Nexus 2019 Issue 21

NEXUS IS BUFFERING

ISSUE 21 VOL 52

16.9.19

DID YOU KNOW AFTER GRADUATION KIWI’S CAN WORK & TRAVEL IN THE USA FOR A YEAR? ASK STA TRAVEL FOR DETAILS Terms & conditions apply

STA TRAVEL WAIKATO Waikato Uni, Gate 1 09 856 1300 waikato@statravel.com

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18 LONELINESS

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15

SCREEN TIME

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CONTENTS Grace Mitchell Nexus Editor

editor@nexusmag.co.nz

Kim Sare Deputy Editor

kim@nexusmag.co.nz

Ashlea Curran Designer

design@nexusmag.co.nz

James Raffan Managing Editor

james@nexusmag.co.nz

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Contributors Sophie Miller Entertainment Editor sophie@nexusmag.co.nz

Silvan Pislor

Lauren Alexander

Makayla Wallace - Tidd

Nelson Cooper Sports Editor nelson@nexusmag.co.nz

Raaginee Rajah

Centrefold Josh Nelson

Ella Morgan News Editor ella@nexusmag.co.nz

Kyla Campbell

Jared Ipsen jared@nexusmag.co.nz

Chelsea Grove

Luka Love luka@nexusmag.co.nz

Dylan Todd

Caitlin Walters-Freke

Kahn Stevenson Troy Matich

Mia Milne

Josh Umbers

Kaleb Adams

Emmelena Bryce

Advertising Kendrah Worsley + Tara Overwater comms@wsu.org.nz

When’s the last time you spent a day without devices? Or a week? Or longer? Yeah nah, in the life of a student, we’re on our lappies and our iPhones on the hourly , if not every 2 minutes.

It’s become normalised so, so quickly. Dad loves to share his back-in-my-day stories about the dagger eyes he used to get for answering his cellphone in the supermarket back in the 90s. Even as a kid, I remember mum setting the egg timer (and covertly rigging it) so you got your one hour daily max on the likes of Club Penguin or onemorelevel.com, and that was that.

Now, kids are growing up addicted to iPads, we’re the social media generation, and even my friggin’ grandma is sharing twenty things a day on Facebook.

Grace Mitchell Nexus Editor editor@nexusmag.co.nz

Technology has so many benefits, of course. I genuinely do not know how our parents made it home alive after a big night on the town or a massive summer festie without being able to text or call. How anybody passed university and had the time to maintain a job on the side without ol’ mate Google is beyond me. Everything has become vastly more efficient, and that’s great. I could delve into the whole Y2K type scenario and scream “what’s going to happen if it all crashes one day” (if you’ve ever worked retail over Christmas and had the computers break down, you’ll understand the sheer panic I’m talking about), but honestly my biggest concern is our quality of life. We’re facing a loneliness epidemic. We’ve all heard it before - our world is more connected yet more isolated than ever. As much as we’ve nipped, tucked, shaped and cheated our primitive ways through cultural evolution, we can’t remove the need for socialisation from our DNA. Furthermore, our productivity is at stake. In the modern world of short attention spans, arguably the greatest skill you can possess is the ability to concentrate. Whether it’s an upcoming assignment, revising for an exam, implementing a business idea, proving your worth in a new job, learning an instrument, or working out at the gym, you can’t get very far without focus. Want something that will set you apart from the other thousands of kids who have the exact same degree? Work on your ability to focus. It’s the root of so many successes, yet our addiction to our phones - the irresistible urge to keep checking it and checking it, constantly seeking something we’re never quite getting, looking at things that we don’t even really care about - is destroying it. Look around; we’re addicted.

This week’s feature is all about cyberloafing and how we can stop wasting so much damn time on these little glass screens.

If the app developers aren’t going to adjust their ways, we as individuals need to get our lives back. That’s not to say you should flush your phone down the toilet, or something; we just need to figure out how we can resist the addictive nature of technology, get our lives back, build back our concentration abilities and connect with each other again (and no, not just on Snapchat).

With that said, surely follow @nexusmag on Instagram

❤

NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 20

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TACOS ON MONDAY ?

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wanna get maccas?

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Toi Wāhine 2019: Sorry For Your Loss 8pm / $15 / The Meteor Theatre

we going to jay sean ?

19 SEP

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Waikato girl you are Cherry Tree Festival 9am-5pm missing out / $20+ / English Cherry Tree Manor, Matangi wish u were here!!

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FOMO 6

Waikato Pacific Youth just won $50 Youth Network Pasifika on the pokies Games 2019 10am / Free / Enderly Park

Real Life

Nothing beats hopping on Tinder and having a cheeky swipe on a fitty you know who lives just down the road.

The best part is that you don’t even have to meet them, you can just have a cheeky flirt then never talk to them again if you want. Online dating is so simple - it eliminates the awkwardness and discomfort that comes along with real life dating - so feel free to pull out that absolutely cringe pickup line you’ve always wanted to use, because your match will most likely lap it up…or not. But if not, that’s okay, because there are many more hotties to send a message to and try your pickup lines on. The internet is full of online dating sites for anything you like; whether you are hoping to find the partner of your dreams swiping through Tinder, or whether you want a 6-foot man in a bunny costume to spank you, there will be a place in the online dating universe for you with no judgement whatsoever! You can’t say the same for IRL dating, because telling your mate’s cousin that you got conned to go on a date with that you fancy a golden shower is probably not going to end very well.

Apart from out-there sexual fantasies and hoping to find the love of your life, online dating can help you with the good old town hook-up. It’s like searching up the menu at a restaurant before you get there so you don’t have to spend ages deciding what you want. Send a cheeky message, suss to meet in town, and there you have it - a romantic night of $4 cruisers and grinding on the dance floor (not to mention your mates will be there to help if things go sour).

NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 20

Online Dating/Tinder

Straight off the bat, numero uno, there is zero chance of catfishing if you meet someone in person. What could possibly be worse than turning up for a Tinder date with someone who is meant to be a solid 9 and actually turns out to be a wildebeest? You talked them up to your mates, you said they were an absolute catch, and thought they might just be the one to tie down for life.

However, you rock up and you suddenly feel like you’re playing an RPG and you’re about to try and slay an ogre.

Your game plan for afterwards swiftly changes from ‘telling all your mates about how you smashed them back’ to ‘they go to a different school and they don’t have Facebook’. Another fantastic thing about real life dating is you actually get to see the substance of the person you’re grafting; they might actually be super duper cool and have amazing chat, unlike someone online who appeared to have great chat, but trying to keep a conversation with them in person is like walking through quicksand with a parachute on and a pair of gumboots tied to your feet. One of my favourite mottos is easily “try it before you buy”. It means exactly what it says on the tin. Has it occurred to anyone that if you’re dating online it’s literally an invitation to cheat? Last but not least, you’ll actually get to do cool shit together unlike someone dating a screen. Like going on sick ass cool ass adventures, getting on the sesh, going to the movies, kick ons, festivals, and having those dusty Sunday cuddles.

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SCREEN TIME

Devices Are Now Affecting Children from the Age of Two Ella Morgan Research out of San Diego State University and the University of Georgia is highlighting the effect of smartphone and tablet use on children and young people. Spending an hour per day using a device can increase the likelihood of depression and anxiety in children as young as two years old, studies suggest.

In New Zealand, educators have observed a number of challenges emerge with the fast-paced development of technology. Lee Tulloch, Company Manager of Li’l Pumpkins Early Learning, says that access to inappropriate sites, online bullying, and the anonymity of communication are some of the biggest issues that come with children using devices and the internet. “Education on how to interact with friends online in positive ways is essential. With increasing evidence that prolonged use of devices contributes to poor mental health we must ensure positive healthy relationships are discussed,” says Lee. She suggests that parents become familiar with Netsafe’s guidelines, parental controls and set specific time limits of device use. “Families must decide what rules they have for their own children. Netsafe has some great resources and I am aware schools often have workshops for parents to help them make decisions. We all have different priorities and experiences that shape what becomes important to us.”

Lee explains that a number of factors have contributed to changes seen in children over the past ten years. She does, 8

however, see clear effects that devices are having on young people. “As a parent and grandparent I have noticed that my own children and grandchildren find it difficult to put down devices. They appear distracted and almost addicted. They become cross when asked to do another task and time spent on devices has increased a lot,” she says.

Despite these effects, Lee believes devices can be used in a positive way. She says that keeping in contact with extended family and access to information are excellent benefits to living in a digital age. Screen time, however, should not replace other types of learning. “Children who are looking at a screen during their most formative years are missing out on reading body language, reading facial expressions and making social connections to others. There is far more literacy, mathematics and science occurring through genuine play opportunities.

Social skills can not be learned while looking at a device,” says Lee. In older age brackets, the use of devices paired with the internet is associated with similar risks. Lucy Brock, who was crowned Miss World New Zealand earlier this year, has just created a new organization to spread awareness of these issues.

‘Safe Clicks’ covers topics such as hate speech, online bullying, mental wellbeing, child sexual abuse material and other online dangers through presentations in schools.

Brock herself has experienced cyber bullying, and this serves as one of her motivations for starting the project. The mission of Safe Clicks focuses on “making online safety and online wellbeing a priority for our next generation of leaders, young kiwi kids”. Action focuses on education as a means of informing young people of how to stay safe, address cyberbullying and online abuse, and manage mental wellbeing in relation to internet use.

Netsafe CEO Martin Cocker says that the dangers of the internet affect people from all generations. “Everybody faces every challenge online regardless of their age; there’s clearly a significant amount of abuse and harassment that people have to deal with, challenges around managing privacy and identity online, and then practical challenges around security and retaining security of your finances and information,” Cocker says. “The one that Netsafe deals with the most would be abuse and harassment and that is the main thing our resources are focused on, but people can talk to us about any challenge they face online and we can still be helpful.”

“ Spending an hour per day using a device can increase the likelihood of depression and anxiety in children as young as two years old, researchers suggest.”

For those who experience cyber bullying, resources are available to help. “New Zealand has set up under the law a structure that puts Netsafe as the first port of call if you feel that you are being harmed by a digital communication,” says Cocker. “There is an offence in this country of harmful digital communications, and there is both a criminal and civil process, and if it’s bad enough you can go straight to the police. In most circumstances you’ll report it in the first instance to Netsafe, and that would begin a process that hopefully will get your resolution straight away, but can also open up options in the District Court.”

As for whether more limits are needed around the age at which children can use the internet, Cocker says that “we operate in an international environment so we can’t set the rules for the internet, but it would be good to see more thought about when young people are ready for different types of experiences online”. Currently, much responsibility falls on parents and individuals for the safety of children and young people online.

One thing is certain; we will continue to deal with these challenges as long as technology continues to develop.

VOXED Kahn Stevenson Have you had any experience with cyberbullying?

CB: I can’t say I have really. I see it in movies and hear about it at school, but no one ever directly did anything to harm me though.

SN: I mean yeah, we all had rumors go around about us, people messaging about something you said or did. But otherwise, they were nothing more than rumors, ultimately we can look back on them and laugh.

AP: I was both a victim and a perp. I started rumors or spread screenshots, but also got the short end of the stick when it got all turned back on me. I guess what goes around comes around.

Do you think the media accurately portrays cyberbullying?

CB: Yes and no. Some of it is, but other shows, like 13 Reasons Why, did not do the best job at showing an accurate representation of cyberbullying, though it showed how a lot of people respond to it. I think for the best accuracy, we need to have real stories from kids our age, not what our parent’s generation think happens.

SN: I can’t say I have actually seen much, and whatever there is it is overdramatized and not realistic and reflective of what actually goes on. What we need to see more of is the rich bitchy girls making up shit to get what they want from others.

What do you think could be done to actively stop the amount of cyberbullying in our schools?

SN: Show kids what really happens and what the consequences of it can lead to. The best way to fight it would be to show how things can end if we don’t treat each other well.

AP: Kids can’t bully people online if they don’t have access to the internet. I am not saying take it away, it’s the 21st century and you can’t do anything without it, but just have stricter controls and limitations on what they can and can not access and say to curve the chances of inflicting anything on anyone.

NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 20

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FEEL GOOD NEWS London-based company Vollebak has created a t-shirt made out of wood and algae that can be composted. The fabric is made out of sustainably sourced beech, eucalyptus and spruce trees which have been transformed into textile yarn, while the ink is made entirely out of algae, so you can just bury the shirt in your backyard when you’re finished with it.

A Florida man bought 100 generators to send to the Bahamas after the destruction from Hurricane Dorian. The

man, who does not want to be named, walked into a Costco in Jacksonville, Florida, and purchased $49,285 worth of generators to send to the families affected.

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The University of Tennessee has turned a young boys homemade design into an official t-shirt after the boy was bullied for his design. After a photo was

posted on social media, UT responded by tweeting an image of a t-shirt with the student’s design for pre-order, promising to donate a small portion to @stompoutbullying.

H&M has stopped buying leather from Brazil over the country’s ignorance regarding the Amazon fires. The fashion retailer is refusing to support the cattle farming reported to be the cause of the fires in the Amazon rainforest.

Darius Brown, a 12 year old in New Jersey, is designing and making bow ties for shelter dogs to help them get adopted, saying the bow ties make them more noticable and help them find “a forever, loving home.” His business Beaux & Paws sells custom bow ties for pet owners and their animals, with a portion of the profits also being donated to the ASPCA.

A woman adopted 97 stray dogs as Hurricane Dorian invaded the Bahamas. Her goal was to fit as many stray dogs as she could into her home as Hurricane Dorian struck. She does not belong to any kind of shelter or organisation and does not receive help from the government - just a kind woman with a big heart

Lizzo has been called the “feel-good Super Star everyone needs.” At the VMAs, Queen Latifah gave Lizzo a standing ovation, tweeting “I cried like a baby watching Lizzo and all those beautiful black girls whose bodies look like mine on stage tonight”, showing once again that representation matters.

Rodney Smith Jr., founder of Raising Men Lawn Care Service, invited US police officers to join him in mowing the lawns of veterans and the elderly.

7 officers from Madison Police Department showed up for duty, and Rodney had a special police-themed mower made, painted black and white and complete with flashing lights.

The Danish government paid 11 million kroner to buy the country’s last remaining circus elephants so they can retire.

This comes as the government plans to enforce a ban on all wild circus animals later this year, following a similar ban in the UK in May.

Passengers aboard the Celebrity Equinox cruise liner turned their holiday into a humanitarian mission to help those affected by Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas. The

crew members and guests worked together to prepare and serve over 10,000 sandwiches and water bottles, and the children on board made hand-made cards for the families.

Ricky Hull from Indiana raised more than $5,000 for the Down Syndrome Indiana Buddy Walk, and was celebrated by becoming the billboard face of the event. Ricky raises money

for the event every year, but with the help of the local police department, 2019 saw Ricky raise 10x the amount he normally does, landing him the top job.

Short News

QUOTES

Luka Love / Kahn Stevenson / Ella Morgan A 74-year old woman in Southern India, tired of being stigmatised for being childless, has given birth to twins. Post-menopausal Mangayamma Yaramati underwent IVF using a donor egg and her 82-year old husband’s sperm. The news has given hope to millennials trying to choose between career and children.

The Weatherman-In-Chief has been defending claims that even the storms are bigger and more powerful since he became president and claims the solution to hurricanes might be nuking them. He’s probably right about storm size despite not believing in climate change.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Customs’ largest ever haul of methamphetamine was seized at the border last week: 469 kilograms hidden inside of electric motors imported from Thailand. One Kiwi and two Canadians have already been arrested over the operation. Further arrests are pending, surely keeping the smugglers up at night.

An American woman has been taken into custody in the Philippines after trying to nick a baby. She had made it through airport security before being nabbed at the gate with a 6-day old boy hidden inside her carry-on. Reportedly she wanted to give him “a name and a church blessing”. God thought otherwise.

Penguins have been picked up after a night out in Wellington. The SPCA collected them crashed out under a car around midnight where they spent the night in a holding cell at the railway station. They were safely released back into the harbour the next morning, presumably when they sobered up.

“It’s best to wait and put it in a bin, even if it might be a bit manky.”

- Wellington City Council environment partnership lead Tim Park on littering from cars

“It took a journalist just 4 days to find out about my on screen husband’s alleged domestic abuse history...I’m horrified I was put in this situation” - Aimee Collins, former Married at First Sight star.

“We do have 800 athletes that aren’t immunised or don’t know if they are immunised” - AIMS Games Director Vicki Semple.

“We’ve never seen this before in recorded history, fire weather has never been as severe this early in spring” - Andrew Sturgess, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.

“Fuck Donald Trump” - Texas man who attacked the famous Wall Street Bull Statue with a banjo.

NEWS IN NUMBERS

$0

2

profit off this years’ 3/4 properties on The Block

The number of robotic strippers to perform at SC-Club in France.

600

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new Lime scooters to be added to the Hamilton fleet.

6TH 2 1

revisit of the Bain family murders.

BBQ outside a complaining vegan’s home.

The number of weeks UK parliament will be suspended for.

attempts at Kiwibuild.

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chicken nuggets for $10 at Maccas.

NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 20

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Fake It - eSport You may not think this counts as a sport, but hey, it’s getting more views than rugby.

Successful gamers can earn bank with literally just the click of a button.

Training sessions are preformed with your ass planted to a seat Sounds like a bit of me.

There’s no risk of breaking any bones, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get injured. Carpal tunnel does not sound like fun.

High Five Top 5 eSport Tournament games with the largest prize pools in $USD. (Prize pool being the amount of money distributed amongst winners).

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3

4 5

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Sports Quiz - eSport 1. How much money was the winner of the 2019 ‘Fortnite’ World Cup awarded?

2. eSports are ‘in talks’ to be included in which Olympic Games?

3. What game was played at the earliest known video game competition in 1972 at Stanford University?

Fortnite World Cup Finals solo (2019) Amount: $30,400,000 First place winner received: 3 million No. of Players: 100 players

4. How many hours a month do people watch video game videos and livestreams on Youtube?

5. Which team and player are currently positioned first (based on earnings) for 2019?

Player Profile League of Legends (2018) Amount: $6,400,000 First place winner received: 1 million No. of Players: 130 players

PLAYE

R PRO

Smite World Champ (2015) Amount: $2,600,000 First place winner received: 4 million No. of Players: 50 players

Halo World championship (2016) Amount: $2,500,000 First place winner received: 1 million No. of Players: 64

RYAN HOLT

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Answers: 1. 3 million / 2. Paris 2024 / 3. Spacewar / 4. 2.4 Billion / 5. Team: OG. Player: Jesse Vainikka (JerAx).

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The International 2019: Dota 2 Championships (2019) Amount: $34,300,000 Winning team received: 15 million No. of Players: 90

The recent 16 year old Fortnite champion proves that age is just a number. But so is $45 million - the total prize money for the tournament.

Measuring Happiness Jared Ipsen At the start of the year, I weaned off Fluoxetine - an antidepressant I had been taking for the better part of six years.

I had heard the process was going to be hard - blurred vision, nightmares, intrusive thoughts, relapse - I was prepared for those. But I wasn’t prepared for the dizziness, the vertigo, the constant exhaustion, the flooding back of emotions I hadn’t really felt for a long time.

Fluoxetine is great, because it numbs the bad feelings to a point where getting out of bed and contributing to society seems manageable, but it also numbs everything else. In those six years, I was drifting through life in a dissociated state, not remembering or doing or feeling much of anything. It wasn’t until much, much later that I learned fluox was something I was meant to take short term while I was sorting my shit out - something my doctors never thought it was important to tell me. Prozac works great for some people and some conditions, but for me, it made me feel like I had the emotional depth of an eraser.

For some reason, I’ve always thought that the marker for knowing I’m ‘better’ after my struggles with mental health was being happy 24/7. The opposite of depression has to be constant elation, right? I’m not even sure where the ideal of being constantly happy came from for me - maybe it’s the hours I waste every day on Instagram, where everyone smiles and laughs and eats expensive food and probably doesn’t have diarrhea all the time. On the days where I’d wake up and feel grateful for being alive, I’d feel like I was making progress. But on the days where I’d wake up feeling like shit and just wanted to lie in bed all day eating chocolate and smoking cigarettes, I’d spiral into helpful thoughts like “you’ll never get better” and “you’re a freakish ginger nerd no-one really likes.”

After failing miserably at being totally stoked about life all the time, I’ve realised that it’s impossible for anyone to be happy all the time. When my tyres blow or I can’t afford rent or I’ve bombed a test or everything feels too overwhelming to handle, it feels like shit - and it’s okay to feel like shit. We can’t always be laughing and smiling and taking influencer shots at a beach somewhere. Sometimes things legitimately do suck, and it’s okay to feel down about that.

I know it sounds kind of obvious, but one of the things that my therapist told me that blew my mind was there aren’t any ‘bad’ emotions, and all emotions are valid. Just because you feel angry or depressed or numb or have diarrhea all the time doesn’t mean that you’re a failure. There isn’t a quota of ‘total time spent feeling good’ that is the marker for being healthy.

Sometimes grief can make you feel grateful for things you’ve had.

Sometimes sadness can make the sun shine that much brighter when the cloud starts to lift.

There’s a quote I really like from some dead guy called Ovid that goes “be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you.” Every time I push through the days where I feel like shit, where my brain tells me I’ll never achieve anything if I just lie in bed and eat chocolate all the time, things seem a little bit more manageable when I get to the other side. And, as time goes on, happiness has started to stretch out longer, and I’m not spending as much time in bed. I guess we can chalk that up to a win.

whelmed.

NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 20

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GROW GROW THE FUCK GROW OW THE FUCK UP GROW GROW THE FUCK UP FUCK UP GROW THE FUCK U UCK UP ROW T THE OW THE GROW GROW THE FUCK UCK U UP CK UP W FUCK UPGROW GROW THE FUCK GROW THE FUCK UP FUCK UP THE G GROW THE GROW TH GROW THE UP FUCK UP FUCK UCK UP FUCK UP F GROW THE OW O GROW THE THE FUCK UP G CKFUCK C UP UP GROW W THE F GROW FUCK THE UP GROW TH THEFUCK UP GROW THE FUCK UP FUCK UP A Spontaneous Social Media Hiatus

Sophie Miller

Upon realising just how much social media takes over our lives, and how much of a bad habit it is - though also because I was feeling particularly depressed one fine Wednesday night - I made the impromptu decision to go on a social media cleanse. With barely any warning to friends and family, I deleted all my social media (sorry if y’all thought I was dead or something). A few days later, it turns out my little spontaneous hiatus is the perfect topic for all you internet-loving goons to read up on, so here we are. From the moment I wake up to right before I go to sleep, I’m guilty of being a cyber-loaf (re: this week’s feature if you don’t know what I’m on about). With my goal being to improve mental health and productivity, I thought this experiment would be the perfect solution to my cyber-loafing ways.

Most noticeably among the impacts of social media is jealousy and FOMO. Oh, another friend is off to Bali and decided to ‘gram every single moment? Great, way to make me jealous, Instagram. No Facebook, I don’t want to know that the guy I like is now in a relationship, cheers for that. So, here’s a trick: by not having any social media, you can’t see any of this shit that makes you blind with rage and jealousy. Anyway, eventually, FOMO no longer plagued me - after all, I was never particularly bothered by people’s messy Friday night at Bar101 or overpriced Sunday brunch at Grey St Kitchen in the first place.

Another bad thing about social media? Lack of productivity. While I know I should be productive, instead I’m just doing random Buzzfeed quizzes to find out what kind of bread I am (it’s sourdough, if you’re wondering).

While a lack of social media engagement gave me extra time to crack on with Nexus writing and editing, uni assignments, and general productive-person-things, honestly, I was bored as fuck most the time. To cure this boredom, I scrolled through my photo album and checked my emails an alarming amount of times. Despite this, increase in productivity was indeed successful - a record of one week with no all-nighters in sight nor begging for extensions on any assignments; now that’s a bloody good accomplishment if ya ask me.

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Meanwhile, I also had a horrifying amount of time left to my thoughts, which probably didn’t help with my mental health, though it did help clear up a lot of thoughts and struggles I’d been mulling over for a while. Honestly, a bit of winter hibernation is pretty nice to clear your head and just chill out. Though, after my self-proclaimed social media detox, I definitely overdosed on socialisation - yet this just made me realise that being around friends actually makes me pretty happy (even if only temporarily), and that I wouldn’t be here without them (cheesy, I know).

Now, would I recommend this little experiment to others? Oh, abso-fucking-lutely. If this article hasn’t already made you want to switch your phone off and throw it into the ocean (okay, maybe not quite), then what the hell am I still doing here? On a positive note, I barely had any withdrawals or cravings for social media - because I was too bloody busy with uni assignments to even think about it. I’ll admit that since my hiatus, my phone usage has only somewhat decreased from my usual cyber-loafing ways - but hey, I’m a millennial, okay?

I can’t help that I’ve got an addiction to my phone.

Overall, it’s pretty nice to not have social media there just as a crutch and a time waster. I learnt that I could easily live without most social media, though some I do quite enjoy - whether for news, communication or pure entertainment (after all, how else would I keep up with shitposting pages and new memes?) And seriously, before you even think it, who gives a fuck if ya snapchat streak dies anyway? Grow the fuck up, mate.

Check out these apps to help with a social media detox: Moment - allows you to track the time spent on your apps, as well as how many times you pick up your phone, and helps you set goals to reduce your screen time.

Forest - simply open the app and lock your phone to grow a tree; if you exit the app, the tree dies. Best of all, for every ‘cyber’ tree grown, a real tree will be planted through the apps’ partnership with Trees for the Future.

NEXUS HEALTH LONELINESS

The Loneliness Epidemic Humans are social creatures. The need for social connection is hardwired into our evolutionary psychology. As our reliance on technology has hit the rise and our social interactions with each other - neighbours, friends, extended family, co-workers, whoever - have hit the decline, and it would appear that we’re getting lonelier. That begs the question: is that a correlation, causation or a coincidence? In our brains, that sensationof loneliness is as real as physical pain. Those of us in the 18-24 age group are particularly at risk, especially when undergoing life transition. Therefore, university students are on the front line.

Loneliness does have its benefits. Studies show it can motivate us to seek new friendships and reconnect with our loved ones.

When we feel lonely for extended periods of time, however, it can have dire consequences for our health. The research coming through is indicating that loneliness is a public health crisis; one to match the likes of obesity or substance abuse.

Extended loneliness has implications for our mental health, linking with depression, anxiety, psychiatric disorders and even chronic inflammation associated with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and the promotion of metastatic cancer.

While we may have access to more ‘friends’ online than we could ever hope to keep in real life, those relationships are substantially more superficial, less genuine and less rewarding.

We can communicate with anybody at the click of a button, but genuine connection is about quality, not quantity. Here, it must be pointed out that social media use is not an official predictor of loneliness - the exact variables leading to a reported doubling in the number of people who suffer from loneliness (according to US statistics, anyway) are a little unclear, considering there has also been a massive increase of single-person households, and in Western society at least, a decrease in the occurrence of other congregational activities, like religious gatherings.

However, subjectively speaking, the number of hours most students spend on their phones each week in lieu of connecting with peers seems to be a contributing factor.

So, how do we ‘fix’ loneliness? There’s no easy answer, but essentially, we need to be able to get out of our own psyche.

A successful strategy is targeting negative thought processes; challenging the voice of our inner critic. We need to be our own best mate. That involves changing the way we view ourselves, learning to unravel any distrust or anxiety over forming new relationships, building confidence in our social skills, and challenging our fears over how others will react to us. As a society, perhaps we need to be a little more honest. We feel this strange need to hide or disguise our need for interaction.

Let’s be honest, we’re not just at the pub for the beers - we’re there because we love social contact and emotional bonding, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. All of us fall somewhere on the loneliness continuum; no one is immune. By talking about loneliness and increasing our ability to empathise with one another, we can help to reduce the stigma.

There’s a difference between feeling lonely and simply being alone. Time alone can be an enjoyable way to unwind, rest, reflect and carry out activities we enjoy. On the other hand, according to the Encyclopedia of Human Relationships, “The most broadly accepted definition of loneliness is the distress that results from discrepancies between ideal and perceived social relationships.” We could be in a room surrounded by people, yet still feel lonely, misunderstood, and feel that we lack connection with those around us.

If you’re currently struggling with loneliness, make an appointment with our uni counsellors - being honest about how you’re feeling with a trained professional can do wonders. If you decide to continue with regular counselling sessions, they can be a lifesaver. If you feel depressed or suicidal, see a GP as soon as possible. You can also call helplines such as Lifeline (0800 LIFELINE) or Healthline (0800 611 116) to talk to somebody immediately.

Ryan Nelson Cooper nelson@nexusmag.co.nz A newborn mullet, nothing can beat it. This specimen was found in its natural habitat, a Saturday night piss-up at the boys, Speights in hand. All credit to this mulleted hero for rejecting all social constructions of what is ‘normal’ and leading our mullet community from the front. Chur brother.

Nexus: Alright so, we’re on the record now, can you please introduce yourself?

Well, kia ora, my name’s Ryan. You can call me old mate Ryan with a mullet.

Nexus: Ryan, how long have you had a mullet?

Well, it’s been about 18, 19 hours now since I’ve had a mullet.

It’s fresh, very fresh.

Nexus: How would you describe your mullet?

Filthy, bogan, probably about eight cans of Cody’s worth of mullet.

Nexus: What have been some of the reactions to your mullet?

Some moist pants, a lot of regretful faces, and a lot of enjoyment.

Nexus: Ryan, have you got a nickname for your mullet yet?

No, no I haven’t. I need a nickname for the mullet though, I do. I might call it ‘Filth’, yeah, it is pretty filthy. Frank, Filthy Frank.

Nexus: So, what’re your plans for the mullet?

Probably let it grow out for about five, six months and then shave it off again, except leave the mullet so it’s nice and long.

Nexus: Can you describe the New Zealand mullet community for me?

Just an all-around bunch of good cunts who love smacking back some Speights, some Waikats. Yeah, just ‘Do It All’ blokes.

They’re the guys you’ll meet at the pub and they’re just allrounders.

Nexus: What are some stereotypes about mullets?

Ah, well a lot of people look at mullets think that people with mullets do crack and shit like that, and it’s just not the way. You know mullets are more than just a haircut, it’s a lifestyle, it’s ‘being a good person’.

Nexus: (A question from the crowd) Is it true that the mullet is seen as the ‘Bogan Passport’?

It is, it is. There’s a big stereotype about it being that, but I think that beyond being a bogan stereotype it’s more than that.

Like I said before, it’s a way of life. It’s almost just like being called Jesus.

Nexus: (A question from another member of the crowd) So mate, what I’d like to know is, who’s the master who cut your hair?

Well, I mean, there have been some very sexy individuals at old mate flat on Knighton road, the Safe House. There’s a couple individuals in there, we’ll call one of them Daniel, just for the fun of it. He’s a good haircut, I recommend him.

Nexus: Do you have any advice for people considering getting mullets?

Just do it mate, there’s nothing wrong with it, you won’t re gret it.

Nexus: And just lastly, is there anyone you want to thank?

I just want to thank old mate Nelson, he’s an inspiration to us all, you kind of think of him as a Dad figure, he’s just an all-rounder.

NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 20

17

Is Romance Dead?

In my humble opinion, the biggest casualty of the social media generation has been romance. If I had a dollar for every time I was asked for my Snapchat rather than asked on a date, I’d probably have enough cash for, like, a whole Sal’s pizza after town.

Pare it back to our animal instincts; a male in the wild will invest his time and effort into courtship rituals in order to attract his mate. One whiff of her pheromones and he’d be sold. In our terms, that would cue phone calls, persistence, flowers, and chivalry. Layer our natural attraction with five different dating apps, Snapchat, text, and Facebook messenger (heck, even add in LinkedIn or a slippery slide into Instagram DMs) and suddenly the effect becomes diluted; the number of different avenues for getting a partner (or, let’s face it, just getting laid) has quintupled. Yeah, you might’ve met a great girl, but if there’s another who’ll send you tit pics without even having to leave the house, why waste your energy on the chick who’s making you work for it? Or why bother with the guy who seems nice enough when there’s a hot player nearby guaranteed to give you a good time?

Damn, I’m sick of modern games. The number one rule of dating now seems to be that you can’t give away how you feel.

Never, under any circumstances, act like you actually give a fuck.

Don’t message first. Leave them on seen to flex dominance.

Don’t tell them you have feelings, for crying out loud. Hooking up when you’re drunk means nothing. Be. As. Distant. As. Possible. Disobey, and get your heart fucking smashed when they get spooked by the slightest show of emotion and decide to hit on your mate instead. It’s a savage world out there. When did we all decide to get so cold and ceebs-y? What’s the point in wasting your time dicking around with some skinny white boy 18

or dusty town rat who won’t sell it to you straight? As a sucker for old-fashioned blokes, I’m so over the whole winner-givesthe-least-fucks thing (I mean, so is my mum, who’s even more frustrated with my lack of dating success than I am). Let me tell you, it feels badass as fuck to say ‘umm, no’ to a person who thinks they’re God’s gift while putting in no effort whatsoever.

Don’t stroke the ego of a person whose ability to please a partner is significantly inferior compared to what their cockiness would suggest.

Even the most die-hard Tinder fan has to admit: wouldn’t you prefer a cool meet-cute story to tell your mates rather than ‘oh yeah we both swiped right, he hit me with a pick-up line and that was that’? Don’t you enjoy the suspense of wondering do they like me/do they not? Isn’t the chase low key exciting as fuck? As much as you may loooove being single, you’ve got to admit, it’s the best.

At this rate, it looks like a lot of us may be well into our 30s before things get to that ‘oh, fuck, guess it’s time to lock down a misso,’ stage. I guess in the meantime, don’t waste your time lusting over folk who’ll get scared if you so much as flick them a heart eye emoji. Have enough love for yourself to know that you’re worthy of a person who’ll crawl over the shattered glass of Greensboro on a Sunday morning to be with you. Surely, if we all expect a little more effort from each other, we’ll all be collectively forced to rise to the occasion (or risk another threeyear drought) and you know what that means - after a decent graft, more sex for everyone!

Love, Nexus xx

A PUNCH IN THE FACE WITH A FISTFUL OF FLAVOUR

UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO STAFF AND STUDENTS PAY

JUST $1.70 ONE WAY ON BUSES IN HAMILTON WITH A BUSIT CARD.

JUST SHOW THE BUS DRIVER YOUR UNI ID TO RECEIVE THE DISCOUNT.

CRUSH OF THE WEEK

TOP 10 - Underrated Emojis

Crying-laugh face, heart eyes, fire emojis...boring.

It’s time to increase our emoji repertoire.

- when your mate has trypophobia and you’re trying to give them a little spook.

Kiwi Artists Embracing Te Reo With last week’s release of the te reo album Waiata/Anthems, some of NZ’s best musicians put their language skills to the test and gave us some spine-tingling MÄ ori tunes; the perfect way to embrace our indigenous language not only during Te Wiki o te Reo MÄ ori, but every day.

đ&#x;–¤ đ&#x;Žť

WHAT'S HOT

. Posting cryptic captions about your flatmates

kick ons

. Liming home after town WHAT'S NOT

. Calling people babe . Constantly damp clothes because of the shitty weather

. Having members completing your group assignment while straight on the piss

. Charlie Sheen . Being called out by your flatmate through cryptic captions on Instagram

. Getting hacked by one of those Ray-Ban scams

20

- for when your flatmate’s havin’ a go about something stupid and you need to convey your sarcastic sympathy.

- the perfect way to let someone know you’re crushin’ - somewhat of a modern alternative to the eggplant or peach.

on Instagram

. A tasty garlic cob loaf . Playing man hunt in uni cultural hour . When your friends mum calls you Big Dog . Buying a guitar just to learn songs to play at

- for when you want to let someone know that you love them, but that you could also cut them off in an instant if necessary.

đ&#x;›´ đ&#x;†˜ đ&#x;?ł đ&#x;¤š đ&#x;ŽŁ đ&#x;?Ť

- nice and relevant at the mo x

- for when that creep won’t stop hitting on you in Bar101 - for when the roasts in the group chat get a bit too much.

- for when you have 5 hoes on the go at once - when your mate posts a mirror selfie on Insta with the caption “lol im ugly� - okay, hun.

- when it’s 3pm on a Friday and the Hilly’s calling your name.

DIMINUTIVE POST

Dude Gets Back With Shitty Ex “Yeah, so my mates hate her, she’s super clingy, barely lets me leave the house without her, and we fight constantly, but none of that matters honestly, damn I just love her so much.” Local Hamiltonian Chris, aged 21, has once again become the frustration of his pals after giving in to his shallow willpower to get back with his psycho ex-girlfriend. “Not this again,” groaned his mate, Tim, when he was informed of the situation. “Bye Chris. Guess we won’t see him for another 3 months until the next break-up.” Chris’ mother, Cathy, even revealed to Nexus “That boy needs to move the fuck on,” and that she “didn’t carry him for 9 months to end up with a son with no backbone.”

People Who Don’t Like Coriander Are Wrong, Study Confirms Research recently released from the Journal of Important Scientific Debates has settled a longtime feud between people who dislike coriander versus those who appreciate the exotic herb. “Coriander just has such great flavour. However, some individuals unfortunately harbour a genetic variant that makes them averse to it,” says leading researcher in the study, Dr. Phil Larry. The study also surveyed the general population, and the results were incredible. “There was a clear correlation shown between disliking coriander and being an uncultured fuckface.

The results were astonishingly consistent with that particular variable,” said Dr. Larry. So there you have it, Nexus readers.

Debate settled.

21st Season Leads to Mild Alcoholism With a record number of Fridays, Saturdays - and heck, even Thursdays - taken up with 21sts for third-years, local piss stores have been reporting record profits, while Uber drivers have cited an increase in pick-ups from local rugby clubs, fishing clubs, and various other GOAT 21st venues. “Every weekend is booked with piss-ups until January, and lord knows it’s fucking impossible to go to a 21st sober. No alcohol to help me perform a speech or deal with meeting 80 random friends of friends or random uncles? I don’t think so,” Hayley said to our Nexus reporter. The rise in rates of alcoholism among university students has not only been associated with the increase in weekend 21st bookings, but also the disappointment faced when students didn’t catch the invite.

Incest Among Girl/Guy Friend Group Confirmed Girls and guys can definitely be mates with no sexual tension whatsoever - yeah, right. Insider sources have confirmed that scandal has erupted in a second-year friend group. “Chelsea slept with Joe, but Joe slept with Lucy six months ago - she would be pissed if she found out. Which is really gonna cut Adam, because he drunkenly confessed his love for Chelsea over Snapchat three weekends ago. But Ashley’s totally been crushing on Adam, and got with him that time in first-year, did you hear about that?” our anonymous source informed us. Chelsea also spoke to Nexus: “Hamilton is a small pond, y’know. You get desperate,” she said defensively. Hey, better the devil you know?

NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 20

21

Riding in Cars with (Mostly Straight) Boys Play Sophie Miller Sam Brooks’ Riding in Cars with (Mostly Straight) Boys hit Hamilton on 4th September - 8th September at The Meteor.

Unfortunately, by the time you’re reading this, it’s too late - but either way, it’s still worth a review (apologies for any FOMO hereby caused).

Attending the first showing on Wednesday night, I’ll admit I had average expectations - though only because theatre productions aren’t really my thing. Yet I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing, despite the old ladies sitting in front of us who oftentimes laughed 5 seconds after the punch line. With a small amount of seating, the gig was cozy and intimate, which made for a nice atmosphere - I even saw a few familiar faces from classes, including a lecturer (shout-out to you, Mark).

Only a few small flaws prevent me from giving 5/5 stars. Namely, part of the windshield blocking our view (though this can’t be helped when the setting is a literal car), and bits of repetition throughout. Despite this, overall, Riding in Cars with (Mostly Straight) Boys tells a tale which is both heart-warming and hilarious, and is worth the ride (pun intended).

Hollywood’s Bleeding Album - Post Malone

22

Ozzy Osbourne steals the show.

Ghost in the Shell Movie Dylan Todd In line with this issue’s theme, today I’m offering you an insightful review into one of the most technologically advanced epic CYB3R films you’ll ever see: 2017’s Scarlett Johansson adaptation of Ghost in the Shell. You’ve probably seen it popping up in a few different Netflix categories more and more lately, so let me be the one to tell you what it’s all about. Filmed in New Zealand and based on the iconic and timeless manga-thenanime franchise, Ghost in the Shell follows the story of a woman with a cybernetic body who becomes a narc trying to stop the yakuza etc in the most white-washed way possible (all the while pretending the film itself is criticising white-washing, ironically).

Taking visual cues from Blade Runner without actually understanding what the symbols were about, Ghost in the Shell is a film that is sometimes visually appetising, sometimes stupidly ugly, and constantly degrading the allegorical purpose of the cyberpunk aesthetic it bastardises. Stumbling towards an unfulfilling conclusion, Ghost in the Shell fails to capture the mystique of the Japanese original film despite trying to replicate iconic imagery, frames and scenes - to negligible success, ultimately giving nothing but a sour taste in the mouth and 2 hours wasted.

Norman Fucking Rockwell!

Album - Lana Del Ray Another Lana Del Ray album to cry ya heart out to.

D I L A V New Zealand’s Shitposting Pages Josh Umbers (Could be keen’s Admin 1) If you’re reading Nexus and you don’t already follow a few of the quality Facebook shitposting pages our proud country has to offer, get off the fucking grass. My word, do those shitposts get me through the tough uni days.

Tiger Woods Smashing Coke This page posts about: pet eel, tradies, pokies, and Billy Mavs.

Some would say this page is the Bible of New Zealand tradies, legendary for a motivational Sunday evening bedtime story before a hard day on site. If topics of discussion like losing your virginity, first threesomes, and throwing your hard-earned wages at the pokies hold any appeal, you’ll agree when I say this page is the definition of kiwi shitposting. You may wonder how the admins of this page are still alive considering the tales they’ve lived to tell but it’s probably because, much like the fucking Jedi, the sesh is strong within them. By far the best chat out of any other NZ page.

The boys are what This page posts about: the boys, Saturday, beer, and kebabs.

You haven’t heard? This page will sure as hell let you know - the boys are fucking . Home to a plethora of R18 content, the level of sesh chat is so good that a glimpse of a post from this page could single-handedly convince your boring mate to come out to town and would increase their sesh gremlin level tenfold. Appeals to a large demographic of boys who love the rinse. They, no doubt, bring smiles to the faces of many student breathers.

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Could be keen This page posts about: DnB, white girls, dusty, Billy Mavs, and kick-ons.

Basically the best thing to ever come out of Hamilton.

Waikato Admins This page posts about: mango locos, rosko, KFC, and boomers (grrr).

A male support group that moonlights as a shitposting page (by male support group I mean the admins are, genuinely, the most wholesome dudes), which I rate highly. A strong believer of the “Waikato till we diekatoâ€? motto. Run by local promoter and DJ Harlan Jones, a big advocate of reminding people to look after their health - so you can imagine the amount of pure chat based around that topic, god bless. Obsessed with Monster Energy™ Mango Loco energy drinks to a degree that it’s fair to say falls just below the level of addiction. Top page.

Bro, what in actual tarnation This page posts about: rangas, marmite, white girls, and curry.

This one’s for those more partial to PG level chat; still edgy, still capable of offending middle-aged women on Facebook, but with comparatively less black humour than other pages (if you know, you know). Light-hearted and wholesome shitposts are this Beta Male Hangout Arena page’s specialisation - a breath of fresh air amongst the sinful This page posts about: Mitsubishi L300s, Jacinda, mechanical sesh-posting that’s all too common in our neck of the woods (but engineering, and goons. my god, do I love seshposting). Most recently, they’ve organised Two words: Beta. Male. I personally couldn’t imagine a better assemblage of sick cunts to hang out with. Topics covered include a fundraiser with other shitposting pages with the aim of raising (but are not limited to) politics, cars, and other such wholesome as much money as they can for the I Am Hope foundation, which is all about preventing suicide and positive mental health. So shit, with a cracking no-filter approach to current events. It’s far, they’ve been the spearhead of a campaign that has raised a grade A page and, having been on the turps with 2/3 of the roughly $5k - big ups. admins, I can assure you that they’re damn great blokes.

PASS THE

AUX

Technologically Obsessed Spotify: nexusmag

follow us

1.

Kiss Me Thru the Phone Soulja Boy

4.

Cyberthot Billy Marchiafava

2.

Social Media Queen No Solution

5.

Blow My Phone Up SadBoyProlific

3.

Screenager Muse

6.

Glued to the Screen Lost Sounds NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 20

23

Nexus: You guys played a gig at the iconic Nivara Lounge a few weeks ago – what was that experience like?

It’s an amazing venue keeping the local music scene alive. Ivan does such a rad job at supplying an awesome place for local musicians and artists to show their creativity and have a good time.

Nexus: How would you best describe the sound of Retro Valley?

If Kings of Leon fucked Sticky Fingers and then fucked Panic! At The Disco.

Nexus: You guys are a local band from Hamilton – how did you start out?

Mitch and David were playing together in heavier bands for several years and started jamming more laidback music after retiring from the other projects.

After getting some rough demos sorted, they decided to get Ben to record some vocals over the demos as they both knew him from high school. Eventually after getting several songs together, we decided to start approaching this as a more serious project.

We then hit up Josh, who had just got back from Australia, to jump on board so we could play live and have more creative input.

Find them @Retro Valley on Facebook and @ retrovalleyband Instagram.

As newcomers to the Hamilton scene, Retro Valley already have a few live gigs under their belt and an EP underway. To showcase just how much talent we have in the Tron, we had a chat to the boys to get the lowdown on their story and their sound.

Nexus: Has a career in music always been the goal, or are there some future accountants within Retro Valley?

Definitely, we’ve all been surrounding ourselves within the industry as much as possible while still paying the bills in between.

Nexus: What’s the plan for Retro Valley? The festivals you want to play, countries you want to visit – what’s the dream?

The dream would be to break into the festival circuit in Europe, Australia, and the US.

Nexus: When in need of some musical inspo for writing or performing, who are some of the artists or bands you look to?

Bon Iver, Matt Corby, the Sound City album, Led Zeppelin, The 1975, The Police, and The Doors.

Nexus: We hear you’re working on an EP, that’s awesome! Can you tell us a bit about that?

We’re currently finishing up the writing process and hopefully be heading into the studio shortly.

Nexus: Is there a story behind the name Retro Valley?

Originally we were called ‘Retrouvailles’, which is a random French word, but everyone thought we were called ‘ratatouille‘, so we settled on ‘Retro Valley’ as we felt it reflected us well.

Nexus: Are there any more gigs in the pipeline?

Having just finished a good leg of shows, we’ve decided to knuckle down on our writing and start planning for a potential late summer tour.

Nexus: Last question – if you could invent any original chip flavour, what would it be?

Pumpkin Hummus and Chilli with a dash of lime.

Nexus: What’s your best piece of advice for Waikato’s uni students?

Do what you want to do, don’t do it just because you think it’s the “right thing to do.”

Nexus: What are your must-do pre-gig rituals?

Usually two shots - one for the nerves and one to get rowdy.

Nexus: Besides your stellar musical ability, do you have any party tricks up your sleeves?

Ben, our lead singer, can do a standing backflip but hasn’t been able to yet because all of the venues roofs are far too low. He can also fold his ears and make them stay - that outta draw a crowd!

Nexus: What’s your best memory as a band? Any crazy fan stories or gig performances that stand out?

It would be after our first ever performance for a local band competition - we had fans come from that and follow us to our first gigs.

Nexus: What are your top five favourite covers to perform?

Sugar, We’re Going Down by Fall out Boy; Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon; Everlong by Foo Fighters; Why Does Love Do This To Me by The Exponents; and Teenagers by My Chemical Romance.

Nexus: If you could claim one song that’s already been written as your own, what would it be?

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.

FULL EXPOSURE: RETRO VALLEY

NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 20

27

28

VIRGO AUG 23 - SEP 22

PISCES FEB 19 - MAR 20

This week it’s time to run towards what you want, but be careful. We know you really want that table at Momento so you can throw back an early morning Corona, but refrain from knocking over freshers as you haul ass to snag that prime spot. Don’t be greedy.

This week, you will seek guidance regarding a tough crossroads. In the efforts of being impartial, avoid asking your shitty boyfriend for advice, as he has no idea what he’s talking about and is just kind of a dick.

LIBRA SEP 23 - OCT 22

ARIES MAR 21 - APR 19

This week, you’ll want to make something better, but know that in doing so you might just make it worse. Be sure to overthink everything to the best of your ability, and you’ll never get anything done because you won’t be able to make a decision.

Problem solved!

Ignoring a difficult fact will not make it change or go away. It’s time to acknowledge that as well as being a bit of a shit person, you’re also wildly unsuccessful, and as people discover this, they will likely do all they can to avoid you. Take it personally.

SCORPIO OCT 23 - NOV 21

TAURUS APR 20 - MAY 20

It’s time to push pause on all the stresses in your life, dear Scorpio, and put yourself first. Not that you don’t usually put yourself first anyway, but this week you’ll definitely disappoint everyone around you. It’s okay though, Saturn said to.

Sometimes we have high expectations for things, only to be let down in real life; for you, it’s because you try to fill your emptiness through online shopping. Stop buying shit you can’t afford and save your fucking money.

SAGITTARIUS NOV 22 - DEC 21

GEMINI MAY 21 - JUN 20

The way you spend your money is vastly different to that of a close friend, but that doesn’t mean you’re incompatible. It just means that you value the benefits of Tinder Gold more than they do, and subsequently they have far more self-respect.

You don’t have the luxury of heading off on a soul-searching adventure at the moment, even though you really fucking need it - your flatmates are super annoyed with you at the moment. Maybe just sleep in the library for a couple of days?

CAPRICORN DEC 22 - JAN 19

CANCER JUN 21 - JUL 22

To look inside one’s self can be a daunting experience, but a necessary one. Next time you complain about that bitch in your project group, maybe look in the mirror and realise that the bitch in the project group is, in fact, you.

You are experiencing an elongated period of evolution, and you’re now seeing those around you in a different light. It turns out the feeling is mutual and no one really likes you anymore, but at least you still have your LinkedIn connections.

AQUARIUS JAN 20 - FEB 18

LEO JUL 23 - AUG 22

This week, find a quiet place to regenerate after all the noise of last week. Our crystal ball shows that this will also be aided by keeping away from the illicit substances that tend to encompass your evening activities.

Sometimes doing what we want is at odds with doing what we know is right. This week, the less desirable approach will fulfil you, so go ahead and eat that plain salad instead of a block of chocolate - you’ll still be hungry but at least you’ll fit that #shredforRnV aesthetic.

NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 20

29

CYBERLOAFING

30

Digital Distractions: The Double D’s we see everyday Mia Milne Imagine the grade you’d get if you spent the same amount of energy focussing on the first sentence of your looming assignment as you did on crafting your latest Insta post. Yeah nah, I can’t picture it on my end either. But hey, it’s not really our fault - we’ve been tricked, conditioned, manipulated and funneled into the system with a fluidity similar to that of a seasoned 3rd year bloke smashing back their 8th Billy Mav before 9pm on any given Saturday. It is, however, our choice whether we give in to the cyberloafing addiction that’s become characteristic of our generation.

Cyberloafing is a concept which can be described as doing everything online except the work that you were supposed to be doing. It’s looking at your brother’s girlfriend’s aunt’s sister’s new dog on Facebook for 30 minutes, sending a minimum of three memes to 10 of your nearest and dearest friends, before proceeding to order Uber Eats because you’ll likely need that for when you actually get back to studying…essentially, it’s the result of being distracted by any internet-related application at the expense of what you actually set out to do. We constantly fall for these “just-checks,” picking up our phone without even thinking about it to check a notification or do a little scroll, and then we end up falling down the rabbit hole of social media with no real benefit to us. End result: procrastination and distraction.

Why do we do it? What’s the appeal? What’s there to be gained from breaking focus and resolve? Just like you tell yourself you’ll only have one (okay, maybe two) pieces of the new Whittaker’s Honey Bubble Crunch chocolate and end up consuming the whole 250g block, social media works in the same manner. You pick it up; ten seconds for one notification, which then turns to three minutes, and then 3 lots of 20 mins, and just like that, you’ve consumed a whole hour’s worth of digital food and your appetite is likely still not satisfied. We kick ourselves because we feel it could have been avoided, but can it? What’s the story?

The brain is a great thing. According to science, the nature of our noggins is that they are hardwired to seek pleasurable things. Makes sense. Sex, good kai and social media - all of these fit the criteria. Trevour Haynes, a research assistant for the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, explains that the culprit is dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain which plays a significant role in motivating human behaviour. More importantly in our case, it’s what prompts us to seek rewards, directs our attention, and is a catalyst for directing our time toward social media.

The Attention Economy is a relatively new term which has arguably gained more traction in recent times than Kim Kardasian’s rumoured law career. It describes the universal problem (whether we’re aware of it or not) that we all encounter daily; the constant war for our time and attention.

In a world saturated with information, social media sites have been quick to identify that in order for them to thrive, they need to be at the forefront of providing content they know we’re likely to respond to. It’s why headings on Youtube say ‘My First Time...’ and you click thinking it’s something whack or steamy, but really (if it was a Hamilton Youtuber) it’s something within the realm of going to The Chilli House for dinner for the first time instead of the usual Dumpling House on the corner of Te Aroha Street. It’s Netflix with the autoplay and oh-sosneaky recommendations (which you watch even though you have a 9am test in 4 hours). The endless scroll on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. The like and love reacts, the notification that serenades you with a melodic ‘ding.’ All are psychologically designed to keep us hooked, connected and coming back for more (it’s a shame the same can’t be said for most of Hamilton’s Tinder game). It’s a battle; a contest between developers to see who can hold our attention for the longest.

Don’t get me wrong, I love social media as much as the next affirmation-seeking, must-stay-up to-date millennial. But the distraction that occurs as a result has a tendency to interrupt our daily activities and prolong our to-do lists. Everytime we pick up our phones, it interrupts our focus. We know this, but we still continue to enter into the cycle. Liking, swiping and commenting, it fuels the hit of dopamine to our systems, it makes us feel good - until it doesn’t, so we come back for more.

“ You pick it up; ten seconds for one notification, which then turns to three minutes, and then 3 lots of 20 mins, and just like that, you’ve consumed a whole hour’s worth of digital food and your appetite is likely still not satisfied “ The Model Health Show, a podcast hosted by Shawn Stevenson, explains the factors which help to fuel the addictive relationship many of us find ourselves in with various online platforms.

Dopamine, as touched on before, is a pleasure-seeking neurotransmitter in our brains, so naturally this coincides neatly with the way the internet works. The wealth of knowledge available for us to consume and the validation we look for fuels this seeking need. We are constantly seeking and finding, seeking and finding - a never-ending cycle, it seems - so the more we scroll, the more we find, and as a result, the more we are subconsciously ‘rewarded.’ Previous to the invention of social media, our sources of entertainment couldn’t invade into our personal time in the same way. Your TV show would finish at 7pm, the end credits come on at the cinema and it would be time to go home, or you would read the last page of your book and that would be that - those are all ‘end cues.’ Apps like Instagram and Facebook have this ‘endless scroll’ feature NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 20

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for that exact reason - there is no end cue. There is no signal telling the pleasure centre in our brain that it’s time to stop and move on to do something else. That way, our phones can grip our attention with endless new content before we garner the willpower (or get told off by the boss for our phone usage) to put the phone down.

The digital interference that is constantly prodding us affects our cognitive control. This simply refers to the capacity in which we are able to stay focussed on finishing a single task when faced with competing demands. A study done by Professor Gloria Mark from the University of California found that, on average, it takes us 23 minutes to resume focus after any interruption before coming back to the original task at hand. That’s an extra 23 minutes you could have spent looking as though you’re typing something semi-decent in the library. We can unlock our phones at any point, press refresh, and there will be an endless supply of more videos, more photos, more articles for us - and the constant stream of entertainment right there at our fingertips is affecting our ability to concentrate on other, less pleasure-inducing tasks (let’s say focussing on your assignment, or cleaning your room).

On that note, want to know what else is also guaranteed to decrease your productivity by tenfold? Task-switching, otherwise known as multitasking. Research has shown the effects of switching between tasks (as opposed to focusing solely on one, ticking it off and moving to the next) has the same effect as being intoxicated. Sure, you can do one physical task and one mental task, like listening to music and cleaning the flat (a wild notion but not unheard of) with no issues (except maybe discovering it’s your turn to buy toilet paper this week when you just spent your last $5 on Bongos). However, if you were to try to watch Married at First Sight and write an unrelated assignment, the two mental tasks would conflict, and productivity would decrease because of the two clashing mental distractions that are fighting for the top attention spot in your mind.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. The key is simply to be conscious of what’s actually occurring; that way, we can take the necessary steps to minimise the effect it has on interfering with what we need to get done. Without even delving into the negative effects our phone usage has on our mental health, we know that cyberloafing is making us less productive and affecting our ability to concentrate. We can’t assume the app developers are going to change this, given the fat bank they generate through (very effectively) drawing us into these strange little virtual worlds. So, it’s up to us as individuals to manage this cyberloafing habit. We need to want to change; we need to want to be more productive, focussed, and efficient. Sure, it’s unfair that we’ve been brought into a world that conditions us to be addicted to our phones; a world where losing our phone for a day is panic-inducing - but we do have a choice. The good news is that we can have phones and keep our social media without getting sucked into wasting 5 hours out of everyday. We just need to reframe our thinking, notice our cyberloafing habits, and reign in our new-age technology addictions.

Tips for avoiding digital distraction: If you’re still reading this article, well done, you’re definitely a rare breed of uni student who reads bulk lots of text for leisure, and it’s possible that you don’t even need the extra tips to help avoid digital distraction, given you’ve focussed for this long so far. Nevertheless, here they are for those who need them - because let’s face it, getting to the end of an evening you had intended to spend studying with only 3 lines after getting off task is about as annoying as having to constantly tell your friend who never comes to class what they need to do for the assignment that’s due in the morning.

Do Not Disturb Two options: you could drop your phone in a toilet, and never be harassed by Spark telling you you’ve used 80% of your data package again, or similarly turn your device on Do Not Disturb.

The serenity that follows is unparalleled, except maybe to the silence you initially experienced when in the womb. Beautiful.

Turn off some notifications Be like Christopher Columbus when he ventured off to discover something new and jump into a potentially unexplored area of your phone - the Notification Centre. In here you have the freedom to silence apps fully, partially or for periods of time.

You don’t need to see that your mate is also interested in an event you’re interested in on Facebook. You’re likely both poor and neither of you will probably go to that gig. So turn the notification off and crack into your study so that one day you can afford the tickets xx

Move your phone physically out of reach ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ - works for both the dessert in the fridge and your phone. The mantra kinda works. The trick is to make procrastination inconvenient. Because the majority of us are not that concerned about going the extra mile to boost our step count for the day, the effort required to get up to check your phone that’s across the room acts as a deterrent, keeping our productivity right on track.

Rearrange your apps We desire what is convenient. It’s often just out of habit that we reach for our phones. Shuffling the position of your apps causes you to think twice about what you are doing.The two-step process of rearranging the placement of apps on your device enables an extra chance to hesitate before you scroll your way into the land of procrastination.

Exercise Listen to ya Fitbit when it tells you to move - not only is summer just around the corner, but exams are too! A 2008 study in Neuroscience Letters found that just 10 minutes of coordinated exercise helped to mediate functions related to attention and concentration capacities in the brain. I mean, I’d personally rather sleep after exercising but the science is there team, it helps you focus.

Set a time limit on apps A pretty common suggestion but still, it’s worth being aware of it. In the apps you find yourself most drawn to, set a limit on the amount of time you wish to spend in the app. When you max it out, it’ll let ya know.

So there you have it team - the digital distractions interrupting our daily activities seem to be even more successful at invading our space than a door-knocking sales rep. Sure, app developers have a bit to answer for, but it’s also our choice to manage our response to the interruptions they pose to our day. My advice?

Make sure you get at least 3 sentences on the page before you spend the next 30 minutes cyberloafing over rare cat breeds and deciding whether or not you want to add a peri peri swirl to your online pizza order.

Sleep As a student, you either have plenty or not enough. There is no in between. Not that we need convincing about the goodness of a magnificent sleep, but The Journal of Applied Phycology recently published some lovely info proving that students who had slept less the night before were more inclined to deviate from the task at hand the next day. Disturbed sleep also plays a role in adding to students’ ‘cyberloafing’. On average, an hour of disturbed sleep would contribute to 20% more cyberloafing on the assignment at hand. With exams just around the corner and deadlines looming, I’d suggest thinking twice about who you let disturb your sleep...

SCREEN TIME

Block distracting sites during focus time So you’ve switched your phone to Do Not Disturb and chucked it to the other side of the room, but you still have your computer to mess around on. The solution? Block sites that you frequently visit that aren’t related to the task you are trying to do. There are some apps out there that can help with this - SelfControl is for Mac, and allows you to block certain sites for a set time period. It runs on a timer and stops after the scheduled time.

Cold Turkey works similarly, except that it’s also compatible with Windows.

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THIS CERTIFIES THAT

HAS FINALLY WASHED THEIR OWN FUCKING DISHES

SIGNED

DATE

THIS CERTIFIES THAT

HAS SHOWN UP TO CLASS TODAY

SIGNED

DATE

THIS CERTIFIES THAT

ACTUALLY WENT TO THE GYM

SIGNED

DATE

THIS CERTIFIES THAT

COOKED INSTEAD OF ORDERING TAKEAWAYS FOR ONCE

SIGNED

DATE

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Careers in Cyber Security Raaginee Rajah Inspired by this weeks cyber theme? If a career in cyber security tickles your fancy and makes you dream of life beyond uni, read on to find out more.

Security Analysts Ensure that the information systems and computer networks of organisations are protected from being accessed illegally. The job opportunities are good and you can earn $92K to $137K per year.

Penetration Tester This role involves discovering weaknesses in computer systems and databases and reporting back to your client, requiring you to be up to date with new software used by hackers. Employment opportunities are plentiful and pay ranges from $92K and $137K per year. If the only thing holding you back is the job title, don’t worry - you can use an alternative title.

Intelligence Officer If your friends praise you for your natural talent in gathering information on their potential love interests, you’d do great in this role. Collect information on individuals, places, and events that could be a threat to the security of businesses as well as national or international security. Pay ranges from $37K to $50K per year and there is demand within the profession.

Support Technician This job involves setting up computer and IT equipment to assist in preventing, recognising, and resolving problems with hardware and software. If the job title doesn’t put you into a cold sweat, this could be the opportunity for you. Pay ranges from $46K to $65K per year and chances of employment are high.

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UNDER EMPLOYED Files

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SJS Weird Jobs of the Week Photo Booth Operator I Mount Maunganui I Casual → What could be better than helping 16-year-olds take cute little 16-year-old selfies?

Turf Assistance I Welcome Bay I Casual → In an ironic twist you will spend your time getting weed out of something. Bryant hall need not apply.

Bouncy Castle Delivery Person → Easy money as long as it doesn’t collapse on several children on your watch.

Undercover Cody Roadshow Ambassadors → Dress up like a turtle and perform for children for a good cause.

Commercial Cleaner - Waikeria Prison I Te Awamutu → Must have experience cleaning seminal fluid out of shower tiles. Ability to carve a DEVAST8 tattoo with a sharpened plastic toothbrush preferred but not required.

REO TAUIRA Cyber-kaupapa Kyla Campbell-Kamariera With the growing rate of keen reo and mātauranga Māori goers and the online accessibility to many resources to build upon that knowledge, how do we keep our mātauranga safe when it’s available to almost every person on our planet? Haters are gonna hate, too. So with so many resources being available online and the choice we have to engage with them or not, doesn’t necessarily mean haters will disregard mātauranga content. In fact, the way people negatively engage with our content further perpetuates the racism Māori people have to endure in the 21st century.

There have been many instances where our mātauranga has been deemed ‘unsafe’ online. From the defacing of tūpuna portraits, the bastardisation of our precious waiata and haka, and the butchering of kupu Māori - what Māori people face in the wake of these situations is actually really confusing for some. Many don’t know how to react, some disregard it, some believe the use of our mātauranga by non-Māori is a genuine appreciation for our culture, and the rest of us are up in arms about it because our prized treasures are being commodified and devalued.

So how do we keep our mātauranga safe in the cyber world of the 21st century?

Well…I don’t have the answer for that but hopefully this will spark those conversations that you’re either having now or will have in the future. The idea is not to stop sharing our mātauranga, because a large part of the online population will end up missing out. It’s more about protecting our treasures once they’re out there. So, report that post and clap back at those guessers that have their own made up problem about seeing pūhoro pictures on their newsfeeds. You would think they’d keep scrolling, but noooo, their inner keyboard warrior just has to come out.

This, e hoa mā, is one way we can keep our content safe online!

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Random Audit

Random Audit STMGT203 - Business Model Innovation Today we enter into the lecture of those stuck up business kids of the worst kind - strategy majors. This lot are just getting a degree in talking shit, so don’t expect them to have any type of real intelligence. Case in point being that they will all probably fail the compulsory ECONS205 paper, as it will be the first time they actually have to apply themselves in their time at uni.

They’ll also take any opportunity to tell you about how hard case comp was, that it’s the hardest paper at uni and that the rest of us have it sooo easy. Whatever, mate.

Upon taking a pew at the very humid top of the L Block lecture I immediately regretted my decision of sitting in amongst what I soon learned were the lecturer’s favourite third years. I really started to feel left out that I didn’t have a group member to complain about to her as well…(another reason not to be a strat major, fuck group work - people are assholes). After investigating what everyone was doing on their laptops and catching up on the weekend the lecturer finally made her way back down to start the lecture.

Although she seemed like a real hunny, this lecturer had little control over this class initially, ringing a bell for their attention. Once pulled into line, they began the lecture on something about business models for Nescafé. To be honest, I was just waiting throughout the hour for a George Clooney YouTube video to play (we love a silver fox) but sadly visual aids were not something included in this lecture.

Still recovering for a rather big weekend I proceeded to zone out for a cheeky nap. Arms crossed on the table over a Nexus, the lecturer was giving a strong look of disapproval for not doing the daily quiz, so proceeded to exit quickly following the first mover out of there.

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POSTED 16th September - Professional Development - Speedy PD Session 1: Digital technologies curriculum: implications for practice? @ TT.1.12 from 10:15 -10:30am.

17th September - Professional Development - Speedy PD Session 2: Creative assessment options @ TT.1.12 from 10:15 -10:30am.

Reminders Go to the AGM (L.G.03 - 18th Sept) Look at the Exam timetable Do moodle quiz Hang out sheets Clean the toilet Catch up on lectures Remember Keep Cup

- TeachInfo Night @ Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts - Te Whare Tapere Iti from 5:45 -7:30pm.

18th September - Professional Development - Speedy PD Session 3: Social bookmarking in education @TT.1.12 from 10:15 -10:30am.

19th September - Professional Development - Speedy PD Session 4: Noughts and crosses anyone? @TT.1.12 from 10:15 - 10:30am.

20th September - Library Workshop: Introduction to Research Data Management @ M.2.23 from 1:30 - 2:30pm.

Lexus Design Award 2020 - Closing date 15th Oct University of Waikato students are invited to apply for the 2020 Lexus Design Award, whether your interests lie in engineering, design, architecture or technology.

The theme for this international competition is ‘Design for a better tomorrow.’ Six finalists will be invited to develop their ideas into six functional prototypes, under the guidance of mentors, using a production budget of $40,000 each. The resulting prototypes will be displayed at Milan Design Week 2020, where the ultimate winner will be announced. For more info, check out www. lexusdesignaward.com.

This week’s menu Mon: whatever flat mates are having Tues: lasagne Wed: leftover lasagne Thurs: hassle mum Fri: Bacons, eggs and hashbrowns Sat: eating’s cheating Sun: pizza (if I can stomach anything)

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PROCRASTINATION STATION PUZZLE A woman gave birth to two sons who were born in the same hour of the same day of the same year. They were not twins. How is this possible?

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HANGARAU TAKIURU HORAPA KAWERONGO Hangarau - technology TIRI

WORD LOCATOR

AHOKORE TAKIPUTA KAPOMATA HONOIARERE

Horapa - viral

RARAUNGA PAETUKUTUKU KARERE WHAI

Hono iarere - bluetooth

Ahokore - wi-fi

Kapomata - screenshot

Kiriāhua - selfie

Raraunga - data

Pātuhi - text

Pikitia kōtaha - profile picture

Takiuru - log in

Karere - message

Pōhi - post

Takiputa - log out

Pūatahanga - emoji

Whai - follow

Paetukutuku - website

Kawerongo - headphones

Tiri - share

Taupānga - app

Pūhihiko - charger

NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 20

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WAIKAT FLATS MAV STREET

Nestled in behind the hustle and bustle of Greensboro, you’ll find a quaint little flat adorned with Billy Mavs of past nights on the rark. With two paddling pools on the deck just ready and waiting for summer to arrive and the continuous stream of encouraging chat, it’s clear these boys value some quality flat love and bonding time. Don’t be fooled by the chill aura though; rumor has it that these lads 100% live and die for the boys, and have many an early morning sesh up their sleeves.

Want to land yourself a spot in the mag and some free Sal’s pizza to boot? Get in touch with us at editor@nexusmag.co.nz

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NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 20

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SNAPPED

Keen for some free BurgerFuel? Simply snap us the shitfest of your student lifestyle for the chance to win. Prizes can be claimed from the SUB.

WINNER

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BLIND DATE She’s a fitspo, straight up chick from Masterton, who apparently hasn’t had the best of luck with the lads.

He, on the other hand, seems to have the luck of the fucking Irish - a serial dater who loves to charm the ladies once he’s a couple beers deep. Could this be true love?

SHE SAID: Where do I start? Not gonna lie, I was hella nervous and had a few glasses of wine before I got there. This was something out of my comfort zone for sure. I rocked up to house right on 7 and I saw him waiting at the table, how good that he was there earlier than me. The conversation started great, the basic questions like how many siblings do you have or where are you from were answered and the drinks kept following.

Generally, I needed to pee a lot but it was okay because he did too. Not gonna lie I could’ve saved some moola for more drinks by just buying a bowl of fries like the guy across from me, but I decided to go for the fish and chips. We both agreed we’d go play a game of pool at Shenanigans but to our surprise, it was closed. We tried a few other places then we decided just to head back to his flat and keep drinking until we would head back into town for hospo night. I’ve never experienced hospo night so why not experience it with a guy I’ve just met, right? Cheeky stop at the bottle store and we arrived at his flat, turns out they were experiencing a power cut so we played a game of cards to get a few drinks down us. Ended up being a bit of a miscommunication and apparently hospo night was cancelled, so I got my mate to pick me up, after him asking for my snapchat and that was the night done. All in all, was a really great night, I appreciated his company and for choosing to come on the blind date. Thank you Nexus and House on Hood for setting up this awkward but enjoyable evening.

HE SAID: I’ve done some questionable things on the piss, but I thought for sure signing up for the Nexus blind date would be up there. After having a few shower mavs and fashions tips from the boys I felt as comfortable as Manu Vatuvei on the wing at Mt Smart. Turning up somewhat early and ordering a Waikato in attempt to seem at least a little bit less bogan the nerves started to kick in again.

Seeing her walk in I knew I hadn’t drunk enough to talk to such a stunner. After hearing she was a first year studying sports science it started to look bleak. Surprisingly she had above average chat and an excellent attitude towards sinking piss, so I could probably get over the whole fresher thing.

After finishing off the tab with a tequila shot each and hearing she hadn’t organised a ride home we decided hospos was the next move. Heading back to my flat, returning to a power outage and the news hopso was cancelled I had lost all hope.

(Cheers Mr Lawrenson for the huge cock bock.)

All and all it was a game of two halves, thanks to ladies the kitchen, look forward to the rematch on Saturday.

Brought to you by House on Hood. If you're keen for a Blind Date, email: editor@nexusmag.co.nz

NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 20

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STATE OF THE UNION AGM | 18 SEPT | L.G.03