Grok Issue #1 2012

PUBLISHED BY THE CURTIN STUDENT GUILD

FREE!

ISSUE #1 - 2012

IN THIS ISSUE: MADNESS Including:

Unhealthy Places Genius Vs Madness Festival Madness & Big Day Out Review How to Throw a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party

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ISSUE #1 2012

CONTACTS Editorial - 9266 2806 Advertising - 9266 3087 Email - grok@guild.curtin.edu.au

CONTENTS

EDITOR - Hayley Davis LAYOUT - Rozanna Johnson COVER - Chloe Sellars Grok exists for entertainment purposes only. The views expressed therein are not necessarily that of the Curtin Student Guild.

CONTRIBUTORS

Grok would not exist were it not for the generous donation of time and effort from it’s contributors, to whom we are eternally grateful. (in no particular order)

3 Editorial 5 your guild:

PRESIDENT

6

your guild:

VPs

7

your guild

9

your guild

FACULTY REPS

EQUITY DEPARTMENTS

11 feature:

14 feature:

Madness

Words & Images

30 issues:

Challenging

the Torture of Indefinite Detention

33 issues:

Madness in the Workplace

36 feature:

The New Normal (is Terrifying) 37 your guild:

STUDENT ASSIST

Unhealthy Places

Through the Ages in Literature

16 issues:

Throw a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party 40 feature:

18 opinion:

42 feature:

Touchy Subjects Bigotry Makes me Mad

19 opinion:

An Attack on Student Rights

20 music:

Festival Madness & Big Day Out Review 22 issues:

Walls of Separation

24

CALENDAR

26 feature:

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28 creative:

Madness Vs Genius

39 feature:

How to

Mad Ideas From the Past and Present

Cheer Up

44 reviews:

Theatre 45 reviews:

Music and Books

46 reviews:

47 reviews:

48 advice:

Ask Someone

Movies

Games

Better

1 - contents

Aiden Stingemore Emil Cholich Abby Hutchinson Brooke Hunter Hayley Davis Radhika Kayarat Michael Sheldrick Praveen Elango Mark Isaacson Sam Cavallaro Anthony Pyle Scott Donaldson Chloe Papas Connor White Chelsea Banner Emma Winters Emily Fielder Adrian Duffel Emma Norton Barnaby Nichols Percy Grunwald

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Amendments to the Rules and Regulations of the Curtin Student Guild

NOTICE TO THE STUDENTS OF CURTIN UNIVERSITY These changes were passed at the 13th February 2012 (6pm) meeting of Guild Council

Below is a list of the areas that will be affected by the proposed changes. These changes were passed by the Guild Legal Committee on Monday 16 January 2012 and endorsed by Guild Council on February 13, 2012. If you wish to view these changes in full please ask reception for a copy of the proposed changes. If you wish for an explanation of a particular proposed amendment, please contact Joseph Quick on generalsecretary@guild.curtin.edu.au or by phone on 9266 2918.

If 200 general members or more have a problem with any of the resolutions recommended by the Guild Legal Committee or Guild Council they have 14 days after the resolutions were passed by the Guild Legal Committee and Guild Council to request the Guild President convene a general meeting of the Guild.

CURTIN STUDENT GUILD REGULATIONS Part 8 Guild Process Committees, Curtin University DIVISION 1 - GENERAL Postgraduate Student Meetings Part 12 Divisions, Staff and Administration,

Divisional Managers Part 15 General Meetings of the Guild, Notice Schedule One, Guild Executive Officer

Remunerations and Leave Entitlements

DIVISION 2 – ELECTIONS

No changes were made to DIVISION 2- ELECTIONS

CURTIN STUDENT GUILD RULES

Index Part 1 Standing Orders, Agenda Part 1 Standing Orders, Circular Resolutions Part 2 Duties and Responsibilities Guild President Part 2 Duties and Responsibilities, Education Vice President Part 2 Duties and Responsibilities, Activities Vice President Part 2 Duties and Responsibilities, General Secretary Part 2 Duties and Responsibilities, Faculty Representatives Part 2 Duties and Responsibilities, Guild Council Chairperson Part 2 Duties and Responsibilities,

Mature Age Student Officer/s Part 3 Appointment to Guild Boards and Committees,

Guild Council Appointments Part 4 Appointment to University Boards and

Committees, Vacancies Part 6, Curtin University Postgraduate Association, Notice Part 6 Curtin University Postgraduate Association, Nominations Part 6 Curtin University Postgraduate Association,

Vice Chair (Coursework) and Vice Chair (Research) Part 8 Membership, Full Guild Member Part 9 Student Societies, General Part 9 Student Societies, Registration Part 9 Student Societies, Procedure Part 9 Student Societies, Entitlements Part 9 Student Societies, Conditions Part 9 Student Societies, Sponsorship/Grants Part 9 Student Societies, Grants Part 10 Guild Policy, Approval Process Part 11 Satellite Campus Student Organisation, General Part 13 Guild Structure and Divisions, Guild Structure

2 - your guild

INDEX page, Part 8 and 10 Part 1 Definitions, Mature Age Student Part 1 Definitions, Week Part 4 Guild Council, Membership Part 4 Guild Council, First Meeting Part 5 Terms of Office, Election Part 5 terms of office, Terms of Office Part 6 Guild Council Members, Duties Part 6 Guild Council Members, Remuneration Part 6 Guild Council Members, Curtin University

Postgraduate Association Part 6 Guild Council Members, Curtin University

Postgraduate Association Remuneration Part 6 Guild Council, Guild Councillors Part 6 Guild Council, Queer Officers Remuneration Part 6 Guild Council, Woman’s Officers Remuneration Part 6 Guild Council, Indigenous Officer Remuneration Part 6 Guild Council, Mature Age Student Officer/s Part 7 Guild Boards, Access & Equity Board Membership Part 7 Guild Council, Access & Equity Board Function Part 7 Guild Council, Education Board Membership Part 7 Guild Council, Finance and Planning Membership Part 8 Guild Process Committees, Index Page Part 8 Guild Process Committees, Executive

Committee Powers Part 8 Guild Process Committees, Legal

Committee Membership Part 8 Guild Process Committees, Discipline Committee Power Part 8 Guild Process Committees,

Membership Committee Membership Part 8 Guild Process Committees,

Membership Committee Quorum Part 8 Guild Process Committees,

Membership Committee Meetings Part 8 Guild Process Committees,

Membership Committee Roles Part 8 Guild Process Committees

Membership Committee Function Part 8 Guild Process Committees, Student Society Committee Part 8 Guild Process Committees, Activities Committee Part 8 Guild Process Committees, Curtin University Postgraduate Student Membership

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Welcome to the house of fun...

Welcome to Grok 2012. For all you young’uns stepping out of highschool into the big bad world of university, let me explain that Grok is your student magazine published by the Curtin Student Guild. The name ‘Grok’ is in reference to Heinlein’s (American science fiction writer) term coined in his book Stranger in a Strange Land.

According to Heinlein, Grok is Martian, or rather, ‘Old Martian’ meaning: “...to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed—to merge, blend, intermarry, lose identity in group experience. It means almost everything that we mean by religion, philosophy, and science—and it means as little to us (because of our Earthling assumptions) as colour means to a blind man”.

The long acknowledge beauty of university publications is the opportunity they present to push boundaries, publish controversial content and talk about stigmatised issues. They walk a tightrope between holding institutions of power to account and pissing off the university who allow them to continue operation. Which brings me to my next point: We’re not just going to say FUCK for the sake of it, or drop the casual C-bomb or publish unfounded or inflammatory comments about religion just to get a rise out of our vice chancellor (though, such conversations are always tempting). What we here at Grok mean to say is that, though we want to get away with murder....I mean...take advantage of the unique forum a student magazine provides us to ask challenging questions, we also intend to deliver quality.

We want to be good enough and interesting enough to get your back up, get you reading and sending us letters, not to mention getting utterly pissed off if editions are out late, as one reader did back in 2003 with this statement: “It was to my eternal dismay that you took your time getting issue #3 to my doorstep (by which I mean the Tav). It was late as a motherfuck! Please don’t let this happen again or I’ll no longer be able to say you rock, and may instead shift my allegiance to the Pelican or something.”

There’s something fairly daunting (slash, utterly terrifying) about writing your first editorial. So.... much....PRESSURE. Am I cool enough for this?

Do I have enough knowledge about rad things like cult fiction, art house movies and Gramsci.

What if I come across as a pretentious dick, or that I’m trying too hard. A wanna be hipster?

As an editor I feel like I will be entering into a very intimate relationship with the readers of Grok for the next 12 months. So I figure that I ought to be as honest with you as possible about who I am. I am a self confessed nerd who gets excited over pretty much everything. Whether its patchwork quilting or Revenge of the Nerds, I tend to get a little over excited and have had to invest in bladder strengthening techniques to contain that excitement. Amongst my other more senile qualities (aside from the ‘nanna bladder’) is my ‘grandma’ laugh and guilty admiration for the beauty of well constructed, lacy pullin-in pants (of the Bridget Jones kind).

So with the introductions completed, I invite you to turn the pages of our first issue for 2012, MADNESS! We’ve got news, reviews and musings that question everything from the logic behind the Israeli-Palestine conflict to the boundaries between madness and genius and what made the likes of Vincent Van Gogh tick. Take a stroll through this insane array of topics, as we tip our hats to ‘the crazy ones’ like those other beatniks did before. On which note we leave you with the thought of one such legend:

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!”

Jack Kerouac, On The Road Ed. Hayley Davis

3 - editorial

That is our promise to you. To strive for excellence in our field (or dominate the competition, however you choose to interpret that), entertain you and challenge you. And to all those rolling their eyes that we refuse to act nonchalant,

sarcastically shunning how much of a privilege and responsibility editing a student magazine is, you can kindly F.....ind yourself something else to read.

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Big weekend.

Pulled an all nighter.

Can’t get into it.

Whatever the deal is, nothing can kick-start your day like the full flavour and irresistible aroma of a SuperBarista Coffee by Braziliano.

Available from Curtin Student Guild Catering outlets across campus.

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My name is Ali Kirke, and I am your Guild President for the year. I lead a dedicated team of student reps, who are here to make sure your time at Curtin is the best it can possibly be. The Guild is the official channel for students to communicate their grievances and also their joy on everything Curtin related. We are the place for you to have fun, and the place you come to get things sorted.

Grok Magazine is one of the ways in which we will be communicating the events and also the news that directly affects students, keeping you up-to-date with everything you need to know. I will be using this space to vent either my frustration or delight on student issues, letting you know what the University is up to, and how you can also get involved to make a difference. We also have a pretty active Facebook group, and a re-designed website, so make sure you are connected to stay in the loop.

As student reps, we sit on many of the Universities board and committees, giving the student voice to issues such as the Academic Calendar, Course Options, Course Quality and Student Safety and Well-being. We meet on a regular basis with University staff in each

Guild Executive Guild President Ali Kirke p: (08) 9266 2934 e: president@

Education Vice President Jess McLeod p: (08) 9266 2920 e: educationvp@

Activities Vice President Dave Farr p: (08) 9266 4578 e: activitiesvp@

General Secretary

faculty and also the University ‘higher-ups’ (those mysterious people that makes all the decisions, but which you never see) to fight for and to advocate for what students at Curtin really care about.

Something that I am massively passionate about is making the University experience not just about the classes you take, but about the friends you will make (O! that rhymed!). I am so lame. We will be offering a larger range of activities that will be alcohol free, called O-vents; as well as the array of events at the Tav. If there is one recommendation I can give you straight from the get go, it is to become involved in Guild Life, this begins with signing up for Guild Membership. It may be a little daunting getting to know new people in a new place, but awesome things only happen when you take risks. Remember, the Guild is good for you!

I would also like to know what issues you are dealing with the, and problems you are facing at Curtin - please send me an email president@guild.curtin.edu.au. The only way I know what you want from the Guild, or from Curtin, is if you tell me. Nothing can be done if you do not speak up.

Till next time……

Ali K xox

Humanities Faculty Rep Michael Ball p: (08) 9266 2764 e: humanities@

Science & Engineering Faculty Rep Maz Rahman p: (08) 9266 3392 e: science@

Guild Departments CUPSA Chamonix Terblanche p: (08) 9266 4465 e: cupsacouncil@

Joe Quick p: (08) 9266 2918 e: generalsecretary@

Indigenous Department

Faculty Reps

International Students Committee

Business Faculty Rep Noelle de Marigny p: (08) 9266 2764 e: business@

Health Sciences Faculty Rep Keturah Mudhan p: (08) 9266 3392 e: health@

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p: e:

(08) 9266 3150 indigenous@

Amir Nouranioskoui p: (08) 9266 2910 e: isc@

Queer Department p: e:

(08) 9266 3385 sexuality@

Women’s Department p: e:

Ali Kirke Curtin Student Guild President 2012

(08) 9266 3386 women@

Other Contacts

University Contacts

Student Assist Officers

Graduations

p: e:

p:

(08) 9266 2900 reception@

Grok Magazine p: e:

(08) 9266 2900 grok@

Guild Clubs p: e:

(08) 9266 2908 clubs@

(08) 9266 7115

Health Centre p:

(08) 9266 7345

Housing p: (08) 9266 4430 International Office p: (08) 9266 7331

Parking

Guild Recreation

p:

p: e:

Physiotherapy Clinic

(08) 9266 2900 rec@

Guild Tavern p: e:

(08) 9266 2904 tavmanager@

All Guild email suffixes are: @guild.curtin.edu.au

Guild Reception Building 106F Open: Mon-Fri 8:30am-5pm p: (08) 9266 2900

1800 063 865 (free call) e: reception@guild.curtin.edu.au w: www.guild.curtin.edu.au

p:

(08) 9266 7116 (08) 9266 1210

Security p:

(08) 9266 4444

Dial 5 from any campus phone (24h)

Student Central – Bld 101 p:

(08) 9266 3399

Student Fees p:

(08) 9266 3500

Switchboard p:

(08) 9266 9266

T.L Robertson Library p:

(08) 9266 7166

Uni Counselling p:

(08) 9266 7850

5 - your guild

Welcome to one and all to the first edition of Grok for 2012 and to the beginning of your student experience at Curtin University!

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Activities Vice President DAVE FARR Hello Curtin Students!

Wow my first GROK article! I feel that I have so much to say that this may become as long as my list of terrible pickup lines! I am excited to tell you that 2012 is shaping up to be an amazing year. I have a lot of events that are in the pipeline that I am working tirelessly to turn into reality.

OVENTS

Happening in the common free time period on Wednesdays between 12-2pm, there is sure to be plenty of entertainment. These will be all age’s events, so a shout out to all the first year students that aren’t old enough to experience the amazing events at the Guild Tavern. The first event happening in March will be the Pop-Up Beach Party. Just imagine a beach set up in the middle of campus with pools, palm trees, sand and everything else you’ve come to expect from the beach. Well obviously there won’t be surf for all the smarty pants among us, but rest assured it will be sweet! So make sure you come down for a laugh, meet some new cool people and get involved on campus. Other Ovents to watch out for are Silent Disco, Inflaternoon and Laser Tag (full list are in the Guild events schedule). Combined with Music @ Curtin events and the Grill the Guild barbeques happening regularly as well, common free time is going to be mad.

BEACH BASH

It is back and it is set to be bigger than ever! Beach Bash is happening this year on Friday 9th March so organise your best beach attire and make sure you don’t miss this! A live band and Dj stage will be supplying sweet tunes throughout the night and there will be plenty to keep you entertained. Beach sand, spas and a mechanical surfboard are just a few things to get excited about. Tickets are $15 for Guild members and $20 for others and can be purchased at Spotlight Tickets found in the Guild complex (106). Please note that this is 18+ event and Curtin University is a smoke free campus in 2012.

ZOMBIE CRAWL

By popular demand, Humans vs. Zombie is coming to Curtin this year and we are going to take it to a whole new level. Fake blood, Nerf guns and a whole lot of carnage, it’s time to pick a side! Now, we all know from the hundreds of zombie movies that eventually everyone becomes a zombie, so why not throw an amazing zombie themed after party!

We have concocted the ‘frightening’ event (see what I did there) called ‘ZOMBIE CRAWL’. I won’t give away too much information as this event is until second semester but just imagine 1000+ students walking the streets of Northbridge walking / crawling as zombies to a massive after party to be held at a major nightclub. Did I mention that all the party goers will have their makeup up done by make-up artists and we are in the process of making this a joint event with UWA? Expect to hear big things about this!

HARRY POTTER QUIZ NIGHT

Now for the next event I am most looking forward to in semester 1.

Maybe it’s cause I’m a diehard Harry Potter fan, or maybe cause this event is actually going to be amazing, the Harry Potter Quiz Night is going to be magical (ohhhh again!). Start organising your teams of 6 and make sure you cross off Tuesday March 20th in your new sweet Guild Diaries. The event will be held in the Main Café with arrival time of 6.30pm. Tickets are $35 per team and $30 per team if the team captain is a 2012 Guild member (sticker must be presented). Make sure you check out our Curtin Student Guild Facebook page for updates and more information about this event.

6 - your guild

RELAY FOR LIFE

Education Vice President JESS MCLEOD The start of the year has been about preparing for the start of semester and finding ways to have an outward looking guild that involves students, engages with society and defends students’ rights.

In January I sent out a statement declaring support for a Curtin international student. Muhammad Ruhul Khandaker is doing a phd in engineering has been threatened with imprisonment and possibly the death sentence in Bangladesh for posting political criticisms about the Bangladeshi Prime Minister on facebook. The statement from the Guild calls for the Australian government to grant Muhammad a protection visa and it can be read in full on the Guild website. ABC radio, the Sunday Times and WA Today all ran articles in response, which I hope will build the profile of Muhammad’s case. Muhammad stated he was grateful for support from the Student Guild.

With 40 other refugee activists I went on the journey to Leonora Detention Centre.

It is here, approximately 3.5 hours north of Kalgoorlie, that 145 young men and boys aged 14-17 years old are detained. We visited the refugees and delivered sports equipment and mp3 players. Importantly we protested outside the camp against the cruel and arbitrary punishment that is mandatory detention. This is one of the main expressions of racism in Australia today, is an abuse of human rights, it contravenes the UN Declaration on Refugees, and it flouts Labor’s 2007 election promises to treat refugees humanely. It is important to condemn the Australian government and SERCO (the company that runs the camps and profits from imprisoning refugees). Read the report from one of the student participants in this edition of Grok.

There are common themes across faculties and they include overcrowded classes, “self-directed” / online learning that replaces contact hours, increasing fees and course material costs, fewer student spaces and much more. I’ve been discussing issues with students in the art department in particular, where units have been cut and studio, gallery and work spaces have been taken over. See the article in this edition of Grok. This is totally unacceptable and we will be taking these issues up – watch this space.

For the first time, the Curtin Student Guild is proud to support Relay for Life being held right here at Curtin University in 2012. For those of you who are not familiar with the event, Relay for Life is a team event to raise money for cancer research. Teams of 10 -15 people challenge themselves in a relay style overnight run or walk over the weekend of April 14th and 15th. Most of us have been affected in some way by cancer so students and staff of Curtin University, let’s show us support for this important cause and all do our part!

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Science and Engineering

Business

Humanities

Health Sciences

NOELLE DE MAGRIGNY

MICHAEL BALL

KETURAH MUDHAN

MAZ RAHMAN

Hey! My name is Noelle and I am your Business Faculty Rep at Guild for 2012. To those returning to Curtin in 2012 welcome back!

2012 is looking like a big year with the opening of the Curtin Business School common area located in building 407 next to student services. This newly built area has some of the latest technology at Curtin and is a great place for students to catch up on work or meet with groups for projects, so be sure to check it out. There is one major Commerce Faculty Club at Curtin, the Curtin Commerce Club (CCC) but there are also many other clubs around such as international clubs, sports clubs etc. As Business Faculty Rep and more importantly as a student I would encourage you all to get involved in activities on campus and especially in Clubs, Guild and Club events are great fun for students but can also open many doors for you through networking.

G’Day, I’m Michael Ball, your Humanities Rep for 2012. I had such a good time last year that I thought I’d give it a crack again.

I’ll be sitting on university boards giving a students opinion on current issues and trying to create a greater learning environment through faculty meetings. The job is also a great way to give students access to services that they may not find themselves. If you have dramas with lecturers or assignments or just need some info, drop me a line and I’ll look into it.

I plan to take a more professional approach this year, with pants on most days and less mentions of Emu Export in my columns (because it’s good enough to speak for itself).

It can be hard to reach Humanities students as the Guild is so far away from where we study, but if you hear of any friends with issues, send them my way. I have a sweet blue couch for you to sit on, and there’s usually some sort of food to snack on so feel free to swing by. My email address is humanities@guild.curtin.edu. au and the phone number is 9266 2764. Balls out x

Welcome everyone, (but especially you gorgeous Health Science students) to 2012 at Curtin! I hope you oldies enjoyed the summer break. I know I did, my shorts tan is frickin ridiculous.

And to our new students, it is with great joy and pride that I usher you into the relatively large bosom of the BEST faculty on campus.

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The Guild is planning to make this year better than ever, so make sure you check your Guild diary for all event dates and activities.

I am here as your Faculty Rep to help you so if you have any questions, queries or suggestions pop into the Guild and ask for me at reception, you will also most likely see me around campus especially on O-Day, Wednesday’s and at the Tav. And remember,

“Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”

Winston Churchill

In 2011, the faculty implemented the Common First year for all new undergraduates, which means that ¾ of the coursework for all first year students within our faculty will be uniform.

Although this change was made to provide a more encompassing and comprehensive learning experience for our students (and student feedback seems to be in support of this), I will be keeping my finger on its pulse throughout the year, so please do not hesitate to contact me with any comments or concerns.

Please intimately familiarise yourselves with the common rooms designated to your particular school, these can be found in the Survival Guide or you can (gently) poke a school receptionist about it. Here you can find all your food cooling and heating equipment, and if you’re lucky, a super comfy couch. FYI Health Science has 7 common rooms. Cos we’re awesome.

Also, definitely get involved with clubs this year, our Faculty has some totally rad ones already, or if you think they’re lame, get 9 of your non-lame friends together and make your own!

I absolutely adore company, so respond immediately to the urge to come talk to me. Or, if you find my 5’1’’ stature intimidating, buzz me with an email or call. I’ll like it.

7 - your guild

Well look at that, it’s 2012, it seems like 2011 was just a few weeks ago. Oh, I guess it was.

Anyway, for those who don’t know, I’m Maz Rahman, I’m back for another year as your good old Science & Engineering Faculty Rep. For once, I’m actually looking forward to getting back into the swing of things, 4 months off was just a tad too long, but chances are, after a week of being back, I’ll be longing for holidays again. Those 8am lectures are always a mood kill., no doubt I’ll be back on the coffee bandwagon. Concept, here I come.

As always, a new year means new and exciting things, considering the rumours that the world was ending this year, who needs a better excuse for some epic events. I hear our Activities VP more than a few things planned that will probably cause a few of you to miss an assignment deadline or two.

Hopefully all you freshers will be reading this at O-day, and maybe a few of you oldies will be lurking around to score some free stuff. Don’t forget to sign up to a couple of clubs, most of which you’ll probably never interact with again, but hey, that’s the experience for being a first year. Keep an eye out for me and say ‘Hi’, especially if you’re a science or engineering student, as always, I’ll be the shortest one in a Guild shirt, toting some form of water gun attacking the rest of my Guildies and more than a few unsuspecting students.

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Guild Rec A3.pdf 1 2/2/2012 1:49:18 PM

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

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FREE ENGLISH CHAT SESSIONS

Communications technology has shrunk the globe, but there remains one large boundary to all this togetherness: language. So far education can only spread as far and as fast as they can find people speaking a common tongue.

The language barrier and culture shock has become a big issue for international students but it is a natural phenomenon.

In order to tackle this big issue for current international students and future international newcomers, the ISC aims to run free English chat sessions on a weekly basis.

These Classes will be supervised by a native English speaker to correct students’ errors, and help them with their English language proficiency.

THE MIDDLE EASTERN EVENT

We aim to introduce Curtin University students to the wonderful world of Middle Eastern Culture. This event is designed to engage Australian and International students alike in Middle Eastern Cultures and becomes more culturally aware through food music dance etc.

WHEN: 19th of March 2012 from 5 – 9:30 pm.

People with music and dance talent are all welcome to join the ISC team to help us run the event smoothly and enthusiastically.

QUEER DEPARTMENT

‘Sup, queer-mos?

So I was told that the theme for this grok issue is MADNESS. Upon hearing which my brain could think of nothing else but mountain-tits: This, I think, could be called madness. Getting all pumped for a six week holiday back in your home country then realizing you miscounted the number of uni weeks you’ll be missing—thereby running the risk of failure from the course that you just shifted into and actually like—is also madness. It’s four, Kat, not three. Fouuur.

Meeting up with your ex-girlfriend multiple times over the course of a single year just to confirm that she has indeed moved on with her life and has long since forgotten you, as evidenced by the string of boyfriends she has had since your break up while you were “busy” watching The L Word reruns (and crying because you wanted so bad for things to turn out the way they did for Bette and Tina) while smothering your cat with misdirected affection is madness.

(M****, if you’re reading this.. ) But like, whatever, you know? Surely I can’t be the only person who walks into Kmart (alone) just to buy the cat litter (alone) that will inevitably add to the crushing weight already exerted by my intense loneliness.

On a happier note: WELCOME TO UNI, NEWBIES ONE AND ALL! No longer will you need an excuse to go psycho-ape-shit. Everyone here just is. And that just makes things a bazillion times more interesting.

Personally, I think there’s something in the water. Regardless, the world’s just gotten so much better for you and for us as queer officers because we’re hoping to be a part of all that mushy stuff. So send us an email, maybe some snail mail, drop us a line, or, if you’ve really got what it takes, bravely step through the

sliding doors of Building 106F and I promise we’ll be there to make you laugh till you shit rainbows.

Note, pretties, that Sam and I have got lots of special stuff of the queer variety planned for you this semester. We’ll tell you as soon as we figure out what they are.. So stay posted.

Your bona fide bean-fiddler, Kat

Hi I am Sam, one of your

new queer officers. I am going to work with Kat this year to create a strong representative force for queer identified students on campus. I am also a co-convener of Equal Love WA and I want to bring activism into the student representation that Queer Department provides. I have recently attended the protest at Labor’s national conference in Sydney to protest for equal marriage rights for LGBTIQ people as well as to protest for refugee rights. I have also recently returned from a trip to Leonora Detention Centre to visit refugees and protest against their inhuman treatment. I am currently organizing for a national day of action for equal marriage rights that will be held on May 12th by Equal Love WA. Sam

Curtin Student Guild Equity Space (bld 106F) provides a safe and friendly place to hang out, get involved, get support, and socialise with people who ‘get’ you. Pop in to check it out, or contact the departments as listed below.

EQUITY DEPARTMENT CONTACTS (All Guild email suffixes are @guild.curtin.edu.au)

CUPSA Chamonix Terblanche p: (08) 9266 4465 e: cupsacouncil@

Indigenous Department p: e:

(08) 9266 3150 indigenous@

International Students Committee Amir Nouranioskoui p: (08) 9266 2910 e: isc@

Queer Department p: e:

(08) 9266 3385 sexuality@

Women’s Department p: e:

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(08) 9266 3386 women@

9 - your guild

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS COMMITTEE

2/14/2012 2:48:16 PM

Don’t fall behind the times.

Clubs aren’t only for cavemen, and societies aren’t just about getting students hammered!

The Guild sponsors a diverse range of clubs; including Issues based, Religious, Academic, International, Special Interest and Social.

So don’t beat around the bush, use one of the vouchers in your Guild Diary to join a club for FREE and watch out for their stalls on ODay, Clubs Day and Guild Day! Full club listings and contact details are available on the Guild website www.guild.curtin.edu.au, as well as information for registering/starting a new club.

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Unhealthy Places #7: Conditions of detention will

Baxter. It’s a place that kills the human step by step. They made it round, in a circle. You can’t see outside surrounded by grass and a small area. You can’t see long distance. It affects your eyes, and then it affects your mind. It is built to destroy us.

Untitled, 2005. Adam Janali

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Adam Janali

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ensure the inherent dignity of the human person.

- Australian Immigration Detention Values.

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Unhealthy Places

(cont)

Hayley Davis

In the 2001 federal election, two prominent incidents marked a turning point in the campaign. They were the Tampa incident, and the ‘children overboard affair’. One week

prior to the Tampa, polls showed Labor in the lead to win the campaign. The then opposition leader Kim Beazley said at the time: “I didn’t actually think immigration issues could flush that away.” Following the Tampa and the September 11 attacks on the United States, Howard and his party delivered Labor a crushing defeat.

Immigration and border protection policies have won parties election campaigns and contributed to the toppling of leaders in Australian politics.

Prominent among debates on immigration are protests about the policy of mandatory and indefinite detention and it’s impact on the mental health of those detained.

This issue was first cast into the spotlight on Australia Day 2002. The image of Australians flocking to beaches and barbecues was juxtaposed with that of an Afghan refugee diving from the roof of Woomera detention into coils of razor wire. Images of this were broadcast around the world. It prompted people to ask why? Who was this man? Why did he jump? The Australian Special Broadcasting Service aired the story of Mazhar Ali on January 24, 2012.

A decade after he jumped, what has changed?

The Refugee Action Network continue to chant “No crime to seek asylum!” outside detention centres all over Australia, as refugees roll up their shirt sleeves revealing scars from self harm.

From the shock that followed the story of Mazhar Ali emaciating himself in an attempt to end his life, do the hunger strikes and suicide attempts and children in detention even raise an eyebrow anymore?

A far cry from Baxter detention centre, Adam Janali is living in Perth, Western Australia with a son to his Australian wife. Adam, like Mazhar Ali, is a Hazara refugee from Afghanistan.

Conflict between the Hazara ethnic minority and Pashtun majority groups date back to the birth of Afghanistan over 200 years ago. In 2001, the Taliban attacked the mainly Hazara province of Bamyan where Adam lived. He lost both a brother and his father. “They were particularly targeting young men, forcing them to be on the front lines.

If you refuse, you will be killed,” he said.

When Adam was originally taken to Christmas Island, he asked the detention officers how long he would be here. “Two, maybe three weeks,” they replied. When Adam’s group was transferred from isolation to the open camp, other detainees started talking about how long they had been here. “The other asylum seekers tell us they’d been here for two years, three years,” Adam said.

“I get shocked! I said, ‘ok, the fight will start from this day. The fight to be alive in this place.”

Adam spent three years in Port Hedland detention centre before being transferred to Baxter for 10 months.

In 2010, former Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said that government sponsored academic studies had shown that it was the indefinite and long-term nature of detention that causes mental health problems. The detention environment in general has been found to have deleterious impacts on the human psyche. Research and evidence presented to a number of inquiries by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission have documented commonly displayed symptoms among detainees. They include sleep problems, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), irritability, depression, suicidal ideation and self harm, and worry for family members in their country of origin, particularly those that previously depended on them.

Louise Newman, Professor of Psychiatry at Monash University and head of the Government’s Immigration Detention Health Advisory Group (DeHAG), confirms that the detention environment, often combined with conditions of overcrowding and general feelings of group stress and anxiety cause people to feel in a situation where they are unsafe. In 2008 the Rudd Labor Government announced that children could no longer be held in detention centres. However Louise Newman believes that low-security facilities such as community detention are still confined and restrictive environments. “In the common-sense view [this] is detention, whether the Minister calls it that or not,” she said.

Newman has co-authored a number of studies about the impact of detention on a child’s psychopathology, particularly when exposed to violence, parental despair and an environment which undermines the parental role, leaving the child without protection.

International Health and Medical Services (IHMS) are the company contracted by the Australian

Department of Immigration and Citizenship to provide general and mental health services to people in detention. There are a range of challenges in mental health service provision in the detention environment, not least of which include the three month length of most health worker contracts. This poses a challenge to staff attempting to complete mental health reviews which occur at the same frequency as their contracts expire. The likelihood of a detainee being able to see the same health worker can be low. Establishing rapport - a crucial part in working with patients - is difficult in such circumstances.

An anonymous source also identified critical logistical issues and skill shortages in the provision of services. The ability for a detainee to gain valuable one on one time with a counsellor would often be hindered by a lack of staff to escort the person to an offsite hospital, not having an interpreter and the client not knowing about an appointment. There was a lack of cultural understanding critical to mental health treatment, especially where conceptions of mental health differ significantly between cultures and where treatments tailored to white, western populations are far less suitable for other cultures. “This is where the skill and training of the clinical staff come in, where it is their job to adapt treatment to fit their client, but the actual models and systems under which those clinicians are forced to work are inappropriate in that context and for the population,” our source said. Also cited were an, at times, complete absence of formal procedures to deal with emergency situations such as suicide attempts.

When asked about the support services he received in detention, Tom* relayed a story about one conversation he had with a health worker.

Tom*, had tried to explain that he wasn’t sleeping well because he was having bad dreams. The health worker replied that that could not be true because “dreams only happen in good sleeps.”

“They don’t understand. The Sri Lankan army come to kill me in my sleep. How can they understand that? They didn’t hear the gun shot, shell blasting, bombs blasting…heads…blog.

Some people understand, some people don’t.”

Tom* had previously watched his brother and father be killed, and had to leave his family and a successful job in order to find safety.

Jim Sharp, a Director and Vice President with Amnesty International believes there have been some improvements to Australian policies of immigration detention. “The regime has definitely changed,” Jim said. “The people are definitely better, both DIAC and the contractors. The behaviour toward detainees has changed.”

However, he believes it is still the nature of

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Adam’s family told him he had to leave Afghanistan because he wasn’t safe. Hidden in a truck full of wood, Adam crossed the border into Pakistan. He never did know how long the journey took. Not being allowed out of the truck, he couldn’t distinguish whether it was day

or night. He was then told he would be taken somewhere - he just didn’t know where. It turned out that he would spend the next three months hiding in a hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia. From there, a smuggler arranged for him to be taken to Australia. He had no idea where Australia was.

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detention itself that is a fundamental problem.

“The software has changed, but the hardware is still the same…They are set up as a deterrent so that people won’t want to come here.”

Dr. Carmen Lawrence agreed that situations in detention centres had improved. “At the peak of detention of people in Baxter 50% were on anti-depressant medication,” she said. “My other concern was that some people were given responsibilities without always having the necessary qualifications. There was an incident in South Australia where it was found that two psychologists weren’t properly registered with the Australian Psychology Society. One subsequently obtained qualification but, to my knowledge, the other was unable to do so.” Dr. Lawrence believed that investigations such as that into the detention of Cornelia Rau - a mentally ill Australian permanent resident who was detained for 10 months - as well as the monitoring by more advisory groups have served to improve situations.

According to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, 85-90% of boat arrivals are eventually found to have genuine claims to asylum, and released into the Australian community. After three years and 10 months in detention, Adam Janali was released from Baxter detention centre. “The only day I see outside was the day I get released,” Adam said.

“That day, I wasn’t happy at that time, even when I get my freedom. It was too late. After, I would describe it, after the government suck our blood. Destroyed 90% of our power, passion, our humanity, our dignity. I wasn’t happy, I had a friend waiting for me outside. I said: ‘Thankyou, but it’s too late. It’s a crime I haven’t done anything wrong and they lock me up. And they release me without saying sorry.”

Upon release, Adam was given $15 by the detention centre staff. He asked what it was for.

“They said: ‘lunch’. I said look, I didn’t come here for your money…I went with the officer to the airport. There, they asked me to decide where I wanted to go. I had no idea. No information. I called a friend and he just told me to come to Perth.” The officer then told Adam he had to wait for four hours for the next flight, and then left. “There wasn’t any help from any other organisation or DIAC. Just from the Australian people or non-government organisations like CARAD and ASSETTS.”

Carmen Lawrence has expressed concerns over the support given to the majority of refugees eventually released from detention into the Australian community. “We get some refugees from the horn of Africa, and people have seen some horrible things. Boy soldiers who are expected to go to a school or a playground and act like everybody else. Many of these people are going to need assistance for the rest of their lives and I don’t think we are meeting that need.”

drawings and paintings depicting his experience and what he saw. In 2006, he hosted his first art exhibition titled ‘Out of Sight, Out of Mind’.

At this event, a man who Adam described as a biker, shook Adam’s hand and said: “Welcome to Australia bro.” It is an image not unlike the juxtaposition of Australia Day celebrations and the suicide attempt of Mazhar Ali in 2002. Adam said the interaction had reminded him of a popular Afghani saying: ‘Not all our fingers are the same.’

The issue of immigration detention continues to polarise the Australian community. Mr Janali understands the logic of detention, “But not the way that I saw,” he said. “It’s the worst place.

Because of the security issue, I would say it is necessary, ok. The country has a right to treat refugee in a way that protects human rights first, have a right to know where they come from… but as soon as they find out that they refugee.

Not lock them up, treat them bad, and when the media and the people stand up against it say ‘No, that’s not right, we teat them very good.’ You lock up children, women, young people. You destroy them. You understand their situation? No. You denied their situation, you denied their rights.”

Adam has tried to locate his family but has not yet been able to. He talks about another metaphor from home that keeps him going; about a ray of sunshine, hope. For now though, Adam is keeping busy with one very important focus. “To raise my baby in a way that he will respect a human, and respect Afghan, and respect Aboriginal, a human…whatever his religion. That is my goal, that is my real plan.”

While in detention, Adam produced a series of

*Not real name. Tom is a Tamil Sri Lankan and requested not to be named for fear that the Sri Lankan army may find him and target his family. They have been known to follow the activity of Tamils overseas.

13 - feature

“ASSETTS and other organisations have very competent teams, but not enough people, resources, and not necessarily a very good knowledge of the cultural differences.” Dr.

Untitled, 2002. Adam Janali

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Does a mental institution make one mad, or are we locking up the wrong people?

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Madness Through the Ages in Literature Abby Hutchinson

discussions of topics within cultures at that particular time. Insanity, or colloquially, madness has been a recurring topic amongst all cultures and timeframes across the world since civilization began.

From medieval surgeons drilling holes into insane victims in an attempt to release the inner demons, to chaining victims to the deplorable walls of Bedlam (the world’s first mental institution), and to strait jackets, sedatives and everything in between – madness; its symptoms, and the terror it inflicts into all cultures is a compelling, and the act of perceiving insanity within a person manifests into a mad craze to control or destroy it.

Below are some works of literature that show the changing attitudes towards madness through the ages.

1594 (approximately) The Comedy of Errors -William Shakespeare One of Shakespeare’s earliest plays, The Comedy of Errors places two identical brothers

(Antipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus) and two identical servants(Dromio of Syracuse and Dromio of Ephesus) unbeknown to each other in the same city, Ephesus. The sets of twins collide with their friends and family but not each other and spend their time in Ephesus thinking they have gone mad, and are being possessed by the devil.

Spanning over the two acts, the twins’ mistaken identities and confusion over the situations they’re placed within amounts to a resolution and reuniting of the sets of twins, and a realization that neither sets are mad, but rather, learn of each other’s existence.

While on the surface, The Comedy of Errors is a lighthearted play that relies heavily on farce and slapstick, the themes of madness and questioning oneself against the backdrop of a Catholic dominated society throw us back into a time where devil possession and witch hunting were a recurring discourse and genuine threat within society.

*The scenes in which Antipholus is sent to the church to exorcise the demons within was and still is a comedic scene at the time of performance, but held a clear social comment on the attitude towards mental illness and how to destroy it in a country where religion was tied to the law.

1955 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov Written from a mental hospital recounting what landed him there, Humbert Humbert’s avid infatuation with his “step-daughter” Dolores

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(Lolita) Haze is a disturbing derail of madness at first, but unfurls into a heartbreaking story of irrational love that traps the reader into its web and leaves you questioning if Humbert’s self declared perversion is really that, or a man incapable of rational thought due to his obsession with his “nymphet.”

Lolita soon learns the extent of Humbert’s burning passion for her, and once tiring from being lusted after, she soon realizes how she can use her power over him to gain whatever she wants, and as she grows older and her teenage tantrums grow worse, her brat like temper and vindictiveness ultimately leads to her rebellion, and Humbert’s demise.

Humbert’s European background against Lolita’s American upbringing reflect Europe and America themselves; pre-modern customs and romantic ideals against modern morals and feminine power.

Is Humbert a man gone mad, or a man in love – and how the reader consistently questions how different are those two things?

Nabokov’s triumph is not in the plot’s disturbing twists but how it somehow manages to sit comfortably with the reader, enveloped by the lustrous language and Humbert’s prevailing mix of passion and pleading for his lifelong obsession, the reader just as gripped and enthralled in Lolita’s web as Humbert himself.

Was it his madness that led Humbert to his love for Lolita, or was it his love for Lolita that drove him to his madness?

*Successful Russian author Nabokov was refused publication for Lolita, his first English written novel intended for an American audience – so had it published in Paris in 1955. American publishers finally published his novel in 1958, though it still sparked controversy. Now, after two film adaptations (1962 and 1997), and being considered one of the best pieces of literature in the 20th century, Lolita’s charm lies in its age-old tale of forbidden love, regardless of the legal and moral implications that condemn it. Pacing back a few centuries, relations with such a young girl were much more common – was Lolita merely a story of madness for its time?

1962 One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest – Ken Kesey One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest places the reader in the reality of a mental institution (“Cuckoo’s Nest”) and the terror patients had to endure from the control of psychiatric staff. The Narrator, “Chief” tells the reader of rebellious patient Randle Patrick McMurphy (who feigned insanity to get a lesser conviction for rape) and his disturbance of Nurse Ratched’s routines.

Ratched evokes the abuse of power in a vulnerable and controlling situation.

The novel is written around the time of the distrust of authorities and rebellious free spirit of the sixties and represents a much bigger idea of freedom of speech and questioning authority.

Psychiatric drugs, electroshock therapy and a McMurphy’s lobotomy feature in the novel, showing the literal practices of mental health in the 20th century. Nurse Ratched’s sociopathic nature asks the reader to question – does a mental institution make one mad, or are we locking up the wrong people?

*Author Kesey used to work at a mental institution as an orderly and found himself having empathy for the mentally ill and how they are treated in hospital.

The film’s adaptation in 1975 earned 5 Oscars.

1996 Fight Club – Chuck Palahnuik “1. You don’t talk about fight club.

2. You don’t talk about fight club.”

This cult contemporary classic epitomizes a modern man’s internal wrestle between masculinity and femininity – between sane and insane, and real and fantasy. The unnamed Narrator who suffers from insomnia meets Tyler Durden, a macho and cool ideal, and the two create a secret “Fight Club.”

The balance between the conscious and unconscious as the Narrator battles with his insomnia, his work, and the all consuming Tyler (and Tyler’s lover Marla), is a modern twist on madness, men’s anger over the shift between gender roles and power roles in a modern world, and the presence of mental illness within society.

In its last few places the heartbreaking truth is uncovered and Tyler Durden is killed along with the Narrator – the culprit, the Narrator’s schizophrenia.

Fight Club’s power is in its possessive nature of transfixing the reader amongst the chaos and hallucinations of the Narrator while perceiving it as real as he does, giving us insight into the mind of a schizophrenic person and its torment.

*Fight Club’s edgy contemporary fiction and 1999 film adaptation has achieved a cult following, sparking much discussion over the metro modern man, and the demise of masculinity in a modern world.

Perhaps madness consumes all of us at times; whether it be nestled within dreams, confusion, love, family, illness or other; but here’s to hoping that through the stories that outlay the customs of the time, we are not only acknowledging our perceptions of madness at the time, but embracing the much needed empathy, knowledge and promise to help heal those who are mentally ill, and learn from the mistakes of mistreatment in the past.

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Literature often reflects the spirit of the times - the common

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Touchy Subjects Chloe Papas

Mental health has long been a touchy subject in Western Australia.

It’s a sector of health that is often overlooked by those in positions of power, avoided by the public, and ignored by mainstream and commercial media. It’s pushed to the outskirts of government policy and public concern because it doesn’t manifest itself physically, and isn’t widely understood. Mental illness can still go completely unnoticed, or be seen as a weakness or fallacy.

Mental illness currently affects 1 in 4 Australians.

Whether an individual has a mild or severe mental health problem, whether it is treatable or untreatable, medicated or unmedicated, or whether a person is affected by supporting a family member or friend, mental illness is never easy.

A new Mental Health Bill is currently at the drafting stage in WA parliament, designed to update and replace the current Bill, created in 1996. The legislation has been made open to the public, and community groups and individuals are invited to recommend changes or amendments to the Bill.

The legislation outlines the rights and responsibilities for those suffering from mental illness, for health professionals and workers, and for those caring for mentally ill individuals.

An extremely important part of the Bill is the allowances and considerations made for carers, who are often forgotten in the processes and procedures surrounding mental health.

A carer is anyone who looks after an individual with a mental illness, usually a family member or friend, at any level – anything from lending an ear to full time care. Carers can be any age and from any background, and there are over 310,000 carers in WA right now.

16 - issues

Carers support group Arafmi recently joined together with Carers WA to discuss what they would like changed in the Mental Health Bill to support both carers and those they care for.

A key point that the groups touched on was the relationship between clinicians and carers, which has long been a murky issue in mental health. Generally, when an individual attends an appointment with any health professional, the details of their consultation are kept completely

I According to the new Bill, clinicians will be able to legally keep information from carers – that is, not disclose the full details of consultations if they choose not to.

training to doctors and health professionals that is required. Mental health was only beginning to be positively recognised on Australia’s political and social radar in the late 80’s, and WA didn’t get its first Mental Health Bill until the late 90’s.

Considering some GP’s and health professionals could have started practicing up to half a century ago, some may not have had the chance to receive the right education in mental health.

“We feel that there is certain information that needs to be shared at all times, and that if clinicians don’t want to share information with carers, then that needs to be put in writing and there needs to be a justifiable cause. It seems to be a ‘get out of jail free’ card for clinicians, and a lot of the time confidentiality is a sticking point within mental health. We need to educate clinicians as to what information they can and should share,” said Arafmi’s Manager of Counselling and Support, Liza McStravick.

If the professionals required under duty of care to assist and support those with mental illnesses are ill equipped to do so, how is the public supposed to become more accepting and understanding?

“It [stigma] is a big issue for anyone with a mental health issue, including carers as well. It’s not as openly talked about as it would be if someone had diabetes or cancer. People don’t talk about mental illness within their families. Normalising mental illness is an important step in combating stigma and discrimination,” said McStravick.

Public stigma and discrimination towards mental illness is still extremely high within Australia.

However, discrimination by doctors and health professionals is inexcusably currently on par with the public, according to a survey conducted by the Mental Health Council of Australia.

Think about your high school education, your family, your friends – how often does the subject of mental illness come up? Even at university, we usually only touch on the subject of mental illness if our course directly relates to it. Imagine a family member, a friend, a colleague developed a mental illness and chose to confide in you; would you be aware of how to handle it? The importance of educating individuals, particularly young people, in mental health cannot be stressed enough.

private, unless the individual wishes to disclose otherwise. But within the mental health sector, that is not always a feasible option, depending on the severity of a person’s illness and the level of care they are receiving.

The survey included answers and comments from 400 consumers (those who had suffered or were suffering from mental illness) and 200 carers. 35% stated that a health professional had advised them that the consumer should lower their expectations of accomplishments in life due to their mental illness. Over 60% of carers stated that they felt they were not treated as an equal member of the consumer’s care team, and 28% of consumers said professionals were not comfortable talking to them.

Included in the new Mental Health Bill is a Charter of Mental Health Care Principles, designed to combat stigma from service providers and professionals. WA’s Mental Health Minister Helen Morton outlined the purpose of the Charter in her speech at the launch of the Bill last year: “The Charter strives to respect human rights and to treat people with dignity, equality, courtesy, and compassion, whilst being free from discrimination and stigma.”

Though a Charter is certainly a step in the right direction, it still doesn’t provide education and

Government policy needs to reflect this, rather than creating endless legislation and consistently putting band-aids over mental health problems.

There needs to be more television campaigns, public campaigns by celebrities and well-known people to normalise mental illness, and education in schools and workplaces.

Mental illness isn’t something to ignore just because it doesn’t affect you directly – because chances are, at some point it will. Mental illness isn’t a sign of weakness, and can occur due to hundreds of different reasons; family history, hormonal changes, emotional triggers, stress. It is just as serious, if not in some cases more serious, than physical illness or injury, and shouldn’t be treated lightly.

Lifeline: 13 11 14, www.lifeline.org.au Student Assist: 9266 2900, bld 106F (Guild Reception)

C P th c o g

A im W re s U e s in c s

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C a w e

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CUCC084

VICE VERSES Hello, I’m Jeanette Hacket, the University’s Vice-Chancellor, and I’m pleased to continue to update you on developments at Curtin through this regular column. I encourage your comments and feedback, which you can send to me via Margaret McNally at m.mcnally@curtin.edu.au

I

welcome all new and returning students to Curtin this year. I hope 2012 will bring exciting opportunities and success for all of you.

Curtin has had a great start to the year, with our Engineering Pavilion being awarded a 5 Star Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia. The design and construction of the pavilion was project managed by a group of talented Curtin alumni, and it is an excellent example of graduates working to make tomorrow better.

Another important development this year has been the implementation of a no-smoking policy across Curtin’s WA campuses. The decision to become smoke-free reflects Curtin’s position as a leading provider of health sciences research and education. It also demonstrates the University’s commitment to providing a safe and healthy environment for our staff and students. I encourage students to make use of the support services on offer, including smoking cessation programs and one-to-one confidential counselling, should you feel the need. Just visit smokefree.curtin.edu.au for more information.

CAMPUS SAFETY AND WELLBEING Curtin provides many services to enhance the safety and wellbeing of its students, both on and off campus. Please spend a few minutes familiarising yourself with these services and find out the various ways in which we can help you.

The Safer Pathways map – available to download at properties.curtin.edu.au/security/safecampus.cfm – identifies the major access paths on campus. Curtin Security patrols these pathways, which have additional lighting, from 4.30 pm until 12.30 am each weekday during semester, to enhance the safety of students during times when there are fewer people on campus.

Curtin provides the Campus Courtesy Bus, which offers a safe mode of transport after hours until 12.30 am, with services starting at 5.30 pm. Alternatively, security escort services are available by calling Curtin Security

on 9266 4444 or 1300 004 444 from a mobile, or 4444 on an internal line. The escort service provides a security officer to accompany you to your car or another area on campus. These contact numbers also apply in cases of emergency, for which you can alternatively dial ‘5’ from any internal phone on campus.

MENTORING PROGRAMS @ CURTIN The University runs a number of rewarding mentoring programs for students. There are programs available to suit new students and those who have nearly completed their studies.

For students who are new to Curtin, the START mentoring program offers support from senior students studying a similar course. These mentors will provide advice to help you with your transition into tertiary study.

If you are about to complete your degree, the NEXT STEP mentoring program can assist you with your transition into graduate employment. With the support of Curtin alumni and staff members, you will receive valuable industry perspective and assistance with your questions.

For more information, or if you wish to become a mentor – or a mentee, visit mentoring.curtin.edu.au.

CAREERS FESTIVAL The 2012 Careers Festival will be held on 29 March at Curtin Stadium, here on the Bentley Campus. With representatives from more than 110 companies expected to attend, this is a great opportunity for students to explore career options and speak with industry representatives about work experience, graduate programs and employment pathways.

For more information visit: careers.curtin.edu.au/profilesbentley.html I wish each of you the best with your studies as first semester gets underway.

CRICOS Provider Code 00301J /BRAND CUCC0844 Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology

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Bigotry Makes me Mad Sam Cavallaro

May 17th 1990 was the day when the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from the International Classifications of Diseases. International Day Against

Homophobia and Transphobia celebrates this momentous achievement where homosexuality was no longer classified as a mental illness but was instead recognised as a normal variation of human sexuality. However, the fight for LGBTIQ liberation is still far from over. The World Health Organisation itself still views many forms of gender variation as a mental illness.

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In Australia the topic of the moment for the LGBTIQ struggle is that of equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. In December last year the Labor Government announced that it was going to allow a conscience vote on this issue. This was in the context of mounting support for equal marriage rights and the largest LGBTIQ rights rally in Australian history that coincided with the ALP national conference. But equal rights are not a matter of conscience, especially of those members of parliament who have proven time and again that they have none.

Recently the tennis champion Margaret Court gave a nod back to the days when homosexuality was still recognised as a form of madness. She commented on how equal marriage rights would legitimise an un-natural abomination. She stated “Politically correct education has masterfully escorted homosexuality out from behind closed doors, into the community openly and now is aggressively demanding marriage rights that are not theirs to take.” She even went on to claim she

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had helped many gay people from her church “overcome” their affliction and marry.

Her bigotry is an echo of that which is heard in parliament. Her homophobic aim of trying to “protect marriage” from the illness of homosexuality is legitimised by the politicians who spout the same hate speech. Its not only Tony Abbott’s idiotic bumbling on Sixty Minutes where he admits that he is “threatened by gays” but the inherent homophobia from politicians in both Liberal and Labor that try to defend their position against equality. The most recent of which being the conscience vote .

This play of political manoeuvring, apart from being an attempt by the Labor Government to deflect criticism onto the Liberal Party for not allowing a conscience vote, is a direct insult to LGBTIQ people. It lets bigots and the ALP off the hook for their prejudice. The conscience vote is a message that LGBTIQ people are not equal and are indeed a threat to Australia’s delicate heterosexual society. It is a message that as LGBTIQ people we do not immediately deserve the same rights as the rest of society but instead our rights must be deliberated upon by others and given if it is deemed appropriate. It is also a call to every bigot to state their backwards point of view on the issue and justify their hate speech as ordinary concern. Often the impact can go further as can be seen in the case of Margaret Court. Not only did she denounce same-sex attraction as illness she felt comfortable using her pseudo-science to give psychiatric treatment to gay members of her church. That is not just a despicable act but is also illegal.

Margaret Court and even the federal members

of parliament are however in a minority about their views on the issue. A growing majority of the population supports legislation for equal marriage rights. Court’s outbursts have encouraged other sports people to take a stand about the issue. Tennis greats Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova have spoken out against Court and at the Australian open 18 year-old Laura Robson wore a rainbow hair band for her day 1 match on Margaret Court Arena. Prior to this, many others have felt it was important to publicly state their support. Even David Pocock, captain of the Wallabies, and his partner Emma Palandri said they would boycott marriage to until their gay friends had the same right. Pocock said “I don’t think it’s the government’s role to tell people that their love is right or wrong.’’

We reject that bigoted and out-of-touch politicians can vote against our civil rights. If you are disgusted by the discrimination of LGBTIQ people that is sponsored and legitimised by the ban on marriage, come to the EQUAL LOVE RALLY FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY. Equal Love welcomes everyone to commemorate International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia by saying: GIVE US OUR CIVIL RIGHTS! EQUAL MARRIAGE RIGHTS NOW! 1pm, 12th May in Forrest Place Perth CBD. On Jan 17, 2012, the Curtin Student Guild officially voted to support marriage equality and has endorsed the May 12 rally.

Sam is one of the Guild’s queer officers and a member of socialist alternative

2/14/2012 2:48:21 PM

The art department is a major source of prestige for the university. The end of year

degree show, hosted by the students, is featured in promotional brochures and the university stakes claim on the successful career of many artists, including James Angus the artist behind the Forrest Place ‘Cactus’.

However, the attention and prestige that the staff and students of the depARTment bring to the university are not returned as adequate funding.

Like any sick system the symptoms show first in the most vulnerable part. In the university this is the art department.

Fine Arts is a course with little return for the university and high running costs. There is not a high demand for the industry or the skills it teaches. Engineering is promoted and funded by the government and by mining corporations needing more people to fill the demand in the economy.

An Attack on Student Rights Sam Cavallaro

Similarly, the number of international student doing this course is lower and so the revenue from the people who are used as the universities cash cows is lower than in other courses. The combination of these factors makes the Art Department a space the university would much prefer to use for more profitable courses. However art and culture are integral parts of society and needs its funding to reflect its importance.

Space is the biggest problem students in the Art Department face but space is not a problem for the university.Even in the depARTment itself, the half removal of Ceramics means it can not be used for any purpose. The university is willing to build a new engineering pavilion but says it has to cram art and design students into one facility.

This comes at the same time as having promised the honours students their own space in the Canning College visual arts building but crying poor when seeing the need to renovate it and telling students they could risk using it but can’t hang anything on the asbestos filled walls. Why is it that because the university can’t make money out of art students we have to get asbestosis?!

The most recent affront to the students that study in the Art Department is the removal of the galley space known as the ThinkTank. This space was once available to students on request so that they could experiment with exhibition techniques and have their work publicly displayed. This space was also an integral part of the teaching process as it allowed for classes that taught higher industry techniques of presentation. Now the space has been converted into an office. This latest attack on student rights highlights the absurdity of the ends in which the university will go in order to cut budgets. The ThinkTank is basically a glass box. In its context it looks like a postmodern exhibition on office furniture. With its situation in plain sight it also acts as a constant reminder to students of what the university is taking away from them. With this latest blow students are starting to wonder if the course will be around much longer.

The university is attacking the quality of student education. It is a business that has found a way to cram more profit into a smaller and more “cost effective” space.

The Canning College visual arts building is an unused space and an easy solution to problems facing art and design students. With proper funding, with money the university has, this could be a usable facility and not a toxic waste dump. As the facility becomes more derelict so does the conditions for students on campus as attacks on students by the university worsen. However such a heinous proposal of getting our money’s worth in the form of a decent education is not in the interest of the university. The Art Department is not the only place that the university is attacking students. The university is cutting funding across the board, streamlining courses and playing sardines with student in tutorials and lectures. As the old union slogan goes “Touch one! Touch all!” It is time to take a stand for our education and against the degree factory.

Sam is a Fine Arts student, Queer Officer and Member of Socialist Alternative 19 - opinion

The universities attacks have seen a gradual degradation of facilities and conditions in the depARTment as the university attempts to merge the art and design faculties with minimum expenditure. A year before enrol in it, the ceramics department was removed order to make room for more office space. The renovations of this space have been slow and disruptive to classes and much space remains unused and dangerous. Similarly, last year the photographic dark room was renovated into office space and students were made to wander through the maze in the architecture building to use the design facilities which now overcrowds with students from both faculties sharing the space. Studio spaces, which are a great draw card and important resource for students, have been cut in half.

The room where honours students once had their studio spaces has now been converted into a teaching room as the Fashion course has been moved from the architecture

building into the art department. This is coming at the same time as course cuts mean students can no longer take the Textiles unit. This cut in studio space means the same number of students who are still paying the same amount are now made to crowd in ever shrinking spaces.

This all comes as gallery and exhibition spaces are being renovated into teaching rooms for other departments or used for storage and even office space. This is all while units come with rising ancillary costs that can total over $200 per semester that students are not informed of before they begin.

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2/14/2012 2:48:22 PM

Festival Madness

Big Day Out review and the return of the Woodstock festival vibe.

Minds are open, love is free and festivals represent communities.

- Anonymous In the 1970’s film Woodstock, Max Yasgur said to the half a million people occupying his dairy farm: “This is the largest group of people ever assembled in one place, and I think you people have proven something to the world: that a half a million kids can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing but fun and music, and God bless you for it!”

For three days in 1969, young people descended upon the town of Bethel, in New York for the ‘Aquarian Exposition’ that was The Woodstock Festival. Rolling Stone described it as one of the 50 moments that changed the history of Rock and Roll.

Many young festival goers, especially those at the likes of WA’s Southbound, Big Day Out, Groove in the Moo and Blues and Roots continue the glorious tradition and have brought back that peace lovin, shagadelic 60s vibe. (The same could probably not be said about this year’s Soundwave lineup).

Tie dyed shirts, Yoko Ono specs, chai and teepees have returned to the festival grounds.

One young lad’s shirt at the 2012 Big Day Out depicted a man and woman in what might be dubbed as the ‘peace position’ in the Karma Sutra. It read: Bombing for peace is like fucking for virginity.

The Brow Horn Orchestra certainly did their part in ringing in the 2012 celebrations of freedom, with their naked dancing man shaking more than just his tambourine in front of BDO’s multicoloured Hamsa backdrop.

“I think one of the finest things Woodstock provided was a successful and harmonious community outside government and policing and therefore has become quite a romantic mantra under the idea that all can live united through one cause, music,” Nick Owen from ‘The Brow’ told us.

From experience playing at various events around the nation, Nic and the band members formed the opinion that non-camping, commercialised festivals left no room to develop relationships with the atmosphere and surroundings. He said it was no wonder given the over saturation in the Australian festival market that people are latching on to the fundamental values of some of those original festivals.

20 - music

Nic compared the likes of the one day Future Music Festival vibe to that of the weekend-long Nannup Festival. “I guess the big difference is one promotes a relaxed and lengthier community based experience, whilst the other is a fast paced, action filled day with sights and sounds to be found in every minute. The community vibe is a unique experience unto its own.”

His advice for those wanting to tap into the zen and the spirit of the music festivities was: “Everyone needs to realise there is far too many shit people doing shit things for us to further contribute to the giant turd that is humanity.

You’re far better off being a happy, peaceful and

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respectful person.”

So with the ‘Orchestra having delivered another stellar performance to it’s home crowd (despite having to perform on a stage the size of a merchandise stand), lets see what BDO 2012 had to deliver and whether it basked in the good ol’ days of festival glory, or if it contributed to that proverbial giant turd.

BDO 2012 - The bands, Tony Hawk and the verdict on the new venue.

Pressure was on for the Big Day Out organisers this year as they scrambled to secure a new venue after having to announce that major headliners Kanye West and Hilltop Hoods would no longer be playing in the Perth festival.

Let us be brutally honest. McCallum Park, though easy to navigate and looking out onto the river (which the smarter among us took full advantage of - roping their boats together to watch the festivities in their bikinis), lacked that grandiose vibe of Big Days out in times past. The set was reduced to only one main stage and the feel was amplified by the noticeable drop in crowd numbers. One festival goer remarked on her way into the venue: “Remember the days when Big Day Out use to sell out in the first hour?” It will be a tough road ahead for organisers to return BDO to its former glory. The new venue definitely has the potential to work well, and given the blows BDO suffered this year maybe we could cut them some slack.

The time has come though. Please, for the love of God or Buddha or Cupcakes (whatever you worship), make BDO an over 18s event. You know you’re at an all ages concert when you see girls walking around in heels. That, we can bear. We just laugh at them and feel sorry for them when they end up in so much pain they begin walking like they’re constipated. And whoever brought back the midriff top and decided that ass cheeks hanging out of shorts were attractive, should be shot. There….I said it.The move to an18+ event may even be a way to increase crowd numbers, attracting back many of those too terrified of the juvies.

Venting be done, all in all, BDO 2012 was pleasantly surprising and, might we even say, pretty damn awesome. Despite the lack of a major headliner other than UK dub step duo Nero and the unusual sensation of the festival peaking between around 4:00 and 6:00pm, The Jezabels, Boy and Bear, Kimbra, Mariachi el Bronx, My Chemical Romance and Girl Talk combined to make an excellent lineup (of course the merits of any lineup depend fundamentally on your music preferences, arguably making music and festival reviews somewhat redundant). In any case, we ride on to the music.

singer of Perth band Boom Bap Pow, Novac Bull gave Kimbra a run for her money both vocals and glamour-wise, and their horn players were damn fine too.

Best stage set goes to Architecture in Helsinki, but the direction the band has taken recently in that 80s pop style seemed to be a bit of overkill after the first few songs. Contact High and their cover of Bette Davis Eyes were, nevertheless, joyous!

No matter what your feelings about Aussie heeep-hop, Drapht delivered and had some very, very happy campers under the tent.

As did Boy and Bear, off the back of an absolutely incredible 2011 with five ARIAS under their belts. Golden Jubilee and Lordy May were definite favourites, and their tribute to the Finn brothers with the cover of Fall at your Feet was glorious. Haunting.

And for the rockers. My Chemical Romance turned it on for the fans. They were absolute rock stars. Gerard Way should always wear tight jeans. They played all their hits and a bunch of tunes off their new album. Traditional British rock band Kasabian were also excellent. May they never cut their hair.

Soundgarden - classic rock at its finest.

Amazing to see Chris Cornell live in action.

Good ol Frenzhal Romb and Jay’s dirty dreads also made a welcome return.

Last but not least, Big Day Out welcomed back skateboarding legend Tony Hawk. A group of skaters joined Hawk on the vert ramp and attracted fans old and new (even some bringing their little kids to see the skating glory - how rad!).

Skating to Regurgitator was a slightly different vibe to the last time Hawk graced BDO in 1996.

Dropping in to Rage’s Killing in the Name Of, Hawk pulled off nine McTwists in a row, causing frenzy amongst the crowd during the glorious chorus “Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me!”.

Polyester Girl didn’t quite have the same effect.

But the dude is pushing 40.

So all in all, after a sufficient rant about crowds, venue changes and an odd line up sans headliner, BDO 2012 actually turned out to be pretty fantastic. And we think they should have some sort of extreme sports stage as a more regular feature, perhaps with grand stands so people can chill in the afternoon and enjoy the views of the sports and the bands.

We left before Nero….sorry dudes.

Mariachi el Bronx - the mexican incarnation of American punk band The Bronx - definitely owned what would be their last show for a while after five years since its inception. Sombreros littered the crowd and a well executed mass conga line were the perfect addition to a jolly wonderful performance.

Rockabilly goddess in a banana dress, Kimbra is just a darling and her delightful performance had everyone getting their bop on. However lead

Brooke Hunter, Hayley Davis, and Chloe Papas.

Photographs: Melissa McGrath.

2/14/2012 2:48:24 PM

21 - music

pas.

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2/14/2012 2:48:31 PM

Walls of Separation: A reflection from the Holy Land

22 - issues

Michael Sheldrick

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2/14/2012 2:48:32 PM

“It reminds me of what Obi Wan Kenobi says about Mos Eisley” A Scottish backpacker pronounces to me, referring to the fictional spaceport from Star Wars “’You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.’”

By way of context, I’m in Israel. Well to be precise, I’m eating breakfast on a rooftop in the ancient port-city of Jaffa overshadowed by the more modern buildings of Tel Aviv to the North. The alleged ‘hive of scum and villainy’ being referred to is Jerusalem, the City of David, and my next destination.

While “scum” and “villainy” is going a bit far, there is something about Jerusalem, and indeed Israel and the Occupied Territories as a whole, which certainly makes it unique. Asides from its status as a holy centre to the three major Abrahamic faiths, this ancient land is also associated with security checkpoints, soldiers, separation walls and, going back a few years, attacks by suicide bombers on innocent bystanders. To say that this land has seen little peace over its long history is quite an understatement.

Who has the right of it? Israel, Palestinians, the UN? This is a question I have been grappling with since before I arrived and one I fear there is no clear answer to. Indeed, I’m quickly learning that it is probably the wrong question to be asking in the first place.

Nonetheless, during my time in Israel I was able to gain an insight into the many layers of the dispute, to travel widely and to speak with many people from different backgrounds. What follows are a few brief, but hopefully insightful observations based on these experiences:

The Wall of Separation Staying at the Mt. Scopus campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, each morning I would pull the curtains back and marvel at the beautiful view of the Old City in all its glory. That is, until my gaze is inevitably interrupted by the security Wall, which cuts right through East Jerusalem.

On the one hand, I’m told by those who have lost friends in attacks, the wall is a necessary security precaution against terrorism. That it has played a role in reducing the threat of terrorism, I have no doubt. Today, walking down Ben Yahuda Street carries far less risk then it did even just a decade ago.

On the other hand, I’m told by an activist working for a local NGO, the Wall arguably has a far more sinister political objective. Giving me a map of Jerusalem, the activist points to a line representing the wall and illustrates how it deftly excludes Palestinian areas while at the same time wraps around to include Israeli settlements. A cynic might see this as blatant land-grab, and indeed all parts of the wall beyond pre-1967 borders – those agreed as part of the 1949 armistice - are generally considered to be illegal under international law (although not by Israel itself).

The Settlers Much controversy surrounds the status of Israeli settlements beyond pre-1967 borders, which are generally considered illegal under international law. Wanting to gain a glimpse of this controversy myself, I go to Hebron. Aside from being home to Abraham’s tomb, Hebron is also the only city where Jews and Palestinians live side by side.

Upon arriving I’m taken to visit the souq (market), or what was left of it. A lot of the stores were barred shut and I’m told that many Palestinians had left after attacks from settlers moving in above and near the souq. Following this first impression, it is all too easy to judge settlers harshly, especially those who, according to my guide, believe in a Jewish state stretching from “Egypt to Iraq.”

Yet, nothing is black and white. I’m surprised when a member of the university staff, who watched a controversial documentary on settlements with us in class, announces she lives in a settlement and confesses to knowing nothing about the controversial legal foundations of her home. Encouraged by economic incentives to build there, she is shocked at learning that her house, where she has raised her children, is officially ‘temporary’ under Israeli law. Like many, if not most, settlers she is a far cry from the so-called “crazies” in Hebron.

Memories from the past One cannot visit the Vad Vashem (official Holocaust museum) and leave without an appreciation of the Jewish desire for a national homeland following 2000 years of persecution. But at the same time, you cannot help but also feel for the thousands of Palestinians forced to leave their homes during and after the 1948 War of Independence. I will never forget Muhammad, a young refugee from the Aida camp, who told me of his dream to one day enter Jerusalem, his family’s traditional home.

Living in the West, I often hear people shrug their shoulders and say “not our problem.” Often these are people from the same countries (including Australia), which either turned a blind eye to Jewish persecution, or, in Britain’s case, hastily evacuated the holy land before a viable two state solution could be negotiated.

On a personal level, I feel unable to turn away. In one of those strange coincidences that life throws at us, a few days before I was due to fly to Israel, an old, tattered photo album that once belonged to my Grandfather turned up. The photos were virtually all from 1930s Palestine where my Grandfather served as part of the British peacekeeping force. One photo, depicting a deceased Arab solider, continues to haunt me. Seemingly written in my Grandfather’s own hand, the by-line reads simply “a ‘good’ Arab.”

Who has the right of it? I have no idea. One thing I am certain of though is that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be dismissed as merely a black and white struggle between “Jews and Arabs.” There are so many more layers to it then that. But don’t take my word for it. Go there and see for yourself.

23 - issues

Putting issues of legality aside, I take a short drive beyond the Wall into neighbouring Palestinian-controlled Bethlehem. From this side you get a different view of the Wall, seeing it coated in mostly pro-liberation artwork.

In the refugee camp of Aida just north of Bethlehem, I’m led to a rooftop by my guide. He points to the vacant land beyond the Wall and says that although much of the land

is owned by Palestinians, the Wall prevents them from building on it. His fear is that the land will eventually be consumed by expanding Israeli settlements and thus lost to Palestinians forever.

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2/14/2012 2:48:32 PM

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

20 21 22 23 O Day City of Light - 50 Years in Space @ WA Museum

Curtin Student Guild

27 28 29 1 Back to Uni

PIAF’s Home Sweet Home @ WA Museum

Guild Market Day Ovent - PopUp Beach @ Ken Hall Lawn

5 6 7 8 Guild Market Day Ovent - Scavenger Hunt GMusic

Labour Day Soundwave Festival

International Women’s D

12 13 14 15 Clubs Day Toga Party @ the TAV

World’s Greatest Shave (

19 20 21 22 ISC Middle Eastern Festival

Harry Potter Quiz Night

Guild Market Day Ovent - Box Fort GMusic

24 - calendar

26 27 28 29

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Guild Market Day GMusic Guild Rec: Motorcycle Maintenance

2/15/2012 2:05:42 PM

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

24 25 26 O Week Party @ the TAV Olivia Newton John @ Burswood Dome

Erykah Badu & Fat Freddy’s Drop @ Kings Park

2 3 4 Twilight Hawkers Markets @Forrest Place Taylor Swift @Burswood Dome

Sydney Mardi Gras PIAF’s Penguin Cafe @Festival Gardens PIAF’s Bon Iver @Red Hill Auditorium

PIAF’s Neon Indian & Slow Club @Festival Gardens

Future Music Festival

Beach Bash @ the TAV 9 10 11

ernational Women’s Day

Westrac Fiesta Concert @Sir James Mitchell Park Sth Perth

16 17 18

orld’s Greatest Shave (Mar 15-17)

Guild Rec: Applied First Aid #1 St Patrick’s Day

23 24 25 Guild Rec: Applied First Aid #2

30 31 1 Guild Rec: Applied First Aid #3

April Fools Day West Coast Blues & Roots Festival 25 - calendar

Guild OP SHOP BALL Tav’n’Bass @ the TAV

Sets on the Beach Unwrapped: the marketplace @Angelo Street, Sth Perth

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2/15/2012 2:05:42 PM

It is a common experience not only that such insights are not the product of rational effort but that they seem to come from outside ourselves, often when we aren’t even thinking.

Madness Vs Genius Radhika Kayarat

History has delivered us with countless brilliant minds that have played a part in shaping the popular belief that genius and madness are divided by a fine, if not blurred line. From Shakespeare to Einstein, Isaac Newton to Sylvia Plath, it is not hard to see how remarkable creativity and consistent genius can border insanity.

“It is a common experience not only that such insights are not the product of rational effort but that they seem to come from outside ourselves, often when we aren’t even thinking.”

“Creativity and genius come when a balanced individual is able to escape the constraints of their own rationality and connect with something else, but then they utilise their passion and focus to carry that insight through.”

And on that note here are some great minds in history that were able to carry their insights through despite/because of (take your pick) their madness, ladies and gentleman your Top 5 Insane Geniuses that changed the world!

26 -- creative feature

Now new evidence shows that the link between insanity and genius is indeed more than just a romanticized idea or mere coincidence. Researchers have found that receptors in the brain of highly creative people function almost identically to those who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Schizophrenics experience regular delusions and hallucinations often in the form of visions or phantom voices.

Curtin’s History of Art Co-ordinator and creativity researcher Simon Blond says that in science and art radical innovation comes not from rational analysis but through sudden insight.

GROK#1_2012.indd 26

2/14/2012 2:48:35 PM

Swedish biologist Carl von Linne is the genius behind the system of classification used by today’s biologists.

During Linne’s time a given species would be known by 25 different names, a result of different scientists classifying the same specimen by completely different criteria.

Linne painstakingly re-categorised thousands of species according to how closely they were related and came up with a universal naming system for all living thingsbinomial nomenclature (that’s basically just fancy talk for the scientific name of a species eg homo sapien). This new consistent system allowed scientists from all over the world to share information about the same species and drastically bettered the world of biological study.

Being the modest guy he was Carl von Linne demanded that his gravestone read ‘Prince of Botanists’. Although Linne may have been a genius he was also a massive perv, obsessed with female genitalia to the point where he named dozens of flowers and clam species after them.

Some of the more vivid titles include ‘parted legs’, ‘barren concubines’ and ‘promiscious intercourse’. He also used incredibly sexual language whilst detailing his specimens, controversially describing how “the flowers’ leaves serve as bridal beds which the Creator has so gloriously arranged, adorned with such noble bed curtains, and perfumed with so many soft scents that the bridegroom with his bride might there celebrate their nuptials with so much the greater solemnity. . .”

4.Vincent van Gough 1853-1890

As one of the most recognised artists the world has known, Vincent van Gough’s ability to capture reality through imagination on canvas continues to be an inspiration to artists over 120 years after his death. The Dutch painter’s distorted style and use of colour changed the course of art history, sparking hundreds of imitators and influencing society’s perceptions of the very idea of art.

Genius though he was, it was no secret that van Gough was slightly off his chops. He in fact produced some of his most famous works whilst locked up in a mental institution. Van Gough regularly suffered from delusions, paranoia and seizures, most likely caused by his incessant smoking and copious absinthe consumption. It is believed the reason that van Gough’s works have a yellow-green tinge is because he had xanthopsia, an optic condition caused by absinthe poisoning that yellows one’s vision. In 1888 van Gough’s paranoia got the better of him when he threatened his best friend with a knife because he thought he was going to abandon him, which of course he did. In his grief and loneliness the great artist sliced off part of his ear, wrapped it in newspaper and offered it as a gift to his favourite prostitute. He was institutionalised soon after (no surprise there). After several attempts to commit suicide by eating paint whist in the asylum Vincent van Gough shot himself aged 37.

3. William C. Minor 1834-1920

William Chester Minor was the largest contributor of literary material to the very first Oxford English Dictionary.

At the time dictionaries were not at all comprehensive, unorganised and generally (for lack of a better word) crappy. William C. Minor compiled every instance of every word in every single book he owned and recorded every way in which the words were used, and spelt them right!

If not for him we would all be doomed to forever misspell

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words like ‘manoeuvre’ (yes I did have to look up how to spell that).

Word-obsessed Minor undertook this entire feat while he was locked up for murder in a lunatic asylum for the criminally insane. Minor was a surgeon in the American army. His experiences from many a savage battle were traumatising. The final straw that pushed him over the edge came when he was ordered to brand the face of an Irish soldier; driven by his guilt William C. Minor developed a pathological fear of all Irishmen. After the war his anxiety and paranoia got to the point where he thought an innocent man was the Irish soldier coming to get revenge; in a state of panic Minor drew his pistol and killed him. Minor suffered hallucinations and delusions whilst in the asylum and in 1902 in a state of mania castrated himself using a pen knife.

2. Nikola Tesla 1856-1943

We could not live the way we do today without Nikola Tesla. The Croatian-American inventor is responsible for bringing us the induction motor as well as AC generators, motors and transformers, devices that allow electricity to be transferred across long distances and used safely in homes and workplaces. Tesla also designed a plethora of other inventions including fluorescent lights, the laser beam and the remote control.

Tesla showed incredible focus and dedication but also had extremely compulsive tendencies. He was a huge germaphobe, refusing to touch anything or even enter a room with the slightest hint of dust. He avoided shaking hands as much as possible which meant his social skills weren’t the best. Tesla never married, had children or any close friends for that matter. He did however have a peculiar obsession with the number three. He would walk around the block three times before entering a building and would only stay in hotel rooms whose number was divisible by three. When he ate he had to have 18 napkins in three rows with three stacks of three napkins. Any activity would have to be done in a set of three. The genius inventor also refused to touch anything round, which being an inventor made life very complicated.

1.Pythagoras 582 BC – 580 BC

Widely considered one of the fathers of mathematics the ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras is responsible for bringing us the joys of the Pythagorean Theorem, geometrical algebra and irrational numbers.

Although many may despise him for being the reason we were forced to do trigonometry there is no doubt that his theory is a cornerstone in all things mathematical and a vital tool in design and engineering.

Pythagoras was incredibly obsessed with numbers and perfection; he even founded his own religion, Pythagoreanism (original, I know)- which is where things get a little loony. The great Pythagoras had a morbid fear of beans. Yes, that’s right, beans. Beans were evil and menacing. Pythagoreanism forbade disciples from not only eating but touching, smelling, looking at or intentionally being in the presence of beans. Some of the other nutty guidelines of Pythagoreanism included never touching white roosters, always putting the right shoe on first and never (ever!) walking on a public road. The philosopher was also a devout believer in reincarnation and was known to regularly break down into tears when he saw animals that he believed to be friends from a past life.

27 - feature

5. Carl von Linne 1707-1778

2/14/2012 2:48:35 PM

28 - creative

Mark Isaacsonon

GROK#1_2012.indd 28

2/14/2012 2:48:36 PM

Words & Images Photography by Carlo Fernandes

The Mad Pirate

Stone Fire Heart

Mind Residency

This silence makes way for random thought.

Thought so abstract and twisted that it would definitely entertain my spell check, flashing me with bits of green every now and again as if showing its approval.

Bittersweet candles, lost warmth hidden in shadows, through the flickering fire question my morality, constant strain on a muscle that fails to comprehend.

Truly, madly, deeply,

Never ending sorrow boils till there's no bleeding left, nothing but a wretched stone where darkness lies, under the hazardous gaze of a disapproving sun.

I’m out of my mind,

Sift under my skin for an answer to the riddle that plagues my mind, why abandon me, a love with no limits, and indulge on another's touch.

And stripped me of my sanity;

So here I am: a mad pirate.

My broken ship abandoned, my mind travels to the shores of the orient.

People I’ve seen and places I’ve been all memories contained within the madness upstairs.

I head out on rusty tracks by romantic waters which lie motionless, disturbed only by the litter of the drunk I then travel far ahead to the day of my judgement.

I stand there sure-footed and easy for all my life I have been judged and thrown out of court with a toothy grin.

The courtroom had no room for this rebellious, mad gypsy who reeks of dirt and honey.

I remain a story to be told at the royal party, where the fat judges stuff their faces with roast pork and their bellies will undoubtedly laugh at me.

I’m in love with a Mad man, He maddens me, Possesses me.

He threw me out of it – And took over, Sent me to a mad house, Fed me mad lies, Though, was it ever mine?

Abby Hutchinson

After all that was offered, having promised the moon and stars and the dreams of Gods, to follow the very path of gold to the edge and back and the edge again.

Now all that remains, on ashes nine, the dark angels wings unfolding, awaiting my capture into the unknown and extinguish my vitality.

Mark Isaacson

Meanwhile, I will be sitting cross-legged on the curb beside IGA, eating my lunch off Tupperware, thinking about nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Praveen Elango

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29 - creative music

Well, let them be.

2/14/2012 2:48:37 PM

Challenging the Torture of Indefinite Detention

30 - issues

Emma Norton

GROK#1_2012.indd 30

2/14/2012 2:48:38 PM

Over the Invasion Day weekend, 38 refugee rights activists made the trip to the Leonora detention centre to protest against mandatory detention.

The centre, situated 11 hours’ drive from Perth, currently imprisons around 140 unaccompanied minors from Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. It puts absolute lie to Labor’s promises to remove all children from detention, as well as demonstrating the government’s “out of sight, out of mind” philosophy when it comes to refugees.

We were able to visit and speak with around 30 refugees, and, through brilliant direct action, were able to show every refugee in the centre that we do not recognise the legitimacy of their imprisonment. The trip reconfirmed the injustices of mandatory detention, with boys being referred to by number and one refugee saying, “We eat, we sleep, eat and sleep, we are very tired… it’s the waiting that affects us mentally.”

Our attempts at communicating with the boys in detention were constantly hindered by both Serco and the police. After we were greeted by dozens of refugees, waving enthusiastically and showing peace signs, at the inner gate, Serco attempted to block our interaction by parking three buses in front of the refugees.

Our formal visits were also tightly policed from the start, with between two and five guards in the room at any time. While the boys would loudly repeat that Serco treated them well, at points when guards became distracted some would quickly gesture that they were being mistreated and the guards were taking notes.

On two separate occasions the guards referred to individual boys by number, at one point asking, “Is 176 here?” Another guard introduced a young Mohammed by saying “Here is 428; he speaks good English”.

We discovered that many of the refugees had been imprisoned in Australian detention centres for over a year. One 17-year-old had been counting every day of his unjust imprisonment, telling us he’d reached two years and five days, while only just having completed his second interview with the Department of Immigration. The coupling of the uncertainty of indefinite detention and the abusive conditions in the Serco run facilities means that the mental health of these young men is rapidly deteriorating. One described the experience as “Like going into a tunnel with no light”.

As well as just visiting, civil disobedience and direct action have always formed a major part of the refugee rights campaign. These acts and stunts demonstrate to refugees and the Australian public that we do not recognise the legitimacy of the fences and that we are not afraid to directly challenge them. But the usefulness of such disobedience goes beyond symbolism: in the past it is what has pushed the refugee issue into the spotlight.

So as a small-scale defiance of Serco’s management (who only allowed us to meet with a fraction of the detainees), activists climbed on top of the back fence of the detention centre chanting “Freedom, azadi, horrea!” (Azadi and horrea mean “freedom” in Farsi and Arabic.)

The boys had been playing in the out-door basketball court area. When we appeared from over the fence, many of them joined in the chants and came over to high-five us.

At the same time we threw hundreds of tennis balls with written messages over the fence.

Serco guards, in an effort to minimise the boys’ contact with the outside world, quickly ended their leisure time and forced them into their rooms. We continued to stand on the tin fence shouting “Free the refugees!” while some of the boys defiantly stuck their hands out of windows and fences to wave to us.

The campaign should continue to visit these remote prisons and expose the brutality of the system of indefinite mandatory detention. Only through this, and our dedication to direct, defiant actions that challenge the Department of Immigration and Serco’s authority, can we build a campaign of thousands that can ultimately tear down the fences that keep refugees imprisoned.

Get in contact and be a part of Curtin University Refugee Rights Action Network – help to plan what we can do on campus to promote refugee rights. It doesn’t matter if you have never been involved before. All refugee rights supporters are welcome!

We will be holding a forum on 28 March 12:30pm. Contact us at: curtin.rran@gmail.com

31 - issues

The government relies on the fact that these facilities exist hundreds of kilometres into the desert in order to further dehumanise and isolate detainees. Before our first trip out to Leonora in 2010, the government was

still running with the line that there were no children in detention. This is why the refugee rights campaign, in every state, must continue to make trips to remote detention centres to expose the lies and break the silence surrounding them.

GROK#1_2012.indd 31

2/14/2012 2:48:39 PM

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Madness in the Workplace A Reality Check for Female Graduates Maintaining the Rage

The Australian Government Agency – Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace released findings in January (of this year) that shows the disparity of pay between male and female graduates. On average, females will earn $2,000 less then their male counterparts in the same industry when they begin their chosen careers. The reasons for this seem murky at best; leading to the conclusion that gender still plays a significant role in how much you are worth to your employer. Forget how hard you have studied or the commitment you have made to attend University, the fact that you are a woman is a major determinant to how much you get in the bank each month.

According to the statistics, the biggest level of pay inequality is for women in the Earth Sciences, where a woman’s salary is a staggering 14% lower then her male co-worker. 1 If you are a woman studying Architecture, Economics, or Business you can expect to be paid at least 10% less then a male in the same field. On the flip side there are occupations where women do earn higher then men, being, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences and Veterinary Science. But, the pay difference is not as high as 14%, only a mere 5.7%, which equates to roughly $3,000 annually.

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You may be asking yourself, what does this have to do with the graduate pay gap? If women are continually being viewed as something to be viewed, then their intelligence will continue to be a second rate feature. Obviously not all employers are blatantly discriminating against women in the workplace, but their silence on this issue supports the ethos that men are worth more then women.

When government agencies such as Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace cease to be relevant, it will only be then that Australia is making legitimate steps forward to combating the inequality amongst men and women. There will come a time when women wont have to continually prove themselves and be able to be judged on merits of their talent, ambition and intelligence. That day can’t come soon enough.

(Endnotes) 1http://www.eowa.gov.au/Information_Centres/Resource_Centre/ Statistics/GradStats_2011_12_PDF.pdf 2 http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/women.html 3 http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/ 4 http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/6227

33 - issues

Historically, the big push for women to enter the workforce began around the beginning of World War 2, this came out of necessity to keep their homes running, and to also supplement the income lost by their husbands fighting the war overseas. Jumping forward to 1969, women in Australia were awarded ‘equal pay for work of equal value’, and in 1984, federal legislation made it ‘illegal’ to discriminate on the basis of sex.2 With the protection of the law in place, one would assume that women in the workforce would be strengthened and supported, and over all valued for the contributions they make to society through work based activity. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), there has been a 7% increase in workforce participation for women to date since 1979;3 this comes as there has been a 9% decrease for men over the same period. In a media release from the ABS in November 2011, the ratio of men undertaking some form of study was 6% less then women. The Bureau also noted that the most common area of study is Management and Commerce, with women breaking through in this traditionally male dominated arena.4

In light of the inequality that exists, in an area supposedly free of inequality, this is just one of the many reasons why feminism should be harnessed by women today and not dismissed as irrelevant. A misunderstanding that abounds in the consciousness of women today is that feminism is about surpassing women’s rights over those of men, or that feminism is a thing of the past. In a conversation with a friend recently, she told me that she believes in ‘equal rights’ not women’s rights, as men and women are equal to each other; ‘Fuck feminism’; and ‘I like my bra’ were littered throughout the conversation. I tried to explain to her that feminism is not about saying women are better then men, but about creating a world where gender was not a factor in how far you progressed in life. Feminism is also about enlightening the wider community that patriarchal barriers continue to exist and should be removed from the everyday society. Misogynistic, sexist communications – whether verbal or through visual media also entrench how women are viewed and valued; a classic example of this would be the advertisement by Dry Dock Beer ‘It’s Dry But It’s Wet’ with a women posing provocatively, breasts out and red lips parted.

GROK#1_2012.indd 33

2/14/2012 2:48:42 PM

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2/14/2012 2:48:43 PM

The New Normal (is Terrifying) A brief look at modern social conventions, and how to avoid committing them.

Life as we know it is rapidly coming to an end. There is no hope, no secret underground bunker, and no, Bruce Willis is not going to sacrifice his life to save us.

If you don’t have half an idea of what I’m talking about, then you may already be one of them.

That’s right: you may be directly responsible for the doom about to befall humanity – possibly even some animal life too. You see, interrupting a conversation to take a phone call is just not on.

Nor is texting at the dinner table. And checking your Facebook app whilst simultaneously reading this Fine Publication™? Please. Over the past decade or so, this type of rude, inconsiderate behaviour has become – as much as I hate to say it – normal. Give it another decade, and where will we be? Will have retained the cognitive abilities required to communicate via a non-electronic platform? I strongly doubt it.

But don’t fret.

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I’m not writing this article to rag on people who are inseparable from their iPhones (I’d love to, but there’s a time and a place for everything – like the next issue of GROK, and every subsequent issue for the foreseeable future.) I’m taking this as an opportunity to get our species back on the straight and narrow; back to the good old days when face-to-face communication wasn’t seen as a harrowing experience that must be avoided at all costs, but rather as a form of art. In short, I’m here to help.

Now, being a twenty-one-year-old borderline hipster, I use my phone a lot. When I get up in the morning, I check my Tumblr, my Facebook, and my e-mail, and before I go to bed at night I check my Tumblr, my Facebook, and my e-mail. I send at least one text every day, and I call people whenever circumstances necessitate that I have to. But I have limits. Interaction with my sweet, sexy Samsung Galaxy never takes precedence over more important things, which brings me to my first gripe: interrupting a conversation with someone just to take a call. I don’t remember the

GROK#1_2012.indd 36

exact moment when it became okay to interrupt somebody who’s in the middle of a sentence just because your significant other is calling to ask where you left the sugar, but it’s long gone, that’s for sure. Maybe it’s me, but this kind of behaviour just doesn’t make sense to me. I mean, if whoever was calling you rocked up in person, would you just elect to end the discussion with the other person or group? Of course not: doing so would be incredibly rude, so we shouldn’t allow phone call interruptions to be considered any different.

So here’s my solution: hang up the phone.

Don’t let it ring out, because then you’re just wasting the time of whoever is calling you. Just hang up. It’s not hard; usually there’s a big red button, and if you’re a lazy – or clueless – iPhone user, you can just ask your personal bitch Siri to do it for you.

The individual on the other end of the line isn’t going to commit violent, bloody suicide with whatever blunt instrument they have nearest to them, nor are they going to go into a blind rage and curb stomp the nearest chump, à la American History X. No, if they’re a reasonable human being, they’re simply going to think to themselves “oh, he/she is probably busy at the moment. I’ll just send them a text, or wait for them to call back,” and wait patiently for you to contact them. You will not offend anybody by hanging up, so just do it, and let me finish telling you my top thirty non-ZEO Power Rangers episodes.

But they’re not the worst kind of person, not even by a long shot. If the phone-call-conversationinterrupter is Darth Vader, then this next kind of individual is Emperor Palpatine, and I’m sorry for that rubbish analogy.

talking to a brick wall, if that brick wall is sixthousand feet high and made of nails, pumas, and lightning instead of bricks – absolutely nothing gets through, no matter the amount of feigned interest put forth by the person on the other side. There’s this idea that texting is some kind of passive, secondary activity that can be performed during the middle of practically anything else, whether that be talking to somebody, driving, or even masturbating – I’m an unfortunate victim of that one – but it’s not.

It’s a form of active communication, and as such requires more attention than blinking or thinking about Zooey Deschanel naked all of the time does. It is beyond rude – are other people just not interesting enough? And it’s even worse when instead of texting, you check your Facebook, or the news, or even the weather, which is likely even more boring than what I’m talking to you about. Similarly, the solution is simple: just hang on. Resist the urge to reply to that text or comment on that photo, and you will be a better person for it. Heck, you might even learn something from that invisible person who’s been talking at you for so long.

Most people are pretty interesting if you take the time to pay attention to them. In my short time at Curtin, I’ve learned more from the people I speak to on a daily basis than I could have from any amount of texts or phone calls, which as I’m sure we can all admit, are never nearly as important or interesting as we think they’re going to be.

So let things go to message bank, strike up a conversation with someone new, and see where you end up. Because if you carry on down this road, you and your army of techno-evangelists will turn the world into a dead wasteland filled with perpetually linked-up smart phone addicts, without a hint of personality and a complete lacking of communication skills. Probably.

And that will annoy me somewhat.

Some of the most horrible experiences of my life have been had whilst trying to talk to somebody who is actively texting somebody else. It’s like

2/14/2012 2:48:46 PM

Student Assist Better than Bacon....

Tougher than Chuck Norris... !

And More Awesome than Giant Mutant Cyborg Dinosaurs with laser cannons !

Student Assist is the welfare department of the Curtin Student Guild.

Mandy, Simon and Juliana are there to support all students, postgrad and undergrad, with any personal, welfare or academic issues.

Their services are free for all Curtin students and cover things like Leave of Absence

Centrelink difficulties

Deferral from Study

Discrimination and harassment

Assessment Appeals

Finances

General Appeals

Health and wellbeing issues

Appealing terminations

Time management help

Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct

Study skills advice

Withdrawing or Changing Courses

Tenancy advice

Career and resume help

And more….

Student Assist is completely confidential and will help make your life at University that little bit easier. You can drop by Guild Reception (Building 106F) or you can make an appointment at a time that is convenient to you.

Call Reception on 9266 2900 or email reception@guild.curtin.edu.au

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Some helpful advice from those awesome people at Student Assist Starting Uni

Starting University can be a scary time for both new students and their families. The first thing to remember is that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Thousands of students will start university for the first time in 2012 so you are definitely not alone.

Here’s a few tips to help you start you university experience.

Be Confident

You have earned your place at Curtin , so be confident that you belong here..

Be Prepared

Get to know how Curtin works and what will be expected of you in your first semester. A great way to do this is to participate in Orientation Week and attend all the central and school activities, including all of your orientation lectures.

Also, tag along on one of the Guild’s Explore Campus tours for a fun and informal introduction to university life from fellow students.

Make sure you have everything that you think you are going to need for your first week. There is nothing worse than arriving at your first class without a pen (although it is a great way to meet new friends).

Join the Guild

Goes with out saying really. But if you’re in any doubt come and have a chat with the friendly folk at one of the Guild membership stalls, or at Guild Reception, or check out www.guild.curtin.edu.au for all the benefits of membership.

GROK#1_2012.indd 37

Have a go

Part of the human learning experience is about learning what not to do. As with many things at Curtin , especially extra curricular tasks, you are better to have a go and get it wrong than to never try in the first place.

Join a Club or Study group

University is about more than just attending classes. By joining an academic, sporting or social club you are guaranteed to get the most out of your time here.

Study Space

Ensure that you have a quiet ad uncluttered study space from week one. If you don’t have this space at home then get into the habit of regular study at uni.

Library

Get to know your library. Do a library tour or just spend some time learning about how the library works.

Know where to go for help

Talk to people if you are having problems

Sometimes just talking about a problem at University will make life easier. A parent, friend or lecturer will provide a good starting point if you have any university related concerns and are not sure what to do. Remember that there is a free counselling service on campus if required.

Have a great time

University can be tough, but it should be an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. If you are enjoying your studies the time will fly by.

If you’re feeling a little lost or have some questions you need answered call us and make an appointment. We are happy to answer any and all of your questions, no matter how big or small they may be!

Student Assist Contacts Reception 9266 2900 or 1800 063 865 for country callers. email: reception@guild.curtin.edu.au

Student Assist at the Guild, along with the Curtin Student Services centres are there to help you. If you have ay questions then these are the places to go. if they can’t help you straight away then they will put you in touch with someone who can.

Check out the range of Fact sheets on display in reception or on the Guild web site.

37 - your guild

t on g

2/14/2012 2:48:50 PM

Lets Relay for change!

Relay For Life Curtin University Get a team together for the inaugural Relay For Life Curtin University event. It’s 24 hours of fun which raises vital funds for Cancer Council research, support, education and information programs.

Edinburgh South Oval 14 & 15 April 2012 11am - 11am

Registration is easy! www.relayforlife.org.au For more information email relayforlifecurtin@gmail.com or call 0422 556 236 GROK#1_2012.indd 38

Celebrate Remember Fight Back!

Relay For Life Curtin University

2/14/2012 2:48:51 PM

There’s no more perfect way to celebrate your eccentricity than to host your very own Mad Hatter’s tea party. Here are some suggestions to make sure your party is fit for the Red Queen herself.

Invitations: • Be witty and clever. Put such things on your invitations as: “Don’t be late. Don’t be late for this very important date! or “Join me in wonderland!”

Dress Code: • Hats would be appropriate attire.

The Vibe: • Remember, everything must be nonsensical. So try to have ridiculous signs on things like the table which say ‘Don’t Eat Me’. Or on the chairs: ‘Sit here’. Or ‘Eat Me’ in frosting on your tea cake.

The Menu: • Think High Tea, but the ‘on ecstasy’ version.

• Address invitations to: The Duchess, The Dormouse etc.

• Swirly cupcakes, Dormouse Lemon Curd.

Marshmallow salad. Scones.

Location:

• An oversized punch bowl and ladle. One that you could swim in should you want to later when you’re rather jolly.

• Preferably outside where there’s lush green lawn, perfectly trimmed hedges and lots of flowers and trees.

• If it rains, it is all the more perfect.

• Try adding some of those plastic pink flamingos around the place.

• A single playing card can be used as a name card for each person.

• And finally, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, HAVE CROQUET! And if you’re really ambitious, plan your party ten years in advance, so you can grow your very own hedge maze.

39 - feature

• If you have a cat, sacrifice it for the cause. Tape its eyes open and pin its mouth in a ‘creepy smile’, then throw it up into a tree and ensure it can’t move and inconveniently ruin your masterpiece of a setting!

The Decorations: • Be sure to have eccentric mismatched china and table settings.

GROK#1_2012.indd 39

2/14/2012 2:48:52 PM

Mad Ideas From the Past and Present Anthony Pyle

When my Dad was a boy, my Nan told him, that when he grew up he’d be driving a flying car to work. It seems like a mad idea now,

but at the time for whatever reasons, it seemed feasible.

Only a year before my Dad had been born, man had walked on the moon. If we could land on the moon, a flying car couldn’t have been that far out of the question, and that must have been the thought of many people during the 70’s because they sustained these ideas of a 21st century that is nowhere near what we have today. Unfortunately they dreamed a little too big about their future, and I’m sure the kids who grew up expecting flying cars, aren’t too disappointed with their boring ground restricted cars.

Other ideas that have become laughable from our predecessors are that cybernetics should be a predominant part of our culture by now. That we would have friends who are cyborgs, and that we should all have house butlers who are also robots. Our food should arrive to us in pill form, and if we keep up to Star Trek’s prediction, we should be launching our first large space exploration project into the stars within the next 40 years, and perhaps we have early 20th century literature to blame for starting these romantic views of a utopian technological future. Isaac Asimov and Jules Verne, you created a world in our minds a hundred years ago which we are still reaching for today.

Really though, I’ve never seen someone complaining that they don’t have a robot butler yet, and this probably has something to do with being happy with just having an iPad for now. No one even minds about not having their food in pills when they can have an Up & Go instead; it’s like the stepping stone to pill based food. I think we are even content that since the moon landing in the late 60’s, we have only just now considered branching out to Mars. We aren’t disappointed that our predecessors dreamed big, because they were cool dreams to have. So we smile and have a small laugh at how ambitious we were and move on with our lives.

Unfortunately while I laugh at the foolish ideas of the past, I must also wonder what the people of the 22nd century will think of us, and our ‘mad’ theories about what will happen in the unknown future.

There are also those who believe that the world will come to a violent and atomic end from the hands of Iran, North Korea or China, where realistically if we are going to be wiped out by nukes. I think it’s more likely to happen by the Americans who have been stockpiling them for years.

I don’t wish to dismiss fears about touchy people with nuclear technology though, I just find it unlikely that World War 3 will start anytime soon or at all. Reminding people that the Russians and Americans did a similar thing a couple of generations back, when The Cold War seemed like the end of the world then, and fortunately it wasn’t.

Then again, if a war breaks out, sometime close to this article being published, I’m very sorry for being so flippant and uncaring towards the issue of the end of the world.

The thing is, we as educated intelligent people for the most part, expect nothing from the future except the end of the world. We are waiting for a dystopian society of mutant people after a nuclear war. We don’t dream of flying cars or living in space anymore. We are just waiting for our own destruction. Makes me wonder where all our cool dreams and aspirations went, probably into designing the latest Apple product.

But that’s humanity for you, waiting to be destroyed and yet we never believe what we think to be impossible, that we could actually survive. Now before you think you won’t fall fowl to investing your beliefs in such things. That you are one of these people who knows the world isn’t going to end any time soon. Know that the masses will put that doubt in your head, and it’s hard to kill an idea once it’s dug deep into your mind. Remember that Galileo was laughed at for believing the world was round, and I’m sure even those who believed him at the time, started to think that the world might just be flat.

40 - feature

The beliefs that our generation holds might even be mocked harder than those who believed flying cars would be a thing. That our beliefs aren’t held in technological advancement, but instead we have invested ourselves in

the end of the world. While I’m certain you are terrified of the Mayan calendar ending, I wouldn’t worry. In all likelihood, the Mayans probably knew the Spanish were coming to kill them and decided they wouldn’t need the extra years on their calendar. Still substantial individuals choose to believe that the end is nigh, but then I suppose those are the sort of people who believe whatever they are told.

GROK#1_2012.indd 40

2/14/2012 2:48:52 PM

41 - feature

While I’m certain you are terrified of the Mayan calendar ending, I wouldn’t worry.

GROK#1_2012.indd 41

2/14/2012 2:48:53 PM

42 - feature GROK#1_2012.indd 42

2/14/2012 2:48:54 PM

Cheer Up Aiden Stingemore

Some associate mental illness with cloying weakness, or some sort of pretextual ruse used to get adolescent girls out of swimming lessons because all their menses had conveniently synchronised on every Tuesday ever when from an actuarial standpoint, they were just too afraid that the tight bathers would highlight their smooth chest sporting Tic-Tac nipples and their disproportionately fat guava Cruiser gut in some sort of weird Criss Angel mindfuck involving hurtful dugongs. Seriously, they looked like a flock of udders. I’ve heard people suggest that to embrace a mental illness is to ‘give up on life’ or to ‘seek attention’, because it bears no obvious marks, could be a fabrication and thus is undeserving of any time dedicated to solving this invisible problem. The rest of us just grin and bear it, right? Normal people just don a stiff upper lip and take each day as it comes. You see, I can say this with reasonable insight because I am a severely depressed almost post-teen virgin cashing in on the last of his inordinate angst before he becomes a real man who sits at home playing video games and waiting for his parents to expire. My anxiety levels could hospitalize a panda bear with a morphine drip. I am angry because my sweaters aren’t Obey and my car isn’t European. I like to feel prepared in any given situation and am always worried about things out of my control, like I know the week I decide not to shave my balls will be the week a girl goes down on me but realises she can’t bring herself to neck a naked mole rat on a turf farm.

Now that I’ve thoroughly destroyed myself - to my point. I have a real beef with regard to how misunderstood mental illness is and how that seeming lack of acknowledgment from the average person seems to justify this strange tagline that depression is some sort of weakness or inability to cope with existence – that it is an excuse. Depression is a real thing. Suffocating anxiety is a real thing. They arise from chemical imbalances in the brain, a reduced output of serotonin as a result of excessive breakdown or transportation of ‘feel-good’ chemicals. It is not a note from Mum. Go and Google monoamine oxidase-A when you get home from Kumon. In

GROK#1_2012.indd 43

fact, you should probably get the ball rolling by acquiring a computer first, preferably through legal routes as opposed to building a nest egg from selling coke to minors and pawning your alcoholic mother’s jewellery whilst she lays catatonic in a back-alley hospital bed with a T-cell count lower than her standards. She drank and fucked away her pain, Timmy, because of your failures and regularity at shotgun weddings and something had to give, something had to give besides the walls of her vagina and now you’re left to try and pick up the pieces. But yes, I did just use Google as an intransitive verb and I kind of hate myself for it.

The culprit with regards to depression is a pesky little neurotransmitter called serotonin. Serotonin is a multi-purpose hormone that regulates everything from mood, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal function to sleep and hunger. Its release is associated with feelings of pleasure and if there were to be a reduction in normal levels, whether through breakdown or unnecessary transport, then the effect would be self-evident.

Weakness doesn’t figure in the equation, I haven’t been mollycoddled and wrapped in cotton wool because that makes my skin itch so Mum buys everything in mink.

There is a legitimacy to this illness that doesn’t require validation through some sort of self-serving juvenile taunt of its reality because it is just like any other. It is a problem.

If anything it makes you go fucking Columbine on Dad’s pergola after a bad(ass?) week, simultaneously obliterating his handiwork and any kind of obliged faith that he used to have in his pasty son. Additionally, serotonin is also the same chemical associated with orgasm which nicely explains why I can’t stop spilling ropes of sugar soap out onto my crotch like some sort of premature geyser in absence of post-pubescent gash. Unfortunately, this hormonal spike peters out and my penis can’t really withstand much more blunt force trauma before my skin-based sheath sloughs off like a mosh pit full of lepers, thus necessitating an interjection of sorts which in my case in a horrible tasting antidepressant and therapy that costs an arm and a leg of the lepers I just poked fun at.

Anxiety is the Bob Dylan of mental illnesses; no one understands a goddamn thing he’s talking about. On its surface, it seems to just be a temporary state that involves everyone but no one pays too much mind to, like when you worry about whether or not your cask wine is going to be on sale so you can punish underage girls in the sack or if you have the biggest collection of snapbacks for sports you don’t follow. It is just a response from one’s nervous system to certain situations that works away in the background.

My reality is fraught with erratic spats of anxiety, crushing my faculties, speeding up my breathing, constricting my airways and amplifying some seriously frightening thoughts. It is as if you are

going insane, that white bespectacled men in coats are going to cart you off to Graylands and put you in a giant pillowed room with the guy who has an insatiable lust for armadillos and mashes faeces into his ear canal. These feelings are not embellished for the sake of being sensational, this is a problem that affects something like 13% of the population at any given time. I have spoken to far too many people who suffer from an anxiety disorder, and the ones that haven’t tried to gnaw my arms off from behind a Hannibal Lecter muzzle concur with me.

So to all the high school fucks with the speech capacity of Jamie Oliver, and the deliberately inflammatory pseudo-sceptical remarks and petty name calling that made me into a sad sap that unashamedly professes fandom of student media and tumblr, this is for you. Please learn something, like how not to write overly confessional articles that remove any sexual candidacy you may have had with people who can’t stand up at the Tav because that never ends well.

Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636 www.beyondblue.org.au Lifeline: 13 11 14 Mens Line Australia: 1300 789 978 Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467 43 - feature

Depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses carry a stigma whether we like to admit it or not.

2/14/2012 2:48:54 PM

A family friend was surprised to learn I was going to see John Cleese in theatre; putting it down to my age. While I assured him I was a big fan and had grown up with the likes of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers (no doubt stemming from my British background), Cleese’s brand of comedy is funny regardless of age, or when ever first introduced to it.

The King of British comedy, now 72, with a startling talent for absurdist, slapstick, farce, satire and black humour, Cleese can boast classics such as Monty Python’s Flying Circus, three Python films, Fawlty Towers and A Fish Called Wanda.

Not denying his reason for being on tour – his third ex wife taking a hefty $70 million in divorce settlements and him still owing $4 million over the next four years, Cleese laughs along with the audience at the madness of divorce, alimony and somehow his ex’s wife extraordinary payout figure of his own earned fortune.

A thousand people packed into the Regal Theatre, An Evening John Cleese watches like an interview or presentation. Lead by questions from ABC’s Gillian O’Shaugnessy during the first half of the show, Cleese takes the audience through his birth and upbringing in dull and dreary Weston-super-mare, to his father’s real surname of “Cheese” (which he changed to Cleese when he joined the army), to his dear old mum whom he inherited his love for black humour from.

Through a montage of photographs, television clips and comedy anecdotes that piece together Cleese’s university life of studying law at Cambridge, to comedy performances, then to meeting John Frost and the Python crew, Cleese depicts the ease of “falling into showbiz” in those days, and playing to 14 million people on a live stage.

Cleese describes meeting the real life Basil Fawlty, while holidaying with then wife Connie Booth and the Python crew in a bed and breakfast in Torquay, and the abysmally rude manner associated with the world’s worst TV hotelier, (the only difference that the real life Basil was short).

Mad as a Hatter 44 - reviews

Abby Hutchinson

GROK#1_2012.indd 44

Clips of his favourite sketches from Monty Python, Fawlty Towers and A Fish Called Wanda highlight the show, with explanations of his comedy inspiration and origin for particular sketches.

The second act Cleese is on the stage alone, confident, and commanding the audience’s attention with absolute ease – he knows how to make us laugh and it seems effortless from the master of comedy who’s career has spanned five decades.

With a chance to ask Cleese questions at the end of the show, (which sadly, no one did during the performance I watched), Cleese informs the audience of some of the weirdest questions he’s been asked (“What part of an airplane would you be?”), and comments on the stifling humidity of Perth. He sets us straight about the hotel confusion that’s been in the papers recently, and bids us farewell.

An Evening with John Cleese is a charming delight of insight into the works of a comical genius and biography of a man who has plenty of laughs left to give.

2/14/2012 2:48:55 PM

MIRACLE OF SOUND

House of Fun REVIEWED BY: CHLOE PAPAS

Level 1 REVIEWED BY: CONNOR WHITE

Who would have thought a song about a 16 year old buying condoms would become an everlasting anthem for teens and adults alike?

Talk about taking fandom to the next level. This rising internet star has finally finished his first “season” of videogame homages given audio form. 33 songs, to be exact. With a quantity like that, is the quality even? Not quite, but what’s there is pretty good.

Madness’ House of Fun was released by the British ska band in 1982, reaching number 1 in the UK, and has never really left casual radio rotation in Australia since. The song was written with little intent to become a chart-topper, and was supposed to be a cheeky little ditty about an incident that may or may not have happened in guitarist Chris Foreman’s childhood.

House of Fun is a coming of age tune, but instead of talking about partying or getting ‘so totes drunk’, it was about trying to buy birth control – they really should use it on a condom ad one day. With lyrics like ‘Box of balloons, with the feather light touch,’ and ‘pack of party poppers,’ it was a little racy for it’s time, but the thing was, no one really knew what it was about. I bet you didn’t.

And so, the song was adult and radio-friendly, with catchy hooks and a contagious chorus that fit together oh-so-perfectly, giving it a child-like quality that evoked thoughts of being at a carnival or manic stage show – which the song’s video clip fittingly emulated.

The metaphor for growing up and dealing with the perils and embarassments of teenage-hood is prevalent in House of Fun, with lyrics: ‘Temptation’s on it’s way,’ applicable to everyone hitting those awkward years. The sarcasm exuded from the tune allows those far past puberty to identify with the lyrics ‘Welcome to the house of fun’ – maybe in reference to a family gathering, or perhaps even a university classroom.

House of Fun is a song for everyone.

You may think it’s, like, totally old, but if you can listen the whole way through without slapping a smile on your dial, you’re lying to yourself.

Embrace the Madness.

GROK#1_2012.indd 45

The one man behind the project, Gavin Dunn, has a flexible voice that he loves to multitrack with, creating some of the most sublime modern harmonies since Coheed & Cambria. He’s also a pretty good instrumentalist, with some nifty guitar and keyboard work.

However, he doesn’t actually own any drums and has to create them on the computer, which sadly shows. It ruins the authentic feel of some of the songs, particularly ones where two instances double up, such as the jazzy Trip To Vegas.

He is, however, capable of mixing and writing his tracks well. There is no standout song on this album; the best is for the listener to decide.

Gavin covers a lot of genres, from raw rock to techno to blues. He even has a fairly decent stab at a metal track, even if the chorus is too sappy for it.

As for the content, he’s sadly not come to games at an early age if this album is any indication. A lot of his songs focus on facets of the Call Of Duty experience, or games that are recent in the grand scheme. When he tries an old game like Mortal Kombat, it’s clear his hindsight isn’t 20/20, sometimes missing what made those games.

HIPSTER MATTIC

Matt Granfield REVIEWED BY: EMMA WINTERS If you relish in heirloom tomatoes (no pun intended) or pear cider, Matt Granfield’s journey of self discovery will be that pair of vintage Doc Martens that you have been searching for. In a small book-like package. Matt takes a journey to re-invent himself as the “Ultimate Hipster” pulling us in from the first page with his creative blog style writing and humour. Matt Granfield has background writing for a newspaper, writing and editing The Drum, ABC, Crikey and Market Mag. Matt, currently in media and P.R. as well as blog writing. Hipster-Mattic is a light hearted tale of a man trying to find himself in this large Bieber clad world we live in. With a cider in one hand and knitting needles in the other Matt Granfield becomes the ultimate hipster right in front of your eyes, and inevitably, grows as a person in the process. There are a few sprinkles on this vegan cupcake, including knitting on a grassy knoll to attract the ladies, creating scrabble jewellery and the consumption of copious amounts of pear cider in the name of science.

There is not one page in this book that is not “hipster-filled” and humorous.

Also, this should have been $10, but import fees and what have you, even over a download-only album, have pushed the price up some. It’s still worth it in the end.

“Scrabble is the reigning hipster board game of choice and it’s easy to see why. The tiles are made from wood, which makes them vintage, the typography is divine and playing requires just enough mathematics to add up easy numbers and you look reasonably smart without having to use too much brain power”

7/10

If you like bike polo, vintage clothing, markets, unknown bands and pear cider, you will like this.

7/10

THE WILMONT CHRONICLES

Paul Harrison REVIEWED BY: CHELSEA BANNER Addled with unfortunate-looking features and a debilitating illness, Milton is angry at the world. He finds salvage in his best friend, Stacey Sommers. The light to his dark, Stacey is a borderline perfect being, and is not ashamed to name Milton as her best friend. When Stacey doesn’t return his intense feelings of lust and commitment, the relationship turns sour and Milton’s anger at the world increases tenfold, this time including a hate for his former best friend as well.

Despite being raised in a good Christian family, Milton has skewed ideas of religion and God. Believing God to be mocking him, Milton takes it into his own hands to become what he truly wants to be.

To do this he must submit himself to perverse acts which only feed his desires.

Whilst finding it hard to relate to a young man caught in a battle between good and evil, this book does contain some excellent albeit terrifying imagery, leaving little room for imagination. In fact, a few chapters within this book are likely to leave the reader gagging.

The fact that the author of this novel is in fact a primary school teacher left me feeling slightly disturbed and terrified for the children he may teach. However, his main career aside, I found the book enjoyable.

While some may find it a little intense, it can be a good read from the point of view that you are never truly sure what will be happening next. If you are not faint-hearted, this book is worthy of a read which gets my seal of approval.

7/10

45 - reviews

MADNESS

2/14/2012 2:48:57 PM

Some excerpts from a conversation on the film ‘Melancholia’: I’m glad I saw this movie. I’m glad I saw it because I now know what the worst movie ever looks like.

The way I see Melancholia is like this: I paid $11 at Luna to sit in a dark room for 3 hours and be bored.

The only things more rigid than the acting were Kirsten Dunst’s enormous fake breasts, which were exposed in the film in ways that could only be described as gratuitous.

Any movie that reveals the ending at the beginning better have a story behind it, Citizen Kain without the … the … anything, there is nothing.

Watching Melancholia is like watching the first half of the Shining on repeat, without any of the excitement of the second half of the Shining.

Lars has to be given credit for what may be the greatest deception of 2011. Or perhaps the US government contracted Lars von Trier to produce this film as an alternative to labour intensive torture methods like thumb screws and stretching racks at Guantanamo Bay. Trier, as in Lars von

noun 1. A person who always makes an effort, however

unsuccessful they may be: Kelly was described by her teachers as a real trier.

How did anyone agree to make this film? Surely they read the script or screenplay, which could have been no longer than a page and that it was an elaborate hoax to swindle honest movie-goers out of their hard-earned cash.

Even watching TV static for three hours would have been more entertaining, as the static wouldn’t have been depressingly cliché, predictable and overt.

46 - reviews

I actually think it’s a crime to continue showing this film. I went and asked for my money back from Luna, only to be asked “Have you seen his other films?” I practically had an aneurism. Other films? His criminal intellect has struck before? He really is a mastermind without match.

GROK#1_2012.indd 46

Anyone that genuinely likes this film - aside from trying to appear cultured - must have been, or is soon to be, a serial rapist. Because no competent mind could have felt anything other than boredom and a sensation similar to that of your faith in humanity being torn out through your eyes.

This film should have been called Dementia, since it accurately describes the affliction which caused it to be made and is caused by its viewing.

This film is a parody of itself.

Some basic data on Melancholia: Cinematography: nauseating Acting: stilted and without depth Dialogue: cliché and contrived Length: 2 hours too long Cast: irrelevant Plot: non-existent Director: adopted the ‘von’ during film school. Need I say more?

Soundtrack: the same bar of music, over and over.

Characters: as thin as the one A4 sheet the script was written on.

The movie itself could have been called “A dead boring experience”, if Lars von Trier hadn’t already used this name for one of his previous movies.

Lars von Trier actually adopted the “von” in his name, a move so ultimately pretentious; it’s almost a parody of his own pretentiousness.

The fact that Lars von Trier has budget enough to produce this pile of shit is a testament to the downfall of humanity and erodes the little faith I have left for our survival as a species.

The only thought-provoking element of Melancholia is the contemplation of the sad fact that there are people who actually enjoyed it.

This movie might have been good if it ended after the first 5 minutes, when we’ve already seen the ending and the following two hours are completely superfluous.

This movie is like the dark matter of the movie universe: completely devoid of substance and meaning, a shell of a film trying desperately to fit into the art-house genre Loose ends can be great in a film – Haneke’s The White Ribbon, for example – but the ‘mysterious’ bridge and Kirstin Dunst’s poorly developed and terribly revealed sixth sense did not provoke thought or intrigue, but simply caused the bubbles of frustration and boredom to rise higher in my throat.

2/14/2012 2:48:58 PM

3DS REVIEWED BY: CONNOR WHITE

Not gonna lie; Picking out a review for the first issue of Grok for 2012 was a bit hard. The call to action was long after Christmas had settled, and no games came out around that time worth bothering about. Neither is this, really, but it serves well as an active warning.

To The Moon

PC REVIEWED BY: CONNOR WHITE An intriguing concept leads this game: Two scientists are drafted into diving into a dying man’s mind and “make him” go to the moon, at least in his mind. The dev team promised us a gripping, emotional story with an incredible soundtrack. Did they deliver? Yes, but at a grave cost.

Basically a next-gen rip-off of Professor Layton made for those people too impatient to wait for those sequels, Doctor Lautrec is an Indy styled adventure set in 1800s Paris...I think. I’m not too sure. I didn’t remember it all.

The story is well-managed and well-written, aside from two kids who act way above their age. The old man, Johnny, is a deep character, holding many secrets within each layer of his memories which slowly reveal until you come face to face with someone truly memorable.

Anyway, apparently all the treasure hidden within the catacombs is infested with spirits that attack anyone who takes it, so Lautrec and his annoying female companion who’s too forgettable for me to remember her name or even look it up set out to retrieve this treasure.

The interaction between the two main doctors is also often humourous, with the banter between the jokey Neil and serious Eva leading to some golden physical and referential comedic moments. At times, however, this gets in the way of the serious tone of the story.

There are essentially three styles of gameplay, none of which really work. The first is an isometric stealth framework, in which Lautrec must avoid the French police guarding the sites of the treasure. It’s very similar to Metal Gear Solid in theory, but it’s clunky and rubbish in comparison. It involves a lot of crate pushing to create platforms when a nice jump would have been good.

Freebird certainly delivered on an emotional story. There is a light-hearted, airy tone throughout some of the more breezy scenes.

So too, however, are there heart-stopping, tearjerking moments of storytelling brilliance.

The puzzles lack any sort of tact or craft. Instead of Layton’s incredible logic puzzles and brain teasers, you get generic sleuths and slide puzzles. Clearly, Konami saw what people liked about Layton in a roundabout way and forgot what the actual appeal was. They aren’t terrible, but they’re so damned vanilla.

And then there’s the RPG battle system against the Treasure Animatus itself. Now I’ve played Tactics Ogre a lot, but damned if I could work this out. Something about placing your treasure on the right pedestal...I never got it down. It’s poorly explained and implemented.

And the 3D? It’s not the worst, but given the cutscenes are 2D and useless for 3D capabilities, that leaves the merely functional 3D graphics.

They’re serviceable but you wouldn’t show this game off to your friends.

That’s basically what the experience boils down to. It’s not terrible, but you can tell this was just rushed to try and fill the Layton void on 3DS quickly. No need to hurry; they’ve still got one game left to translate on the original DS.

4/10

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The problem is that interactivity suffers as a result. This review may be better off in the books or movies section, because this barely resembles a game. There’s no way to lose, there’s nothing in the way of actual challenge and the most game bits are tacked on slide puzzles in the first half of the game.

Does this matter? Well, yeah, it does. It means that while you could theoretically pay $10 to play through a grand story, you could just as easily watch a Let’s Play on YouTube and get the same experience for free. There’s little in the way of subversive immersion like Portal as well.

There is a definite player disconnect in the game, which wouldn’t matter so much if there was more interactivity within it. This is by no means your story. It’s Johnny’s and Neil’s and Eva’s. There’s nothing to draw you into the game apart from the story.

Again, it’s a great story, enough to carry the game for some people, probably a lot of people.

However, for those who want a challenging and reflex-testing game, go get something like Rayman Origins instead.

For the rest of you, strap yourselves in for an emotional rollercoaster ride not seen since Grave Of The Fireflies.

7/10

Alice Madness Returns

PC, PS3, Xbox 360 REVIEWED BY: EMILY FIELDER & ADRIAN DUFFELL Alice Madness Returns is the second installment of the popular Alice series of video games in which Wonderland has gone disturbingly offbeat.

A year has passed since the events of the first game but the hallucinations triggered by Alice’s tragic past still persist. She is undergoing hypnotism to try to forget, but when her thoughts become too disturbing her psychiatrist urges her to let her mind retreat to Wonderland.

Entering Wonderland is exciting. Alice is immersed in a lush, whimsical setting where toadstool trampolines, domino stepping stones and luminous flowers make up the landscape.

But the deeper Alice delves into Wonderland the darker things get. The landscape takes on a steampunk aesthetic and Alice comes into battle with some very creepy demons. Luckily Alice has some quirky and kick ass weapons to help her out; her trusty vorpal blade, a giant pepper grinder that sprays peppercorn bullets and a hobbyhorse for whacking enemies. Alice’s ability to dodge attacks by dematerialising into butterflies is not only useful in combat but also visually striking. When low in health, Alice can enter Hysteria Mode. This lasts for a brief period but gives Alice a health boost and allows her to do twice the damage while remaining unharmed.

You will want to risk your health just to watch Alice lose her shit.

The levels are long. There are six to progress through with each offering a different setting within Wonderland. Moving through levels requires careful jumping across platforms and using a shrink potion to walk through keyholes and small spaces. Throughout the adventure there are various items for Alice to collect; memories to help unravel her past, teeth to buy weapon upgrades and roses to boost health. You will want to explore Wonderland and interact with its characters but sadly invisible walls keep you on a predefined path and dialogue is restricted to cutscenes.

At 19, Alice is an unconventional protagonist. She is well-mannered, submissive and graceful and is the last person you would picture spilling blood and rolling heads. The art direction and storyline is what keeps you playing this game. Although the subject matter is very dark and sometimes disturbing, the game is lightened by tounge-incheek humour and quirks. If you wanted more from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland then you will get a kick out of this charming game.

7.5/10

47 - reviews

Doctor Lautrec & The Forgotten Knights

2/14/2012 2:48:59 PM

Ask Someone Better

Emil Cholich

Dear Emil I can’t help but notice you didn’t write anything in the last issue of Grok? are you alive? also what did you do over your summer break?

Sincerely Not Emil

just a roll of razor-wire to give myself a colonic with. Sadly I was only offered $30 for a game which I had bought two weeks earlier from the same store for $100, and was then the subject of ridicule by the 14 year old that was being swallowed head-first by a fringe of disgruntled over-straightened hair. Apparently not playing games on a PC, is a scoff-worthy offense.

Thank you for your terrific letter, I spent my summer much like everyone else did, trying to enjoy myself as much as possible but instead finding myself spending weekend nights sucking at the teat of the hospitality industry, serving beers to people, just so they could comment about how the only head they wanted was from my various family members. Jokes on them, what they thought was head was in fact the innards of a jar of my collected spit, which I’d been saving to throw at people lining up for the iPhone 5 (which sadly didn’t come out).

They then offered me a subscription to their game magazine, followed by trying sign me up to be an EB member, after I repeatedly said no the child signed me up anyway, I now have a plastic glittery-auburn card declaring me a “Level One” EB customer. I don’t know how I’m supposed to level up but I know that I instantly leveled down in life. And why the hell have they co-opted the uniform of the Mormon church at the EB? dressing up your staff in plain white shirts and black ties isn’t convincing me any less that they had to use industrial grade chemicals to unstick their left hands from their WAS and D keys that morning after they’d been fused there by Doritos Extra Cheese cheese dust during a 12 hour overnight Starcraft raid.

I also tried to rekindle my relationship with my Xbox, I even went to EB with the hopes of returning Battlefield 3 to buy something better, like Hannah Montana’s sing-a-thon, or maybe

I also got a kitten, she’s had her first of three vaccinations, the vet also charged me 225% RRP for Frontline, making her beat out the many barking female dogs in the establishment to the

Not Emil,

48 - advice

How’s your life going? Probably pretty poorly - I mean you’re reading a student magazine, your day has probably sucked, and you’re ugly. Look at you, it’s horrible you even exist. Don’t you wish you’d made better life choices? No, because the only life choices you’ve made yourself have been screw ups, so why not ask someone who’s better at life than you. Email me your life dilemmas, and I guarantee you a response of some nature, whether it’s a heart warming paragraph or three, or just a picture of a donkey doing some stuff to a goat. emilcholich@me.com

GROK#1_2012.indd 48

number one spot at that vets “Massive Bitch Awards”. My house now smells like piss, clay, turd, and tuna.

Some shitheel stole my laptop and then sold it to a pawn shop in Belmont for $250. Only in Belmont would they take a laptop that won’t turn on, is password protected and has a massive crack in the screen, no questions asked. It’s like the outer suburbs want to be made fun of. Here we go; The GDP of Belmont is so low they’re set to receive an air drop of wheat from Ethiopia, In Belmont the only stable currency is Red Rooster chicken, there were SOPA protests in Belmont because they thought the government was trying to make using soap mandatory (BECAUSE NOBODY THERE CAN READ!!).

Also I had a run-in with Left Action which crescendoed in a photo of me lifting my shirt, a girl crying about her art classroom, and me having an even greater hatred for the Socialist Alternative than the Socialist Alternative has for personal hygiene, just shave god damn it, how about you go “Occupy” a shower.

So overall it was a good summer.

Emil

2/14/2012 2:48:59 PM

WATERFORD PLAZA

BACK TO UNI SPECIALS Waterford Plaza is buzzing with change. There are heaps of fantastic new shops offering anything you could want from food, coffee, gifts and uni supplies...And it’s only across the road from Curtin! Many of you will be excited to know that a Hippo Creek tavern is opening soon. Stay tuned for more news on that! Also, the new Shaded Car Park is open for use when visiting the centre so make sure you park there on your next shopping experience!

15% OFF store wide at Reject Shop Waterford when you present your student card. Includes: Stationary, cards & wrap, Kitchenware, Storage, Cleaning and Personal care. *Valid until 9/4/2012. Unlimited redemptions.

Don’t forget to join us on Facebook for what’s happening, specials and student deals! www.facebook.com/WaterfordPlaza

20% OFF all services at Top Image Hair Design when you present your Curtin student card. *Valid until 31/12/2012

10% OFF

the entire menu at Burger Edge Waterford when you present your Curtin student card and mention or show this ad.

5% OFF

store wide at Waterford Supa IGA when you present your Curtin student card! *Excludes Specials - Conditions apply

$1 OFF

any drink at Ice Bubble when you present your Curtin student card and mention or show this ad. *Valid until 15/03/2012. One purchase per person per day.

*Valid until 26/3/2012. One purchase per person per day.

FREE 375ml soft drink at Waterford Bakehouse when you purchase any pie (excluding party pies) or Vietnamese Pork Roll (Danh Mi Thit).

Save $4 Off Optifree Replenish Economy Pack just $13.99 *Valid until 26/03/2012

*Valid until 26/3/2012. One purchase per person per day.

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Grok#1_12_cover.indd 3

www.waterfordplaza.com.au

2/14/2012 1:03:05 AM

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*Refurbished devices may have been used for testing purposes or returned by customers outside our coverage area. They have been checked, tested and re-packed. A 6 month warranty applies. Limit one refurbished device per transaction. Students must purchase and activate their refurbished device between 8.00 am WST (11 am EDT) on 13/02/2012 and before midnight WST on 01/04/2012(2 am EST on 02/04/2012). Device credit equivalent to purchase price applied in 2nd month. Limit one device credit per account. Additional 2GB bonus data for the first 12 months excludes pre-paid and unlimited plans. If you use up all your data (including additional bonus data) on your plan (excluding unlimited plan), your broadband service will be slowed to 64kbps until you recharge or until your next billing period starts.

Alternatively, you can buy blocks of additional usage at any time. Usage includes uploads and downloads. Acceptable Use Policy applies to all data plans. Early Termination Fee applies to fixed term plans. Go to vividwireless.com.au for details and full terms and conditions on all our plans. #You may experience slower speeds with more than 5 users connected at any one time. One Free Uniden cordless phone (DECT 1015) while stocks last. Phone is manufactured by Uniden Corporation Japan and is covered under the manufacturer’s one year warranty. You must sign up to a vividwireless phone service to enjoy great value call rates. Fair Use Policy applies to phone plans. Check coverage at vividwireless.com.au/coverage before you buy. Coverage depends on your location and device. Environmental and structural factors, distance from base station or terrain can affect your coverage. © 2012 vividwireless Pty Ltd. (ABN 65 137 696 461).

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6/02/12 4:10 2/14/2012 1:03:07 AMPM