MASSIVE Magazine - Issue 24 - 2022

any complaints that can’t be solved by Massive Magazine, or its editorial board.

also a member of the Aotearoa Student Press Association. The views, beliefs and opinions

in the

of Massive do not represent

Haere rā

Mason Tangatatai (he/him)

Welcome to the last issue.

I’m writing this on the final print day of Massive for 2022. We’ve made 24 issues of this magazine for you over the year. That means I get to be a tad sentimental in this editorial.

I’m proud of what we’ve created in 2022. It’s truly been a team effort. A big shoutout to all involved in making Massive Magazine turn over this year. And, a special shoutout to our Designer, Marie, for putting in countless hours, putting up with me changing my mind at every inconvenience, and honestly putting the mag on her back.

Massive is a space to have fun, but also tackle real, serious topics. We’ve covered various on campus protests, racism at university, the lack of mental health services for students and how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected us all. Each of these topics were driven to us by you, the students, in order to have your voices heard. Although we’ve made our fair share of mistakes along the way, it’s been a privilege to represent people who have a passion for making Massey (and the world!!!!) a better place.

Massive has been running for 10 years now. Although I’ve only been here for a sliver of that, it’s struck me how necessary having a regular student publication is. Massive Magazine is the mouthpiece of student

opinion, that simply would not function without our dear readers. This magazine belongs to each of you, the students of Massey University. Keep this alive and kicking in 2023.

If you like writing, illustrating, or photography, I would encourage you to get involved. Due to the nature of students being highly unorganised (including myself), Massive is always looking for students to publish in the magazine. There’s also an array of paid roles that will be advertised early next year. If you want to talk shit and get paid for it, keep your eyes peeled on our socials for more info.

Best of luck for exams and whatever the summer break holds. Massive will be back once again next year, with a completely new team to give you a new fresh look. It’s been fun. I’ll catch y’all later.

Signing off,

Mason

WHAT’S GOING ON?

WEEKLY NEWS UPDATES

If she had one word to describe this year, it would be “fast”. Rijnink said, “Everything happens so quickly and rapid. How the fuck has it been a whole year?”

Sammy Carter (she/her)

Fast, productive, different, chaotic, practical and easy-going is how Massey students described the past school year.

Jitske Rijnink, third-year Industrial Design student said this year has been her favourite of her degree so far. “My highlight has got to be how free rein they’ve let us be with our creativity.”

“The projects we’re making are so fucking fun.” One of these included a sustainable urinal that’s theorematic so you can draw with your pee. She also created an alarm clock from a V energy drink can. In her first and second year she felt the projects were more controlled, but her third year was different. “I didn’t expect that from this place.”

However, Rijnink said her lowlight was feeling unmotivated. “Because it's so free rein, it’s all up to you to make sure things get done. That stresses me out.”

Lillias Ovenden Carlyle, Visual Communication Design student said her highlight was her poster project where she focused on period poverty. “I had just gotten off birth control and started my period again. I thought ‘shit this is expensive’.”

However, she found it hard to catch up after being away from uni. “I had to go home for family things and it’s hard to get back up to speed when you leave for two weeks.” She also found she took on too many group projects and it was hard to manage so many people's schedules. “Next year I’ll plan better so I’ve only got two group projects at a time.”

Her one word for this year was “productive”. Not necessarily because she did a whole lot but she felt excited to be busy.

Aidan Boothby, second-year Visual Design student said his highlight happened only two weeks ago when he decided to change his degree to Visual Effects. “I stopped enjoying what I was doing so I gave something else a go and I love it.”

His lowlight of the year was not changing his degree sooner. But being English born and raised “the death of Liz” was also a downer. RIP Queen Liz.

His one word for this year was “easy going”. Boothby said, “I just went with it, showed up, did my work.” He was also one of the lucky few to not get Covid-19, helping his school year stay on track. “I had three people in my house who had it and I didn’t get it.”

Second-year Creative Media Production student Baxter Gray said his highlight was being first assistant camera on one of the third-years' films. The film was called Woman and was about endometriosis. “The team was really great.” He said, “I haven’t been on many film sets like that before.”

Gray’s lowlight of the year was “lectures being all online”. PREACH. He said, “I find it hard to focus at home.” He didn’t expect it to be online quite that much. “They didn’t really tell us it was happening [until] it happened.”

Even so, his one word for the year was “practical”. After not watching all too many of those online lectures, most of what Gray had done this year was practical. “I felt like I’ve been doing a lot more which has been fun.”

‘How the fuck has it been a whole year?’ Students reflect on the best and worst of uni 2022

What a MASSIVE year!

Elise Cacace (she/her)

It’s been a great year for Massive Magazine. We’ve told some epic tales, showcased some amazing artwork and talked some mad shit along the way. Sadly, the year is coming to an end so it’s time to reflect on our wins, our losses and our plans for the future.

Mason Tangatatai, Managing Editor of Massive Magazine says, “One of my big goals for this year was giving as many students a start in journalism, design or any other medium that we can support. Just giving them a place to perfect their craft.”

The goal has certainly been achieved. Mason says, “We started working with the journalism school and through that we’ve had over 30 students publish articles. That might not sound like a lot but every student that gets an article published in Massive then has that article for their portfolio.”

Massive’s plans for next year are already underway, with new goals and

aspirations slowly shuffling their way into the foreground.

“I’d definitely like to see more contributions on the design side, and work more closely with CoCA,” says Mason.

“I’d also love to see the magazine printed every week. I don’t know if that is going to happen but I think it would make for a better, more regular publication.”

Massive encourages anybody with an interest in media, art, design, journalism, creative writing, photography, fashion (or literally anything!) to get involved. Student media is not only a great way to build up work experience but it’s also a great way to make contacts, meet like-minded people and advocate for change.

“Student media is the best space to work in because you’re speaking directly to people that you can relate to and say things that actually matter to them,” says Feature Writer, Elena McIntyre-Reet.

Mason says, “Student media is a voice for university students. Whenever anything is going wrong or anyone is having problems, student media is the first place to tackle those problems and get a bit of air.”

“It’s really important as students often don’t feel like their voice has the biggest meaning. We want to try and elevate their importance.”

If this sounds like a bitta you, job vacancies will be posted in the beginning of 2023. Keep an eye out on Massive’s Instagram page and Seek.org! Jobs will most likely include a full-time designer, a news editor, a features editor and then a team of five or six more writers, illustrators and a photographer.

“Even if it’s halfway through the year or all of the paid positions have been filled, we are always looking for people to help,” says Mason.

“I feel like students are quite scared to reach out and say ‘hey I’m a writer or I’m an illustrator’ but that’s all it takes. Just email whoever is in charge.”

Karen’s Diner comes to Auckland!

Elise Cacace (she/her)

Karen’s Diner, an Australian chain restaurant made famous through TikTok, has crossed the ditch and is now up and running in Auckland. The 1950s-themed diner is famous for its deliberately bad customer service, operating on the ethos of the ‘Karen’ stereotype. Although it has only been open for a few weeks, the diner has already received mixed reviews, raising the question of how well this hilariously abusive experience is suited to New Zealand.

“I went with my parents and found the whole experience so crack up. The waitress pulled the finger at my dad and threw napkins at my mum, and swore at us pretty much the whole time. My parents were aware of the

joke but I don’t think they enjoyed it as much as I did,” says student Macy Turner.

“I definitely think the concept is better received by the younger generations.”

Although the diner promises “100% rude staff,” there are still a few house rules. The rudeness of staff and customers alike cannot extend to ‘racist, sexist, homophobic or ableist slurs; body shaming; vandalism and food throwing’.

“Honestly, it didn’t really live up to the hype. All we got were a few snobbish stares and curse words thrown at us, or else we were just ignored. The food was also super average and definitely not worth the money,” says student Romey Anderson.

Menu highlights include the ‘Cheesed Off Karen’ breakfast burger, the ‘I Want to See the Manager’ Karen burger, the

‘Karen’s Got Real Beef’ burger and the ‘Karen’s Best Breast’ burger. They also have an accompanying dessert and cocktail menu.

“I love how the food is very fitting with the ‘American diner’ aesthetic. The whole restaurant is also decorated super retro which I loved,” says Macy.

“It’s a very fun concept. I can imagine it would be super fun working there, especially as a theatre student or somebody that loves drama,” says Massey student Ebony Bryant-Smith.

“One of the hardest parts of working in hospo is having to be polite to rude customers, so actually being allowed to get sassy and rude back to them would just be such a stress relief and also so funny.”

If you’re living in Auckland and fancy getting your sass on, Karen’s Diner is hiring! To apply, head to their website.

Massey Students flourish at ‘Emmy’s’ of NZ Design

Mason Tangatatai (he/him)

Massey University’s College of Creative Arts, stood tall at the annual Best Design Awards, with students taking five top awards.

Organised by the Toi Manahau / Designers Institute of New Zealand (DINZ), the Best Design Awards recognise the strongest work produced across nine core categories: Digital, Product, Toitanga, Graphic, Moving Image, Spatial, Value of Design, Public Good, and User Experience.

This year saw 1,381 initial entries, and the winners were honoured at a highprofile awards ceremony at Auckland’s Aotea Centre, emceed by Jenifer Ward-

Lealand and attended by more than 1,000 outstanding designers.

Below are the winners from Massey University’s College of Creative Arts. Check out their mahi through the links!

Lucy Grunfeld - Product Gold Pin for Comfi – A Postoperative Bra for Breast Cancer Rehabilitation

Thomas Mackisack - Public Good Gold Pin for SPOT CHECK

Madison Lynskey-Reid - Spatial Gold Pin for Shadows of the Land

Krista Barnaby & Thomas Cumming

- Graphic Gold Pin for A Book With No Orientation

Duncan Van der Schyff - Moving Image Gold Pin for Baton Pass

What Does Your Degree Say About You?

Elena McIntrye-Reet (she/her)

Massey offers a plethora of different degrees and it’s always a good idea to generalise a whole group of people based on what they’ve chosen to study. Obviously, there are more degrees than I can include in a single article, but I’ll address some of the big-hitters.

Bachelor of Aviation (BAv)

Not gonna lie it’s a pretty impressive degree to take on. It takes a lot to get into but it’s also kind of a bit much? It kind of feels like you chose what you wanted to be when you were five and just stuck with it. By the time you actually finished high school it was too late to change your mind so you just had to fucking go for it.

Bachelor of Agricultural Science (BAgSci)

It wouldn’t be an article about Massey University without mentioning agriculture. I don’t have a lot to say about Ag, it’s certainly a respectable profession. I’m going to make the assumption that you hate the tax on gas-guzzling cars and view gumboots as appropriate for any occasion.

Bachelor of Business (BBus)

Capitalist alert! Eat the rich! Why are you, an adult, studying business when you can learn all you need to know from reading Somehow I Manage by Michael Scott? In all seriousness, I just know that you interrupt women by saying “well…actually”. Unless of course you are a woman in which case you go, girl boss. I support women’s rights but I also support women’s wrongs.

Bachelor of Design (BDes)

I just KNOW you were one of those people that carried around art folders in high school with so much confidence. You used some of your student loan to spend time learning about fonts. Everyone knows you just hit Times New Roman and go. Why do you all have iPads and MacBooks? Surely you don’t need both to learn about colours and shapes.

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)

If design people are pretentious, fine arts people are ultrapretentious. You guys will draw a wonky self-portrait and call it Muted Mutterings of My Left-Wing Cat and then get an A+. Your Year 9 art teacher said you have potential and you just took that little tidbit and ran with it all the way to uni.

Bachelor of Nursing (BN)

While I respect the work of nurses and believe they should be paid more than CEOs - the stereotype that high school bullies go on to study psychology or nursing is 100 per cent true. Some of you definitely picked on a kid by pretending they were invisible until they started crying, and now you want to look after our most vulnerable?

Bachelor of Communication (BC)

Half of Massive’s payroll is made up of comms students, and you see the absolute drivel I come out with every week. What the fuck do you need a degree in communication for? They taught a chimp sign language but you feel the need to spend tens of thousands for a degree in communicating. It’s more than likely you chose this degree because you knew you wanted to go uni but didn’t want to go for a BA at Vic.

Robot Artists Robot Artists

Lily Petrovich (she/they) Images generated on NightCafe Creator

Today, robots are artists. Throughout this year, the mind-boggling concept of AIs creating art has been tossed around in the media, particularly as a result of the work done by DALL·E: a company paving the way for textprompted AI. The concept is simple, you type in a prompt, and the AI creates art accordingly, what’s crazy about it is just how good the art is.

You can enter the most specific prompts, and after changing up a couple of words for a bit, you’ll get eerily accurate results.

It’s a pretty damn thrilling piece of technology, opening both threatening and inspiring possibilities.

As comes with most AI developments, there’s fear around the potential of technology stealing jobs for artists. Particularly many of us never imagined that AI would extend as far to create art.

At the moment, DALL·E 2 is in development, which means DALL·E (the original version) is now open-access. Prior to this, you had to sign up for a waitlist which was over 100 days long for most. This was because of all of the moral questions around AI art, and so they’ve been

scaling access as they learn potential uses of the program and how it could be used for bad.

For example, the program won’t create images of real people, which in the age of misinformation and deepfakes, is definitely a wise call. But this doesn’t answer the question of AI replacing artists.

There’s always been an issue with money for many, many artists, particularly when still making a name for themselves. Art is what makes our world beautiful, and we owe a lot to artists. What happens when companies can use an AI for a fraction of the cost to produce ‘the same’ result?

On the other hand, people argue that if anything, this AI technology could open a lot of doors for artists, comparing it to the development of cameras or photoshop.

Video journalist Cleo Abram created a video about AI art on YouTube after receiving access a couple of weeks ago. She made a fun challenge with a friend out of it, trying to figure out the implications of AI for artists. She brought in her artist friend who had access to DALL·E, and then each created digital art inspired by New York’s AI, with and without DALL·E. After this, they had over 3,000 people vote on their favourite pieces. The most popular pieces were the AI art created by the artist, followed by his work, then Abram’s AI pieces, followed by her original art in last place. Abram isn’t an artist and reiterated this throughout the video.

What she argued, particularly following these results, was that this tool still requires creativity to be utilised to its fullest extent. While her AI art was still impressive, she didn’t have the creative vision or ideas around what words to specify to the AI to maximize the quality of its output.

She believes AI art is the story of “what happens when you give people a powerful new tool. Of how technology, if we use it right, can unlock more of our very human creativity.”

Alongside many, Cleo argued that, while the fears behind AI art are very valid, it can open up potential for countless artists with limited access to education or programs such as photoshop, and discussed how many jobs were lost developing film tools and programs, which she relies on daily to create her content.

An example of where this AI can go right is Steve Coulson, a creative director whose lifelong dream was to create his own comic book. His issue was that he couldn’t draw, or find any artists who were willing to collaborate with him on this project. However, using Midjourney, another AI software, he was able to do so.

It’s tricky stuff, but the world has been constantly changing for a hot minute, and really all we can do at the end of our days is prepare ourselves in ways that help utilise and even embrace these changes.

I think we all know what I’m talking about. You go to do your shopping, food or otherwise and you see the displays. The candy. The fucking “just around the corner” signs.

Now that we’re at the ass end of the year we are seeing ol’ Saint Capitalist’s claws seeping further into the shopping centres once again. And, as usual, it’s about two months before it really should be out.

I love Christmas, I really do. Last year I day drank in a festive shirt while reading The Witcher in the sun. It was lovely. But as much as I do love it, why are we pretending it’s literally a week away? I’ve seen more Christmas tat than I have Halloween, which absolutely boggles my mind.

This could be my family rubbing off on me, or maybe I’m just getting old and cranky, but it genuinely hurts to go into a store in October, hell even in the last week of September, and see some giant plastic tree sitting there with a sign that says “not long now”. It almost feels like a warning. Maybe the tree is trying to say “not long now” in an attempt to put the fear of the holiday into us all.

Wherever you go, it’s Christmas this and Christmas that. It can be hard to not think about Christmas when it’s bombarding you with every shop you go to.

I go to the store - Christmas. I go to class - Christmas. I call my grandma - Christmas.

I close my eyes - darkness. But in my brain it’s ho ho mother-fucking ho Christmas.

You get the idea. It’s everywhere and it’s absolute insanity that every year this stuff gets put out slightly earlier. Eventually, it’s gonna just be up all year round and we’re gonna be stuck in some sort of dystopian perma-holiday.

But friends, don’t give into the Christmas peer pressure! It’s what Jeff Bezos wants!

With the exception of today (6 October when it kinda just snowed out of nowhere), things just haven’t felt very Christmassy recently. Do you know why that is, children?

Because we’re nowhere close to Christmas for crying out loud! The closest festive event we have coming up is Halloween, but you wouldn’t know it just from walking into a shopping centre. Halloween

displays are out and about sure, but why the hell is there a huge Christmas setup in the middle of Palmy Farmers? It appeared near the end of September as well, something which I find utterly criminal.

While the most wonderful time of year is about giving, we associate far too much of the holiday with spending big money on people. Sure, it’s nice to buy presents and receive presents, but every shopping centre wants you to focus on that aspect of things alone. Major shopping outlets just want to wear us down, so you spend money early, with either the feeling that Christmas is “just around the corner”, or the instillment of fear that if you don’t buy things NOW then you’ll miss out closer to the time. It’s shitty capitalist practices 101. Attempting shopping trips can be distressing when there’s rouge displays around every corner, so here are some handy hints to help get you to December without being bombarded with fake holiday spirit.

THREE WAYS TO ESCAPE FAKE

OCTOBER CHRISTMAS

Wear a set of horse blinders

If they can stop a cowboy’s mount from seeing a bear charging at ‘em from the tree line then surely they’ll stop you from seeing the tree line in its entirety. However, if there is a bear on the loose in the shopping centre you attend then this could be an issue…

Pretend the displays are an alternate dimension

It’s not an early Christmas display at all! You’ve fallen into a fantasy land which I cannot name but rhymes with not-at-all-Narnia!!

Run.

The first two tips are useless. Just run. Don’t leave home until the nightmare ends.

I want to make it clear; I do not dislike Christmas at all. It may seem like I’m trying to shit all over the holly jolly-ness of it, but I genuinely do love that time of year. Key words being – THAT TIME OF YEAR. Shoddy capitalism “you must spend your hard-earned credits” mentality has caused the magic to fade over time. Sure, a little bit of that comes with getting older, but seeing everything months in advance just ruins the fun and festivity of it all. It’s like when a game gets delayed a month from release, and now you’re just being constantly edged as the date moves further and further back. Once it arrives it’s just dull, no fun to the decorations or imagery because you’ve seen

it all already. A rubbish allegory for Christmas shopping but come on man, it's just irritating seeing it out there this early!

I’m not some scrooge who’s trying to ruin others’ fun either. I just think that it’s ridiculous how much of what’s meant to be for many “lovely family time” has been commercialized and reduced to “how much money did the large red bearded man spend on me”. Eventually we won’t even get early displays to complain about. It’ll be bright neon signs blasting us with ads as well as commercials for trees and ornaments being downloaded directly into our brains.

So, I recognise this has basically just been “Aiden blows a gasket cause they don’t believe in shopping for December two months out”. I guess what I’m getting at is this – you don’t need to bow down to the corpo overlords trying to take your money this October! There are still many days before the holiday arrives, and the mega corps are gonna be fine without you buying a fake plastic tree three months prior.

However, it is nearly Halloween which I guess does mean it’s nearly Christmas which could then be seen as it being nearly Easter and by that logic anything is possible…

*Hypocrisy alert!!*

In an ironic turn of events I got distracted from finishing this piece and started doing early Christmas shopping with my partner. I don’t even remember what this piece was meant to be getting at, I kinda just blacked out and the ghost of Christmas-capitalism past took over…

Fuck it. It’s already October. Go frolic amongst the displays.

How Do We Create Safe Festivals?Music

Mia Faiumu (she/her) Illustrated by Kimi Moana Whiting (she/her)

With university wrapping up for the year, summer and the much-awaited festival season looms increasingly near.

As recent festivals such as Listen In played out in Tāmaki Makaurau and new arrival Snow Machine went ahead in Queenstown, you can feel the season slowly ramping up.

This is an exciting time, especially in a moment of post-Covid, but it also creates a sense of worry and anxiety about the safety of these events.

Every summer, we anticipate the inevitable news reports regarding dismayed and unsatisfied punters, who had negative experiences at summer festivals – whether this was from unsafe drug use, overly aggressive crowds, or a lack of access to water.

This risk to one’s safety and wellbeing, at events that are meant to provide entertainment and fun, is needless.

As a recent attendee of Listen In 2022 in Tāmaki Makaurau, many danger signs reared their ugly head, giving an unsettling feeling that the precedent was being set for the upcoming festival season.

It is very clear this is not an isolated experience of one rouge music festival, but is rather symptomatic of many of the gigs starting up again after a lull in live events.

Speaking with Neville Carseldine, Head of Event Security at Auckland Unlimited, he commented on the changed landscape of live events as we move out of Covid-19 lockdowns.

As we went into a three-year hiatus of live events, teenagers coming of age weren’t able to explore their newfound legality and attend concerts or festivals.

Carseldine noted that where fresh 18-year-olds normally get to test the waters around older, more experienced festival goers, who are able to set a precedent of behaviour, there is now a pool

of 18-20-year-olds making up large proportions of attendees, all who are unfamiliar with the environment of a large-scale event.

Where potentially earlier, experienced punters may have helped and supported the safety of those around each other, there’s a festival culture emerging that is a free-for-all mosh pit where the risk of being trampled becomes abundant.

In one sense then, this safety risk at festivals may relate to a sense of uncontrollable aggression within the crowd that fuels the chaos. In another sense, there is also a primary responsibility for the safety and coordination of these events that lies with festival organisers and promoters.

So, the question remains – how can we actually create music festivals that allow for the unencumbered fun of the audience while still creating a safe environment and providing essential safety precautions?

To understand this paramount question, I’ve chatted with Ari Hughes, founder of Don’t Be a Festivillain, a not-for-profit organisation promoting an ethos of positive, compassionate and safe festival culture in Aotearoa.

Ari says, “I want to bring awareness to the realities, behaviours and issues we can avoid when participating in music festivals - by changing the perception of how festival punters perceive how to party.”

“I will be focusing on main issues that cause harm at festivals and promoting correct awareness and education surrounding self-care, illicit drug and alcohol abuse related harm, general first aid, bad behaviours and taking care of your mates.”

Don’t Be a Festivillain uses different strategies to create safe environments at events, from the use of visual graphics to running wellness spaces for everyone’s use.

As noted by Ari, the organisation creates “a persuasive visual series that supports and promotes safe positive behaviours and practises. By pushing the notion of creating a compassionate festival community for everyone attending the festival, for festival goers, to workers, to security and for everyone whom may be involved.”

The ethos of Don’t Be a Festivillain can be understood as “establishing why being an educated partier is a cool partier”.

Similarly to Carseldine, Ari noted there is obviously responsibility on both sides of the coin, whereby this lies with both festival goers and organisers.

“A festival is about coming together, sharing an experience as a whole and the attendees have such a big role to play. If there’s mutual respect and care from both parties then everyone will have a good time,” Ari states.

Woodstock ‘99 is a prime example of this, whereby Ari comments the organisers didn’t give a damn about their attendees which resulted in them literally ripping the festival apart.

As shown in the Woodstock ‘99 documentary series, a drastic change in genre and the demographics attending can fundamentally shift the dynamics of a festival and can result in tragic situations for festival goers.

Therefore, it could be true that certain genres of music, that fuel more aggressive behaviour, and entice a younger, more male-dominated crowd can have a profound impact on the type of experience punters have at live events.

“Music has such an influence over culture and also has such a big influence on behaviour,” notes Ari.

“The words ‘SEND IT’ are deeply rooted in party culture.”

In this sense, it’s pretty apparent the massive scrap that played out at Bay Dreams in the summer of 2020 wasn’t the same crowd attending the vibey odyssey of the 121 Festival that same year.

There are very clear distinctions between many of the mainstream large-scale festivals versus the smaller, emerging festivals. One of the main distinctions is the culture that surrounds these more relaxed festivals, where they are actively promoting the very ethos that Don’t Be a Festivillain stands for.

“Music is one of the biggest ways people can finally feel comfortable to express themselves no matter the genre - to me a festival should be a safe space physically and mentally where people can do this,” states Ari.

She notes that there are many things that are contributing factors when it comes to safety, but main ones are self-care, and illicit drug and alcohol abuse related harm.

“The other ones would be over selling and lack of infrastructure to look after so many people and their needs,” she continues.

“It’s unfortunate to see so many festivals not being realistic about the safety of their patrons, especially in the summer climates, or putting safety at the bottom of the list.”

Ari tells me that creating a sense of community at events is important to the overall sense of safety and the way people care for others around them.

She notes, “Having a lack of community throughout a festival can really make people feel unsafe.”

“It really shows when there is a sense of compassion from the organisers trickling down to everyone employed by the festival and then to the audience.”

This community ethos is something that all festivals should be prioritising in their budget and design. This could be as simple as facilitating a multitude of wellness areas scattered throughout large-scale events. This would exhibit a sense of prioritisation of safety, rather than the standard singular chill out zone allocated for thousands of intoxicated punters.

When asked what small ways festivals can create safer environments, Ari reflected this, speaking to the construction of spaces and areas within festivals that promote and allow for the protection of safety, as well as making this prioritisation known to the audience through the general fostering of a positive culture.

“Create a space where people can go to for help for any reason there may be, show interest in your audiences’ safety and wellness and in return they will have a good time and look after your staff and the festival you have created,” Ari states.

More large-scale ways of promoting safety could be through creating a code of conduct that outlines the ethos of the whole festival, promoting this widely and ensuring this is actively practiced by staff from the CEO, through to security, liaisons, vendors, and most importantly your audience.

“Be prepared for your audience, have enough water and food for the amount of people coming, make a plan if you run out. Be organized!” emphasises Ari.

Furthermore, ask Festivillain to create your wellness zones specific to your target audience, and have people assigned to wellness areas as a priority!

We need to change the way that we party, and prioritise our safety, and the safety of others more closely. New Zealand’s binge drinking culture is one that promotes mass consumption without much thought to consequences.

“If you’re going to be a seasoned festival goer,” comments Ari, “educate yourself.”

“Educate yourself with any substances you may take, educate yourself once you’re at the festival - where are water stations, where can I buy food, where are the exits if I need to get out of here, where can I go, and or who can I go to for help if I need anything.”

“Practise some self-care. Festivals are like a marathonif you know you’re going to drink have a big feed before you get intoxicated, buy some extra food for when you go to sleep. Strap on a water bottle if you must.”

“And most importantly look after your mates!”

Pre Graduation Reflections

Elena McIntrye-Reet (she/her) Illustrated by Marie Bailey (she/her)

Graduation for the undergraduate class of 2021 is set to take place on 11 and 12 October. The ceremony is happening almost a full year after most students had graduated. Originally planned for April, students weren’t sure if the ceremony would go ahead at all. There are students across many universities who didn’t get to walk the stage because they graduated in the midst of Covid-19. This year's graduation is the first in two years with no Covid-19 restrictions, with a sense of normalcy returning to the time of year where Instagram feeds are flooded with academic regalia.

The delay in this year's ceremony means that graduation has lost the sense of occasion for some students, many of whom have been working full time in their chosen fields for a year. Others though, are excited to have some official recognition for their hard work and tens of thousands in student loan debt.

Jean Donaldson is graduating as a valedictorian of the College of Creative Arts Class of 2021, and has mixed feelings about graduation.

“I think all the way through uni graduation seemed so far away that I never really cared about it. Even when we were finishing our final year, because of Covid-19 there was still no certainty around whether there would even be an event. It feels pretty surreal. I’m a lot more excited and grateful than I thought I would be.”

The role of valedictorian is a conflicting one for Jean, as an employee of a university and a union member.

“I feel so grateful for the opportunity, it feels really special. I genuinely love Massey and all the staff and people who kept my degree running throughout my four years. On the other hand, as a union member and uni employee, it feels weird to have to thank all the heads of Massey who I didn’t even know the names of until now, especially when they aren’t contributing to a good working environment for my colleagues.”

Isla graduated from Victoria University of Wellington in 2020, and didn’t get to attend an official graduation ceremony. She feels like she missed out on something special, even though she got the degree she studied for.

“It makes me a bit sad that I missed out on the huge celebration and the chance to dress up and take photos. I feel like it would have been a good way to put a full stop on three and a half years of study and celebrate with the people who helped me get there.”

Alice is graduating from Massey Business School, and isn’t as excited as she thought she’d be.

“I’ve attended three different unis before finally finding what I want to do at Massey, I would say that my tertiary education journey has been a bit of a slog, and I’m glad I finally finished it.

I’m excited to dress up and I think my parents are excited to take photos, but other than that it feels less significant because it was postponed so much.”

The actual ceremony is proving a bit nerve wracking for the graduating class.

Grace is also graduating from the Business School and is surprised by all the rules graduates have to adhere to on the day.

“There’s like a specific way you have to put the tassel thing on your hat, or you have to carry your silly graduation hat in a specific hand so that you can shake the ViceChancellor's hand. At the same time, there’s going to be photographers there taking pictures of you walking the stage, it’s a lot to think about all at once. I was never much of a multitasker, so I’m hoping I remember how to walk when I have to do it in front of over a 1,000 people.”

The dress code expectations for graduation are fairly mixed. Many students plan to wear dresses and nice shoes while others are going for comfort over fashion and are wearing sneakers for the procession.

Graduation is a huge occasion so, naturally, requires a bit of liquid courage for some. A few graduates will be having a couply before walking in the procession.

“Just a couple glasses of prosecco to get me through the pain of walking the procession in heels, I don’t think I’d be able to cope otherwise. I’ll neck some water before I actually have to walk across the stage, and my last name is pretty far down the alphabet so I’ll have time to gather myself before my name is called,” says a graduate who wishes to remain anonymous.

By the time this article comes out, graduation celebrations will be well and truly over. Most graduates will return to their 9 to 5s with the high of being the centre of attention for a day fizzled out. Degrees will be framed and photos will be posted.

Expensive pieceof paper

Before we know it, there’ll be another lot of graduates coming through. Hopefully they don’t get delayed as much as this one.

CONFESSIONS

Everyone loves a scandalous confessions page. You’re never sure if what people saying is fake or not, but that’s what make these pages great. Massey Confessions is a facebook page based from the mighty Manawatū. These legends anonymously post unfiltered content from the very students you see in your classes every day. Below are a selection of some of the finest confessions over the summer, with a sprinkle of Massive commentary. Go and give the page a follow, you won’t regret it.

Show your support to your lecturers etc., they're going through a tough time as well x

Just own it king, nothing wrong with supporting local!

Catfished to the worst degree.

Sex life > exams. Fuck louder next time you have someone over!

SE XCAPADES

just straight up convenience in there, but moral of the Ben’s, they are just one big, fat sexual learning curb.

To sum it up, it is usually during these sexual encounters, where we get to practise our best fake moans, and sometimes even our best fake orgasms. No discredit to the Ben’s, but they are, in most cases, the first of many stops on our sex journey.

THE LIAM’S:

Let me introduce the Liam's. Odds are, if you’re over 18 you’ve almost certainly fucked a Liam, and if you haven’t, well, prepare your vagina and your selfesteem.

The Bens’ and Liam’s of your sex life

THE BEN’S:

Let’s talk about the Ben’s of our sex lives. Whether he’s a past, present or future fuck, we are almost all guaranteed to encounter at least one Ben on our sex journey. More if you’re unlucky. Ben might be the guy you lose your virginity too, or perhaps he’s the first guy you have regular sex with. Regardless, the Ben’s come along to teach us exactly what we don’t like about sex, and how not to play with our clits.

Ben. The ‘inexperienced’ guy. The ‘I watch too much porn’ guy. The ‘sex is over when I finish’ guy. His lack of sexual education and experience combined, leads to your clitorus being played like a guitar and your nipples being completely neglected on his way down.

Let me tell you about my ‘Ben’. I encountered a Ben when I was 15 years old. He had already had his fingers in most of my friends and his penis in others, so naturally I had to see what the fuss was about. We dated for a few weeks before sealing the deal with 4 minutes of missionary and high-pitched moans (from him). We spent 8 months together as a couple, exploring the in’s and out’s of each other (literally), and then I reached my capacity of being brought to the brink of an orgasm and him stopping because, you guessed it, he came first.

Ben’s typically have a big heart, this is why we go for them in the first place. Their innocence, and our lack of understanding of our own sexual preferences, are the two main ingredients of this distasteful sexual pudding. There may be a bit of alcohol, curiosity or

Liam. The ‘overqualified’ guy. The ‘you’re lucky to have sex with me’ guy. The ‘doesn’t know his body count’ guy.

The Liam’s are beautiful. They have tricks up their sleeves the Ben’s are yet to learn. They are the ones who make you feel sexy, the ones who teach you how to put your legs behind your head, and although it is not their primary focus, they will occasionally make you cum.

The best way to paint a picture of a Liam is by unpacking his one and only sexual approach, ‘if one girl likes it, all girls like it.’ That is their first mistake. No, Liam, just because Nancy liked it when you spat on her face, does not (and I seriously mean does not) mean I do. Shut your fucking mouth.

Let me tell you about my Liam. He walked into my life when I was 18. I smelt his attitude before I saw him. He has this ‘hard to get, lucky to have me’ vibe about him that teased my untrained brain. A girl wants what she can’t have. For the first few months of my Liam experience I spent either in the back seat of his truck, or bent over the hood of it. But eventually the novelty of being sexually dominated wore off and I wanted more. Now, the number one rule of a Liam, (and I learned this the hard way), you fuck them on occasion, you don’t love them, that is unless you want to be compared to the countless vaginas he has entered, and be recognised as his latest conquest.

The Liam’s are just young boys in older bodies with a desire to fulfil their sexual fantasises at the expense of your dignity. The Liam’s will teach you what you love about sex and hate about men.

Te Reo and NZSL

Words of the week

Revitalising Te Reo Māori and NZSL is of paramount importance. Take a few minutes out of your dat to learn and memorise these words. It’s the least we can do.

Mutunga

Haere ra

Whakamatautau

SOLICITED ADVICE

Should I go out the weekend before exams?

Maybe controversial, but a big yes from me. I am a firm believer that if you are scrambling to study every minute before any exam, you are beyond help. But, I also didn't do amazingly at uni.. Maybe for this very reason

Feeling happy is the most important thing. If you have a nice time, have a kai, and get a good sleep in without wasting away your whole weekend, then I think that's a good result.

I've said it before, but learn the concepts so they are embedded in your brain, not memorised, but part of the very fibres of your being because you just understand them - like really understand them. Explain the core ideas to your flatmates, your mum, your flat bed, tell them what's cool about them, what sucks, all that jazz - you're not going to lose that by going out and letting loose :--)

Best way to recover over the summer holidays?

Sadly I took consistent Ls on this front and don't think I have ever recovered and haven't had a summer where I haven't worked since I was 6 or something lol - thank u family business. If you don't have to work - literally enjoy it lol. I'm a busy little bee, so I think it's quite nice being able to reflect on what you did, so if you're able maybe try and do something real a week - go for a hike, paint, swim all that sexy lazy hippy shit.

Solicited advice is a weekly column where an underqualified anonymous guru answers the questions you want answered. This won’t include the stock-standard, sugar-coated advice you’re used to hearing – we’re talking about the truths that are

What should I do with my old copies of Massive?

Recycle them

mache

planes

your furniture level

them at the editor, Mason Tangatatai, when you see him next year (I will be doing this option)

Do you have a question you’re dying to have answered? DM Massive Magazine on Instagram and look out for next week’s issue. Also, follow us while you’re at it x

Horoscopes

cAPricorn

As tempting as it is, now’s not the time to be planning a detailed itinerary for your Europe OE. Focus on passing your papers and then think about meeting a hot Italian.

cAncer

Don’t be ashamed to cry in the library. In fact, embrace the cry. Get some chocolate, turn on some music full volume (headphones, of course), and let it out. It will actually help you perform better in exams.

AquArius

Let the perfectionist in you go, Aquarius. Proofreading that essay too much can actually make it worse. And it really isn’t that big of a deal if you go with light blue or baby blue for your heading.

Leo

Leo, my two-year reign of continuously bullying you in Massive’s horoscopes is over. Godspeed.

Pisces

Calm your mind, calm your soul this exam season. Invest in an adult colouring-in book, perhaps? Just be mindful not to push yourself too much. Burnout sucks.

VirGo

If there’s one zodiac I know will absolutely smash their final assessments and exams it’s you. Your song of the week is Virgo’s Groove by Beyoncé. #SLAY

Aries

Procrastination is your worst enemy at the moment, Aries. Try channeling the passion you have for going down YouTube rabbit holes into listening to lectures!

LibrA

If you’re on the fence about going out this weekend or studying for your exams… study! No, you won’t wake up early and energetic on Sunday morning. Do your mahi.

TAurus

A sleep in here and there is good for the soul and I recommend it. But sleeping to escape your problems only gets you so far. Face them head on. You’re a bull after all!

scorPio

Your mantra for final hand ins and exam season is ‘Look good, feel good, do good’. Go get your nails done or a fresh haircut – trust me, these things will help your performance.

Gemini

Technology is here to help you this business end of the semester, Gemini. Utilise split or double screens, stop printing out things you can read online, and download the app Flow to keep you on task.

All your teachers who told you you weren’t good enough, or not living up to your potential, are dicks. Cast those words out of your head. You got this.

Puzzle

sudoku

1 FAST, 4 GREEN, 6 SNAIL, 8 KAURI, 9 OZONE, 10 COMPOST, 13 REVITALISE, 14 RAKAU, 16 ATMOSPHERE, 18 LITTER

KOI, 15 REDUCE

2 STRAW, 3 VEGAN, 5 SOLAR, 7 POSSUM, 8 KEEP CUP, 10 CAR POOLING, 11 TESLA, 12 H

Presidents Column

Welly exec MAWSA Jake asa

Kia ora e te whanāu. In this last Massive edition for the year, we wanted to thank you for being such an amazing body of students. We are honoured to have been your student representatives this year and although the job had countless ups and downs, it has been just as rewarding to meet many you on the Welly campus.

We send our love and luck to those who have hand ins/ exams soon and look forward to the many ways you inspire us! Ka pai!

With the SGMs happening Wednesday, they highlight the hard work all the student associations put into listening to student feedback, opening the pathway for new beginnings. We, likewise, cannot help but reflect on what we’ve done over the past 2yrs as co-presidents. Our priority was to ensure that distance students were no longer the unseen majority; subsequently, we nurtured a visible increase in distance student engagement and visibility both on and off campus. We also ensured our students were advocated for at the highest levels. It’s been our privilege to represent distance students during our term and we look forward to seeing what the future brings through MUSAF.