In Unison, The MEDIA iSSUE by USU Students' Association at Unitec

The PARTY Issue Issue 12

FREE www.usu.co.nz/inunison

SEX, SLUMBER, COMPUTER AND COKE PARTIES GETTING HIGH LEGAL STYLE / FASHION WEEK In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 1

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8/10/2009 7:03:51 p.m.

USU Students’ Association Presents:

Family Fun Day

Free Entry! Saturday 24 October 11AM-3PM Henderson Primary School Fields Corner of Great North Road and Edsel St, Henderson Featuring:

The Funky Monkeys / Old Mac Donald’s Farm Bouncy Castles / Storytellers / Face Painters Clowns / Magicians / Games / Rides DE

’A SS

OCIATION

ITE

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STU N

For all the details visit: AT

www.usu.co.nz

In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 2

Proudly Supported By: Henderson Primary

School

8/10/2009 7:03:51 p.m.

The PARTY Issue, 12th October 2009

regulars

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’A SS

ITE

usu OCIATION

STU

Sex, Slumber, Computers and Coke, four ways to party

Fashion Week Wrap Up

Getting High, Legal Style

Editorial

Comics/Vox Pop

Tirade

News

Photos

Gig Guide

22 22

Whakarongo Mai

23 23

Dear Barbie

Student Design

Reviews

Recipes

Newsbot Sport Column

USU STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION AT UNITEC

EDITORIAL INQUIRIES: ph. (09) 815 4321 ext 7927 inunison@unitec.ac.nz PO Box 44016, Pt Chevalier CREDITS EDITOR: Stacey Knott DESIGNER: Erin Gaffney COVER: Kim Shen

In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 3

Contents

features

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: ph. (09) 815 4321 ext. 7384 usuadvertising@unitec.ac.nz

DISCLAIMER Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Submission and contributors are welcome, but the publisher reserves the right to select and edit the material submitted. Materials submitted will remain property of the publisher, unless alternative arrangements are made.

CONTRIBUTORS Joseph Harper / Stephanie McColl / Ravi Bhat / Kim Shen Greg Powell / NMA / Nicholas Mark / The Goose / Kirsty Lee Newsbot / Barbie / Veronica Svensson / Te Wai Brown

8/10/2009 7:04:47 p.m.

editorial

SEE YA... In the famous words of my fallen hero MJ, “This Is It” the last issue of In Unison for 2009, also the last issue under my editorship. Appropriately it is the Party Issue because summer is around the corner and exams will soon be over, but in the mean time this magazine will hopefully provide you with an entertaining distraction on those nights of last minute cramming (of course, the news is not meant to be entertaining, more educational, but read it how you will).

”

Dear...

We have covered some big news this year, some of it going national, and we have won awards due to our content.

”

So, time for the obligatory yearly round up. I demanded high levels of writing in this year’s In Unison and it paid off. We have covered some big news this year, some of it going national, and we have won awards due to our content. We have also had the best pick up rates of the magazine Unitec has ever seen. We have pissed off plenty of people, (well mainly Unitec) and in the journalism world that means we have been doing our job right. In our news this year, we have tracked the developments and opening of the Unitec marae, have covered the bad conditions students have had to study in at UATI and Unitec’s plans to rectify this. In Unison was first to report the road-rage incident on Carrington Road, where Bio O’Brien, who was a Unitec student at the time, attacked elderly man Jashmatbai Patel, causing him to die the next day. In Unison followed this story and went to all of O’Brien’s court appearances. The saga ended with O’Brien being jailed for three years, the full story is in this issue. We have covered Unitec sports games through the year, the changes to the Government’s funding of education, and the effects this is having on students, and have looked into Unitec’s failing in infrastructure and services. We have also reported at length the restructuring at Unitec and how this has and will affect students. We covered the Mount Albert by-election, and the events leading up to it, like the meeting about the Waterview motorway that will bowl over 360 houses in the area, where National MP Melissa Lee made her infamous “South Auckland criminals” comment. Later on we scrutinised Lee further when she told In Unison she wanted to take a gun to the media. We have also covered the union protests on campus; the first

BYE

was for non-teaching staff who wanted equality with non-union members and the second, which is still going at the time of print, was about lecturers who want better employment conditions. We have covered the hikoi for Maori seats in the super city and asked if the USU exec is doing their job properly.We have also painstakingly sat through the USU exec meetings to report on what they have been doing with your money. We reported on Unitec’s website being hacked and found the real story behind it, and wrote about the problems at the Village, including robberies and scabies.The changes to the campus we reported on were in many cases the first time both staff and students had heard about them. And after writing a feature on VSM being on the agenda, a bill wanting membership to student associations to be voluntary was pulled from the ballot box and it looks like times are a’ changing. Within the In Unison features we have talked to the obese, anorexic, alcoholic, as well as plastic surgery fans. We have gone ghost hunting, stayed on the campus overnight, spent a day in a wheelchair, tried to beef up, pimped ourselves online, attempted to get famous in New Zealand, made up a fake charity and walked around with a black eye to reflect family violence. We’ve looked at New Zealand music’s global reach, covered environmental issues and we’ve asked politicians inappropriate questions as well as hunted down Unitec’s biggest player, all for your reading pleasure. None of the above would have been done without the input of the following people, thanks firstly to Erin Gaffney for designing this fine rag and being a good friend throughout, to award-winning Joseph Harper for sticking it out through the year, his features and columns often made me LOL at my desk and get weird looks from my co-workers. To the columnists; Steph, Ravi, Susannah and Ian, for their consistently good-quality work, thanks also to Megha and Rhiannon for their work earlier in the year, and to Nick for his excellent work in the more recent magazines. Cheers to the extra helping hands with news, photography and reviews, and to Jodine, my manger for subbing, sorting, and helping me fight the good fight. Also, cheers to my co-workers at the USU, despite the harrowing times, you guys are swell. Thanks to all those people who were willing to share their stories with In Unison, without them we would be nowhere. Also I raise my glass to my friends and family for their input and support of the magazine, and also thanks to my boyfriend Tim for being an all round fabulous man and keeping me sane when times were tough. And lastly to you for reading it. I hope I have helped enrich your life in some way, whether it’s providing a distraction from a boring lecture, or informing you on something you need to know about. Best of luck with your studies/exams/life Party on! Stacey Knott In Unison Editor, 2009

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In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 4

8/10/2009 7:05:11 p.m.

etc. etc.

VOX POP

1.WHAT WOULD YOUR DREAM PARTY BE? 2.WHAT’S YOUR OPINION ON PARTY PILLS OR RECREATIONAL DRUGS? 3.WHAT DO YOU PLAN TO DO OVER SUMMER?

RUSHAY

Osteopathy student

Bachelor of Sport student

Fashion Week Wrap Up Party with Karen Walker, Coco Avant Chanel, Champagne, cocktails and Kate Major.

2 3

A yacht party off the coast of Ibiza or Bottomless party from Harold and Kumar Z.

Osteopathy = NO DRUGS!!

Party pills are alright. Hangovers are mega lame! Rec drugs are pretty fun. Why else would you study philosophy?

Beach, sunshine, shop, fly!

EMMA NEWTON

Get my tan on. Work’s overrated. Stare at my wall.

LEWIS GREY

Foundation Studies student

Communication student

A situation where I would pay for all my friends and family to have a bloody good time..

Everything in moderation, Including moderation

Etc Etc..

KAMALPREET SINGH

1 2 3

Drinks with the boys Legalise cannabis in the North Whatever happens, happens?

Work and enjoy the weather

HOT AND NOT WHAT’S HOT

1 Summer, it’s getting closer 2 That feeling of finishing your last exam 3 This Is It MJ doco coming out end of October 4 In Unison - so hot right now! 5 The upcoming student-run garage sale on

WANT TO WIN A DOMINO’S PARTY PACK?

Tell us what you think is hot and not for the summer and you could win a pack that includes their new pasta, pizza and desert.

Email your answers to inunison@unitec.ac.nz

Oct 28 in the Maia Maori Development Hub (Bld 182-1001)

Lindauer Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc, so good!

WHAT’S NOT

The vending machines in the Hub, they keep eating our money and not giving us candy in return

2 3 4

The BDO line-up The backward step the weather has taken

Regrowth making you look like you are balding

The price of plane tickets to go home for Xmas

Facebook chat, it never works properly 5

In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 5

8/10/2009 7:06:25 p.m.

usu president’s tirade

KA KITE ANO…

Tirade

Well it has been emotional. How do you put two years into four hundred words? I nominated myself for the position of President of the USU without really knowing what I was getting myself into. But I had a dream, a dream for recycling, of being real about the environment and assisting Unitec into being the “best practice” example in good green Aotearoa. And, well, like all the parties too. Ah but alas! The parties happened for sure, but the recycling not only did not get better, it completely disappeared all together. “Sigh!”

Though there has been much achieved. I never expected to ever in my life find myself presenting to a Select Committee of Government, nor signing off the restructure of New Zealand’s largest polytechnic making redundant 55 people. “Right before Christmas”! Nor did I think that I would get to introduce Kora to 8000 students, or chair a political forum that included John Boscawen from the Act party getting a lamington mushed into his head. But for me the moment that I have loved the most was giving the Valedictorian speech at this year’s spring graduation. But that’s the point, being the president is a position that requires you to juggle many skill sets dependent upon the situation at hand. The speaker, performer, advocate, counsellor, chairperson, representative, friend and all round honest good person. It is a position of privilege bestowed via a voting body. There have been many people that have helped and guided me along the way. The Student Executive board and operations team of the USU, especially the General Manager Richard Neal, the members of Unitec council and senior leadership team thank you for your time and assistance.

WELL...

But most of all… Thank you to you the member, the people that voted for me, and if you did not vote I hope that I did the job to your satisfaction. Last but far from the least, There is no wanker of the week for this Tirade but there is definitely a dude of the day. To all the USU Executive elect for 2010 congratulations, but most of all, to Pete Hodkinson. I am sure Pete that you will be as live and direct as I have been and just as colourful, you are the presidential dude for 2010. Greg Powell USU Student President 2009

ADAM

General Exec usu@unitec.ac.nz

TOGIA

General Exec usu@unitec.ac.nz

PETE

General Exec usu@unitec.ac.nz

Treasurer usu@unitec.ac.nz

THARINDU

MANUEL

Post-Graduate Rep usu@unitec.ac.nz

Maori Rep usu@unitec.ac.nz

HANELLE

NATASCHA

International Rep usu@unitec.ac.nz

DIANE

Waitakere Rep usu@unitec.ac.nz

AJAY

Vice President usuvp@unitec.ac.nz

THE USU EXEC

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In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 6

8/10/2009 7:07:09 p.m.

USU STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION AT UNITEC

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING VENUE: The Hub, Building 180, Unitec Mt Albert campus DATE: Wednesday, 28th October TIME: 12 Noon

1. Welcome Address by Greg Powell ( 2009 USU President)

6. Constitutional Change Amendments to Schedule A, s2 (1)\

2. President’s report for Academic Year 2008 (A.Y. 2008). Recommendation for Motion: “That the President’s Report for 2008 be accepted.”

a. The Vice President’s wages shall be a maximum of Five Thousand dollars (NZ$5,000.00) (Gross) at seven (7) hours per week in 2009 terms.The Wages may be adjusted upwards of NZ$5,000.00 by reference to Consumer Price Index. This is to be paid as a regular wage and the Vice-President must sign an employment agreement

3. Presentation of the Audited Accounts for A.Y. 2008. Recommendation for Motion: “That the Audited accounts for 2008 be accepted.”

b. The Finance Officer’s wages shall be a maximum of Four Thousand dollars (NZ$4,000.00) (Gross) at five (5) hours per week in 2009 terms. The Wages may be adjusted upwards of NZ$4,000.00 by reference to Consumer Price Index. This is to be paid as a regular wage and the Finance Officer must sign an employment agreement

4. Appointment of the 2010 Auditor. Recommendation for Motion: “That Carlton DFK is reappointed as Auditor for the USU, for A.Y. 2010.” 5. Appointment of the 2010 Solicitor. Recommendation for Motion: “That Jackson Russell is reappointed as Solicitor for the USU, for A.Y. 2010.”

In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 7

Recommendation for motion: “That the Constitution amendments be adopted.” 7. Members Services Levy 2010. “That USU, Students’ Association at Unitec Levy be set at 89 cents per point before GST and adjusted by the consumer price index from 2010.”

8/10/2009 7:07:34 p.m.

news

Read me...

THE STRIKE HAPPENED, BUT WILL IT AGAIN?

It is unknown if Unitec lecturers will be striking again following day long and lightening strikes before the semester break. Strike action at Unitec began on September 16 because negotiations over employment conditions failed. Lecturers have said they will keep taking action until they get what they want. Members of the Tertiary Education Union (TEU) in six of New Zealand’s polytechnics voted in favour of strike action after failed negotiations with their employers. This resulted in around 260 Unitec academic staff taking action. Unitec and the TEU members were looking at entering mediation at the time of print late last week, however, TEU communications officer Stephen Day says if nothing is resolved before the end of the study break industrial action is likely to continue. However, if the parties do enter mediation, he says the Unitec lecturers will not be taking industrial action this week. The lecturers were on strike all day on September 16 which resulted in cancelled classes for some students, and then for the week leading up to the break members did lightening strikes for an hour at a time on various days. About 60 Unitec members were picketing outside Unitec on Carrington Road on September 16. At the time of the strike, Unitec TEU branch chair Sarah Hardman said the union was planning on further action “until we win, which we will.” The TEU members at Unitec are part of a national collective that includes NorthTec, WinTec, Whitireia, WITT and Bay of Plenty Polytechnic. They are under a multi-employer collective agreement. The employers proposed an increase in teaching days by ten percent (from 185 per year to 204), as well as making all discretionary leave to be at the employers’ discretion rather than the employees’, as it is at present. The offer also included a

one percent salary increase with no backdating and a 24 month term from the date of signing (effectively 1 percent for two and half years). The employers were given until September 14 to meet the TEU’s demands, but TEU national industrial officer Irena Brorens says the employers’ response was simply to restate their existing position. “These workers are doing all they can for their polytechnics…Enrolments are up and these tutors and lecturers are crucial in the current economic environment, giving job skills to people who need them. Instead their employers are telling them that they are not working hard enough, and that they should be paid less. It’s simply not fair,” she says. Languages lecturer Pascal Brown was part of the picket line outside Unitec. He says he is striking because he feels the union staff are not being looked after by their employers. He says the action will have affects on students, but they can do something about it. “They should start complaining too, the students should support us and then we will solve the problem quicker.” Teaching support lecturer Margaret Wilson says the employer’s proposal was an insult. “I think we are working harder than ever and we are not being treated fairly and with dignity, we are good quality staff and they have to offer good remuneration and good conditions.” She says she is concerned about the effects the action is having on students. “It’s unnatural for teachers to be doing this to students. But in the end it’s going to impact on students if we can’t recruit teachers.” Some of theTEU members also picketed at the Unitec Spring graduation ceremony at the Civic Centre, this was met with criticism by USU student president Greg Powell, who says while the USU is remaining neutral over the issue, he was disappointed they chose to

By Stacey Knott

strike at graduation. He likened it to “standing up at your grandmother’s funeral with a picket sign to argue over the inheritance. There is a time and a place, it’s taking away the one day students get, and it’s lobbying students who have already left (Unitec).” English language student Paula Aenga says his classes were cancelled for the day of the full strike, so with other students from his class, he made a study group. He says he was surprised to learn of the action as he was not informed of the strike before it happened. He says whenever a student cannot make it to their class they have to inform the lecturer, but he felt it was unfair that the lecturers had not done the same for them. “If they are striking they should let us know last night or yesterday for us to make decision (to come in). It is a waste of petrol.” While business student Lisa Gray says she was well informed of the strike, she is concerned about the long term affects missing classes will have. Her classes were cancelled the week before the strike as well, due to illness. “That means now we have missed out on three lectures for that class, we are getting a bit behind we don’t know when our assignment is due. “We have missed out on information that could have been covered in three lectures potentially and also this one lecture we are missing out on.” Unitec chief executive Dr Rick Ede says the action is “unfortunate”. He says industrial action is not the answer to solving the issues and would like to see a resolution sooner rather than later to avoid disruptions. “We had hoped that this could be avoided,” he says. He says Unitec is trying to lessen the impact of the strike action on the students, and says it is difficult to tell the students in advance of the action.

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In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 8

8/10/2009 7:08:00 p.m.

news

By Stacey Knott Unitec’s plans to move courses around the campuses have been meet with anger by some students. One of these plans is to eventually move the four year osteopathy degree, currently based at the Mount Albert campus over to the Waitakere campus. This plan has been met with anger from a second year osteopathy student who says his whole course does not see the sense in it. From the first semester of next year, Unitec plans to send new first year students and those entering their second year of the degree to Waitakere, leaving the current third and fourth year students to see out their degrees at Mount Albert. After they have graduated the whole course will be based in Waitakere. The student, who asked not to be named, says moving the first and second year students will affect everyone involved because the third and fourth years practice with them and use them for research for their studies. He says this will “divide the course. There is good cohesion between the years and they (Unitec) want to change that.”

He says students have access to all the facilities they need at Mount Albert, including the gym, squash courts and the grounds. He does not believe the move is for the students’ benefit. The student believes Unitec does not listen to the students despite the fact they are the ones providing it with its finances. He says the move has been touted as improving resources for the students, but he believes it is actually based on a business deal between Unitec and the Waitakere City Council. In a memorandum of understanding between Unitec and the Waitakere City Council, signed by both parties in September last year, it states the two parties will work together to provide education in Waitakere and help stimulate its economy. “I don’t see how that’s going to help the national profile of our course and guarantee us all jobs when we graduate,” the student says. He believes the move will be “detrimental to the program and the morale of staff and students,” and does not believe it makes sense economically. He

Me too...

OSTEOPATHY MOVING ITS BACKBONE TO WAITAKERE, STUDENTS NOT IMPRESSED

calls it “impractical, wasteful, and costly. “It seems tragic that a cash-starved institution such as Unitec can disrupt the lives of so many people without consultation or concerns for the practicalities, quality of education, or logistics,” he says. Dean of social and health sciences Wendy Horne says one of the main reasons for the move is to collate all health sciences together as they are currently split between the Mount Albert and Waitkere campuses. She says the move will save “staff going up and down the North Western Motorway” and will also mean there will be better resources at Waitakere, and the students from different health sciences courses will be able to be in the same place. Ms Horne says Unitec is going to try and lessen the effects of the move on students as much as possible. She says the move will provide “enormous benefits to students from a learning, practice and research point of view.” While the Mount Albert osteopathy clinic will stay, another one will be built in Waitakere.

THE VOTES ARE IN! APATHY SOMEWHAT PREVAILS

By Joseph Harper

Pete Hodkinson

Lawrence Goudie

The results of the USU’s annual election to find next year’s USU executive have been counted and the winners have been revealed. Sole presidential candidate Pete Hodkinson defeated his only competition, no confidence, by over 450 votes to become the next USU president. Lawrence Goudie took out the vice president position, Hamish Walker won the race for treasurer, Melissa Webster took out Waitakere representative, and Togia Lanefale won Maori representative. The biggest winner of the elections however is Melanie Disse, who took out the international representative position as well as the postgraduate representative position. Ms Disse

Hamish Walker

Melissa Webster

will sit on the executive as international representative as that was the primary position she was gunning for, which leaves the USU in an interesting position, as Ms Disse was the only candidate running for the postgraduate position. The USU will have to hold a special general meeting (SGM) early next year to elect a person for the post-graduate position. The four general executive members who will make up the USU executive next year are as follows: Rosemary Damon, Xue (Haley) Yang, Jenine Kendale, and Elanor Ahchee. Other than showing the successful candidates, the election also showed how few USU members actually voted. Given

Togia Lanefale

Melanie Disse

the USU has around 16,000 members; the fact that in the presidential category, only 744 people voted (607 for Pete Hodkinson, 137 for no confidence) is telling of the state of voting right across the board. The low voter turnout was despite the opportunity the USU gave voters to win prizes like Flight Centre and phone credit vouchers and despite the heavy campaigning by voters and advertising of the election by the USU. In spite of the low numbers, the election results still reveal winners; and those who have now been elected by their peers will sit on the USU executive board starting next year and govern how USU conducts itself and your interests in it.

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In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 9

8/10/2009 7:08:34 p.m.

news

IN UNISON RULES AT ASPA AWARDS

Read me...

Top: The In Unison team. Bottom: Joseph Harper receives his award Recently, In Unison’s self-important assumptions came true. In early September contributor’s late nights and hard work for In Unison were recognised at the Aotearoa Student Press Association (ASPA) awards ceremony in Wellington.The ceremony is an annual event, and traditionally In Unison, one of the smaller publications that compete, gets a handful of placings. This time it broke tradition and picked up two handfuls of placings, and a few first placings. In Unison was competing against major student publications like Salient, which won best publication overall (Victoria University), Craccum (Auckland University) and Critic (Otago University). Writer Joseph Harper got his “funny guy” confirmation when he won best humour writer. In his acceptance speech he recalled winning an award at age ten for playing wing defence in netball. “That was the most exciting point in my life, this is a close second,” he told the crowd. Jeremy “Newsboy” Wells was one of the judges for this category and said Mr Harper’s feature on making up a charity was an “original idea, well constructed linguistically and graphically.” Mr Harper was back up at the podium as soon as he reached his seat, for beating out all the other young journalists in the best reviewer category. “This is a pretty good awards ceremony,” he noted in his second speech. Editor Stacey Knott won best news writer at the awards, where the judges said “Stacey was the clear-cut winner, and her ability to engage with her subjects made her stories outstanding.” In her acceptance speech Miss Knott thanked Unitec, with tongue-in-cheek, “for being a treasure trove of bad news.” Other than best news writer she was voted best dressed female editor (equal with Satellite’s editor) that night by fellow journalists.

EXECUTION, 01 OCTOBER: By Te Wai Brown Most members of the USU exec were present for their meeting on October 1 where they discussed the marae and their replacements amongst other things. Powell had not received the official results of the elections for the 2010 USU executive but was able to confirm and congratulate the new president, Pete Hodkinson and Maori representative Togia Lanefale. Voluntary student membership (VSM) was an issue high on the agenda and Powell said Unitec chief executive Rick Ede supports the USU as a valued body to Unitec. If the bill is passed it would compromise the USU’s ability to represent student concerns, Powell says. They also discussed the Tertiary Education Governance Bill currently going through Parliament which will limit membership of the Unitec council to eight. There are members of the USU exec who will be going to Wellington to see a select committee to present their concerns regarding the proposed changes. Hanelle Harris and Pete Hodkinson presented a report on the Marae at Unitec as it still needs to be completed, but is being delayed because of funding, Hodkinson mentioned there were opportunities to merge Unitec student orientations so that students could be welcomed officially to Unitec at Nohotahitanga, however the lack of facilities would make this hard. Fundraising options were presented to create the facilities like using the ‘Sounds in the Sun’ event to promote the marae. Powell said this event has been free in the past, and wants to keep it that way. He suggested that the bands that perform could be contacted to promote the cause. Powell requested that a budget, actual space requirements and more details be brought forward, but went with the recommendation to see the operations committee of ‘Sounds in the Sun’ to assist with the plan as a possible fundraiser without compromising the essence of the event. Powell wanted an audit of the exec’s accounts done as soon as possible and proposed that the honoraria payments to the vice president and the treasurer become wages with a timesheet; to make it easier to table actual work done and that accountability was essential. This was approved. The board also approved a new rule that if a member was absent from three meetings during the year with or without an apology it meant an automatic vote of non confidence. While there was debate about this issue there was general agreement.

In Unison’s dominance also includes: Second Placings Best Feature Writer - Stacey Knott Best Sports Writer- Ian McDonald (the Goose) Best Unpaid News writer - Nicholas Mark Best Headline with “Exploiting Excessive Empathy as a Form of Recession Relief in Three Easy Steps (Or: How I made a fake charity, and used it to buy myself some Chicken McNuggets) Best Original photography – Erin Gaffney Third Placings Best Website Best Small Publication

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In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 10

8/10/2009 7:08:59 p.m.

The ex-Unitec student convicted of killing an elderly man outside the grounds of Unitec has been sentenced to three years in jail. At the Auckland High Court on September 29 Bio O’Brien, who was studying civil engineering at Unitec at the time of the attack, appeared before Justice Judith Potter for the manslaughter of 78year-old Jashmatbai Patel of Te Atatu. The crown prosecutor read out the summary of facts, which stated Mr Patel and O’Brien were both heading in a southern direction along Carrington Road on April 8 this year. O’Brien was driving a BMW and Mr Patel a van.The two collided as O’Brien was entering Unitec, causing a dent in O’Brien’s BMW. O’Brien then stopped, got out of his car and went over to Mr Patel’s, where he then pulled the elderly man out of his van to show him the dent, and proceeded to push and pull him, and strike him around the face and chest. He pulled and pushed him with such force that buttons were ripped from Mr Patel’s shirt. O’Brien then pushed Mr Patel over, which caused him to hit his head on the kerb, which was the fatal blow. It opened a wound in the back of his head, and caused profuse bleeding from his ear. The court heard that O’Brien then

moved his victim to a grass area and paced around, not knowing what to do. He waited outside Gate Four for police to arrive, while Mr Patel was taken to intensive care where he died the following day. The incident happened in front of school children from Gladestone Primary, and was in heavy traffic. The crown and defence asked Justice Potter what they believed were appropriate sentences for the crime – the crown wanted the sentence to act as a deferent so others would not act the way O’Brien did, while his lawyer David Niven said the sentence should reflect O’Brien’s remorse. Mr Niven told the court O’Brien felt remorse as soon as he realised what he had done, reflected in his statement to police where O’Brien said as soon as Mr Patel hit the ground, ”I realised what I had done and tried to assist”. Justice Potter decided on the three year sentence as it took into account O’Brien’s guilty plea and the remorse he had shown by trying to meet with the family and writing them a letter. Mr Patel’s son George Patel read out his victim impact statement to the court, which was emotional and the man was viably upset, he says his dad was the “most loving and caring dad.”

UNITEC STANDING BEHIND THOSE AFFECTED BY TSUNAMI

By Joseph Harper

Unitec is lending a helping hand to those affected by the recent Pacific tsunami. The tsunami hit Samoa and Tonga after an earthquake on September 29, killing over 100 people. Chief executive Rick Ede says Unitec will endeavour to be supportive of any leave or special circumstance applications received from Pacific staff or students who are affected by the disaster. He also says Unitec will apply special assessment circumstances to all students who miss assessment deadlines/exams or whose performance in a summative assessment is affected as a result of the tsunami. Unitec is also encouraging building trades’ staff and students to take special leave to Samoa to volunteer in rebuilding

houses with Habitat for Humanity; Dr Ede says Unitec will also reimburse travel expenses to students and staff for this. Dr Ede says “as a mark of respect and a sign of our collective mourning,” the Samoan, Tongan and New Zealand flags in front of Building 112 at Mt Albert are currently flying at half mast. The institution immediately donated $5,000 to the New Zealand Red Cross’ Samoa Earthquake and Tsunami Appeal, and has also set up a bank account into which staff and students can donate to those in Pacific. Unitec has promised to match donations “dollar for dollar” (up to $20,000) If you want to donate to this fund the bank details are as follows: ANZ 060287-0317573-01.

news

By Stacey Knott

UNITE WORKS TO RAISE STUDENT’S WAGES BY PLUGGING CAUSE ON CAMPUS By Joseph Harper

Me too...

UNITEC ROAD RAGE ATTACKER LOCKED UP FOR THREE YEARS

Campaigners wanting to raise the minimum wage have recently set up shop at Unitec. Mike Treen, the national director of the Unite union which for the last five years has worked to ensure workers on the minimum wage are treated fairly, says the campaign is all about equality. Campaigners for the organisation say they need the support of Unitec students to lobby the government for a rise in the minimum wage. The campaign, called Living Wage, is an effort to have the minimum wage in New Zealand raised from $12.50 an hour, to $15.00 an hour. Mr Treen says the move is about, “making New Zealand a more equal society.” Unite is compiling a petition to put forward to the government, in the hopes of prompting a referendum, they want to get 350,000 signatures by May 2010. Mr Treen says the campaign is really starting to gain momentum and that the current figure is in the tens of thousands. Unite is campaigning on tertiary campuses all over the country; mainly because students are often those who are the hardest hit by what Unite sees as an unreasonable standard of living, partially caused by low wages. “Students are often victims of the minimum wage culture in this country.” Mr Treen also notes that students in particular are hugely supportive of the work Unite are doing: “There’s very little opposition...Probably ninety percent of the people we stop are happy to sign...Really, the only people who disagree with what we are doing are ACT party types who think there shouldn’t be a minimum wage.” Mr Treen says Unite will continue to campaign hard throughout the country, and on campuses such as Unitec.

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In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 11

8/10/2009 7:09:28 p.m.

feature PARTIES. WE ALL HEAR ABOUT THEM. WE HEAR ABOUT THE PUNCH, THE WINE, THE GOONS OF KRISTOFF AND ORANGE, THE GOONS OF MERLOT, THE FLAGONS OF TUI/SPEIGHTS/DB. THE FLATS ON ST LUKES ROAD WHICH YOU VISIT AFTER DRESSING UP LIKE A PIRATE. THE PISS-UPS AND OPPORTUNITIES TO COP A QUICK FEEL IN YOUR BEST MATE’S BEDROOM FROM SOME GUY NAMED STEVE. THESE ARE THE PARTIES STUDENTS KNOW ABOUT. THESE ARE THE PARTIES STUDENTS THROW AND ATTEND EVERY WEEKEND. WHY THOUGH? THERE IS A PLENITUDE OF FAR MORE INTERESTINGh AND ENJOYABLE PARTY-TYPES WHICH REALLY FLY UNDER THE RADAR AND GO UN-ROCKED BY THE STUDENT COMMUNITY. JOSEPH HARPER SET OUT TO SHED SOME LIGHT ON A NEW SET OF PARTIES WHICH THE STUDENTS OF UNITEC CAN RE-APPROPRIATE AND CLAIM AS HIP STUDENT SHIN-DIGS. 12

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In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 12

8/10/2009 7:09:53 p.m.

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I don’t really like beer. Sure, a drunken state can be a fun state to be in. But the bloat! I can’t take that feeling that comes with drinking. It’s horrid, it’s wretched, and I’m sick of it. Why are the only parties I ever attend beer fuelled ragers? Is that all we students are capable of? Must we crank T-Pain on moderately sized stereos, knock back Double Browns or casks, and trash a flat every weekend? Why are parties all the same for us? Sure maybe it’s occasionally a theme, but whether you’re dressed as Pocahontas or in your sparkly wings or flannel, a party at a flat is always just a stupid party at a flat. What I’m saying is that we can achieve more! We can have more fun and variety. We can shake it up. I’ve done the research, so you don’t have to. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been attending a few different sorts of parties. And I tell you what; I’ve had a good time. I’ve taken detailed notes, and now I’m reporting back. Try some of these on for size. Please.

that was to be our freaky little love nest. I felt like one of the kids in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory being led about by an Oompa Loompa.The next thing I knew, she’s down to a frumpy little negligee and I’m biting my nails and praying for escape. We were supposed to “bareback” (look it up if you must). She was doing her best to get me aroused, doing a little dance which was supposed to be sexy, I think. It wasn’t. Way too Twin Peaks for my liking. I freaked out and split in a haste, leaving my girlfriend to do whatever she was doing. I went home and cried. Perhaps you readers would find this type of party more enjoyable though, if you’re into sex with strangers. Why not give it a whirl? Probably the Residential Village would be an ideal spot actually. Plenty of rooms, plenty of horniness. Most people already have scabies so fear of STIs won’t be a problem. Why not?

PARTY TYPE THREE: LAN PARTY

I quite like spending nights with girls, and I love Zak Efron. So obviously my slumber party experience was O.T.C (off the chain). I turned up at my friend Michelle’s house at 5pm. She lives on the North Shore, so obviously she had a really nice TV and could afford good snacks such as Pringles (none of that Ripples shit). And I tell you what, the party was kickin’ almost immediately. I had come prepared by bringing my most adorable pair of pjs Snoopy print, and luckily my hair is long enough to whip up some killer pig tails. This party was a riot. In spite of the title, I was surprised to find there was actually very little “slumber” involved. We played Cluedo, watched Gossip Girl, ate pizza, talked about all the young Hollywood hotties of the moment, and we even knocked out a round or two of truth or dare. The best part about this party however, was easily the cosmetic benefits. Who knew feeling good about yourself could be so easy. The girls did wonders on my nails (be gone unsightly cuticles) and I genuinely felt a million bucks after an amazing face mask. The only downside was that my new investment in the world of self-presentation coupled with a night of pizza and chips (aka pigging out) left me feeling more than a little self-conscious. I just hate my fat ass.

I like video games way, way more than sexual intercourse. So obviously this next party was a massive improvement on the last one. I felt so at ease, so at home. I was in a place where everyone loved Pepsi more than beer, a place where acne was welcome. A place where I could wear my corduroy and allow the pubes on my chin to spring forth, LAN parties rule. For those who are uninitiated, a LAN party involves a group of sweet bros getting together in a room with their computers, networking them together, drinking heaps of caffeine, and playing sweet games all night long. Ten guys turned up to this one. It was a BYOC (bring your own computer) event, so I trundled along my HP(difficult on a push bike). World of Warcraft was on the cards, as were Call of Duty and Counterstrike. I won’t lie; although I love video games, I’m not hugely adept to PC gaming. I personally prefer the cool touch of a Playstation controller. As such, my skills showed this fact and I was something of a knob. In spite of this I persevered and by the end of the party I had scored some genuine (boom) head shots. My mother would be proud. You can’t beat LAN parties for sheer escapism power. Something I think is pretty valuable given the shitty state of life at the moment. The only real downside is that maintaining a sick computer is really expensive. Waterview could do with more of these though. LAN it up with me.

PARTY TYPE TWO: SWINGERS’ PARTY

PARTY TYPE FOUR: KID’S PARTY

PARTY TYPE ONE: SLUMBER PARTY

My second party type was far removed from the girly frivolities of the slumber party. No pyjamas required for this party. Somehow I convinced my girlfriend to attend this event with me. Call me a prude, but I wasn’t really much of a fan of this one. Maybe it was my sexual performance anxiety. Maybe it was the woman I was saddled with. Maybe it was the constant threat of herpes. Maybe a combination of all of these things. But whatever it was, it led to an unenjoyable evening. Yet, I know how much most students love to bone. So I decided to write it up anyway. The evening began when my girlfriend and I pulled up to a somewhat opulent looking villa in Herne Bay. We entered the house and found ourselves mingling with a gaggle of well-dressed, self-confident couples. We were then instructed to put our keys in a bowl. That’s where the good times ended for me. The bowl of keys was used to decide who would be partnered with who. I got the short straw. Literally. I ended up partnered with a genuine midget. Awkward as. Her name was Patricia and she had extraordinarily hungry eyes. She led me up to the bedroom

I’m no paedophile. But I had more fun surrounded by a bunch of pumped as 7-year-olds than I can ever remember having. I don’t want to go on about it too much, because it’s better to just experience it, but the only parties I ever want to attend from now on are kid’s birthday parties. Mainly because they manage to incorporate the four Ps that make up a guaranteed party success: Party mixes (Eskimos), Pixar (Up), Pizza Hutt (all you can eat), and passing parcels/pinning tails (plus the occasional Piñata). I can’t imagine a more concentrated amount of joy. Why can’t everyday be my little cousins’ birthday? Straight up, I have nothing negative to say about this kind of party. It’s perfect. I don’t understand why parties changed when we became teenagers. As far as I’m concerned, they became sordid, tarnished, and way less fun. Let’s get back to the way it was when we were ten. Please? Devolve a bit with me. There you have it. A party run down. Now how about putting some of these bad boys into action? Liven up everyone’s weekend with a little variety. Do it. Let me know the details and I’ll be there.

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In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 13

8/10/2009 7:10:18 p.m.

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FASHION WEEK WRAP UP BY STACEY KNOTT, PHOTOS ERIN GAFFNEY

In Unison editor Stacey Knott and designer Erin Gaffney forged early nights with cups of tea and slippers to get amongst the glitz and glamour of Air New Zealand Fashion Week. Here is the evidence of their sacrifices for you. Monday was the registration day, we both forgot about this, so were nervous about our shabby attire, imagining people would already be dressed in their most impressive outfits to pick up their packs and judge us behind their Dior sunglasses. Despite our fears we went down to the Viaduct, home of Fashion Week where we got our passes and delegates bag which included plenty of magazines, a can of beer, coffee, tea bags, Nivea samples, Karen Walker nail polish, a sample CD, bagel crisps and plenty of flyers and information on Auckland. On Tuesday we went to Annah Stretton’s show. I loved this collection; it was very lady-like and inspired by exotic dancer Freda Stark from the mid-20th century. The colour palette included dark purples, beige and nudes, blacks and dusty pink. There were plenty of 1920s styled underwear garments, including body suits, as well as lace, ruche silks, frills and ruffles, high-waisted skirts, corsets, some on the outside, animal skins, leopard print, and my absolute favourite was a fabulous tulip styled tutu, in both pink and black. We spent a bit of time during the week people-watching at the ANZFW bar, the Moet and Chandon Lounge, where we took in all the amazing outfits, big statement shoes, sequins, bow details, high-waisted tulip skirts and harem pants worn with heels, all dominant trends for the Fashion Week goers. The Diet Coke Little Black Dress show was another good one, - six designers from NZ and Australia made LBD interpretations of the coke bottle. Juliette Hogan was one of my favourites here, with her classically beautiful floaty number with a bow. Hailwood went for clinched waist dresses, while Romance Was Born was a little too wacky for my taste, using velvet and glitter. On Tuesday night I checked out Zambesi’s latest collection, held offsite at the Sky City Theatre. The collection was typical for Zambesi, androgenous looks, dark and moody, with plenty of greys, chocolate and black, oversized cardigans, pleats, and army style jackets. The suits were slimly cut, with pants cropped above the ankle, waistcoats and chunky knits throughout. On Saturday I also went to their Retrospective show which was amazing, it was their designs over the last 30 years to an amazing soundtrack and with Black Grace dancers performing. Erin checked out the Kate Sylvester show, held in a huge industrial warehouse with plenty of fashionistas in attendance, with free drinks flowing and the society page photographers snapping away. It was a contrast between industrial grit and glamour with the big chandeliers down the catwalk, and the tattooed models with black lips. The clothes were well tailored, muted colours, with gold detailing and military jackets for the men. On Thursday we checked out the up-and-coming designers at the GHD show, which included Michael Pattison’s Trix and Dandy collection, made for a younger crowd with its printed pants and Marilyn Munroe printed tee-dress. I was also a fan of Chapel, I loved the two-tone dress and their use of flowing fabrics and merino wools, Bionic Pixie performed for Serena Fagence which was edgy and extreme, with metallic body suits and dinosaur spikes. Later we were hustled and crammed into corners and bench seats for Stolen Girlfriend Club’s show in an old building in Newton. The collection was country bumpkin meets cowboy, meets bad-ass desert wanderer. Chunky knits, long johns (really), leathers and denims jackets, and knitted short shorts (or perhaps they were knickers?) and other such delights held up with string as suspenders. The after party was a good reason to stay out too late, especially with all the free drinks and bands playing. All in all a very tiring but exciting event, seeing it all with your own eyes and getting a pass in the first place made us feel fabulously important.

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In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 14

8/10/2009 7:11:15 p.m.

MF=N=FLK)/1

Don't miss out on the BIG Autumn Graduation Qgm [gmd\ Z] gf] g^ ).(( []d]ZjYlaf_ gmj Za__]kl _jY\mYlagf q]l& A^ qgm¿j] YZgml lg [gehd]l] qgmj imYdaÇ[Ylagf$ [`][c ooo&_jY\mYlagf&mfal][&Y[&fr lg Çf\ gml o`]l`]j qgm¿j] ]da_aZd] ^gj gmj 9mlmef ?jY\mYlagf$ )* Yf\ )+ 9hjad *()( Yl l`] 9m[cdYf\ Lgof @Ydd& 9hhda[Ylagf ^gjek Yj] YnYadYZd] gfdaf]$ ^jge qgmj <]hYjle]fl 9\eafakljYlagf G^Ç[] gj ^jge Klm\]fl J]_akljq$ :mad\af_ ,0& J]e]eZ]j$ o`]l`]j gj fgl qgm¿j] Yll]f\af_ Y []j]egfq$ qgm¿dd f]]\ lg Yhhdq lg j][]an] qgmj _jY\mYlagf []jlaÇ[Yl]& Applications close 29 January 2010.

0800 10 95 10 | www.graduation.unitec.ac.nz

P_5329_April 2010 Graduation Ad.indd 1 In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 15

25/09/09 11:59 AM 8/10/2009 7:28:58 p.m.

photos PHOTOS BY: Raymie

MORE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS OF THESE EVENTS AT WWW.USU.CO.NZ

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In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 16

8/10/2009 7:30:15 p.m.

Night of gig guide

GIG GUIDE FEATURED EVENT / 30TH OCT

Mayhem

USU PRESENTS

N I G H T O F M AY H E M

E N D O F Y E A R PA RT Y 8 P M , B U I L D I N G 2 0 2 , U N I T E C M T A L B E RT C A M P U S

End of Year Party

VISIT WWW.USU.CO.NZ FOR MORE DETAILS

FEATURING:

1WED4

O C TO B E R / N OV E N M B E R 2 0 0N 9

Bulletproof Cern16 Agent Alvin 15 17 Nick D (George FM Breakfast Host) Friday 30 October 8PM

THUR

Waitakere Gaming Day 12-2pm - Student Services Waitakere Don’t miss out on the Xbox360 with Street Fighter Competition! There are prizes to be won!

FRI

USU Free Film Night: Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist 6pm - Gold Lecture Theatre Come and see it for free! Everyone Welcome!

Bldg 202

Gate 1

SAT

USU and Unitec Sporting Blue Awards Dinner 7pm - Carrington’s N USU and Unitec Sporting Blue Awards recognise outstanding sporting achievements at a national N and international level of competition. Tickets $35 from USU Reception, include buffet dinner.

Unitec

Mt Albert

Outdoors Club: Waiwera Trip 2pm - 9pm Hot pools and waterslides are just a 35 minute drive away. Everyone is welcome to come along! $30 at USU Reception.

Free drink with every ticket purchased from USU Reception 20

TUE BAG! 2SAT4 FIRST 100 LADIES IN THE DOOR RECIEVE A FREE GOODIE Riding Skills Demonstration

10 - 1pm – Tennis Courts by Tickets $10 from USU Reception $20 from Real Groovy, SUBWAY Kids’ Day Out! 2 8 3 0 RiderSkills NZ will demonstrate riding www.undertheradar.co.nz and on the door WED FRI 11am-3pm - Henderson N

ITE

STU

Primary School Fields Featuring:The Funky Monkeys, Old usu Farm, Bouncy Castles, Mac Donald’s Storytellers, Face Painters, Clowns, Games and Rides. Free Entry! TS

’A SS

OCIATION

WWW.USU.CO.NZ

Student Garage Sale 12 - 3pm – Building 182-1001 Maia Maori Development Second-Hand Clothes, Appliances and Everything in between. Plus Food

Night of Mayhem, End of Year Party 8pm – Building 202 Featuring: Bulletproof, Cern, Agent Alvin and Nick D. Free drink with every ticket purchased from USU Reception, only $10! First 100 Ladies in the door receive a free goodie bag!

skills using motor scooter/ motorbike as well as conduct free on site safety checks for scooters and motorbikes.

R18

N OV 25 WED The Unitec Grad Show 26 – 28 November 2009 Opening night 25th November To celebrate the achievements of the Graduates of Architecture, Landscape Design, Performing and Screen Arts, Design and Visual Arts. Opening event 25th November

UP-COMING EVENTS • Sounds in the Sun 2010! Feb 25 2010 featuring NZ’s biggest live acts + food, stalls and a licensed area. Details available soon at www.usu.co.nz 17

In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 17

8/10/2009 7:30:38 p.m.

feature GETTING HIGH HAS TAKEN ON A WHOLE NEW MEANING SINCE THE 1960S WHEN IT MEANT SMOKING POT OR TAKING ACID, NOW THE MARKET IS FLOODED WITH ALL SORTS OF DRUGS TO ALTER YOUR MIND, AND THE FUNNY THING IS, MANY OF THEM ARE LEGAL AS STACEY KNOTT DISCOVERS.

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In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 18

8/10/2009 7:13:54 p.m.

If you want to smoke legally for a high, there is an assortment of herbal smokes from places like Cosmic Corner. The controversial Mexican Tripping Weed or salvia is one of these. It is a type of sage used for thousands of years in Mexican Indian rituals, giving its users hallucinogenic effects, like taking LSD or magic mushrooms. Tim* tried it once with a group of friends and found the experience horrible, he smoked the substance through a pipe with a group of close friends. “It’s really, really intense hallucinations, we started seeing and feeling things too. I put my arms up and felt like a thunderbird, like my arms were attached to the roof.” Another person in the group got really paranoid and thought all his friends were trying to kill him; he shut himself in his room claiming he could see the devil. Tim does not recommend the substance to anyone else “it’s not a drug you can have fun with,” he says. Chrisana* also did salvia and tried to jump off a second story balcony. “I had to be physically restrained and ended up with black and yellow bruising all over my butt and thighs,” she recalls. There is other less intense “synthetic pot” available to buy that can last about an hour and produce similar effects as smoking marijuana would, such as Krypto Bud, or other herbs to sedate, energise or relax.

PARTY PILLS

Scott Mesarich from the legal highs company Wicked Habits says legal smoking herbs have become popular since BZP based party pills were banned in April last year. Party pills used to be all the rage about four years ago when they were based on a chemical called Benzylpiperazine – BZP for short but from April 1 last year BZP was made a class C drug, making it illegal. Those who did dabble in BZP when it was legal will probably know what the effects were like. It would give users incredible levels of energy, but it was the after effects that were horrendous, especially if you mixed BZP with booze.The day after taking it you would feel like you were hit by a bus, feeling hopeless, nauseous and moody and suffer bad headaches to top it off. Since those days a whole new breed of pills have cropped up that are BZP-free, however they are not nearly as popular as BZP was and might have some of the same bad effects. The new products on the market are based on an assortment of chemicals

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LEGAL SMOKING

and herbal extracts, however in April last year, an urgent investigation into new non-BZP party pills prompted watchdogs to demand tougher controls around their sale after reports came out that they were making some people violently ill with vomiting and headaches. Mesarich says sales of BZP based party pills used to make up about 60 percent of suppliers’ business, now they are BZP-free, it has dropped to about 10 percent. The old BZP pills were not regulated, neither are their replacements, and not much is known about what is in them, or what their effects are, long or short term. No sellers or manufacturers of the new party pills would answer email or phone requests for information on their products for this feature, and health authorities were unable to supply much information on them, because they say they do not have much to go on. It seems things have not changed since last year when the New Zealand Drug Foundation released a statement saying it was concerned about the lack of information about the pills, and the effects they could have on ones’ health. The Drug Foundation executive director Ross Bell said the introduction of BZP-free party pills was the same “risky situation” as when BZP was first introduced. “We don’t know what’s in them, we don’t know their effects and so we aren’t able to provide good health and safety advice to consumers. We cannot rely on the industry to provide unbiased information,” he says. “These new products have zero regulations over them. This means they can be sold from anywhere, including the corner dairy, to anyone, including people under 18 years old. There is no requirement for the products to have health and safety labelling, so consumers won’t have a clue what’s in them or their possible health effects. Once more, the law is lagging behind what is happening in the marketplace.” Drael* a psychology major graduate, with a strong interest in neurobiology/pharmacology also has a strong interest in legal and illegal drugs. He is currently looking into developing his own party pills, and has tried about 12 different sorts of the new party pills. He says the ones on the market currently are based almost entirely on weight loss and bodybuilding products developed in the USA, with slightly higher doses of geranamin, which is also known as dmaa, an extract of the geranium plant. “They are generally weaker and different from BZP. There is some ‘push’ in some of the products, but generally not much. Geranamine itself doesn’t give “push” (the feeling you have to move or do something). It does however give stamina, if indeed you do move, you can do so for longer without fatigue. It is very smooth as such, and not edgy, so well tolerated generally. Some people who wouldn’t have liked BZP will like these for that reason and also its mildness. It enhances music appreciation a little, and also feels a little physically relaxing if anything, some people say it makes them a little more social.” He says they give mild but pleasant effects, but do not really compare to BZP or illegal drugs. “Personally I’d quite like them to be a bit stronger, but I think at this level of effect and safety, no one can argue against them being legal.” He says they go well with a bit of alcohol, but does not recommend taking more than the recommended dose of the party pills because they will make you physically sick if you do. Because I was not willing to relive my party-pills days, I sent out a message to all my friends asking for their experiences of BZP-free party pills. One friend says she gives them two thumbs up. “Just like strong coffee, with that cool ‘I just took drugs warm’ fuzz,” and with no bad after effects, she says. Rory*, a student says he tried the BZP-free party pills at a conference last year.

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In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 19

8/10/2009 7:14:46 p.m.

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“Basically I just became really distracted and kept grinding my teeth and grimacing and licking my lips and stuff, which must have been pretty disconcerting for anyone talking to me. Afterwards I felt terrible and couldn’t get to sleep and had kind of a paranoid buzz when I went to board my flight home.” Another friend, Astrid* claimed they made her lactate and eat holes in her own fingers. Robin* took them recently after a friend snuck off to Cosmic Corner to pick some up. He does not recall what they were as he says he was drunk at the time of taking them. “It just had a subtle effect, just feeling a little more awake then I crashed at 4am.” But the next day’s effects were more profound. “I woke up and felt my heart racing.” He had heart flutterings through the day and felt tired and light-headed for the rest of the day, it was unlike a normal hangover which Robin says he can usually just power through.

ENERGY SHOTS

Another way to get a legal buzz from over the counter is energy shots, they are fairly new on the market and all the major drink companies have released their own versions of them. Energy shots are a concentrated version of energy drinks like Red Bull; they contain more caffeine and are being sold as dietary supplements which means there is no regulation on how big a hit they can contain. In the 60ml shot of NOS I tried there was 250mg of caffeine, that’s like two coffees but as well as this there was 500mg of taurine. I was originally going to try six shots all up, but only got halfway through. I took NOS, first while at work which had horrible effects, my heart beat too fast, I felt sick, and the burst of energy was distracting and hindering. It upset my stomach and my lunch break was wasted lying on a couch feeling sorry for myself. The next weekend I took round two at a party while drinking wine. It made me more talkative and energetic than usual, but made me crash in a big way on my friend’s couch later that night, usually I can refrain from falling asleep at parties, so I can put entire blame on this shot. I took the last shot a few days later before going for a run. Usually I’m pretty good at running and can last about 40 minutes; this was definitely not the case. After the shot my heart was beating too fast before getting out the door, and when I started running I felt light-headed and queasy, I ended up walking around the block, feeling dazed before I went back to my house and had to lie on the floor to ease my confused brain. These few experiences put me off trying any other brands, so I called in a group of volunteers to finish it off got me. Craig* was one of them and felt the more he took, the lesser impact they had. He tried Demon and NOS, and found Demon to be the better of the two. He did not think they gave him any more energy when playing

sports, but affected his sleep. “I wasn’t able to get to sleep as easy and I woke up tired, it was not a deep sleep.” When drinking, he found alcohol hit him faster, but the shots had little effect on him when he was studying. He says they taste like a poorly mixed Raro, and would not recommend the drinks. Nick* was also part of the energy shot experiment; he tried out the Red Bull shots as well as Six-Hour-Power. He tried the Red Bull at a party, while studying and also when baby sitting. ” I would have to say it failed me terribly considering I am a devoted fan of their drink, its more condensed supposedly more powerful formula is nothing but a cheap imitation of the drink, during the party I fell asleep, while babysitting the kids I fell asleep and while studying I again fell asleep. “If you are depending on this shot to deliver energy I would strongly suggest you bypass this product when you see it on the shelves.” He used the same settings for the Six-Hour-Power shots which had better effects. “It was the best studying I have done in a fair while and was one of my best performances partying wise too. In my honest opinion this product is the best if you are looking for a superior energy boost. A word of caution, sustainability is not its strength after the fifth hour or sometimes the fourth hour I experienced a slump which sometimes left me wanting more which of course I did unfortunately it does come with a side of no sleep for two days. If you want short bursts of energy great, if you want no sleep for the next couple of days take twice the recommended dose,” he jokes. Toni* tried Demon and NOS, she had the same reaction as me for the NOS. “I felt really sick and had to go and eat something, the packaging is horrible and it smelt gross,” she says. She took a NOS while walking home and it make her light-headed. However the Demon drink had a better effect making her energetic and chatty. The day after taking them she says she was more tired than usual.

SO MANY CHOICES

That seems to be a common theme over all these legal highs, while there are so many more legal highs not delved into here, like sugar, caffeine, alcohol and other plant derivatives, the thing they all have in common is they will have some bad side effects. If you eat too much sugar, you might get diabetes or obese, too much caffeine can stop you from sleeping, alcohol can destroy your liver, energy shots can make your heart beat too fast and cause a lack of sleep and it seems party pills do the same, while even legal weeds can cause you to do fatal things. So of course have fun out there party fiends, but if you are reaching for the Mexican Tripping Weed over the counter, or think six shots of NOS is going to be fun, don’t say we didn’t warn you! *Last name withheld

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In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 20

8/10/2009 7:16:15 p.m.

Webmail

Favourites

My Account

News

Tessa Barlow Hey I heard Jem and Kaz are looking for a flatty for next year? Can you plz give me their number... I’d definitely b keen, their flat is mint. U got any major plans for the summer break? 2 hours ago – Comment – Rate

Scott Jacobs Sweet I’ve ﬂicked you their number in private mail. Yeh man I want to go to most of the gigs, they look awesome. Bring it on!

GET IT OUT OF THE WAY

SORT YOUR ALLOWANCE

1 minute ago – Delete

Scott and Lindy James are now friends – Comment - Like

OR LOAN FOR 2010

Scott Jacobs Thanks every1 for ya bday wishes. Drinks at mine on Fri, get there!

BEFORE YOU

3 hours ago – Comment - Rate

SORT OUT

Simon Green yeah mate, that sounds wicked! sorry couldn’t really ﬁnd much that isn’t fake and would be a good pressie haha. travels going well aye. in Beijing at the mo and gona head down the south of china soon and maybe Tibet...just gota sort it out.

YOUR PROFILE

3 hours ago – Comment – Rate RECENT ACTIVITY

Scott commented on Liz Mahoney’s photo album 3 more similar stories

Save time and get itlast all done onlineWhr did u guys Rachel Smith Woah MASSIVE night night. get to??? U wana catch www.studylink.govt.nz up at some point 2day and grab a feed. I’m super hungry. Heard Muzza had a 2 go 2 work, ouch! 4 hours ago – Comment – Rate

Justin Sayer Check ya then! 4 hours ago – Comment – Rate

Krystal Meegan Love it!

In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 21

STY 0126

8/10/2009 7:16:41 p.m.

columns

Whakarongo Mai WITH THE JOSEPH News-Bot WITH HARPER NEWS ROUND UP

Adios

Hello and goodbye! This is the last of your dear Newsbot. So in the last roundup: Some silly students in a hall of residence in Christchurch who dressed up as Nazis and concentration camp inmates really, really pissed off some of their peers. They wore Nazi Party apparel with slogans like ”Hitler’s my boi” and swastikas. John Key finally had his meeting with US Prez Obama in New York, and by the sounds of it, Obama was a real dear. While he was over there, Key dropped off some Vogels to Helen Clark. So Kiway it makes me sick. There was also the reading of the top ten reasons to go to New Zealand on the David Letterman show. I fell off my chair I laughed so hard at the awkward man. A competition for a new Kraft spread, namely Vegemite mixed with cream cheese caused more controversy than expected. More than 48,000 people submitted potential names and perhaps the stupidest name anyone could possibly perceive was picked. Even though I am a robot and do appreciate anything that is related to me or the future “iSnack 2.0” is really a bit too far. But it turned out the name not only pissed me off, but half the world too, and they had to pick a new name: Vegemite Cheesybite, much better! After weeks of hyping up, a boxing match between David Tua and Shane Cameron finally happened and lasted all of three minutes; personally I don’t care for two hulking meat bags punching each other, but seems plenty of others did. Pubs were full and bets were placed. Even I knew Tua would win, and poor Shane now has a bung eye, after being knocked out in the second round. Some cruel, cruel rumours of the next BDO were squashed after the first announcement recently was dropped. My metal heart broke when the Thin White Duke was not on it. Pfft, instead we got Muse, Lily Allen, Dizzee Rascal plus some more. I’m not excited. Some crazy lady trying to fool the po-po in the States tried to eat her weed after the cops pulled her over. The cops found the lady with “green material” around her mouth and lips; she was surprised she was being arrested, saying, ”I only ate some weed, officer.” Keeping bears as pets is never a good idea, and the American woman who was recently mauled to death by a captive 160-kilogramme black bear in front of her children is proof of this. The woman was cleaning the bear’s 4.5 metre by 4.5 metre steel and concrete cage, the bear attacked her, but was shot and killed by a neighbour in the process. And finally, I clinkered with glee when I read that my all-time favourite TV show, Arrested Development is going to finally make it on to the big screen! COME ON!

THE RAPTURE

Section one: Goodbye. The end is nigh/now. My time as a paid writer has come to an end. I will now stop calling myself a writer. I have enjoyed this little soapbox upon which the USU has (usually) let me spout my hearts contents in the hopes of creating some sort of be/ amusement. I’ve enjoyed being paid enough to afford the ritzy things in life. I haven’t suffered Dominoes pizza all year (Hells as bro). Whether or not I’ll be writing next year is questionable. Though if the USU do pass up my award winning (YES) skills, I don’t imagine I’ll have trouble finding employment with Craccum. Kidding obviously. Ain’t got no clout. Well, thanks for reading. Section two: Dear Felix. I have been criticized; too many opinions, not enough importance. Bollocks to all. I don’t like writing about the executive/student politics in general/anything really to do with Unitec/anything that is remotely serious. I don’t find it interesting. What’s the point? Student politics is dull. And there are real journalists who know more about issues than me, can write better about them than me, and possibly actually care about them. Why should I add my 500 words? Corduroy and joy interest me a great deal. Why would I bother writing about anything I don’t care about? End. Section three: Future. So what now? Unitec will be closing up shop for the year pretty soon. My beloved student allowance will leave me. I have been forced to get a job, a real job with work that doesn’t involve me sitting in my room at my laptop and constantly (yet still delicious) grazing on biscuits. I’m now employed by the Rendezvous Hotel. I am a porter. I carry bags. How is that? New Zealand’s “best reviewer” and “best humour content” writer has been reduced to the role of bell boy. There is no justice. Oh well. Perhaps my “humour content” will leave me in good stead for maximum tips. And perhaps high dosages of customer interaction will lessen my misanthropy. Probably not. It’s not all bad. Fleetwood Mac is coming.And so is the Animal Collective. Steve Braunias still lives within easy stalking distance, Pepsi Max is still $1.00 a can at the Waterview Superette and nobody has been raped in the greater Unitec region in a wee while. The weather is slowly becoming good enough to don my homemade corduroy cut-offs. And the state shield will be rolling on shortly. In spite of the loss of this job, I am actually feeling in good spirits lately. Life is actually looking beautiful. I recently met a director who had an incredibly impressive lust for joy. Everything he did, the importance was not on quality, or quantity; but rather on whether or not it cheered him up. What a philosophy. What an inspired way. He really made me realise that joy is of great importance. Being happy is what matters. Knowing that somehow makes me feel happier. You should try gunning for joy too.

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8/10/2009 7:18:12 p.m.

GANDER AT SPORT

When will the New Zealand Government and sporting organisations wake up and give this country a sporting stadium to be proud of? Don’t yell back at me, “what about Eden Park!”, What about Eden Park, it’s a dinosaur stuck in the middle of a residential area in the middle of the city, give me a break! The powers that be had a fantastic opportunity two years ago to build a superb facility on the waterfront for about $400 million, but no, they decided to skimp and save and spend $150 million on bringing Eden Park up to the bare minimum standard to appease the Rugby World Cup organisers. When the waterfront stadium was mooted, all the naysayers claimed it would end up a white elephant and would only be filled once maybe twice a year, what a load of bollocks. It would’ve been used for outdoor concerts, something Eden Park can’t do because the lights have to be off and everyone has to be quiet by 10.30pm. What about events like the Crazy Demons using a big stadium on the waterfront, or attracting Rugby League State of Origin games, the list goes on. Just to compare how small our country is, in the USA, the Dallas Cowboys have just completed a new 105,000 seat stadium, built at approximately $1.5 billion US and not one cent came from the people of Dallas, it was fully funded by the Cowboys owners and sponsors. The three year old University of Arizona Stadium in Phoenix was built (moveable pitch and all) solely from airport and rental car taxes collected over five or so years (why not get visitors to pay for it?), the New York Yankees and Mets baseball teams are playing this season in brand new stadiums, funded by both organisations and in the Mets case, from taxes, while the Yankees also had relatively small government handouts in relation to what they paid themselves to build their new home. I know our country is smaller than the US, but just a little thought and taking a bit more time to explore the possible funding options could’ve helped little ole’ NZ to come up with $400 million to build a state of the art new facility. But no, we have to spend millions on a dinosaur stadium with bad access in the middle of houses that will only get filled once maybe twice a year because it’s not able to host events outside of a sporting nature. Well that’s it from this sports writer, off to pastures new in 2010 - hopefully a job that is. It’s been emotional, take care sports fans and in the immortal words of the great coach Vince Lombardi, “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing”. I’m the Goose and You’re Not.

Dear

BARBIE

xox

WHERE ARE OUR DECENT STADIUMS

dear barbie

The Goose’s

Hola Barbie. This ain’t so much a problem as an observation, I was just noticing that as itz gettin warmer all my broskiz and brosphinz in couples and splittin, it happens this time every year! What givz? Personally I think itz good coz it means more hoes for me to bang, but was just curious… Lataz, Buck

“Yo” Buck. How clever of you to notice what we call the Summer Migration of Affection. It is a worldwide phenomenon; there has been plenty of research into it from all the leading universities. I’ll make it easy on you and give you the general gist: When it gets warm, people wear fewer clothes and so, want to act like sluts–that’s guys and girls. Winter is a hibernation period; you put on some extra flesh and stay inside with one person, mainly because it’s easier. When it warms up, you realise you are bored of seeing and sleeping with the one same person, so nature kicks in and you go looking for what you want. So you sleep around, have fun, get some VD then when you realise it’s getting colder your last fling of the summer becomes your winter boyfriend/girlfriend, and so the cycle begins again. Fascinating isn’t it Xx Barbie

Dear Barbie, I am a long time listener, first time caller. I may be the oldest student on campus but I have fallen for a gorgeous young women in one of my classes. Unfortunately she constantly makes remarks about my “disgusting old man aroma” and generally considers me to be “wierd and creepy.” Despite this, I still desperately want to be her sugardaddy even though I am financially insecure as well as physically repulsive. Please help! PS Is herbal viagra a course related cost? Grey Power ‘72 Well Grey Power, I appreciate your honesty, though really, someone at your age should be able to spell/know the difference between singular and plural nouns. Anyhow, it seems like you have clearly outlined all the negatives in this situation, of which there are many, the only positive is your absolute determination and that I say, is what will get this spring chicken into your wrinkly arms. The aroma problem is because you are old which causes rotting on the inside, but you can disguise this. Liberal applications of Fahrenheit as well as frequent bathing will fix this. Maybe tone down your affections and play it cool so you aren’t accused of being weird and creepy. Finance-wise, Because you are old, you are more likely to get away with crime, so I suggest you learn how to become a diamond theft so you can a) have money to be a sugardaddy, and b) woo this young lady with diamonds. As a bonus, you can use the rest of the money to stock up on Viagra. Xx Barbie

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In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 23

8/10/2009 7:19:09 p.m.

student art

STUDENT DESIGN

Student Village UPDATE

VICTORY FOR VILLAGE RESIDENTS

MARISSA RAMLU, WRITERS WEEK MATERIAL Marissa is a fourth year student studying graphic design. The above work was done for a writer’s week brief. Using her favourite authors she created promotional material including posters and a publication. The theme was romance, so all the authors are romance authors and this theme runs through the publication and posters. UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

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Trifecta - an installation by Lauren Lysaght. Curated by exhibition practice students. 15-17 October at 9 Trading Place, Henderson. Opening Thursday 15th 6-8pm

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Experiential Jewellery - Selina Woulfe Foyer of Building 1, Monday through Friday, 9.00am 4.00pm until 30 October

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Global Eyes Feet Voice - Book launch and exhibition Light sculptures inspired by poems about Matariki. 12-22nd October at Te Karanga Gallery, K’ Rd. Opening Monday 12th, 7-9pm

After a hellish semester of break-ins, mouldy rooms, scabies outbreaks, and cockroach infestations, the 300 students at the Unitec Residential Village are finally starting to see some change. A substantial amount of issues about the Unitec Residential Village have been brought to USU student president Greg Powell and USU student issues advocate Aimee Walker over the past 18 months. At the beginning the issues were small, such as poor quality mattresses and an apartment that needed repairs. However, as a result of the small victories the students received after Mr Powell and Ms Walker had addressed their issues, word spread, and subsequently Mr Powell was overwhelmed by a huge number of complaints about the living conditions. To allow students to voice all these concerns to Unitec, USU Students’ Association set up a student forum on August 28. The forum was attended by over 100 students and key members of Unitec’s staff including executive director of finance and infrastructure Paul Conder. Students expressed a long list of complaints including windowless bathrooms, small fridges, broken dryers and slow internet. Mr Conder’s general answer to all the complaints at the meeting was: “We will look into that.” Mr Powell told the group “welfare is extremely important to us so we will persist until we see full results.” Unitec could not commit to anything straight away as the Residential Village is actually the responsibility of a body corporate (a group of separate owners). But Mr Powell has been giving regular reports to Unitec Council which has instructed Unitec to spend what needs to be spent to get the Village back up to a standard satisfactory for its residents. “Some things take a while to roll out however we will be reporting back on the progress at every council meeting,” he says. A number of issues have already been resolved or are currently being addressed. The gutters have been cleaned and thorough pest fumigation has been conducted. The gardens have been tidied up and another big skip bin has been installed and is emptied more regularly. Grill screens have been put into the apartments on the lower levels and Unitec’s security team is monitoring the Village more extensively through the use of high quality CCTV. The internet issues are currently top of the list of priorities for improvement and Unitec has employed an external company called LSI consultants to conduct an audit into the current procedures at the Village. One of the biggest victories has been the change to the refund policy. Previously if students wanted to break their six month or year long contracts they had to find some one else to take their place in their apartment. Now the policy has been changed so that if students have an issue with the Village and would like to move out, they can lodge a complaint through the student grievance process and if Unitec has not adequately resolved this complaint within a one month timeline, they will be refunded and relieved of their lease. Mr Powell ensures students the USU will “keep the communication loop between Unitec and ourselves open around these issues until we see appropriate action being taken and all issues have been addressed.” By USU Communications

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8/10/2009 7:19:38 p.m.

DO YOU HAVE CONCERNS WITH YOUR

ASSESSMENTS?

Do you disagree with your grade? Has your academic performance been affected by illness, bereavement or injury and you feel that you deserve compassionate consideration? Do you feel you have been marked unfairly? The USU Student Issues Advocate can explain your rights and help you to voice your concern, appeal a grade or apply for compassionate consideration. Advice is free, confidential and independent.

â&#x20AC;&#x2122;A SS

ITE

usu OCIATION

STU N

Contact the USU Student Issues Advocate: Email: usuadvocate@unitec.ac.nz Phone: 815 4321 ext 7924 AT

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www.usu.co.nz 8/10/2009 7:20:02 p.m.

USU PRESENTS

6PM THUR 15TH OCT GOLD LECTURE THEATRE

FREE ENTRY

’A SS

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ALL WELCOME

CALLING ALL GAMERS.... USU PRESENTS:

WAITAKERE GAMING WEDS 14TH OCTOBER 12-2PM

DON’T MISS OUT ON THE XBOX360 WITH STREET FIGHTER COMPETITION!

STUDENTS SERVICES WAITAKERE

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THERE ARE PRIZES TO BE WON FOR THE BEST GAMERS AND BEST OF ALL, IT’S FREE AND OPEN TO ALL UNITEC STUDENTS!

AT ’A SSOCIATION

In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 26

WWW.USU.CO.NZ

8/10/2009 7:20:28 p.m.

Director: Harold Ramis

FILM

Reviewed by Joseph Harper

10th September, The PowerStation

MUSIC I am not usually a hip-hop fan, while I like to keep an open mind, I prefer alternative and indie. I was sucked in by the sweet beat and ridiculous lyrics of Flo Rida’s single Low last year. I had to find out if people really look sexy in “baggy sweat pants and the Reeboks with the straps”, so I went along to see Flo Rida live. The gig was about three quarters full which was surprising; though I have a feeling many of the people there would have gone because they were given a complimentary ticket. The supporting acts varied in quality from a local soulstress doing cheesy Beyonce covers, to up-and-coming Kiwi hip-hop star J. Williams who had the crowd swooning with his infectious beats and choreographed dance moves. I thought the use of back-up dancers was hilariously good, only having seen it on C4, although my friend informed me that this is usual for this kind of gig. When Flo Rida finally hit the stage with his posse of hype boys, he kicked off with Jump, recorded with Nelly Furtardo, and got the crowd screaming and dancing. This fanatical screaming continued as Flo Rida bantered with the crowd, dangling his gold watch and huge bling necklace around and offering to give them to the audience. He failed to actually give his bling away, instead offered several signed sweat towels. Not so exciting. The energetic set continued with the hit Low third song in, where twenty girls were pulled up on stage to dance, skanky dance moves ensued. Flo Rida is said to be one of the most versatile, genre-jumping music mavericks to top the charts this year, and I tend to agree. He samples across a range of genres from 80s synth pop to 90s dance. A hit that got the crowd really going was Sugar, which samples the cringe-worthy electro-dance hit “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” by Eiffel 65. Overall it was a fun night, but the 45 minute long set was way too short. Reviewed by Erin Gaffney

Views

As I scroll the new movie listings I see Jud Apatow has produced a new film, Year One. He’s usually pretty reliable in terms of pumpin’ out the belly laughs; he’s responsible for ushering in the new era of awkwardness and conversational naturalism (Superbad, Knocked Up, Anchorman) in Hollywood comedy films. Wow and this new one has Jack Black in it. I just loved the way he made King Kong hilarious at the end so I didn’t cry over that dead monkey. And the rest of the cast is a who’s who of comedy masters from the past decade; David Cross, Paul Rudd, Hank Azaria, and it’s directed by Harold Ramis, The man from Ghost Busters, and oh course it has Michael Cera in a starring role, the funniest person acting in mainstream Hollywood. Obviously my expectations were high with Year One, and the film was almost spectacular in the way it failed on almost all levels and left me cringing at how hard it was trying to be funny. I could not believe Michael Cera led me so badly astray. The film’s basic concept is two cavemen (Black and Cera) stumble through the archaic world of the Old Testament (which is also inhabited by ancient Romans and Egyptians -why these three time periods exist simultaneously is beyond me) after eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Black believes himself to be chosen by God to do something (he doesn’t know what), and so they amble along meaninglessly through a variety of situations. And that’s the film summed up perfectly. It ambles from gag to gag, while I gag. Nothing is too cheap for Year One. The jokes are forced and just plain unfunny. Jack Black seems like a caricature of himself, and Ramis seems to have absolutely no control of the film he is directing. Cera provides the film’s only moments of slight strength. His delivery and take on things is usually pretty funny. Other than that, the film is utterly, utterly miserable. DO NOT GO SEE IT.

FLO RIDA

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In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 27

reviews

YEAR ONE

8/10/2009 7:20:59 p.m.

reviews

FAME

THE UGLY TRUTH

Director: Kevin Tancharoen

Director: Robert Luketic

Views

FILM

Chick flicks are not considered as the highest quality movies you can watch, regardless, I still find myself liking them and enjoying the fact that you often know already by the posters how it will end. So from The Ugly Truth’s poster I expected a movie that would make me feel good and have a few laughs too. Although the morals and fairy tale plot was sometimes a bit too much, even for me, I wasn’t disappointed. Katherine Heigl plays the heroine Abby, a successful TV producer and control freak that makes even her love life close to impossible. When her TV show has poor ratings her boss hires the cynical and sexist Mike Chadway, played by Gerard Butler, who in his own show “The Ugly Truth” talks about how men see relationships in a very stereotypical way. Abby is not too happy to work with him, but eventually lets him help her with her nonexistent love life, and I think you all can figure out the rest. As a fan of Butler from his role in 300 and his romantic performance in PS. I Love You, I was content when his and Heigl’s great interaction and the quick, funny and sometimes rude language lifted the movie above total chick flick. Heigl is one of the three women who wrote the script, and even if the primary audience is women, it seems like an attempt to meet a broader audience has been made. There are lots of situations to recognise yourself in, both for men and women, and after a while the few guys in the cinema didn’t seem like they were suffering, like they may have been when first dragged in. If you don’t like predictable stories and the focus on love, this might not be the right movie for you. But it has something special that makes you leave the cinema with a bigger smile than most movies would, something that might just be right after a day of studying.

Maybe I’m wearing rose-tinted glasses when I say Fame ’09 was good. I can hear you snicker and think to yourself, ”not true”. Yes, okay, it wasn’t that good but you have to admit that the actors had talent. While I haven’t seen the original made in 1980 the storyline this time round is the same, it’s about a group of performing arts students in New York, and looks at their training at the school, following them from their auditions to graduation. From what I’ve heard the characters have changed - female character became male character, and obviously there are many new pop-culture references. Denise - the training classical pianist has a very powerful Alicia Keys voice, and uses it in the movie when she is encouraged to “have fun”. Another great singer is the all-American teen-heartthrob Marco who auditioned with “Ordinary People” by John Legend. Geeky Neil was a different kettle of fish though, he couldn’t act, but he probably was chosen to be in the school for his filming aspirations. I don’t think that this was the right school for Neil. Go to a film school. Maybe I’m about to rip up the original Fame, but I didn’t like the storyline. It was made in short segments of each of the years that they were training to be performing artists. So divide the four years that they were at school into playing time - 107mins, that’s only 25 minutes per year, this is not enough time for characters to develop or for the audience to feel connected. I felt like one character would have a storyline - for example Neil was scammed by a movie producer and then suddenly the movie would skip to the next year. Not enough time for processing. Either way, I was sucked in with its sentiment, I cried, I laughed, but as to be expected it didn’t change me in any way like a really good movie does.

Reviewed by Veronica Svensson

Reviewed by Kirsty Ley

THANKS TO:

for more info on movies showing now and coming soon visit www.skycitycinemas.co.nz

In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 28

8/10/2009 7:21:38 p.m.

USU & UNITEC SPORTING BLUE’S ANNOUNCED

SHREWSBURYS Griffins Biscuits

Thirteen students will receive Sporting Blue’s this year. Sporting Blue’s celebrate students’ sporting success and academic achievement here at Unitec. Five students have also been nominated by the Blue Awards panel for the USU and Unitec Sportsperson of the Year award. They are:

SNACK

JASMINE HOLLAND - KARATE JESSIE BLUNDELL - SWIMMING MICHAEL MAU’U - COACHING LOU ERNESTO GUINARES OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFTING

ITE

usu

The winner of the USU and Unitec Sports person of the year will be named at the awards dinner on the 16th of October. Tickets are available from the USU reception for $35 and include a Buffet meal. Cash Bar will be available.

STU

There is a biscuit I like. It is shaped like the sun; rightfully so. For it is truly the illuminating and central star in what is essentially a Milky Way for classic Aotearoan biscuits. I can think of no greater pleasure than a Shrewsbury dunked generously in Bell’s finest on a Sunday morning, whilst allowing the Shortland Street omnibus to wash through my corneas. This is God’s own biscuit. Produced by the fine people at Griffins (Chocolate Chippies, Hundreds and Thousands), a packet of Shrewsburys will set you back between three and four dollars depending on whether you shop at a supermarket or a superette of some sort. The biscuits themselves are pretty simple: two shortbread biscuits held together by thick strawberry jam. Each biscuit is given an adorable marking by way of a small shape (heart, star, circle etc) cut out of one of the biscuits and thus granting access to its delicious innards for those lucky eaters with little fingers with which to pry. So the price is good. But there is no recession in New Zealand anymore, so we care only about the important things. “Tell us of the taste!” I hear you say. It’s good. It is very good. A perfect sweet supper snack without that clumsiness that comes with chocolate. The only thing I could possibly think of to improve these morsels would be more jam. But really that’s just being greedy. The shortbread biscuits are firm, but crumble in your mouth exactly how you want them to. The biscuits are perfect to take with you to class. Just chuck a couple in some sort of sandwich bag and away you go. The only real difficulty there is stopping yourself from eating them before the planned eating time. Honestly; it’s probably best to bring a few extra just in case. I seriously cannot imagine a better snack. Style, convenience, taste, nostalgia... Shrewsburys have all the bases covered.

CARL VAN DER SPECK - ATHLETICS

AT ’A SSOCIATION

Reviewed by Joseph Harper

LSM2566

Watch out for our new dining experience, drive thru and McCafé® opening late October.

In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 29

This advertisement along with student ID must be presented to receive offer. Offer only valid after 10.30am and up until 9th November 2009. Coupon may be used on multiple visits until expiry date.

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8/10/2009 7:22:12 p.m.3:08 10/09/09

grad profiles

STUDENT PROFILE: HEATHER LIDDELL

Ooo Ahh

UNITEC GRADUATE HEATHER LIDDELL WAS PART OF A GROUP OF YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO WERE RECENTLY GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO PHOTOGRAPH AIR NEW ZEALAND FASHION WEEK. SHE GRADUATED LAST YEAR FROM UNITEC WITH A DIPLOMA OF CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY, AND INTENDS ON COMING BACK NEXT YEAR TO COMPLETE THE BACHELOR OF DESIGN AND VISUAL ARTS. TE WAI BROWN CATCHES UP WITH HER.

You were part of a competition to take photographs for Fashion Week, what did this entail? The comp is run by Sony, and has taken place at Fashion Week for about the past five years. Sony provided me and 14 other contestants with a Sony Alpha A380Y digital SLR camera for use during the week to capture all the action and excitement. We were given free reign, with access passes to every show, and at the end of every night were required to submit two images- ambient and catwalk from that day. What is it that you look for when taking photographs? Different things depending on what I was shooting. When I had my catwalk image in mind, I was trying my best to find a position closest to the centre in the photographer’s pit (which wasn’t easy). As well as taking the shot when the model is at their best, in mid stride, and when the garment is sitting well on his or her body. When concentrating on my ambient image, my thoughts were more focused on catching the atmosphere of the event- the craziness of backstage, models, makeup artists, and hairspray. For this I often used a wide-angle lens and my surroundings like a mirror or dimly lit stage to provide a natural framework for the shot. What do you intend doing next? I’m intending to return to Unitec next year and top off my diploma by completing an extra year and gaining the degree. But as for the rest of this year, continue freelancing and grabbing whatever jobs come my way. How has taking part in the competition assisted you? Having the opportunity to go to Fashion Week has really helped me with my event photography skills, as well as taking catwalk images. The event itself as well was just so inspiring. Fashion Week is like a melting pot of creativity and different artistic medias, its really hard not to be motivated by what goes on there. What type of work would you be looking at doing from this point? Whatever comes my way really, I still love shooting for fashion editorials, but am also looking to get more involved in post production and re-touching, as well as just having fun, and enjoying my break from Uni.

GRAD PROFILE: HEIN ERASMUS

HEIN ERASMUS IS A UNITEC GRADUATE WHO DID A MASTER OF BUSINESS INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP FROM 2003 THROUGH TO 2006. HE HAS JUST RELEASED HIS FIRST BOOK WHICH IS FULL OF AFFIRMATIONS AIMED AT GETTING PEOPLE TO BE ENTREPRENEURIAL DESPITE THE ECONOMIC CLIMATE. STACEY KNOTT TALKS TO HIM.

Why did you decide to study at Unitec? Unitec offered this program which was very appealing and not only theory, but the course was enabling people to experience more reality of entrepreneurship, because it was interactive with successful entrepreneurs as speakers. What are you doing now? I run a number of companies, property related, and presented findings of research papers in San Francisco and Melbourne over the past two years. This is my first book. You have just released a book of positive affirmations for budding entrepreneurs. Why did you do this, and what do you hope to achieve from it? I hope the book will be distributed through schools to encourage senior students to become entrepreneurial people who are feeling stressed during the recession and became redundant and unemployed. I hope the book will help them to gain confidence in getting on with things and do what they always dreamed of because they have nothing to lose. Hope to find distribution networks around the world to distribute the book. The potential is huge and I do not intend to sell it as a book, but more as a product! My target – to sell in excess of 1 million books around the world. What is one thing students would do to enhance their careers? Understand the process of entrepreneurship. That will give students confidence to sell themselves and their ideas to investors and relevant stakeholders. You don’t need money or experience to do big things. You only need confidence, because then you can raise money to hire experienced people to build your dreams! Entrepreneurs are not only self-employed people. Large companies and corporates, community establishments, governments and religious groups all need people with entrepreneurial confidence to challenge old ways of doing things and drive change. What do you plan on doing in the future? The recession offers new opportunities and I am considering taking a company public and invest in some of these new opportunities. My son, Michael, recently qualified as a chef. He is blind and we are looking at a new fast food chain doing pie, mash and gravy in food courts around New Zealand.

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In Unison, PARTY Issue.indd 30

8/10/2009 7:22:37 p.m.

recipes

RAV’S

STEPHANIE MCCOLL’S

LEARNED THROUGH BAKING

FOR THE STRESSED STUDENT

Yum Yum

Life Lessons

Easy-Peasy Meals

Cupcakes are all the rage right now, and why not? The possibilities are endless and when each person gets their own personal cake you can’t help feeling extra special. I’ve provided a go-to vanilla cupcake recipe, but would urge you to do your research and see the endless possibilities out there. Don’t just make these cupcakes, make a day of it! Get together with friends, put on your favourite tea party dress, and let the classy out!

My last column introduced you to a simple curry and this time it’s curry again, but from Thailand. If you like spicy and flavourful food, the following fish curry is great choice with ingredients that are conveniently available and the recipe is easy to follow. You also get introduced to a few new ingredients like Thai red curry paste, coconut milk/cream and fish sauce. All these additions to the pantry will serve you well for the future. To purchase, check the foreign foods section of the supermarket. This recipe is for four people.

CUPCAKES

THAI FISH CURRY

LIFE LESSON #11 – BE EXTRAVAGANT!!

Ingredients: • 3 cups flour • 1 tbsp baking powder • 1/2 tsp salt • 1 cup butter, softened • 3 tsp vanilla bean paste/vanilla bean extract/vanilla bean seeds • 1 3/4 cups super fine sugar • 4 large eggs • 1 1/4 cups buttermilk (for buttermilk, you can also take regular milk and add 1 tbsp + 1 tsp of lemon juice or vinegar, whisk together then let sit for 5 mins and you have your own buttermilk)

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line two muffin pans with cupcakes cases. 2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. 3. In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and vanilla bean paste for 4 minutes, until light and fluffy. 4. Beat in the eggs one at a time until thoroughly combined. 5. Add 1/3 of the flour mix, then 1/2 of the buttermilk, then 1/3 of the flour mix, then the rest of the buttermilk, and finally the remaining 1/3 of the flour mix, making sure only to mix for a few seconds after each addition (you don’t want to over mix). Make sure to scrape down the side of the bowl as well. 6. Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin pans, making sure not to overfill it because they will rise. 7. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes. I had to rotate the pan halfway through to ensure even baking. 8. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing them and letting them cool completely on a wire rack. 9. Only when they are completely cooled (and this is important) top them off with the vanilla buttercream icing. VANILLA BUTTERCREAM ICING • 2 cups unsalted butter • 3 1/2 cups icing sugar • 1/2 tsp salt • 3 tsp vanilla bean paste • 1/4 cup milk 1. Whip the butter until it is creamy. Slowly add the icing sugar, making sure to scrape down the sides until fully combined. 2. Add the vanilla bean paste. Slowly, add the milk and continue beating on medium speed until fully combined, for approx. 5 minutes. 3. Put icing into piping bag and decorate to your heart’s delight!

Ingredients: • 500 gms firm white fish fillets cut into 2 inch pieces • 2 Tbs vegetable oil • 1 large onion diced • 1 Tbs chopped garlic • 1 tsp chopped ginger • 1 Tbs Thai red curry paste • 1 Tbs Thai fish sauce • ½ cup water • 1 tsp sugar • 1 can 400 mls coconut milk (or coconut cream use 200 mls) • 1 tsp salt (check to taste) Garnish with: • ½ cup chopped coriander • 2 chopped green chillies • 1 spring/green onion chopped Serve with: • Any green salad leaves • Diced cucumber • 4 hard boiled eggs halved • Basmati rice for four (follow microwave instructions on packet)

Directions: 1. In a wok or large saucepan heat oil and fry diced onion on medium heat for 5 minutes. 2. Add garlic and ginger and fry 3 minutes. 3. Add the red curry paste along with the fish sauce and ½ cup water, sugar and salt and bring all the ingredients in the wok/ saucepan to a boil. 4. Gently add the fish to the wok/saucepan and slowly toss around to cover fish with curry sauce and on lowered heat cook another 3 minutes. 5. Add coconut milk and let simmer for 5 to 7 minutes till the fish is cooked. 6.To serve, take about a cupful of cooked rice and top up with the curry and pieces of fish. Garnish with coriander, chillies and spring onion. On the side serve salad with a 2 halves of the boiled egg per person. A slightly chilled Riesling wine is a perfect accompaniment with this dish. usu

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