Nexus 2017 Issue 13

FREE STUDENT MAGAZINE

N.13 / V.49

Top 10: Dating Apps for The Modern Consumer — Page 07 Damn Millennials: Student Living in 2017 — Page 16 Outback XL Interviews — Page 22

1 EDITORIAL B Semester Blues

3 NEWS

High Risk: Dodgy Drugs Pinged in Covert Festival Testing Blood Drive Campus Safety Walk University To Test Loud Siren Keeping it Neutral: Net Neutrality TL;LR News in Numbers Eight Ball Top Ten

16 FEATURE

Baby Boomers Won’t Believe You Without a Bar Chart

20 CENTREFOLD Art by Kirsti Hogan

NEXUS ISSUE 13 10TH - 14TH JULY 2017 CO-EDITORS Bronwyn Laundry Lyam Buchanan

DESIGN Vincent Owen design@nexusmag.co.nz

DEPUTY EDITOR Jennie-Louise Kendrick jen@nexusmag.co.nz

MANAGING EDITOR James Raffan james@nexusmag.co.nz

CONTRIBUTORS Cameron McRobie Tom Collopy Alexander Nebesky Conor Maxwell Barbara Pfahringer Martina Bruwer Jacqui Swney Tom Featonby Valerie Bianchi Julie Charlton Troy Anderson Peter Dornauf

22 FULL EXPOSURE 24 STUDENT EXPERIENCE Interviews with Kate Foxx and Some Blonde

editor@nexusmag.co.nz

8 SPORTS

For Sail: One Boat You Can’t Afford Age Is Just a Number

11 14 REVIEWS

ENTERTAINMENT

Album: Melodrama by Lorde Video Game: DLC Quest by Going Loud Studios Film: The Mummy directed by Alex Kurtzman Album: Ctrl by SZA

Club Spotlight: WPSA Pupper Master Politics Disorientation Week Cheat Sheet

29 COLUMNS

Pass the AUX WUG Life Eco Emporium The Morning After Yam & Troy the Science Boys Arts

37 SNAPPED 38 BLIND DATE 40 PUZZLES

Editorial — Pānui Ētita

NEXUS MAGAZINE

B Semester Blues To be honest, it was fairly painful cutting our holiday a week short to produce this magazine, it’s not that we didn’t miss you, but we’re just not fully ready for semester B to begin and for us to have to pretend to be functioning humans again. Especially since we’re somewhat heartbroken our favourite REO theme isn’t running this year. So let’s get the painful cliches out of the way; fuck it’s cold, exams - glad that’s over amiright?

Lorde’s new album is literally me! OK done, let’s move on and never speak of those topics again (except later on in the magazine when Lorde’s new album is mentioned at least two other times).

B semester is a scary time, first years are desperately trying to find flats while coming to terms with the fact their year at alcoholic summer camp is coming to an end. Second years are roughly halfway through their degree and still feel like an overgrown child, wandering around in a perpetual state of bamboozlement. Third years are freaking the fuck out because they’re in their

last semester and post-third years are regretting every decision they ever made because they failed something/ chose to stay at university longer than three years.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, (and no, we’re not talking about the sweet embrace of death), semester B is when you can finally hit your stride and really start milking the whole uni thing, you’ve made it this far, nice work buddy. It also means we’re closer to sunshine which, in turn, equates to mildly more interesting Instagram feeds.

So, for those in need of some light material, we have the standard puzzles, horoscopes, a guide to the free stuff on offer during Disorientation Week and a double dose of double date. On the contrary, those who don’t wish to bury their head in the sand will find some goddamn hardhitting journalism in the form of news on net neutrality, festival drug testing and a feature on student living written by an honours student who is the lethal combination of caring about people and knowing her shit.

Get amongst. ♦

— Lyam & Bron 01

News — Pitopito Korero

NEXUS MAGAZINE

High Risk: Dodgy Drugs Pinged in Covert Festival Testing Bronwyn Laundry Because we cover all bases here at Nexus News, we asked a few students if they’d utilise a legal drug testing tent at a festival, here’s what they had to say: “Yes, I’d get them checked if they weren’t already firmly lodged in one my orifices.”

–unnamed student and fan of both near death experiences and crying while making Spotify playlists.

“Yeah I guess, why not?

Unless there was a really long line.”

–reasonable human being.

“Get those drugs away from me you Ganja Gremlin, I am high on life.”

– a local teetotaller who may or may not design Nexus.

In an attempt to reduce the number of dodgy drugs consumed at festivals, a number of organisations have called for legal drug testing to be implemented at New Zealand music festivals; a bid that Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne has labelled a “common sense” move to increase safety.

The proposal came following covert testing carried out by KnowYourStuffNZ at eight New Zealand music festivals last summer that revealed 31% of the tested drugs were not what the user expected them to be. This was a turn of events less shocking than that time in high school a friend bought what they thought was Ecstasy, but turned out to be nothing more than a healthy dose of acne medication.

“Without drug checking, people go to events and use drugs which they purchase illicitly with no assurances that what they have is what they think it is, or what quality and strength it is,’’ said KnowYourStuffNZ spokeswoman, Wendy Allison.

“So, they take a massive additional risk on something we now have the technology to address.’’

Popular festival Homegrown’s Event Director, Andrew Tuck, who has two decades of experience running events, thought that having drug testing at festivals would be an asset to all of those involved.

“At the moment we have a team at events that guess what people have taken and try and look after them accordingly. A lot of the people we deal with have taken bad drugs, if we tested we would prevent these drugs being taken. One of the advantages of testing is you know what’s around at that festival and can be on the lookout for symptoms,” he said.

The tests, also known as pill checking, allow the user to volunteer a small portion of their drugs to be checked to see what substances are actually

present. A valuable asset when considering how many people take up permanent residence in the fritter tent at RnV after consuming drugs cut with all kinds of harmful ingredients.

As it stands, the testing is a legal grey area, and has to be conducted outside of the police’s knowledge. This contrasts festivals in Europe that allow pill checking to take place without the police pinging any of the users who volunteer.

Many festival organisers are considering the possibility of drug testing, but currently would have to face up to the law to do so. “The risk is to the organisers of the event, who in order to implement our services have to acknowledge that they know people use drugs at their event, and that makes them criminals, which is very very unfortunate.” Allison said.

NZ Drug Foundation’s chief executive, Ross Bell says the 42 year old drug laws need an update in order to accommodate the changing climate.

“Drugs have changed, science has moved on, and new technology has been developed. It’s time Government played catch up.”

Associate Health Minister, Peter Dunne, stated he was personally in favour to the idea, and said the Government may follow suit in future law reviews,“It is inevitable that when the Misuse of Drugs Act is reviewed in the next couple of years that this change will be considered,” he said. “It is a preventative measure, it is important people have a public safety message.”

“The whole reason we run festivals is to ensure that people have a great memorable time and that they go home safely to family and friends. For me people have already chosen what they are going to do, we just need to look after them while they are in our care,” finished Tuck. ♦

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NEXUS MAGAZINE

News — Pitopito Korero

Blood Drive Lyam Buchanan The University of Waikato is beginning to have the perception of being New Zealand’s worst blood donors. Statistics show that we’re constantly unable to reach a simple quota, one which UoA and UoO achieve each year with ease. In order to remedy this a minimum of 350 students need to donate blood from the 10th to the 13th of July, an increase of 25% on our efforts during A semester.

Keen to give blood but not sure if you’re eligible?

NZ blood service can’t accept the following: →→ Under 50kg? That’s a no go. →→ Cold/flu/sore throat or any form of infection?

Also a no go. →→ Tattoo or piercing in the last six months?

Nooope. →→ Have you been a prostitute in the last 12 months? Another nope. →→ Are you a man who’s had unprotected sex with another man in the last 12 months? Soz. →→ Popped out a kid in the last nine months?

Might wanna wait a little longer.

The blood drive crew will be set up in the Unirec gym this week only from Monday to Thursday, opening up at 10am and heading off at 2pm each day. If you’re interested you can either register at nzblood.co.nz where you’ll be able to see all available appointments over the 4 days, call 0800 448 325 to talk to someone who knows more, or just pop in on your way home from class. ♦

Campus Safety Walk Lee-yam Bůchanăn A collection WSU and University staff embarked on the annual campus safety walk in the second week of the teaching recess, heading out with the purpose of identifying problem areas.

WSU President, William Lewis told us- “Security is tackling the recent spike in car break-ins around the College Hall carpark, they’re hoping to better understand what’s caused this and find an effective solution as soon as possible”.

We also sat down with WSU Vice President, Nicola Smith for some insider goss on the evening- “It was lit, to say the least”.

Nicola went on to tell us of the focus placed on certain ‘night’ routes which were established to allow all students to safely make their way to each major area of campus at any time. Ensuring each of these routes included a security post or was at least in close proximity to one was a top priority. The importance of security cameras in the carparks was another hot topic, along with the much needed improvements to the lighting around the gym/student health center and the parish lake.

If you’ve got any specific security concerns around campus that you’d like us to raise to the university’s attention email editor@nexusmag.co.nz. ♦

University to Test Loud Siren This Week Liam Buychanan The University will be testing its emergency communication channels during cultural hour on Wednesday the 12th of July. These sirens will sound for three minutes and are similar to those used by volunteer fire brigades. Students should also receive messages via email and text message.

The WSU realises that the majority of students are prone to being startled by loud noises. In order to combat this we’ve teamed up with 04

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Cookie Time to provide you with free S’mores from 12.30, making sure you get the most out of the half an hour prior to the moderately surprising sirens.

Outside of a test, this siren will be used to signal a campus lockdown in response to a threat or act of violence. It’s important to make yourself familiar with this sound. More information can be found on the University website. ♦

News — Pitopito Korero

NEXUS MAGAZINE

Keeping It Neutral: Net Neutrality Jennie-Louise Kendrick

↑ AMY ADAMS

On July 12th, US activists and companies like Amazon and Reddit are banding together against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and their efforts to “destroy net neutrality and give big cable companies control over what we see and do online… [through] widespread throttling, blocking, censorship, and extra fees”. The Fight for the Future campaign is looking to defend Title II net neutrality against Trump’s FCC. The Internet houses an unimaginable amount of content; anyone can put anything on the Internet, it is an indispensable extension of freedom of speech in the media.

It is also possible for an Internet user to access whatever they want, there is little censorship, and while there is bad, nasty stuff on the Internet, there’s also a lot of amazing stuff.

We work, learn, and even date online. This is all made possible because of net neutrality laws; in New Zealand it is not yet an issue, but there have been court cases in the US between the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and multiple suing Internet Service Providers (ISPs). This was before the FCC under the Trump administration, and now the FCC is likely to get rid of net neutrality, and as the Big Orange himself would say ‘this is HUUUGE’.

Net neutrality ensures that all data is treated equally; that means no preferential treatment to specific kinds of content, certain users, individual companies, or modes of communication. Say you’re a Spark customer, and you want to watch Netflix, but because Spark also owns Lightbox, they’d prefer you stay brand loyal.

If net neutrality was compromised, an ISP like Spark could block you from accessing certain sites or content, they would control what you consume and which services you support. Former Minister of Communications, Amy Adams, said it was likely to become more important as Internet providers consolidated and launched more of their own content services.

This narrows the pool of content, meaning that small companies who can’t or won’t pay big bucks to for preferential treatment could be cockblocked by big companies. It would cost more to put content on the Internet, meaning less money to improve quality of aforementioned content.

It would be harder for small-time Internet contributors to generate revenue and traffic, compromising the ability for anyone to make a living on the Internet, which has been an increasingly viable career option by monetising websites through advertising services like Google Adsense.

Some ISPs have already chipped away at the edges of net neutrality, for example by not counting consumption of some online services such as TradeMe and Sky Television’s former iSky service towards customers’ monthly broadband traffic caps.

In New Zealand, the industry structure makes it difficult for ISPs to discriminate because all land-based Internet traffic passes through a wholesale layer. Companies like Chorus and Northpower guarantee net neutrality, as the ISPs don’t have control over the whole process. As technology progresses and 4G mobile networks now promote wireless broadband as a landline replacement, this is now no longer enough to keep net neutrality on the agenda.

European countries like the Netherlands and Slovenia have already passed laws protecting net neutrality.

The issue was reviewed here in the September 2016 review of the Telecommunications Act 2001, citing the submissions made in the discussion document Regulating Communications for the Future released by Adams. The review decided that net neutrality was unlikely to become an issue until the next review in 2020. ♦

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News — Pitopito Korero

TL;LR

Too Long; Lyam Read “American police trial a more positive way to shoot up.”

— North Carolina police called to a rowdy party join in on fun.

“Prius suffers a stroke after witnessing local wildlife move vertically.”

— Driverless cars ‘can’t cope with kangaroo bounce’.

“Wholesome elderly man get absolutely duped.”

— Thieves posed as delivery drivers, burgled elderly man as he made them a cup of tea.

“Body of Christ seasoned with ketamine proves to be a hit.”

— Vatican rocked: Police raid drug-fuelled gay orgy at cardinal’s apartment.

“UoW announces cutting edge documentary on their beloved department of history.”

— Living fossils on the edge of the abyss, horseshoe crabs have survived four mass extinctions but humans could finally wipe them out.

“Principal stoked with his effective alternative to fidget spinners.”

— School lets eight year olds watch porn, parents not quite as stoked.

News in Numbers 72

$98,000

360km/h

34%

70%

30,000km

hotdogs consumed in 10 minutes by an absolute champ, accidentally sets world record.

is the speed promised for Japanese trains within the next two years. of students admit to increasing their exam grades to a minimum B+ when conversing with parents.

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payout for bullied

kindergarten teacher.

increase in cases of irreversible liver damage over the duration of ReO.

bike ride from London to NZ for kiwi couple potentially unaware of planes.

EIGHT BALL

NEXUS MAGAZINE

OK I lied. I promised I’d never show you compassion again but that whole ‘evil interdimensional being’ was just for show. The truth is I just want to see you flourish, it may not always seem like it but I do care. Without a body of my own I’m forced to live vicariously through each of you, it’s in my best interests to keep you around as long as possible.

Double Brown or Waikatos?

As I see it, yes — Fuck do you even know how an Eight Ball works? At the end of the day you can’t go wrong with either. Waikatos do taste marginally better and that added rush of asking a bottletop question is always rather exciting. Although, if you’re packing a box of DoBros chances are you’ll be saving enough to chuck in a pack of darts at the checkout. It comes down to personal preference, would you rather succumb to the sweet release of crisp red or do you live for the hype of cracking a Willy?

Should I Candy Flip?

Cannot predict now — Do you want me to lose my job? Obviously I can’t endorse that you should ingest every substance you’re able to get your hands on but then again who am I to stop you. At least be a little safe about it, alright?

Will my family disown me if I dropped out now?

Without a doubt — Everyone gets disowned at some point, so you might as well get it over and done with while you’re still young and impressionable. I can’t neglect that there’s a slight chance your parents are all about ‘unconditional love and support’, if that’s the case then you’d be able to get away with far worse than dropping out. Don’t forget that you are still stuck in Hamilton, they can’t love you that much.

Should I be scared of my visibility on the Snapmap?

My sources say no — Screw it. If someone is gonna stalk you then chances are they won’t be using Snapchat to do it. Just get rid of any of socially stunted folk from your friends list and you’ll be fine. Ok don’t take my word for it but you can always turn on ghost mode if you’re a little paranoid. ♦

TOP 10

Tinder has seen a mass exodus of those with an insatiable thirst for hi-vis after the recent release of the ‘Date a Tradie’ app. Here at Nexus we wanted to jump on the bandwagon by coming up with the next ten dating apps for the modern consumer.

10. DateMD- looking for a qualified professional or someone who at least thinks they are? Either way these medically inclined lovebirds are sure to find all your worrying lumps.

9. Whipped & Insecure- If daddy issues are your cup of tea then look no further, we’ll find you the most loyal and overcompensating man possible.

8. Cuck- Do you get off to psychological torment?

7. Vanilla - Looking for someone who will in no way challenge you sexually. Vanilla is for you!

(Formerly Christian Mingle).

6. Datestalgia- the perfect place to find someone who’s ‘born in the wrong generation’ and loves to bring it up at every given opportunity.

5. Just Friends- Want to maintain a 30 year platonic relationship with someone you have loved since the moment you locked eyes? Of course you do.

4. Cardinal Sins - Are you a senior member of the clergy? Are porn and gambling no long cutting it?

3. Nicodream- Have your plans gone up in smoke.

Do you want to find a pack-a-day partner to love ‘til you draw your last admittedly wheezy breath?

2. NecPro- ‘She’s not dead, just lukewarm’.

1. Exec Excess: Are you looking for someone new to put on your Senior Staff. Of course you are. You’re old, likely white and probably a little racist. Solve your end of life crisis by dating your next lawsuit.

It has to be better than running for office. ♦

NEXUS MAGAZINE

Sports — Hākinakina

For Sail: One Boat You Can’t Afford Cameron McRobie As you’re all probably aware, little old Emirates Team New Zealand recently routed Oracle Team USA in the America’s Cup sailing event, in what has proved to be the defining underdog moment of 2017 so far – probably the only one where the underdog has had $100 million of funding, too.

Still, this is somewhat fucking insignificant when compared with the $450 million Team USA burnt in their hopeful defence of the Auld Mug. The America’s Cup is the oldest international sporting trophy, first being awarded in 1851 – making sailing arguably the most important sport for New Zealand to relish excelling at (not rugby, fuck rugby). The sport itself has turned into an impressive athletic and engineering feat compared to earlier competitions, this can largely be attributed to the interesting law that the defending nation (that won the previous challenge) not only hosts the event, but also sets the new rules of play. Team USA has taken this as an opportunity the last two cups to set the rules that suit them best to retain the trophy, taking away restrictions on budget and changing the yacht class to trimaran in 2013 and catamaran in 2017 – meaning even more money had to be spent on research and development to develop boats that are essentially flying as opposed to breaking water.

One notable rule in the 2017 challenge was the plus one point that the round robin winner (of the potential challenger boats) could carry into the championship races versus Oracle Team USA, however winning the round robin did not guarantee you’d even make the championship.

Taking advantage of their own cheeky rule, Oracle entered the round robin and won the extra point 08

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early while other teams were adjusting to the rules – even though they were already in the cup defence series (more like Ora-not cool amiright?!).

In classic Kiwi ingenuity manner, Team New Zealand dominated a paradigm shift by being creative with their small budget. Along came the introduction of cyclors in the place of the now near obsolete grinders. A job that used to be battled away at by big lads with swole arms was then executed with the explosive legs of ex-Olympic track cyclist and rower – sailor converts. This meant that the energy able to be provided to the hydraulic foil, dagger-board and sail systems nearly doubled from that of an elite grinder at about 250-300 watts to 500 watts for an Olympic cyclist.

This risk taken by Team NZ allowed a swift domination of Team USA, winning eight races to their one. We’ll surely see Oracle Team USA and the other challengers back with a vengeance in 2021 when the event will be held as a Team New Zealand defence in the City of Sails itself.

For now though, it’s fair to say we have at least another three months of sailing related small talk coming, brace yourselves. ♦

→→ Britain has never won the Auld Mug, despite the inaugural event taking place in Britain – thought up by the British. →→ The USA has won it 29 times, New Zealand thrice, Switzerland twice, and Australia once. →→ Sir Russell Coutts, has won the America’s Cup five times. This includes three times as skipper where he has a perfect 14-0 win record on the water (1995, 2000, 2003). →→ Contrary to popular belief, the Cup was named after the first winning boat, the “America” – not the country itself. →→ In 1997, an activist damaged the America’s Cup trophy after bashing it with a sledgehammer.

Sports — Hākinakina

NEXUS MAGAZINE

Age Is Just a Number Tom Collopy

↑ CHRIS JOHNSON

With less than a month to go in the 2016/2017 racing season, “The Magic Man” Chris Johnson is set to become the oldest jockey to ever win the NZ Jockey Premiership. At the time of writing this, the 53 year old Johnson has amassed 106 winners in 687 starts this season adding a further 165 placings.

Johnson came into the season with nothing to left to prove in an industry he had been a part of for 30 years. He had joined the elite 2000 winners club in the 2014/2015 season, at the time becoming just the fifth jockey in NZ history to do so, ridden winners at the top level and also claimed a jockey’s premiership in the 1995/1996 season. While many would be satisfied with these achievements and start to slow down, Johnson was not and came into this season determined to claim a second premiership.

Chris, who does the majority of his riding in South Island, made a real push part way into the New Year, travelling to a lot more meetings all around the country. The Magic Man is popular with North Island trainers and is renowned as one of the best in the game, so there was never any problem picking up rides. He struck up a nice partnership with Graham and Debbie Rogerson as he began his assault on Danielle Johnson who led the premiership at the time. He was at his magical best, getting the best out of his mounts just by being in the saddle and steadily began to close the gap on Danielle.

As fast as he had leveled up with Danielle he passed her and opened up a nice lead which currently sits at 12 winners. With Danielle heading to Sweden to compete in the Lady Jockeys’ Thoroughbred World Championships and then

heading on holiday following that, Chris has all but wrapped up the premiership with the TAB; even paying out the Magic Man’s faithful punters early.

For any jockey to achieve a premiership it takes an enormous amount of hard work and dedication, and to do so at the age of 53 just shows the Magic Man’s passion for the industry.

Take the last few weeks of the season off and put your feet up Chris, you’ve definitely earned it! ♦

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Entertainment — Whakangahau

NEXUS MAGAZINE

ENTERTAINMENT Hottest to Nottest →→ Eating green vegetables →→ Game of Thrones is baaaaack →→ Kissing strangers and not getting glandular fever →→ Finally working on your problems →→ Eating drunk food when you’re sober →→ Trying to cut your own fringe →→ People who write their Tinder bios like classified ads →→ Seeing your ex(es) in public →→ It’s already July wtf... →→ Fish-based dishes

Best of the Web — Websites to Bookmark Now to Get You Through This Semester Pornhub One hands, two hands, no hands… this website is diverse and beautiful, just like the genitals splashed across the interface. Masturbation is the best stress-reliever out there - free too.

A Good Movie to Watch Netflix suggestions just not doing it for you? Have ye little faith in your friend’s recommendations because they thought Pitch Perfect is funny? This website, funnily enough, suggests quality movies for you to watch.

Procrastination is a fact of student life - may as well make it worthwhile.

WebMD Who needs a medical school in the Waikato when you can just google your symptoms?

It’s cheaper and easier than getting a medical degree. Doctors will be amazed at your condescending statements and pushy nature; here’s a diagnosis for free - hypochondria.

LOL my Thesis Ever wondered what it’s like to be a tutor?

Now, you too can laugh at the thesis statements written by people at 4am the night before the due date. For a more authentic experience, cry about your own academic record beforehand and take out your course-related costs for vodka.

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NEXUS MAGAZINE

Reviews — Arotakenga

Album

Video Game

Arotakenga Pakaemi Melodrama by Lorde Review: Alexander Nebesky

Arotakenga Tākoro Ataata DLC Quest (2011) by Going Loud Studios Review: Conor Maxwell

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5

Melodrama has been pushed along steadily by a grand publicity campaign establishing it as Lorde’s ‘breakup album’. That’s been a fair label for it, but what it sounds like is not so much Lorde’s breakup album, but what Lorde thinks you want to hear from her breakup album.

Though this never ruins a track on the record, it certainly leaves the record sounding peculiarly ‘off’. The only track that defies this insincerity is ‘Liability’, with its stripped back piano and rich vocals the track is something you could imagine Lorde playing at home late one night during the recording process. Other standout tracks include ‘Hard Feelings’ and ‘Sober II (Melodrama)’, though they bring with them some questions for whoever decided on the layout of this album.

Why on Earth would the two unrelated songs ‘Hard Feelings’ and ‘Loveless’ need to appear on the same track when there is no musical thread and ‘Loveless’ is awful? Why is ‘Sober II (Melodrama)’ not just called ‘Melodrama’ when nobody will ever call it anything else? These irritating, experience-clouding issues are rather symptomatic of Lorde’s issue. She loves ruining the momentum of her work. Remember the awful piano vamps on ‘Green Light’, or the ‘D-IN-O-S-A you are a dinosaur’ chorus of ‘Loveless’?

They are moments that stall otherwise energetic songs. Though, alongside the mighty ‘Tennis Court’ stand Melodrama’s ‘Sober’, ‘Liability’, ‘Supercut’, ‘Perfect Places’.

Melodrama is by no means a great record. It is however, a pretty good album, and stepping stone for an artist we all hope to be following for many years to come. ♦

Anyone familiar with gaming industry will be aware that these days, the greedy fucks at the top aren’t content with you buying a game once, and being done with it. Instead, they’d rather you bought a game, then forked out extra dough later on for content such as characters, storylines and horse armour.

Developer Going Loud Studios takes this industry trend and cranks it up to twenty thousand with DLC Quest- a simple indie platformer, where every feature of the game has to be purchased through in-game DLC. Every feature. Like, at the game’s opening, you have to pay for the ability to walk and jump. In this clever satire of necessary “optional” content and ‘payto-win’ microtransactions, players are tasked with the Mario-esque goal of rescuing a princess from a Baddy McBadface who has kidnapped her. And killed your uncle. Throughout the game, you meet zany characters and, primarily, collect coins to buy more DLC, including packs that allow you to pause your game, wall jump, and wear a silly hat.

The game costs like $3 on Steam, so it’s definitely worth checking out, but be warned: DLC Quest was a lot funnier in the days before AAA developers started charging real money to access the true endings of their games. Cough cough Asura’s Wrath cough. ♦

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Re v e w

e vi

ws.

Reviews — Arotakenga

NEXUS MAGAZINE

Film

Album

Arotakenga Kiriata The Mummy directed by Alex Kurtzman Review: Angus Wislon

Arotakenga Pakaemi Ctrl by SZA Review: Vincent Owen

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5

Don’t bother, It’s trash. I’m convinced that this film would be perfect for kids ranging from 7-14ish, it’s fast, poppy and packed with those edgy one-liners which really separate the cool kids from the pack. I’m sure it would also be excellent if you desperately wanted your partner to cheat on you. It’s just another formulaic ‘blockbuster’, if you’re into that then you’ll love it but for those of you who aren’t quite as entertained by loud noises and zombies I’d suggest you look elsewhere.

I was under the guise that I could get free tickets to a movie if I wrote a review on it, in hindsight I should have at least watched the trailer before I agreed. Legitimate critics have referred to this as a “a literal-minded, bumptious monster mash of a movie”, with others referring to Tom Cruise as a man-child desperately trying to sell his image. If someone who knows literally nothing about film is making similar calls to the professionals then I guess I’m not wrong in calling it trash. ♦

After several years of anticipation, alternative R&B artist SZA makes her wise and emotionally complex LP debut. In the rather long gap between her initial EP Z and this project, SZA has begun to set her songwriting against richer, more lustrous production. Ctrl appears as the patching together of compact cassettes, acoustic recordings, treasured phone calls between mothers and daughters, and a healthy dose of experimental synths and drums. It feels fuller than her previous work, and is a joy to listen to.

SZA writes with one of the most fascinating melodic styles in today’s R&B scene, which manifests beautifully in Ctrl’s opening and closing tracks; ‘Supermodel’ and ‘20 Something’.

In both, set against stripped back guitar, SZA’s songwriting feels almost improvisational; the riffs and repetition of a perfect late night shower ballad. These are both standout tracks, alongside ‘The Weekend’, ‘Anything’ and ‘Normal Girl.’ The album tackles the complications and nuances of being the other woman, and navigating one’s twenties as they begin to feel more and more isolating. It’s a topic that feels fleshed out without being overworked over 14 tracks.

Where Ctrl loses stamina is in the list of featured performances; Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar, James Fauntleroy and Isiah Rashad.

Lyrically, SZA rarely strays from the literal, and writes with the bold intimacy of a journal entry.

These private thoughts are interrupted by guest verses that are beside the point, not particularly impressive work from any of the aforementioned artists, and will quickly date what could have been a timeless R&B album. ♦

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Feature — Kupu Whakaatu

Baby Boomers Won’t Believe You without a Bar Chart Barbara Pfahringer 16

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Quick Facts →→ NZ sells the 16th most expensive Big Mac in the world →→ Hamilton is the 3rd least affordable housing area in NZ →→ A median house costs 6.2 times the median income →→ This is slightly higher than Wellington! →→ Hamilton categorised as Severely Unaffordable

Feature — Kupu Whakaatu

NEXUS MAGAZINE

You’ve heard it before, you’ll hear it again, you’re probably living in it right now... our flats are shit. Even the good student rentals have flaws, with the average group of flatties weighing up between cost, quality, security and location convenience. Honours student Barbara Pfahringer investigates the minefield of student living.

So, you found a sweet pad, but it’s in the Bermuda Triangle. There’s a cozy renovated place with a heat pump, but not enough insulation to keep the heat in. Or perhaps you’re feeling excited for that I’m-a-grad house in Rototuna, but not excited to pay for uni parking or breaking the bank if you ever need an unplanned taxi home from town. Some of the classic Dunedin tropes ring true even in our mild Hamiltonian climate, for instance, wearing your entire wardrobe to bed in preparation of waking up in a house that’s colder than outside.

And yet, when I started my research project I was taken aback by how little documented proof there is of these common phenomena.

Full Disclosure: I come from an upper middle class family, live with the ‘rents, and have enough disposable income to achieve a steady supply of coffee from good ol’ Stacy. I am not here to moan about how tough it is for me to be a student, but I do recognise that friends and a lot of you out there are having issues.

The perils of studenthood and housing are a part of the collective consciousness, but we are sorely lacking in evidence to support what we already know. Policy makers and politicians look to statistics and research for identifying both problems and solutions in the nation. We need those records, those trendy stats, so that we can actually prove to the baby boomers something isn’t quite right here.

Let's talk about that collective consciousness…

We consume a media rhetoric that glorifies the two minute noodle diet and how being cold and penniless toughens you up for the harsh realities of adulthood. The “I did it, so you can too” mentality of the baby boomer generation is exacerbated in Hamilton where we are constantly

compared to the fiasco of trying to be a student in Auckland and Wellington. The cherry-picked tales of students that misuse their courserelated costs for fancy holidays and the like result in all the students with loans or allowance to be portrayed as untrustworthy, irresponsible, not-quite-there adults who simply have not yet understood the virtues of budgeting, saving, and working your ass off at a job. Altogether, these drive our view of student funding to picture either a heroic guy who ate nothing but rice and tuna for his four year degree, or a basic ‘white girl’ with her friends sipping cocktails in Bali during teaching recess. A great story for clickbaity articles definitely, but avoids the not as headline-grabbing true state of the student population... Wait, why am I writing an article about this again? Oh right, because we’re cold, we’re poor, and in some cases we’re hungry.

Stats out for the boys For the (statistically) average student, rent easily takes up the majority of your living costs and yes, compared to the renting hell of Auckland, we really are the lucky ones. However, the reality is that we underrate the ability of students in Hamilton and the big cities to survive on less than we need and still compete academically.

And the University knows it, even your good mate Studylink knows it.

Many students make their way each week on the trusty maxed out living costs at $176.86 a week.

If you are eligible for maximum accommodation supplement of $65 on top of that you can make it $241.86. The $20 supplement increase advertised

by National doesn’t apply to Hamilton, sorry folks.

Student allowance instead could get you up to $177.03, or $212.45 if you’re one of the oldies over 24. Only a possible $40 accommodation benefit available on student allowance however so a maximum of $217.03 or $252.45.

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Feature — Kupu Whakaatu

Becoming a cliché Looking to study part time? You won’t be eligible for living costs let alone course related anything because doing 50% of the points means you need 0% of the textbooks? That’s logical...

But what does Studylink think is the actual cost of living for a student in Hamilton? $256!

Which even then excludes a few things listed on their handy guide to costs you’ll have while studying such as car related costs, bills for the dentist or doctor and anything you could possibly need to do that isn’t studying. So try your best not to catch the notorious fresher flu.

The University of Waikato on the other hand does let you have some fun in their estimate with $50 for ‘entertainment’ but uses the lower bound of weekly rent at $100 dollars coming to a total estimate of $307.50. This still excludes one-off purchases that they predict could add a grand or three on top of this each year.

So somehow we as students are managing to keep calm and carry on despite the laughable difference between living costs and the cost of living. In a fashion that is reminiscent of a certain burning dog meme that might just surmise the entire student experience.

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So what are the consequences of such a system where even those who get the most possible from StudyLink don’t quite reach the bar? We look for cheap houses, we seek help elsewhere, and we re-evaluate necessities to exclude fundamentals such as security, a social life, or a diet that let’s you live past 30. This results in three common archetypes: The Cheapie: The think tank, NZ Initiative, has deemed housing affordability to be “the single biggest social policy issue of our time.” The cheapie solves this with a simple solution; finding the closest place to uni that’s in their budget, no matter the consequences. They pay $100 a week, utilities included, with enough leftover for Thursday night. However, they wouldn’t dare invite over a Tinder date that was sober.

The Moocher: The by-product of the moocher is that the parents, also known as the sandwich generation, are the first to be supporting their older children whilst simultaneously taking care of the grandparents due to a longer life expectancy. Don’t worry though, Stuff.co.nz agrees you’re not “mature enough” to handle your your own finances and offered a handy guide for parents to sort it all out for you.

That One That Turns Up To The Test And You Swear You’ve Never Seen Them Before: Now some of us are indeed too lazy to ever get out of a onesie and turn up to class, but others are just too busy working to go to their 10am lecture or 4pm tutorial. Just don’t expect to plan a night out with these mates. If they have anytime left after uni and work they’ll be booked in for every Saturday night shift until they snap and quit on the spot, throwing their uniform dramatically into the bonfire.

Feature — Kupu Whakaatu

NEXUS MAGAZINE

What does it all mean?

How you can help:

In the end, what is it actually like flatting in Hamilton? The answer is I don’t know. At least not quantitatively. We see our share of flats, or have scouted across the market to find a second year gem but we can’t answer important questions such as what percentage of student rentals meet the recommendation of a healthy indoor temperature of 18 degrees or how ‘high’ the crime rate is in our neighbourhood. Student organisations such as NZUSA are part of the not many (if any) interested in the problems our demographic group faces and currently have two campaigns about flatting, promoting healthy homes and rent support. Following suit, here’s hoping my project can be another step in the right direction.

Now hopefully you don’t identify with all of the possible issues I’ve mentioned, but you will relate to some. From my perspective, it just seems illogical to turn university into some right-of-passage survival challenge where we learn to make do with about half of what we need and learn more coping strategies than APA referencing rules. Therefore, there needs to be research and documentation of how we are living and what kinds of problems we face with our housing. Otherwise, without the facts, the barrier to change becomes that much higher.

Want to help make bar charts cooler than MS Word Art? I need you to take precious time out of your non-stop study session/riveting first lecture about due dates reading Nexus to complete my survey. Then thanks to you, my research project can reflect what we feel like everyone already knows and is salient in our daily existence. I can’t offer you minimum wage but I can at least promise you better data privacy than Facebook? ♦

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ART BY KIRSTI HOGAN TWITTER.COM/XEPHIA INSTAGRAM.COM/XEPHIA_ART FACEBOOK.COM/XEPHIADESIGN XEPHIA.TUMBLR.COM

NEXUS MAGAZINE

Full Exposure — Mārakerake

Both Kate Foxx and Some Blonde are headlining Outback XL this weekend, leading us to wonder who the fuck Kate Foxx and Some Blonde actually are. With no way of finding this out, we decided to instead ask them about shopping and who would win in a fight.

Kate Foxx Would you say your true passion lies with songwriting or DJing?

My true passion lies with music in general, the side of me that comes out while DJing is totally different to me songwriting and I love being able to enjoy music in totally different ways, so I don’t think I could choose between the two!

How would you define your sound?

Fun but with a darker and sometimes quirky edge. I love playing music everyone knows and can get around while throwing in something new and different as well.

Favourite online stores? →→ peppermayo.com.au →→ asos.com →→ missguided.co.uk Current top 3 favourite songs?

Impossible (Jax Jones Remix) – Lion Babe Love Me – Torren Foot Afraid, Unafraid - Slumberjack How long have you been producing for?

I’ve only been producing since late last year so still learning. Focusing more on the songwriting side of things.

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↑ K AT E F O X X

What got you into the industry?

I’ve always been into music but my love of the industry I guess started with Ministry of Sound Annual 2007 – best. Compilation. Ever. But I started DJing in clubs after entering Your Shot in 2014.

Why is NZ so much better than Aussie?

New Zealand has better snow! … Apparently.

To be honest I’ve never been to NZ so I guess you guys will have to show me why when I visit?

Favourite brands? →→ HLZ BLZ →→ Live Royal →→ Shade London Who influenced your style?

I’ve always loved Rihanna’s looks and I love Harajuku style, plus way too many Insta babes to name (suss who I’m following on Insta to see @katefoxmusic) but I try not let myself get too influenced by other people and just do my own thing for the most part.

Full Exposure — Mārakerake

NEXUS MAGAZINE

S O M E B LO N D E →

Some Blonde Favourite online stores? →→ Sneakerboy →→ Missguided →→ Tigermist Current top 3 favourite songs? →→ Old Thing Back- The Notorious B.I.G Feat Ja Rule (Matoma Remix) →→ Green Light- Lorde (Chromeo Remix) →→ Humble- Kendrick Lamar What got you into the industry?

After high school I got straight into the hospitality scene, working all weekend behind the bar listening to the best DJs and freshest tunes out. It was only a matter of time before I got out of the bar and found myself in the DJ booth.

Favourite brands? →→ Stussy →→ Nike →→ Discount Universe Who influenced your style? →→ Gwen Stefani →→ Yolandi Visser (DIE ANTWOORD) →→ Ruby Rose How would you define your sound?

I’m not driven by genres, I’m driven by what makes me smile, pull a hectic bass face, or punch the DJ booth so hard because I’m that pumped from what I’m hearing and seeing from the crowd!

The crowd is mainly what inspires each set, if I see they’re vibing something, I go harder into that direction and absolutely give it some!

How did you celebrate when you hit 500k?

Well I haven’t celebrated 500K YET, but hopefully soon! 200K on Facebook was pretty cool too though... Can’t remember what I did to celebrate but it probably involved Agwa!

What would be your dream festival to play at?

Tomorrowland would be pretty sweet to play at! Also, it’s probably not something I’d be as suited to, but playing at Burning Man would be out of this world! That festival looks INSANE! Definitely on the bucket list to go at least.

When’s your debut for Home and Away?

Haha that would be so funny. Who knows?

Maybe it’s on the horizon... But I’d want to make sure I played the character of the ‘mystery girl’ who washes up on the shore of Summer Bay with amnesia and no one knows who I am... But soon after settling into the Bay, the CIA come to get me. I don’t know, but something extreme like that!

If it came down to a street brawl who would win out of you and Kate Fox? Well I think Kate’s too sweet to get into a fight, but say if we ran into trouble, I think Kate would be the one to try to defuse the situation first and hug it out... But if that didn’t work I’d then punch them in the face, whip out my imaginary ninja skills and save the day. ♦

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Student Experience — Wheako Tauira

Club Spotlight WPSA Martina Bruwer Waikato Psychology Student Association (WPSA) has been around since 2013. However, in the last couple of years with its senior members graduating it has somewhat died down. Well, that was until now! We are excited to announce that WPSA is back with a bang!

Our main aim is to help broaden people’s understanding of psychology (be ye a student of the arts or not) and provide ongoing support for students at all levels of their psychological studies.

During the year you can expect to be hearing a lot from us, we will be hosting quiz nights, workshops, study groups and much, much more!

Our first event is a bake sale this Clubs Day, so come along and meet your council members.

You will have the opportunity to enter a raffle, become a member of the club and even earn a free hot chocolate by liking our Facebook page.

If you are interested in becoming more involved with the club and keeping up with our events you can find us on The Hub, Facebook, Snapchat or just email us at waikatopsycstudents@gmail.com.

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Becoming a member can be easy, either email us your name, ID and major or just come see us on Wednesday and sign up. Members will have free access to workshops and quiz nights and save 10% on any shirts or hoodies offered later this year.

If you are interested in volunteering for club events (Great for your CV) or becoming a council member, email us your interest. ♦

Student Experience — Wheako Tauira

NEXUS MAGAZINE

Puppet Master Politics David Bennett So far we have had some fun with local politicians and politics in general. Even if we haven’t managed to get to the real prize of Winston Peters (#PuppetMasterWinston), or the suddenly pro-weed Peter Dunne. This week though I got Lyam to sit down with someone I actually consider a friend outside of politics. The man and the myth that is David Bennett. Hopefully he doesn’t completely fuck things up.

Why should I give a shit?

I really can’t see myself being able sit through another sappy patriotic spiel on how ‘politics impacts you and your country’. Luckily David was equally as unenthused with this, I’m just glad he gave me the quote I needed. Unlike certain ‘left-wing’ candidates he took the first awkward silence like a champ, using it as the perfect opportunity to top up our glasses and remind me how stoked he is to be drinking at midday.

What is National gonna do for students? →→ Maintain strong tertiary education →→ Enable value from education →→ Ensure successful careers through study I’m not too sure what I actually got from this.

He spun a series of yarns on how education should be broad, allowing individuals to be well balanced, have objective perception and strong skills within a team. At the time this sounded all well and good, though now that I’m no longer caught in Dave’s mesmerising gaze this means sweet fuck all. However, he did make a point about “getting students into successful careers” which managed to stick with me. What National is hoping to achieve is effective compensation for our lacking industries by aligning degrees and general education towards them. This may

only seem like a temporary solution, but ol’ mate Daveo has full faith that National’s plan will do wonders to “prepare students for competitive environments”.

How ‘bout that Med School huh?

“National is the only political party pushing for the proposed Waikato Medical School”. Funnily enough there wasn’t any point where I actually brought this up, yet without fail it found a way to scuttle into conversation on multiple occasions.

I guess it is a fairly sweet point of difference, I’ll just pretend that I was fully engaged in this topic and that there were plenty of hard hitting questions involved in the discussion.

Today Lyam Learned →→ National thinks tertiary education is strong at the moment. →→ Med Schools are Bennett’s new “roads”. →→ DB has a hypnotic gaze and dulcet tones that will convince you to do almost anything… which actually explains a lot. →→ If a conversation gets weird you can always start talking about a city with a river.

The Last Word Would I vote for National? Who knows. Maybe the beer hit me a little more than I’d like to admit or maybe nothing of value was actually discussed.

Either way I can still say with confidence that nobody is quite as passionate about Hamilton as Daveo. Maybe I’d be more interested in their policies if I was at least somewhat established, maybe if I just had purpose beyond waiting for Studylink to come through. ♦

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Student Experience — Wheako Tauira

Cheat Sheet Things to do →→ Rip this out of the magazine and keep it →→ Follow the WSU and Nexus on Facebook and Instagram, or stand at edge of unimart and just yell “Give me prizes” into the SUB windows →→ Check out the WSU’s Big Fuck Off Tent (BFT) All this week. To stay warm and get free food etc.

Big prizes you can win →→ WSU STA GTFO is a trip for one to Fiji for seven days and six nights food, travel and accommodation all paid for. All you have to do is sign the STA mailing list (5 entries), take a daily photo in the STA Frame 1 entry per day and then be on campus Friday for the draw at 2pm. →→ XBOX Gonna give it to ya! From Friday the 7th just tag a mate into our Xbox gonna give it ya post on Facebook and go into the draw for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

You need to be on campus at Level Zero of the Student Centre in the BFT to win (10.30). →→ WSU Bootleg Game Shows: Happening eight times a day the WSU will either be spinning the PaknSave Wheel of Food or asking you to play Money or the Bag where you can win a year’s free coffee from Kahurangi, VR headsets, chromecasts, $250 PaknSave Flat Packs, Free food, an LG LED TV (For six weeks) and heaps more.

Free Food Daily →→ 10:30am – Soup Bitchin →→ 12:30am – The WSU War on the Sausage Monday: Spaghetti Bolognese 26

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Tuesday: Nachos Wednesday: S’mores Thursday: Mac N Cheese Tuesday 12:30pm – BurgerFuel Free Fries Wednesday →→ Domino’s Hot Box (NOT FREE BUT SIX BUCKS IS AWESOME!) Friday →→ Fish Punk Fry Day (Free fish and chips) Music →→ Nexus Radio Presents: 1-3 DJ’s or Performers every day

→→ →→ →→ →→ →→

Other Fun Shit Basketball Table Tennis Two Racing Simulators ZM Competitions UniRec Student of Steel

Clubs Day →→ 60 clubs all around S Block. Come and talk to them for yourself and find out what the deal is.

Bus for a Buck →→ The bus stop in the centre of campus is where to be for cheap rides to town. For just $1, you can get a ride to and from town, arriving back at uni every 15 minutes. When you’re ready to head back, just meet the bus where it dropped you off. Keep an eye out for those lovely WSU volunteers.

Columns — Maramara Kōrero

NEXUS MAGAZINE

Pass the AUX Playlist_08 Jacqui Swney This weeks collection of songs aren’t exactly the Re-O party anthems, I’m sorry to say. They do however provide a little somethin’-somethin’ for the artsy kids that can’t be bothered going to town and dressing up in a dollar store hula skirt only to realise you’re the oldest kid in the club, the Chainsmokers jams are unoriginal, and it’s actually 5 degrees outside so a hula skirt wasn’t very practical. But for all you Re-O enthusiasts, hit up Top 100 on Spotify, there might be something on there to hold ya over. ↑ TA M E I M PA L A

↑ LO R D E

↑ TO R A

Yes I’m Changing by Tame Impala At the risk of sounding redundant, I mention the importance of Tame Impala, yet again. These guys have found their way into the very depths of my soul. Their sound is something all their own psychedelic and real. Their subtle inclusion of car horns and traffic sounds in the background towards the end of the song somehow snaps you back into reality from the dream world that they always send me to. The lyrics keep it 100% real and connect with the general human fear of change and the impending future, and somehow help you cope with it. This tune is my go-to at the moment. A rating from 1-10 wouldn’t do it justice, this emotional connection I’ve been left with knows no bounds.

Maybe I’ll revisit this in a few weeks once I’ve fully come to terms with it all, for now I’ll leave it at a transient ~11.

Her sound is very similar to her first album, but definitely more matured and evolved. Her lyrics are creative and original and she has a way of formulating songs and lyrics in a way that keeps the song moving in an interesting direction, while still holding true to its pop roots. This song takes a pause and splits into two separate entities, and both are great. Mad respect for this Kiwi chick.

Too Much by Tora While this song might not be everyone’s cup of tea, it’s slow vibes and layered sounds balance the sharpness of the vocals. The scratchy, fuzzy sounds of a record player loop in the background and make it almost hypnotic and insanely soothing.

Stops you from thinking for a hot 30 seconds as your ears just absorb the noises. The first half perfectly captures that cliche of a Manhattan loft on a rainy night, leaving you with the illusion of a stagnant yet upper class social life. After a solid minute you’re pulled from this fantasy and thrown onto a cold subway, left perched on a purposefully uncomfortable chair while you come to terms with the loss of your highschool crush. Maybe I’m looking into this too much, let’s just give it a 7/10 and get on with it. ♦

Hard Feelings/ Loveless by Lorde As much hype as Lorde’s album has received, it really lived up to it. She’s essentially created a stellar break-up album in a new and creative way.

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Columns — Maramara Kōrero

WUG Life Waikato United Gaming Society

↑ H A LO 4

Tom Featonby Jason Spiller is the unofficial leader of the New Zealand gaming community. He is most often found at tournaments, LANs, launch parties and conventions abroad as well as NZ and most of them he has a hand in their success. Until recently Jason was the head community guy at Xbox NZ and used this position to spread the love and help the gaming scene here to grow like never before.

If he wasn’t so young you’d call him the godfather of the NZ gaming scene. With the end of his time at Xbox NZ it was time to have a chat, ask some questions and learn a bit more about the man behind the trademark smile. This is part one of two.

Tom: Give us a very quick overview of your journey in the gaming industry. (Including what the catalyst was.)

Jason: I was lucky enough to grow up geek, as such I lived and breathed games, scifi, comics, Magic, DnD, all of the staples of modern geek culture. My real passion however was the RTS genre. Dune, Red Alert, Warcraft and of course StarCraft. This ignited a love of esports early on, back when SHOUTcast was used, Counterstrike was seeing its first big boom and before Twitch became synonymous with esports broadcasting.

I went on to become heavily involved in the LAN scene. I would travel with mates to every LAN we could. Auckland, Wellington, Rotorua, it didn’t matter where, I was there. Two things really changed the trajectory for me. Xbox and the WCG (World Cyber Games). Halo, Halo 2 and the advent of Xbox Live cemented my love of the platform early on, the hours I spent practicing were 30

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many. Halo led me to the WCG in a tournament that would see me put in my place, any of my teammates will attest to a certain match with a needler. I leant in and for years I worked as the Team manager for the eBlacks and supported the World Cyber Games in a number of roles travelling around the world to some of the world’s biggest esports events in Singapore, China, the US and Europe. Returning home I cut my retail teeth at EB Games. These experiences led me to Microsoft to look after Games, PR and Xbox Live under Steven Blackburn, a man who took a chance on me and showed me the ropes of the wider gaming industry and how the business mechanically worked. I have been at Microsoft for the last five years and have seen Xbox grow from a console to a gaming brand across console, PC and Mobile.

Tom: Favourite game or franchise? What really does it for you about that game or franchise?

Jason: Home is where the Halo is for me.

The narrative, the competition, the culture it spawned, all combined to provide a unique experience that resonated with me. I tuned into every MLG championship, watched the Halo greats like Walshy, enjoyed the machinima and contributed to the narrative speculation. I built many friendships globally around Halo that have stood the test of time and seen many of those friends go from success to success in Halo in the years since. That sets it apart for me, I never thought more than a decade ago that I would have the privilege of launching Halo titles like Halo 5 and Halo Wars 2. ♦

↑ JASON SPILLER

Columns — Maramara Kōrero

NEXUS MAGAZINE

Eco Emporium Land of the Long White Plastic Bag? Valerie Bianchi Slowly, in communities across New Zealand, local people are trying to ban single use plastic bags. Have you ever tried to completely change the way commerce is done? Let me tell you, eliminating plastic bags from even the smallest of towns is extremely complicated. In the last few weeks, however, putting pressure on plastic bag use has had traction. Twenty-eight of New Zealand’s 67 mayors have signed an open letter to the Government calling for a plastic bag levy.

Reducing the demand for plastic bags is something that every one of us can do and that would have a huge impact on the environment.

Every year, one million plastic bags are used in Aotearoa for approximately 12 minutes each.

Although these are discarded after their 12 minute debut, they will always exist in the world. That means that your great great great great great grandchildren could dig around and find a plastic bag that you used to bring home your groceries 200 years ago. Plastic is a time capsule, but a really shitty one that is just going to remind our progeny how much our society valued convenience over all other things.

Plastic bag free curious? Try a bit, just the tip, of going plastic free with Plastic Free July. For one month you can pledge to not use one or all of the top four single use plastics: bags, straws, coffee cups and water bottles; or try going totally single use plastic free. With a one month time frame, you have a manageable goal to take on (way better and more achievable than Dry July).

Pledging to be a part of Plastic Free July means:

→→ You can choose your own goal for the month (one type of plastic or more). →→ You will be joining a community of one million people worldwide who participate. →→ You will be a more interesting person and fortune will reign down upon you. →→ This also means that: →→ All plastic products are not a no-go, it’s OK to use some based on your pledge. →→ You do not have to go 100% plastic free right away. →→ You do not have to toss out all the plastic you already own.

Eco Emporium us here to support you on your Plastic Free July journey! We have reusable bags for sale, as well as a sewing machine so you can make your own. We also subsidise stainless steel mugs and can help you with tips and solutions to reducing plastic in your life. If you are interested to pledge, please contact me at vbianchi@waikato.ac.nz or come in to the Eco Emporium Tuesday-Thursday 10-3. Come see us behind the WSU/uLeisure in the Cowshed. ♦

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Columns — Maramara Kōrero

The Morning After Taitua Arboretum.

(Pronunciation: ɑː(r) bəˈriːtəm) Julie Charlton I always tell my mates about this magical place but before I get to wonderful details, my slightly smug buddies have corrected my pronunciation of the word arboretum. I say ah-bore-re-tum and I don’t really care if that is correct or not because what’s in a name anyway. Trump probably doesn’t even bat an eyelid when I mispronounce his name as stupid or asshole probably due to the fact that he is the United States President and I’m some average science student at Waikato. An average science student who should stay away from the topic of politics and probably should delete that last sentence. What I am trying to say is that it’s a good thing I’m writing about the Taitua Arboretum rather than talking about it.

Located just out of Dinsdale, on your way to my fave place, Raglan, lies the Arboretum, where a little brown sign does not do it justice.

It’s open seven days a week, 8am to 5pm or half an hour before dusk. However, and in no way, am I condoning this, it is possible to go there at night or whenever the hell you like. I mean it’s not like its locked or something. I may or may not have a mate who had her first date there (with a guy who I strongly approve of), sometime after 11pm and a few swigs from a vodka bottle. Do not worry, the driver was sober and his ute failed to start on the first go as per usual. The date went extremely well which can be solely credited to the Arboretum.

Firstly, the place is full of trees but more than that it’s full of really cool little features and areas.

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There’s multiple pathways that you can take, all of which lead you to different locations and intertwine together. Only ten minutes out of Hamilton it feels like a world away and the fresh air will do you good in any state that you may be in. I’m looking at you, first years who religiously drink on Thursdays. It was started by John and Bunny Mortimer in the early 70s and has gotten out of hand over the last few decades, but in a good way, as it now spans over 20 hectares. Also, since it’s not run by DOC, dogs are welcome! Feel free to bring your four-legged pal or if you don’t have one, go anyway just for the dog sightings.

I know nature isn’t that fun unless it’s the Hakarimatas and you can take that ‘I made it to the Summit’ pic at the Arboretum, but listen here, pollution is only going to get worst and your social smoking may actually damage your lungs so just go and get some fresh air while you still can and maybe even see a dog or two. ♦

TA I T U A A R B O R E T U M TA I T U A R D, T E M P L E V I E W, H A M I LT O N 3 2 8 9 H A M I LT O N . G O V T. N Z 07-838 6622 OPEN 8AM–5PM

Columns — Maramara Kōrero

NEXUS MAGAZINE

Yam and Troy the Science Boys Gravitational Waves Troy the Science Boy So… Gravity is a wave now… Apparently. Or at least, always has been perhaps. Those of you that took physics at any level in high school might remember that gravity is what causes masses to attract one another, is measured as 9.81 meters per second per second (ms-2) and contrary to the belief of some individuals that still exist for some reason, can operate in all three known spatial dimensions. 9.81?

Not just 10? Well no, the powers that be, (AKA NCEA), decided that in level one, it’s 10, in level two, it’s 9.8 and in level 3 it’s 9.81. God knows why. We’re NCEA and consist of a bunch of fucking idiots probably even less qualified to make these sorts of decisions than the person writing this column. We are of the belief that 15-year-olds are completely incompetent and will get confused using short decimal numbers and 16-year-olds are mathematical gods who can use decimal numbers for sure. Fuck me, sorry about that, uninformed and not-at-allresearched-rant over.

Anyway, gravitational waves are said to be a ripple like effect in spacetime. This is particularly noticeable when large, dense objects such as black holes and neutron stars move about in the universe. This idea was first theorised by the bro Albert Einstein in 1916, however, the first evidence of gravitational waves wasn’t observed until 2016, some 100 years later. When two black holes collided a billion light-years away in another galaxy, gravitational waves were emitted strong enough for us to detect here on Earth.

This information was collected by the Laser

Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), a facility set up exclusively to try and observe these waves. The face of astronomy and to a lesser extent, physics was forever changed.

Science is now in search of these waves like never before. One particular plan to try and observe and measure these pesky devils is the LISA project, standing for Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. This project was selected to be carried out in the European Space Agency’s (ESA) science program. LISA will take the form of three separate satellites arranged in a triangle formation. The idea is that these will orbit the sun in a cartwheel fashion following Earth’s path of orbit. The purpose of these satellites is to detect changes in distance between one another which would support the theory of gravitational waves.

Previously, it took a collision of astronomical proportions to detect this phenomena at the LIGO. The hope is that LISA will be capable of observing these waves at a far less extreme level.

That being said… this project is still in the design phase and won’t be carried out until 2034, I certainly know I can wait that long for some more waves that barely affect my life as it is to be detected, but can Lady Science? Who knows.

I would definitely recommend looking into this yourself, as there are all kinds of loose shit going on with these waves that I cannot possibly aim to cover here. ♦

33

NEXUS MAGAZINE

Columns — Maramara Kōrero

Arts The Hybrid

↑ AHSIN AHSIN, LIMBO (2017)

Peter Dornauf The hybrid has become a twenty-first century phenomenon. One immediately thinks of the automobile industry – cars that are powered on a mix of fossil fuels and electricity. It’s the way of the future.

Ironically, it’s the same in art and architecture.

Here it means the amalgamation of different styles into one work. Such practice would have been anathema during the modernist period which meant a focus on purity and singularity; you were a Cubist, Surrealist, Abstract Expressionist or Realist. You didn’t mix your drinks.

It was the same in architecture. The modernist style was the box, flat roof, abstract squares and circles, no ornament. Pure.

But all that Calvinist purity came to an end in the 1970s when architect Philip Johnson stuck a Chippendale pediment on top of a high-rise building in New York City. The return of ornamentation and ironic historical quotation was the beginning of the postmodern period. The hybrid.

It was the end of absolutes and hierarchies and the beginning of relativism and pragmatism.

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

All the rules were broken, the biggest one being that low-life culture, which had always known its place in the pecking order, suddenly found itself not only in favour but elevated to mix and mingle among the godly ranks of high art.

A classic example is the use of glitter. If you want to see this kitsch stuff in action, go no further than Artspost and check out Hamilton’s queen of kitsch, Mark Anthony Curtis. He does a mean memento mori with the glitter bomb. The order of things has been inverted where nothing is marginalised.

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N.13 / V.49

Pop Art helped that happen. Andy Warhol reached down into murky commercial world of supermarket products and made fine art out of soup cans. And he did it at the same time the social order was being challenged; feminism, human rights, et.al In the 1980s an Italian design movement calling itself Memphis, used bright kitsch type plastic laminates to jazz up their asymmetrical furniture and fabric creations. They later became expensive collector’s items.

Jump forward 40 years and make your way to Frankton’s Skinroom Gallery and you will see another hybrid that calls on Memphis design elements and incorporates them into paintings where Abstract Expressionism mixes and mingles with robot comic book forms. It’s the work of Wintec artist, Ahsin Ahsin. Some are a real dog’s breakfast, but others work surprisingly well. ♦

↑ PHILIP JOHNSON ON THE COVER OF TIME MAGAZINE, 1979

Snapped — Atapaki

SNAPPED.

NEXUS MAGAZINE

Snap nexusmag your shenanigans! The best snap each week wins a voucher from our mates at BurgerFuel. Claim it from the Nexus office in SUB. If you wish to remove a snap from the mag before publication on Thursday, let us know what the snap is and why it needs to be removed.

ER

NN WI

37

NEXUS MAGAZINE

Blind Date — He aru makau

Blind Date.

Brought to you by House on Hood Street.

Each week Nexus attempts to make a romantic/sexual connection.

If you're keen for a date on us, email editor@nexusmag.co.nz Like every good student magazine (and Salient) we went on holiday.

So when we got back and realised we didn’t have a blind date we threw caution to the wind and created our first ever double date. Did it result in two love matches? Did the guys fight over one girl? Did they just put their keys in a bowl and let fate decide? We haven’t actually read it yet.

Holidays are awesome!

Gals said: She said: I wish I could blame someone else for nominating me for this, but I tend to volunteer myself for slightly questionable things when drunk. RIP. I started off the night with a cheeky glass of wine (‘cause that’s all a lightweight needs, let’s be honest). I managed to arrive at the same time as the other chick which made for less awkward beginnings.

Turns out we shared a ton of mutual friends but had never met (that I can remember). We were shown to our table where one of the guys was seated and started yarning. The dude went to the toilet and a waitress took advantage of his absence to ask us if we’d decided who gets which guy. There’s no doubt he was a goodlooking chap, but he was more on the other girl’s vibe, so I stepped aside.

Kinda forgot about the time until someone realised half an hour had passed and the other dude hadn’t shown. He turned up shortly after and the next round of introductions were made.

He was good-looking and rocked an Australian accent which I’m quite partial to. Unfortunately, my tales of drunk antics were no match for his.

Damn. Don’t ask me how, but we managed to get onto topics of car airbag problems, cats hunting eels and Ritalin. Determined to make the most of the bar tab, we all shared a cocktail. All in all, it was a pretty chill night with decent company.

Cheers Nexus and House on Hood for the rad night. Shot to the other girl for sussing us all a ride home too! xo 38

N.13 / V.49

She said 2: Being used to only disappointing one man at once, I was slightly nervous to attend the Nexus group blind date. A few cheeky vodkas and some reassurance from my flatmates didn’t do much to help. Arriving five minutes early felt a little keen but I wasn’t the first there. My nerves were soon gone when I was seated with a lovely chap and a lady at House on Hood.

Notably, a quarter of our group date was missing. Had he been ravaged by wild animals?

We could only assume until he arrived, half an hour late. However, conversation flowed pretty easily throughout the night, as did the ciders which, looking back, were probably the reason for the riveting yarns. Not only was I impressed by the food, but also the fact that one of my spicy comrades claimed to have chuffed a dart for breakfast. My kinda guy indeed.

At this point of the evening anything was on the table, especially after one of said spicy dudes offered up a good deal on some pharmaceuticals.

I passed on those and lived to regret it. Overall, good chat was had with good people and it didn’t turn out half as bad as I anticipated. We ended the night with a four way cocktail and a shared car ride home. 10/10 would do again.

Blind Date — He aru makau

NEXUS MAGAZINE

Guys said: He said: So I nominated myself to go on this date... You see when I placed all my living costs for the week on the nose of a dog called Bullseye Eagle, I thought I would be eating like a king for the week, but as can happen with dogs, Bullseye ran dead last and so did my hopes of eating. After making a dick of myself by forgetting my ID, I decided I needed to play some catch up. To my disgust the bartender misheard me and poured me a cider, a fucking cider.

Arriving at the table I saw two beautiful sheilas and one other attractive male (I’m comfortable enough with my sexuality to say that). Once I moved onto the good old combination of rum and coke I started to relax and converse with the others a bit more freely.

The idea of food sharply saddened my soul as I worship my faith at the eating is cheating Parish. After overcoming the disappointment I had caused to my religious beliefs. I believe it is probably a good thing that food was consumed as I absolutely love a good hydration session, and would not have made the greatest of first impressions after shifting some bevies. Well that and old Bullseye Eagle fucked me over.

Both lovely ladies I would gladly share more conversation over a few hydrators, next time without infuriating my religious beliefs. The only regret I have from this date was the timing fell at the same time as footy training, although I was unable to train regardless, I still feel like I’ve dogged the brothers and I accept my fines on the chin. UP THE FUCKING STAGS! Smash tech aye lads.

He said 2: When I first found out I was going on a double blind date the first thing that popped into my mind was “threesome”. Maybe the other guy would be ugly and I could have both dates to myself? But what actually happened was probably the opposite. I got to the place five minutes early and got shown to my table, due to pre-drinks I was overly buzzed and had alcohol flush bad. The two girls arrived next, and I was glad that the more attractive one sat across from me. We all swapped names, which I almost instantly forgot, and ordered some drinks. I ordered a bay of passion, and I swear they put no actual alcohol in it.

It took another half an hour before the second guy came which was filled with a weird threeway conversation where the girls mostly talked to each other about mutual acquaintances, nothing really cheeky at all. Once he arrived we got some more drinks and ordered dinner, by which time my alcohol flush had gone. After this it started to feel like more of a date as I had my own conversation with the girl across the table who couldn’t seem to stop going to the toilet, she was pretty cool and had good chat.

Sometime after dinner we started talking about drugs and our experiences on them.

It dropped the mood completely, but we all agreed we didn’t give a fuck because we weren’t going to a party afterwards anyway. The night eventually wrapped up when the place started closing, ending the date, which felt much more like a friends gathering than anything else. The girl across from me sussed us all a ride home, what a GB, I hope I can return the favour one day …wink…wink.

39

NEXUS MAGAZINE

Puzzles — Panga

HOROSCOPES Aries: March 21 — April 19 Honesty is the flavour of July. If you’re feeling bitter about the calamities of June, there’s no need to throw shade; just get up in their face.

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Spontaneous lactation is on the cards, keep a couple tissues handy over the next few weeks.

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Leo: July 21 — August 22 Winter months don’t phase primal beings. Make sure your lover isn’t just using you as an oversized hot water bottle.

Virgo: August 23 — September 22 June brought an unexpected cleanse. Don’t underestimate your nocturnal prowess, you may not get laid but at least you won’t be hungover.

Libra: September 23 — October 22 Listen to your astral instincts. Go ahead, change your degree again, the longer you’re here the longer you can avoid responsibility.

Scorpio: October 23 — November 21 It’s time to be true to yourself. If thinking about your best mates partner is the only way you can get off maybe you need to address that.

Sagittarius: November 22 — December 21 July leaves you impressionable, the environments you choose will shape your mood. Revamp that Kmart decor and consider vacuuming.

Capricorn: December 22 — January 19 Metabolic requirements will come into prominence Dietary needs will increase in severity. Adjust your budget accordingly.

Aquarius: January 20 — February 18 As a water sign emotional clarity comes with the abundance of moisture, as the fog rolls in you’ll be left enlightened. Embrace it while you can.

Pisces: February 19 — March 20 Succumb to your astral aptitude. University will be the best time of your life, give yourself a sub-par stick and poke to really solidify how you’ll never be able to let go of it all.

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THEME: Words I’ll never use again once I finish uni.

Moreover

Affirm

Faculty

Evaluative

Assert

Semester

Ethos

Analysis

Supervisor

Eschew

Viva

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Stated

Studylink

Disparity

Didactic

Salient

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SIMPLE PUZZLES 4 SIMPLE PEOPLE JOIN THE DOTS (Hint: more than one solution)

NEXUS MAGAZINE

Puzzles — Panga

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1. Transported (7)

4. Spooky (5)

2. Emblem (5)

7. Detection device (5)

3. Tropical bird (6)

9. Vertical (7)

4. Mistake (5)

10. Inactivity (7)

5. Dependable follower (7)

11. Measuring implement (5)

6. Go in (5)

12. Dictator (6)

8. Magnitude relation (5)

14. Ecclesiastic (6)

13. Reinforcement (7)

18. Copious (5)

15. Reasoned judgment (5)

20. Drawn (7)

16. Musical passage (7)

22. Pouch worn with a kilt (7)

17. Opportunity (6)

23. Diadem (5)

18. Part of a church (5)

24. Admittance (5)

19. Ahead of time (5)

25. Spiny anteater (7)

21. Obviate (5)

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