ISSUE 1: 20/20
MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY STUDENT PUBLICATION
PUBLISHER Gail White
FEBRUARY - MARCH MONDAY
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GRADUATE CAREERS FAIR 2020
MARDI GRAS
MACQUARIE BUSINESS SCHOOL ANNUAL WOMEN WHO CHANGE THE WORLD SYMPOSIUM
MARCH
Do you have an upcoming event? Let us know and we’ll do our best to include it in our calendar. Email grapeshot@mq.edu.au
ISSUE 1: 20/20
CONTENTS 5 NEWS 6 NEWSFLASHES 8 HOW DO WE SLEEP WHEN OUR BEDS ARE BURNING? 12 “I AM LISTENING” 14 THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS 18 AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE, NO NO NO!
20 REGULARS 21 WRITING ON THE WALL: MOVING OUT 22 THE CHALLENGE: GRAPEY’S LIST 24 YOUR CHALLENGE: OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE 26 POP-CULTURE REWIND: AWARD SEASON
28 ILLUSTRATED: WHAT KIND OF NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION ARE YOU?
45 CREATIVES
30 YOU ARE HERE: WAHROONGA
47 POSTER
32 I DON’T GET IT: CLIMATE CHANGE MILLENIALS
50 POSTERS
46 CHOIR AT 2 O’CLOCK 48 PICK A CHALICE TAROT
33 FEATURES 34 MEET THE TEAM 36 NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS 38 01:23:45: WHY HBO’S ‘CHERNOBYL’ FREAKED ME OUT
53 REPEAT OFFENDERS
40 VIBING TO EXTINCTION
54 DISNEY + REVIEW
42 THE PATH TO CONSCIOUSNESS: FOR YOUNG AUSSIES, THE ROAD NOT TAKEN?
57 METANOIA
44 YOUR 2020 STUDY PLAN
61 CHINESE ZODIACS
37 GRAPEY’S GUIDE TO MQ
58 DERRY GIRLS 60 YOU
EDITORS’ LETTERS Why hello Grapey readers/enemies/frenemies/confused first year who just picked up their first copy of Grapeshot! I’m Grapeshot’s new Editor in Chief and I’ll be looking after this baby for 2020. For those just joining us, Grapeshot is Macquarie University’s student publication, and the 2020 Grapeshot team’s hope is that this magazine can be a voice to and from students, where you can see your experiences, concerns and opinions expressed and brought to life. We want to discuss in depth the issues you feel passionately about, with empathy and nuance, and help you get educated on different perspectives, issues and ideas, with understanding and accessibility. Grapeshot is not something that happens off in a mystical land, separate from and apathetic towards the general student population. This magazine is FOR you and FROM you and we hope that Grapeshot is able to represent you and make you feel heard and understood in the weird and wonderful cesspool that is tertiary education. If you want to be a part of what happens at Grapeshot, shoot us an email! Add us on FB! Slippery slide into our DMs and let’s get flirting. Cause this magazine is only as good as the students who contribute to it, get behind it and pick up a copy on their way to class. With that in mind, a huge thank you goes out to the Grapeshot team for this issue. In particular, our stand-in Creative Editor, Kathleen, has been an absolute powerhouse and illustrated pretty much everything in this issue (she’s even left some fun clues from the cover for you in all the section openers). Thank you to the whole team for your insane efforts in getting this baby together and only giving me two minor heart attacks in the process. Much love. Also, a year and a half ago, I first joined the Grapeshot team and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would become Editor in Chief. Thank you to everyone who has prodded and pushed me into this role, I am forever grateful (big thanks to James Booth in particular). But back to this issue! In these beautiful matte pages we’re talking all about looking to the future, while keeping a sneaky eye back on the past. The idea behind calling the first issue 20/20 was not only that it marks the start of a new decade, but also that it encapsulates broad and diverse understandings of the world around us. Seeing things comprehensively and from a fresh perspective, this issue is packed full of great student-created-content about the events and issues that have happened in the past, and the hopes and challenges we’re looking to in the future. We’ve got a wild array of content, from a brilliant piece breaking down the bushfire crisis to some fresh new zodiacs to start your year off right. So happy reading and here’s to another decade of Grapey goodness! Katelyn x As university students we enter this campus full of hope, ideology, and visions of who we will be. Macquarie University’s logo of a lighthouse is apt, its guiding light helps illuminate our paths, and guides us through the dangerous dark waters that is young adulthood. At the beginning of my undergraduate degree I picked up a copy of Grapeshot Magazine and marvelled at the creative artistry bursting from within its pages. It was tangible, real, and made completely by students. After multiple creative writing classes where I was forced to expose the soft underbelly that is my writing to critical eyes I finally developed enough of a hard, spiny experior to apply to work on the Grapeshot team (in this overwrought analogy I’m an echidna). It was the best decision I ever made. A ‘grapeshot’ is a makeshift cannon ball made from clusters of smaller iron or lead balls which when fired spread out and hit multiple targets. The magazine reflects this concept in the diversity of its content featuring journalism, memoir, graphic design, and even that ungodly archaic practice known as poetry. It was the previous Editor in Chief, James Booth, who passed this knowledge onto me and to who, like Katelyn, I am eternally grateful to for hiring me back in November 2018 to be the Features and Creatives editor. Having ‘20/20 vision’ is important, a fact I say with full sincerity as someone who is definitely too blind to operate a heavy vehicle. More important though is what you make of that vision, what do you create, what do you put out into the world? Grapeshot gave me the opportunity to realise the future I wanted to mold for myself. I hope it does the same for you! Jodie, Deputy Editor
GOT SOMETHING TO CONTRIBUTE?
SEND PITCHES, IDEAS, QUESTIONS, WORDS, PHOTOGRAPHY, ART TO GRAPESHOT@MQ.EDU.AU
EDITORIAL & CREATIVE PRODUCTION EDITOR IN CHIEF Katelyn Free
DEPUTY EDITOR Jodie Ramodien CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kathleen Notohamiprodjo DESIGN/EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Elizabeth Laughton NEWS EDITOR Saliha Rehanaz REGULARS EDITOR Gabby Edwards FEATURES/CREATIVES EDITOR Sara Zarriello ONLINE EDITOR Brooke Mason
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS + ILLUSTRATORS Harriet Atkins Joel Karanikas Shinae Taylor
EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD Sowaiba Azad, Jay Muir, Kimberly La, Marlene Khouzam, Ateka Rajabi, Angus Webber
PUBLISHER
COORDINATOR
Gail White
Melroy Rodrigues
GRAPESHOT acknowledges the Wattamatagal clan, of the Darug nation as the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and meet. We acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceeded, no treaty was signed, and would like to pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging. We would like to extend those respects to all First Nations people reading. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land
NEWS
NEWSFLASHES WEINSTEIN ON TRIAL SALIHA REHANAZ More than two years after a storm of allegations against Harvey Weinstein helped launch a cultural reckoning on sexual misconduct, the 67-year-old fallen Hollywood megaproducer showed up to a New York courtroom on January 6th to mark the beginning of his controversial criminal trial. Dark rumours of sexual assault and harassment have consistently been associated with a majority of Weinstein’s career. Some accusations of horrifying incidents of rape against him date back to decades ago. However, the Hollywood mogul has pleaded not guilty to first-degree rape, two counts of predatory sexual assault, one count of first-degree sexual assault and one count of third-degree rape charges which he faces in New York state. He has repeatedly denied all allegations of his wrongdoings against him, emphasizing that these encounters were entirely consensual. The specifics of many of the accusations had been made public before, but having them laid out in detail during the opening statements in an open court
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marked a historic moment in the #MeToo era. Several women are expected to testify about the alleged attacks by Weinstien, including Annabelle Sciorra, an Emmy-nominated actress, who was allegedly a victim of rape in the winter of 1993-94. Unfortunately, her case is too old to prosecute. Actresses Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd were also among the women who initially came forward about Weinstein’s acts. The verdict of this criminal trial is extremely important, not only for all the women who are involved with this trial. It is also a significant verdict for all the other women in the industry who face sexual assault on a daily basis, and the millions of other men and women who came together during the #MeToo movement in the hope of receiving justice.
ENROLMENT FIASCO GABRIELLE EDWARDS MQ 2020 promised a clearer new study path allowing for a more successful future for graduates, but that doesn’t seem to be the case so far… Since enrolment opened for certain returning students starting January 13th there have been multiple reports of technical issues occurring. Students shared their frustration on university discussion groups online with issues including not being able to login to eStudent at all or only having access to the old curriculum and not being able to enrol into new units. On January 16th, the Macquarie University Campus Facebook page even shared a Ron Burgundy meme to announce the enrolment system had been fixed, eliciting discontent from many commenters. When re-enrolment opened next week for a new batch of returning students, these commenters were proved right as issues kept recurring. On top of this, the personalised study plans promised to help transition students from the past curriculum to the new 2020 one have also arrived late for many
NEWSFLASHES students. This means some students aren’t being informed on how their degree has changed and what units they are supposed to be taking.
VIRAL PANIC
One culprit for enrolment issues appears to be the new units and programs not yet being updated in the enrolment systems, meaning they are inaccessible to be viewed or enrolled in by students. Along with this, eStudent only works best with certain internet browsers with Google Chrome not being one of them. With classes starting soon, let’s just hope all these technical difficulties can be solved as soon as possible. If you are having issues be sure to contact Student Connect or AskMQ who can hopefully help address your concerns.
In December 2019, an outbreak of coronavirus began in Wuhan, China. Since then, over 12 people have been confirmed as infected in Australia. Around the world, over 250 people have died of the virus, with a further 12,000 estimated to be infected. The World Health Organisation has also declared the coronavirus a global emergency.
ELIZABETH LAUGHTON
Symptoms of the virus have been described as varying from a mild flu to pneumonia. Prominent symptoms include fever, coughing, breathlessness, and a stuffy nose. Infected patients remain contagious for up to 14 days, even if they are asymptomatic the entire time. The Wuhan strain of the virus is believed to have originated in animals. It was likely transmitted to humans through consumption of those animals afterwards.
their immediate families, who must isolate themselves for the virus’ incubation period of 14 days upon entering Australia. The government has also been involved in efforts to evacuate 600 Australian citizens from the epicentre of the virus in China. Efforts to develop a vaccine for the virus are on-going across the world. Macquarie University has issued multiple communications regarding the infection and spread of coronavirus. Initially, students were advised to continue attending university if they were feeling well. Since then, students with possible contact with the virus have been asked to remain absent for 14 days, according to federal guidelines. The University is now presented with the unique challenge of handling numerous Chinese international students, who may need to be issued exceptional deferrals and consideration for the first few weeks of Session 1 as they may not be able to travel.
Given the virus is highly contagious, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has placed a ban on travellers entering Australia if they have passed through mainland China. There are some exceptions for Australian citizens, permanent residents, and
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HOW DO WE SLEEP WHILE OUR BEDS ARE BURNING? A COMPREHENSIVE DEBRIEF ON THE AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRE CRISIS
The Facts
In November 2019, the Australian government declared a state of emergency when dozens of fires erupted in New South Wales. The fires rapidly spread across all states to become some of the most devastating in the last few decades. At least 27 million acres of Australia has been burned, a surface area almost equal to Portugal. On January 4th 2020, The Guardian reported that due to the fires, at least 23 people had died nationwide and in New South Wales alone, more than 3,000 homes had been destroyed or damaged. And according to an estimate from the University of Sydney, more than 1 billion mammals, birds and reptiles have likely lost their lives in blazes. The blazes from the fires have ravaged through bushland, wooded areas and even national parks like the Blue Mountains. Some of the bushfires could be contained within days of starting, but the biggest blazes have been burning for months. Alongside the dangerous flames from the bushfires, the smoke has become another disaster. On January 1st, Australia’s capital recorded the worst pollution it has ever seen in history. The air quality index was noted 23 times higher than the ‘hazardous’ level. At one point, Canberra health authorities had advised all residents to “spend more time indoors”. Additionally, the smoke in the city was
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so extreme, it had made its way into birthing rooms and stopped MRI machines from working. The smoke had also reached New Zealand, where it created an eerie scene atop glacier-covered peaks. In Australia, summer extends from December to February, with the fire season typically peaking in late January or early February. Bushfires and grass fires in Australia are a regular and widespread occurrence that have significantly moulded the nature of our continent over millions of years. According to the Geoscience Department of the Australian Government, natural ecosystems have evolved with fire, as the landscape, becomes more biologically diverse. Apart from the hot, dry weather which makes it easy for blazes to start and spread, natural causes have been blamed in the past for most bushfires. Often this is lightning strikes in drought-affected forests. In late December 2019, Victoria State Emergency Service had reported that dry lightning was responsible for starting a number of fires in Victoria’s East Gippsland regions, which travelled more than 20 kilometres in just five hours. Additionally, a police statement indicated that the New South Wales police had charged at least 24 people with deliberately starting bushfires, and have taken legal action against 183 people for fire-related offences since November 2019.
Over the past few decades, fire season in Australia has always been dangerous. In 2009, the Black Saturday bushfires killed 173 people in Victoria, dubbing it the deadliest bushfire disaster on record. Conditions have been unusually severe this year, the flames have been spreading and destroying thousands of acres of land. Australia is experiencing one of its worst droughts in decades. In December 2019, the Bureau of Meteorology stated that last spring was the driest on record. On the other hand, the heatwave which took place in December 2019 broke the record for highest nationwide average temperature. Some areas reached burning temperatures well above 40 degrees Celsius. The Real Cause
Experts say climate change has worsened the scope and impact of natural disasters like fires and floods, as weather conditions are growing more extreme. For years, the fires have been starting earlier in the season and spreading with greater intensity. Dan Pydonowski, a Senior Meteorologist at AccuWeather, states that Southeastern Australia has been “abnormally dry” since September 2019, meaning significant rainfall would be needed repeatedly over a period of weeks to become damp enough to cut down the risk of fires. Pydynowski also added that “everything is so dry right now, it doesn’t take much for a fire to spark and blow up and spread”. Stefan Rahmstorf, the department head at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany and lead author of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report spoke to TIME News and believes the Australian bushfires were exacerbated by two factors which have a “well-established” link to climate change: heat and dry conditions. “Due to enhanced evaporation in warmer temperatures, the vegetation and soil dry out more quickly,” says Rahmstorf, “even if the rainfall didn’t change, just the warming in itself would already cause a drying of vegetation and therefore increased fire risk”. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has resisted calls for the country to reduce its carbon emissions, has been accused of de-emphasizing the link between bushfires and climate change, mentioning during an interview in November 2019, that there isn’t “credible scientific evidence” that reducing carbon emissions would diminish the fires.
He pointed out that these fires are very similar to recent high destructive fires in Brazil and China. Climate change in Australia has been a critical issue since the beginning of the 21st century. In 2013, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) released a report stating that Australia is becoming hotter, and that it will experience more extreme heat and longer fire seasons due to climate change. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Australia has experienced an increase of nearly 1 degree Celsius in average annual temperatures, with warming occurring twice as fast over the past 50 years than in the previous 50 years. Rainfall in Southwestern Australia has decreased by 10-20% since the 1970s, while Southeastern Australia has also experienced a moderate decline since the 1990s. Water sources in the southeastern areas of Australia have depleted due to increasing population in urban areas coupled with climate change factors such as persistent prolonged drought. At the same time, Australian greenhouse gas emissions continue to be the highest per capita as reported in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). A carbon tax was introduced for Australia in 2011 by the Gillard government in an effort to reduce the impact of climate change. Despite some criticism, it successfully reduced Australia’s carbon dioxide emissions, with coal generation down 11% since 2009. Moreover, under the government of Malcolm Turnbull, Australia attended the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference and adopted The Paris Agreement, which includes a review of emission reduction targets every five years from 2020. In 2014, the carbon tax was repealed and abolished by the Coalition Government. Since then, carbon emissions in Australia have been rising yearly. The Political Stakes
Scott Morrison has faced extreme scrutiny for his stance on climate change throughout his entire political career. After his miraculous victory for the Liberal Party in 2019, numerous climate activists have expressed their anger and concern over the state of Australia’s ecological society in the future. Morrison is consistently under the crucial disapproval from the public as he refuses to accept the impact of climate change and does not enforce policies to reduce carbon emissions.
Peter Glieck, a climate scientist and co-founder of Pacific Institute in California, commented on Morrison’s denial. “There are now disingenuous efforts to downplay the clear role of climate change in worsening the intensity and severity of the Australian fires. These efforts should be called out for what they are: gross climate denial”. Glieck also emphasized that the bushfires are a “very clear example of the links between climate change and extreme weather”.
News || 09
Apart from attempting to manipulate the minds of the public into believing that climate change is “unreal”, Morrison has also branded environmental protesters as “anarchists” and threatened a radical crackdown on the right to protest in a speech claiming progressives are seeking to “deny the liberties of Australians”. In November 2019, Morrison told Australian corporations to listen to the “quiet shareholders” and not environmental protestors, who he suggested could shift targets from coal companies to all carbon-intensive industries including power generation, gas projects, abattoirs and airlines. Moreover, in Tasmania the Liberal government intends to legislate sentences of up to 21 years (more than many get for murder) for environmental protest, legislations typical of the new climate of ‘authoritarianism’ that has flourished under Morrison. Regardless of Morrison’s efforts to prevent the public from pushing the government to take climate action, Australians have gradually taken matters into their own hands to make sure their voices are heard. In September 2019, over 300,000 Australians gathered at climate change rallies around the country in one of the largest protest events in the nation’s history. This climate strike was fuelled after the Prime Minister’s decision to not attend the United Nations Climate Summit despite being in the United States at the time of the event. In light of the bushfires and the government’s lack of climate action, the streets were filled again in December 2019 with protesters demanding Morrison to take responsibility and realise that climate change is in some ways, fuelling these dangerous fires. Apart from protests, Australians have also been enraged with the Prime Minister and have expressed their disappointment at all opportunities.
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In early January, Morrison was forced to abandon a meet-and-greet in Cobargo after being confronted by angry local residents. He was visiting the Bega Valley townships, which had been engulfed by flames two days prior to his visit. The Guardian Australia reported the death of three people and numerous people losing their homes, businesses, livestock and pasture when the fire hit the community. Footage from Nine Network shows Morrison approaching a woman to shake her hand and ask how she is doing. The woman, who appeared reluctant, said “I’m only shaking your hand if you give more funding to our RFS [Rural Fire Service]”. The footage later depicts Morrison walking away as she exclaimed, “we need more help!”. A group of residents were also later seen yelling at the Prime Minister. On the Frontline
In the wake of recent disastrous events, those who have worked endlessly to protect the residents and wildlife of Australia deserve all the recognition. There have been thousands of firefighters volunteering to put their life at risk in order to contain the fires and evacuate everyone in the affected regions. In an interview with the BBC, Daniel Knox said, “We’re doing it because it’s a passion. It’s a brotherhood”, when he was asked what motivated him to fight the bushfires. He is one of the thousands of Australians who abandoned their ordinary lives to battle the nation’s raging fire crisis. Daniel is a member of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) which calls itself “the world’s largest volunteer firefighting organisation”. Its 70,000 members are extensively trained and except for a few senior staff, unpaid. Since September, close to 3,000 firefighters have been out every day in NSW battling blazes the size of small European countries.
Apart from spending hours working to control the fires in extreme conditions, numerous firefighters have also lost their lives while tackling the blaze. To help local efforts in the bushfire crisis, North American firefighters have been arriving in Australia since early December 2019. The United States has sent firefighters while Canada has been sending fire experts to Australia for the first time. In an effort to thank the firefighters for their contribution, the country has seen numerous communities coming together to celebrate and recognise their hard work and courage. In one such event at Lake Cathie, the mayor of Port Macquarie-Hastings, Peta Pinson, called the men and women superheroes for all their hard work. While addressing the firefighters and the community members, Pinson said, “Yellow is the new black because our absolutely amazing firefighters are true heroes after what they had done over the last few weeks.” “The whole community is so thankful that we didn’t have to experience the true horrific nature of the fires’ wrath because of all these wonderful people. It is a shame it has taken something as terrible as the last few weeks for everyone to see how truly incredible our firefighters are. But everyone is incredibly grateful for what they have done. From the countless hours our fighters spend away from their family and friends to train, and all the work they have put in over the last few weeks. They are the true heroes.” Alongside various events, both individuals and communities have come together to fundraise money for fire services. The BBC reported on January 5th that Australian comedian, Celeste Barber launched a Facebook appeal and managed to raise more than $20 million in just 48 hours. The funds were raised to support the NSW Rural Fire Service, which channels charitable donations directly to fire brigades. Apart from celebrities pledging donations, companies and organisations across the globe have been helping to raise money in support of the firefighters, local residents and wildlife affected by the bushfires. While small local businesses opened their doors to help gather items required to battle the fires, other large labels have been donating proceeds from their sales to various organisations. People have come together from all around the world to raise awareness about the issue on social media. Numerous people have spoken about the commendable achievements of communities to raise money for the cause, however some have expressed disappointment, as it is the responsibility of the government to take action and ensure funds are available for such natural catastrophes.
What Can You Do?
There are various ways you can support the cause and support those affected by the bushfires. If you would like to donate money, organisations such as The Salvation Army and The Australian Red Cross are working directly with those in crisis. There is also the opportunity to donate directly to state-based brigades, such as the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. You can also look up local stores putting sale proceeds towards the bushfire efforts. Cash through registered funds and official appeals is the most ideal way to help, according to the NSW Office of Emergency Management, as it allows people to choose exactly what they need and supports local businesses. If you are unable to provide monetary donations, charities like Givit specialise in collecting goods, but act as a “charity broker” to avoid ending up with unnecessary donations. The exact items people need are listed by charities and the public can match that or register the items they have, in case someone can use them. Givit is currently running two specific campaigns supporting NSW and Queensland bushfires on top of its regular services. The Red Cross has shared that it will gratefully accept goods such as clothing at its retail stores, where funds raised from sales can go towards their work, including bushfire relief. To support the wildlife affected by the bushfires, specific organisations like the WWF have campaigns running so you can donate and support their efforts in rehabilitating the animals and providing them with proper medical attention. You can also donate items such as possum boxes, native milk replacers and pellets for livestock to the RSPCA’s Bushfire Donation Drive. You may also wish to volunteer at the NSW Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Services to rehabilitate injured wildlife. The bushfires are a warning that climate change is truly affecting our world and we need to take action immediately. This summer, Australia did not only lose thousands of acres of landscape, millions of flora and fauna, but also many people’s lives and livelihoods were destroyed. We cannot sit still and give up if our government is not taking action. This is the time to be reminded that those in control of climate action policies will not be alive to face the repercussions that we will have to. We need to come together as a community and work towards a better world. We might only be 25% of the population today, but we are 100% of the future tomorrow.
by Saliha Rehanaz
News || 11
“I AM LISTENING”
GRAPESHOT GETS ANSWERS FROM MACQUARIE’S VICE CHANCELLOR ON ALL OF MQ’S BURNING QUESTIONS 2020 has already well and truly left us unable to see straight. Starting off with nothing less than blistering heat, bushfire devastation, a worldwide health epidemic and a panic-inducing amount of eStudent crashes and enrollment issues. Things are already starting to look a tad like a royal shitshow in the making. So, Grapeshot turned to The Man himself, our very own Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bruce Dowton, to try and make sense of the mayhem around us (and to get to know him a little bit better of course). So enough from us, on to the interrogation!
What challenges do you foresee arising in 2020 for Macquarie, especially with the changes brought in by MQ 2020? “2020 will also be a year where we need to pull together as a diverse community to achieve more in a shifting landscape, and for us to recognise areas where we must be open to change. Macquarie is known for our innovative and unconventional approach to learning, to problem solving, to defying convention.”
“Macquarie has always chosen a path of institutional distinctiveness, quality and innovation. In order to continue First off, did you make any new year’s resolutions? with those aspirations, we need to adapt to the reality of what is happening in the higher education sector and around “The Christmas and New Year break for me is always a time us.” for reflection. I like to reflect on the year past, and how to best “A constant for this year will be change. However, I would approach the new year ahead. I don’t do new year’s resolutions like to emphasise that the success of our students will always as such. I am always striving to look at things in a new way be the cornerstone on which we make decisions. Having put or from a new perspective, so in a way, this is my new year’s a lot of work into MQ2020, I believe we will begin to see focus. Reading allows me to understand situations from the rewards of that work in the year ahead with a clearer different points of view.” and easier to navigate approach for our students to their “Unfortunately, as you know we are experiencing an educational programs.” unprecedented summer and the impact to our environment is immense. So many of the community have experienced such loss. Our fauna and flora have suffered greatly. All of which brings perspective to what we are here to do. It highlights the importance of community, and the role of universities in helping build resilience. It also shines a light on the steps that are needed to care for the future of our nation, and how we equip our students with skills for the future.”
Macquarie has been criticised in the past for acting more like a business than an educational institution. This view has followed through to many of the curriculum and staffing changes that were made under the MQ 2020 program. What is your response to this criticism? “Ultimately my role as Vice-Chancellor is to guide the
What are you excited about for 2020 (personally, and for University’s actions to ensure our focus remains on delivering Macquarie)? a transformative, research-enriched learning experience for “This is an important time for Macquarie. As we commence a new decade, the environment in which we operate is shifting dramatically. For many universities it brings opportunities and challenges, and we are no exception. For Macquarie it brings us opportunities to renew our University community focus and to accelerate our progress towards realising our potential, and to commit to new ways of working.” “For me personally, I am excited about approaching the new year with renewed areas of focus in education and research, learning and teaching methodology, as well as renewing our campus, technology and ways of working across the breadth of the Macquarie community. This means working closely with all our stakeholders.”
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our students. Any changes made to structure and processes within the University are made to drive specific sustainable actions that have the greatest impact to our students, and ensure they are equipped with the right skills that prepare them for their chosen careers now and into the future.”
“In a way we are like a business, we are a large complex institution with many moving parts. We are fortunate to have thousands of remarkable and very dedicated staff to deliver the best learning experience possible and to engage in cutting-edge research. We also need to keep up and adapt to what is happening around us, to maximise changes in technology, and drive the University forward. In this regard we are like most Australian universities. We are working to ensure the wonderful culture of an inclusive and engaged Macquarie community is preserved, at the very same time as dealing with the reality that we are a large complex institution that has to be managed effectively and efficiently.” Considering the outcry and protests that arose from the decision to abolish the Faculty of Human Sciences, what is Macquarie doing to make sure that the voices of students and staff are being heard when executive level decisions are being made? “Change is never easy and getting to this point has not been a simple journey. I value the insights from our students and staff. In fact, all our stakeholders, alumni, industry partners, community groups etc. Without you, there is no us. I am listening.” “In late 2019, the Executive Group agreed the need for a more detailed operating plan which would focus our attention and accelerate progress towards our vision for 2020-2024. A new operating plan is being developed that sits within the original strategic framework set out in Our University: A Framing of Futures. It will include specific priorities and initiatives to address the University’s key areas of focus in the immediate, short-term and long-term.” “I will soon be leading a series of engagement activities across the University to develop and refine priorities. As part of these activities I will be consulting with students via a series of focus groups in March. I continue to meet with members of the Student Representative Council (SRC) and welcome their engagement on the context for change, as well as their input on broader student communication. I also feel it is vital to involve our students in the way we deliver our courses.” Finally, MQ 2020 has already resulted in a lot of students encountering significant difficulty continuing in their courses and enrolling for this semester. Students have transferred universities as a result of the changes. What is your response to student discontent towards MQ 2020? “Updating and transferring all our students to a new curriculum in one year was ambitious, but true to Macquarie University’s reputation for innovation. Ambitious, but important to ensure we offer our students the best units and courses to prepare them adequately for their future careers.”
and complexity has not been without issue. MQ2020 has involved a number of changes to our units, courses and ultimately each of our students’ study plans. As you know, students don’t follow one path to complete their courses, therefore study plans are varied and require customised changes to ensure the best academic study path for each of our students.” “More than 20,000 continuing students have already enrolled for study this year, and a large proportion of the commencing student cohort has also enrolled. It is true the changes associated with MQ2020 have resulted in some students facing additional challenges during enrolment. In some cases, the instability of some IT systems compounded these issues. I apologise for this, however would like to assure our students that those issues have been addressed. Our staff continue to provide assistance and support as required. We are well on the journey of improving our infrastructure of digital support and that will continue this year.” “Throughout the implementation period we have worked to make the transition as seamless as possible for our students. As we get closer to the start of session, we have employed more resources to ensure our students have what they need to succeed in their studies. The extensive planning that went into this project has resulted in the majority of our students being moved to the new curriculum before enrolment opened.” “Throughout the implementation of MQ2020, we have continued to communicate with our students to keep them informed and to resolve any issues as they arise. We have support initiatives in place, which are managed by the Registrar’s portfolio in collaboration with the Faculties, to ensure students can access information and personalised help as and when they need it - face to face, via phone or online.” “Would we do it again? Yes, this kind of refresh is essential to ensure students get the most of their time on campus and in their careers. Our new curriculum has been designed in a way that ensures the flexibility we need to provide courses and units that are current, and that will set up our students for future success. Student success underpins every decision we make and was the driving factor behind this transformation.” Well there you have it kids, take from that what you will. Macquarie IS kinda run like a business, MQ 2020 has resembled a bit of a dumpster fire thus far (by Bruce’s own admission) and our Vice Chancellor doesn’t make new year’s resolutions! Who would’ve thought? Guess you won’t be running into him at the university gym anytime soon. by Katelyn Free
“Having said that, implementing something of this scale
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THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS A LOOK BACK AT THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD FROM THE PAST DECADE AT MQ. It’s the beginning of a new decade and a new start for Macquarie as the highly (un)anticipated MQ2020 program kicks off. While we’re all scrambling to figure out all the new unit codes and program changes, why don’t we take a stroll down memory lane and look back at the past ten years. Momentous changes have occurred over the past decade, that had a part in shaping the culture and identity of the Macquarie University we know today. Let’s start with the good, and end with the bad, and hopefully it’ll help you answer this question: is a university education even worth it when an incurable disease is on the loose? One with Nature
One of the many changes that marked the beginning of the last decade was the Macquarie University Arboretum. In 2010, the only campus based arboretum (botanical garden) in Sydney was launched to commemorate hundreds of years of botanical land use. From occupation by the Darug people, through to the development of market gardens, and the present day park-like landscape of the university campus. The Arboretum celebrates the past and builds on the core research and education priorities of Macquarie through its
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areas of native vegetation, tree landscapes and themed teaching gardens. The Arboretum aims to provide a resource which enhances learning, protects endangered ecological communities and facilitates biodiversity on campus. There are a range of different walks around the Arboretum. If you haven’t already, you can book a guided tour or download the notes for a series of self-guided walks from the Macquarie University website. Winners are Grinners
In 2018, the Macquarie University Team won the Champion Identifiers Trophy and came 5th in the Spotters list, at the University bioQuest. This is an international competition against other universities in recording sightings of native plants and animals, held every year in April. The Macquarie team had submitted sightings from the Macquarie Arboretum, and as such it seems like there is more use to it than just harvesting deadly spiders.
Hitting the Books
Incubating Ideas
Our state-of-the-art Macquarie library was also opened this decade. Apart from providing a place for students to enjoy the air conditioning on hot summer days, the library was designed as a sustainable building with features including, low energy and water intensity, water tanks, a green roof and low volatile organic compounds. Next time you’re sipping on your 35% sugar, 70% ice, almond milk bubble tea tapping away on your iPhone instead of actually studying in the library, you’re also helping the environment right?
This decade, Macquarie also launched the Macquarie University Incubator Program, first kicking off in 2017. Not to brag, but we promptly received four awards at the Australian Timber Design Awards. The Incubator is a nexus for students, researchers, staff and the broader startup & entrepreneur community to explore, develop and realise their ideas. The Incubator program has nurtured the growth of numerous start-ups such as the Bawurra Foundation. The Bawurra Foundation was founded in 2015 by Macquarie students and young professionals aiming to use technology to improve educational outcomes and celebrate the rich oral history of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The organisation has grown rapidly and is now working with numerous communities across New South Wales.
Last year was also the first time in the decade that the library was open 24/7. This was thanks to a motion passed by the Student Representative Committee (SRC). During the final exam sessions last year, Levels 3, 4 and 5 were open all day and night. Security guards were even employed to check student ID cards like bouncers at clubs, but at least the students finally had a space to eat overly-priced snacks from the vending machine while studying only the night before exam day. Top of the Ranks
In 2012, Macquarie University was named the number 1 modern university in Australia by QS Top 50 Under 50, according to the 50 year Jubilee report released by the university in 2014. This happened soon after the opening of Macquarie University Hospital, Australia’s first and only private not-for-profit teaching hospital on a university campus. In 2017, to ensure the facilities were being used to their fullest capacity, Macquarie University launched the innovative four-year graduate entry program, known as Macquarie MD. In a 2018 interview, Professor Patrick McNeil, Executive Dean for the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, explained, “[The program] integrates applied medical sciences with clinical sciences, professionalism, research and cultural responsiveness”. Lucky for us, despite being the second most expensive degree in the country, the hospital is close enough to get a doctor’s note so you can apply for special consideration after being hungover on the day of your midterm. Ears Up!
In 2014, the Australian Hearing Hub opened which united researchers, clinicians and innovators with expertise in linguistics, audiology, speech and more. As an initiative of the Australian Government, The Australian Hearing Hub is part of the Education Investment Fund. There are a total of eight clinics located inside, which ensures that clients receive first-class clinical evaluation, testing and diagnosis from leading practitioners. The academics at Macquarie and the staff at the Hearing Hub are pioneering a new approach to collaboration, which fosters opportunities for innovation across a range of fields.
International Focus
Macquarie also became the first university in the state to offer our international students free access to an innovative and multilingual legal information app, which addresses issues international students might experience while studying in Australia. In 2019, over 8,000 international students from all over the world studied at Macquarie University. As an international student, lack of legal knowledge makes it difficult to understand working rights associated with the student visa and often leads to landlords exploiting international students via housing rights. My Legal Mate app provides legal information about employment, housing, disputes and sexual assault, in several different languages. This initiative was delivered by Macquarie’s Student Success Network, and all international students can register for the app for free on the Macquarie University website, as a part of their enrolment. Events Aplenty
There have also been other incredible moments at the University focusing on mental health and the organisation of events such as RUOK? Day and World Mental Health Day, initiated by the SRC and other clubs and societies. Some notable student society events in the past decade include the Macquarie International Chess Tournament, the Australisian Women’s Debating Tournament and Enactus’s PeerLink Program. However, if it was all good, would we really dread waking up every morning to go to university? Apart from paying thousands for tuition, (triple for international students like me), some stories from Macquarie’s past make you question where you’re actually standing. From embezzlement to censorship, here’s a rundown of moments we hated Macquarie in the last 10 years.
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Student Union Who?
was blocked by the university.”
Whether we wanted it or not, the ghosts from the years before have definitely continued to haunt us this past decade. Victor Ma, a name that perhaps we should have remembered with admiration and respect, is a constant reminder of the fact that Macquarie is one of the very few universities that does not have a student union of its own. Macquarie’s hostile attitude towards student unionism originates from the legacy of this glorious man, or otherwise called Chairman Ma. It is unlikely that any of our current readers have heard of Chairman Ma, however it is important to note that his actions have prevented student elections to take place, and representatives to own and operate food and beverage outlets, gyms and childcare centres through their student unions.
Travel Trauma
Ma was the undisputed king of Macquarie University from 2002-2007. He held every possible elected position on campus, serving as the President of Students at Macquarie (SAM, the student union), Chair of the Macquarie University Students Council and Student Representative to University Council - the chief governing body of the University. His reign came to an end in early 2007, when police were called to investigate the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of student dollars which Ma has embezzled. SAM wound up in the Supreme Court, and as a result, the Students Council was liquidated. This has led to Macquarie holding an ongoing and reflexive hostility to any efforts towards a traditional brand of student unionism. It became clear at the initiation of the Macquarie University Postgraduate Representative Association (MUPRA), and its refusal to allow accreditation with the National Union of Students in 2017. However, this has not always been the case. Macquarie University has had a rich tradition of unionism and activism since it was founded in 1964. Perhaps, this will be the decade when student unions reform again? XXXX Rated
Speaking of voicing opinions, last decade freedom of speech at Macquarie was questioned when Grapeshot’s coverage of a campus sexual assault and harassment was censored. In 2017, Grapeshot’s editor-in-chief, Angus Dalton had written an opinion piece about the history of student activism on the issue of sexual assault on campus. In an interview with Junkee, Dalton said that a representative of the university directed him to remove the article, following his refusal to edit it to include university comment. This was on the grounds that it was an opinion piece informed by fact. As the article could not be published in that particular issue of Grapeshot magazine, a blank red page was printed in its place. A simple statement on the page read, “This was an article about sexual assault and harassment on campus. It
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While we now enjoy the Metro services which began last year in May, there was a period of eight months when students and staff were disadvantaged as the train line from Epping to Chatswood was closed. Station link had replaced the trains. It was quite difficult for anyone who lived more than 30 minutes away from campus. Thankfully, this dark time is over, and all we students need to worry about is whether we can afford the skyrocketing parking rates on campus. An Untimely Death
Aside from climate strikes, the university’s students and staff displayed their strong activist spirits last year, in protesting the redistribution of the Faculty of Human Sciences. This announcement was made at the end of Session 2 last year, while most of the student faculty impacted by the decision were busy with exams, and the staff were marking exam papers and finalising results. The walk for the Human Sciences faculty was just another reminder that Macquarie has a strong history of student activism and mobilisation when the occasion arises. Jayden Whaites, the treasurer of the SRC, says that students and staff can create a better atmosphere on campus next decade by working together to ensure there is proper communication and accountability on large scale changes on campus, such as the closure of the Human Sciences Faculty. Conception...FAME...RE: Conception...huh?
Alongside activism culture, one of Macquarie’s most iconic days also had a bumpy ride in the past decade. Last year marked the 50th year anniversary of Conception Day, a tradition which started in 1969. Macquarie University was only five years old when students decided to hold an event that would enable them to put on their raunchiest outfit and party the night away. The early Conception Days were outrageous, consisting of flour fights or student bands on roofs. (Fun fact: the Great Garden Gnome Hunt was introduced in the second year of Conception Day). Regardless of all the crazy traditions associated with this day, it truly became popular for its live music performances, market stalls, pyrotechnics and carnival rides. Conception Day was the epitome of university life and had delivered line ups of some incredible artists including Birds of Tokyo, Blue Juice, Flume, Tigerlily and Allday. Unfortunately in 2014 the highly anticipated Conception Day was cancelled due to “decline in student numbers” (read: drugs).
In an effort to replace Conception Day, FAME was hosted instead. To everyone’s disappointment, FAME consisted of only overpriced food trucks, unimpressive artists and poorly set up marquees. Just like in other events in Macquarie’s history, the students did not stay quiet. The failure of FAME led to an uproar amongst student bodies and started the “Bring Back Conception Day” movement. Michael Pellegrino, along with the SRC, were behind this petition and a Facebook page, which became a platform for students to voice their recommendations and demands to bring back the single-most traditional day of Macquarie history.
While we may be excited for the coming Central Courtyard and other new installations, we should be concerned about whether we are entering a decade where our educational institutions exist on the sole basis of profit. Hopefully this trip down memory lane has helped you learn a little more about Macqurie’s past and the part you play in controlling what happens in the next decade. And at least we have a beautiful lake where you can relax and enjoy the sun! Oh wait, you can’t do that anymore either because of the construction…good luck. by Saliha Rehanaz
Giving into the demands of the students, RE: Conception Day was born in 2015. The event still had live music, which is a huge part of the original event, however some things are just not the same. As mentioned earlier, it was the half-century anniversary of the original Conception Day last year and around five thousand students had taken part in the celebration. Leading up to the days of the event, Macquarie Village authorities had tried to put a stop to the tradition where pres are held at the Village before walking to Conception Day. In an email sent to all residents, it was announced that pre/post parties would not be approved and all non-residents had to vacate after 11 am on the day. I’m sure you can guess what happened next...the students revolted and won… Construction Destruction
Of course, we can’t forget the obtrusive construction sites decorating the campus. Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t because of how much noise pollution it’s been making. Now, you might think the new construction would fall under developments at Macquarie because of the new and exciting features it will offer. However, the construction has taken away the cornerstone of Macquarie, which was the old food court and Atrium. This decade Macqaurie saw the closing of historic eateries such as Marxine’s Cafe and Wicked Mexican, replaced by the temporary Campus Common. In true Macquarie fashion, students were quick to show their support when business owners rallied against the demolition of the old court, but unfortunately did not prevail. MQ 2020
Last but not least, the wonderful MQ2020. If you’re studying in a degree which is being restructured like mine, you’ll understand how infuriating everything has been so far. Your inbox might be filled with emails assuring you that help and support is available at all times, but what do you say when no one can “guarantee” anything? Starting this year, there will be completely new unit course codes and grading systems will be changed to Weighted Average Marks (WAM). I would love to attempt to explain all these drastic changes impacting your education, but unfortunately I can’t. I don’t even understand them myself.
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AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE, NO NO NO! ELIZABETH LAUGHTON DISCUSSES THE CONFLICT AROUND AUSTRALIA DAY
In 1938, on the 26th of January, white Australians celebrated the 150th anniversary of Governor Arthur Phillip arriving in Australia, while members of the Aboriginal Progressive Association held a ‘Day of Mourning and Protest’. As the celebration of the 26th became increasingly formalised as Australia Day, counter demonstrations gained increasing traction, observing the date as Invasion Day or Survival Day. This year, thousands of Australians gathered in major cities to participate in demonstrations for Invasion Day. Many demonstrations were coordinated by different organisers, their intentions varying from asserting Indigenous sovereignty to condemning ongoing discrimination against and demanding equity for Indigenous Australians. Some organisers call for the government to change the date to one less overtly associated with imperialism, while others call for Australia Day to be abolished altogether. Another imperative of some demonstrations is to develop a treaty between the Australian government and Indigenous Australians. In other cases of British colonialism, British authorities would ‘conquer’ the native government or establish a (usually deceptive) treaty with the pre-existing inhabitants. Indigenous Australians were neither conquered nor made party to a treaty. Instead, the British employed the doctrine of terra nullius, meaning ‘no man’s land’, to declare there was no government to conquer or treat with. We now know terra nullius was a false narrative, the land was very much inhabited by many diverse groups of Indigenous people who had self-defined systems of governance, management, and land use. The ignorance of these systems was one of the first disservices done to Indigenous Australians. Today, Invasion Day demonstrations are platforms for Indigenous Australians to speak about other colonial disservices to their ancestors, themselves, and their children. For instance, Uncle Robbie Thorpe, a Krautungalung man of the Gunnai Nation, told a Melbourne crowd, “this is a day of mourning for our people”. He noted that the day began with an early dawn service commemorating Indigenous lives lost in massacres and frontier wars between Aboriginals and British colonisers.
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Muruwari and Budjiti man, Bruce Shillingsworth, told Sydney crowds about the pain of watching Australians irreversibly damage the land over the last 250 years, especially when Indigenous people sustainably managed it for tens of thousands before. He also noted the increasing lack of water access for rural Indigenous communities. Other speakers across the nation shared anecdotes of family members who had died in custody, poor access to proper health services, and everyday instances of racism and discrimination. Despite these anecdotes, Melbourne demonstrations were met by opposing protestors who wore shirts declaring “Gov Arthur Phillip Did Nothing Wrong”. They also held signs printed with the Australian flag and the message, “Australia Day should never be changed.” Unsurprisingly, any pictures I have located of these opposing protestors suggest the group’s demographic is exclusively white men. Invasion Day demonstrations coincided with the national bushfire crisis, with many photographed at rallies wearing P2 masks to protect themselves against bushfire smoke. Much debate has emerged from this crisis about the inclusion of Indigenous fire practices in land management. In comments about Australia Day, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian called for greater reflection on Aboriginal practices which she said “sustained this land for millennia”. This commentary from a Liberal premier demonstrates the increasing understanding that we need Indigenous custodianship to protect our communities and repair our damaged earth. Prime Minister Scott Morrison used his Australia Day address to assert that regardless of our lineage, “We’re all together as one and we can all together be proud.” He also suggested Australians use the 26th to “rededicate” themselves to “this great land”, echoing the nationalist sentiments that make Australia Day unbearable to those who have been subjugated for the nation’s ‘success’. To Morrison, ignoring Australia Day is ignoring history. Odd, because that is exactly the opposite of what Invasion Day demonstrations are urging us to do.
Better yet, in 2018, Morrison recommended keeping Australia Day and introducing a new national holiday for Indigenous celebration. He suggested, “We don’t have to pull Australia Day down to actually recognise the achievements of Indigenous Australia, the oldest living culture in the world; the two can coexist.” Sounds like he missed the point then, too. For opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, debate about moving Australia Day is “counterproductive”. While he says we need to recognise Australia Day as “a difficult day” for Indigenous Australians, he thinks we need to “seek ways to unite Australia, rather than engage in culture wars”. How moderate. Meanwhile, Albanese’s local council in Sydney’s inner west voted to move Australia Day celebrations to an alternative date. While Mayor Darcy Byrne understood some residents would be upset about the change, he suggested that overall, “there’s nothing to be lost here but there is a better and more sombre, more respectful way to mark the day in the inner west”. This council isn’t the first to move Australia Day events to a less controversial date, the City of Yarra council in Adelaide and the Marion council in Melbourne made similar moves years ago. After consultation with community members and Indigenous stakeholders, these councils have made public efforts to shift celebrations of nationhood, and without the world ending as a consequence. The success of these councils in changing the date for their electorate suggests that local may be the way to go, especially while federal leaders prioritise patriotism and colonial legacies over considerate management of the national piss on day.
We can start to honour Indigenous truths by listening to them. Listen to Indigenous speakers, attend rallies, buy their books, and share their posts. Look for reconciliation councils in your local area and see what kind of work they’re up to when it’s not Australia Day. Join them in petitioning local council members to change the date of electorate events. Informally grant Indigenous people custodianship by researching and donating to their grass root fire funds and trusting and sharing their advice on land management. We’ve got a long way to go as a nation, especially if we want to do better. Healing the wounds of colonialism is one big continual step forward, and honouring, respecting, and including Indigenous people in the governance of their land is the next. by Elizabeth Laughton
Moving forward and after Invasion Day demonstrations, how can non-Indigenous Australians support Indigenous Australians and their truths?
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REGULARS
WRITING ON THE WALL
MOVING OUT At the end of last year, I moved out. My parents had moved away up the coast to start a new semi-retired lifestyle and I stayed in Sydney to finish studying. It started as something fun and exciting, a ‘new chapter’ I was meant to be looking forward to and grasping with enthusiasm. Except slowly I began to feel smothered by the enormity of it all. I hadn’t chosen to move out. I’d been told I was moving out. Not because of a dramatic family breakdown or a Neighbours-worthy backstory, simply because my parents decided they wanted a new life in a new location. One that didn’t involve me living with them. Trying to starve out the impending feelings of abandonment worked for a little bit, but eventually they gave way to a resentment that surprised me with its strength and venom. I was alone, regularly having less than $10 in my bank account coming payday, and my parents now lived two and a half hours away from me. I’m aware many people have living situations much worse than mine, but the suddenness of it all bred such an intense loneliness into my life, it felt like a murky film that covered every corner and space. Stopping the light and sound from reaching me. I had to somehow craft a new life and feel excited about it when every menial task started to fill me with dread and it felt like no one around me understood why I had taken everything so harshly and personally. The abandonment and loneliness left panic and isolating numbness in the crevices of my days, and the quiet minutes of my nights dampened any joy I could feel at the fresh IKEA furniture that slowly filled my new apartment. I have definitely not been alone this entire time. I have had a loving boyfriend who has held me as I slept and put every piece of my flack pack furniture together. I have had my brother and sister-in-law let me invade their space and stay with them while I was in between places. I have had friends buy me surprise house-warming gifts while on overseas holidays. I have had my mum make me frozen meals for when I couldn’t be bothered to cook after staying back late at work. But despite it all, this has been undoubtedly one of the loneliest periods of my life. So lonely, that I have railed and raged against my parents to anyone who will listen. So lonely, that I have almost sabotaged my relationship multiple times, being blinded by the strength of my own sadness. So lonely, I have alienated my brother and sister-in-law despite everything they have done for me. Loneliness has the strangest crippling force on your life. It brings every negative emotion into sharper clarity and clouds the faintest strain of happiness. But it also has the ability to fade. I am alone. And for the near future, that is unlikely to change. But I hope soon, I won’t be lonely. by Anonymous
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THE CHALLENGE
GRAPEY’S LIST THE LIST 1. Kiss a stranger 2. Go skinny-dipping 3. Steal something 4. Break something 5. Saliha 6. Ride a dern horse, ya cupcake 7. 55 S Ave, ask for Mona
8. The low-cut dress. And somewhere to wear it. 9. Dance until dawn 10. Share some secrets in the dark 11. Hug a Jamie 12. Apple picking at night 13. Sleep under the stars
As I was standing on the edge of a stranger’s pool, stark naked, worried about what other people had to say about my body, or in the middle of a very cold night, I knew I should have never possibly dying of hypothermia. joined Grapeshot. 2020 is the mark of a new decade, a completely new era for me to rediscover myself. So when I told the Grapeshot team I wanted to ignore what other people thought about me this year, I became the perfect sacrifice to do the Grapey’s List. Now, before the lawyers come at us to sue for copyright infringement, this is a disclaimer that the list is a slightly modified version of the original list taken from the book, Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson. I altered some of the challenges to make sure I was embarrassing myself to the maximum.
I stepped out of the bathroom and ran to my friend, who brought me to the party. He was quite drunk at that point of the night (like everyone else), so I had to repeat myself three times before he heard me say, “Do you think your friend will mind if I jump into his pool naked?” He looked blankly at me for a few seconds, before grabbing my hand and dashing towards the pool screaming, “Let’s do it!”
Now you might wonder, why did I decide to do a stupid middle-schooler list? To be honest, I don’t know. At first, I felt proud of myself for saying yes, but when I went home and actually read the list, a sense of uneasiness took over me. I was suddenly aware that I would be exposing myself, literally.
Now, I’m not completely sure on how the host of the party reacted to this, because as I started taking my dress and underwear off, literally everyone had caught on to what was happening and decided suddenly that getting into the pool was the best thing ever. I wasn’t complaining at all, because as I stood at the edge of the pool, contemplating what my strict brown father would have to say to this, a naked girl next to me extended her hand, and it was all the courage I needed.
Growing up, I had been extremely conscious of how I looked. I was used to the constant “lanky, stick-like, and thin” remarks I received, but it didn’t mean I was resistant to them. So I had internally decided that I would skip the “skinny-dipping” task and make up some excuse. But when I showed up at a party that had a swimming pool, I was conflicted. I remember locking myself in the bathroom and just staring at myself in the mirror. Essentially, the decision was between living a life where I was
That night was perhaps one of the best I’ve had since I moved to Sydney. It wasn’t necessarily because I faced my biggest fear, it was the response I received when I told that girl one of my biggest secrets. Under the dark starry night, I found myself thanking her for helping me jump and telling her that I was afraid I would be judged for my stretch marks. I still recall vividly that she simply laughed and said, “They’re not stretch marks, they’re tiger stripes.”
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THE CHALLENGE Just like the opportunity to go skinny-dipping came on its own, the other challenges crept up on me and presented themselves as if fate wanted me to do them. So when my housemate asked me if I wanted to break in and steal his former housemate’s Lion King ooshie collection, I didn’t stop to think for a second. I remember not feeling guilty, because I wasn’t the one who was actually stealing anything, but then that changed when I grabbed his Coles Little Shop collection on the way. I did feel a little bit terrible, but it looks better in my house anyways. Earlier this month, I started working at a primary teaching centre. It is a tiring and hectic job, and my patience is being tested all the time. However, when I spotted a cardboard rocking horse at the centre, it felt like I had finally found my purpose. I have to admit, it was nostalgic to see and I was quite upset when my six-year-old student wanted to have a go at it. I went home fifteen minutes late after my shift that day, and I do not have to disclose why. One of the challenges that I was most looking forward to was visiting 55 S Ave. If you search up the address on Google Maps, it shows you the directions to 55 South Avenue, Liechhardt. I’ve only been in Sydney for seven months so far, but trusty Google Maps was there to navigate me. So on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, I set out in search for Mona. I took a train from Macquarie University Station to Burwood, changing at Epping. As a precaution, I asked my friend to track me in case Mona turned out to be a serial killer. From Burwood, I had to take a bus which travelled over Parramatta Road, and it didn’t make sense to me because I wasn’t in Parramatta, but oh well. I got off a stop earlier than I was supposed to, so I had to walk around twenty minutes before I was notified that I had “reached my destination.” There were no distinct house number labels and I wasn’t sure how to figure out where house 55 was on this quite long South Avenue. I walked up and down, but it still didn’t make sense. So I did what every mother asks you not to do, I went up to a stranger walking by and asked where house 55 was. I noticed the elderly white man was quite sceptical that a brown teenage girl wearing fake Birkenstocks from Vietnam was potentially going to do some damage. I recall smiling to reassure him that I was completely harmless, and he grunted towards a house behind him, obviously not impressed by my pearly whites. I bid my new friend adieu and walked up to this quaint house, which didn’t really have a fence like the other houses but had a makeshift hedge border. I could feel my heart beating a mile a minute and wondered what I would say when someone opened the door. I gingerly walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. I heard the ‘ping’ and quietly held my breath. One mississippi, two mississippi… twenty mississippi. I decided to press the doorbell again.
Unfortunately after ringing the doorbell for the third time, I did the next best thing. I took out the sticky note pad I always carry around, scribbled on it and gently placed it on the door. As I turned around to leave, I admired my work of art. A single yellow sticky note, etched with a simple: “Mona?” One night, on my way back from dinner in the city, I decided it was time to pick up some apples. I arrived at Chatswood and made my way over to The Orchard. The idea of going into a bar alone was quite foreign to me, but it had to be done. I went and bought myself an apple cider and re-read The Kite Runner, while enjoying my drink. After many years, I finally felt comfortable with the best company in the world, myself. I had moved into a new house at the beginning of the year and didn’t have a chance to decorate my room. Sometime in the middle of January, I finally had an epiphany and decided it was time to decorate it. I had put up family pictures on the wall over my bed head and one night when I was feeling homesick, I turned around and looked at them. Amongst all the pictures was one of my grandfather, who passed away a few years ago from cancer. I had grown up believing that people become stars when they died. It was in that moment I realised that I didn’t have to spend a night outside to sleep under the stars, because the brightest star was already watching over me every night. It wasn’t very difficult to find a Jamie to hug, because I already had a friend with that name. But what made another challenge even simpler was when Jamie showed up with her friend from Italy. Like I said, fate was working with me on this challenge. In true Italian fashion, she kissed me on both cheeks as she hugged me and I returned the gesture, accomplishing my task of kissing a stranger. In my final night of doing Grapey’s list, I decided to wear a low-cut dress which I had bought three years ago. As I said, I have been insecure about my body, and my lack of cleavage particularly. I could never muster up the courage to wear the dress, until it was my friend’s birthday one night. At the beginning of the night, I was conscious and constantly covering my chest with my arms. But as I danced the night away till we could hear birds chirping outside, I had become a completely different person. In the original list from the book, Penelope is the protagonist’s fake ID name which she uses to try to enter a club. So the task “Penelope” involved being someone she wasn’t. Grapey’s List was something I would have never done before, but each task brought me closer to accepting myself. So for my final task, I decided to be someone I always had been, myself. by Saliha Rehanaz
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YOUR CHALLENGE
OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE Come with me on a wondrous ride, with new and exciting destinations to find. Hold onto your propeller caps and your rainbow suspenders, because we’re about to encounter a fun adventure! Welcome one and all to your personal Sydney tour through food, drink, good times and bad: we’ve got it all planned. I’ll be your guide today, tonight, whenever suits you right! So don your least favourite pair of shoes (or your favourites depending on your persuasion) because we’re gonna wear those puppies out!
Choo choo next stop… Museum of Human Disease Want to know more about gross stuff humans have endured, or not? Then you should get yourself to the fascinating pathology museum in Kensington, which exhibits 3 000 specimens! Jars and jars full of parasites and blackened lungs or weird organs with teeth growing inside – there are endless amount of terror in each turn. Enjoy reflecting on some mysteriously hideous diseases if that’s your cup of tea. As for me, I’ll be staying at home thanks! Third stop… “Forgotten Songs”
First stop… Catmosphere Cat Café Located in Surry Hills, it has established itself as the original cat café of Sydney. Dedicated to supporting cats of all shapes and sizes from rescue groups in the area, they ensure their adoptable loveable rascals find the home they’ve always dreamt of! Think Cat Cinema and Cat Yoga or even a Cat Lounge – they offer it all. So muster on down and enjoy some soft and cuddly love!
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A permanent public installation created back in 2011 by Michael Thomas Hill, this artwork can be found in Angel Place, Sydney. Originally a temporary installation in 2009’s Sydney Laneway Temporary art scheme, it became permanent due to its popularity and I’ll tell you why. Hung from above are empty bird cages from which recordings of bird species that were once prevalent in the area sing. These birds may be on the city edges now or completely extinct, on a larger platform it shows the deep neglect humans have in preserving the city space to be one that its flora and fauna can thrive in. Come during the day and night to hear how the different species of birds call out.
YOUR CHALLENGE
Stop four… Badu Mangroves
Final stop… Fleetmac Wood presents Sea of Love Disco
Within Sydney Olympic Park and adjacent to Homebush Bay, hidden by surrounding parkland and a water bird refuge are mangroves. There are even some shipwrecks off the shore! An elevated boardwalk takes you throughout the intricate ecosystem where only recently researchers have uncovered how important these mangroves really are. Accessible for strollers and wheelchairs, equipped with bathrooms and even picnic areas (if you don’t mind the smell). Be one with nature and immerse yourself in some green goodness.
You heard me right, Fleetmac Wood (London party series) have been expressing their love for Fleetwood Mac (the band) since 2012, hosting parties exclusively for fans and lovers alike. In this deep-sea dive of a rave, find yourself amongst streamers of seaweed and shining pearls of blue hues dancing round the room to ‘Dreams.’ Aquatic love and soaring hearts gather around, your time has come! In the immortal words of Stevie Nicks, “When the rain washes you clean, you’ll know…” Find out what she’s talking about once and for all! Be there on March 7th from 10pm-3am at the Oxford Art Factory. See ya there skirt twirlers!
Stop number five… Waverley Cemetery Yes, you may be feeling a little queasy and fair enough. I promise though, the views from up there are breathtaking. On a little detour from the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk you will pass this cemetery in all its grace and beauty. Don’t be put off by the fact that it is a cemetery (could I mention it enough?) because if you’re into history, many public figures of significance rest up there. Headstones overlook the Pacific Ocean and if you’re into reading amongst the dead, bring a book. Peaceful and serene, who knew being amongst the passed can be just as calming as being amongst the living. Give it a go.
by Sara Zarriello
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POP CULTURE REWIND
AWARD SEASON It’s that time of year again! Award season! Finally, a chance to celebrate the success and talent of a variety of talented actors and filmmakers. Or so we thought… For years, arguments have been made that such awards only represent a select few in the industry, that being, established rich straight white men. As the years go by, the glamour of this season has started to peel back revealing the biases that exist behind the voting panels and processes. As a new decade begins with the 92nd Academy Awards taking place in February, let’s take a trip down memory lane and discuss some of the biggest issues and controversies these esteemed events have become known for and how they weigh up today. One of the biggest and most obvious criticisms award shows receive is the lack of diversity in their voting panel, nominees and winners. In 2012, the Los Angeles Times conducted a study revealing that 94% of Academy Award Voters were white and 76% were men. In 2016, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite trended online as a response to it being the second consecutive year where four out of five nominated directors and all twenty acting nominees were white. This was amongst only two people of colour winning any award throughout the night. Responding to this criticism, the Academy vowed to double the diversity of Academy voters including more people of colour and women by 2020. Statistically, they have somewhat been able to reach this goal, but the percentages are still astoundingly low. As of 2019, 32% of Academy members are women and 16% are people of colour, improving from the 25% of women and 8% of people of colour from 2015. Though, their still clear minority-status is easily reflected in this year’s nominees.
For example, from the 2020 Academy Awards, only two acting nominees and one director nominee were people of colour. This year’s BAFTAs nominations share a similar story with not a single person of colour being nominated across the four acting categories. In fact, Scarlett Johanson was nominated twice in both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories (as in the Oscars), alongside Margot Robbie being nominated twice within the same category itself. Regardless, actors such as Awkwafina, Jennifer Lopez, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx were able to get some recognition through nominations at the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards. Lupita Nyong’o was particularly noticed for being snubbed by the majority of award shows this season, despite being named the best actress of the year for her role in Jordan Peele’s Us by a variety of film associations including the New York Film Critics Circle and the Toronto Film Critics Association. 2020 also marked yet another year of no women being nominated for best director for an Oscar, Golden Globe or BAFTA. Over the 92 years over which the Academy Awards has run, only five female directors have been nominated with only one woman, Kathryn Bigelow, taking home the prize in 2010. Alongside this, only thirteen female directed films have ever been nominated for Best Picture. While many have critiqued that perhaps the issue is women not making as many good films, this can easily be argued through successful directors such as Greta Gerwig, Lulu Wang, Alma Har’el, Marielle Heller, Olivia Wilde, Lorene Scafaria and plenty of other women having all directed critically acclaimed films in the past year that have received universal praise. International titles have also strongly been disregarded by the Academy and other Western award shows over the years. The category of Best Foreign Language film seemed specifically created to spotlight films that would most likely be snubbed by other categories by disinterested old Academy members. 2020 marks Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite as only the sixth time that a film has been nominated as both Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film. Bong couldn’t be more accurate when he describes the Oscars as a “local event” while he asserts that Americans should be more open to reading subtitles when watching international films.
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POP CULTURE REWIND In parallel to this, The Farewell was nominated at this year’s Golden Globes for best foreign language film, despite being written and directed by an Asian-American woman about the experiences of an Asian-American woman. In a recent interview, director Lulu Wang shared how her film opened conversations about what exactly classifies a film as “foreign,” whether it be impacted by the language of the film or nationality of the creators or studio. Unfortunately, her film was not nominated for any categories at the Oscars despite the critical acclaim it received, particularly after its selection at the Sundance Film Festival. Another common criticism of film award ceremonies is the fact that the highest regarded movies all seem to cater toward a specific audience and tend to not be particularly engaging or appealing for the average movie goer. This launched the creation of an entire category of films commonly known as “Oscar bait.” Oscar bait describes a film seemingly produced with the main intent of being recognised by the Academy Awards. This means many of these films are released toward the end of the year in time to make the nominee cut including popular films over the years such as The Blind Side, A Beautiful Mind and The King’s Speech. Some 2020 Oscar bait films include Bombshell and The Irishman. Hilariously enough, Cats was also penned to be an Oscar winning movie, with Tim Hooper pushing for the film’s early release in time for nominations. That is of course before the rush of negative reviews and complaints about the incomplete CGI were spread… Over the last few years I’ve attempted to watch as many of the Best Picture nominees as I can, and patterns have definitely emerged. While I appreciate that a lot of talent and hard-work has gone into many of the films, few of them I would personally deem as favourites or worthy of the hype they receive.
promptly following the initial announcement, the Academy Awards postponed the category, seemingly indefinitely. All in all, this year’s series of award show nominees and winners can be simply described as disappointing but not surprising. While changes have taken place, it clearly isn’t happening fast enough or to the extent necessary to make meaningful change. As the years continue it seems like viewership to the awards is decreasing. The 2018 Academy Awards reported the lowest US viewership in recent years with 26.5 million viewers. This paled in comparison to the 41.6 million viewers of the 2010 awards and 43.7 million viewers from 2014 (in which Ellen’s iconic Oscar selfie took place). The Golden Globes ratings follow a similar pattern with the 2020 award show holding the lowest ratings and viewership numbers from the past five years. While this could be the effect of a variety of issues, including the aging demographic of their main audiences, there’s a challenge present in trying to draw in new viewers. While it may not be the sole cause, having nominees represent a wider variety of viewers and genres of movies would surely be a step in the right direction. So, as we go into the new decade, hopefully The Academy and other award nominating bodies can recognise the need for more diverse nominees and winners. Though, let’s be realistic here, we might be waiting for an extremely long time… by Gabrielle Edwards
This begs the question of how can these ceremonies maintain their popularity amongst the majority of movie viewers, aside from packing as many celebrity presenters as possible into the ceremony. In 2018, the Academy Awards announced the inclusion of a new category for “Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film” which was met with immense amounts of criticism particularly from Academy members. Many thought the category would diminish the chance of popular blockbuster films from being considered for the Best Picture category. And, of course, there was also the consideration of what determines a film to be ‘popular’ and how this would differ from films in other categories which often still have a large amount of viewers. Black Panther was instantly predicted to be the winner of this category if it were to be awarded in the 2019 Oscar ceremony. Though, some criticised the way a film heavily featuring elements of African culture with an almost entirely black cast being awarded in this one category could give the appearance of the film being “separate but other.” Alternatively, some showed support, arguing that the category would call back to the Academy Awards from a few decades ago, in which the majority of Best Picture winners were blockbuster movies, as opposed to the mostly indie winners in today’s age. Despite this,
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hello
ILLUSTRATED
WHAT KIND OF NEW YEARS RESOLUTION ARE YOU? ‘I’M GOING TO GO TO THE GYM, FOR REAL THIS YEAR’ • You’ve unironically used the phrases “hot girl summer” and “revenge bod” • You follow no less than 25 fitness gurus on Instagram • Spent your Christmas money on a pair of overpriced Lululemon leggings • Will stop going to the gym when your other new year’s resolution to stop texting your ex fails and you fall back into a comfortable, yet slightly toxic relationship
‘I’M LEGIT GOING TO STOP TEXTING MY EX’ • ‘Accidently’ snapped your ex on New Year’s Eve a photo of you sobbing into your Passion Pop- they didn’t reply • Downloaded the holy trinity of Tinder, Hinge and Bumble on New Year’s Day • You’re yet to actually go on a date from any of said apps • Will be back with your ex by May
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ILLUSTRATED
‘I’M GOING TO SPEND QUALITY TIME WITH MYSELF’ • Bought a pair of Birkenstocks over the break • You’ve been streaming a mix of self-help podcasts and meditation playlists since January 1 • Considering getting a tattoo in Arabic, despite not knowing how to speak or read Arabic • You’ve recently to come to the realisation you’re 23 and in your final year and can’t be a fuck boy/ girl any longer, but somehow all of your friends realised that a year and a half ago, so now you’re considering ‘self-partnering’
‘I’M GOING TO CUT BACK ON DRINKING’ Yeah alright Kyle, we’ll see you at Ranch next Wednesday
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YOU ARE HERE
WAHROONGA If you could distil the North Shore into one suburb it would be Wahroonga. It is the spawn-point for North Shore fuckboys, who typically enjoy sailing, Ralph Lauren polo shirts, and RM Williams’ boots. Obnoxiously wealthy and elitist, this suburb is populated by socially active housewives, future lawyers, and basic bitches perpetually sporting activewear – I fit into the latter category.
is reflected in the conceptualisation of this restaurant from its exposed wood-beam ceilings to its tastefully framed miniature tools. Suffice to say timber was damn important to early Northshorians and it was another timber-getter, John Brown, who later acquired Hyndes’ land and named the Wahroonga avenues Ada, Lucinda, and Roland, after his children.
The name ‘Wahroonga,’ is an Aboriginal word that translates to “our home.” The state of the suburb as we know it today begins, like most of colonial Australia, with a convict. This particular convict, one Thomas Hyndes, became a timber-getter and wealthy landowner, holding the lease on 2000 acres of land in 1822, and receiving a grant for a further 640 acres of land in 1838. This land included Eastern Road, later renamed ‘Turramurra’ meaning “high hill,” just north of the land held by Robert Pymble, an early settler. Pymble received a land grant in 1823 after petitioning Governor Macquarie for one. Together Pymble and Hyndes formed a partnership, employing hundreds of convicts for their timber-business and establishing the North Shore as a key supplier of timber in the years following. Native trees such as blue gum, ironbark, stringybark, and blackbutt were cut down and used as housing materials.
‘Only In Sydney’s North Shore,’ a self-congratulatory Facebook page that humorously reflects Northshorian values and opinions, ranks Wahroonga as being in the “Godly Tier” of suburbs alongside Mosman and Neutral Bay. A large aspect of this superiority complex may be attributed to a private school upbringing most likely at Abbotsleigh or Knox Grammar. If you’ve ever driven past Abbotsleigh you may have noticed that it is always under construction. That’s because the “Sports Hall, Aquatic Centre, flood-lit all weather hockey/soccer pitch, Gymnasium, fully equipped strength and conditioning centre, dance studios, Plexicushion tennis courts, and indoor and outdoor basketball and netball courts,” just aren’t quite enough, the school clearly needs more government funding. That was only a small fraction of the list of facilities named on Abbotsleigh’s website. “Plexicushion,” by the way, is the same acrylic-based hardcourt tennis surface that is used in the Australian Open tennis courts including Rod Laver Arena where the top tennis players in the world play. It’s all very sickening I know.
The Sawmill, a pizzeria owned by two very hot Italian twin brothers, sits on Duneba Avenue just a little ways away off Ryde road in West Pymble. The logging history of the area
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YOU ARE HERE Knox Grammar is unfortunately its own can-of-worms. Despite various famous alumni including Hugh Jackson and Hugo Weaving, Knox Grammar’s reputation has greatly been tainted by reports of decades worth of pedophilia and sexual abuse. In 2015, The Guardian reported on one of the cases, “John Rentoul, whose son David was abused at the school, wept as he recounted his son’s death, which he said was a direct result of the abuse.” Rentoul noted that: “Private schools are more susceptible to instances of sexual abuse because of more opportunities for the development of close relationships between teachers and students during extra-curricular activities, and because of the prevalence of boarding establishments.” In April 2019 The Sydney Morning Herald reported on another case in which former Knox Grammar student Greg Dubler “is suing Knox for more than $1 million compensation for damaging his life, his schooling, his career and his mental health and wellbeing.” With no easy segue from that topic I will say there is still a lot that’s good about Wahroonga. While stopping at a crossing you will notice that always, without fail, Knox boys will tip their hats to you in a display of gentlemanly pride. Early morning at either Wahroonga or Warrawee station you’ll often hear the wailing of bagpipes like it’s the beginning of Dead Poets Society.
Beside Wahroonga station sits Wahroonga Village, a boutiquey collection of shops and cafes. In October, Wahroonga holds a Food and Wine Festival while every year on the first Sunday of December the streets are filled with market stalls for the Wahroonga Village Fair. This suburb has neither a Coles or Woolworths, let alone an Aldi. Instead it has a well placed IGA. You can have coffee Wahroonga-style i.e. overpriced, at the famous Butcher’s Block, can buy unique decor at the hidden gem Grosgrain or at The Road Not Taken, or can visit Novella in all its book and scented candle glory. Nearby is Wahroonga Park which has its own Great Gatsby gazebo. The places I’ve run into other Wahroonganites include Europe – go figure, Melbourne – go figure, and at any event run by MULS (Macquarie University Law Society). This is ironic given that within Sydney itself I’ve never seen a 2076er venture past Hornsby, let alone Berowra. Though Northshorians may visit Melbourne it’s important to note that they don’t typically like Melbournians who have a grandiose sense of self importance that rivals our own. Wahroonga is a suburb with a reputation, and that reputation is largely accurate. It is affluent, hypocritical, and beautiful, very much a contradiction. Wahroonga epitomises a lot of the criticism directed at the North Shore, even more so than some of its neighbouring suburbs. If anyone asks, I tell them I’m from Turramurra. by Jodie Ramodien
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I DON’T GET IT
CLIMATE CHANGE MILLENNIALS Just picture it. It’s the year 2020 and for a slew of baby boomers climate change is still considered a “debate.” Yet despite this, the younger generation has stepped up and we find ourselves with a new amorphous group known as “climate change millennials.” Who are they? Where the hell did they come from? And, what do they believe? Climate change millennials or “Generation Greta” as The Guardian has dubbed them, are a passionate collective of young people fighting for the future of the planet. A future that looks increasingly grim. Summarised succinctly by The Conversation, the facts as they stand are as follows: “The Earth is currently experiencing its 6th mass extinction; Australia has just had its hottest summer on record; and experts warn we have just 11 years left to ensure we avoid the misery of exceeding 1.5 degrees of planetary warming.” Extreme events, warming oceans, shrinking ice sheets, glacial retreat, rising sea levels, ocean acidification – the evidence for climate change is unequivocal, so says the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This isn’t exactly new information. We’ve always known these facts. We’ve known them since our Year 8 geography teacher slapped us with Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Before that even, when headlines first broke three decades ago about “the potentially disruptive impact of heat-trapping emissions from burning fossil fuels and rain forests,” cataloged here by National Geographic. It was in 1896 when “the scope of warming from widespread coal burning” was first estimated by Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius. Though he may have been misguided in believing the effects of global warming would be beneficial for colder climates. All this begs the question, if we’ve known about the harmful effects of climate change for this long, why has no significant action been taken? Andrew Revkin, who was an environmental and science journalist for the New York Times for thirty years lists the “main culprits” as a “lack of basic research funding,” “industry influence on politics, poor media coverage, and doubt-sowing by those invested in fossil fuels or opposed to government intervention.” In 2017 Scott Morrison brought a lump of coal into the House of Representatives. “This is coal, don’t be afraid, don’t be scared,” was how he started his tirade. “Those opposite [the Labor government] have an ideological, pathological, fear of coal. There’s no word for coal-phobia Mister Speaker, but
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that’s the mality that afflicts those opposite.” Morrison’s love affair with coal has come to a somewhat ironic conclusion given that both his prime ministership, and Australia, have gone up in flames. This incident occurred after Australia had signed the Paris Agreement in 2016 which pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to combat climate change. Our promise was to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030. ABC News reports that instead “since 2015 our emissions have been going up year on year. The Government’s own projections show Australia is not on track to meet its current Paris target.” In addressing world leaders at the 2019 United Nations climate action summit held in New York, 17-year-old activist Greta Thunberg exposed the lackluster effects by nations to combat climate change. “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!” In Scott Morrison’s 2017 rant about coal he argued that: “It’s coal that has ensured that for over 100 years Australia has enjoyed an energy competitive advantage that has delivered prosperity to Australian businesses and has ensured that Australian industry has been able to remain competitive on a global market.” Another fairy tale of eternal economic growth perhaps. Greta and the younger generations will directly experience the effects of climate change. Their lives directly depend on the actions we take today. To world leaders she says, “You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you.” by Jodie Ramodien
FEATURES
MEET THE TEAM
Editor In Chief
Deputy Editor
New Years Resolution?
New Years Resolution?
Stop stalking my boyfriend’s exes on Instagram.
Learn to say more in Spanish than just “porque no los dos.”
Have you succeeded?
Surprisingly, yes. Give it another month though. Worst part about the past decade?
I mean climate change has really done a number on us, hasn’t it?
Creative Director
No hablo español. Worst part about the past decade?
2016. The whole year. All of it.
Deputy Creative Director
New Years Resolution?
New Years Resolution?
Become a more organised person
To go to bed earlier and be less sleep deprived
Have you succeeded?
If I had kept track of this in an organised or meaningful way I would be able to tell you Worst part about the past decade?
At the start of the decade I was a ten-year-old whose only worry was not getting home in time to watch Yu-Gi-Oh after swimming practice. Now I’m a twenty-year-old whose biggest worry of many is straight up climate apocalypse. That.
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Have you succeeded?
Have you succeeded?
As it is currently 3am while I write this … no. Worst part about the past decade?
Succumbing to the galaxy leggings trend of 2012, which is unfortunately fully documented on my friend’s ipod touch
Features/Creatives Editor
News Editor New Years Resolution?
New Years Resolution?
Tell people around me that I love them more often.
Make a decision. Any decision. JUST. MAKE. IT.
Have you succeeded?
Have you succeeded?
My housemate keeps running into his room screaming, “I’m uncomfortable!” everytime I tell him I love him. I’ve finally found a way to keep him enclosed so he doesn’t leave dirty dishes everywhere.
Relatively yes, but crossed fingers for more! Worst part about the past decade?
A humidified fringe during Year 12 photo day. Fin.
Worst part about the past decade?
Antibiotic resistance, because we’re all going to die this decade.
Regulars Editor
Regulars Editor for Issue 1
Online Editor
New Years Resolution?
New Years Resolution?
New Years Resolution?
Stop comparing myself to others
Try doing yoga
For me, the imminent new decade made me wanna stray from the norm... This year I’m making the usual, unusual.
Have you succeeded?
Have you succeeded?
I’ve embraced my inner narcissist and decided to focus solely on myself. Every time I look at myself and pick apart my image I think about whether I would say that to someone else. To which the answer is yes because when it comes down to it, I’m judgey as hell.
Does watching a ten minute youtube tutorial on 2x speed because you’re too impatient count?
Worst part about the past decade?
I was going to say the election of Donald Trump but then I remembered when Manila Luzon was robbed on Drag Race All Stars 4. I still think about this when I wander to the fridge at night.
Worst part about the past decade?
Keeping up to date with US politics in 2017 while trying to do the HSC was a big yikes...
Have you succeeded?
I’m working on it... Setting goals! Taking something constant and doing it differently. No more going through the motions, I’m really LIVING this decade. Worst part about the past decade?
The Vampire Diaries getting cancelled. NO, I’M NOT OVER IT.
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NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS It’s time to make some changes… that were supposed to be made last year, and the year before. We can do it, right? Well well well, another year has come, and another bunch of resolutions have been dreamt up and we all know that in a week or so we’re going to be letting ourselves down. It’s just the way making New Year’s resolutions goes. We’ve all been there, thought we were going to lose that extra weight, instead we gained a little more. Tried to read a book a month, read 2 books per year. I swear I was going to take more risks last year, but I think it might be safer to stay home. Does this sound like you? And does this article sound like an infomercial? Well congratulations you’ve won yourself a guide to actually maybe achieving some goals this year. Research has time and again shown us that New Year’s resolutions are hardly ever achieved by most people but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There is a threshold of 20% success rate and 80% failure rate. Now, if you are able to succeed, those numbers switch around meaning the more successes you have the higher success rate. The way to achieving our goals is in the science of behavioural economics. By studying the cognitive, social, psychological, emotional and cultural factors that attribute to an individual’s economic decisions, we can figure out how to stay on top of our goal checking!
choices will be monitored by closely and if your people notice that your doing something which will harm your chances of reaching your goal, they’ll tell you. By having more people aware of your actions, you yourself will become equipped with a personal team of cheerleaders who will always have your back. This could also mean posting about your goals on social media. More eyes and ears watching you creates more pressure to succeed, if you’re into that type of thing. Calling all Joe’s! And lastly, have some consequences for your behaviours. If you’ve not gone for that morning run, no brunch with the girls today. Not meal prepped this week, no going out for meals for a month. Make decisions and stick to them otherwise you know that there will be punishment for not committing. It’s super important to note that, just because you’ve slipped up or fallen off the success driven wagon, doesn’t mean that your goal has been absolutely and utterly crushed under the weight of your failure! Don’t be so dramatic. There is always the next hour to prove yourself, or the next day or the next week. Every time you think you’ve gone and lost your motivation remember; motivation isn’t what’s driving your decisions. It’s the chance of success that is. So get back on that rickety wagon and drive on into your successful sunset! You’ve got this. by Sara Zarriello
This is important: research suggests that goals with longer term pay off will mean there is less chance of success. So the key here is to create goals that include small immediate pay offs on the ride to your main goal. The first step is to understand that by simply creating goals, does not mean that they will happen with pure willpower. It also depends on the environment surrounding us. By creating a space which supports changes, you are already boosting your chances of keeping your goals intact. That means firstly changing your own behaviours. For example, if you’ve decided to attempt a ten-kilometre run in nine months, you don’t just start running. You should instead put your gym clothes on straight away in the morning and make yourself breakfast the night before, so that everything is in order for that run to go ahead in the morning. Taking smaller steps lead to bigger changes. Next you need to tell other people about your goals. No don’t brag about how you’re going to win the bloody race before you’ve even started, let good people around you know that you are trying to achieve something. By doing so your
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GRAPEY’S GUIDE TO MQ
THE GRAPESHOT TEAM’S BLUEPRINT TO NAVIGATING THE WEIRD, WONDERFUL WORLD OF MACQUARIE MUSE/MAZE
If you like having to get in at 8am to find a decent spot, then MUSE is for you. You can hang around and pretend to work while having a good ole yarn with the three group assignment mates you made during first year and no one will tell you to shush. And the best bathrooms in the whole university are in MAZE. You’re welcome. Faculty of Arts Centre (Y3A, aka Hadenfeld Avenue)
Best cafe on campus hands down can be found in Y3A. Which is good because this building has literally nothing else going for it. It apparently has a courtesy bus which makes the trek less horrific but we are yet to ever actually see the fabled vehicle make an appearance. So, if you’re chilling out and having an extra drink before class hoping to get an easy ride across campus, we have some bad news for you. Scull that cider and run motherfucker.
Macquarie University Sport and Aquatic Centre (MUSAC) (10 Gymnasium Road)
Our Deputy Editor, Jodie has slowly been indoctrinating people into her netball cult. Find her. Join her. Macquarie University Village
Do you like waking up ten minutes before lectures and showing up to class in your pj’s? Do you like getting free dinner once every week because you’re too broke from tuition fees? Then the Village is the place for you, my friends. It’s your home away from home where you can drink naked and no one can say anything. If you want to be one of the cool people, make sure you pick a house on the west side, because the east side is for the losers. It’s a great place to meet new people and you can get a mate’s rate because your next door neighbour could potentially be a drug dealer. Parking
Library
Have you ever been desperate to finish a late assignment, but all the seats in the library were taken up by HSC students, or people just watching Youtube videos? Type in ‘Book a computer Macquarie University’ on Google and you will be taken to a link that lets you reserve a computer, a nice big private desk, and a fun rolly chair. You can claim this desk for up to 2 hours! Plenty of time to finish that assignment, right? Right??? Campus Common
Ubar exists in a bizarre zone where you can drink alcohol while still technically being inside an educational institution. Hallmarks of Ubar include horrendously bad G&Ts, Thursday trivia groups with painful puns as their team names, and legends of a half-decent toga party. By the end of your degree only cider and cheap beer will be running through your veins. Happy hour is Friday 4:30 to 6:30pm and you should all definitely abuse that. Lecture Theatres
Lecture theatres are the satanic pits of all universities. Lotus Theatre (27 Wally’s Walk) is notorious for shoddy tables that send your laptops flying into the people in front of you at a moment’s notice. Price Theatre is surprisingly nice, for looking like a jail cell from the outside and Macquarie Theatre is by far the most intimidating theatre to enter your lecture late in. Hot tip: go up the stairs and come in through the back if getting your pre-lecture turmeric latte has made you a few minutes late. Save yourself the trauma of timidly looking up at 600 plus students judging you for your inability to time manage.
Parking at MQ is now in a strange state of reasonable pricing, but don’t stay too optimistic about it staying that way. The parking rates used to charge the price of your first born child for a full day, but went down during the Metro construction to $6 a day. However, prices went back up once the trains reopened and we wouldn’t recommend hedging your bets on cheap parking staying around. The back oval is the cheapest parking, but the most likely to result in a mugging if you’re walking to your car late at night. The parking in front of Y3A is the most expensive for obvious reasons, and parking is free on Sundays. So scam your wealthy second-aunt-once-removed into paying for a yearly parking pass and be done with it. Courtesy Bus
If you live in any of the on-campus accommodations, here’s a little tip for you to remember. There’s a free courtesy bus that runs from 4 pm to 12 am on weekdays during the semester. It operates every thirty minutes starting from the station to take you across different spots on campus. If you Google, ‘mq shuttle bus’ you can find the route map it follows. If you’re having a bad day, the bus driver, Zeljko, will definitely be able to cheer you up with his friendly smile and humorous conversation!
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01:23:45: W H Y H B O ’ S ‘CHERNOBYL’ FREAKED ME OUT HARRIET ATKINS DISCUSSES HER CLIMATE FEARS REFLECTED BACK HER IMBEDDED IN A HISTORICAL CATASTROPHE. I do fear death. Of course I do, I’m human. But I have accepted that, despite its inconvenience, my time on earth will eventually end. My own personal death is no longer my primary concern, I wish I had that luxury. My conscience has rather been consumed with a goosebump inducing awareness of our collective impending doom, and the prevailing feeling of an inability to prevent it. I want to act, to fix the problems of our time, but have no idea how. Like the rest of my generation, I take pleasure in hiding from the real world by allowing the warm embrace of television to consume the in between moments of my day. It is because of this, that I’m sure you will empathise with my disappointment at finding insight in the new mini-series ‘Chernobyl’. My true crime loving, historical drama obsessed self (that also hankers a secret wish for Emily Watson to adopt me) expected the show to bring nothing but fascinated delight. But alas, I learnt something. Ew.
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At 01:23:45 on the 26th of April 1986, during a safety test the Number 4 Reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded. Due to the Soviet Union’s strict censorship, the reactor was flawed. A series of horrible mistakes lead to the worst nuclear accident of history. It killed 31 people immediately; 125,000 by 2005 and had direct health consequences for a total of 784,350 soviet citizens. The fallout had disastrous effects and the potential for even worse to come. Many of the individuals called in to help knew what this would mean for their personal health but continued anyway because they understood what the alternative was. They sacrificed their own lives to clean up the mistakes of their own government. They had trusted that their government would look after them, that they would prioritise the future of the citizens of their country over making their budget requirements.
This raises a terrifying parallel with our own country. The “Why worry about something that isn’t going to happen?” governmental attitude. A 1995 study into the potential effects of climate change predicted an increase in the frequency and severity of bushfires across our country. Over the past few months Australian civilians have died and risked their lives putting out the fires that our government has failed to. In times such as these it is difficult to imagine that we are being looked after and that our future climate is being prioritised. It was at this point in the series that I had to stop watching. I had been plunged into an icy cold crisis. The show had been in some ways a relief; as I was watching the thermostat outside read 48°C, and I was obsessively checking ‘Fires Near Me’ to make sure the homes of my family weren’t going to burn down. It was in divine sense of humor that the day I watched the show was the day of Sco Mo’s handshake disaster. In May 2016, the Australian Government requested that the United Nations remove all mentions of Australian sights from their report on World Heritage Sites affected by climate change. Throughout 2019 government ministers have claimed that our emissions have been continually decreasing despite the fact that they have been increasing for the past four years. The Climate Council have outright stated that the Australian Government has been consistently manipulating and censoring data surrounding climate change and its effects. It has become abundantly clear that our government does not intend to act on this issue and does not want its citizens to be aware of the extent to which the issue is affecting our present and our future. It may seem extreme, but it’s starting to feel like there has been a nuclear explosion in the middle of our country, and the PM is telling us not to worry, that everything is just fine! A series of climate strikes in every capital city and 10.7m hectares of land burnt across six states haven’t made a change, so what will? It has become painfully easy to succumb to feelings of overwhelming despair.
those in Eastern Europe. He could see the danger that the misinformation spread by the Soviet regime posed, but was unable to go against it, his hands tied by a powerful rope of censorship. Obviously, the show’s representation was a little exaggerated, but he was without a doubt a true hero. Valery disclosed crucial information about the catastrophe in documents and audio tapes that were found in his apartment after he took his own life on the 27th of April 1988.
Legasov worked for years to try to inform the public of their disastrous situation and force his government to change policy in order to save them. It took him years, but he did eventually do it. He made noise, noise so loud and consistent that it could no longer be ignored. I am tired of being afraid, of reading about lies and worrying about the future. This is despite the fact that I am way too young to worry about this shit. But in the face of this weariness, that I know you feel too, Valery gives me the courage to go on. The truth is painful and comes at a great cost, but that cost does not compare to that of lies. So, let’s continue to fight for it, continue to make noise. Let’s make Valery proud of the world he died trying to save. Let’s save ours too. “What is the cost of lies? It’s not that we’ll mistake them for the truth. The real danger is what if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all” - Valery Legasov by Harriet Atkins
Our generation has grown up with scores of events to terrify us. We’ve all grown a little numb to media, especially social media, constantly shouting at us to be petrified for the future without actually giving us a solution. But if there’s anything that I learnt from HSC Modern History, it’s that we can see solutions to modern problems by looking back at the issues of the past. In ‘Chernobyl’ I found my new personal hero, and I think maybe you will too. Valery Legasov (played by Jared Harris in the show), was an inorganic chemist who played a pivotal role in the cleanup of the disaster and prevention of recurrence at a great personal toll. His investigation of the explosion shone a light on the cracks in the Soviet regime. His country had allowed this to happen, had allowed for people to die unnecessarily and allowed for an event that threatened the lives of all
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VIBING TO EXTINCTION JOEL KARANIKAS DELVES INTO THE WORLDS OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY AND EXTINCTION THEORY TO UNCOVER A POSSIBLE FUTURE FOR THE HUMAN RACE.
Those who predict the end of the world today are bound to feel a lot like Cassandra, a mythological Greek woman who could foresee true prophecies but was doomed to always be disproved. There have been too many predictions fallen foul, too many crazy New Age cults, for a serious forecast of imminent annihilation to escape a chorus of hooting by the rest of sane society. And who can complain? Isn’t that how civilisation works: pushing the loonies to the fringes, normalising sanity in the centre? Well yes, but the problem is not all doomsayers are alike in their febrile embrace of conspiracies. Rather than scrutinizing Mayan calendars, some prefer scientific data. The foremost of these data-driven doomsayers is Guy McPherson, the emeritus professor of ecology at the University of Arizona whose Near-Term Extinction theory would have you believe that all of us will be dead in 2026, after climate change
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goes really bat-shit crazy and makes our current bushfire crisis probably look like a nostalgically idyllic period. And no, he’s not trolling. Unsurprisingly, the professor has a touch of Cassandra about him. His vocal critics in the scientific community deride his alleged misunderstandings of feedback loops and atmospheric physics. Scientist Michael Tobis claims McPherson is one of those bizarre professors we’ve all probably had, whose PhD only encouraged his inner charlatanry. With the 2020’s now rolling out, it’s especially true that our deepest intuitions will insist against the scenario our dear McPherson has cogitated for decades. You may have no pretensions to fathoming the intricacies of climate, atmospheric physics and ecology, but Doomsday is still Doomsday—far away and unlikely.
Could the Climate Really Kill You?
greenhouse event already having started.
On the other hand, no one—except denizens of geological formations—is unfamiliar with the elevated level of alarm that characterises scientific diagnoses of earth’s climate. Specifically, the earth is unambiguously warming. The IPCC report from late 2018 already described a world only 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter, and in no rosy terms. A 1.5-degree increase would unleash “climate mayhem.”
The scientific community, McPherson says, is not disagreeing with these findings—they are just publicly silent for the most part. Whatever the reason, we apparently don’t have much time left.
The most recent IPCC report from 2019 says that climate change and land degradation are threatening the ability of the planet to sustain civilisation, with more droughts, disasters and instability and less food in store. The recent Australian bushfires have brought tragic attention to the fact that habitats are being irreversibly changed, crossing a tipping point that researchers had believed to be much remoter. Currently 11,000 scientists have declared a “catastrophic threat to humanity”.
So, are we going to die in six years? Should we catch the next cruise to the Galapagos Islands, storm away from all responsibilities, embrace pure hedonism and then commit suicide?
These are hardly the voices of crazed loonies skulking paranoidly on the fringes of scientific discourse—the IPCC’s decades of predictions have mostly been on the mark. So what are we to make of our chances? Is the Near-Term Extinction club just an exaggerated, hyper-alarmist extrapolation of these dire warnings? McPherson would say that he’s not absolutely certain, just that he “can’t imagine” a human on earth in ten years. He points out that even the IPCC admitted global warming is irreversible without extensive, unlikely geoengineering. And the IPCC, he notes, is a conservative body that underestimates the extraordinary effect of self-reinforcing feedback loops in the climate system. In the past, extreme climate change happened rapidly over the course of a few decades, transforming the world in an eyeblink.
Does it matter who caused climate change? Surely not. It is unstoppable and catastrophic. Action won’t guarantee a normal future for coming generations. Even attempts to adapt would be futile when the runaway effect starts multiplying ever more sources of global warming, causing social chaos.
He lists numerous researchers who have studied “abrupt climate change,” all supporting the idea that “near term acceleration of the rate of temperature change” is in sight. This would make the Sixth Mass Extinction comparable to the last, which killed off three quarters of the world’s species. It would also utterly decimate our food supply and bring about mass starvation. The science seems to be clear. Climate change is happening abruptly, and at 4 degrees above the baseline, we will be extinct. He quotes studies showing that, based only on the feedback effect of methane release from the Arctic, global temperatures will reach 4 degrees by 2030. At COP 19, a professor of climatology warned that he didn’t believe any scientist doubted a 4 degrees increase was unavoidable. A scientist argued in the Arctic News Group that human life would most likely be ended before 2040 due to a runaway
Vibing to Extinction
I don’t claim to be an expert. However, what is most important is not so much that we could or could not be extinct in the near future, but the questions raised by that possibility.
We know that social chaos breeds government repression, and that this time it will be no different to the rest of humanity’s history, with the poor suffering disproportionately. The point of this crushingly hopeless exercise is to address the ultimate gap in our collective psychology: to think about what final extinction means to us. We rarely talk about it, although by definition there cannot be a more monumentally serious subject. When it does come, it’s not hard to imagine that the vast majority of people will have failed to adjust their lives according to that reality. By adjusting, McPherson would intone us to “passionately pursue a life of excellence.” Maybe that’s the point. We may not be dead in 2026, but if we spend the next decade cognizant of our brevity here and thus attuned to the best and most enjoyable experiences of life, or in a word, vibing, the very least we can say is we had no regrets. It seems we could do much worse than listen to the climatic Cassandra. by Joel Karanikas
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THE PATH TO CONSCIOUSNESS: FOR YOUNG AUSSIES, THE ROAD NOT TAKEN? SHINAE TAYLOR EXAMINES LOW POLITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS AMONG YOUNG AUSTRALIANS AND CONSIDERS HOW WE CAN BECOME MORE AWARE. As I’m sure a lot of you have noticed, it seems like a lot of people our age are disengaged from Australian politics. This is a sentiment echoed at MQU, with many students completely disconnected from campus news despite the number of impactful changes that are currently taking place. Believe it or not, Macquarie University was once a place of radical activism, most notably between 1970 and 1971, when students organised marches to protest the Vietnam War. Some students even worked together to cover the legal fees of students from La Trobe University when they were charged with protesting offences. While many students did participate in recent marches against MQU’s brutal austerity measures, namely the dissolution of the Faculty of Human Sciences, most of us find it hard to imagine students on campus collectively achieving radical social and political change. At such a critical time of climate change, Sydney’s housing crisis, and widespread wage stagnation, why does it seem that few people our age care about what’s happening? You’ve probably heard the term ‘consciousness’ when used in relation to social movements and political involvement. At a basic Merriam-Webster Dictionary level, consciousness is defined as “the quality or state of being aware”. In relation to politics, this definition of consciousness could imply that an individual is aware of their social, economic, and political environment. So, how do people become more conscious? Is it simply about being aware of what’s going on? Most scientific and philosophical definitions of consciousness recognise that there are two components, the first being subjective experience, our perceptions, thoughts and sensations, a.k.a. ‘qualia’ in science speak. On the other hand, there’s also our awareness of the world around us, as well as all the physical things and processes that take place in it. In other words, there’s the physical world, a.k.a what’s actually happening, and then there’s how we perceive it. Unfortunately, achieving consciousness might not be that simple. We have to ask ourselves: why are young people not more politically and socially conscious? Well, it’s likely due to a complex array of social, economic and political factors.
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To keep it simple, let’s break it down into three elements: work, money and media. Work The sad reality is that most of us have two or even three jobs. In 2018, one in three Australians aged 18 to 29 had a side hustle outside their normal job. According to the ABS, union members earned on average $171 a week more than non-members. In 2016, only 4% of employed 15 to 19 year olds were trade union members, while for 20 to 24 years olds the rate still sits at a low 7%. This might not sound so bad out of context, but considering that 21% of 55 to 59 years are trade union members, you can see how political apathy can prevent young people from getting what they’re rightfully owed. While the extra $171 a week is just an average, it remains clear that collective bargaining power is important for making sure workers get what they deserve.
Money It should come as no surprise to anyone that young Australians are struggling financially. In the 2018 Triple J survey, over half of 18 to 29 year olds had less than $5000 in savings. Considering that this age group have such limited financial security, it’s then understandable that working, possibly at multiple jobs, becomes the main priority for young people. Young people not only struggle with having enough savings, but also with the amount they owe. In the same survey, two in three people aged 18 to 29 had a HECS debt, of whom 33% owed $30,000 or more, while a scary 9% of respondents “don’t know” how much debt they’ve accrued. As I’m sure you all understand, having a HECS debt in the tens of thousands introduces extra pressure to work hard and be successful. This financial burden leaves young Australians with less time for self-reflection, activism and collective planning.
On the same note, finances determine the kind of home life that young people can experience. From the previous survey, 42% of people aged 18 to 29 were living with parents, 23% in a share house, and 16% renting with a partner. With property prices soaring, it’s telling that only 15% live alone, either renting or in their own property. Living with family and housemates reduces the ability of young people to access adequate physical and creative space, which is vital to plan, organise and protest societal issues. Media So far, the picture being painted is looking pretty grim. Young people are time, money and space poor. We have more debt but less freedom, and more jobs but less wage growth. On top of this, young people are seldom given the opportunity to voice their opinions in the public sphere. In 2019, a study of 276 news stories on a single day found that even though 34% of the stories were about issues likely to impact young Australians, only a tiny 1% actually quoted a young person. In fact, in the 2% of news stories in which young people were spoken about as a social category, the articles were mostly related to “accidents and social welfare”. In these articles, young people were represented as family members or victims of accidents, and not in relation to important discussion around politics, the environment and the economy. As shown in this study, young people are largely voiceless in the media. This exclusion leads to distrust of mainstream media, and contributes to the disenfranchisement of young people from the political sphere. This cynicism is captured in a 2019 survey. When asked the question: “How positive are you about the future of Australia?”, only 4% of young people felt “extremely positive,” 37% felt “slightly positive,” 27% felt “unsure,” 29% felt “slightly negative” and 3% felt “extremely negative”. The fact that 32% of young adults, who are commonly stereotyped as being naive or optimistic due to lack of life experience, expressed feeling “slightly” or “extremely” negative about the future of Australia reflects an insidious, growing political nihilism among young people. It’s not all bad news. According to Triple J Hack’s 2019 youth survey, 80% of respondents answered “yes” to the question: “Have you changed anything in your life to benefit the environment?”. In the same survey, 60% of young people felt they could “personally make a difference to help the planet”. It seems like young people do care, and do want change. It’s how change comes about that’s difficult. Interestingly, ANU’s Australian Election Study found that 22% of 18 to 24 year olds indicated they had shared unofficial political content online that year. This number, which increased from just 6 per cent in 2010, shows us that young people are increasingly using social media as an outlet for political expression.
So, what does that mean for young people and Australian politics? Dr Ghazarian, a political scientist studying Australian politics, relates engagement to political and economic context: “For previous generations, the effect of government on their lives was very clear — the Depression and the world wars are prominent examples.” According to Dr Ghazarian, it’s hard for current generations to see this connection because “a lot of mechanisms of government are actually hidden.” In other words, young people might not understand how voting and civil participation are tied to funding for infrastructure and vital institutions. This makes it harder to see how social progress and development are fundamentally linked to the act of protest, as evidenced by the success of movements like the union workers’ protests in the 19th century, which led to the establishment of a livable minimum wage in Australia. If the current economic climate makes it hard for young people to achieve political consciousness, what can be done? Leo Fieldgrass, former CEO of the Youth Affairs Council Victoria suggests that starting a conversation is an important step in increasing engagement. “The more often you have conversations about those issues,” he says, “the more often people feel that they understand them”. He points out that this recognition is an important stepping stone for action, because having these conversations leads people to feel “that they actually have something to say about an issue”. Talking with your mates doesn’t sound so difficult, but is this strategy effective? Dr Mishti Kashtan believes that personal consciousness is not enough. “Transforming how we make decisions and allocate resources,” she writes, “is exactly what can ensure that changes are not undone and that a culture of collaboration is embedded in all that happens”. Her insight highlights the necessity for consciousness to transcend the individual in order to become part of a collective movement. The Australian union movement and the MQ anti-war protests are two examples of organised action that stemmed from collective consciousness. As Dr Kashtan points out, individual consciousness is not enough. We need to not only become aware individually, but also learn how to work together in these difficult economic conditions to create a shared consciousness that can be transformed into genuine, impactful social change. by Shinae Taylor
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YOUR 2020 STUDY PLAN
For the past year I’ve worked as a student advisor at the uni and my favourite question has always been “can you recommend me some units?” I sure can. I’ve spent hours upon hours on the 2020 handbook and it’s only been up for a couple of months. I dream in unit codes.
AHIS3202 - A History of Magic: From the Magi to Merlin
And although the fabled African drumming People Unit no longer exists, there are still hundreds of interesting, wacky, and cool classes on which you can spend your precious electives or flexible zone or whatever it’s being called these days. For some reason (and I maintain that there is a conspiracy) all the weird units are offered in semester 2. Follow this very special study plan and you’ll be a jack of all trades in no time.
Offered: Session 2, 2020
CHIN1012 - Chinese Calligraphy
Offered: Session 2, 2020
One thing I’ve noticed at my job is that Macquarie doesn’t offer any art classes, but CHIN1012 comes pretty close. The Handbook wording is pretty blunt: “No knowledge of Chinese is required.” This is an art class disguised as an international studies unit. It’s perfect for that one 100-level (or 1000-level now, whatever) unit that you’ve been saving up to numb the pain of your final year.
This unit is the closest you’ll get to studying at Hogwarts. You literally get to read ancient spells for homework. I mean, that’s what you’ll catch me doing on a typical Friday night but now I can finally get credit for it.
PSYH4440 - Psychology of Driving
I know this doesn’t seem that weird, but it’s so niche. Someone somewhere has devoted their life to this one topic, and now you can study it. Sounds pretty cool though, might take it out for a spin.
MMBA8081 - Entrepreneurship and Existentialism
This is one of those units that I looked at and thought “why does this exist?” Maybe it’s my pathological hatred of both business and philosophy, but I really do feel that this is a weird one.
Offered: Session 2 2020
Offered: TBD
MEDI8603 - Anatomy by Whole Body Dissection
MMCC3017 - DJ, Performance and Remixing
This one can’t be studied by just anyone – it’s a 16 day, bloody (no pun intended) 30 credit point unit exclusively for students of the Graduate Diploma of Anatomy. The name says it all. Whole. Body. Dissection. I only included it in this list because it sounds insanely hardcore and I thought you should all know that it exists.
Wanna learn how to DJ? Nothing should be stopping you. Despite the 3000-level code, the handbook describes this as a beginner unit. Channel your inner 12 year old boy and shine.
Offered: Session 2, 2020
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Offered: Session 2, 2020
CREATIVES
CHOIR AT 2 O’CLOCK A grey permeated shield covers the sky, made of crackling metal. Only slivers of light illuminate the ageing tiles, covering a balcony somewhere. The balcony slightly slants as if it is reaching for the earth, trying to pull away from its house. Palms dance behind a slender column, its once white paint itching to peel off. Its veins popping through, reflecting the long years its endured. But the tall trunks home to the palms swaying higher above, look longingly into the sky. As it says, “Give me your rain” the sky calls back, many whispers in the distance, “I will, I promise you”. And so the leaves prance and the roots sway, as the flowers sing to the sky, “More” and the sky blooms. A melody begins, a tune struck up. A rhythm measured, not a beat gives up. As sky howls to its children, the rocks remain rocks and the light flashes ever soft, While the sky rings its tune out higher and louder. As its children dance below, looking up to itself in awe. And then the gutters yawn as the last drop falls, and all in all, those ageing tiles under those veining columns, on the slanting balcony, admit their fall.
by Sara Zarriello
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PICK A CHALICE TAROT If you’ve done SPED102, look away now. We’re playing a game of ‘pick a chalice’ tarot. The rules are simple: • Take three deep breaths • Ask yourself, aloud or in your head, “What will session one be like for me? What should I do about it?” • Choose the chalice you are most drawn to below – that chalice corresponds to which tarot reading is yours!
CHALICE ONE What will session be like for you? Card: The World • Okay, literally go off, this is your session. • If it’s your final session, you WILL pass everything. • It’s also the best time to break bad study habits. What should you do about it? Card: The Devil (reversed) • Ask your friends and family what your bad habits are. Incur your own intervention. • Wash your sheets.
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CHALICE TWO What will session be like for you? Card: 7 of Swords • Um. All I’m saying is check the uni’s academic misconduct rules. • Lots of late nights for you, champ. What should you do about it? Card: 4 of Swords (reversed) • Face up to your imposter syndrome. • Avoid group work and pyramid schemes
CHALICE THREE What will session be like for you? Card: 2 of Wands • If you’re a business student, hi. • You’re more likely to work hard than you are to get good grades this session :/ What should you do about it? Card: 2 of Pentacles • Buy a fancy planner and write all your assessments due dates down. • Watch an episode of Shark Tank. And there you have it, king. Have a great session and remember, all things end eventually.
by Elizabeth Laughton
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TV
DISNEY + REVIEW As of November 19th 2019, Disney+ has officially launched in Australia. In the current media environment where streaming services are absolutely dominating, this only makes sense, especially considering Disney is one of the largest entertainment conglomerates worldwide. And low and behold, the launch was a success. Reports from November 13th (just one day after Disney+ launched in America) announced there were already $10 million subscribers. The platform boasts a large variety of backlisted content including over 500 movies and more than 130 TV shows from various studios including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic. Upon launch, reactions were generally positive to the large amounts of content present, though one flaw is clearly present – the lack of original content. Over the years, the importance of original content on a streaming service has become a major factor in drawing in new customers and bringing in high ratings for these shows. Disney+ seems to directly contrast this through its extremely limited catalogue of originals as of its launch date. While the choice to release episodes for their original shows weekly certainly attempts to drag out the content they do have, this can only run for so long. What’s left is only a couple of movies and TV shows, all aimed at significantly different audiences. While confusing, not all the original content is terrible, so let’s start with a general discussion on what IS currently available. The Mandalorian Two words: Baby Yoda. This show really begs the question of does a show really need to be good or can it get by with the sheer appeal of baby yoda alone? The Mandalorian has definitely been marketed as the platform’s biggest selling point in regard to original content throughout initial advertisements. Over the first two weeks since its launch, the show nearly tripled its demand each week across the world, also making it America’s most in-demand digital exclusive series. Aside from baby yoda, the show has some quite nice cinematography, touching character moments and Pedro Pascal’s surprisingly soothing voice to carry it along and make the watch worthwhile.
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Though, the show can be a little tedious at times, with long montages and limited plot progression, particularly within the first few episodes. While this isn’t a terrible show by any means, I definitely suspect the fact that it’s pretty much the only original scripted show targeted to an adult audience on the platform had something to do with its incredibly high ratings… High School Musical: The Musical: The Series I’ll confess, I never got into the High School Musical movies as a kid and as soon as I heard about this series and its premise, I was sceptical and confused. But after watching it, I can safely say I have become this show’s number one defender. Sure, it has its problems. The dialogue can be truly unbearable at times as clearly out-of-touch adults have tried to guess how exactly the youths these days speak. Not to mention, the show’s supposed mockumentary style is utilised rarely, and never successfully. But aside from all this, the cast of characters make this show virtually impossible to hate the longer you stick with it. The music, both old and new, is sweet and catchy and a lot of the season’s drama is extremely entertaining. As I said, this diverse and adorable cast really makes the show what it is and I’m eagerly awaiting to see where the show takes them next. This series has so much potential and I’m just hoping that Disney decides to hire some better and younger writers to really give this show the fighting chance it deserves. Diary of a Future President This show is currently in its early stages, having only started airing mid-January, recounting a Cuban-American girl’s diary from her time in middle school, as she looks back at her childhood as the current president of the United States. It feels very much in lieu of classic Disney channel shows and is definitely aimed at a younger audience. Though, the focus on a Cuban-American family is really refreshing and there seems to be plenty of potential for this show to make its way into everyone’s hearts.
Noelle
Encore
Anna Kendrick and Bill Hader co-star in this Christmas comedy that tries to deliver a feminist message amongst CGI baby reindeer and never-ending festive wardrobe pieces. Almost everyone I’ve tried to pitch this movie to has fired back saying that it sounds exactly like Tim Allen’s Santa Clause movie, and are they wrong? If you’re a fan of wholesome Christmas movies, you’ll probably enjoy this one, but Christmas has passed along with my last incentive to recommend this movie.
This show is practically the unscripted and chaotic older sibling of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and is a whole lot of fun. This reality show produced by Kirsten Bell features the cast of high school musical productions back in the day reuniting many years later in order to recreate their original performances with only a week to rehearse. What ensues is a bunch of middle-aged ex-theatre kids being dressed up as children or teenagers to perform some of your favourite musicals with voices ranging from bearable to “oh my god how were you even cast in this role to start with.” Because it is a reality show, there’s a lot of ramped up emotional situations including discussions on sexuality, the impact of serious illnesses on them as teens or now and of course some more light-hearted drama such as cast members who used to date having to reunite. I can’t tell if this show is objectively entertaining or just something that targets all my niche interests perfectly, but either way it’s still worth the watch if you’re looking for a good laugh or cry (no judgement here).
Lady and the Tramp (Live Action) This is one of the few originals that I have yet to watch and have very little interest in doing so. Literally nobody asked for this movie and the mediocre reviews really reflect this. Let’s be real if I were to watch it, it would be for Tessa Thompson and Tessa Thompson alone.
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SparkShorts Collection This is simply a selection of animated Disney shorts, similar to the ones you were probably forced to sit through before watching any Pixar movie at the cinemas. Some highlights include Kitball which was nominated for an Academy Award this year and follows the friendship between a cat and pitbull. And of course, Loop, which features Pixar’s first non-verbal autistic character in a super sweet slice-of-life short. Each of these are less than 10 minutes, so if you’re looking for something quick but with a strong emotional punch and great animation this is the place to go. The platform also hosts a few other originals including One Day at Disney, The World According to Jeff Goldblum, Pick of the Litter and Marvel Hero Project. Though, I personally have little interest in watching these, and the limited hype or discussions I’ve experienced about them doesn’t convince me that they’re particularly worth giving a shot.
Frankly, the lack of original content Disney+ offers is astonishing, particularly for its launch. With the sites two biggest shows (The Mandalorian & High School Musical: The Musical: The Series) already having wrapped their first seasons, there’s not a lot for the platform to boast about. Disney have announced they’ll only announce updated subscription numbers in the next financial quarter, so stay tuned to see if those numbers are rising or if they will potentially drop with little new content coming in the first half of 2020. Though, they proposed that within a year the platform will contain more than 45 originals, with plans for there to be 65 annual exclusives by 2024. So potentially, giving it a few years before signing up could be the way to go. If anything, maybe just use the free week trial because let’s be real, we all need to save up for the endless amounts of Baby Yoda merch, set to launch any day now! by Gabrielle Edwards
So, the question remains, is Disney+ really worth it? And I’d have to say, at this stage, honestly not. If you are a great fan of re-watching content, then maybe this streaming service would be for you. Alternatively, I can see why kids and families would find this really exciting as an opportunity to have a bunch of entertainment ready at their fingertips. Though, for myself personally, I can’t really see myself coming home and switching on a new Disney classic each day, especially as I’ve collected the DVDs for most of the movies I actually care about over the years.
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BOOK
METANOIA BY ANNA MCGAHAN
Bear with me, because I know this won’t be for everyone (mainly because you have to purchase this book at Koorong), but Metanoia by Anna McGahan is the kind of book you read once in a while, that slyly sneaks past you and lodges its story deep beneath your ribs, close to your heart, without you even realising. I read it during the first week of this year, during a time that was far from emotionally peaceful, and found myself subtly seeking refuge within its pages and jarring honesty. A memoir about McGahan’s conversion to Christian faith (I know, I know, please bear with me), it narrates the story of her spiritual journey in partnership with the varied experiences of her physical body throughout her 30 years of living. While being an inherently spiritual book, you don’t necessarily have to agree with McGahan’s views about religion or faith to relate to this memoir – you need only be human. The raw emotional honesty with which McGahan discloses the darkest corners of her life, from deranged LSD trips, to cheating partners, to being a cheating partner – she bears her life with a confidence and vulnerability that invites the reader into a shared space where candour can heal and pain is made holy.
McGahan doesn’t preach nor bash the reader with her story in order to produce a similar conversion, she tells her truth with a gentleness and patience that is respectful and creates a sense of trust between her and the reader. While the latter part of the book does feel a bit rushed in some respects, and the resolution a little clumsy, the emotional climax of the memoir happens much earlier and is given the right amount of time to settle and resolve within the reader, such that it leaves a stinging impact that can’t be ignored. Metanoia brought me a sense of peace and understanding in what it feels like to be lost, to be a woman, to be drawn to self-destruction, to rally and rail against yourself, and to still hope for peace at the same time. McGahan tells a richly human story that fills each page with the same beautiful sentiment: you are not alone. by Katelyn Free
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TV
DERRY GIRLS In its very first scene ‘Dreams,’ by the Cranberries, plays whilst Erin Quinn introduces us to her life. Slowly we realise that this story is just as much about the characters as it is about the place. Welcome to Derry. The series, now beginning to film its third season, started as a small Northern Irish sitcom based on the experiences of its show’s creator Lisa McGee. The show follows Erin and her pals on their many adventures during the 1990s, as she puts it herself, in “a place called Derry. Or Londonderry, depending on your persuasion.” As someone who hasn’t had the exceptional experience of encountering an Irish accent in their life, how melodic and quick witted the Northern Irish accent can be took me by surprise. Now there’s no going back. I’ve never watched a show that measures up to how comedically diverse Derry Girls is. I nearly cried when the first season ended. You can imagine me neck deep in this show’s second season only to find out that its finale was episode 6. Taking a look back at season one, we are thrust quite literally into the life of Erin. A little self-obsessed, we come to the awakening that although she may think the world revolves around her, this story can’t be told without the crazy people surrounding her. Living with her tight knit family, Erin finds a lot to be embarrassed about and to be fair they find a lot to be embarrassed about her! Granda Joe, played by the ferocious Ian McElhinney, who if you’ve watched Game of Thrones, will be unrecognisable and hilariously wonderful in this role. Then Ma Mary and Da Gerry who are incredibly well cast as Erin’s parents, by portraying characteristics which are the only explanation for her actions. Then, airheaded Aunt Sarah, who takes tanning to another level, and the mother of Erin’s just as airheaded and loveable cousin Orla. Fun fact: try spotting Orla in each of her scenes, she’s always at the back doing something strange! And that leads us to Erin and Orla’s wacky group of friends. Clare Devlin, a little blonde with big brains and a surprising ability to consume copious amounts of energy drinks under extreme study pressure. Then Michelle Mallon who is one shit-talking extraordinaire and, under the impressionable guise of a tough talker, is actually quite the sweetheart once you get her feeling guilty enough. And the constant target of Michelle’s sarcasm is her British cousin James Maguire who moves to Derry in the very first episode, and unwillingly attends the all-girls Catholic high school the others go to. Just watch the first episode, trust me it is crazy but so addictive!
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It goes that this story may have started out about the monotonous life of a 16-year-old girl, but it’s actually about all the people she surrounds herself with. All of the characters have their own stories and troubles that can’t be resolved without one another. And if you are unfamiliar with the historical uneasiness of this time in Derry, there was an ethno-nationalist conflict taking hold of Northern Ireland and the centre of the Troubles was Derry itself. For a long time, dating back to the 1600s, Derry has been the site of constant sectarian conflict which continues till today. The conflict is always playing in the background of the show, and often situations arise where the characters need to deal with the conflict head on. The show somehow is able to address the conflict with the precise care and comedic value that enables the plot to strike the right emotional chord with its viewers. Personally I had never known about the conflicts going on in Northern Ireland, and the show actually educated me and spurred me into researching it for myself with great interest. By creating a balance between the characters own issues and the issues of the environment surrounding them, we understand the real value of the show’s title. Yes, the show is about the girls and their teenage years but it’s also about how that plays out in the constantly changing conflicts affecting their education, home and future. It’s one-part Derry and one-part girls. After having watched both seasons over ten times, and I am not lying, I can say without a single doubt that Derry Girls captures all the catharsis that is teenagehood. For me, my teenage years were the most temperamental of my life. Things outside of myself were just as frantic as my inner self, and that is precisely what being a teenager is about. Derry Girls is able to find that constant nervousness and humour that is special to that time in our lives without exploiting it and purely showing it as teen-angst. Because people put the teen years down to pure angst too often and don’t look at it as a multifaceted living thing. We’ve all had hard times, mine were the hardest as a teenager, but never did I believe that my feelings and actions could be pinned down to simply angst. We are human with an array of thoughts and emotions and actions and we should never be described simply. So in the name of Derry Girls, I would like to strip off its label of “angst!” It’s the most tumultuous time of our lives and it deserves more than angst; it deserves our undivided attention. I give you that here, now – Derry Girls. Watch it, live it, breathe it, because that’s what being a teenager is all about. by Sara Zarriello
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TV
Never before has a show so greatly abused the use of second person. In 2018 this show, YOU, appeared out of the ether of Netflix Originals. I studiously avoided the show for months even though its trailer repetitively auto-played as I watched other shows. What eventually compelled me to watch it was sheer word-of-mouth and peer pressure from the show’s number #1 fan Pegah. A friend that roped me in with the promise of shocking twists, unpredictable turns, and a post-Gossip Girl Penn Badgley. As a chronic procrastinator I watch a lot of TV, so slowly the supposed shocking reveals have become tired tropes. This show is a hybrid between a CW teen crime romp like Pretty Little Liars, and the darker true crime documentary Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. The constant voice overs used in every episode make the show seem more grandiose and philosophical than it actually is. The one thing that elevates this overall mediocre viewing experience are the memes. Which humorously points out the plot holes while highlighting how phenomenally low our romantic ideals are – why is everyone in love with JOE? Watch it, or don’t, but there’s no doubt that with the popularity of YOU, this psychopathic hopeless romantic will be back again for a season 3. by Jodie Ramodien
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CHINESE ZODIACS
RAT
OX
TIGER
It’s finally YOUR year! Channel the infamous pizza rat’s energy to get what you want and flourish in the new year.
It’s week 13 and you’re the last one left going to lectures. How does it feel to be that strong?
Time to retire from the party scene this year. Doing caps 2 nights a week isn’t a personality trait.
RABBIT
DRAGON
SNAKE
Tell me about your Valentine’s date? I heard it was wild ;)
Calm down, we all know the Game of Thrones finale sucked. It’s 2020, time to move on.
This is the year to bring down your enemies.
HORSE
GOAT
MONKEY
Hope you recovered from that New Year’s Eve party! xx
You’re practically the original VSCO girl. Raise that hydro flask to saving the turtles!
Time to band together and take over the human world from the underground.
ROOSTER
DOG
As a kid you were always the first one picked for team sports. We all know it’s done wonders for your self-confidence, but please shut up now.
Hey, just saw your private snap story, u I know the group assignment is due okay? tomorrow, but you won’t mind finishing off my section, right?
PIG
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