulation went into the millions - even though there were like, six people who read it. In the first place this bizarre language orthodoxy is anachronistic and wrong. Language is in a constant state of flux; it’s dynamic. If you hate people verbing nouns like ‘friended’, ’podiumed’ or ‘trended’, then steer well clear of Shakespeare, who invented somewhere around 600 words that way. Also, your fawning and obsequious attempt to look clever isn’t fooling anyone. It’s up there

with starting a conversation with your ATAR, or verbally footnoting any cultural references you happen to make in the course of conversation. If you’re in educated company they’ll pick it up. And if you’re not, stop acting like a pompous brat. I should admit I did this a lot when I was in my early teens. I think it was part of an attempt to look well-read and cultured, and would let me say things like: ‘the Oxford comma misused again!’ to people I was talking to, and they’d have been all, ‘what the f-ck?’ if they were my friends, or ‘I think you mean the serial comma,’ if they were somebody else’s friends - the kind who smoked cigars and wore tweed jackets with elbow pads. I didn’t think those people really existed. But they do, and they’re all in my tutes, and I’m so over them.

VARIATIONS ON A SCENE CONNIE YE His sorrow is gone but there is still some sympathy to be felt for the lady in fur, drunk on the fear writ large across her brow. Legs splayed, skirt hitched, she fiddles with the ring on the disposable can with an absent-minded confusion only one accustomed to a lifetime of declining privilege may affect. “And how will you do that? You don’t look old enough to be even looking after yourself,” the officer peers at the classic street urchin face on the other side of the glass. “She’s not well, that we both know. I can look after her.” “Is she your mother?” “Yes.” The boy hesitates only for a heartbeat. It’s no great struggle getting her up to leave. He takes the lady in fur to a fast-food restaurant, and then when their fellow diners begin to complain, a convenience store. She sobs

intermittently about hygiene (she seems ashamed, here) and room service (confused again). Her shoes are surprisingly clean. Meanwhile infinite things beyond their control continue to shrink and blossom of their own accord. They walk on through the lean streets, hollowed from the scuttling marks of taxis long gone, just the lady and her boy. Giant dogs bound around them in leaps, only to disappear down alleyways that reveal themselves to be dustbin dead ends. Dawn arrives. The boy leaves his mother and her moulting fur stole on the pier to pay their debt to the couple that lent them six dollars fifty. Four minutes later he retrieves her rambling self from halfway down the beach. Not once does he dare ask himself “Is this real?” He wonders how long he can last like this.

20/10/11 1:53 PM

ACCESS BENEFITS THESE HOLIDAYS

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10/20/11 1:46 PM

EVENTS & ENTERTAINMENT ABL Karoke Lansvale 10% off room charge incl. disc. periods Albert’s Tavern Nth Sydney Thur 8pm–10pm 15% off drinks & disc. function packages on Sat The Belvedere Hotel City 15% off drinks Big Fun Syd, Melb, Bris, Canberra & Perth 15% off rides for adults Candy’s Apartment Kings Cross Free entry Thur & Sun & disc. entry Fri & Sat CEO Karaoke Sydney 10% off room hire The Eastern Bondi Junction Free Entry Wed + Fri with a Free drink before 11pm Favela Kings Cross Free entry before midnight Future Entertainment Sydney Exclusive offers & discs for events such as Future Music Festival, Godskitchen + more The Hampshire Hotel Camperdown $5 spirits & $8 Jugs, $10 Bottles of wine & $10 meals with a complementary drink Home the Venue Darling Harbour Free entry Thur + Fri + Sat before midnight Intencity Broadway 1 free game + Buy 1 Super Session get another free Jackson’s on George The Rocks 15% off drinks Marlborough Hotel Newtown 15% off drinks The Nags Head Glebe $10 bar food at all times 5% off bar, food & bottle shop Oxford Art Factory Darlinghurst $4.50 tap beer & $7 house spirits before 11:30pm Paragon Hotel Circular Quay 15% off meals Red Lion Hotel Rozelle15% off Soho Kings Cross Free entry Fri + Sat, Free drink before 11pm Strike Moore Park & Chatswood $7 Bowling & $5 Strike Laser Skirmish Mon to Thur The Sugarmill Kings Cross Free entry Fri & Sat & $50 bar tab for booked groups of 5 or more Urbanagent City Disc. Entry at Bamboo & Flaunt The Watershed Hotel Sydney 15% off drinks The World Bar Kings Cross 20% off House Spirits +Tap Beer 3 Weeds Rozelle Free Hotel membership valued at $45 p.a. 99 on York City 50% off membership, 15% off bar & bottle shop

THEATRE/MOVIES Australian Chamber Orchestra Sydney Opera House $38 tickets for under 30 yr olds save up to $81 Also free ACO CD Belvoir St Theatre Surry Hills Student Rush $25 per ticket, available performances Tue 6.30pm & Sat 2pm, from 10am on the day, subject to avail. Dendy Cinemas Newtown $11.50 Session Tickets 3D $14.50 $7.50 Candybar deal New Theatre Newtown $20 Tickets, $17 Rush Price Seymour Centre Chippendale 15% off food & drinks from the bar Stagedoor Promotions Online $55 tickets to smash hit musicals

RECREATION & TRAVEL Captain Cook Cruises Sydney Harbour 50% off cruises & free birthday cruise Chartis Insurance Online 40% off travel insurance

Colourful Trips 15% off day trips & tours HCBS Whale & Diving Tours 20% off Whale, Dolphin & diving tours plus Food on return to Manly Skiff Club Inner City Cycles Glebe 15% off parts & accessories & 12.5% off bikes Jin Wu Koon Chippendale 20% off Thai kickboxing & Kung Fu Kingpin Bowling Darling Harbour 20% off games, food + the bar Luna Park Milsons Point 20% Off Unlimited Ride Passes Up to 4 people per card Mojo Surf Sydney 15% off Mojo surf tours M9 Laser Skirmish Darling Harbour 20% off Skirmishes Oceanworld Manly 15% off student price RedBalloon Online $30 off selected experiences, changing every 3mths RocknBowl Sydney $18 per person sessions over 18% off Rhythmboat Cruises Online 20% off lunch + dinner cruises Seido Juku Karate Darlington Membership Discs. & 2 Free Classes! Skydive the Beach Sydney Central Coast $30 off tandem skydive Sydney Aquarium Darling Harbour 15% off student price Sydney Tower City 15% off student price Sydney Wildlife World Darling Harbour 15% off student price Sydney Buddhist Centre Newtown $20 off Meditation classes & retreats Thunderjet King Street Wharf Up to 25% off, Adults at kids prices USIT Australia 15% disc. on Teach in China or Thailand programmes. Equates to $211 off Thailand & $296 off China YHA International 2 yr membership for the price of 1 yTravel Sydney $1000 off any Trip

FASHION, HEALTH & BEAUTY Ablaze Beauty Salon Camperdown 30% off services Mon to Fri, 15% off services Sat & 10% off products. Ambo Ars Newtown 30% off hair services excl. Sat Attik Clothing Broadway15% off The Bedroom Boutique Randwick 15% off Detail for Men Sydney CBD 50% off premium grooming &spa service & 20% off all ongoing services Fair Story Fashion Online 15% off Jay Jays Broadway15% off clothes & accessories Newtown Nutrition 25% off initial consultation15% off thereafter Oscar Oscar Salon Paddington 25% off all salon services Mon to Wed & before 2pm Thur & Fri Provocator Darlinghurst 25% off Storewide Show Pony Broadway15% off Stellino Newtown 15% off ongoing & 25% Shopping Nights Strawberry Snips Hairdressing Newtown 20% off Services + 10% off hair products Urban Eyewear Broadway 20% off Complete Spectacles & Sunglasses 20% off Contact lenses with 6 mths supply purchase Yoga in Daily Life Annandale $10 per lesson save $2 off student price

FOOD & BEVERAGE Agave Mexican Restaurant Surry Hills15% off Sun to Thur.

www.accessbenefits.com.au www.usuonline.com

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Bambino Torino Pizza Newtown15% off Boost Juice Newtown15% off Café Capucines Newtown 10% off on all items & catering Cellarmasters Online $50 off first order, 5% off thereafter Cicco Chocolaterie Broadway & Chatswood 15% off food excl. chocolate & 10% off drinks Clipper Café Glebe $0.50 off ALL Coffees Coffee School Haymarket15% off classes+10% off courses Coffee2Home Online $3.50 off per kg of coffee ordered Eagle Boys Newtown 30% off Lrge pizzas. From $7.95 ea. Pick up only Gloria Jeans Bondi Junction 15% off Grill’d Darlinghurst, Crows Nest, Darling Harbour Free small drink or mini chips with any purchase Mon to Wed GuzmanYGomez All NSW locations 10% off Himalayan Chargrill Glebe 15% off lunch & dinner Hoochie Mamma’s Café Missenden Rd 10% off Ice + Slice Newtown 20% off selected items & $4 Tooheys New LYNN Shanghai Cuisine City 20% off food Mon to Thur McDonald’s Stanmore 10% off Oporto Broadway10% off all items Saucepan Café & Restaurant Darlington 15% off meals Sole Expresso Newtown 15% off Sumo Salad Broadway 10% off excl. beverages Taste Newtown 15% off Thai Times 9 Newtown 15% off dinners Uni Thai Glebe 15% off Lunch & Dinner Wendy’s Broadway 15% off hotdogs & hotdog meals Well Connected Glebe 1 free reg sized coffee with any purchase over $10 (1 coffee per Access Card) Ziggy’s Café Broadway 15% off

GOODS & SERVICES Acacia Immigration Sydney $20 off in–house visa consults & 10% off prof fees on applications (up to $200) Acorn Media Online 15% off DVDs + free delivery on orders over $100 Adult English School City15% off 2 hour private lessons & 15% off English language courses Alexander Technique Greg Ford Enmore 30% off $70 45min lesson Alexander Technique The Sydney Alexander School Surry Hills $15 off $80 45min lesson Alan Rigg Repairs Guitars Glebe 15% off services Alfred’s Dry Cleaning & Laundry Newtown 15% off Allans Music & Billy Hyde All stores in NSW 5% off Blackwattle Pottery Ceramic Supplies Ingleburn 15% off Excl. Major Plant & Equipment Blue Dog Posters Newtown 15% off with 2 or more posters Books on King Newtown 20% off Breville, Kambrook & Philips Factory Outlet Redfern/Ultimo 10% off all items including sale items Broadway Dry Cleaners 15% off all services excl. bag wash

Central Coast Proofreading Editing Service Online 15% off Civic Video Newtown Free Weekly with disc. New Release & Free Extra Day on 2 day Game hire Coles Gift Cards Save 5% when purchased at the Access Desk Comtext Online 15% off textbooks & $2.50 shipping for up to 10 books The Costume Shop Waterloo & City 15% off hire section Digital Fun Stuff Ultimo 15% off photography services & free care kit with any Nikon/Cannon/Pentax camera or video camera Electric Velocity Cycle Waterloo & City 20% off bike repairs & servicing, 15% off all new bikes & accessories & 10% off regular & electric bike rental Europcar Sydney 15% off car hire Excel Driving Michael McVickers Camperdown $60 hourly lessons & buy 5 lessons & receive the 6th free Game Broadway 10% off preloved games The Hardware Store Balmain 10% off everything & further disc. for bulk orders IceTV 10% off PC + Mac tuners & 50% off subscription Limelight Magazine Online 12 monthly issues $49.95 ABC Limelight Subscription L Trent Driving School Sydney greater metro 10% off lessons Luggage Bazaar Sydney & Online 15% off Mascot Steel & Tools Mascot 20% off steel, 15% off hardware Newtown Nutrition Newtown 25% off initial consultation & 15% off thereafter Optus World Market City & World Square 15% off all iPhone accessories & 5% off Optus & Boost mobile headsets & recharges Phonecard.com.au 15% Off Phone cards Rentacentre Broadway 1 mth free rental on 6mth+ contract Saul Alexander Online 25% off writing & editing services Sax & Woodwind Camperdown 15% off accessories Simply Gifts Online 15% off SMH 2011 Student Uni Card (Provided by USU with Membership) see Access Desk Till Nov 18: Pick up SMH Mon to Fri by showing SMH Uni Card at participating Access outlets on campus. Till Nov 18: 3day weekend delivery Nov 21toFeb 26 2012: 7day holiday subscription delivered to your home. Sydney Talent Company Ultimo 15% off agency representation, drama classes & tickets to Sydney Playhouse Productions Storage King 14 locations across Sydney 10% off storage rack rate & 20% off boxes & packing materials Tilly’s Art Store Rozelle 15% off items Time Out Sydney Online 6 Issues for $1 World Partea Online Free sampler pack with any order over $12 Offers subject to change. Terms & conditions may apply see AccessBeneﬁts.com.au for details & On Campus Beneﬁts

facebook.com/USUAccess twitter.com/USUAccess

10/20/11 1:46 PM

BULL USUONLINE.COM FEATURE

‘‘TIS THE SEASON

ALEX MCKINNON GIVES YOU THE LOWDOWN ON FIVE OF THE BEST FESTIVALS THIS SUMMER. (LANEWAY DOESN’T COUNT).

ow’s that pre-exam procrastination going? Huddled in your unusually clean room, No doubt the exam period is currently consuming your existence the way it does every year. Chin up; the darkest hour is right before the dawn, as they say. Exams knock off on November 24, after which comes the hallowed summer holidays. No essays, no lectures, no freaking exams, nothing. No Manning, no lounging on the front lawns, no…hmm. Just in case you’ve been living in self-imposed isolation in a cave somewhere, summer is festival season, and this year looks set to be a corker. Play your cards right, prepare properly and sell your non-essential organs and you could mark summer’s great milestones with some serious musical good times.

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BIG DAY OUT Let’s start at the top. The organisers are making a lot of noise about how it’s been 20 years and how great that is, but there’s only one real reason to head to the Sydney Showground on ‘Straya Day next year: Kanye. True to form, the big man ain’t doing sideshows, so catching him involves a trip to the Big Top whether you like it or not. Aside from Yeezy, alt-rock gods Soundgarden and shock hip-hop collective Odd Future, the line-up’s actually kind of thin. Perennial BDOers The Living End and Hilltop Hoods will be there to remind you that they still exist. On the other hand, the Triple J Hottest 100 countdown is always cool. And besides, nothing says national pride like overpriced drinks, stinking hot weather and a stadium packed chock-full of shirtless douchebags wrapped in the Australian flag.

10/20/11 1:46 PM

ISSUE 08 FEATURE

HARVEST FESTIVAL

PEATS RIDGE

Things get a little rosier out west. The new-andimproved Harvest Festival out at Parramatta Park is kicking off in November, and you kind of need to be there. The idea behind it is to recreate the spirit of a traditional European multi-day festival, minus the plague and public hangings. The line-up is solid – Portishead are headlining after a 14-year hiatus, with TV on the Radio, The Flaming Lips and The National set to play as well. Also, no kids allowed, so you’re free to swear loudly, get stupidly drunk and generally act like a twat without having to worry about abuse from the kind of people who take small children to music festivals. The only downside is that technically this is taking place during the exam period, but no-one ever got anywhere without occasionally being a little bit naughty.

If you’re looking for something to do on New Year’s Eve, you could do a lot worse than the three-day hippie love-in that is Peats Ridge. Line-upwise, it’s decent, with everything from the criminally laid-back Xavier Rudd to the supremely-intense Stanton Warriors to ensure the festival runs the gamut of leftfield genres. But the major drawcard is Gotye’s midnight set to ring in the New Year, which is sure to be mind-blowing. Aside from music, Peats has a whole boatload of theatre, art installations, cabaret and workshops where you can learn valuable life skills like bellydancing, crystal bowl healing and ‘dissolving the fields of tension’ (their words). There’s a dedicated Children’s Festival, so expect to see lots of free-spirited kiddies with facepaint running around.

Tickets are pretty hefty if you’re camping, but there’s an easy way around this: volunteer. Peats is run largely on the charity of festival-goers who donate time to help set up in exchange for plum camping spots and discounted tickets next time. Think of it as an investment in future enjoyment - it requires time and money, but it’ll likely pay off in the long run.

“No matter which you pick, remember the four golden rules; memorise where the toilets are, drink water at some point, don’t be a prick and wear lots of sunscreen.”

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BULL USUONLINE.COM FEATURE

SOUNDWAVE Being the home of death-metal, hardcore and general loudness, Soundwave isn’t always to everyone’s taste, but it’s come leaps and bounds in recent years. Once stranded out in the boonies at the Eastern Creek Raceway, the organisers have since made the eminently sensible decision of hosting Soundwave at Olympic Park, a venue with the noted advantage of being close to things and having toilets. The line-up is stacked with bands you’ve never heard of with names like Dragonforce, Zebrahead and Hatebucket (only one of those is fake), but old hard-rock gods like System of a Down and Hole will surely have heads banging. Crowd-wise, Soundwave is a dream; the big hairy Goths that are usually in attendance are surprisingly courteous and respectful, and even the craziest moshpits are full of people who’ll help out anyone who begins to feel overwhelmed. The food is good and even the drinks are only moderately outrageously priced. Check it out.

FUTURE FESTIVAL Further afield, you might want to head down Melbourne way in March next year for the Future Festival. It’s going to be so big it’s being housed at the gargantuan Flemington Racecourse, where the Melbourne Cup stops the nation every year. If Fatboy Slim and The Wombats aren’t enough to drag you over the border, South African hip-hop freakazoids Die Antwoord should. If you don’t know who (or what) Die Antwoord is, you need to put this magazine down, get on Youtube and school yourself. Die Antwoord’s music videos produce a truly unique sensation that comes from being highly amused, confused and profoundly disturbed all at once (there’s probably a word in German for that somewhere). The timing’s a bit unfortunate, what with uni starting the preceding week, but whatever. Like Harvest, technically you should be doing stuff to further your education and career prospects, but it’ll be during first week. And besides, you’ll need something to look back on fondly this time next year as exams consume you once again. See you then.

BIG DAY OUT THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2012. Sydney Showground Tickets $175.80 ea.

HARVEST FESTIVAL SUNDAY 13 NOVEMBER Parramatta Park Tickets $169.10 ea.

PEATS RIDGE THURSDAY 29 DECEMBER SUNDAY 1 JANUARY Glenworth Valley Tickets from $142.80-$334.60 ea.

SOUNDWAVE SYDNEY SUNDAY 26 FEBRUARY. Sydney Olympic Park Tickets on sale October 20.

FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL SUNDAY 11 MARCH Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne Tickets from $135-$290 ea.

GENERAL TIPS Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Aussie festivals are freaking expensive these days – Splendour 2011 was rated the most expensive music festival in the world - so you’re going to have to pick wisely. Unless you have generous parents or a lucrative pot-growing gig running out of your bedroom cupboard, you’re going to need to work your little bum off to afford more than one. No matter which you pick, remember the four golden rules; memorise where the toilets are, drink water at some point, don’t be a prick and wear lots of sunscreen. No doubt some of these festivals have sold out by the time you read this, but if you don’t have the determination to scalp, scab, charm, vault or smuggle your way into a music festival, you need to have a good long look at yourself.

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ISSUE 08 STUDENT LIFESTYLE

STUDENT LIFESTYLE

Around the World ALEX MCKINNON INTRODUCES YOU TO GLOBE, SYDNEY UNI’S NEWEST STUDENT PUBLICATION.

ot to toot our own horn, but Bull Magazine’s kind of a big deal.You knew that already, but what you might not know is next year there’s going to be a new kid on the block. Bull’s being joined by a brandnew student magazine on campus. It’s called Globe, and it’ll be written about, for and by Sydney Uni’s international students.

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A bit of backstory first. Basically, there are two major student publications at Sydney Uni: Bull Magazine, which is published by the Union, and Honi Soit, which is published by the offices of the Students’ Representative Council. This has been the way, more or less, for yonks. Bull Mag has only been around for a decade or so, for much of that time as nothing more than a humble single-page daily leaflet listing Union activities and events, but in 2006 The Bull was expanded into a magazine to replace the Union Recorder, the Union’s traditional publication that ended its life in 2008 as a yearbook. This two-paper system has worked pretty well for a very long time. Between them, Bull Mag and Honi don’t miss much; they’re able to cover a pretty decent amount of what’s happening on campus and give budding writers a chance to get published. Both have reputations for being funny, engaging, and informative about important stuff that happens on and off campus. There’s a gap in the publications spectrum on campus however: the large gap where international students lie. There are over 10,000 international students at Sydney Uni - a massive number, but their voices often have difficulty being heard. It’s disappointingly rare to see international students and international student issues published in traditional student publications, for a number of reasons. There’s the language barrier; both Bull and Honi can be pretty damn punny (see there?), which is fine, but that kind of writing style can be difficult to understand for students who speak English as a

second language. Historically, there’s never been a student-run publication wholly dedicated to lifting the lid on issues that international students care about. Until now. Globe is the brainchild of Xiaohan (Sophie) Zhang, a second-year MediaCommunications student from Jining, China, and officially came into being back in March. “It’s been a big learning curve,” Sophie says. “Everything was completely from scratch. Most of us had never worked in magazines before.” It paid off, though; after six months of lecturebashing, contributor call-outs, frantic late-night meetings and general nonsense, the first issue of Globe was finally launched in September, with the 28-page magazine printed out and handdelivered all over campus. It was a completely grassroots effort, put together entirely by students from all over, with nothing in common except a desire to produce a quality magazine for- and by- Sydney Uni’s international students. Sophie is well-pleased with the results. “With a 50/50 split between content written by domestic and international students, Globe’s hoping to build understanding and friendships between students of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds and embrace the diversity of student’s voices.” The September launch could have been the end for Globe; it took almost a year to put out the first issue, and funding came largely from the USU’s Kickstart Grants program. Thankfully, Globe’s currently in negotiations with the Union to become a fully-fledged student publication in 2012, with regular issues and a big-kid budget. Keep an eye out for it next year; with a little work and a little luck, Globe is here to stay. Disclosure: Alex McKinnon is an editor and founding member of Globe.

20/10/11 2:02 PM

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY UNION AWARDS 2011

HONORARY LIFE MEMBERSHIP JOHN BLOUNT

UNION BLUE WINNERS ANSHU DE SILVA WIJEYERATNE BRIDIE CONNELL CAMERON CREIGH COURTNEY TIGHT LUKE LIANG MARINA LAUER PATRICK BATEMAN

CHANCELLOR’S AWARD FOR MOST OUTSTANDING DEBATER 2011 TIM MOONEY

CLUBS AND SOCIETIES BEST CLUB OVER 100 MEMBERS BEAT THE SYSTEM

CLUBS AND SOCIETIES BEST CLUB UNDER 100 MEMBERS SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

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10/20/11 1:48 PM

ISSUE 08 TRAVEL

COUNTRY TIBET

On the Roof of the World OLIVIA GAO SIPS SOME YAK TEA AND TAKES IN THE VIEW FROM THE TOP.

ibet is a country with stunning scenery, a lively culture and fascinating history that awaits you. When you ooh and ah at the sight of the elaborate tomb of the 13th Dalai Lama, remember, that’s one tonne of solid gold and priceless jewels staring back at you.

While you’re at it, you should also marvel at breathtaking mountain and lake views, but beware: you may be prodded by a lady carrying a squirming lamb. Don’t worry; she just wants to know if you’d like to pose with the lamb—a small fee for some very cute photos.Your driver-cumtour guide will also insist on taking a ‘shortcut’ through a swampy marsh to Mt Everest. Sinking to your death is also a very real possibility. My advice: just squeeze your eyes shut and pretend it’s not happening. If you’re wondering how to ask (and you will): ‘is this safe?’ to a local, most Tibetans, particularly the younger generations, speak English and Mandarin, and are incredibly friendly and welcoming. However, it’s wise to hire a guide. A driver with a car is the safest choice, and will make your travels through some rough terrain a lot smoother. It will also mean you can avoid the hassle of lines at tourist spots because they’ll arrange your tickets, and they’ll also be a helpful medium between you and the locals. Guides can also provide insightful commentary about Tibetan culture during trips. For instance, they’ll readily enlighten you about what the rainbow-coloured flags, strewn around the countryside, are actually there for. Apparently, these ‘prayer’ flags are inscribed with symbols and mantras, scattered around so the wind can carry its beneficial prayers across the countryside. Fun fact right there. Pilgrimage is a traditional part of Buddhist society and Tibetans will often give these weary travellers alms. However, beware that some beggars may take advantage of this and target startled foreigners for money, sweets, and other gifts. If planning to make a donation, a) try and keep the amount to a minimum, b) do it very discreetly, and c) escape before a whole swarm descends upon you. You also need to prepare yourself for a whole lot of yak delicacies.Yak burgers, yak steaks, yak yoghurt, yak stir-fries, yak curries… just to name a few. A drink that is constantly offered is yak butter tea, which tastes a bit like watery, liquid cheese. Perhaps something of an acquired taste. Just try not to squirm too much when you see the locals chugging the stuff down, because it’s actually hailed as a drink that combats high-altitude sickness and helps to moisturise chapped lips. Of course, being the Roof of the World, the high altitudes can pose a bit of a worry. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know how your body will react to this until you’re actually there. Some aren’t affected at all; others develop killer migraines and experience energy loss. Fret not, oxygen is sold throughout Tibet and there’s also medicine to counter the worst

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TRAVEL

effects of acclimatisation sickness. However, it’s said that the fitter you are, the worse you will be affected by the altitude… so it may just be a handy excuse for you to stop hitting the gym a few months before you go. Excitement edged with trepidation is what makes Tibet so exhilarating. But don’t be concerned; instead, take a big gulp of oxygen and embrace the rich culture, beautiful scenery, and lovely people that will make your trip to Tibet an absolutely unforgettable experience.

10/20/11 1:48 PM

BULL USUONLINE.COM FASHION

Everything Old is New Again PAUL KARP REVISITS POPULAR FASHION REVIVALS.

iamonds are forever, and everything does look good with black. But there is a truth in the fashion world even more universally acknowledged than these: that if you hold on to something long enough, it is bound to come back into fashion. The way we interact with the aesthetic choices of past generations is truly fascinating. At times, we cringe. Did people really think that fluoro clothes and permed hair looked good in the 80s? But at other times, we experience a moving nostalgia, and a desire to express ourselves through the symbols and styles of the past. A few decades have recently been experiencing retro revivals. Have these trends, once revived, made us even more ridiculously good looking, or should they have been left behind and forgotten? You decide. 1920S As Baz Luhrmann rolls into town to remake The Great Gatsby, there has been a noticeable corresponding surge in demand for 1920s fashion. Sydney has always had an affinity for the Roaring Twenties, because of its cosmopolitan nature and the confidence provided by sustained prosperity and the natural beauty of the harbour. Roaring Twenties themes have long been a common party theme, so most Sydneysiders know a flapper when they see one, but with the excitement surrounding the movie, which will feature Leonardo Di Caprio as Gatsby, suddenly the whole trend has gone into overdrive. The main advance in fashion in the 1920s was the liberation of women from the strictures of Victorian era clothing. Flappers, a new breed of young Western woman, eschewed the corset, popularised short hair for women and sported raised skirt and gown hemlines. Men’s clothing also became less formal, with shorter jacket and trouser leg lengths.

1980S The 1980s is the surest test of the theory that everything old will be new again. It is a much maligned decade in terms of fashion. It featured some of the most divisive styles: denim on denim; pierced ears; Hawaiian shirts; frizzy perms; wild colours; and broad shoulder pads, to name a few. And yet, with the turn of the decade after the noughties, the 80s is suddenly long enough ago that it officially qualifies for the title of retro. Should people be reaching for that denim jacket? I am convinced that the revival of 80s garb is a testament to the good humour and fierce sense of irony of Generation Y. The phrase ‘so bad, it’s good’ springs to mind. Why else would anybody voluntarily choose to look like an extra at Scott and Charlene’s wedding? Interestingly, while some fashion eras have had relatively constant appeal, such as 1960s fashion which has been worn ever since by at least some subcultures like the Mods, the 80s is not so popular across time. This is a good indication that even ironic outings dressed as Rick Astley will be frowned on in future.

1960S Sixties style has always had a relatively constant following. What is interesting about the resurgence of 1950s and 1960s fashion this time is that an already popular retro style has been given new life by a new pop cultural impetus. In this case, it was the huge runaway success of TV series Mad Men. Set in the 1960s and based around an advertising agency in New York, Mad Men displays an obsessive attention to detail that recreates the period’s aesthetic with impressive fidelity. The features of its fashion influence are the renewed popularity of men’s suits, particularly with higher waistbands and shorter jackets. For women, the fashion trends include blouses with bows; pleated skirts; ‘cat’ eyes and light shades of lipstick.

CONCLUSION Why the sudden desire to wear the look of any generation but your own? To some, the success of the retro industry is a death knell for the originality and uniqueness of our own era. On the other hand, imitation of retro styles demonstrates a high degree of cultural literacy and gives dedicated followers of fashion many possible starting points in time from which to craft their own image. The plurality of styles demonstrates our generation’s postmodern sensibilities, with all styles seen as equally valid, we have a pastiche of styles that can play out in indefinite combinations.You almost certainly didn’t hear it here first: everything old is new again.

FASHION

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20/10/11 2:02 PM

ISSUE 08 FOOD & BOOZE

FOOD & BOOZE

orget drink-driving. The late-night alcohol-fuelled phenomenon you should be worried about is drinkeating. Quite frankly, when you’ve taken down and passed around those 99 bottles of beer on the wall, the next thing you’ll logically want to reach for is a kebab. Road safety is no laughing matter and nor is your diminished dignity and willpower as you wolf down that cheeseburger. How much more of our health can we continue to compromise, how many more years must be decimated from our collective lifespan, how much more pride must be swallowed, before we realise drinkeating is single-handedly destroying Australia’s nights out?

Drink-Eating: Stop. Eat. Repeat. XIAORAN SHI LOOKS TO SCIENCE TO EXPLAIN HER 3AM GREASE FIX. Science has no concrete answer as to why we crave high-calorie foods after consuming alcohol, which is itself a high-calorie beverage. It’s easy to forget that beer especially does no favours for the figure. A schooner is usually worth approximately 200 calories - roughly equivalent to a slice of pizza. Common sense would inform us that food cravings should be curbed by our rising liquid calorie intake. However, this is far from the truth. The correlation between alcohol consumption and hunger is strongly established. Studies show that any more than half a pint is enough to interfere with our reasoning for managing food intake; beyond four standard drinks the only thing standing between you and Kentucky Fried Chicken is a restraining order. Drink-eating is less a matter of satisfying appetite, and more a loss of self-discipline. It explains the array of strange and devious behaviours that emerge during inebriation, and irresponsible eating is no different. The cognitive

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impairment from intoxication is not only dangerous when it comes to operating heavy machinery, but also for our health. A handy mnemonic might be: shit happens when you’re drunk. Harking back to first-year psychology, correlation does not equal causation. Why we only crave the non-existent ‘deep fried’ section of the food pyramid is still in dispute. Our affinity for feasting on junk we’d never touch in a sober state could simply be explained by our aforementioned lack of discipline; but this does not appear to be the entire story. One possible reason for our drunken love of the kebab is the interaction of alcohol and our neurochemistry. Drinking temporarily raises levels of serotonin, which is responsible for the regulation of mood and appetite, before lowering them dramatically. Prolonged depletion of serotonin is linked to obesity and the onset of mood disorders, whereas in the short-term, as occurs on a night out drinking, it acts as an appetite stimulant and we consequently crave fatty foods because they release a short burst of serotonin. By the same token, a study conducted by the University of Manchester found that participants exposed to ‘sad’ stimuli reported greater levels of hunger than those exposed to ‘neutral’ stimuli. The subjects were then found to

be less affected by the ‘sad’ stimuli when injected with a fatty acid solution. Whether you’re drowning your sorrows, or just suffering from a transitory beer-low, foods high in sugars and simple carbohydrates are guaranteed to lift your spirits for a moment or two. (Can you claim Tim-Tams on Medicare?) Last but not least, other researchers have found that the more vividly you can envision your food fantasy, the more likely you are to succumb to it. So when you stumble out of a dim room with sticky floors on George Street to be confronted by the neon lights and mouth-watering aromas of a fast food franchise, resistance is futile. It’s no coincidence that it’s when your serotonin levels are low and lack self-control, that Ronald McDonald whispers your name with a beckoning finger. The war has begun. To this assault on our senses, sensibilities and waistlines, Australia must say no. Oh, and uh, drink responsibly, kids.

DRUNK FOODS AROUND THE WORLD The kebab isn’t the only earlyearly breakfast out there. POUTINE (CANADA): Cheese curds on a bed of hot chips, swimming in gravy. The Canadians know how to do greasy in style, eh? CURRYWURST (GERMANY): Sausages, chopped up, and smothered with a ketchup-infused curry sauce. Curry worst? POMMES FRITES (BELGIUM): Thickly-cut, twicefried potato chips served with mayonnaise. Belgium’s answer to America’s Freedom Fries. GYROS (GREECE): A cousin of the doner kebab, souvlaki lamb served with tzatziki, chips and salad (a lettuce leaf) in thick pita bread. Greece’s greasy best.

20/10/11 2:02 PM

BULL USUONLINE.COM ENVIRONMENT

ENVIRONMENT G

et ready for one immense delivery a whale baby boom is expected over the next few months. According to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, a large number of whales will be bringing their calves home to Antarctica as they move slowly down the east coast, forming a kind of ‘whale nursery’. Volunteer counters at Cape Solander logged a 17 per cent increase in the number of whales that migrated north earlier this year for the breeding season and it is believed these whales will tow with them a correspondingly increased number of calves. Officials also believe an increase in the number of stranded humpbacks washed ashore is evidence of a population boom as older humpbacks Magnificent marine creatures, humpback whales possess distinct markings on the undersides simply die due to natural of their tails in an area known as the ‘fluke’. causes. Collecting photographs of humpback whales’

A Whale of a Time KIRA SPUCYS-TAHAR EXPLAINS THE SECRET TO WHALE CONSERVATION IS A FLUKE.

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tails hold the key to identifying each whale with their completely unique fluke and assisting scientists in learning more about the mammals’ migration patterns, travel speeds and family groups. As scientists are able to build a database of images, they can recognises the differences in shapes of fluke and track pods as they journey from the icy waters of Antarctica to the warmer breeding grounds in the central Great Barrier Reef. The aim of scientists in Australia is to take their findings to international whaling forums as further evidence that whale sanctuaries are beneficial to the ecological environment and to pressure other nations into agreeing to a moratorium on whaling. The International Whaling Commission was set up in 1946 under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling and has 89 members. Its main duty is to review and revise measures that govern protection and conservation of various whale species and procedures associated with scientific research and killing operations. The Commission meets

each year, usually in May or June, to discuss limitations and restrictions on hunting whales and the potential for new sanctuary declaration zones. There continues to be a divide in opinion between those in Australia and nations where whale meat is considered a culturally-important delicacy, such as Japan, Norway and Iceland. According to Iceland’s Whale Commissioner at this year’s global whaling forum, watching and hunting whales are compatible industries where, “Many of the tourists that go on whale-watching tours go to restaurants afterwards to taste whale meat.” However many other representatives, especially those from South America, Australia and New Zealand, argue that income from tourism and non-invasive whale-watching has the potential to outperform the value of the contested practice of commercial whaling. In fact, a study published in 2010 in the journal Marine Policy said whale tourism generated more than two billion US dollars in 2009 and was on track to increase by around 10 per cent a year. Those who have seen the earth’s largest beings frolic in their natural environment say it is an experience that entertains and inspires awe. They are highly-intelligent creatures, which have been known to teach, learn, cooperate, scheme, and even grieve. A new conservation approach, backed by solid research, to prove we can still make money from whales – not as dinner, but the show, could be the key to saving the gentle giants of the sea.

20/10/11 2:02 PM

ISSUE 08 SCIENCE & TECH

B THUM ! UP

Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts

BEST U CAN BUY

LOVED IT

100%

, ECT F R PE IMHO

10/10

5 STARS

ZOM GOODG! SO !1!

ADAM FARROW-PALMER DISCOVERED SOME SNEAKY ONLINE MARKETING TACTICS WHEN CLEANING OUT HIS COOKIES.

SCIENCE & TECH I

f you say: ‘online marketing’, most people think of banner ads, unskippable videos and popups. While that doesn’t sound all too complex, there is a huge, hidden layer of highlyprofessional promotion occurring on the interwebs that is far more insidious. Some of the most effective forms of advertising work because you don’t realise you’re being sold something – that is the premise behind this covert style of online marketing. This power of peer recommendation and rating systems is becoming more clear to brands, and has lead to new tactics to boost their supposed consumer satisfaction.

INTERWEBS GLOSSARY ASTROTURFING Movements started by political or commercial organisations, pretending to be ‘grassroots’. EDIT WAR When contributors to a wiki change the article back and forth because they disagree. MEAT PUPPET Someone recruited for an online cause for a specific agenda. NFD Nomination for Deletion (Wikipedia). REDDIT Don’t go there, you’ll never finish your essay. SEO Search Engine Optimisation - aka getting to the top of Google results. SOCK PUPPET A fake identity created to artificially bolster the numbers behind an agenda. TROLLING The act of providing false definitions for internet-related jargon with the aim of causing the reader eventual humiliation.

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It is important to be vigilant with any online recommendation, even an innocuous looking, ad-free blog could be the work of a Junior Marketing Assistant. Be wary of review aggregators and of fora. Did your favourite music blog profile that band because they like them, or because they struck a deal with the label? Faith in travel-review site, TripAdvisor is in rapid decline when it was discovered hotel marketing staff themselves were flooding the site, trying to knock out their competition with bad ratings and improve their own image. Tobacco companies have been accused of ‘dark marketing’ – subtly delivering positive messages about smoking or their brand. YouTube recently noticed a suspiciously high number of videos featuring attractive young women smoking cigarettes. It’s not just brands, but political parties and ideological groups who try and bend the information stream in their favour. Since its inception, Wikipedia has seen Orwellian re-writes to favour certain parties, sometimes leading to an ‘edit war’ where pages can be reverted, locked or voted upon. When Sarah Palin bungled the answer to a question regarding Paul Revere this year, an army of supporters attempted to change history on Wikipedia, hoping to make her look less foolish. They were unsuccessful. China’s Ministry of Culture meanwhile trains thousands of citizens for the ‘50 Cent Party’ to promote the government’s interests by posting on forums and news groups under strict party guidance. Last year, the US Air Force solicited for programmers to build ‘Persona Management Software’ to operate a small army of fake, but convincing social media identities. One can only guess what they would be used for. The ‘Jewish Internet Defense Force’ is quite open about their goals, though you may not know where they have been operating. The organisation mobilises large groups to fight anti-

Semitism and promote Israel on social networks and via email campaigns. Then there’s the ‘Astroturfing’ ploy, where a small entity creates numerous profiles to manufacture a grass-roots campaign. While much of this is still happening covertly, there are plenty of unique and imaginative examples where this unconventional marketing was revealed. Take the bizarre case of DecorMyEyes. com. Here was an online eyewear retailer that intentionally treated customers poorly to improve their Google page rank. Those who purchased from the site were so incensed they would leave many strongly-worded reviews all over the web. This emphasised the link between the product and the brand in Google’s algorithm and boosted the site to the first page of results for common spectacle-related search terms. While it went against everything written in traditional retail lore, it nonetheless worked. The NewYork Times eventually caught wind and published an exposé, which effectively spoiled DecorMyEye’s plans. They are still in business, however. Users on popular content aggregators such as Reddit can be susceptible to a cry for help like ‘I’ve been looking everywhere for product x, can you help?’. The decline of a similar site, ‘Digg’ was partly blamed on the excessive clout held by a small group of ‘power users’. In 2006 a group called the ‘Digg Patriots’ were outed for a concerted effort to promote conservative values and bury left-wing content. There is an upside to this unconventional online presence – many corporations such as Optus and even Woolworths actively listen out for complaints published via social media networks and may contact people to try and fix their problem. In the UK, Virgin are a leader in online customer service, setting up a team on Twitter (known as the ‘tweam’) dedicated to directly handling complaints by reaching out to the complainer – rather than the other way around. The web today is all about opinion and recommendation – but you should always remain sceptical. When you come across suspect content, ask yourself who has made it and what their intention was. Things aren’t always as they appear.

20/10/11 2:02 PM

BULL USUONLINE.COM ENTERTAINMENT

After Dark PAUL KARP SURVEYS THE FUTURE OF LATE NIGHT ENTERTAINMENT IN SYDNEY.

lover Moore became the arch nemesis of the Australian Hotels Association with two simple ideas: first, that people wanted smaller, more intimate places to drink; and second, that sometimes people want to be entertained by more than just alcohol. The first limb was achieved with amendments to the Liquor Act in 2008, which reduced the cost and procedural difficulty of getting a liquor license for venues serving 120 patrons or fewer. In the first 18 months, 20 small bars were approved, more than when licensing laws were changed at first in Melbourne and Perth, and the innovation of new, small bar owners has continued apace. The second change, to increase entertainment options, has proved more difficult, probably because it requires a cultural change in what we expect when we go out. What is the future of late night entertainment in our city?

ENTERTAINMENT JURASSIC LOUNGE Every Tuesday evening over winter, the Australian Museum threw open its doors with art, live music and a chance to see a new side of the museum. Jurassic Lounge had a summer session in March and April and was back for a second run over winter from August to September. Drinks were sold, but drinking was not the point of the activity. The Jurassic Lounge sessions featured many special events, such as live DJs or acoustic sessions, light shows and even a silent disco. The summer program attracted 800 to 1,000 people each night, and up to 2,000 in the final nights. Most importantly attendees were overwhelmingly that hard-to-trap 18-35 year-old demographic, who don’t normally go to museums. The music and live acts did seem a bit feeble, but it was a fun excuse to revisit the museum, be excited by dinosaur skeletons and look at the pretty colours of their precious gemstones. Just don’t expect a rave, it ain’t gonna happen.

VIVID FESTIVAL Vivid is a highly successful festival of light and music that brings the CBD alive late at night for three weeks in early June. Perhaps the most iconic images of the festival are the light projections on the Opera House, which boldly announce the festival to commuters and passersby, and transform a familiar (if already beautiful) urban landscape. Vivid is one of the best things to do in

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SO WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE?

Sydney after dark, but since it is only around three weeks in a year, it tends to shine an unintentional light upon the fact the city is somewhat lacking at other times.

ARTS AND CULTURE So far, cultural institutions that open later are the exception rather than the rule. Surry Hills Library trialled opening to midnight this year until the end of May, although the closing time is back to 10:30pm now. The evening program of activities was designed for adults only and included talks, workshops, musical performances and film screenings. On any given night you might get a reading of a ghost story or a talk by a leading sex expert. That’s what I call progress. Other cultural institutions are less flexible. The latest time the Art Gallery of New South Wales stays open is 9pm on a Wednesday. Enough time for suits to get a hit of culture after work, but not exactly a night out.

Clover Moore is undertaking widespread community consultation about the changes we’d like to see in our city. There are some eminently achievable possible rule changes, like later curfews to allow footpath dining. These are nevertheless likely to be contentious because most planning and licensing laws are designed to balance different uses of land, so making the city fun for the rest of us is likely to inconvenience other groups, for example residents of the CBD. This is presumably why I am shushed by bouncers in the line at Pocket on a Friday night. Unfortunately, perhaps the most necessary changes are also the hardest. Better public transport would allow more people into the CBD, more often and give them the luxury of leaving later. Also, by unclogging roads, better public transport can encourage more pedestrian traffic, which is one of the prime motivations for light rail being extended up to George and Oxford Streets. But most of all, a change in culture is needed. Many of the City of Sydney’s laws are already very reasonable and enlightened. For example, busking is already allowed until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. The more citizens of the city take up the entertainment options already available to them, the more they will be supplied.

20/10/11 2:02 PM

COMING UP PAPA VS PRETTY & THE VASCO ERA

28 OCT

+ GLASS TOWERS

THE CASUALTIES (USA)

11 NOV

+ TOPNOVIL + THE RUMJACKS

19 NOV

1 DEC

6 DEC

THE CONGOS (JAMAICA) + MAD PROFESSOR (UK) + FIREHOUSE

MISFITS (USA) MUDHONEY (USA) + THE HOLY SOUL + THE TREATMENT

MANNINGBAR.COM USUONLINE.COM

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20/10/11 2:02 PM

BULL USUONLINE.COM REVIEWS

REVIEWS FILM INNOCENT SATURDAY ALEKSANDR MINDADZE

GIG FILM COUNTER REVOLUTION FESTIVAL JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN BIG TOP, LUNA PARK OLIVER PARKER

FILM SUBMARINE RICHARD AYOADE

Nominated for the 2011 Golden Berlin Bear award, Aleksandr Mindadze’s film Innocent Saturday screened in Sydney as part of ‘Russian Resurrection’. Oleg Mutu’s cinematography is appropriately fast-paced and claustrophobic as we are immediately thrown into the aftermath of that fateful Chernobyl disaster of 1986. Just like the crisis itself, the film begins with an explosive revelation and slowly descends into madness. In the film, we witness the difficulties encountered by a white-collar worker in his hopeless struggle for escape. Valera Kabysh, played by the intriguing Anton Shagin (Russia’s very own Joseph Gordon Levitt), is not your typical protagonist. As a member of the Soviet Communist Party, he is defiant, yet ultimately submissive to fate. Through the bounding footsteps of Kabysh, a sense of urgency is developed, akin to the edgy opening of The Bourne Ultimatum. Escape finally appears through the form of a local wedding, as in a facade of drunken smiles the disaster is slowly forgotten. However, despite the oblivious merriment, freedom is never truly realised, and the film regrettably does not fulfil its promise. But, as SBS has shown time and time again, and is the case with Innocent Saturday, when it comes to foreign films, sometimes it’s about more than just the bang.

Soundwave’s Counter Revolution is a mini-festival featuring bands on varying ends of the rock, punk-pop genre scale. But even given the wide spectrum, every band, from HelloGoodbye to The Damned Things, gave an amazing performance to a highly receptive and energetic crowd. Some minor planning faults occurred, such as a lack of water for the front of the mosh and staff seemingly unaware about signing times. The event ran smoothly, though, and the important part of the day, the music, was faultless. The headliners, All Time Low and Panic! At the Disco gave everything they could give and more to a crowd that had waited over 12 hours to see them. An exhausted crowd seemingly renewed its energy to classics from the bands including ‘Jasey Rae’ and ‘I Write Sins not Tragedies’. Counter Revolution was a one-time event for Soundwave Touring that, for a fan of pop-punk and rock, most certainly paid off. The day’s standouts were HelloGoodbye, The Damned Things, and of course, All Time Low and Panic! at the Disco. An understated but brilliant set were the largely unknown This Providence. The festival was an amazing day that though seemingly slightly under planned, provided an amazing platform to see bands that would not have otherwise been seen in Australia.

It seems that the newest trend for Hollywood comedies is to mercilessly whip the stock standard guy-meets-girl plot line, so you could be forgiven for thinking that Johnny English Reborn would be just another of the many nails in the coffin of modern comedy. That may be why the quirky original Johnny English, starring the eternally funny Rowan Atkinson of Blackadder and Mr Bean fame, was so refreshing, bringing us back to classic slapstick, genuine situational comedy and ironic cultural references all in the one sitting. No mean feat. The sequel lives up to, and in places even surpasses its predecessor. Once-hero Johnny English has been forcibly retired and is learning the obscure and painful ways of the Tibetan monks. As English is called out of retirement on a new mission, we follow his romp around the world. Following false lead after another, his well-meaning clumsiness grows on you as it did in the first film. The lovableness of English is what makes you laugh throughout the film at the smallest of things, from sight gags to raunchy sexual puns. The plot, although a bit slow to start, is always engaging, and the acting is all superb. The critics didn’t like the first one, and probably won’t like this one. But watching Atkinson on screen makes it an easy and genuinely funny film to watch.

A coming of age tale about a 15-year-old schoolboy from 1980s Swansea certainly doesn’t seem the gripping material that great films are made of; but when that material is in the hands of the brilliant Richard Ayoade the result is something spectacular. Better known as Moss in The I.T Crowd, Ayoade has switched from being in front of the camera to behind it in his directorial debut Submarine. As the title suggests, the film deals with how humans stop themselves from drowning under the weight of day-to-day living and does so with the perfect balance between hilarious and sentimental moments. Based on the novel of the same name by Joe Dunthorne, Submarine explores the life of Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts), who is trying to save his parents’ sexless marriage whilst attempting to consummate with his new girlfriend Jordana (Yasmin Paige). Oliver is a brilliant character: a teenage boy convinced he is one of the great minds of the 20th century but who is, in reality, isolated and unpopular. His relationship with Jordana is beautifully abstract and both actors prove themselves to be great new talents. Submarine is the perfect example of independent filmmaking at its best. It is a thoroughly enjoyable nostalgic vision of the awkward teenage years we’d all rather forget.

CASEY CUNNINGHAM

STUART BRYAN

GRACE O’NEILL

DANIEL PAPERNY

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20/10/11 2:02 PM

ISSUE 08 REVIEWS

Watch The Throne Jay-Z and Kanye West

PIERCE HARTIGAN

On paper, this album is incredible. It comprises of a double-bill of the two biggest names in hip-hop, amazing guest producers and cameos, which include everyone from Justin Vernon to The Neptunes (yet again), and some of the most audacious (and, no doubt, expensive) samples ever attempted. Even so, there’s something ultimately unsatisfying about this album. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with WTT – it’s still basically another solid album from the Kanye West factory, but after the lavishness of Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, probably the closest hip-hop will ever get to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, there’s a noticeable musical dullness to most of Watch the Throne. Perhaps it’s due to the death of autotune schtick Jay-Z is carrying with him after The Blueprint 3, or the lack of Kanye’s usual anthemry in the album. The dark and brooding tension the producers have devised on WTT gets tedious after a while. Despite this, as a single to hang this album on, ‘Otis’ is the kind of punch in the face attention-grabber that fans deserved from this release. Why this obvious opener is buried half way through the album is somewhat of a mystery. With a potentially blasphemous Otis Redding sample and an energetic ‘we’re-quite-good-aren’t-we’ vibe, ‘The Throne’ are clearly enjoying telling the world about how great they are. Whilst this is a theme that is sustained throughout the album, it’s a pity the music couldn’t say that for itself as convincingly. Watch The Throne has some strong moments, ‘Made In America’ and ‘Murder to Excellence’ for its soul and ‘Who Gon’ Stop Me’ for outstanding use of pig latin in hip-hop, but overall this album is unlikely to endure the test of time in the way BP3 and MBDTF will. Perhaps when it comes to hip-hop, two isn’t better than one.

GAME

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Square Enix ROBERT NORTH

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In the gaming world, sequel or prequel releases are typically regarded as attempts to cash in on past successes. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is this year’s latest big sequel release (or in this case, prequel), which has fortunately not needed to ride on the coat tails of previous releases, having earned success on its own right. Set in the near future, the player assumes the role of Adam Jensen, a security specialist for a bio-medical corporation who is reluctantly fitted with artificial limbs and enhancements following a mysterious attack on his workplace. The story develops according to the dialogue choices and decisions of the player, and can be navigated with several approaches in mind. Choice is the key feature of Deus Ex. Players may blast their way through enemies in modern first-person shooter fashion, or those who would prefer to not be seen can sneak by enemies, behind cover and through ventilation shafts, in gameplay reminiscent of the Metal Gear Solid series. Whilst higher difficulties and later levels generally

require a combination of these gameplay styles, it’s possible to play a radically different Deus Ex to that of your friend. The series also draws heavily on the neonoir film genre, particularly Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. The game’s world is morally-corrupt and rife with crime, set in the shady underbelly of the future. Dark city streets are drowned out by the shadows of towering skyscrapers which are bathed in the sepia afterglow of neon light. Rarely does a game’s aesthetic also mirror its thematic concerns so brilliantly. Ethical concerns regarding the development of bio-medical technology and the supremacy of powerful corporations are central to the game’s plot. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is massive to say the least. This review barely scratches the surface. It is a deep and multifaceted game that appeals broadly to action and role-playing fans alike. A must play.

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ISSUE 08 MINDGAMES

CROSSWORD 1

20 22

SUDOKU

2 ACROSS

DOWN

08 09 10 11 12 13 17 18 22 24 25 26

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 14 15 16 19 20 21 23

Makes known (9) Flightless bird (3) Reason out (5) Frozen water spears (7) Substitute (5-2) Requests (4) Form of precipitation (4) Improve in appearance (7) Solace (7) Acquires (5) State of matter (3) Disgusting (9)

Fourth month (5) Small pieces of coloured paper (8) Blatant; obvious (7) Minimal bathing suit (6) Up and about (5) Head covering (4) Remain alive (7) Explicit (8) The Windy City (7) Easily broken (7) Incentive (6) Accumulate (5) Custom (5) Source of inspiration (4)

6 8 9 2 6 7 9 8

7 3

2 1 4 5 7 4 7 6 4 5 2 1 8 3 6

CALCUDOKU

WORD PYRAMID

10+

12x

10+

Frozen water 6x

Heroic poem

6รท

Flavouring Sign of the zodiac

30x 1-

12x 7+

Distinct sort or kind

1รท

22+

Overshadows 10x

Invaluable

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ISSUE 08 THE BULL PEN

THE BULL PEN How To Graduate ARE YOU IN YOUR EIGHTH YEAR OF AN ARTS DEGREE? DO YOU KNOW WHO ANGUS MCFARLAND IS? DOES YOUR STUDENT ID START WITH 2? MISA HAN TELLS YOU HOW TO CUT THE TERTIARY UMBILICAL CORD WITH A GUIDE ON HOW TO GRADUATE.

DON’T

GET A JOB Getting a real job is the first step to graduation. Preferably, the job involves a suit, a haircut of some sort and an employer who doesn’t hire Arts students. The 80-hour week will keep you away from your ‘friends’, who repeatedly told you that doing a PhD in Eastern European poetry was a good idea (even the one with three contact hours a week). The job has to be a real one: coaching debating at your old high school, taking notes for Student Services, editing Honi Soit and running for SRC positions don’t count.

JOIN CLUBS AND SOCIETIES You have been at uni for six years; you have been the Events Officer, Schools Liaison Officer, Treasurer, Vice-President and President of the UN Society and you are about to become the Immediate PastPresident/General dogsbody who does all the job because the current President is useless/ unmotivated. Initially you will experience withdrawal symptoms such as auditing all your expenses and giving people Access discounts at your birthday party, but once you get over the symptoms you will be surprised at how much time you have for things like laundry and grocery shopping.

SIGN OFF FACEBOOK How many hours have you wasted fist pumping at the number of ‘likes’ on your comments and comments to comments? Or RSVP’d to all the events that you weren’t invited to? Or accidentally slipped to your secret crush that you know that his favourite band is Wilco? Then it’s time to call Facebook quits and join LinkedIn.

BUY TAKEAWAY COFFEE Are you getting too friendly with the Big Brother Guy? Do you know every member of the Ultimate Frisbee team? Then you are spending too much time having coffee sitting down. Next time you need your daily intake of caffeine, get a takeaway coffee and drink it while practising an elevator pitch in front of a mirror.

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READ STUDENT PUBLICATIONS Reading student publications will make you believe that student elections should be conducted via hologram when a sign-up sheet would suffice. Be university illiterate. Next time you head off to Manning, resist the urge to get your dose of Honi Soit and Bull Magazine.

TAKE HONOURS University lecturers and tutors will encourage anyone who can read and write to do Honours. They will waive the prerequisite courses, the credit average requirement, and any other safeguards that prevent people from getting second-class honours. Instead, do a year of exchange at an Asian university where you can spice up your CV while hanging out at Kangaroo Bar/Bob Katter’s Lounge with Brits and Kiwis.

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BULL USUONLINE.COM CAUGHT ON CAMPUS

SILENT DISCO: DANCING QUEEN

PARTY WITH ME AT DEEP SEA UV

KIRBY CUP WINNERS BOWLED OVER

ON THE VERGE OF SOMETHING WONDERFUL

2011 A YEAR ON FILM

t’s been a great year for the University of Sydney Union. From O-week to Campus Culture, Verge Festival to Manning, there have been so many events for students to get involved in. Whether as part of a Club or Society, or simply being in the right place at the right time, in 2011 we’ve had many fun times!

ON THE HUNT

THE BEST MUSICAL OF ALL TIME…OF ALL TIME!

CAUGHT ON CAMPUS WE’RE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT AT O-WEEK! “CAN’T REPEAT THE PAST?... WHY OF COURSE YOU CAN!”

ROCKING OUT AT MANNING HEY THERE, HOT STUFF!

WAITING FOR GUINEVERE

ADMIRING SYDNEY’S NEXT PICASSOS

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delicious healthy fresh

OPEN NOW NEW HEALTH BAR ON LEVEL 2 WENTWORTH FOOD COURT

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