HONISOIT
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Week Four August 22
Honi talks to Lano & Woodley! Well, not Lano, just Woodley!
Grolar bears: when Polar met Grizzly
PROFILE
FEATURE
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Where have ‘drug cheats’ actually gone wrong? 12
ACTION-REACTION
17
Contents
This Week
10 Taboo
NOW ONLINE
11
Profile: Frank Woodley
ARTICLES, VIDEOS, MUSIC & MORE
12
Feature: Polar Peril
Hardcore reporter Ludwig Schmidt is at it again
4 Campus
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Cale Hubble reports on the Interfaith Week controversy. Plus the launch of SURG FM
6 News Review
Nick Findlater reports on the High Court decision on plain cigarette packaging
7 Op-Shop
Sean O’Grady blows smoke in the face of Barry O’Farrell’s nanny-state
8 Third Drawer
If the dead could tweet...we could probably answer that ‘God’ question
Jack Gow finds out why Lano and Woodley broke up
14 Culture Vulture
The SUDS production of ‘A Glass Menagerie’ is deeply affecting, writes Jackson Busse
16 Tech & Online
CONTACT US AT: HONISOIT.COM/CONTACT Editor in Chief: Richard Withers Editors: James Alexander, Hannah Bruce, Bebe D’Souza, Paul Ellis, Jack Gow, Michael Koziol, Rosie Marks-Smith, James O’Doherty, Kira Spucys-Tahar, Connie Ye Reporters: Jackson Busse, Max Chalmers, Nick Findlater, William Haines, Cale Hubble, Madeleine King, Jack Nairn, Virat Nehru, Sean O’Grady, Andrew Passarello, Lane Sainty, Nina Ubaldi, Lucy Watson, Zanda Wilson, Dan Zwi Contributors: Arghya Gupta, Phoebe Moloney, Nathan Olivieri, Mariana Podesta-Divero, Ludwig Schmidt, Xioaran Shi Crossword: Paps
James Alexander on the benefits of embracing Chinese innovation
17 Action-Reaction
Lane Sainty hangs out with a honey badger and meets some snakes
18 Lecture Notes
Matt Withers boggles minds and wins hearts with his weekly quiz
22 Sandstone Report
It’s election season! Time to have your student voices heard
Planner WED
Hybrid animals are emerging in response to climate change, writes William Haines
HONISOIT.COM
Advertising: Amanda LeMay & Tina Kao publications.manager@src.usyd.edu.au www.src.usyd.edu.au / www.honisoit.com
Disclaimer: Honi Soit is published by the Students’ Representative Council, University of Sydney, Level 1 Wentworth Building, City Road, University of Sydney, NSW, 2006. The SRC’s operation costs, space and administrative support are financed by the University of Sydney. The editors of Honi Soit and the SRC acknowledge the traditional owners of this land, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. Honi Soit is written, printed, and distributed on Aboriginal land. Honi Soit is printed under the auspices of the SRC’s directors of student publications: Rafi Alam, Peta Borella, Michael de Waal, Eleanor Gordon-Smith, Jeremy Leith, Leo Nelson, Astha Rajvanshi and Max Schintler. All expressions are published on the basis that they are not to be regarded as the opinions of the SRC unless specifically stated. The Council accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of any of the opinions or information contained within this newspaper, nor does it endorse any of the advertisements and insertions. Printed by MPD, Unit E1 46-62 Maddox St. Alexandria NSW 2015.
Honi’s Guide to what’s on THU
FRI
Free Nachos & Capoiera Performance 1pm, Usyd Law Lawns, FREE
Arts Revue: Artsmageddon! 7:30pm, Everest Theatre, $15/$18/$22
Opening Night: Eugene Atget’s Old Paris Art Gallery of NSW, $8 student
Put on by the USU’s Campus Culture peeps, this is a great opportunity to get some free food. But you better be quick! Plus an hour of capoiera, drumming and samba dancers.
And so revue season begins! Featuring skits, songs and dances from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. They are promising plenty of laughs and zombies galore.
Project 52’s Story Club: Know When to Run 7:30pm, Hermann’s Bar, $5/$10
Education and Social Work Revue: Wuthering Heights High 7pm, Reginald Theatre, $15/$18/$22
For the first time in Australia, the work of the influential photographer, Eugene Atget, is showcased in a major exhibition. Rarely permitted to travel due to their fragile nature, the Art Gallery of New South Wales is the only Australian venue.
Hosted by Ben Jenkins, Project 52 return with a vengeance, featuring stories from Sydney Uni funny people Jess Bellamy, David Cunningham, Cait Harris, Alistair Magee, Phil Spencer and Zoe Norton Lodge.
Luminous Nights 6pm, Darling Quarter, FREE
Also opening revue season, our future teachers treat us to three nights of comedy gold. Only in its third year, the revue promises to make you “feel every emotion ever in existence”.
An initiative designed to amplify the significance of a collaborative community and the value of shared experience, Darling Quarter presents a month-long activation that will enliven winter spirits and inject the precinct with an electric vitality.
SAT
SU N
S TUE
Heffron by-election
Church 10am, your local church, FREE Put on your Sunday best. Church is repetitious but so is life.
Jurassic Lounge Season 4 Tues, 5:30pm-9:30pm, The Australian Museum, $14
Eifman Ballet 2pm, Capitol Theatre, $45-$170
Returning for a fourth season, the much loved Jurassic Lounge is a great opportunity to explore the museum after hours and dance with a dinosaur in a silent disco.
8am-6pm, Heffron area, FREE Not the most exciting What’s On event, but important nonetheless. For those living around main campus, you will most likely need to vote. In past years there was often a BBQ, so that could be fun.
The Beatles Unplugged 5pm, City Recital Hall, Angel Place, $45-$90 Presented by the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, this is a celebration of the formation of The Beatles 50 years ago. Sure to feature crowd favourites such as ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘Yellow Submarine’.
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honi soit
This is the final performance of ‘Tchaikovsky’ a ballet set to the music of Pyotr Tchaikovsky with choreography by Boris Eifman. Featuring dancers from Russia’s premiere modern ballet company, this show promises highly energetic and expressive performances.
@honi_soit
O P i cukr
MANFRED, after Lord Byron 8pm, PACT Theatre, Erskineville, $17/$23/$25
Get ready for the biggest event in the SUDS calender, their Annual Major Production. Based on Lord Bryon’s influential and profound verses, the SUDS team has transformed the work.
Spam LETTERS
Independents’ Day Henry Innis ALSF Treasurer, VP (Activities) Sydney Uni
“The Indies are a Faction” Dear Honi, In order to fallaciously wind up the Indies I thought I would resolve the elephant in the room – the Indies are an on campus faction. I’m sure myself, and many others, are sick of hearing about how these are true independents and how they aren’t a proper political faction. Well, they are. If you run candidates, if you back people for positions and cut deals for Reps Elect, you’re a faction. Personally, I don’t see the great offence in that. I’m reminded at this point of the time I debated the subject with a certain selfproclaimed ‘Indie’ who protested against my argument by saying that the Indies don’t bind, and aren’t formally affiliated to a particular political ideology. Of course, the Liberals on campus don’t bind on votes, which is always conveniently forgotten (after all, only those quibbling freedom haters would resort to such Stalinist tactics, would they not?) Even more so, though, if the Indies were so uncaring about ideology, I’m sure they would more than welcome elements of the far-Right running with them for SRC (of course, the more likely event is the Socialist Alternative winning Honi).
Labor United
Max Kiefel Vice-President of Sydney University Labor Club Dear Honi, While the Labor Club has always been reticent to jump to the defence of the ALP Club, the President of the Liberal Club’s letter last week (‘Right of Reply’, August 15) surely proves the utter tripe those associated with the Liberal Party consistently produce. Alex Dore’s letter was supposed to be a reply to an assertion by the ALP Club’s President, Christian Jones, over the bias shown by the Law Faculty in advertising the Liberal Club’s events. Instead of addressing this very valid point, Dore described Christian Jones as leading a ‘whinge brigade’ before continuing to advertise yet more Liberal Club events. Further, Dore highlighted the role several so called “journalists”, Miranda Devine and Janet Albrechtsen , would be playing as adjudicators in the Liberal Party’s competition. Another win for the unbiased media? Finally, Dore states “there was a time not so long ago, when political clubs would compete to out-shine each other”. The President of the SRC for the last 11 years has been a member of Labor Club, maybe the Liberal Club should find a new way to focus its attention?
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LifeChoice’s Euthanasia Talk Rafi Alam SRC Welfare Officer
Dear Honi, On the afternoon of August 9, LifeChoices – the controversial antiabortion society – had their first event. However, potentially in a move to deflect some of the criticism they received recently, their event was a seminar on the value of life and the evils of euthanasia. The event was a moderate success, insofar as the lecture hall was fairly full and the speaker arrived and talked for an hour. One issue some attendees had with the event was that it demonstrated the society’s focus on presenting one side of the issue, the speaker being a firm advocate of palliative care over euthanasia, and the power of faith over disease. Controversy also erupted when the speaker compared members of the Greens to Nazis. Numerous Greens members were present at the time. Despite some of the problems, the organising team seemed happy with their inaugural event, with no major fighting or conflict except for the very minute at the end when argument broke out throughout the room. Pizza and juice afterwards, however, seemed to calm the nerves well. The way things are looking, LifeChoices is here to stay, but a motion to close LifeChoices seems to be coming to a head, so it’s anyone’s guess if the USU will pull the plug on this embryonic society or not.
Pathetic Poetry?
Chevalier de Weissnichtwo Bitter, hypercritical, and hypocritical first year economics student. (Sic, eds.) Dear Sir, I write to you in protest of the poetry published in the last edition (Literary Supplement, August 15). Honi Soit has long been, as one friend describes it, “untrue and unfunny,” but by providing an outlet for such poshlost our student newspaper has hit a new low. While I wouldn’t be surprised to see such secondrate hackwork published in the student newspaper of a glorified vocational school like UNSW (had it any students competent enough to run one), ours is an institution that has produced five prime ministers (counting Tony Abbott) and I expect better. The so-called poetry reeked of narcissism; the pretentious, over-thetop pen names were matched by voices so cringeworthingly unnatural that it was literally unreadable. Totally devoid of any artistic or creative impulse, it would’ve been boring were it not so offensively bad. The work lacked any aesthetic; not even a Hallmark greeting card prettiness. Lame attempts at invoking sentimental thought or feeling only brought about the image of a dreadlock infested would-be Byronic anti-hero, hunched over like a dungeon troll in some dark corner of STUCCO, his fetishising over
EDITORIAL
W
eek four can be a real turning point in every semester. In a worst-case scenario you’re now at a point where, after withstanding the onslaught of guilt that comes with skipping your first two tutorials of semester, you seriously have to go to class. That, or you’re still smashing through your readings and latching onto every opportunity in class to convince yourselves that you’re almost definitely the wisest member of your tutorial group. This admirable resistance is likely to give way to an inevitable lull where your pre-semester ambitions of academic perfection are shattered and you discover what this Manning Bar nonsense is all about. It’s time to batten down the hatches! A terrifying, bi-annual anomaly awaits us: the dawn of a new election season is almost here. Before long, an eclectic rainbow of shirts will descend upon Eastern Avenue in an unpolished re-enactment of the first great siege of Carthage. In the meantime, keep an eye out for the cake stalls currently littered/ littering across campus. They’re actually there for a very good reason, that or people have only recently realised
his own brooding deepness gently but increasingly intensely manifesting itself physically. The release: a “poem.” Self-satisfied grovelling in their own moral and spiritual failure, the main thing these poets were interested in was signalling. Any girl enjoyed by these artists has been conned. The other purpose of the poems is to make their respective authors feel like the sort of people who write poetry…a poet! Senator, you’re no poet. In fact, the absence of any guts, heart, brains or soul in your work suggests to me that you might not even be human. Few engaging in kitsch think of it as kitsch; it’s normally meaningful and profound, or at least comfortable. In this case, pseudo-deliberate kitsch suited their indulgent purposes just fine, which is an indictment to us all. I wish the poets felt guilty for their sins, but I know such narcissists only capable of shame, not guilt. If this is in any way representative of the best our Art students have to offer, then the ViceChancellor should be cutting more than just stuff, he should be cutting entire departments. To all those, from author to editor and everyone in between, that were complacent in letting this unusually (but tragically not atypically) foul abomination come to life; I wish only to remind you of the banality of evil. Both the guilty poets and poems should have
Richard Withers
Honi Soit has five double passes to a preview screening of Hit & Run to giveaway thanks to Pinnacle Films. Winners will be the best submissions to the letters section this week. A former bank robber, Charlie Bronson (Dax Shepard), living in a small California town with his girlfriend, Annie (Kristen Bell), decides to leave witness protection to help her reach her dream job in L.A. But Annie’s nosey ex (Michael Rosenbaum) sends Charlie’s former accomplices (led by Bradley Cooper) and bumbling protective U.S. Marshal (Tom Arnold) in hot pursuit. Their trip quickly turns from a leisurely drive into
been aborted.
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their unrivalled cash-cow potential. A vast majority of stalls are promoting the upcoming revue season, where Sydney University’s budding comedians, actors and producers will gather and represent their faculties in a series of quality productions. Honi this week, however, could be your last chance to escape the impending madness before it really sets in. We’ll venture over to the Arctic, where at the heart of so many stories about nature’s most beautiful, fascinating and intelligent mammals, is a struggle to adapt to the pressures of global warming. We explore one of the more peculiar impacts of climate change as we look at the hybrid grolar bear; the product of a geographical need for female polar bears to resort to male grizzlies as mates. On our return we’ll stopover for a chat with physical comedy powerhouse Frank Woodley before following the plight of asylum seekers as we arrive back on our shores. Whatever this coming week holds for you, if there’s a turning point then may it be one for the better.
raucous, high-speed comedic mayhem.
Le t Q u e t e rs? s C o m t i o n s? men hon isoi t s? t20 12@ gma
il . c o
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Terms and conditions: Tickets are valid for 2 people to attend a preview of Hit & Run on Wednesday 29th August, 2012, 6.30pm at Event Cinemas, 505 George St. Sydney. Hit & Run is in Cinemas September 6, visit www.hitandrunmovie.com for more information.
honi soit
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Campus WEEKLY NEWS
Former Foreign Minister takes tough questions from students
Keeping the faith: is Interfaith Week “a slap in the face to secularism”?
Max Chalmers attended the bi-annual Hedley Bull Memorial lecture
The religious festival has its detractors, but the university’s chaplains have backed this year’s inclusive approach, reports Cale Hubble
The university’s religious leaders have defended Interfaith Week after University of Sydney Union Board Director Tom Raue publicly questioned its usefulness and merit. Mr Raue used the Atheist Society’s Facebook page to express his beliefs that the USU has a Jeffersonian separation of church and state, claiming: “This event gives extra publicity and support to religious groups on campus and is a slap in the face to secularism.” The comment sparked vociferous debate between ardent secularists, who would prefer to see religions abolished completely, and pragmatic moderates, who sought to promote religious dialogue in pursuit of respect and understanding. Lawrence Muskitta, one of this year’s two Interfaith Directors, said the festival is a chance to encourage collaboration and discussion between the USU’s 17 faith-based societies, which claim thousands of members – as well as tackling the ‘big questions’ and addressing those without faith. Given the success of the USU’s interfaith program over recent years, the members of the university’s Multifaith Chaplaincy Centre were surprised that a Board Director was considering its demise. Representing a common-held view, April Miller, a chaplain of the Hillsong Church, said: “I just feel that this is only a positive thing, and that everybody working together can only be a benefit to the university.” The chaplains were generally sceptical about including atheism in Interfaith Week. According to Ms Miller: “More
A major Australian political figure has been met with applause and accusation at this year’s final Hedley Bull Memorial lecture. Having earlier in the year secured defence heavyweight Hugh White, the Politics Society did not disappoint with their second major speaker, former Foreign Minister and liberal internationalist pin-up boy, Professor Gareth Evans.
and more the religious side of things is getting pushed out, so I think if we can keep and protect that it’s only a good thing.” Catholic chaplain Daniel Hill said that opening up interfaith into a general ‘Cultural Diversity Week’ would mean “including every single possible group, turning it into a nothing”. Rabbi Eli Feldman jokingly quipped: “When I last checked, atheism is not a faith!” Former Atheist Society President Josef Daroczy commented of last year’s Interfaith Fair: “[people] weren’t doing anything but staring glaze-eyed like little cultists thrown into a big scary world.” On the other hand, this year’s Executive seems to be more engaged; they are involved in numerous debates, panels and events for Interfaith Week this year. Mr Hill said that Interfaith Week “creates a safe place for people who do subscribe to some kind of religious faith, or even none, to be who they are.” He emphasised the importance of diversity and democratic thought. Our Buddhist chaplain, the Venerable Neng Rong, agreed. “As society is getting more multicultural, it is a good thing to have interfaith dialogue and have more understanding of one another,” he said. For Rabbi Eli Feldman, of the Orthodox Jewish sect Chabad, Interfaith Week brings the goodness of different faiths together. “All religions stand for goodness and kindness, for belief in higher ideals…and that life essentially has meaning and purpose,” he said. “I think that’s something that can only bring happiness and positivity to people.”
Professor Gareth Evans. Credit: Rafi Alam
Though his C.V. could fill an entire GOVT1001 reader, Evans is best known for his 21 years in Federal Parliament and roles in founding APEC, developing the Cambodian peace process of the early 1990s, and bringing prominence to the concept of a state’s ‘responsibility to protect’. He is also a recipient of the Roosevelt Institute’s ‘Freedom from Fear Award’, presumably meaning he now has nothing to fear at all. Evans’ reputation and political clout drew a strong crowd of students and staff. His address began on a light tone as he poked fun at the proliferation of technical classifications in the
SURG launches first-ever webcast
Pro-choice society remains in utero
The Sydney University Radio Group operates the university’s only student run radio station, SURGFM. Starting this week is the first ever full-time semester-long broadcast. Entirely student produced content will be streamed online live from one of two studios in the Holme Building and the Darlington Terraces between 8am - 10pm weekdays. You’ll be able to find a show about pretty much anything, from hardcore punk to contemporary arts, queer issues to dubstep. Search SURG FM on TuneIn or hit up http://news.surgfm.org/listen. Or drop the executive a line at info@surgfm.org
MONDAY
8AM
Mornings with Tim
Mornings with James
Mornings with Annie, Nez & Cal
Mornings with Hayden and
10AM
Careering
Golden Gaytime
On the Sideline
Post Movie Bar
(Jobs)
(Queer)
(Sports)
(Film)
Cover Up
Reality Bites
Muse
Grooving with the Geek
(Cover Songs)
(Television)
(Contemporary Arts)
(Music and Talk)
Pick ‘n’ Mix
Mainstream Guilt
Touched by God
The Leonard Inquiry
The Weakened Review
(Indie)
(Chart Hits)
(Comedy)
(News & Current
(Comedy)
12PM
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
LifeChoice opponents fail for now, reports Phoebe Moloney
TIME
11AM
TUESDAY
Hudson
FRIDAY Mornings with Lizzie and Richard Joy Revision (Current Issues) Ish and Nick’s Spaceship to Venus (Girls)
Affairs)
1PM
Noughty Nineties (90’s and 00’s)
Nicholas Cage Appreciation Station (Film)
Never Mind the Breakdowns
British Invasion (Mod)
The Power Hour (News & Current Affairs)
(Hardcore Punk)
2PM 4PM 6PM 7PM
8PM
4
Rock through the Decades
Vinyl Richie and the Grooves
A home among the gumtrees
Death to all but metal
Schloppy Beats
(Rock)
(Record Labels)
(Australian)
(Metal)
(Urban Music)
Bus home with Annie
Bus home with Alisha and Chloe
Bus home with Jack, Reuben and Tom
Bus home with Brad and
Bus home with Shami
Bored with your Board
The Architect’s Corner
Fantastic Life Advice
(Design & Architecture)
Close Your Eyes and Think of England (British Music)
Probing the Adventure
(USU Board Directors)
Sphere (Science)
(Romance & Relationships)
Original Soundtrack
The Hip Hop Show
Kick Drum
The Asian Connection
Fantastic Life Advice
(Film Soundtracks)
(Hip – Hop)
(Underground Electronic Dance)
(Entertainment from Asia)
(Romance & Relationships)
4’33’’ (Eclectic & Experimental)
Future Sounds
Windsor Boys
Sputnik
Good Lovin’
(Electronic Bass)
(Late Night Chat)
(Electronic Explorations)
(Late Night Chat)
honi soit
Pat
@honi_soit
international relations (IR) vocabulary. “When it comes to reading anything at all about international relations theory…I have the attention span of a gnat,” he told the crowd. Denouncing pessimism as undermining all schools of international thinking, Evans encouraged students in the audience to seek open and creative policy making agendas, should they ever enter his field. Those in attendance responded warmly and Evans’ jokes about his own ‘Relevance Deprivation Syndrome’, for instance, didn’t fail to win laughs. However the talk took on a more sombre note after a question from International and Global Studies student Nathan McDonnell. McDonnell accused Evans of contributing to a tradition of appeasing Indonesia after the nation’s involvement in invasion and massacres in East Timor. McDonnell was evidently referencing John Pilger’s claim that this was done in order to maintain good relations with Indonesia and gain favourable access to petroleum reserves in the Timor Sea. During Evans’ long response he appeared agitated and at several points adopted an aggressive tone. He pointed out that Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Timorese resistance leader José Ramos-Horta had praised his behind the scenes work on behalf of the East Timorese during his time as Minister for Foreign Affairs. What’s sure is that, with a high profile pollie left defending himself against an under-grad, the night certainly lived up to PolSoc’s tagline of ‘balanced, accessible and meaningful debate’.
A new “pro-choice” society has failed to meet USU requirements for funding after only four people attended its Inaugural General Meeting on Monday August 13. The proposed club had been motivated by last semester’s backlash against controversial “pro-life” society LifeChoice. The Pro-Choice Society’s IGM failed to meet the twenty member minimum required by the USU for endorsement, despite being heavily publicised. The group’s founder, first-year student Georgia Judd, blamed the winter break, which has done much to slow the momentum of the pro-choice and STOP LifeChoice campaigns. The Pro-Choice Society has received support from clubs across the bioethics divide, with both LifeChoice and the Women’s Collective expressing their support for the group’s establishment. Ms Judd remains hopeful that her pro-choice society will be approved and plans to organise another IGM in coming weeks. “I am personally very passionate about these bioethical issues and I would really love to see their discussion and dissection rise in prominence in the university’s community,” she said.
Campus HONILEAKS All your university gossip, rumours, allegations and revelations with Michael Koziol and Kira Spucys-Tahar
USU Board Director Tom Raue will face a censure motion at next Friday’s USU Board due to his public comments about Interfaith Week. Mr Raue posted on the Atheist Society’s Facebook page that the USU event was “a slap in the face to secularism”. USU President Astha Rajvanshi said: “The Board was not given a chance to address Tom’s concerns about Interfaith Week and discuss this collectively. Being a Board Director means you must comply with a set code of conduct, which is outlined in [a] Board Director’s duties.” But Mr Raue told Honi Soit he should be free to openly disagree with USU policy. “Personally I think I should be able to speak publicly as a Board Director, but the rest of the Board has come down pretty hard on that,” he said. Ms Rajvanshi described Interfaith Week as “a great opportunity to encourage discussion and conversation between different groups on campus, including both faith and atheistic groups.”
Senate Patrick Massarani will again contest the upcoming university Senate election for an undergraduate representative. Mr Massarani, Student Unity heavyweight and NUS National Ethno-Cultural officer, first sought the undergraduate representative position last year. Once thought of as the Eddie Obeid of campus politics, Mr Massarani has made a concerted effort over the past 12 months to mend ties with Labor Left and the independents. James Flynn, a conservative who is the incumbent postgraduate representative, will re-contest his position. “One year [on Senate] doesn’t allow you to undertake a large number of strategic objectives,” he said. Nominations for the Senate election closed yesterday, Tuesday August 21, after Honi went to press. At the time of writing, Honi understands the undergraduate election will be much more competitive. Third-year arts/education student Matthew Woolaston confirmed his nomination. Other names which have been touted include second-year law student Dalton Fogarty, Director of Debates Ed Miller, and Liberal Michael Kale. First-year law student Mariam George. was rumoured to be interested but may wait for another day. Mr Flynn said: “You need to have a wealth of experience in university structure before you can help govern it. Not that I would discourage anyone from running.”
SRC NLS and Student Unity (Labor Left and Right, respectively) have signed a formal agreement ahead of the upcoming SRC election. Although no policy points are known as yet, it is understood the campaign will reprise last year’s combination of purple t-shirts and the ‘Stand Up!’ slogan. A senior Unity source said the deal was particularly advantageous to Unity’s NUS prospects. Meanwhile, campus Liberals will be divided if party moderates choose to support independent candidate Sam Farrell for the SRC Presidency, rather than the candidate favoured by the soft and hard Right factions. That person is secondyear St John’s resident Josh Crawford. Soft-right machine man Henry Innis said: “Good Liberals will be supporting him”. While deals are yet to be finalised, sources have suggested that Right faction Liberals may preference NLS candidate David Pink, rather than Mr Farrell. Labor students were worried last week when they were led to believe that Rhys Pogonoski, senior figure among campus independents, was enrolled in a “short course” which would allow him to reenter the undergraduate electoral roll. Mr Pogonoski denied he was interested in contesting the SRC Presidency, saying he had simply let people believe their own fears. “Rhys would run for the presidency of the local bowling club if he got the chance,” one Unity figure said.
Honi Soit Nominations close today, August 22. One ticket, named ‘Jam’, running with the colour red, consists of Rafi Alam, Bryant Apolonio, Max Chalmers, Avani Dias, Mason McCann, Mariana PodestaDiverio, Nick Rowbotham, Hannah Ryan, Xiaoran Shi, and Lucy Watson. Rival ticket ‘Beat’, running with yellow, consists of Adam Chalmers, Felix Donovan, Jim Fishwick, Eleanor Gordon-Smith, Alex McKinnon, Michael Richardson, Lane Sainty, Tara Waniganayaka, and Margaret Zhang. It is understood that the Liberals have signed a deal to give their preferences to the ‘Beat’ ticket, although they will get nothing obvious in return. Some have speculated they simply feel ‘Beat’ will be more sympathetic given that the ‘Jam’ ticket is more clearly aligned with figures from the Left. Once nominations for SRC elections close [today], Honi will no longer be permitted to report on electoral matters. May the gods be with you all.
Fulbright chairman UniGames netball: booze and bonding at LGBT forum Dan Zwi reports
It is almost trite to say that the ‘gayness’ of Sydney belies the homophobia that still permeates Australia. With Oxford Street’s golden mile, Clover Moore in office, and Michael Kirby at the forefront of public gay rights discourse, it is easy to assume that discrimination against LGBT people, outside of opposition to marriage equality, has largely petered out. The issue was considered at a roundtable discussion at Sydney University’s United States Studies Centre last Saturday, August 18. Run by Twenty10, a community organisation supporting LGBT youth, the meeting comprised a who’s who of LGBT social service providers. Participants included Dr Sean Gallagher of the USSC as well as representatives from Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), ACON (a health and HIV/AIDS organisation for LGBT people) and the NSW Police Force, amongst others. Also present – indeed at centre stage – were Fred Hochberg, Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (an independent government body that finances the overseas purchase of American goods), and his partner, Tom Healy. Mr Healy is the current chairman of the Fulbright Scholarship Board and oversees worldwide administration of the famed bursary. In Australia, in respect of these positions, Mr Hochberg explained, “I always try to speak to an LGBT group or a women’s group while travelling.” Talking to Mr Healy, it is clear that the problem of apparent LGBT acceptance in urban areas leading to apathy also exists in the US. In addition to his role with the Fulbright Board, Mr Healy teaches at New York University, and admits that “as an academic, I really have not experienced [homophobia]”. He makes clear that, while the absence of discrimination is to be lauded, people in other industries and other locations are not nearly as insulated from bigotry. The roundtable considered whether the current debate on gay marriage, important though it undoubtedly is, risks sidelining other pressing LGBT issues such as drug abuse, HIV/AIDS, and homophobic violence. It was pointed out that for middle-class and middle-aged gay people who grew up at a time when marriage equality was not discussed, the mere presence of the debate can lead to the assumption that these other problems no longer affect Australian youth.
Bebe D’Souza couldn’t help but screen-grab this one
Award for the classiest Facebook event description of the year goes to the university’s mixed netball team. On her Facebook event to promote the team trials, organiser and team manager Emily Chancellor wrote: “Are you a keen netballer? keen drinker? enjoy running around on minimal sleep and often still drunk?? do you consider yourself to have an athletic ability that the team will not be able to go without??” (Sic) Ms Chancellor continued: “What is uni games you may ask.. if you are asking this, we probably don’t want you one the team.. sorry.. (but it is a week of Sydney University PRIDE with drinking and dress up every night, epic bonding, friends for life, and a bit of awesome mixed netball during the day (when you aren’t sleeping))” (Sic) Perfunctory details of the trial were included before Ms Chancellor concluded: “So girls tell all the tall and beautiful boys you know and guys bring the chicks with the ability to party and play.. and lets make this years mixed netball team one for the memory books.” Trials were held on August 9, with successful players receiving emails of acceptance last week. It remains to be seen if the USYD mixed netball team will be successful at the university games event in September, or whether the team itself even cares. Those interested in playing mixednetball at university games in the future are probably not wanted.
Afterschool Care/ Nanny Required Family seeking assistance with picking up 3 kids from school at about 3pm and supervising them until about 6pm weekdays – this may involve taking them to afterschool activities, doing homework and feeding them dinner. Home is in Redfern and person must have driver’s licence. If interested please call Lillian on 0407 919 068.
Words with Friends Tell us some of the things you’ve seen in campus libraries... TOM ALDERTON “Someone was taking photocopies of their own behind, and with his pants down too.”
ROB SHAW “Saw a group of people each with a Bible in their possession placing it amongst popular fiction books.”
MORRIS MA “Saw a scavenger hunt in Fisher where everyone was nude, except for covering their privates with books.”
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JOSHUA YU “A couple choosing to make out in the section of library where the most boring books are kept, because they thought no one would disturb them there. They were mistaken...”
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News Review Tobacco industry’s challenge deemed only hot air
Nick Findlater reports on the recent High Court decision the Government applauded but detractors say means little Last Wednesday August 15, a majority of the High Court rejected a challenge to the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act. The challenge had been led by Japan Tobacco, with British American Tobacco and Philip Morris (among others) joining as parties. The challenge was based on a provision of the Commonwealth Constitution which requires just compensation (that is, fair compensation in the circumstances) to be paid in return for the Government compulsorily acquiring property. Tobacco giants launched a twopronged argument: first, that their trademarks and brand logos were their intellectual property, and second, that under the new law, the Government would be acquiring their intellectual property. They estimated their loss at $3 billion a year. The Government and the anti-smoking lobby are understandably pleased with the High Court decision. To be a policy innovator with regard to such a ‘wicked’ issue as reducing rates of smoking ought to be applauded. For its part, the Federal Opposition supports plain packaging, despite some initial hesitance in 2010 when the plan was first proposed. The hope is to reduce the appeal of cigarettes over the long-term, and to give more prominence to the photographic health warnings adorning cigarette packets. The Health Minister, Tanya
Plibersek, had suggested that the current design of cigarette packets was a “mobile billboard” for cigarette companies. The UK, India and New Zealand (all countries with a similar legal system to our own) are taking note. The World Health Organisation has voiced its approval. The tobacco industry, unsurprisingly, is dissatisfied. Tobacco company Philip Morris in Australia notes that it employs 700 workers at its Moorabbin factory in Victoria. The company website continues, voicing the company’s support for “comprehensive, [evidence-based] regulation of tobacco products based on the principle of harm reduction”. There is no explicit mention of the plain packaging legislation, but the inference is clear. The industry does not believe that the law will achieve a reduction in smoking rates in Australia from 15 per cent to 10 per cent, as envisaged by the Government. British American Tobacco, for its part, has been more vocal. Its website warns that “serious unintended consequences start 1 December”. Prior to the High Court proceedings, it had also launched a website for the purposes of debate (www.plainpack.com) which asks for proof that plain packaging will work. The idea, then, is that cheaper brands will enter the market and, except on the
fundamental criterion of price, be indistinguishable from the more expensive brands. Big tobacco’s profits could suffer. This conspiracy theory probably doesn’t hold for older smokers who are familiar with the different brands and who have their favourites. But for younger, first-time smokers (for whom cigarettes are already expensive anyway), the fear of big tobacco could well play out. The Government will want to carefully monitor changes in the brands’ respective market shares over the coming years. The Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, has ruled out increasing the tax on tobacco for the time being. But political considerations aside, this is – from a policy perspective – a logical next step. Times are a’ changing, kids. And they are very interesting times indeed.
Retail tobacco sales (grouped by retailer) Supermarkets $4,478m (51 per cent)
Tobacconists $1,800m (19 per cent)
Convenience Stores $1,203m (13 per cent)
Mixed Business $875m (9 per cent)
Hotels and Clubs $244m (3 per cent)
Newsagents $171m (2 per cent)
Liquor Stores $151m (2 per cent) Proportion of total tobacco sales by retailer (figures right)
textbooks
Petrol Stations $92m (1 per cent)
Students’ Representative Council, University of Sydney
Want some work!
CHEAP!
Polling Booth Attendants Required
Don’t pay full price for textbooks... buy them at SRC books.
The SRC is looking for people to work on the polling booths for its elections this year. If you can work on Wed 19th Sept and/or Thurs 20th Sept, and attend a training at 4pm Tues 18th Sept, we want to hear from you! • We buy & sell textbooks according to demand • You can sell your books on consignment. Please phone us before bringing in your books. • We are open to USYD students & the public Search for text books online www.src.usyd.edu.au/default.php Call 02 9660 4756 to check availability and reserve a book.
NEW Location! Level 4, Wentworth Bldg (Next to the International Lounge) Hours: Mondays to Fridays 9am - 4.30pm Phone: (02) 9660 4756 Email: books@SRC.usyd.edu.au
There may also be an opportunity to undertake additional work at the vote count Application forms are available from the SRC Front Office (Level 1 Wentworth Building). For more info, call 9660 5222 or email elections@src.usyd.edu.au.
Authorised by Paulene Graham, SRC Electoral Officer 2012. Students’ Representative Council, University of Sydney: 02 9660 5222 | www.src.usyd.edu.au
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Op-Shop Tequila shots and cigarettes are the spice of life When all liberty is gone, we will regret nanny-state laws, writes Sean O’Grady Doing tequila shots at three in the morning is fun. Drinking out of proper glassware is fun. In the unlikely event that I become suddenly rich, I imagine shouting a round of drinks for everyone I know would also be fun. I don’t imagine that clocking someone in the face and killing them would be. The new regulations imposed by the O’Farrell government on the 58 licensed venues in Kings Cross will not only be ineffective, but they are also unfair, and un-fun. Restaurants and wine bars that open late are not part of the supposed problem Barry O’Farrell is seeking to deal with. How many serious assaults occur in, or outside of, wine bars? To force people to drink an expensive bottle of champagne from plastic is itself something of an act of barbarity. But more importantly, the regulations stop the vast majority of people – people who get drunk but don’t immediately glass someone - from having a good time. Our clubs, bars, and pubs are already among the most regulated in the world. This latest round of nanny-state showmanship provides only a band-aid solution to the systemic problems of the Cross. They seek to attack a popular target, one that the public is habitually used to admonishing, instead of actually trying to affect change. It seems more likely that increased police presence which would deter assaults, and
improved transport to get idle, drunken patrons off the streets faster would be a more effective solution. What’s more, it wouldn’t treat the vast majority of lawabiding citizens going out in search of a good time as potential criminals. Insofar as alcohol is legal, and therefore being drunk is legal, it is wrong to prevent people from consuming it in a manner conducive to enjoyment. In the same week that the High Court dismissed an industry challenge to the Gillard government’s plain packaging legislation, the NSW government expanded the number of public places in which smoking is banned. It is now illegal to smoke in playgrounds, sports grounds, swimming pools, transport
WE SHOULD CHASE IDLE DREAMS COMEDY DEBATE: STUDENTS VERSUS ALUMNI Watch top student debaters battle it out against the alumni team at the Comedy Debate, moderated by Julie McCrossin. Students Eleanor Gordon-Smith, Nick Kraegen and Edward Miller will take on the alumni team; Dr Michael Spence, Adam Spencer and Fiona Roughley.
THURSDAY 30 AUGUST 2012 6–8pm (doors open at 5.30pm) The Great Hall, The University of Sydney A cash bar will be available before and after the debate
TICKETS $10 Students $15 Alumni and staff $20 guests
Book online at sydney.edu.au/alumni/comedy The Comedy Debate is produced in association with The University of Sydney Union
stops, and entrances to public buildings. But Mr O’Farrell, supported by the Fishers and Shooters in the Legislative Council, did continue one important exception to the rule: the high rollers’ room at Star Casino. Who could have guessed that the business of rich Chinese gamblers and the clout of the Packer family could overcome this government’s otherwise unfailing commitment to altruism and public health. The past week has also seen new regulations banning smoking in Melbourne’s playgrounds and parks. Such laws exist under the guise of preventing secondary harm to others, but it’s a poor justification. We are talking about open-air, public spaces: if troubled by second-hand smoke, people can choose to walk 10 metres away. Moreover, the vast majority of smokers are polite enough not to blow smoke in your child’s face as he swings at the local park. And people who walk through a cloud of smoke a couple of times a week face no greater harm than momentary discomfort. They do not have a negative right to stop smokers from, well, smoking. It has already been stigmatised and regulated far more than any legal pastime should be, and the restrictions placed on smokers continue to undermine their ability to exercise individual autonomy.
Smoking is legal, and presents only harm to which individuals can rationally consent. Smokers, as a result of advertising campaigns and warnings on cigarette packets, already understand the health risks associated with the habit. There is no need for yet more regulation and finger-wagging. With the O’Farrell government completing the trifecta by announcing reforms significantly altering the right to not self-incriminate – your right to silence - what emerges is a picture of the government using fear as a mechanism to rally popular support around legislation that undermines individual and civil liberties. Sometimes it is the job of government to remove our freedoms for the common good. However, when exercising our freedom does not harm others, it is not the place of the government to legislate. And the effectiveness of using fear as a mechanism to facilitate increased control over individual and civil liberties sets a worrying precedent. While the events of the past week may seem negligible individually – particularly if you’re not a smoker or a drinker - they form part of a broader, more corrosive trajectory toward state paternalism. It is not the job of government to babysit us.
Laws will stop the boats, but should we? Why do we send refugees to the islands of the damned, asks Dan Zwi There have always been two motives at play in Australia’s undying bid to prevent refugees from arriving here by boat. The first is concern for the safety of asylum seekers undertaking the precarious journey from Indonesia. The second is concern for the safety of Australians – you know, safety from violence at the hands of terrorist asylum seekers from the Middle East. And, economic safety from the threat of migrants usurping Australian jobs. The (somewhat pompously named) Report of the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers was released on Monday August 13, and I’m trying to decide which of the above motives better account for it. Amongst its recommendations are the immediate reintroduction of offshore processing in Nauru and Manus Island and indefinite detention of asylum seekers pending resettlement. Parliament on Thursday legislated for these changes. Let’s give Labor and the Coalition (the bill received bipartisan support) the benefit of the doubt and assume that their primary goal in adopting the policy is the prevention of deaths at sea. After all, since late 2001, 964 asylum seekers have perished in this way. Yet humanitarian concern for the wellbeing of asylum seekers is surely inconsistent with placing them in indefinite detention on remote Pacific islands. How can politicians make any pretense of compassion whilst tacitly endorsing the deterioration in mental health and proliferation of self-harm that inevitably accompanies such treatment?
honisoit.com
The policy will work in stopping the boats, though. That much is beyond doubt. Under Howard’s ‘Pacific Solution’ – materially the same as the new measures but for the former’s use of Temporary Protection Visas – arrivals all but stopped. Between September 2001 and February 2008 a total of 1637 asylum seekers reached Australia by boat. In 2012, there have been 7,120 already. It is implausible to account for that rate of increase by reference to ‘push’ factors alone. So yes, there will be fewer deaths at sea. We are still inordinately punishing those asylum seekers that are so desperate to escape persecution that they are not deterred by the journey itself, the prospect of years in a Pacific processing facility, or the lack of guaranteed resettlement in Australia if found to be a refugee. If the government wants to stop the boats without being inhumane, it might consider making it easier for asylum seekers to fly here (there are currently numerous obstacles to the procurement of even tourist visas in refugee-laden countries). Or, it could vastly increase its humanitarian intake, as the Report recommends. Or, it could commit to onshore processing while reserving the right to resettle refugees elsewhere. I’m just brainstorming here. The thing is, in considering Australia’s new/old policy, the more cynical side in me supposes that it is the second, more sinister motive - that of punishing refugees to avoid being swamped by them – that lies behind it.
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Third Drawer MediaBOTCH: missing the most vulnerable
Max Chalmers investigates why rental affordability will not be an issue at next year’s election.
This election cycle you are unlikely to see Tony Abbott or Julia Gillard front the media throng and lament that the rent is just Too. Damn. High. (As 2010 New York gubernatorial candidate Jimmy McMillan famously did). They will talk electricity, asylum seekers and maybe even interest rates, but issues of rental affordability will be decidedly absent. Even if new policies are put forward they are unlikely to make a splash in the media pool. Yet housing costs, especially rental pressures, are a heavy burden for many Australians. The average household spends 2 per cent of income on gas and electricity compared to 18 per cent on rent and mortgage payments. Low income earners in particular are experiencing an increase in ‘rental stress’, the term used to refer to individuals or families spending over thirty per cent of their income on rent. A recent Anglicare survey found that on one weekend in April just 25 of 10, 358 rental properties inspected would be affordable, without causing rental stress, for households financially reliant upon government assistance. SRC President Phoebe Drake has seen first hand the impact rental stress has on students, particularly those forced to relocate from regional areas to study in Sydney. “Paying rent is the biggest stress factor, I would say, in student life”, she told Honi Soit. Anglicare’s
survey supports this and notes that many students are forced to spend nearly half their income on rental costs. Australians for Affordable Housing estimates approximately three quarters of students who rent suffer rental stress. However, groups trying to promote the plight of those suffering rental stress face difficulties in raising awareness. The first reason for this is that renters are in the minority. Just 30 per cent of Australians rent while the rest own their homes outright or are paying off their mortgages. Editors and producers are more inclined to publish stories on interest rates and property values, which directly impact the greater proportion of the potential audience.
Activists like Sarah Toohey from Australians for Affordable Housing have also expressed concern that, “the media commentary around housing is very dominated by the real estate industry”, who are less interested in issues of affordability and accessibility. The second problem is the discursive dominance of other cost of living issues. Journalists love to write about conflict, especially between the major political parties. When parties argue over interest rates and electricity costs at the political level, the fight flows down to the media and fixes the agenda of national debate. Since John Howard asked Australians who they trusted to keep interest rates low, every sneeze from
Newtown has changed a lot thanks to urban decay
Tweets Romeo @romeo_m Tuesday 17:34 @juliet Hey I just met u, and this is crazy... but our families r enemies, lets get married, maybe? #YOLO Romeo @romeo_m
Wednesday 17:52
been banished. Service is bad out here. brb #wtf #banished Retweeted by Simba
Romeo @romeo_m
2m
@juliet’s dead. Fuck this, I’m out. Joan of Arc @joanofarc 10m Just changed my gender on Facebook. Now i’ve fooled them. #fuckyeahfrance #winning
Samuel Beckett @Becky546
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Where the fuck is @Godot? #TiredOfWaiting Noah @FuckOffWe’reFull Who said my ark couldn’t take all the animals? #FuckOffWe’reFull
25m
Arthur Phillip @R_thurphillip 28m Landed at #BotanyBay. This place is a shit hole, don’t know what @BrosefBanks was thinking... #Penalcolony Arthur Philip @R_thurphillip 26m given up on #BotanyBay. Found a better place around the corner #SydneyCove. Get the plebs to work! #Penalcolony
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Illustration: Nina Ubaldi
the reserve bank has rippled through an entire news cycle. As neither party is interested in a fight over how to best help the 30 per cent of (often the poorest) Australians who rent, it remains hard to get the issue consistently in the news. The last problem is the gaze of the audience and the way it establishes expectations about how to tell certain stories and who to tell them about. When Angus Belling of Anglicare approached producers doing a story about rental stress they told him it would be better to have white subjects for interviews. The producers wanted to tell a story their audience could relate to so decided that an interview with a white family would have the best chance of engaging the majority white audience. They were also hesitant to use a family from a background that already suffered stereotypes relating to welfare dependency for fear of perpetuating those stereotypes. Thus, the production of the story came to be shaped by the prejudices and identity politics producers anticipated were at play amongst their audience. Ultimately, the lack of discussion about rental affordability in mainstream media spheres attests to the problems more vulnerable Australians face in having the issues that affect them become nationally acknowledged. They are problems of political agenda setting, media source use and media consumption, for which we are all responsible.
Third Drawer TOP FIVE
Top 5 classic cheap student meals By Mariana Podesta-Divero
Pasta A much-loved classic, large-scale pasta cooking should by no means be limited to Norton Street abodes. Large amounts of spaghetti or fettuccine can be prepared with any sauce you desire, with remaining leftovers making for quick meals. (Really, though – pasta tastes just as good, if not better, when re-heated). The recently widespread availability of gluten-free pasta options means that our gluten-free friends can also rejoice in the wonders of home-cooked Bolognese.
The Trusty Sandwich Whether you’re a fan of the crunch of crispy lettuce on freshly toasted bread or simply lack the will to cook, sandwiches rightly deserve their high-end spot on the student’s nutritional pyramid. The myriad options for fillings mean that sandwich diversity is limited only by one’s imagination. Sandwiches can be loaded with veggies and dips or, for the Breville owners amongst you, different cheeses, and taken just about anywhere from your front veranda to the law lawns.
Instant Noodles Hordes of Mi-Goreng packets line cramped pantries all over Inner-West student share houses for a good reason. At less than a dollar per packet, Mi-Goreng noodles offer a quick and greasy option for those pressed for time … or doing an engineering degree. Other brands like Maggi and Fantastic warrant a mention for their flavour range and similarly low prices. Minimal dish-washing involved.
King St Thai
Failing to mention the student dining Valhalla that is the King St Thai restaurant institution would be an unforgivable faux pas of sorts. From the Thai La-Ongs to Thairiffic, the Newtown Thai establishments offer a variety of promptly dished-up meals that don’t break the bank. The variety of vegetarian and vegan options make Thai cuisine a favourite option for large groups that need to accommodate for varied diets.
Belly Button Fluff
Naturally occurring, sustainable, and (vaguely) nutritious, belly button fluff, or navel lint as it’s scientifically known, has long been a staple of the poverty-stricken student. Belly button fluff is the result of clothes fibres rubbing against stomach hair so if you were thinking of trimming your snail trail think again! Heavier, wool-based fabrics will create a heavier lint more suitable for the winter months.
Soundtrack to: getting pierced Xioaran Shi got a nosepiercing for uh, medical reasons
Dragon: “Are You Old Enough?” Sick and tired of society’s so-called rules? Patriarchal oppression and retrograde gender roles getting you down? Want to know how to put an end to global warming and third world debt? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above, then congratulations, get ready to save the world via puncturing a cavity in your body (hint: the bigger the cavity, the more lepers you’ll have healed).
Meiko: “Leave the Lights On” Don’t worry, myocardial infarction and extreme nausea are normal side effects resulting from being in the presence of a needle sterilised for the express purpose of severing blood vessels and drilling through your cartilage. Wait, no, come back here. Just close your eyes and think of the African orphans. Apparently, high levels of self-satisfaction can act as a potent anaesthetic
The Wiggles: “Wake up Jeff!” Now you know what it feels like to be Jesus. I mean, isn’t hole-punching one’s own nose really just a nuanced metaphor for our collective, spiritual crucifixion at the hands of the military-industrial complex? Stick it to Old Man Freud and his stupid “pleasure principle” by bathing in the glow of having indulged your masochistic tendencies. Seriously, man, you’ve really earned that doobie.
Students’ Representative Council, University of Sydney
Notice of 2012 Students’ Representative Council Annual Election
CHECK OUT OUR ALL NEW WEBSITE WWW.HONISOIT.COM
Nominations for the Students’ Representative Council Annual Elections for the year 2012 close at 4.30pm Wednesday 24th August 2012. Polling will be held on the 19th and 20th of September 2012. Pre-polling will also take place outside the SRC Offices Level 1 Wentworth Building on Tuesday 18th of September 2012 from 10 am - 3pm. All students who are duly enrolled for attendance at lectures are eligible to vote. Members of the student body who have paid their nomination fee to Council are eligible to nominate and be nominated, except National Union of Students national office bearers. Fulltime officebearers of the SRC may also nominate as NUS delegates.
Nomination forms can be downloaded from the SRC website: www.src.usyd.edu.au, or picked up from SRC Front Office (Level 1, Wentworth Building).
Nominations are called for the following elections/positions and open 1st August 2012 at 8pm:
Nominations which have not been delivered either to the locked box in the SRC front office or to the post office box shown above and submitted online by the close of nominations will not be accepted regardless of when they were posted.
(a) The election of the Representatives to the 85th SRC (33 positions) (b) The election of the President of the 85th SRC (c) The election of the Editor(s) of Honi Soit for the 85th SRC (d) The election of National Union of Students delegates for the 85th SRC (7 positions)
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Nominations must also be lodged online along with your policy statement and Curriculum Vitae (optional), by close of nominations at: www.src.usyd.edu.au. For more information, call 9660 5222. Signed nomination forms and a printed copy of your online nomination must be received no later than 4.30pm on Wednesday 22nd August, either in the locked box at the SRC Front Office (Level 1 Wentworth), or at the following address: PO Box 794, Broadway NSW 2007.
The Regulations of the SRC relating to elections are available on-line at www.src.usyd.edu.au or from the SRC Front Office (level 1, Wentworth Building). Authorised by Paulene Graham, SRC Electoral Officer 2012. Students’ Representative Council, The University of Sydney Phone: 02 9660 5222 | www.src.usyd.edu.au
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Taboo DRUGS
Filling in the Blanks with Pillreports.com The blue pill? The red pill? Why limit yourself, writes Ludwig Schmidt
Pillreports is an ecstasy test results database. According to its website, it is a “global database of ‘ecstasy’ pills based on both subjective user reports and scientific analysis.” The site states: “‘Ecstasy’ is traditionally the name for MDMA based pills, however Pillreports also includes closely related substances such as MDA, MDEA, MBDB. Pills sold as ecstasy often include other, potentially more dangerous, substances such as methamphetamine, ketamine and PMA. “By identifying dangerous adulterants, Pillreports performs a vital harm reduction service that can prevent many of the problems associated with ‘ecstasy’ use before they happen. Pre-
vention is always better than cure, as you cannot cure death.” The site has over 30,000 reports from all around the world. Ecstasy pills can be searched by name, logo, colour, region, and/or by a minimum ‘quality’ rating. If you’re lucky, you’ll find your pill and will be lead to a user-generated report that includes detailed information such as the dimensions, the texture, the fortitude of the edges - e.g. ‘bit worn’ (no, seriously) - and a review of the drug based on consumption. Reports often include an MDMA rating based on a chemical test. Dark purple/black indicates a high MDMA level. A quick browse of the Australian subsection of the site confirms the popular theory that
Australia has shitty quality ecstasy. The user write-ups are very detailed and include a breakdown of the writer’s experience taking the drug/s hour by hour. Reports often include how long it took the user to notice the effects of the pill, how long the effects lasted, whether the pill was speed or MDMA-heavy, etc. Contrary to popular belief, most ecstasy pills don’t actually include MDMA. Because of the difficulty of acquiring MDMA, pill-makers often use different chemicals that have similar effects. The write-ups on Pillreports instead list the suspected contents of the pill (MDMA, MDA, etc.) Below the report is a comments section in which other users respond to the report and offer up their own experience taking the pill. Extremely positive reviews will be flagged by other users in the comments section as written by a dealer in order to increase demand for their product. This is unless there is substantive evidence to the contrary (high number of positive reviews). As there are no in-built measures to prevent people from using the site this way, the larger Pillreports community is highly suspicious of well-reviewed pills. It takes some guesswork, but between the review and the comments you should be able to work out whether you’re getting the real deal or being led on. From personal experience, I’ve never failed to find a pill I’ve enquired about on the site and have found the reports extremely accurate. This is a testament to the dedicated wider Pillreports community who are collaboratively filling in some of the massive blanks surrounding ecstasy consumption and ecstasy markets. The site is populated by literally thou-
sands of ecstasy enthusiasts. Pillreports is arguably one of the most successful examples of the power of collaborative wisdom (after Wikipedia), and in the opinion of the writer, a genuine peek into the future. Whatever your view on ecstasy consumption (and Pillreports allegedly has none: “Note: Pillreports.com exists as a harm reduction tool and does not condemn or condone ecstasy use” is written at the top of their homepage), only the most conservative of mindsets would deny that more information on a drug frequently associated with overdoses and rat poison is a bad thing. Hopefully, Pillreports will continue to grow and more sites like it will emerge in the future, debunking the many myths that surround illicit substances and forcing governments to finally embrace progressive drug reform.
SEX
An Adventure at the Adult Bookstore
Jack Nairn stares out the bus window and happens upon something special For those unlucky commuters forced to frequent the Northern STA Express buses down George St everyday to go to uni, you may have had your eyes drawn to a certain kind of store. A kind of shop with a niche, that seems too numerous and incongruent for the busy inner city artery that is George Street. Don’t feel like you’re the only one. Other people gaze out of the sweaty glass to see the same scene, and are left feeling dirty and/or perverted. You’re going to uni, not to the shower. If you haven’t guessed it yet, or haven’t even read the title, I am of course referring to the taboo that is the adult bookstores of Sydney. To the modern man, a book is somewhat an alien concept and even more so is an ‘adult book’. What even is an adult book? Fifty Shades of Grey and Game of Thrones may be examples. An alternative answer might be a nonfiction textbook detailing the distinction between a man and a woman, a raunchy
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novel or maybe just Adult Behaviour for Dummies. This seems absurd. Novels can be purchased from any bookstore, text-books from the Co-op, what product could possibly be so different as to require its own chain of dimly lit, street signs using creepy fonts and the foreboding R18+ symbol attached to the front door. Apparently, get this right; there was a time before the Internet. Whoa! Blew my mind too. In these dark times it appears adult behaviour, for want of a better word, required the assistance of picture books and magazines. Pictures in books don’t move, you say. Well, someone once told me that when a series of pictures are flashed before you quickly, they appear to move. Bet you nerdy science students didn’t know that! Sound? One can only guess. These pictures must have been printed somewhere. In adult books it seems. So it appears that before the internet, pornography was distributed entirely
through the print medium. However, why these stores are still open is a mystery that remains to be solved. Conceivably, senile men and women of habit prefer the customer service provided by the owners of these shops. Weird. Still two questions remain: why George Street? and who the fuck goes to these stores? A quick skim-read of Wikipedia’s History of George Street reveals that once, long ago it was the high street. A high street in a penal colony? It must have looked something like Kings Cross: strippers, rum and criminals. It would have been the
@honi_soit
perfect place for adult bookstores. I stress the word ‘would’. Shame they started trading a century or so too late, not mention in the wrong medium. It’s possible these stores aren’t even trading anymore, that is of course excluding the George Street Adult Book Exchange, a highlight of the E88’s painful crawl through the CBD. So, if you have ever visited these stores, purchased one of their products, exchanged some books or even spoken to the creepy storekeeper, let us know and help us save the mystery of these tremendously ill-placed businesses.
Profile
The Lovable Clown Jack Gow sat down to talk comedy with funnyman Frank Woodley “Why do some people like avocados and why do others just sick up in their mouth at the thought of them?” asks Frank Woodley as he explains what motivated him to pursue a career in comedy. “I think it’s very difficult to know what drives us. So exactly why I said, ‘I like this so much that I’m going to pursue it as a career’ is a bit of a mystery. I’ve probably got a bit of unwarranted confidence and I’m an optimist so when things interest me I pursue them”. It’s not quite the inspirational tale of drive and determination that is de rigueur amongst those with even a modicum of celebrity but it seems to be working out just fine for Woodley. “Instead of doing Year 12 at high school I went to a TAFE and did a drama course,” Woodley says. “I had no desire to be an actor though.” Ambivalent attitude to acting aside, the young Woodley became a regular of the Melbourne Theatresports circuit in the late 1980s where he met fellow funnyman and comedic confederate Colin Lane. “For about five years I was in a trio called The Found Objects which had Colin in it and another guy Scott Casley. The three of us did sort of theatrical clown-y stuff not dissimilar to what Lano and Woodley did and what I do now.” The Found Objects achieved moderate local success performing at the 1992 Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala, however, it was Casley’s departure that truly cemented Woodley’s position in Australian comedy. “When we were getting started I was only 19 and he was a very good comedy
writer who had a very beautiful artistic sensibility. There’s a concept in comedy that you either elevate the mundane to the sublime, or is it the profane to the sublime, or you reduce… you pull the sacred down to the profane...” Woodley says with a laugh. “Whatever it is, Scott had a really good handle on that. He was a big influence on me… but then he decided he didn’t want to be a performer anymore. So it was just me and Col, we just followed our noses and were very lucky really that we had such chemistry as a duo.”
“If you’re lucky enough you get that chemistry where you’re very different from one another but you share the same sense of humour” Rising to prominence as one half of Australia’s answer to Laurel and Hardy, Woodley’s career has, to a large extent, been predicated on his partnership with Lane. “If you’re lucky enough you get that chemistry where you’re very different from one another but you share the same sense of humour,” Woodley says. “That’s where all the magic comes from.” The critics definitely agreed, with Lano and Woodley taking out the prestigious Perrier award at the 1994 Edinburgh Fringe Festival for their debut show as a duo. “I mean by that point we had about six years of performing together but it was still quite amazing,” Woodley says. “[Winning the award] made a big difference to us because some producers from the UK, from Working Title, came along, and they were inter-
ested in doing some TV, so it was their interest that led to The Adventures of Lano and Woodley.” Although it only ran for two seasons, the success of the show further expanded their burgeoning fan base, allowing them to tour extensively. “After [The Adventures of Lano and Woodley] we had a lot of success performing all around Australia,” Woodley says. “We did a lot of regional touring, and we just had a really delightful period for about ten years afterwards.” While initially success may have been sweet, it soured eventually. “It just kind of became apparent that we were on a bit of a treadmill in a sense,” he explains. “We could write another hour and a half live show and tour it but we’d just been doing it for so long that the cracks had started to form in terms of our enthusiasm for getting in a car and driving around Australia. We’re actually very good friends, and we remain good friends, but we’d spent so much time together that we were starting to shit each other. I wish I could articulate that in a more eloquent fashion,” Woodley adds with a chuckle. “So the decision to split up was mainly predicated on this feeling that there was a risk that we would start to get in a rut and we had just enjoyed doing Lano and Woodley so much that we didn’t want to be jaded about it.” And just like that, it was over. Not content to rest on his laurels Woodley reinvented himself as a solo act and toured the nation. “There’s a certain amount of pride when you produce something yourself and you pull it off,” Woodley says. “The touring side of things, and performing a solo show, isn’t actually as much fun as performing with
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somebody else though. With me and Col when things went well we would share that pleasure but also when things went badly you could look at one another and it sort of becomes a little bit of an adventure,” he adds. Despite its downsides, flying solo offered creative liberties that had been previously precluded by the double act. “I made a show called Possessed, after Col and me had split up, and it was a romantic comedy,” Woodley says. “That’s a genre that I’ve been interested in exploring and I didn’t really do that in Lano and Woodley because the comedy duo is a different genre with different demands and expectations. It was a kind of weird show in that it was a solo show about a guy who is possessed by a ghost and then falls in love with the ghost that possessed him,” he says with a laugh. “I’m sure that says something about my egomaniacal nature that I would create a show in which I fall in love with myself.” While the split may have been mutual, one gets the impression that Woodley has fared far better than Lane in the interim. “[Possessed] was me exploring some slightly different colours to the content and that directly led to me doing Woodley,” he says. A critically, and (for the ABC) commercially, successful comedy series definitely seems like a cut above being the new host of Ready, Steady, Cook – Lane’s latest news. Asked about what the future holds for him, Woodley is understated and enigmatic as always. “Nothing in the diary for the rest of my life at the moment. I’m assuming something will turn up because it has in the past,” he says. It’s an attitude that’s far from fallible, but it hasn’t failed him yet.
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polar They’re the terrifying hybrid of polar and grizzly bears, ‘Grolar’ bears are growing in number, and they’re on the move. William Haines finds out what happens when the animal kingdom adapts to global warming.
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uman impact on animal evolution is well accepted. It manifests itself both through species introduction and habitat alteration impacting selection criteria. There are many examples of new, hybrid breeds developing after a new species is introduced, or by a single breed being forced to adapt to changes in their natural habitat. But what happens when these two evolutionary factors combine can really be quite scary. Some animal hybrids are obvious, like the mule. There is also the beefalo (cattle and bison), or camas (camels and lamas). The new hybrid animals are often infertile. If they can reproduce, the first few generations are often exceptionally well-suited to their environments, benefiting from what is called ‘hybrid vigour’, but invariably they lose the will to mate - subjected to ‘outbreeding depression’.
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When a single animal is forced to adapt to a new environment, it’s often more successful. Fish from the Hudson river in New York are now immune to toxic waste. Elephants, so often hunted for their ivory tusks, are simply ceasing to grow them. Perhaps most impressively, stray dogs in Moscow have become truly urbanised - they use the subway system to commute from sleeping grounds to begging grounds, navigating the stations by smell and recorded announcements. In the Arctic, however, these factors are playing out simultaneously. In the December 16 edition of Nature, three American researchers argued that global warming is encouraging the formation of hybrid offspring among Arctic mammals. “The rapid disappearance of the Arctic ice cap is removing the barrier that’s kept a number of species
Right: The hybrid cubs have been known to demonstrate behaviour that is akin to young polar bears Below: In 2004, two grizzly-polar bear hybrid cubs were born at Osnabrück Zoo in Germany
Stray dogs in Moscow have become truly urbanised they use the subway system to commute from sleeping grounds to begging grounds, navigating the stations by smell and recorded announcements.
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isolated from each other for at least ten thousand years,” the report said. According to University of Alaska evolutionary biologist Brendan Kelly, by melting the seasonal ice cap we are “speeding up evolution”. This has predominantly been noticed among marine animals, as they are genetically more prone to hybridisation. The World Conservation Unit has identified 34 potential hybrids of marine mammals in the Arctic and near-Arctic, though it is hard to tell how many have been realised. Photographic evidence has shown the existence of a right-bowhead whale in the Bering Sea, and a beluganarwhal off the coast of Greenland. These breeds seem unlikely to survive because the hybrid offspring lack important features for mating rituals (for example the narwhal’s tusk). Seals seem to be breeding out the differences between them altogether, mating themselves into one generic breed. Sadly, we may be seeing the start of a similar process among bear populations, with the emergence of the grolar, or ‘pizzly’, bear. As temperatures have risen, male grizzly bears have been able to follow caribou herds further north, making their first appearance in areas like Wapusk National Park on the west coast of Hudson Bay. This has brought them into close contact with polar bears for the first time since they were separated during a period of global cooling 150,000 years ago. Furthermore, female polar bears - only half or even a third the size of males - are spending less and less time out at sea, as the ice caps are increasingly unstable and they are not capable of the long swims required. Kept near shore during breeding season, female polar bears resort to their new grizzly neighbours as mates because their own males are unreachable. The resulting grolar hybrid was first confirmed by DNA tests after the shooting of what was thought to be a polar bear by Jim Martell in 2006 on Banks Island in the Canadian Arctic. Bears have complex mating rituals that last for days, so this was thought unlikely to be a one-off encounter.
peril Then, in 2010 DNA tests were conducted on a bear killed by David Kuptana on the nearby Victoria Island. This bear was confirmed not only to be a grolar, but to be a second-generation grolar, showing that the hybrid species is now actively breeding in the wild. The implications of this for us, though, are downright scary. Like most hybrids, they show clear features of both parent breeds. They are slightly smaller than a polar bear, but still considerably larger than a grizzly, bringing them in at around 2.8 meters tall and weighing up to 700kg. They have the long, lean body and neck of a polar bear but incorporate the more muscular grizzly shoulder and its wide face and jaw. They retain the white fur of the polar but with brown faces and paws, and they have received the weaponry of both bears, with the larger and sharper teeth of the
polar complimenting the longer stronger claw of the grizzly. They have the less hollow hair of the grizzly, which allows them to remain comfortable in much warmer conditions, as well as the thicker leather on their paws, which enables them to traverse a greater variety of landscapes. While there are only a total of four confirmed wild grolar bears, this is because DNA testing is only possible when a bear is killed, and is not common practice among hunters. There have been upward of 30 sightings in national parks across Canada, and Inuit hunters claim they are encountered regularly, including in family groups. Inuits from Ulukhaktok, who killed three grolars earlier this year, claimed they could tell straight away that these weren’t your normal polar bears – they were abnormally aggressive. Robert Kuptana told the Toronto Star the hybrid was “pretty nasty. They (hunters) usually stalk the polar bear using a dog, but this bear was so aggressive they couldn’t use a dog on them. It was too dangerous.” This is in accord with studies of grolars in captivity, which claim that their behavioural patterns are as mixed as their physical characteristics. 80 per cent of a grizzly’s food is plant matter, which is supplemented by scavenging from dead moose and caribou. But they are extremely curious, assertive, and even aggressive, due to living in highly competitive ecosystems. Polar bears are true predators, surviving entirely from meat, but they live in isolation and noncompetitive environments, meaning they are shy and rarely aggressive.
The grolar bear is a truly terrifying mixture of these characteristics. It is a predator like the polar (in captivity they stomp and hurl toys as polar bears hurl their prey), but it is extremely inquisitive and belligerent. When one puts this all together, one comes to the unnerving realisation that has made them so popular on the Internet, so let me recap. 1. Grolar bears are fertile, and sightings are rapidly increasing. 2. Grolar bears are equipped to survive in grizzly habitats, which may draw them towards food-rich human settlements across Canada and the northern United States. 3. Grolar bears are predators, equipped with polar bear teeth and grizzly bear claws. 4. Grolar bears display the curiosity and aggressiveness towards humans of grizzlies. What this means is that as their population and distribution continues to grow, human beings are going to be living in increasingly close proximity to extremely large carnivorous animals that are not shy. No longer will children need to be scared of disturbing a bear in the woods, they need to be scared of that bear actively tracking them down where they play, or sleep. Whether or not this will happen any time soon, grolar bears are part of a high-stakes game of survival of the fittest, and the most populated. “It’s partly a numbers game,” says Andrew Whiteley, a conservation geneticist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. “If a lonely narwhal encounters nothing but beluga whales during mating season, cross-species sparks may fly. Repeat enough times, and pretty soon you’re left with few pure narwhals. At the very least the rarer species is wasting its reproductive efforts.” In New Zealand, the introduction of Mallard ducks didn’t destroy local duck populations through competition for food. They simply bred them to the point of extinction. Similarly there are very few genetically pure red wolves left in the United States because, decimated by hunters, they resorted to mating with coyotes.
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Left: Two bears tussle by the shore Below left: This dopeylooking hybrid is conveniently easy to name. The ‘cama’ is a mix between camel and lama Below right: The ‘zorse’ is one of the easier hybrids to detect
As more polar bears are forced ashore and warmer weather continues to make the north more agreeable to grizzlies, there will be more opportunity to mate. The traits we see inherited by the grolar would exist for some time, but will likely be bred closer and closer to the standard grizzly as time goes on. The polar bear, as we know it, could simply be bred out of extinction. Neither national nor international organisations have any official policy in dealing with hybrid species. There are instances of rangers and park managers culling hybrids in order to preserve the racial purity of rare species, but no organised thought has been put in to the benefits or harms of such behaviour and so culling procedures have come under pressure from environmental groups. Theoretically the hybrids could be fitter and better-adjusted animals, but their ‘outbreeding depression’ makes this unlikely. “People often talk about species adapting to climate change,” Brendan Kelly says. “But… individuals don’t adapt genetically. Populations do. That requires generations, which requires time. Bears, seals, whales - these are long-lived animals. They need decades and centuries to adapt. “But we’re talking about losing the Arctic summer sea ice in a matter of a few decades. So the time for adaptive response may not be there.” Organised policy would serve as a catalyst for the necessary research to find out what is really going on with hybrid populations in remote areas such as the Arctic. It remains to be seen if the grolars are genuinely adaptive, or if their success could be put down to short-lived ‘hybrid-vigour’. What seems increasingly clear is that polar bears are in trouble, though not of going extinct, but of fading back into the gene pool they emerged out of tens of thousands of years ago.
Right: The ‘liger’ is one of the better known hybrid species, possibly due to its popularisation in Napoleon Dynamite
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Culture Vulture REVIEWS: FILM
Magic Mike
Chiselled abs and slick moves were not enough to impress Nathan Olivieri
I doubt there will be another movie this year preened and cultivated for its target audience like Magic Mike. Almost toppling 50 Shades of Grey as the hot topic of conversation for women everywhere, it is not difficult to see why: chiselled, muscle-bound male leads are a draw card even when they’re not disrobing purely for the titillation of their female spectatorship. In all fairness, many reviewers have praised the ‘insightfulness’ and ‘soulfulness’ of the film, claiming there is a great deal beneath the film’s suitably buff exterior. Entering with as much impartiality as I could summon, I settled down, prepared to give the film the most objective of treatments. Hence, it must be said objectively, that this is a terrible film; an excellent piece of objectification and voyeurism, yet appallingly made. With few redeeming features in sight, the film flounders: potential did exist to craft something grungier and more hard-hitting, but its superficial approach renders it little more than eye candy, with a wafer-thin subplot to hoist it up. Lead eye-candy, the eponymous ‘Magic’ Mike (Channing Tatum), fronts a carefully constructed existence: labourer by day, male stripper by night. He is the centrepiece of the all-male revue ‘Xquisite’, managed by stripperturned-guru, and resident eccentric, Dallas (Matthew McConaughey). The introduction of ‘The Kid’, Adam (Alex Pettyfer), fellow labourer and all-around layabout, sees Mike given a personal mentoring project, taking him under his wing and into a world of bronzed bodies
and ‘Star-Spangled-Banner’ G-strings. Mike’s saving grace, however, proves to be Adam’s sister Brooke (Cody Horn), whose consistent scepticism burrows into our muscular lead’s heart, causing him to question his lifestyle. The plot of the film is fairly irrelevant: instead of being the agent which propels the film forward, it almost seems like it’s simply there to justify why the film exists in the first place. The fact that our first glimpse of star Tatum, within the first minute of the film is of his bare behind is quite an apt summation of the merits of the film. There is little to the film other than its signatory strip scenes – although a great effort is made to pretend otherwise – and there is little more to the characters themselves other than good genes. Woven around these exhibitionist scenes are a number of subplots, though their fleetingness and lack of development make them resemble something more of pointless vignettes. It seems rushed and entirely haphazard. Director Steven Soderbergh, in a recent interview with FilmInk magazine, discussed how he pressured screenwriter Reid Carolin to churn out the script: “It was too good an idea to wait any longer. I thought someone else might steal it,” he remarked. This quote certainly epitomises a film so caught up in a novel idea that it subjected itself to a hasty and weak development. Aside from having the barest of narratives to string it together, and get the audience from one strip sequence to the next, the film’s underdeveloped nature is most telling in the presentation of its
characters. The film lacks any figure to latch onto as a figure of endearment. Each of the remaining members of the troupe are extraordinary caricatures, and hence are there for little more than cheap laughs; no fault of the actors, it must be said. Both Dallas and Adam are childish and self-involved in their own way, although McConaughey delivers a few chuckles, namely at the lack of dignity in his performance. This leaves Mike, and although Tatum executes his trademark swagger and gruffness, his character’s development does not seem genuine: it is more of an ‘on-off’ switch than a progression. It all begs the question, why do we care? I found myself struggling to answer it.
However, I was never to be the demographic for which this film was directed. The screening I attended was swamped with girls, whooping and cheering, so clearly the film strikes a chord with those it sets out to appeal to. Many have defended Magic Mike by claiming it is a film that needn’t be analysed too deeply; however, its misguided attempts to introduce something resembling a narrative tells a greater tale about a film that set out to tell a story, and failed. Greater care was needed to perfect a film such as this but clearly the marketing machine grew impatient before this could take place. Nathan is on Twitter: @NathanOlivieri
This scene never made it into the film because Channing Tatum was wearing too much clothing...
REVIEWS: THEATRE
SUDS Presents: The Glass Menagerie
Passionate performances and an honest script create a deeply affecting production, writes Jackson Busse 2012 certainly seems to be the year of ‘classics’ for SUDS. Caitlin West and Nick Rowbotham’s production of Tennessee William’s The Glass Menagerie directly follows the staging of Ibsen’s masterpiece The Dolls House, and joins a season program marked by Wilde, Shakespeare, and Byron. What made The Glass Menagerie one of the finer productions of the year, however, was the willingness of West and Rowbotham to let the glorious script by Williams do most of the work. The set design was much as one might expect: the Cellar was transformed into a cramped, claustrophobic 1930’s St. Louis apartment, which literally had audience members gasping for air (and consequently coughing… a lot). The simplicity, however, powerfully evoked the dreary and unremarkable atmosphere of the play, and so too the interiority of each character, wherein burn the “implacable fires of human desperation”. Caitlin West’s Amanda Wingfield was neurotic and anxiety-ridden. While overbearing at times, West eventually settled into her character, thanks largely to the placating effect of Nathaniel Pemberton as Tom, who brought to the
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right balance: she was utterly mesmerising, though denied the audience (until the appropriate moment) access into the world of her and her glass menagerie. The appearance of Ryan Knight as Jim O’Connor breathed new life into the play, and ensured that it was not divested of momentum. His comical eccentricity provided a level of light-heartedness, which served to render his own dissatisfaction all the more poignant. There was Zerrin Craig-Adams as Laura Wingfield. something very human about each of McKenzie was subtle, yet powerful in its these performances, which ability to convey the waning vitality of was what made the play so the family. Reuben Stone’s sound design very moving. Pemberton’s complimented the play wonderfully, and narratorial asides (perfectly helped to inject it with a real sense of staged) were impressive in pathos. their capacity to remove Rowbotham and West have made a the audience from the virtue of simplicity in their faithful, and claustrophobia of the deeply affecting production of The Glass apartment, and force them to look upon the desperate pleas Menagerie. and pursuits of the family as The Glass Menagerie helpless spectators. Wed 22nd - 25th Aug The lighting by Ethan Caitlin West as Amanda Wingfield and Nathaniel Pemberton as 7pm The Cellar Theatre, $2 - $5
stage a level of poise, command, and consistency. Pemberton’s performance ensured that the audience was given a solid access point into the play and the intriguing familial interactions which are at the heart of it. West dealt well with the character-arc of Amanda; ensuring that as she became all the more fragile, the audience was able to look upon her and her desperate (yet ultimately futile) attempts to find some sustenance for her family, with sympathy. Zerrin Craig-Adam’s portrayal of the introverted Laura Wingfield struck the
Tom Wingfield.
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Culture Vulture REVIEWS: TV
The Newsroom
Students’ Representative Council, The University of Sydney
Madeleine King reviews Aaron Sorkin’s new series As the genius behind The West Wing, Aaron Sorkin bears a heavy burden. For many, he represents (whimsically and mistakenly) the final bastion of American political sanity. At times it is painful to think that the rationally bipartisan and astute president he created for the series, Jed Bartlett, is barred by fiction from any say in contemporary presidential decision making. Six years after the final series of The West Wing, Sorkin’s latest crusade for good sense is his HBO series, The Newsroom. Some may say it is folly: the US broadcast media hardly holds the moral high ground for rational reportage. Enter Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels), the arrogantly cynical anchor at the fictional station ACN. Posed the question, ‘Why is America the greatest country?’ at a college debate, his 3.10 minute response in the pilot’s prologue is classic Sorkin: “It sure used to be. We stood up for what was right…we struck down laws for moral reasons, we waged war on poverty not on poor people. We sacrificed … we never beat our chests. We reached for the stars. Acted like men … First step in solving a problem is recognising there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.” The tirade loses McAvoy his production team, the replacement of which is to be headed by MacKenzie McHale (Emily Mortimer), a former flame jetted in from three years embedded in Afghanistan. Incidentally, far too many ‘mac’s. While her British accent is the token auditory tonic, she’s as vocal in her optimism for American media as McAvoy is in his scepticism for it: “There’s nothing more important in a democracy than a wellinformed electorate. When there’s wrong information or much worse no information, it can lead to calamitous decisions and stop any attempts at rigorous debate – that’s why I produce the news.”
Bloated with these idealistic speeches, The Newsroom appears to lack the finesse and subtlety of The West Wing’s characterisation. Each episode, orbiting around the individual temperaments of the presidential cabinet, seemed carefully choreographed to arrive at a considered end, worthy of a furrowed brow reflecting on its political nuances.
SRC Elections 2012 Postal Voting Application Form POSTAL VOTING If you wish to vote in the 2012 SRC elections but are unable to vote EITHER on polling days Wednesday 19th or Thursday 20th September at any of the advertised locations, OR on pre-polling day (on main campus) Tuesday 18th September, then you may apply for a postal vote.
Jeff Daniels was funnier in Dumb and Dumber...
Yet McAvoy’s and McHale’s rants claim explicitly: we are disillusioned with American hegemony and cultural arrogance, we will reclaim the democratic ethos of Fourth Estate journalism. It leaves little narrative flexibility, and little doubt as to how their characters will react to future broadcast and thematic dilemmas. Don’t take this review as a rally against democratic journalism: just the optimism for it is, well, a predictable tale. Take this show with a pinch of salt. I was in New York when the series first went to air, but the woman we rented our apartment from hadn’t subscribed to the HBO channel. It was an ironic reminder that The Newsroom’s call for “A nightly newscast that informs a debate worthy of a great nation”, will always lack the free-to-air accessibility of the stations it is most critical of. For most Americans a rational media comes at the premium price of $15.95 a month.
MUSIC
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The perks of being a Wallflower
Zanda Wilson chats with Berlin Wallflower’s Chris Lemon The sight of four-piece alternative set-up Berlin Wallflower, with members hailing from the University of Sydney, has become a familiar one for regulars of local inner west pubs and bars. While chatting to lead singer Chris Lemon I discovered that the making of this successful band is a journey which, for these up-and-comers, is only partly travelled. Lead singer and guitarist Chris Lemon, bass player Sarah Read and drummer Chris Martin started out as a threepiece band called The Aldrins, but when guitar and vocalist Tom Ellen came into the equation the band took a new name and a new direction. The new name was about re-defining the identity of the band. “The name change was practical, and the name of a band gains meaning from the songs that they play,” says Lemon. The unique alternative sound of Berlin Wallflower is a consequence of the range of backgrounds and musical preferences of the players, Lemon suggests. “Tom really likes indie music, Sarah really likes folk, Chris likes brit-pop, and I’m more into jazz and blues,” he says. The result
is a genre of music that Lemon struggles to pin down, “I don’t want to say anything lame, like electro-funk-dance-pop, but its pretty mainstream, indie-bluesy stuff.” With such a range of different musical backgrounds, it’s no surprise that the song-writing process for the band is anything but clear-cut. “A lot of the time, Chris writes most of the lyrics, but the lyrics will get chopped and changed,” says Lemon. “People will come in with some general idea, and that will be blended according to everyone’s influences.” The music that Berlin Wallflower produces can be put down to the combined contributions and ideas of all of the band members, an element that is lost when a band have a dedicated songwriter. Having performed at venues like the Annandale and the Sando, Berlin Wallflower are always hoping for even bigger and better gigs. The band currently have four of their most popular tracks available for free download on Facebook, and are also planning to release a professionally recorded EP at the end of 2012.
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Tech & Online
TECH OPINION
Chinese innovation should be welcomed with open arms
We should embrace the new age of innovative Chinese tech companies, instead of blocking them on unwarranted security concerns, writes James Alexander The world’s biggest maker of telecommunications equipment is now a privately-owned Chinese company, Huawei (pronounced hwah-way), which reportedly surpassed the earnings of Ericsson and Cisco in the first half of 2012. The innovation and tenacity of China’s first global tech giant has seen it become a market leader over the past decade and bring a communications revolution to Africa. However, over the past year Western countries such as Australia and the US have called into question the company’s true motives, citing security concerns. Huawei already serves several billion users the world over (including you) and sells its hardware and software to 45 of the world’s 50 largest telecom providers. Telstra uses its components in their products and Optus has just announced it will use Huawei to build parts of its $4.5 billion 4G network in Australia. Yet in March of this year, the Australian government banned Huawei from taking part in building the National Broadband Network, and similar actions have been taken in America and India. Politicians and critics believe that buying Chinese made telco equipment will enable our data to be spied upon or, in the worst case, be subjected to a “kill-switch” which would be activated at a time of war to cripple a nation’s communications infrastructure. Even the Prime Minister’s comments on banning Huawei from the NBN, “[to] make sure that [the] infrastructure project does
what we want it to do”, suggests that this particular point was on her mind. This fear, however, is unwarranted. Ignoring the fact that Western-designed telco equipment is already largely made and supplied by the Chinese, there is no proof to suggest this kill-switch scenario or any special snooping abilities exist (ignoring the very obvious technical complexities with both these scenarios).
Huawei’s 3 & 4G dongles are an example of their devices, sold by many Aussie Telcos
In the United Kingdom, the government has established an independent facility to test all telecommunications hardware and continues to buy and use Huawei’s products. In July of this year, hackers at the annual security conference, Defcon, showed vulnerabilities in two of Huawei’s network routers. But this hardly suggests a pre-conceived ‘kill-switch’ or sinister espionage scenario, rather just bad software engineering techniques. The truth is that vulnerabilities exist in the software of
every major telco provider. This is why you must update your software. Network equipment is complex, with a mish-mash of hardware and software components and protocols. Getting it all to ‘work’ in a reliable and harmonious manner is a serious challenge for any teclo provider, let alone worrying about building ‘secret back doors’ that, somehow, the world’s best hardware and software engineers will never detect. Also, in many situations you don’t need special hardware to snoop on data sent over the internet. Unencrypted data can always be relatively easily obtained (for example your mobile text messages), and sensitive documents sent with the highest encryption formats are impossible to crack, regardless of whatever network they are sent through. There are, as always, other motives at play. Wikileaks cables between US embassies released last year suggest that Telstra leaked the Huawei security story after its NBN bid was disqualified. In America, Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent, and Ericsson are neck to neck and the entry of Huawei is a very real threat to the market share of all these telco providers. What is the best scenario? Huawei, it seems, is an innovative market leader with around 44 per cent of its workforce based in R&D in an elaborate research complex in Shenzhen, a complex that aspires to that of Google HQ or Apple HQ. The money any government saves on buying cheaper and potentially superior hardware can be invested in
many other areas and the savings passed on to the consumer. Furthermore, the world’s embrace of a Chinese technology company will have massive ramifications for its relationship with the Chinese government and potentially inspire numerous others. All of sudden shady operations, any hint of ‘hardware backdoors’, or scandalous revelations about its network software will have dire impacts on the company’s revenue. In other words, if the policy and decision makers are smart about this, a Chinese telecommunications giant could do wonders in forcing pressure on a closed Chinese government as it is in their commercial interest to avoid being seen as ‘in bed’ with the government or military. In reality, the story of Huawei and its founder, Ren Zhengfei, who founded the company on less than 30K and originally had trouble supplying its equipment to major Chinese capitals, is one of Chinese entrepreneurship that should be held high. This is one way forward for a country that, although breeding some of the smartest minds in the world, fails to be a major technological innovator. We are in a communications age of flux and encouraging innovative companies, regardless of their country of origin, is the only way forward for a more connected, open, and stable world.
James Alexander is an editor of Honi Soit and on Twitter: @Shortino29
GAME PREVIEW
Counter-Strike’s sequel is a blast but there’s no avoiding online bigots
CS Source had its issues, but Valve have learnt their lesson to create an inexpensive and enjoyable sequel, writes Andrew Passarello ant online gamers. The game is somewhat cursed by its own popularity. Uncouth, potty-mouthed preteens seem to dominate. Arguably, this is the demographic that dominates every online game since the internet came into being, but between the integrated CS:GO’s demolition mode in action voice chat and the ability to ‘spray’ user generated images onto walls in the game, Valve has Counter-Strike is a video game series provided many opportunities for players that needs little introduction. The premise of the competitive first person shooter to be even more obnoxious and abusive than usually possible. game is simple: two teams are pitted Enter Counter-Strike: Global Ofagainst each other and battle over objecfensive. Developed with community tives like planting and defusing bombs or rescuing hostages - typical past-times for terrorists and counter-terrorists. Originally a community modification for Half-Life, a professionally developed sequel came in 2004 called Counter-Strike: Source. While popular, it was not well received in the more competitive gaming community. By attracting so many players, the A typical scene from the previous Counterseries has developed a reputation for Strike: Source harbouring many of the less than pleas-
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feedback through a large BETA testing program, the new game from Valve Software intends to update the game for 2012, and address a lot of the concerns players had with the previous title in the series. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive offers an opportunity for the game’s community to start anew. Dispense with the unfriendly attitude towards new players and the constant shrieking of racist or homophobic epithets over microphone. This reporter had the game ready to go at pre-release, and dived in to find out what had changed. “Nice block, f*g” Not 30 seconds into my first round of the game and I had seemingly upset someone on my own team by causing their death due to, I suppose, getting in their way. In the next round, unperturbed by my public excoriation, I followed the same player and hoped the unbreakable bond of both being brave counter-terrorists would make our initial disagreement just water under the bridge. Not so, as the same voice shrieked “stop F**KING BLOCKING, JESUS CHRIST, F**KING C**T” over microphone. The game itself is actually quite enjoyable. It definitely represents just a tweak
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to a formula that works exceedingly well, rather than a complete evolution. For only $15 USD though, I’m sure most players won’t mind. Fast paced, frenetic and exciting, there is much enjoyment here to be had for the price of entry.
Counter-terrorist “Harbringer” shares his delight at discovering the mute function
The player community isn’t so bad either, despite my initial experience. While I was referred to as “dirt”, had renal failure wished upon me, and accused of cheating on various occasions, people are largely pleasant and fun to play with. The best feature from the previous titles, the classic “mute” function, makes a return too. Short work is made of those who appear to have no purpose in life beyond playing dubstep through their microphone to everyone in a 32 player server. Ultimately, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is inexpensive, full of content and an absolute blast to play with a good group of friends. It will be available on PC, OS X, 360 and PS3 from August 22.
Action-Reaction SCIENCE NEWS
FREAKS OF NATURE
Cast away
Australian kelp forests are struggling to withstand the forces of nature, writes Richard Withers
Reaching to the stars, a shot from the seabed. Source: Brett Seymour Photography
The imposing swagger of lush, ferngreen underwater forests is a breathtaking site to behold; but these great wonders of the Australian seas are now endangered and at risk of literally being swept away. Australia is home to kelp forests across western Victoria, south-east Tasmania and south-east South Australia. Recent concern over the welfare of Australia’s remaining kelp forests, however, has led to Environment Minister Tony Burke’s listing of the regions as ‘endangered’. It’s the first time a marine ecological community has been given a
degree of protection that is governed by federal environmental law. “Giant kelp forests are being progressively lost due to a warming of the sea surface temperature caused by climate change, invasive species and changing land use and coastal activities that contribute to increased sedimentation and runoff and biodiversity loss,’’ Burke told The Saturday Age. Kelp is a type of brown algae that is rooted to rocky seabeds, from which long streamers of kelp grow, held upright by unique gas bladders contained in adjoining leaves. Kelp can grow up to a staggering 30 metres above the seabed, and within this mossy maze a community of dependant marine life flourishes. Yet marine species are being driven south in the search for colder water after scientists confirmed the effects of the strengthening East Australian Current on local marine ecology. Off the east coast of Tasmania, CSIRO experts have reported that kelp forests have shrunk by more than 95 per cent. It’s alarming figures like these that have brought
kelp forest preservation onto the federal government’s agenda. Overfishing in these near-shore ecosystems has released herbivores from their usual population regulation and the subsequent overgrazing has left the regions barren. The diverse ecosystems fostered by kelp forests have provided a habitat to important species, including black lip abalone and southern rock lobster as well as a range of species that are endemic to Australia. The severity of the decline in one of the world’s most fascinating ecosystems is sure to propel preservation efforts into effect.
SPORTS SCIENCE
Two strikes and you’re out
There’s a vast grey area surrounding bans on performance enhancing drugs. Arghya Gupta looks into the controversial policies our athletes must abide by unbanned cigarette. Against the ‘spirit WADA, the world body on of sport’? The Venn diagrams of sport cheats in sport, bans drugs if they and cannabis do not even cross. I can meet two of three criteria; if they enhance performance, if they harm understand it being banned in rifle shooting or auto racing (which it is, alongside the patient, or if they are against alcohol), but something that could have the ominously subjective ‘spirit been ingested 5 days prior to show up of sport’. Herein lies the problem positive should not result in a ban. of a ‘two strikes and you’re out’ Of course, performance enhancing policy, which drugs qualify for the drugs should be banned from sport, but third category and which do not? there are some which do little to harm or For those who like Vino’s tactic enhance that get banned for old, inof increasing red blood cells, there Belarus’s Nadzeya Ostapchuk was stripped of the grained reasons, while things such as cafis the option of injecting erythroshot put gold medal she won in London, after failing feine are not banned, yet have as much poietin (EPO), a hormone secreta doping test. Source: Getty Images stimulant effect as most of the banned ed by the kidney which helps the stimulants. The problem is that most of growth of blood cells. Good for anaeThe plethora of gold medallists in the the drugs people cheat with cannot be mics, cheating for sportspeople. DiuretOlympics were great to watch – both in proven to be performance ics and beta-blockers their performances and afterwards, but enhancing, because they are are also banned, drugs that did not seem to be the case when usually taken in a cocktail that I would swallow Kazakh cyclist Alexandr Vinokourov of four or five, meaning the a whole bottle of if won the men’s road race. The reason effects of multiple drugs anyone reading this critics came out when ‘Vino’ won was could be very different to can’t find a sample of simple: he was convicted for blood dopthat of any one on its own. them in their grandparing back in the 2007 Tour de France, Any randomised controlled ents’ medicine cabinets. and his comeback and reputation has trial of putting volunteers Diuretics don’t enhance been tarnished in the eyes of the media through a mix of testosperformance. They since. Back then, Vino had been caught terone, growth hormones, make you piss a lot. ‘blood doping’ – the act of storing your insulin, EPO, and diuretAnd sure, have enough own blood so you can use it at a future ics would most likely be of them and you will date. It is an act done by some cancer unethical and homicidal. harm your body. But so patients in the medical world when Until there is a way to make will any drug. So what they are about to start chemotherapy, a the system more specific, all makes them bad? They simple process; store your good blood in grandmothers, high-altitude are ‘masking agents’, the freezer, blast yourself with radiation Winner of the men’s road race trekkers, and prostate an iffy reason if any and damage the blood left over, then at the London Olympics, Kazakh cancer victims can wait a (a lot of drugs can be inject that stored blood so that you can cyclist Alexandr Vinokourov. few years before they give tested via blood or replenish your body with healthy cells Source: AP Photo/ Matt Rourke professional sport a clean tissue samples). once more. Un/fortunately for Vino, he attempt. But then at times did not have cancer, but he did have the it gets ridiculous; marijuana is banned. qualifying mark in the top most categoPerformance enhancing? No. Harm ries for doping, according to the World Arghya Gupta is on Twitter: to health? Only as half as much as an Anti-Doping Association (WADA). @argsyd
honisoit.com
Honey Badger
Their punishment must be more severe! Lane Sainty explores a frightfully fearless animal The honey badger was catapulted to unlikely Internet stardom in 2011 when a dubbed video titled ‘The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger’ was uploaded to YouTube. Originally National Geographic footage, the video (which is nearing 50 million views) raised awareness of the reckless lifestyle being carried out by honey badgers all over Africa, the Middle East and Southern Asia. It shows a honey badger destroying a beehive and killing several cobras while a flamboyant recorded voice proclaims that the honey badger ‘don’t care’, ‘don’t give a shit’ and ‘takes what it wants’. It may disturb you to realise that the claims made in the voice over are only slightly exaggerated, and that despite the deceptive name, the honey badger is anything but sweet. In fact, the ‘honey’ reference derives from a bloodthirsty tendency to destroy beehives in search of larvae to eat. However, larvae is not the only thing consumed by the fearsome honey badger. Practically an antonym for ‘fussy eater’, the honey badger has been known to chow down on venomous cobras, turtle shells and even human corpses. Not one to waste food, the honey badger eats every part of its prey, including bones, beaks, feathers, wings and skin.
Casually snacking on snake. The honey badger is conveniently immune to snake venom, but it’s unlikely to fear anything anyway.
The thick skin of the honey badger is impervious to bee stings, snake venom and, according to Wikipedia, ‘several machete blows’. It is also very loose, allowing the honey badger to move around easily if caught by a larger animal. While the appetite, skin and strong jaw of the honey badger already paint a formidable picture, the scariest thing about this animal is by far its attitude. As claimed in the YouTube video, ‘the honey badger just doesn’t give a shit’. The frequent attacks on animals far larger, stronger and more poisonous than the honey badger itself show that they are either plain dumb or literally fearless. And considering they are one of the only animals known to use tools in order to complete tasks, I’m guessing it’s not the former.
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Lecture Notes THE QUIZ
SUDOKU
What word connects the three words in each group?
1. Whose directorial debut features central characters dubbed Mr White, Mr Blonde, Mr Pink and Mr Orange?
1. sweat ~ tail ~ polo 2. house ~ fire ~ flash 3. bed ~ computer ~ bite
2. The famed ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ took place during which war? 3. Which country shares more borders than any other? 4. For which film did Martin Scorsese receive his first and only Oscar? 5. Bloc Party recently rocked Splendour for a third time. What is the title of their new album?
TEASER
6. Throughout its history, the Turkish city of Istanbul has been known by two other names. What were they?
TARGET
7. Which Latin American nation last week granted asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange? 8. Due for release later this year, Battle Born is the upcoming album from which band? 9. Excluding Vatican City, what is the only recognised country bordered on all sides by the same nation?
I
I
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O
V
B R T
10. Who was the first Roman Emperor? 11. ‘Nadsat’ is the name of a hybridised language – a blend of modified Slavic, derived Russian and rhyming slang – featured in which dystopian novella?
R
KENKEN
Make as many words out of the letters above, always including the letter in the centre. 2 = You can do it.
12. When did Australia last win rugby’s Bledisloe Cup against New Zealand?
5 = Oh yes you can. 9 = What did I tell you.
13. What was the name of the world’s first atomic bomb? 14. The Canary Islands are a part of which continent? 15. What is the name of the solar system closest to our own? 16. What is the title of Charles Bukowski’s loosely autobiographic account of his experience working for the US postal service? 17. Before fronting the Bad Seeds, Nick Cave was vocalist for which Melbourne-based band? 18. How many Gold medals did Australia clock up at this year’s London Olympics? 19. 34 miners on strike over wages were shot and killed in which country last week? 20. The whale shark is the largest fish in the seas. What is the second largest? Answers below
KenKen tips: 1. Numbers can not repeat in any row or column. 2. The puzzle is split into boxes called “cages”. 3. In the upper left-hand corner of each cage is a target number and a mathematical sign indicating how the numerals within a particular cage interact to produce the target number.
CROSSWORD
Paps
ACROSS 1. A suspension from readiness wantons maliciously about big cups! (5-4) 6. Allude to referee, back again (5) 9. Even groin oft is call for commotion (5) 10. The German mine after cab for stuffing skins (9) 11. Creatures in nature are slaughtered, if willed (8) 12. Browser of hunting expedition (6) 14. Bay up by the crayfish (5) 16. Leave mess in ring, leaves little to the imagination! (9) 17. Anti-folic acid is all made up (9) 19. Bed we burnt for geek (5) 21. Flaccid kind of disk (6) 22. Remove and undo accommodation! (8) 25. Dietitian poorly introduced… (9) 26. …half-glad, headless ditz to a superficial display (5) 27. Inks & omens (5) 28. E admitted corruption and deliberated (9)
DOWN 1. Scandium unrefined; New York gaunt (6) 2. An unfair play into conflict? (5) 3. Present presentation (7) 4. Put tin roof out as no longer available on paper (3,2,5) 5. Together, an extreme following (4) 6. Air data interpreted as a biological classification of symmetry (7) 7. Developing to create a shaken Viet (9) 8. Rhys’ endless Chinese dynasty all sounds the same (7) 13. Wicked middle vein (4-6) 15. Calling on in monarch after Rebecca (9) 17. L’s golden notes (7) 18. Tyrion Lannister deceives and suggests (7) 19. Happiness put in darkness, perhaps (7) 20. Spoiled Ed E. Zebra had no tail, yet sauntered… (7) 23. … if you catch my wood (5) 24. Moat breached by molecule (4)
Answers: The Quiz 1. Quentin Tarantino, Reservoir Dogs 2. The Crimean War 3. Brazil 4. The Departed 5. Four 6. Constantinople and Byzantium 7. Ecuador 8. The Killers 9. Lesotho, within South Africa 10. Augustus Caesar 11. A Clockwork Orange 12. 2002 13. Trinity, tested in New Mexico 1944 14. Africa 15. Alpha Centauri 16. Post Office 17. The Birthday Party 18. Seven 19. South Africa 20. Basking Shark Brain Teaser: 1. Shirt 2. Light 3. Bug
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SRC Help
Everybody Wants to Work... No, No, Not Me* There are many different types of work that students engage in while at University: paid work, compulsory course work experience, and voluntary work, whether or not for work experience. No matter what kind of work, you need to make sure that it does not interfere with your studies. If working means that you can’t attend the class or do assignments contact SRC Help to make appropriate arrangements. It may be preferable for you to go part time for a while or take a semester off. PAID WORK: the amount of money you are paid is usually determined by the industry you are in. Contact the Trade Union that looks after your industry and ask them what you should legally be paid. If you don’t know who that is, try Unions NSW. They have a generic type of union that you can join for the first 6 months of working, fand then they will transfer you to the most appropriate union for your job.
Some students choose to work illegally, or in industries that have some aspects that can be illegal, for example, sex work. The SRC recommends that you do not do illegal work, because you will not be insured if you have an accident and the penalty for getting caught for not paying tax or breaching a visa (international students) can be quite high. If you choose to do sex work, it is always a good idea to talk to those already in that job and check how safe you might be. There is also a union of sorts, the Scarlett Alliance. They lobby for better conditions and laws for sex workers and can be a great contact for resources. COMPULSORY COURSE WORK EXPERIENCE: the University will insure you for this. Make sure you plan for this time to be “income free” so you don’t blow your budget. VOLUNTARY WORK EXPERIENCE: you will usually have to organise your own insurance for this. Try to get some sort of certificate or reference for the work you do so you can use it when applying for future jobs. Remember that this is also a good opportunity for you to build a network.
BAD EMPLOYERS Unfortunately the nature of work is that the boss has the power and the workers do as they are told. However, if you feel you are being bullied or discriminated against or being sexually harassed you can get some help. Ideally you’ll belong to your trade union. As a casual they cost $5 – $10 per week and give you a great deal of protection at work. You will also be joining other workers like you in making your own work conditions better. If you’re not a member of your trade union you could talk to the SRC Solicitor. Bear in mind that she’s not an industrial relations law specialist, whereas trade union lawyers are. For more information on trade unions go to the Unions NSW website. *Most students will not be old enough to remember this song.
Ask Abe The Students’ Representative Council (SRC) Legal Service has a solicitor on Darlington campus to provide free legal advice, representation in court and a referral service to undergraduate students at Sydney University. Knowing the law can be tough without getting some help first. If you would like legal advice, representation in court or simply need to know who to talk to, the SRC Legal Service can provide help free of charge. The SRC Legal Service solicitor can assist you with a wide range of legal issues such as:
• Family law (advice only) • Criminal law • Traffic offences • Insurance law • Domestic violence • Employment law • Credit & debt • Consumer complaints • Victims compensation • Discrimination and harassment • Tenancy law • Administrative law (government etc) • Immigration advice (one session only) • University complaints • Other general complaints Note: The solicitor cannot advise on immigration law but can refer you to migration agents and community centres.
For Family Law and Property Relationships Act matters we can refer you to solicitors who charge at a fair rate.
Appointments Phone the SRC Office to make an appointment 9660 5222 Drop-in sessions Tuesdays & Thursdays 1pm-3pm (no need for an appointment) Location Level 1, Wentworth Building (under the footbridge on City Road) Darlington Campus NEED a Justice of the Peace? Here is a list of JP’s on campus: http://www.usyd.edu.au/staff/directories/jps.shtml If you are a postgraduate student
please contact SUPRA www.supra.usyd.edu.au or phone 02 9351 3715 Students’ Representative Council, University of Sydney Level 1 Wentworth Building, Uni of Sydney 02 9660 5222 | www.src.usyd.edu.au
Abe, I am very confused about what the census date is. This is my first semester. Do I need to do anything or is it all automatic. Censuss.
Dear Censuss, The census date is always the 30th March and 30th August (or the closest working day). It means that whatever you are officially enrolled in on that day, you will be billed for. This is for local students with HECs or for international students. It is approaching now, so look carefully at all of your subjects and make sure that you are happy to be doing the ones you are enrolled in. If you’re not sure what to do, talk to a faculty subject advisor. Also remember that if you are receiving Youth Allowance or Austudy you will need to maintain a full time load which is 18 credit points. Abe
ACN 146 653 143 The SRC’s operational costs, space and administrative support are financed by the University of Sydney.
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SRC Reports President’s Report: Youth Allowance
president@src.usyd.edu.au
Phoebe Drake is making sure you get more bang for your buck
in order to see an equitable system of income support. Considering that, at 25 November 2011, there were 287, 462 students getting Youth Allowance, 83, 394 on the ‘away from home’ rate, ensuring the system is equitable is hugely important. Just last week, the SRC made a submission to the Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committees on the adequacy of the allowance payment system, which included the following recommendations: •An increase to Youth Allowance payments of $50 per week •An increase to the Startup scholarship •An increase in Rent Assistance Difficult to obtain, insufficient •Expanding the eligibility criteria and confusing are three answers that for Youth Allowance for all students frequently spring to mind when I’m relocating for study asked about the accessibility of Youth •A reduction of the Allowance. And, whilst the intentions Age of Independence of the system are good, Youth to 21 in 2013 Allowance, within and of itself, is far This is because, from perfect. the system, as it As many of you know, the injustices currently stands, of the Youth Allowance system is one forces students to live of the reasons I first became involved below the Henderson in the SRC. After spending my life in poverty line. Student a small country town, I worked 40 poverty, as many of hours a week at the local McDonalds us know, is not all to qualify for Youth Allowance. A it’s cracked up to be. combination of my savings and my Whilst the vision of eligibility for Youth Allowance under students substituting the gap year criteria, meant that I could blankets for heaters, afford to move and study in Sydney. I candles for electricity did not understand then, as I do not Youth allowance is far from perfect but necessary for many students and Mi-goreng understand now, the reasons why Youth for basically every Allowance is not afforded to those who meal, is considered by many a rite I believe, however, this should be are forced to relocate for study. Surely of passage, the reality is that student lowered to 18, to give all students the this would be common sense? poverty is debilitating. Wondering how opportunity to live independently. Many students moving from another to pay things like phone bills, rent, and Other wins to the Youth Allowance location to study at a university are also electricity, whilst balancing work and legislation included the Relocation faced with similar decisions- to move study, means that students are placed Scholarship, the Startup Scholarship and straight away, or to work for a year? under a huge amount of pressure in an an increase in the amount students are And, to make things more difficult, environment trivialised by many. permitted to earn per fortnight. And, recent legislative changes saw the whilst these changes are invaluable, there As the legislation currently stands, removal of the gap year criteria for those is still much more that needs to be done the ‘away from home’ rate is $402 per whose parents earned more than $150,
Youth Allowance: how equitable is it?
000 to avoid students rorting the system. Whilst many may think this reasonable, the great injustice still comes for those students whose parents may earn $150 000, yet who either cannot afford, or will not pay for their child to attend university in another location. I personally believe all students should have the opportunity to support themselves independently of their parents. For this reason, access to Youth Allowance should be expanded. Recently, the National Union of Students, and campus organisations across the country, saw a huge win on Youth Allowance after years of campaigning. The Age of Independence, once 25, has now been lowered to 22, which has greatly expanded the number of students eligible for income support.
Vice-President’s Report: National Union of Students
fortnight. If we include $80 per fortnight in Rent Assistance, the maximum a student will receive is $482 per fortnight, or $241 per week. In comparison, the most recent poverty line figure for a single person is $470 per week.
Rent in Sydney has increased 46 per cent since 2000
It is a sad reflection on our government, and governments gone by, that we continue to let our students struggle through. One would think, as future leaders of the nation in areas such as science, the arts, architecture, engineering and many others, there would be some worthwhile investment. But this, it seems, is too much to ask. Rent in Sydney, too, has increased 46% from 2000-2011. Additionally, the cost of electricity has risen by 87%. Housing stress (where over 30% of income is spent on recurrent housing), affects more than 50% of those in the private rental market. As housing costs rise, so too should Rent Assistance. Ultimately, whilst Youth Allowance plays some role in helping students at university, there is still much more that needs to be done to fix the system. Expanding access by lowering the Age of Independence to 21 by 2013 is one step. Increasing the payment by $50 per week is another important part. This is because, in an ideal world, if a student should wish to pursue higher education, they should be provided with the means to do so.
vice.president@src.usyd.edu.au
Tom Raue thinks NUS is a useless and insignificant organisation
This week I’m writing about the National Union of Students. Never heard of it? That’s because it’s a useless and insignificant organisation. The USYD SRC is a paying member of NUS, costing us roughly $80,000 a year. I’m no accountant but I think that’s roughly
$80,000 too much. I’ll explain why. NUS spends more on its office bearer’s pay and travel allowances than it does on campaigns. Rather than spending money on things that are helpful to students, it pays for a small group of people to fly around the country to different campuses. The national office bearers (NOBs) double up as factional organisers for the two sides of Labor, National Labor Students (left), and Unity (right). The NOBs spend more of their time making connections, doing deals etc than they do on activism. When NUS does run campaigns, they are inevitably dull and ineffective. The most common campaigning technique is to take a series of photos of hacks holding up bits of cardboard. Compare this to activism done by the SRC itself, involving rallies of 1,500 people, occupations and clashes with the police.
The national conference of NUS is held in Victoria every year, and every member university sends delegates. The majority of delegates are from the Labor factions, and spend the entire conference making self congratulatory speeches, and debating policy which is then ignored by the NOBs who are elected at the end of conference. If you don’t come from the right faction, policy you submit probably won’t even be debated. Due to long standing deals, the NOBs almost invariably come from one of the Labor factions. Factions are an inevitable part of student politics, and on a campus level they aren’t a problem. It is a problem at NUS when the factions have such control over the institution that they freeze everyone else out and damage the organization. NUS exists purely as a career stepping stone for old Labor hacks. A peak body
for student representation could be an incredibly useful thing, that’s why we need to rid ourselves of the fetid, rotting corpse of NUS. The SRC should withdraw all funding and redirect it into a new body. In the meantime, at least this year the SRC will provide training to delegates and discuss policy so that NUS isn’t as opaque as it has been in previous years. This is nowhere near enough to fix the problem, but it’s nice, I guess. At the start of the year I said I’d talk about problems with the SRC and this is probably the biggest one – we throw $80,000 down the drain every year. Hopefully after the SRC elections we can see a change in direction and spend that money on an extra caseworker, a full time lobbyist, or a better national union.
For more information about the SRC, visit: www.src.usyd.edu.au
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SRC Reports Womens Officer’s Report: Reclaim the Night
womens.officers@src.usyd.edu.au
Kate O’Brien takes part in this year’s ‘Reclaim the Night’ event
Reclaim the Night, also known as Take Back the Night, is an annual, international event which actively campaigns against all forms of violence against women. Traditionally, Reclaim the Night takes the form of a rally/ march where the public hit the streets and join together to take a stand against violence towards women. In Sydney, Reclaim the Night usually takes place on the last Friday of October. NSW Rape Crisis Centre reports that one in five women in Australia will experience sexual assault in their lifetime. Many others will experience other forms of assault. Any woman can be the victim of assault – incidents of this gendered crime (over 90 per cent of perpetrators are male), show that violence cuts through class, religion, age, sexuality, sexual orientations, race/ ethnicity, culture, etc. There is no common thread between victims which means that, whilst not every man is a rapist, every woman is a potential victim. Moreover, the cat-calling and harassment experienced by women in public and private spheres (whether that be a car honking or people yelling out at you on the street, a rude comment in the pub, verbal abuse in your home, inappropriate physical contact in your
place of work or any myriad of other instances), reinforces a sense of unease and lacking safety among women. If instances of assault are so high but conviction rates for these crimes are so low, (suggesting that society is not responding well to this issue), then how are we responding to the more discreet forms of abuse also experienced daily by women? Women need to reclaim spaces – on the streets, in our homes, in workplaces; everywhere. Women have the right to live free of fear, free from the threats of physical, emotional and psychological abuse. The private sphere has always been deemed the traditional place for women and, paradoxically; it is still the place where most abuse occurs. Women need to reclaim both the public and the private. Reclaim the Night Sydney aims to combat all forms of violence and fear inflicted on women. We protest the fact that women are made to feel unsafe when undergoing normal, necessary tasks like walking home at night. Reclaim the Night Sydney will be meeting every Tuesday night at 6pm in Latin Room 1 S224, Quadrangle, The University of Sydney. This is an autonomous organising committee,
which means that only people who identify, or have lived experience, as a woman are welcome. Our first two organising collective meetings have been fantastic! Women from all walks of life (including various universities, organisations and members of the public) are banding together to decide the fate of Reclaim Sydney 2012.
Reclaim the Night is such an important event, please join us in our fight against violence towards women by keeping our voices strong, present and heard! If you are interested to find out more or to get involved, please don’t hesitate to email usydwomenscollective@gmail.com – we always encourage and welcome interest!
Reclaim the Night: Annual international campaign against all forms of violence against women
Education Officer’s Report: Plagiarism Detection
education.officers@src.usyd.edu.au
David Pink always writes his own reports
All faculties will be required to use a plagiarism detection service from 2013
Turnitin will be Compulsory from 2013: Why Plagiarism Detection Software will Hurt Your Education Ever thought about ‘borrowing’ a phrase or maybe a sentence or two from an article? Whatever your intention, from 2013 all faculties at the University of Sydney have decided to combat plagiarism with its new compulsory plagiarism detection weapon – Turnitin.com! The SRC President, Phoebe Drake, and I fiercely contested this decision on Academic Board, but we were sadly outnumbered by an almost unanimous vote by the other 100 (mainly staff)
members of the committee. In a last ditch effort we tried to ensure that students’ coursework be stored on a local database at Sydney University (with Australia’s superior privacy and intellectual property safeguards), but in a much closer vote Academic Board decided that students’ work be stored in the corporation’s ‘global’ database where it will be subject to Californian state law and the purview of the American Federal police. Previously, only a handful of faculties had required its students to submit their works to compulsory checking against Turnitin’s database of hundreds of thousands of papers completed by students, as well as content published in academic journals and other media. The general experience has been that students
are required to hand in their essays in both electronic format and hard copy, while also putting the work through Turnitin. Plagiarism detection software often screws up. It’s not uncommon for Turntin to report a paper as 60 per cent or even 70 per cent matching papers on the database only for the ‘plagiariser’ to be found completely innocent of misconduct. Especially for degrees like science and engineering, there isn’t much scope for creativity – if you use a formula or technical jargon, then it’s more than likely that it’s been used before. Academics often jump the gun and accuse a completely blameless student of plagiarism. The onus seems to be on students to prove they have not plagiarised, rather than on teachers to prove that students have. However, the major concern raised by students is that they are being forced to hand over their intellectual property rights to a multi-national corporation for profit – without any choice or
turnitin is the most popular online plagarism software service but stores all material in the US
compensation. John Barrie, founder of Turnitin boasted that the company intended to “have it all wrapped up. There will be no room for anyone else, not even Microsoft, to provide a similar type of service because we will have that database.” Quite apart from significant privacy concerns that stem from Turnitin retaining your essay in its entirety, its database, the company’s supposedly biggest asset, is built mainly on the work of students and means that Turnitin is able to attract more and more universities as clients. There are no royalties paid to students for helping grow an American corporation. We may have lost the vote in Academic Board, but we have not given up the fight. The SRC is going to fight tooth and nail to secure the privacy and property rights of its members, and ensure that any plagiarism detection system introduced be both ethical and effective. *A shiny dollar goes to whoever finds the plagiarised part of this report. Hint: it’s worth the effort of trying to find it, e-mail me at education.officers@ src.usyd.edu.au to collect your winnings.
The plagiarism detection service results can’t be fully relied upon
facebook.com/honisoitsydney
honi soit
21
The Sandstone Report Your Student Voice
It’s amazing how colour can define your identity. I woke up this morning and looked at a cupboard full of lovingly folded campaign shirts. Vibrant Red. Yellow, full of all the promises of tomorrow. Awkward Orange (I regret that one). Green from that semester I cared about the environment. Not putting one on will be the hardest thing I do today. It’s the hardest thing I do everyday, for eleven months of the year. Checking Twitter, I notice I have a new follower. Great! Twitter is the most powerful tool for a young up and comer like me. She’s a first year I met at a GM (I’m a member of so many clubs and societies I can’t remember which) a couple of days ago. Pretty cute as well. Maybe when I livetweet the SRC General Meeting tonight she’ll respond to one of my informative and evaluative posts (hard to do in 140 characters, I’m a bit of a legend) and I can segue from analysis of regulations to drinks at Manning.
I was pretty much in love with my last girlfriend. I met her at the Union’s O-Week Party. We were on the rise together, power seemed like it was waiting for us. Board Directorships, Honi Eds, Prez of the SRC, they were all just waiting for us to take them. I ran her Union Board campaign. I hardly slept for two weeks; there was so much to do.
Then the day after the election, she came to visit me in hospital (I had collapsed due to exhaustion), and told me that it
wasn’t working out. It was worse than having someone backstabbing me in a preference deal! Thoughts of combining physical intimacy and political machinations sidetrack me for too long and I realise that I am running late for an important lunch at Taste, with my ex. She is now “seeing” an (unofficial) candidate for President of the SRC. I think she is going to offer me the head of a ticket. Like, it sucks that I am still in love with her. And people will probably think I am weak for accepting, but they don’t get it. What’s really important is not that she broke my heart, but that student politics goes on. I have important things to fight for, and I’m only just getting started. Besides, I have some revolutionary suggestions about the colour of our campaign shirts for her.
How to spell castration with an indignant, privileged feminist
I can’t believe they moved the women’s room to Manning. It’s such a blatantly patriarchal building, with its different levels, and Manning Bar, the feature of the building, at the top. And of course, the women’s room is below it, tucked away into a corner of oppression and injustice.
And the toilets! They still haven’t fixed that one on the ground floor. It’s discrimination! I much preferred the women’s room in Holme. Although some may say it was even more of a corner of oppression and injustice than the room in Manning, I say it was a secluded piece of paradise. A place for women to escape from this patriarchal world and indulge in blissful ignorance. There was no reception down there; we were literally cut off from communications, unable to be disrupted by the man’s world above. But, we cannot always live in paradise. We are not safe from male domination, not even at our grand, sandstone place of learning. Yes, that’s right, I experienced sexism in my very classroom, the forefront of society and freedom. I had my hand up to answer a question, as did a male student in the
class, and my teacher chose to speak to him. And when I twinkled my hands downwards to show my disapproval, I was blatantly ignored. I like to think that university educators know better than to continue to humour these male traditions, but there it was. Before my very eyes. But, I mustn’t dwell on these somewhat trivial particulars when there are much bigger issues at hand. The other night I was telling Dad about the Queerspace and how its autonomy has come under threat. He couldn’t seem to understand why I’d fight so vehemently to not be allowed to go into a room I’ve never been in. I became quite upset with him so I went upstairs and read a bit of Jezebel on my iPad, listening to Pussy Riot. Those poor souls. Putin is a monster. I was telling Mum about Pussy Riot in
MAC Intersectionality
I skipped my class on Monday because I heard Target was having a massive M.A.C sale and I’ve been dying for some new bronzer. But it was the tutorial when our groups were formed and so now I’m stuck with the weirdo group. There’s this Christian chick who’s engaged and brings flowers randomly to class all the time, this guy that wears joggers with his jeans, and a girl with a Toshiba laptop.
I’m also into brown paper packages tied up with string.
22
honi soit
How am I supposed to work with these people? It’s for marketing, so I suggested we look at makeup trends – like why Target was stocking M.A.C and then why they decided to put it on sale and make it so much cheaper than it is at DJ’s. I suspect it was one of those moves by Target to become stylish once every few years, like the Stella McCartney line that time… but the guy in my group just said, “So Mac sells makeup? Huh?” I mean, seriously. But at least he’d heard of Apple, I guess, even if he was calling the brand by its principal product, and was lugging around some thousand-year-old Toshiba. Anyway, I’m so over it. It’s before census date, so whatever, I might just drop it. Better than trying to explain the nuances of Mac/M.A.C products to a total idiot. The class was on a Monday morning as well. Ew. Hasn’t USyd ever heard of Sunday Sessions at Hugo’s? Speaking of, I saw this girl there last Sunday wearing
Ew.
flats. Not flatforms, but just actual flats. I’m all for fashion forward, you know, taking risks with your wardrobe (I did just buy a sheer plaid shirt from American Apparel – so risqué), but honestly, it just didn’t work. Why wear flats with a high waisted skirt? It obviously makes you look so frumpy. I’m surprised they even let her in. I tried to Instagram her
@honi_soit
They say: a shameless cry for attention I say: everyone loves puppets
the car, but on Thursdays, she can only drop me to Redfern, so I have to walk to uni from there. By far the worst part of the journey is passing the sports centre. Just picturing those men in there, implementing their male gaze on the women who are only there to conform to society’s oppressive body image demands and standards. I might try and get the bus on Thursdays, to avoid walking past that awful patriarchal institution. But I’d have to get up so much earlier to get to uni on time. I suppose it’s worth it though. For feminism. For freedom.
but I couldn’t get close enough without it looking weird and my iPhone’s zoom is crap. Oh, the other thing that’s been shitting me at uni, right, revues. Oh my god. Why would anyone do it? What even are they? I’ve never been to one, the Seymour Centre is just such a crass venue, but anything that involves wearing the same hideous t-shirt with a terrible pun plastered on it to uni every single day… I honestly couldn’t think of anything worse…. Except for maybe missing out on that sale.
No matter how many colours of flats they stock, MAC is my only purchase at Target.
H
T o s “
SYDNEY UNI IN AN APP
Honi wasn’t impressed with the real Sydney Uni App so we came up with features we thought students might actually benefit from. We kept the ‘app guy’ though (left), he’s great!
THE UNIVERSITY OF
SYDNEY uniCal Automatically fill your calendar with important university dates including enrolment, O-Week, census day and not Snowball.
Instasand Ever get down about not having class in the quad? Rejoice! With this clever App you can take photos of your normal tute room and instantly render them in sandstone. Goodbye Carslaw, hello castle!
Ibis Translator Finally someone worth talking to on the law lawns.
Fishr uniCal
Instasand
Involvement! ™
Ibis Translator
Fishr
eBook
Find others looking to get lucky in the Fisher stacks. Finally!
HipstersMatter This handy app gives you an endearing list of reasons to live. Such as “you look fucking sick”, “your dress sense is off the charts” and “you’re vaguely creative”.
Involvement!™
HipstersMatter
WhereIs?
WWPF
Urbanspoon
Staff Ninja
Cliquetivism at its finest.Involvement! ™ lets you proclaim your support for the USU in a cutesy, vapid app.
Words With Pretentious Friends Now you can play everyone’s favourite word game but with bonus points for obscure words only people from Sydney Uni are pretentious enough to submit. Examples include: propitious, bucolic, inchoate.
Breathalyzer
THE UNIVESITY OF
eBook: ‘Guide to being a decent human being’
SYDNEY
Sydney Uni presents its first eBook! Compulsory reading for college students. Generally useful for others too.
Whereis? Bosch.
Staff Ninja
Urbanspoon A guide to good food on campus...well this is awkward.
Breathalyzer Every arts student knows that five beers before a tute is fine, but six is too many. With this app you’ll get instant feedback on whether you’re sober enough not to pick fights with your classmates on readings you haven’t read, and other tute faux-pas. A must for all college students.
Presented by: BD & PE
Live the life of a university administrator by blindly cutting staff as they appear in front of you, senslessly and for no good reason. Current Highscore: @MSpence
Honi Soit Opinion competition 2012
limbo
v
The Honi Soit Opinion Competition is back for the last time ever (using the Mayan calendar). It’s your chance to win $1500! The theme for the opinion competition this year is ‘LIMBO’. Judged by Joe Hildebrand, entries should be between 700-800 words, and the winners will get cash prizes and their works published in Honi Soit. Deadline: Midnight, Wednesday 26 September 2012, emailed to opinion@src.usyd.edu.au. Include: Full name, year, degree, faculty, student ID number, email address and phone number
The Opinion Competition is made possible by the generous donations of one of the University’s most supportive alumni.