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Salient Magazine

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Editorial

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Letters & Notices Welcomes

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News

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(Feature)

Facebook Flat Groups Artist Profile

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(Feature)

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Bring Back Playtime Columns Poetry Culture A Blueprint for an Aotearoa Superbowl Entertainment

About Us Salient is published by, but remains editorially independent from, the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association (VUWSA). Salient is funded in part by VUWSA through the Student Services Levy. Salient is a member of the Aotearoa Student Press Association (ASPA).

Complaints Complaints regarding the material published in Salient should first be brought to the Editors in writing (editor@salient.org.nz).

If not satisfied with the response, complaints should be directed to the Media Council (info@mediacouncil.org.nz).

The views expressed in Salient do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, VUWSA, or the University.

Sink your teeth into it!

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Editorial HOME IS WHERE YOU PAY RENT staff, and trying to find adequate housing ourselves, that we need—and deserve—solutions. In this week’s issue, Ronia Ibrahim investigates flat hunting via Facebook Nau mai to the 2021 university year. Last week our glasses were fogged up as condensation rose like Jesus (page 16), and Maia Ingoe reports on the stitch up that new Weir House residents experienced when a wing of on the third day from under our face masks. Already the building was deemed “structurally unsound” (page we’ve had a reminder that our hands are not washed 11). of COVID-19 (keep washing your hands) and that we should party like every gig could be the last for a long hot minute. But this is not 2020. We can be stoked that We all deserve somewhere safe to go home to, and to be able to pay rent. If you’re on your 30th flat viewing and infrastructure like contact tracing and online learning haven’t secured a place before your first assignment is is in place so we can handle ourselves with a bit more even due, hang in there. If you’re settling into your hall, certainty, hiccups aside. don’t put sweet chilli sauce on every meal because you’ll hate it by week three, and rest in the comfort that you’re A lot of us are moving at the moment, and it’s hard. not paying electricity by usage.

It’s as if we’re in a toxic relationship with the housing market. All take and no give, we’re told it’ll change, but Keep picking up a copy of Salient to compliment your are we just being gaslit? TradeMe listings are making morning coffee or can of V. Salient will be here for you rooms look like 5 times bigger, the mould airbrushed every week to reflect student life in Pōneke, and to away. throw you some dusty horoscopes if you want to blame For students, the housing crisis means finding a home is stuff on the stars. Salient is about being critical of the stressful. We’re juggling side jobs alongside study to pay University, VUWSA, and the Government’s money moves rent and settling for damp, windowless rooms. It means that affect us. we often sacrifice going out to a friend’s birthday dinner or topping up our phones regularly. It’s not that nothing It’s also about celebrating positive stuff, like dope local creatives. Pōneke can be a pretty awesome place to is being done about this, it’s that not enough is being be. We’re both out-of-towners who decided that this is done. a good place to call home, despite not always having a secure place to live.

StudyLink’s weekly living costs were upped a while back (and then rent rose to match). There was a freeze The housing situation is just one of the things we’ll be on rent increases last year under COVID measures, and legislation was passed that allows us to nail things regularly reporting on this year. We need to remember that change is possible. There are representatives, to the wall. Those in halls did not have to keep paying during lockdown in the end. We’ve seen the introduction academics, and advocates working to improve the state of it. Your education can help you participate in of healthy homes standards which has been a bit of an discussion and change things, too. improvement. Although, there can be complications in accessing the report and getting changes made (how many emails will be sent before that leaky roof is fixed?) Ngā manaakitanga, Kia ora to new and returning students,

We know from talking directly to you, university support

Sally Ward (she/her) and Matthew Casey (he/him) Salient Co-Editors Brought to you by Peoples Coffee Newtown

www.salient.org.nz

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NOTICES & LETTERS

Students for Living Wage Club

Do you have a story to share about using fertility treatment and assisted reproductive technologies like IVF, surrogacy, egg freezing, sperm or egg donation?

Commerce and Law Careers Expo

We would like to hear it.

We are conducting a project on the ways in which family formation is changing and would like to know how being a person of faith shapes access to these new forms of family creation.

We are particularly interested in the kinds of support religious and spiritual beliefs provide as well as any challenges or difficulties you experienced as part of your reproductive journey, including not having children.

If you are interested in sharing your story in a one-to-one interview please contact Associate Professor Rhonda Shaw (rhonda. shaw@vuw.ac.nz) or go to the link for more information: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/sacs/ research/research-projects/study-on-assistedreproduction-and-new-family-formation We hope to hear from you soon.

This research has been approved by Victoria University of Wellington Human Ethics Committee (0000027702) and AUTEC (19/266).

If you are interested in getting involved with the Living Wage movement, follow @students4livingwage on instagram or send us an email at studentsforlivingwage@gmail. com. Come find us at clubs week and sign up! #S4LW

Thursday 4th March 11-2 at Rutherford House Find your future career fit at The Commerce and Law Careers Expo on Thursday 4th March.

Held over both floors of Rutherford House, this is the biggest Careers and Employment event of the year with 50 exhibitors signed up so far.

You will have the opportunity to ‘window-shop’ organisations, network with employers, take advantage of the CV checking station and get a fresh profile pic at the LinkedIn headshot popup! Open to all disciplines, head to CareerHub for more info.

The Stories of Five to Ten People Art show ‘the stories of five to ten people’ is running in the Engine Room (School of Art) at Massey University, curated by Bryce Galloway.

The show is based around comedy and comedic undertones in contemporary art, featuring works from twelve different kiwi artists, all who use comedy in their works.

Check it out before it closes on February 26.

Submit Letters and Notices for future issues

by Tuesdays 5pm to editor@salient.org.nz

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Letters and Notices

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A few welcomes from a few people...

Jacinda Ardern Prime Minister

Kia ora and welcome back to Vic! Last year was tough, and as we head into 2021, I want to start by saying thanks. This month, unlike many students overseas, you’re able to return to campus and take part in O-week events. This wouldn’t have been possible without all your hard work through 2020.

Whether it was adapting to online learning, celebrating birthdays on Zoom, or in some cases, working shifts as an essential worker, thank you for everything you did to help us keep COVID at bay.

It’s been a while since I was a student, but I still remember the mixture of excitement, nerves and just a bit of anxiety at the beginning of university. In 1999, when I started my first year of study, uni fees felt like a massive barrier, not to mention the cost of accommodation, books – life. Because of that, I made choices. I chose a degree programme that I wasn’t necessarily passionate about, but I thought would get me a job. I chose to live at home. I chose to work as much as I could. And I chose all of these things to try to avoid debt.

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Welcome to 2021

I know I was lucky. Many students don’t have those choices. We’ve done as much as we can as a Labour Party to make study more affordable. We took interest off loans, and more recently we made the first year of study free, and we increased student allowances.

I know there are still huge sacrifices students make to further their education, but I hope the things we’ve done have eased the path a little, and created more space for you to make the choices that work for you, now and in the future.

Good luck for this year, enjoy yourselves and remember – graduation is not that far away!

Tamatha Paul Wellington City Councillor

TW: sexual violence I’m gonna be straight up with you and let you know that Wellington is going through it’s Auckland phase.

During the worst time possible. hardworking people who fought for our rights against Our rents are through the roof and fighting to find one the exploits of capitalism. The fundamental lesson I learnt was that the power is always with the people, in the first place makes you consider moving home, property managers take advantage of this, we’re one and we don’t have to accept systems that wear us down and strip us of our humanity. of the only cities without a major public transport discount for students. The University will pay 69k to change signage around the campuses to their official- Abolish Oranga Tamariki and end abuse in state care.

Ban conversion therapy and fuck Terfs. End all lifeless but-not-legal-name “Wellington University” so that Chris Hipkins can see it from his office in Parliament, detention and the use of prisons. Build up a climatesafe future from the bottom up. Honour Te Tiriti. but won’t properly invest in students’ health and wellbeing.

People in positions of power can be directed by us The City Council tends to favour the very loud voices when we collectivise and work together. We don’t have to wait for the things we need, and some things of wealthy boomers who are the only ones with the just can’t wait any longer. time and energy to interact with us on the regular, and our budgets are pretty dismal in comparison to When I was at Uni I was a part of heaps of movements the failures we have to respond to. And obviously that adopted that fundamental philosophy and the world feels like it’s ending living in a climate and we were able to get a 25% student discount for ecological crisis, plus a global pandemic to add a bit public transport, $3million extra funding for Uni more pandemic. Yup. Our generation has our work mental health services, and to get the University to cut out for us. acknowledge the prevalence of sexual violence onand-off-campus by establishing a Sexual Harassment Chances are you’re at University to get a degree Policy. Because of that mahi I was able to be elected which will help you to work in an area that you’re by the students to Wellington City Council. passionate about. And if you’re reading what me and all of these fancy title people have to say, then It’s not enough for me to just be at that table, though. hopefully you’re interested in what we’re doing to We have to continue to push against the powers radically shift the direction our quality of life is that be which continue to hold fast to destructive headed towards. and extractive ideologies. More than that though, Uni taught me two important things, and they weren’t the best thing about Wellington going through it’s Auckland phase is the real opportunity to reimagine taught by any lecturer so I didn’t have to pay a cent.

Growing up in the paradise (hood) of Tokoroa, I always and recreate it based on what Aotearoa needs from its Capital City and what we, the people, deserve in order felt like we were indoctrinated to accept the poverty to thrive. Nau mai ki Te Whanganui ā Tara. around us. Well since moving to Welly I learnt about Ngā Tamatoa and the Polynesian Panthers, the 1975 Tamatha Paul (she/her) hīkoi and the Foreshore & Seabed, unionism and the Ngāti Awa, Waikato Tainui

www.salient.org.nz

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Renati Waaka Ngāi Tauira, Apihā Tumatanui Whakaarahia ake ngā pou o tō whare o Ngāi Tauira!

Nau mai haere mai e ngā tauira Māori o Te Herenga Waka ki te whānau o Ngāi Tauira.

Whether it was helping to lead the Petihana Reo Māori in 1972 which made Te Reo Māori an official language and helped to establish Kōhanga Reo and Kura Kaupapa Māori, or being the only University with our own issue of the student magazine, Te Ao Mārama, completely produced by tauira Māori, or placing our pou firmly in the ground at Ihumātao – Ngāi Tauira has a proud history of flying our tino flag in every space that we occupy, both on and off campus.

We know that being in these colonial spaces can be tough, especially when you’re indigenous. That’s why it is so important that we create our whānau right here on campus so that we all succeed in gaining the tools in our kete to transform and decolonise the workplaces we’re interested in, the places we come from, our whānau, hapū and iwi. With covid happening, the taiao declining, whānau doing it rough

and the world changing as we know it, there’s no better time for indigenous solutions to light the way.

This year at Uni there will be significant changes for us as our Marae, Te Tumu Herenga Waka, is put to sleep while the construction of our Living Pā takes place over the next few years. We may move in and out of lock down. And of course, being away from whānau is never easy.

But we cast our minds back to the mana of those tauira who paved the way for us which exists within ourselves, we have each other’s back and we remember that we are our ancestor’s wildest dreams.

Ka whawhai tonu mātou. Āke, ake, ake.

- Renati Waaka (he/him), Te Arawa

Michael Turnbull President of VUWSA Kia ora koutou, mālō e lelei, and g’day, My name is Michael Turnbull, I’m the President of VUWSA for the already-a-rollercoaster-year that is 2021.

Right now, you probably have three questions: What is VUWSA? Who are you? Who cares?

VUWSA, the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association, is the overarching students’ association on campus. We host all sorts of slick events and initiatives, Covid willing. We set-up and run VUWSA OWeek (R.I.P. gone too soon), Re-OWeek, Stress Free Study Week, and bucketsful of week-long events for every breed of Uni student.

If you’re into keep cups and kombucha, keep a thirdeye out for our upcoming Sustainability Week. If you missed out on that much needed sex talk from your

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Welcome to 2021

Auckland private school, come along to our Sex Week events. Did you come to Wellington for expensive coffee, sticky music venues, and to be looked down upon by a giant face-sporting hand? Then sharpen those overpriced pencils my young Picasso, and get involved in our revamped Arts Week! Or, most importantly, share the love and support at our Mental Health Awareness Week events.

Heck, maybe you came to Welly to actually make a change? Maybe you want to make sure your third pair of angst-charged Doc Martins really leave their mark on the lawns of Parliament? If that’s the case, then paint those signs and warm up those chanting

voices comrade, we have only our bonds to lose.

This year (Covid willing pt.2) we’ll be taking on the Wellington rental market through a number of campaigns and initiatives, pushing to make sure you pay a fair amount for your year-long mould farm of a flat. Head to Tangent ASAP and get yourself a pair of overpriced camo pants. The revolution approaches.

Alternatively, if you’d rather make change as an elected representative, get involved in our Class Reps program, run for your local club’s executive, or if you’re in a Halls of residence this year, put your hand up for our newly implemented Halls Committee.

We’ve got all sorts of services available for your use: Community Pantry, Advocacy Services, free

intercampus bus passes, and free menstrual products. Whatever you need, we got it.

VUWSA has a proud history of advocating for students and stirring shit up while we’re at it. You’ll see our exec around at all sorts of events throughout the year, and hopefully in the office if you ever come in for a visit (level 4 of the Student Union Building). The year ahead may be bumpy, but we’ve got your back.

Stay safe, be kind, and please wash your f*cking hands.

Ngā mihi, Michael (he/him)

Grant Guilford Victoria University Vice Chancellor

Welcome all to the new academic year. It is great to have the majority of our students back on campus, and in New Zealand’s capital city, for the start of another academic year at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington.

2020 presented the University with unprecedented challenges as staff and students responded to the COVID-19 global pandemic. We all worked hard to keep our community safe and to protect our students’ continued academic progress.

No doubt, this year will also bring challenges and we will be called upon to respond promptly to new developments in the epidemic. I want to assure you we are well prepared for what may eventuate and urge you to remain vigilant and follow all health and safety protocols.

We also want you to experience how fantastic it is to be a student in Wellington. It is the place where ideas are born, laws are made, and hīkoi end. You can connect with New Zealand’s taonga, and with some of New Zealand’s best entrepreneurs, creators, and thinkers.

Studying with us means you’ll have the chance to follow in the footsteps of our most distinguished alumni: a Booker Prize winner, a Nobel Laureate, a commander of the International Space Station; prime ministers, mayors, business leaders, and sporting icons.

It is also a place where, if you need some advice or run into a problem—academic, financial, social, personal— there is someone who can help. Don’t hesitate to seek out the services and support available to you at the University.

Your time at Wellington will equip you for your future, open doors and enable you to go on to success regardless of whether you are a new or returning student: nau mai, haere mai ki Te Herenga Waka.

The University’s name in te reo and the name of our marae—Te Herenga Waka—means the mooring place of canoes. We are proud of how our marae represents the iho, or essence, of our Māori identity at the University.

The centrality of Te Herenga Waka a place of teaching, learning, and connection makes our University unique.

As well as providing a link to our ancestors, it ties us to all the iwi of Aotearoa and across the Pacific.

Like the University, it is a place where people from around the world and beyond can ‘hitch their canoes’ and find shelter. When you graduate, you unhitch your canoe and sail off to new horizons, while still maintaining a deep connection to Te Herenga Waka.

All the best for the year ahead, Grant www.salient.org.nz

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News

ProctorU / Weir House Relocation Tikanga to Soften Job-Losses / Enrolments?

VICTORIA UNIVERSITY TO CONTINUE USING ProctorU DESPITE INEQUITIES, PRIVACY BREACHES, 8-HOUR-LONG DELAYS Johnny O’Hagan Brebner (he/him) with additional reporting by Kane Bassett Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa, (he/him) VUW is planning to continue using ProctorU for assessments in 2021 despite inequities, privacy breaches, and delays reported during 2020’s Trimester Two exam season.

ProctorU is an online invigilation service run out of the US. The software aims to prevent students from cheating on online assessments by collecting biometric data and remotely accessing students’ computers, microphones, and webcams. “Proctors” (most of them from overseas) monitor student activity for misconduct.

The university first used ProctorU for 16 end-of-year examinations in 2020, which were moved online due to COVID-19.

VUWSA has been raising concerns about ProctorU’s inequities and privacy issues for nearly a year. President Michael Turnbull says the association told the university that the inherent requirements of the software would disproportionately affect Māori, Pasifika, and disabled students.

Online invigilation requires students to sit their exam in a quiet, empty room with a stable WiFi connection.

Turnbull says these conditions are difficult to achieve for Māori and Pasifika students, who are more likely to live in multigenerational homes. He told Salient, “we have a number of Pasifika students who were directly impacted by ProctorU. Because of a lack of quiet spaces in their homes or flats, or access to steady WiFi, they had to sit these exams on campus.”

One student sat their online invigilation in a lecture theatre.

The theatre’s motion sensor lights went out during the middle of the student’s exam, because they were required to keep looking at their laptop screen. Turnbull said: “They asked ‘can I pause my exam to turn the lights on?’ When they went to do that, the proctor panicked, exited out of the exam, and struggled to reopen the exam again.”

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The Pasifika Students’ Council said in a statement to Salient: “We want to commend the university for the work they have done to support Pasifika students. However, there is always room for improvement—ProctorU is a space where this can occur.”

The council said ProctorU has not been a positive experience for Pasifika students, adding: “We believe the system is not fit for purpose and will result in our Pasifika students not succeeding to the best of our ability.”

VUW aimed to address concerns regarding access to technology through its laptop loan scheme, although the scheme did not address issues relating to stable internet connections.

Turnbull said the requirement for students to consistently look at their laptops during invigilation also posed problems for disabled students.

The university said that Disability Services had been involved from the beginning of the project and had their own moderation procedures in place to prevent falsepositive misconduct alerts.

But Turnbull says disabled students would still face interruptions during their exams. He said disabled students are more likely to be flagged, before having to re-explain their disability to proctors they just met.

Privacy has also been one of the biggest concerns regarding use of ProctorU at Vic. Academic Vice President, Cherri-Lyn Lomax-Morris, says the process is highly

“The input these student representatives are able to give is highly valued.”

Photo: ProctorU invasive: “you need to show your proctor your room that you’re sitting your test in.” One student reported a proctor going through their personal files and photos. Another reportedly asked for a student’s credit card details.

VUW says that ProctorU passed a privacy assessment by its legal team, and in part had adopted the software because of its wide use in Australia.

However, use of ProctorU in Australia also saw privacy breaches in 2020. In July, Honi Soit reported that hackers had publicly released 440,000 ProctorU user records, including those of university staff members.

Students have also reported experiencing delays of up to 8 hours when sitting their exams through ProctorU. The university confirmed to Salient that around one third of the 311 students taking the exam for COML204 on October 21 reported delays in starting their exams. Some students reported not being able to begin their exam at all.

The university did not say if it was satisfied with the performance of ProctorU. When asked if they thought they had done enough to make the software fair and accessible for students, especially Māori and Pasifika students, the University said it was “happy” with last year’s work, but added “we will always be looking to improve what we do.”

VUWSA, however, says they have been raising concerns about ProctorU’s inequities from as early as April last year, and added the university has not been listening.

“There hasn’t seemed to be any genuine empathy from the university about [our concerns].”

VUWSA is urging the university to find alternatives to online invigilation, and to inform students of what lies ahead as soon as possible.

“VUWSA thoroughly discourages the use of ProctorU invigilation software this trimester and in the year ahead.

We call on the university to take into account the concerns shown by students and student rep groups over the use of this software and we will be continuing to work alongside those rep groups to hold the university to account and look for viable alternatives”.

According to VUWSA, several students who experienced these delays had other ProctorU exams that or the “We do not want ProctorU or any online invigilation following day. VUWSA said these students were provided software to be used on our students—it’s failed in the past with alternative assessment options consisting of an open- and it’s likely to fail again.” book test submitted through Turnitin.

ProctorU was later dropped for the year’s remaining exams.

The University stated: “A mix of open book testing through Blackboard and Zoom supervision was used in the small number of courses that had planned to use the software.”

The university says VUWSA will not be informed of courses with online invigilation for up to two weeks at the time of writing. If the full two weeks are taken, students will have from March 3 to March 5 to withdraw from affected courses and receive refunds.

VUW still plans to use the software for exams this year, but told Salient that it has used the experience “as an important opportunity to learn and to improve the resilience of assessment systems.”

If you experienced issues using ProctorU last year, you can contact the VUWSA advocacy team at advocate@vuwsa. org.nz.

INCOMING WEIR HOUSE RESIDENTS RELOCATED DUE TO EARTHQUAKE SAFETY CONCERNS

120 students were told on Friday 12 February that they could no longer move into their accommodation that weekend, because it had been deemed structurally unsound.

RIP IF YOU WERE RELOCATED TO KJ LOL Maia Ingoe (she/her)

The University told parents and students via email on Friday 12 that engineers had advised that the James Hutchinson wing of Weir House needed to be closed due to “unexpected internal vulnerabilities”.

Chief Operating Officer, Mark Loveard, stated the seismic rating of the wing had fallen below 70 per cent of the www.salient.org.nz

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National Building Standard, the rating it was given when its He said ultimately the University made the right decision last assessment was completed in 2008. for everyone’s safety.

He said the wing is still technically habitable, however “closing the wing now removes the risk of having to move students part-way through the year, which would be very disruptive to their wellbeing, their sense of belonging and the friendships they will build during 2021.”

A final rating will not be confirmed until later this year, after geothermic soil testing has been completed.

Sebastian Solomann was relocated to Te Puni Village, and now resides on an alcohol-free floor. “It’s not awful… we’ve all bonded over being displaced”, he said.

No residential advisors were relocated to other halls. “They are all continuing to support the Weir House community”, a spokesperson for the University said.

VUWSA President, Michael Turnbull, commended the University for prioritising students’ safety, but acknowledged right now must be a stressful time for these students.

“At the end of the day, student wellbeing has to be the University’s number one priority”, he said.

He said the University should have told incoming residents the engineers’ assessment was happening.

“We fully acknowledge that students will be disappointed with this and we have to acknowledge the disruption this will have on a lot of those first year students… Our heart goes out to them.”

Conall Sims, a Bachelor of Science and Commerce student, had been looking forward to moving into Weir House for nearly five months. He said: “Being told 2 days before move-in that I’m actually not going to be in the Weir community, after making Facebook pages for our floor, was very distressful”.

All impacted students have been permanently relocated to either Boulcott Hall, Joan Stevens Hall, Katherine Jermyn Hall, Te Puni Village, University Hall, Victoria House, Weir House Village, or Willis Street Hall.

He said he feels out of place at his new hall of residence, Joan Stevens, which was not one of his original three preferences. “My head is still in the state of believing I’m not actually at home here, and Weir is where I should be”.

The James Hutchinson wing is one of four wings at Weir House, which together house over 300 students.

According to Victoria University records, the wing was first built in 1968, and renovated in 1994. Weir House was first opened in 1933.

OPINION: VICTORIA UNIVERSITY IS USING TIKANGA MĀORI TO SOFTEN THE BLOW OF JOB-LOSSES Kane Bassett, Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa, (he/him)

VUW Vice Chancellor, Grant Guilford, announced last year at the staff Christmas function that the University would introduce a voluntary redundancy programme to reduce its $10 million, COVID-induced deficit. He said the programme was part of the University’s generational responsibility to kaitiakitanga.

Kaitiakitanga refers to our obligation as people to guard and care for this land. Māori view it as our connection to Ranginui, Papatūānuku, Tāne Māhuta, Tangaroa, Tāwhirimātea, Rongo-mā-tāne, Haumia-tiketike, Tūmatauenga, and Rūaumoko. It is how we pay respect to our tīpuna; the people who came before us. It is how we account for the lives of our mokopuna; the people who come after us.

Photo: Idea Log

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Guilford used the term in his announcement to refer “to the responsibility to ensure that the University is in a [financially] sustainable position”, a spokesperson for the University said.

The University has been asked by the University Council to reduce their total deficit to $5 million dollars this year.

It’s a hard ask—especially during COVID times—and I don’t wish to pretend that it’s not.

some papers they wanted to come into have been knocked back, if they’re finding lectures are bigger and bigger as they get squeezed into smaller areas—that is bound to have an impact on the quality of their education.”

But I will have it on record that kaitiakitanga is not about financial sustainability; to suggest this is to ignore that degrees put students in debt (AKA, financial instability).

Neither is it about job losses, which will increase workloads for staff, and inevitably impact the degrees the University offers to students.

Big Vic doesn’t have the best handle on kaitiakitanga, so I would suggest that the University consider how they can better fulfill their commitments to manaakitanga—our obligation to care for people. If the University continues to cut spending in ways that negatively impact staff and students, I fear they will never truly fulfill their generational responsibility to kaitiakitanga at all.

Co-President of the Tertiary Education Union, Dougal McNeill, says: “if students are finding courses get cut,

OPINION: WHAT’S GOING ON WITH MY ENROLMENTS? Niva Chittock (she/her) OPINION: Faculties at VUW need to be more transparent when making changes to our course timetables.

Last year, the University began advertising enrolments for 2021 in November. At the time, some advertised courses had a start date of “TBC”, including a few that I was wanting to enrol in. There were no descriptions available either—just the subject area and the odd mention of the two words “Special Topic”.

This seemingly goes against the University’s Course Scheduling and Complaints Policy, which states the course timetables are to be finalised and published online by 1 October for the following academic year.

Photo: VUW When approached for comment, a University spokesperson said: “Changes to the dates a course is delivered [...] need to be approved by the relevant Dean. The usual process is that all students impacted are notified by the relevant school or faculty.”

The courses I was considering remained undetailed for two months. A week before the initial enrolment deadline of I was not notified of such changes. Nor were my friends January 20 they were finally identified, so I was able to add who also encountered issues with their enrolments. Most of one to my enrolment. us stumbled upon the changes by accident when signing into MyAllocator.

But in early February, I discovered that the trimester start date of the same course had changed. My enrolment forms This process requires us to make time in our already busy listed the original course start date, but the University’s schedules, which is a big hurdle for students. I was only online course finder and MyAllocator said otherwise. able to solve the issue by visiting my faculty in person as well, which made me sympathise with those encountering When I discussed this with course advisors from the these issues from outside Te Whanganui a Tara.

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (FHSS), they recalled changing the start date for that course, though All of this can have a negative impact on the wellbeing weren’t able to tell me why the change had been made. of students before they even reach the first day of the university year. Weeks of uncertainty and a lack of contact They also did not check to see whether the School had with the University creates unnecessary stress, and can contacted affected students. make students feel insecure about their degrees.

The University’s Course Scheduling & Complaints Policy states the Head of School is responsible for advising enrolled students of any change to their course timetable.

Faculties need to be clearer with students when making timetable changes; they should be following their own rules. www.salient.org.nz

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$ 2.

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Shit News.

15 things VUW could buy instead of a new sign A guide to misspending 69k The university has applied for resource consent to change the branding on Rutherford House, at a total cost of $69,000. Here are 15 things for the same price that are nowhere near as boring.

23,000 Night ‘n Day milkshakes on $3 Tuesdays. At the normal price of $5.90, you could still cater one milkshake to 11,695 people.

1,380 fifty bags.

A monthly subscription to five separate OnlyFans accounts, each priced at the maximum rate of $49.99, for 276 weeks (5.3 years).

A $20 snapper allowance every week for 3,450 weeks.

69,696 San Remo pasta snacks, based on New World’s price of 99 cents. If these were distributed evenly across the university, every student would receive three packets of pasta each.

187 annual passes to Ferrari World, a theme park based on vehicles owned mostly by dickswingers, but that still looks really fun regardless.

746 GameStop shares (as at roughly two weeks ago).

A 70-minute-long tour of Prince’s estate, which would also leave $68,962.20 in change.

6,272 bottles of Nitro.

3,450 x $20 bottles of vape juice.

4,058 x Any Camel Grill shawarma combo.

Note: the chicken and lamb ones are slightly cheaper, so if you only wanted these options you could buy an additional 2,842 shawarmas.

OPENING HOURS: LUNCH 11:30AM - 3:00PM (MONDAY - SUNDAY) DINNER 5:00PM - 8:30PM (MONDAY - SATURDAY)

FRESH, FLAVORSOME 14 VIETNAMESE CUISINE

62 DIXON ST, TE ARO, 6011, WELLINGTON

650 Student Saver return trips on the Interislander.

873 student season memberships for the Hurricanes.

According to figures on the Warehouse Stationery website, the same sign could be printed in A3, 405,882 times.

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Facebook Flat Groups: a guide to the Wellingtonian Art of Online Flat Hunting Ronia Ibrahim (she/her)

Facebook Flat groups are an essential in the Wellington flatting scene. They come in many names of the same variation: FAM (Flatmates and More) Wellington is most popular at 53k members, followed by Flats and Rooms for Rent in Wellington NZ; Flatmates Wanted - Wellington; Flats and Flatmates Wellington; Flatmates wanted in Wellington; Wellington - Rooms/Flats/Apartments/Flatmates.

General Wellington community pages such as Vic Deals (or its less racist successor, Dic Veals) are also frequently used, as well as Facebook Marketplace, where you can find a rental with a side of neglected air fryer. These sprawling underground markets are a hotspot for flat hunters in Wellington. There you will find hives of Wellingtonians, necessitated by a terrifying rental crisis, in search for a place to live.

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Feature : Ronia Ibrahim - Facebook Flat Groups

Flat listings are most common in these groups: pictures of rooms/houses accompanied by information regarding rent, expenses and the move-in date.

Flatmate listings are also a thing - where individuals pitch themselves to the group in hopes of becoming someone’s flatmate or tenant. Often these come in the form of a selfie paired with a small bio outlining age, interests and budget. It feels a lot like a dating profile—if Tinder was an app that valued domestic aptness—where attractive traits like “clean, responsible, non-smoker” replace height, star sign and favourite mediocre TV show.

It’s not just about wanting to make sure your landlord or potential flatmates like you; a self-pitch can be very useful for attracting places that fit your preferences.

In my first venture into Facebook flat hunting, I only

wanted to consider an all-girls flat so I could roam around the house without having to worry about wearing my hijab (avoiding dirty bathrooms would be a convenient plus). Flatting culture is as much about who you live with as where you live. Profiles can be a useful way for people to find like-minded people, or places that will accept you for who you are.

A wholesome selfie paired with a few jokes here and there can make you stand out from the sea of homehunters, or at least result in some validating love reacts.

“It’s really, really bad”, my dad says, starting another one of his dinner table housing crisis rants. We are sitting in the kitchen of our 6-week-old flat, signed to us just before Christmas, feeling equal parts relief and guilt at finding a decent apartment amidst the mess of the market. My dad is a case manager for emergency housing, so my sister and I get all the tea on just how ugly this crisis really is. He found our place on TradeMe last December, which according to the website, was when median property rent in Wellington was at $620. “And it keeps getting worse”, Dad says. Our houses are overpriced, at capacity, Appeal is incredibly important for a Facebook flat and underwhelming, meaning that finding a place in listing. Photos, wording and honesty are key. You don’t Wellington is often much like finding a place that’s want to be called out for how gross your place looks, only miserably decent. but you want to make sure you’re not overhyping it either. The balance can be tricky, the irony intense, “It’s like [looking for] a part-time job, constantly but include one mouldy attic pic and you could end trawling through all the platforms to find something” up at the wrong end of publicity. In November 2020, Becky G says, a third year Law/Arts student whose one student’s listing made national news: the “cosy” first flat hunting experiences were, like so many $130 per-week room in a 7 bedroom house she had others, a nightmare. As a first year from Tauranga, posted—a converted sunroom with a double bed fresh out of halls, she was hit with a wave of stress flushed up against a wall—attracted public ridicule entering the rental market. “I really had no idea what and criticism. The unlucky advertiser told TVNZ I was looking for”, she recounts. “I had exams coming she “knew it wasn’t the fanciest room”, but, as the up, so was frantically studying while having at least onslaught of Harry Potter’s-cupboard-under-theone breakdown every day, crying and stressing over stairs comments suggested, “people thought it was not having a home”. She was desperate, applying for really bad”. “absolutely everything”.

One of four bedrooms in the Te Aro student flat listed on Vic Deals for new tenants Source: Stuff

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“A flat came up on Vic Deals and I messaged the guy straight away; [we] said we would come visit it in the next 10 minutes”. But when she arrived, it was in dismal condition. “That was quite a shock”, she admitted, “One of my flatmates actually said she cried when she walked into the house for the first time!” The house was damaged, freezing and mouldy, however, she accepted it, because at that point, she “was in a state of panic, so honestly would have taken absolutely anything”.

The truth is, the world of Facebook flats can be terrifying. Sometimes I feel disappointed in my inability to pull up my big girl pants and just meet people, make decisions, stop ghosting people.

Among the emoji-studded flat adverts and robotic “PM” comments, where nobody seems to be having a visible breakdown, it’s easy to assume everybody knows what they’re doing except you. But every once in a while someone will post something other than a flat or a pitch. A message of support, a meme about skyhigh rental prices, or, as one admin apologetically While Becky was brave enough to move into her posted, a photo of a massive piece of fried chicken.

Facebook Flat, I can’t testify to what actually happens It’s moments like these, where the proverbial fourth beyond this point. While I had also trawled through wall is broken and we can acknowledge the collective listings, messaging members and making sacrifices, struggle we’re in and laugh, cry or console each other I never actually managed to move into a flat. It hit with care-reacts and memes. We’re gonna need all we me when I showed up to the door of an apartment I can get. had organised to view—where in front, a man with hula hoops was dancing to EDM—that I realised I had reached the edge of flat-hunting Facebook. Now I was in the real world, which involved real money, people, and decisions. Reality meant no algorithm, no anonymity, no ghosting. It meant facing up to strangers, responsibilities, unpredictability. I turned towards the street that day, and now I live with my Dad. After having to split up with flatmates, and dealing with an “intensely passive aggressive” landlord, Becky has since fortunately found a new flat again through Vic Deals, but not without sacrificing health, emotional wellbeing, and money. “I have literally only been flatting for a year and I already feel like I could talk about this forever—flatting in Wellington is a high pressured, high stake competition”.

But she says despite the emotional turmoil, the social media platform allowed for easier communication and connection to people. “The informal setting means you can ask a ton of questions to the people, and you don’t have to try to seem polite and formal in the same way when addressing a landlord”. Facebook groups even offered some sense of support for her.

“It was reassuring to know everyone is/was in the same boat”, she says, “all the people I talked to were really nice, wishing me luck if their flat had already been filled, and chatting about how absolutely dire the situation was in Welly”.

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Feature : Ronia Ibrahim - Facebook Flat Groups

2016 talking to aliens

BDR

The illusion of escapism 2021.

Felt tip on A4

ARTIST PROFILE

My name is BDR (Kai/Ngai Tahu), I am an artist based in Wellington whose current focus is on painting/ drawing and video. BDR started as a street art project in 2015 that I decided to bring into my fine arts degree at Gotta be a sports star. 2019.

Massey University. Whilst at uni, I was able to further my Gesso and spray paint painting practice, but also explore different fields such as interactive sculpture, sound art, and video art. BDR is often characterised by the continuous line faces that appear in most of my paintings, as well as on the street.

Since graduating I have been focusing on bringing these faces and figures into different mediums, and making my art accessible to purchase for people of all incomes.

Wire faces for sale at Monty’s I find my larger abstract portraits are often representative of the struggle that comes with dealing with pain—not physical pain, but inner pain. We aren’t taught to confront it and understand it, but more often taught to cover it up, with status, drugs, relationships, careers, sex, and possessions. If we want to heal the world, we must look at how we treat ourselves, our pain, and feelings of inadequacy, with acceptance and a gentle understanding.

Sometimes we chase something and forget our own peace is what’s most important.

Currently I have wire faces for sale at an amazing shop in Newtown called Monty’s (Go check them out!!) and am anticipating a collaborative show later in the year with Wellington artist ASTEK. Feel free to check out my instagram! DM for purchases xx

@art.bdr

Hot Air, 2020.

Spray paint

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“1stXV” 2020.

Acrylic on board 2mx1.5m BDR

Janhavi Gosavi (she/her)

Over the break, I binged the Toy Story movies. I didn’t follow the storyline, or pay attention to character development. I was too busy seething with jealousy. At kids. Pre-pubescent, unproductive members of society who were not berated for sitting on their asses and playing with cowboys and space rangers all day. As someone who votes and pays taxes, I felt personally attacked.

A student’s timetable is full of classes, meetings, and part time jobs. Playtime doesn’t seem like a priority. Your need to be productive may convince you an activity is worthless if it does not have tangible, quantifiable value.

Yet health research shows you’re not wasting time by playing, you’re investing it into your own wellbeing. That shit is priceless.

Russ Pine is a registered psychologist and PhD student When the university calendar year kick starts, I usually at Vic, who is creating a digital mental health game to swap out my summer spontaneity for a programme support young adolescents’ psychological wellbeing. centered around study. But 2021 doesn’t have to be all When asked if students should integrate play into their work and no play. So I’m off on a one woman crusade - to lives, Russ said “there is a strong body of research bring back playtime. suggesting merely scheduling play can support mental health because we are actively prioritising these Google tells me ‘playtime’ is a “period in the school day activities”. He also believes play can relieve stress when children are allowed to go outside and play”. This through releasing endorphins, and challenges our clarifies two things. Firstly, that playtime should be a cognitive resources through stimulating imagination. part of the school day, not a treat to be saved for the end While many adults experience the same stressors, of the day. Secondly, that playtime requires permission. those with a playful mindset can free up more cognitive demands to react to stressors in a helpful way.

I surveyed 150 Vic students to find out how often they permitted themselves to play. 48% said they allowed There are elements of student life that combine playing themselves playtime more than once a week. 52% said and socialising. Making trick shots in beer pong or their playtimes were not as often, with a disheartening indulging in a game of Never Have I Ever is all good fun, 10% stating they played less than once a month. but doesn’t truly count as playtime. Playtime should be unadulterated, active fun which doesn’t involve social When asked if they actively made time for playing, 50% stakes or substances. answered no. And it’s easy to see why.

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Feature : Janhavi Gosavi - Bring Back Playtime

Take Toy Story for instance. The beloved Pixar franchise reminded audiences that all playtime required was a child, their toy, and boundless imagination. Toy Story is centered around “free playing”, which is popular with children because it is improvised and does not adhere to concrete rules.

So what does playtime look like for adults?

As we grow older, we find free play embarrassing. That’s why games are better suited to us. Sebastian Deterding, a gamification researcher, explains in his article ‘Alibis for Adult Play’ that games “leave little mental reserve to become self-conscious” because they are “highly institutionalised, conventionalised, and come pre-legitimized”.

Russ also says games can be a self-regulation strategy that provide adults with a mental break to calm themselves.

Play-dough dog created in The Bubble, Student Union building, 2021

Through my survey, students voted board games and party games as the most popular games, followed by social sport, and video games.

Outside of scheduled bookings, Uni Rec also offers its Main Gym, Dance Room, and Boyd-Wilson Field for free casual use. Josie Fitzsimmons, the Sports Manager at Uni Rec, says these spaces are hugely popular for casual play, and mentioned that their table tennis tables are a big hit. Josie recommends students engage in playtime because “it can be built into the day however it suits individuals best, and doesn’t add additional pressure through costs or ongoing commitments”.

If you want to challenge yourself to free playing, improvised theatre could be an option. Nina Hogg, president of Vic’s MmmPop Improv club, says improvisers are called “players” because the lines between improv and play are blurred. Players create characters and situations that play to their audience’s and fellow collaborators’ imaginations. MmmPop has ~jams~, weekly sessions full of improv games that are open to everyone. “Students come out of our jams feeling much happier and lighter, after laughing for the better part of two hours”, says Nina.

She reckons free playing in front of others can seem daunting because “students aren’t used to using their imaginations without the fear of failing”. Players can burden themselves with the pressure to be funny, but mmmPop provides them with training that focuses on “happy failure” and ensures improv stays fun.

As someone who spent a good chunk of her summer at Counter Culture, I can testify that board game cafés slap.

Located on Victoria Street, it’s popular with students and boasts a collection of over 900 board games. A game Nina believes playtime is incredibly beneficial for pass will cost you $5 with any food or beverage purchase, students because it combines discovery, spontaneity, and grants you access to their board games for 3 hours. and communication. “It’s rare that we get to simultaneously stretch all of these muscles while For a playtime option closer to Kelburn campus, pop unwinding and enjoying the sensation of playing,” she into Uni Rec for social sports. They host Just Play, free says. drop-in sessions for anyone who wants to play sports without the commitment. These sessions run on a weekly Playtime is a thing of beauty, so it shouldn’t be a thing timetable and equipment is provided for sports like futsal of the past. In between buying textbooks and pinning and volleyball - all you have to do is show up. up the VUWSA wall planner, treat yourself to some endorphins vis a vis playing. And you can catch me, Fin Johnson, a Masters student, plays basketball there hood up and game face on, making moves at Counter for a couple hours every week. Play always has a positive Culture like my life depends on it. impact on his wellbeing, especially when he takes it as an opportunity to “catch up with a few of the bros”.

“The atmosphere is great’’, he says, “even better when someone brings the speaker and we can hoop to some good music”.

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SHIT'S FUCKED Wellington’s Pipes Are Poo

them are in poor condition or worse. No-one on the Council has enough information to be able to predict which pipe Shit is fully fucked. After ages of knowing that Wellington’s could blow next, and how much it will cost to fix. pipes are shit, there’s not really been much movement.

The other week when I saw the catastrophe on Aro Street, McManus has been doing pretty tops reporting. When asked for comment, in his capacity as the Transport and it really pissed me off. I was on my way to my third flat viewing for the day on Holland Street, and was greeted by Infrastructure reporter, he said: “In most city capitals, poo is flushed away and never seen again.” Which does sound a geyser of water. like a luxury. McManus continued, “Wellington is still trying It’s stressful enough trying to find a flat without wondering its best to be taken seriously with the other big kid capitals, but it’s hard to get a seat at the table when you’re not even whether sewage will end up in your letterbox. I’ve heard others talk about the pipes being a problem. To be honest, potty trained.” it’s hard to care about pipes, mostly because they’re boring At least there’s currently no faeces in the drinking supply. as sin. But on the real, what is the scale of the problem?

Still, I’m only drinking filtered stuff because I’m scared of poopy water. Until the pipes are fixed, shit’s fucked.

Turns out the pipes are old as fuck. According to a report from Joel McManus in Stuff, published on Jan 28, a third of

SHIT'S GOOD Juice TV is back, and not enough people are talking about it I grew up spring cleaning with my mum. Our setup was straightforward; we cleaned during spring, but not on the first day of spring. We joked that I wasn’t being exploited for free labour, even if reality suggested otherwise, and we listened to Juice TV the whole time.

Juice was a 24-hour music streaming channel devoted to New Zealand-based talent, and it was lit. Juice introduced me to artists I still listen to today, namely Fat Freddy’s Drop, Ladyhawke, and Scribe. The platform hosted yearly music awards, which my mum considered worthy enough of an extension on my bedtime.

The channel was canned in 2015 and converted to a 30-minute segment on Garage, because mobile streaming sites like YouTube had seemingly outpaced it. But young New Zealanders have an insatiable appetite for local talent—one that can’t be sufficed by old mate Vevo.

Juice TV is back now, and Grant Hislop, the CEO of its parent company, Monarch Media, is ecstatic to place more emphasis on Aotearoa-produced music. “We need it”, he says.

They’re in early stages of development, but Hislop has a clear goal: “to take the viewer on a musical journey”.

He says: “We’re not demographically, genre or era based,” which makes its content more encompassing for different audiences. As well as hosting the linear Juice TV programme, Hislop plans to develop Juice TV into a “Netflix” for music content, which will host docos, films, TV series, tutorials, and live streams.

Juice TV’s comeback is a dream come true. Not only will it revitalise the nostalgia I, as well (I’m sure) many other New Zealanders have for the program, it will account for all that’s changed since 2015. My mum thinks that is “pretty bloody neat”.

Juice is now available on Kordia TV, Freeview channel 200

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Hi! We’re Anoushka and Laurelei and it’s Rice To Meet You. From dating, to pronouncing ethnic names, to racial imposter syndrome, we’re Salient’s resident Asian aunties giving completely unsolicited (but somewhat sage) advice.

Steaming In An Academic Pressure Cooker For most, the start of semester marks the beginning of a very stressful period. After all, it’s university, and you can’t spell “studying” without “dying”.

You’re served a stress cocktail, with an added dash of societal expectations and a twist of parental pressure—something many of my fellow Asian kids will be able to relate to. You don’t just have to get good grades, you need the best grade. You find yourself in a position of having to prove yourself not only to yourself, but also your parents, peers, and that random aunty you meet once a month at a social gathering.

From being the first to fill out primary school sticker charts, to trying to get into Honours, my entire life has been spent trying to impress my parents that have made so many sacrifices to get me to where I am today. In Asian families, hearing an “I’m proud of you” is the equivalent to winning the lotto. My sun in Scorpio means that I will stop at nothing to get what I want, and I wanted that recognition so much that I dropped out of Year 13 in the middle of a pandemic just to start university early. Am I crazy or just craving validation? I guess we’ll never know.

Whatever it is, the constant working and hustle is as I have deduced that this pressure stems from the fact damaging as it is rewarding. Getting amazing grades that many of us are either children of immigrants, isn’t anything to flex if it means you’re losing sleep or we are immigrants ourselves, meaning we have and skipping breakfast. It’s important to recognise a fat stack of prejudice against us from the minute that our parents only push us so hard because we start school. I swear if I had a dollar for each time they just want what’s best for us. And forgive me if someone asked me to help them with a maths or I’m going out on a limb here, but I don’t think their science project in college, I’d have a lot of dollars. And definition of “best” includes sacrificing our wellbeing I’m an economics major! I’m sure a lot of us are in the just for an A (no matter how much it seems like it is). same boat. Sometimes ignorant comments turn into And don’t even get me started on the idea that “All perceived expectations. Everyone expects you to be Asians are smart”! One of the many things wrong with amazing because, well, how could you not? Suddenly the model minority myth is that it drastically shapes you’re studying your butt off to get the top grade in our visions of success and a happy life (tune in for a your class, and signing up to a million extracurriculars future column on everything else that’s wrong with just to keep yourself from turning into a human dosa said myth). Academic burnout is real, folks, and by the from all the pressure you’re under. What I’m trying words of Brené Brown—“if you don’t want to burn out, to say is that you’re not alone. Aunty Anoushka is stop living like you’re on fire”. Look after yourselves, going through the exact same thing! It’s okay to have and if things start to weigh you down? Just remember setbacks and bad days, you’re only human. So long that you survived 2020, so you’re technically as you’re happy with yourself, nothing else matters. invincible.

You’re doing great, and I love you:) Anoushka Divekar (she/her)

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Columns : Rice to Meet You / $10 Jugs

Laurelei Bautista (she/her)

JJ Murphy’s

If there’s one thing I am more appalled at than the rising cost of rent in Wellington, it’s the rising cost of a jug of beer. Bars around Wellington are needing to keep up with inflation, and sometimes we’re charged the exorbitant fee of $11 to enjoy a jug.

With the ever increasing gentrification of Cuba Street, I have seen this street lose its sincerity in the few years I’ve been here. Thankfully, we still have JJ Murphy’s, originally known as Jessie J. Murphy’s.

Firstly, you are spoiled for choice between the standard Export Gold, and the more regionally appropriate beer named after the most beautiful bird, Tui. For the sake of this week’s review, we’re examining the Export Gold. This is a beyondstandard New Zealand 4% beer. One thing to note is that this is a consistently used tap, which means it’s always fresh. It hasn’t been sitting for over 3 days.

There are two factors of cheap piss: taste and lack of taste. No $10 jug is going to give you the hoppy undertones of a fancy IPA, and thus complicated flavours can lead to it being unenjoyable. I would recommend this if you like clean, crisp, light flavored beers.

The booths are very intimate, but do not allow for much privacy. When speaking to my mother, she described the place as “dark and dingy”, which I believe is an alternative way to say it’s not that bright inside. The wooden frames, and the flags on the roof that look like big pillows for giants to rest their head, make it a cosy atmosphere.

Size:

2 ½ pints

Availability:

All week, except after 10 pm Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

Do you like playing pool? Well it’s free here. Do you like live music? There’s live music every night; sometimes it’s a bloke playing guitar, and other times it’s a bloke playing a guitar.

If you grew up in Irish bars, akin to myself, you would find the music charming. There’s sadly none of that good classical Irish music like The Script or Macklemore, just your standard U2 and shit.

They’ve got sports on at all hours, if you want to watch UFC or other pay-per-view content. This was where I watched Khabib beat Mcgregor, my high school 1st XV win the national championship, and also a bouncer floor my mate David because he was dancing on the stage when he shouldn’t’ve been.

If you want to offer JJ Murphy’s your patronage for a $10 jug, the ideal times I would advise are: Tuesday night for quiz night. There are challenging teams to go up against. This is also the same night as the 2-4-1 ribs.

Friday afternoon as the sun sets on Cuba Street.

After a big week, why not park up with a dart and watch the big fiery ball in the sky descend behind the Kelburn hills.

In conclusion, I would recommend this $10 jug to anyone who enjoys a standard 4% golden lager. But, I do know for a fact that this is not the largest capacity jug in Wellington. I can promise, a larger jug will be reviewed next time.

www.salient.org.nz

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Women's Writes Zianna McLeod (she/her) Co-President Victoria University of Wellington Women’s Collective CW: Mentions of sexual violence Any woman can tell you a story of sexual violence, whether it’s groping, stealthing, rape or unsolicited dick pics. She’ll also most likely be talking about her own experience: 1 in 3 students will be a victim/ survivor of sexual violence while studying. A lot of these experiences will happen during the first year of study for these women, so now seems like a pretty good time to talk about this.

of it as the time to experiment and find ourselves, and for many of us it’s the beginning of adulting. I believe that our homes, halls, and our university should be safe.

It’s your education, a basic human right.

Sexual violence can tarnish the way you feel about things, and what you remember and associate with those experiences. It’s the old guy hitting on you, asking you for your number at your first job when you’re barely legal. That’s something that sticks with Just like the 1920s, when knees were sexy, sex you. That prepares you to expect a lifetime of sexual education was being introduced and the oral violence. When you wear a skirt and get catcalled. Once contraceptive pill was making headlines, I think we’re going through another sexual revolution in the shitshow again, it prepares you for having to go out of your way that is the 2020s here in New Zealand. With abortion law to avoid this, but it’s what your nana told you is a part of womanhood . Notice anything? Something that the reform and updated more inclusive sex ed guidelines that include important topics like consent, reproductive #MeToo movement highlighted: sexual violence is health and the LGBTQIA+ community, we’re on the right normalised and internalised. track to improving sexual and reproductive autonomy Studies show that this experienced internalisation here in NZ. happens at a greater scale for university students when One of the biggest issues I want this revolution to tackle the violence is linked to university/halls. As a woman, as and dismantle is sexual violence, and how normalised it a victim/survivor, this upsets me, bearing in mind what is. I want first years to feel safe in their halls, and I want we already know about the horrifying number of women women of all walks of life to feel safe on campus, I want who will experience sexual violence while studying, many of them facing such violence during O-Week or in sexual violence, this statistic that shouldn’t be real to halls. not exist, or to be drastically decreased at the least. I’d accept that for now. We need to create a culture that If you’ve experienced this, and to those who might, I supports victims/survivors, to end the internalisation want you to know that it isn’t your fault, no matter the and normalisation of this violence. circumstances. It’s absolutely shit, and no matter how I recently attended disclosure training around sexual you’re feeling it’s valid. violence for O-Week (this is to equip you with the right tools to appropriately deal with somebody disclosing their experiences).. For some ‘unknown’ If you, or anyone you know, has been affected by the (well it’s patriarchal, victim blaming bullshit) reason, issues mentioned in this column, there are numbers responsibility is placed on women to prevent this you can call: violence. As a first year I’m sure you’ve had family 24/7 Support Lines and friends give you all the warnings around drinking, HELP: 04 801 6655 parties, and walking all after certain times.

Rape Crisis Line: 04 801 8973 Safe to Talk: 0800 044 334 As a victim/survivor of sexual violence, remembering this reality for first years hits hard. I was raped and Gender Minorities Aotearoa: 04 385 0611^ sexually violated at college, and it’s shaped all of my Shakti for Migrant and Refugee Women: 0800 742 584 sexual experiences. Due to this, and the following slut shaming—including from police and staff—I didn’t feel safe at college. When we think about university, we think

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Columns : Women’s Writes / Student Wellbeing / Mauri Ora

Student Wellbeing

Mauri Ora

Daniel Khamis (he/him) Wellbeing Workshop Facilitator

Kirstin White (Health Navigator) Rebekah Ward - Johnston (Health Coach)

Victoria University Wellbeing Workshops

Nau mai haere mai,

Need some support during your academic journey? For the first time, Manawa Ora offers students wellbeing workshops facilitated by experienced students.

Wellbeing workshops run throughout the year, commencing on Monday 22 February (see wgtn.ac.nz/ wellbeing-workshops). The workshops are designed to equip students with the necessary skills to support their wellbeing during their academic journey.

Welcome to the University and trimester one. At Mauri Ora, Student Health and Counselling, we are here to help. Come and talk with one of our team if you are unsure or struggling with any aspect of your health and wellbeing. At Mauri Ora there is a range of staff to assist you. Nurses, Doctors, Counsellors, Health Improvement Practitioners and a Health Coach are available Monday to Friday at both Kelburn and Pipitea Campus. There is no cost for a general consultation for domestic students. If you are an international student, talk with us about your insurance.

The workshops are delivered in one-off sessions and provide practical skills to help students from all study levels manage their wellbeing. Each workshop focuses on a specific wellbeing area such as burnout, coping with competing priorities, loneliness, nutrition, procrastination and more.

The Mindwell Meditation Club at VUW offers free mediation sessions during the weekdays in Trimester 1. We all know the powerful effect of meditation on our lives, which in turn, can enhance our academic performance. If you need to clear your mind and get a fresh start, pop into the Bubble, SU216 L2 Student Union Building at 9:20 am. No book required.

Since I started my academic journey, I have been through the ups and downs of student life. Honestly, my grades during the first few years of my study aren’t something I’m proud of. Unfortunately, at that time I didn’t know about the health and wellbeing services available to students. I was wrestling my daily pressures alongside study requirements. In my Postgraduate and Masters Degree, I took advantage of the available services to help me manage my stress and improve my wellbeing. Surprisingly, my grades gradually got better and I started to see A+ in some of my assignments.

Today, I have empathy for student life. I never underestimate the importance of maintaining wellbeing to enhance not only our academic and professional lives, but also to create a positive effect on our life in general.

For health appointments you need to be registered with Mauri Ora as your primary health provider.

This is easy to do, come visit us in The Student Union Building, level one or at Te Taunaki, Rutherford House, Mezzanine Floor. We can help with the registration form.

We provide free counselling services to all students.

Student Counselling can support you with any issues that are affecting your studies such as, trouble sleeping, adjustment issues or stressors, relationship strains.

We are here to help you to manage things better and encourage you to seek help as early as possible if you are struggling with your mental health. Don’t think of counselling as a last resort.

If you want to talk about our services, please pop in to our reception area either at Student Union Building, level one or in the Mezzanine floor, Rutherford House for a chat.

We are easy to contact, check us out on the website www.wgtn.ac.nz/student-health-counselling or give us a call 04 463 5308.

You can view the workshops timetable online and register your interest on CAREER HUB.

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My My day day off off

Sun has gone too soon Washing still damp like wet leaves Somebody call God

Sunny as hell now Big regret wearing long sleeves My fit’s still cute tho ;)

Window cracked open Room is beyond boiling One leg out of bed

Woke up freezing cold MetService says twelve degrees Feels negative five - Sloane Peters

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Poetry

ADs

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Review

SYNTHONY Sally Ward (she/her) Before Synthony last Saturday, I didn’t know if I should dress for the orchestra or the EDM. I dressed somewhere in the middle, making sure not to wear too many layers in case I got sweaty. In the bathroom between sets, I saw a grey-haired woman in a long sequined dress touching up her red lipstick. I was at a gig for the ages.

Synthony produces electronic dance music (EDM) performed by a full orchestra. It was co-founded in 2017

by DJ & producer Erika Amoore and David Elmsly, with the help of Peter Thomas from Auckland Symphony Orchestra. The show travels around and links up with local orchestras—Saturday’s performance was with Orchestra Wellington.

I watched the crowd spill into the mosh until it hit the sides of the room and surrounded the sound desk. We asked some students on the ground what the crowd was like. It was “a mix of 50-year-olds pinging” and “other young people also pinging”, with plenty of room to move, they said.

The orchestra was book-ended by two DJ sets. The conductor stepped onto the stage in full coat tails, and violins were marched out to erupting smoke machines. It was like seeing Bach get married to Tiësto—an unlikely match, but to which no objections can be made. The orchestra was complemented by a near constant bassline from the DJ decks. Hooks to your favourite EDM tracks were filled with the swelling of strings and brass. It was more novel than a Kinder Surprise.

Near the beginning, a red-sequined saxophonist played a solo on Avicii’s “Levels”, and the crowd collectively lost it.

It was so comfortably 2011 and yet, completely new. Jason Kerrison (Opshop), all the way from Kaitaia, performed a rendition of Pink Floyd’s ^The Wall^, which the over 50s sang along to on full volume. There was also a dose of disco, with Cherie Mathieson singing Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams”.

We had some questions put to the conductor, Brent Stewart. He perfectly captures the experience, and provides insight from centre stage. Here are his answers in full: Who is your favourite composer?

This will come across cliché, but Beethoven is my all-time favourite. His compositions were ground-breaking, and his ability to express the horrors and joys of humanity is just as relevant and thrilling today as it was for audiences 250 years ago.

How does conducting EDM compare to your regular performances?

From a conductor’s perspective, the reading and rehearsing of music is similar to that of our traditional concerts, although conducting amongst a field of lasers is rather trippy. The biggest difference for all of us would be the epic, arena-sized amplification, fused with electronic sounds. The gargantuan sub-woofers under my feet made the podium feel like I was on a rollercoaster, and the bass frequencies would rebound off the back wall, returning with slight latency. In Synthony, rather than respond to the live acoustic around us, the players and I had to be very disciplined and lock into our earphones to retain tight rhythmic precision.

How does the audience affect the atmosphere of the performance?

For obvious reasons, our audience doesn’t mosh through a Mozart symphony, whereas the enormous crowd at I don’t know many people under 30 going to listen to Synthony made us feel like rock stars! The love and classical music. But that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate energy from the room was so palpable and unending that the electricity of a live orchestra. I danced for a whole 2 we didn’t want to stop, even though we had been playing hours. I highly recommend going to watch Synthony—keep uninterrupted for nearly two hours. an eye out for future tours. In the meantime, you can watch Synthony perform Darude’s “Sandstorm” and Fisher’s “Losing It” on Youtube.

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Reviews : Synthony / Valentines

*Sent directly to Salient from students, un-edited.

Expectation

Reality

I am planning on having a few friends around for dinner, because we don’t really intend on celebrating Valentine’s. We are going to, however, be celebrating the death of Captain Cook.

It was pretty good, we had a lot of drinks at [redacted]’s flat. Smoked a fat J and ended up watching old episodes of The Simpsons, which is crack up as when you’re high. I fell asleep on [redacted]’s couch, and then woke up to all the new COVID shit. Bit shit because I was excited to go to a few O’week gigs in town.

Joel, Petone

I’m planning on spending Sunday with my boyfriend!

Unfortunately I’m working, but we have plans for the evening. He’s keeping these a bit of a surprise, but I’m predicting dinner at a restaurant (I hinted at Italian), then heading to Kiki for their special Valentine’s Day cocktail event. We aren’t planning on doing massive presents, but we agreed to get each other flowers. I have a few other little gift ideas though, so I’ll see if I can pull those off. Hopefully we just get to have some quality time together—it’s good timing before the year gets super full on for both of us.

I had such a special Valentine’s Day—it definitely surpassed all of my expectations! I woke up to chocolates, a framed photo of us, and a POEM (!).

I was then delivered some beautiful flowers and an oat milk latte while I was at work. When I got home, I was surprised with a home cooked meal and bubbles, which we took for a picnic in the Mount Vic community gardens. We then made our way to the cocktail event at Kiki, where we had some lovely one on one time, being gross about how in love and happy we are with each other. We ended the night with the Bachelorette (our favourite show). It was such an awesome day, and a great reminder of how amazing being in love is. Very happy gal.

Sarah, Mt Vic

I have been having a very stressful time at work, my co-worker is reasonably lazy so I’m having to pick up a lot of slack so it’s good to have the time off and decompress. My boyfriend and I are planning on having a chill night, maybe have some wine and cheese together and make sure we just hang out.

We ended up having a picnic by the beach. Went to his house and decided to have sex at roughly 8:15 p.m.

The sex part was going really good until around the 8 minute mark when our phones started going off, with the fucking emergency alert. If you could have any mood killer, it wouldn’t be a change in COVID alert levels. The vibe was off, and we could not get back into it. All I really wanted was an orgasm. Nice cuddle though.

Maia, Kelburn

Taking amble ambiguous periods throughout the day to see my family, and then to feel loved, collectively attend a V day drinks where my brother is working.

Involved: my friends, my dad, my cat, and my current fling of which we both agreed it was too weird to see each other that day.

Got up & was greeted by my only valentine present, from my flatmate. lunch with all my siblings where anyone w a partner was roasted. me & the mutual bro hit some V day drinks for the business deals. Love for la familia and friends *the present was yum I ate it w my dad and sister.

Beth, Newtown

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A Blueprint for an Aotearoa Superbowl Sunday Matthew Casey (he/him)

On Monday, 8 February 2021, I was perched in a sub-par Wellington bar with a shitty $11 jug and good company, watching the Superbowl. This is the life, I thought, unironically eating chicken wings because that’s what you’re meant to do. In a nation with such prestigious titles as the Ranfurly Shield and the Weetbix Tryathlon, there is an opportunity for us to do the Superbowl, but better.

Location : For the actual event, we’ve got to go to one of this country’s top stadiums. This may be biased, but it’s hard to go past Rotorua International Stadium. With houses overlooking, it’s one of those legendary grounds where both grandstands and an embankment allow for varied viewing options. Since Rotorua is having a rough time with tourism, I believe this will assist the local economy too. No need for all this Auckland/Wellington grandiose; if we’re having a one-off national event, we need it at our nation’s best stadium. Since a lot of us won’t be able to afford a stadium seat, a backyard BBQ is an excellent alternative option.

Food: Talk about a world class culinary experience. We need aunty Rhonda at the sausage sizzle—pork and fennel— alongside some glorious vegan alternatives on some world class Soy & Linseed bread. The food thing is really up to the consumer, eat whatever you want. I’d make sure to be eating Shrewsburys and be sipping on a Waikato Draught, but to each their own.

Cater your BBQ by shopping local as hell. You’ll need big bottles of Budget fizzy drinks, and healthier options such as water to get through the day.

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Aotearoa Superbowl Sunday

In the COVID-19 era, a lot of places on earth can’t—and shouldn’t—be holding events. The Mayor of Tampa, where the American Superbowl was held a couple of weeks ago, has come out as being a bit bloody annoyed that masks weren’t being worn in the stadium. We have the opportunity to hold events (God willing). And so, here is my blueprint for an Aotearoa Superbowl Sunday:

Music: The most/only interesting part of what feels like a 30-hour game of *not* Rugby League, is the music. The Weeknd was fucking gold this year, almost as good as seeing The Wiggles live at the Wellington Town Hall when I was 5. Talk about a fruit salad of excitement! This is the part that half of the viewers care about. There are two big music parts: the national anthem and the halftime show.

National Anthem Imagine before all the spectacle, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa comes out of retirement, and she’s backed by Fat Freddy’s Drop for a 12-minute rendition of “God Defend New Zealand”. Chef’s kiss.

Halftime Picture this: Sir Dave Dobbyn super spectacular. Halfway through his set, the voice of Jesus, I mean, Dave, proclaims “all the way from Onehunga: SWIDT’’. The stage lights go off, and all of SWIDT appear, performing from one of the houses overlooking the stadium. After they’ve performed, a supergroup featuring Aaradhna, Marlon Williams, The Herbs, and more come out to perform an earthshaking version of “Slice of Heaven”. I would honestly run it straight at Sonny Bill Williams for a chance to enter the lottery to view that.

Sport: A lot of different sports would deserve all this hype and a large stage. To be honest, this would be a good show to have around the 2021 Rugby World Cup final, when the Black Ferns *knocks on wood* make it to the final again. They’re the undisputed, best team in the entire nation, so they deserve to be the centrepiece of such a huge event. At the end of the game, you’d have the Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson giving Eloise Blackwell her MVP medal to a roaring 20,000 person crowd. Pure gold.

Adverts: The other big thing that people care about, other than the sport, is the ads—the overproduced, multimillion dollar productions. Here are a few notable brands which could have awesome adverts: Huffer: They’d have, like, Post Malone riding a CGI dolphin into Wellington Harbour, wearing one of their yellow puffer jackets, and then he’d share a cup of tea with Mittens.

Lotto: They already do those overproduced ads, which is a weird way to spend the money they swear is being invested back into our communities.

McDonald’s: It’d probably be the world’s longest version of the Kiwi Burger Ad: “Kiwis love Potato Tops, Topp Twins, recycle bins, Green Party election wins”.

The Interislander: “What a way to start a holiday” being sung by a choir of animated Kererū wearing Swandris, sailing to, in fact, the otherside.

Four Square x NZ COVID Tracer App: In the move of the century, Mr 4 is reminding you to sign-in when you go to Four Square, specifically the one in Bulls, promoting their hot chips.

This isnt about sport, this is about unity, The Superbowl Aotearoa won’t be as over the top as the American one but shit it would be fun. It doesn’t mean much, but that’s how I’d do it. www.salient.org.nz

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Crossword : 001

Across 1. Main word on VUW’s proposed $69,000 sign 5. Merriam-Webster’s 2020 Word of the Year 8. Theme of lead feature article 10. Children’s show (3,7) 13. Student Association 14. Gallagher brother’s band 16. New sandwich shop coming to Kelburn Campus 18. Writer of Article, the page after Centrefold 19. Gotta Catch’em All 21. Condom company 22. “Off the Wall” skate shoe, commonly found “On the Road”

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Puzzles

Down 2. Dorothy’s last name from Wizard of Oz 3. Bad tactic for running the 100m sprint, good for rolling a dart (3,3) 4. Radio station – 91.7 FM (3,4) 6. Famous Wellington Cat 7. Otago Student Magazine 9. Geological man named Dwayne (3,4) 10. Day of Thunder 11. “In The Air” Band 12. Student loan provider 15. The representative group for architecture and design students 16. Sci-fi movie franchise (4,4) 17. 1.25L of pure hell 20. An Official Language of New Zealand

Word of the Week Skuxduku : Medium Rare

“Relax” Te Reo Māori pārore New Zealand Sign language

Bachelor of Communication Experiential and industry-connected “I have always been interested in writing and telling stories. Little did I know that there was a degree that perfectly combined my love of crafting content with real-life business applications. Communication Management is such a varied and versatile qualification that gave me a solid foundation on which to build a successful communications career. Since graduating from Massey, I have taken the practical skills I learnt and applied them to creative and dynamic communication projects in both the private and public sectors.”

Michaela Scholtens - Corporate Communications Specialist Bachelor of Communication, majoring in Communication Management With practice-relevant majors in Communication Management, Digital Marketing, Expressive Arts, Journalism, Linguistics, Media Studies and Public Relations, our graduates are employed across 20 industry categories with more than 280 different job titles.

FOLLOW YOUR HEART AND YOUR HEAD FIND OUT MORE AT MASSEY.AC.NZ/BC

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D Aries

Taurus

Gemini

As an Aries, it’s in your nature to want to be energetic and to keep pushing, but this week you should ignore that and ~chill~. You need this last week before uni kicks in to properly recover after the festival filled summer you’ve had and that stressful ‘kind-of-not-really” O-week.

Do less, you’re being too much.

You’re the most social-savvy earth sign, and this week we recommend you put that to good use. It’s the perfect time to ask out your flatmate’s hot friend, or join that pub-quiz team, or even start a band.

Put yourself out there.

You like to go with the flow, but this week as summer comes to a close you’re realising you need to take more action in your life. You want to be grounded and responsible for once—embrace it. Stop being a flake and call that friend you’ve been ignoring.

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Before uni’s even started, you’re probably feeling pretty over it.

Straight up, it’s like that sometimes.

But this bad mood isn’t going to last; you’ve got this. Make sure you treat yourself for lunch on Wednesday because honestly, you deserve it!

As a Leo, you’ve got the heart of a lion. It’s time to go hard and do the most—whether that’s in your uni work, or going to a gig on Thursday night, if you’re able to. The Garage Project one could be dope.

When doing stuff, ask yourself who you’re doing it for, because this is a time for you! You’re feeling confident despite all the changes in your life.

Wear those fun pants from Depop that you’ve been too scared to wear.

You won’t stain them, just be careful.

Libra

Scorpio

Sagittarius

You might get sick, so calm down on going out to town/parties. Especially with everything happening at the moment, just be wary. Please be selfaware of how much you are avoiding your health and responsibilities. Stay in with flatmates or hall friends, and take your multivitamins.

This week is the start of a creative breakthrough for you. Push yourself and make a big power move. Try colour coordinating everything from your stationery to your outfit. It’s time to show everyone you’re the shit.

You’re an honest person, and it’s time to be honest with yourself— you’re feeling overwhelmed. With a lot of choices in front of you, just take a few moments to think it through. Please be kind to yourself, as you’re truly doing your best.

Capricorn

Aquarius

Pisces

You are the master of organisation.

We all know you’ve been sorted for uni for weeks now, so keep that productive streak going. Apply for that job that feels out of reach, because the results may surprise you. Just don’t forget your friends exist.

You are not tied down to your friends from first year—it’s time to expand your social circle! Pour one out for your haters and let’s move forward with only positivity. Keep shining and stay true to yourself. If you think that person in your class seems cool, it’s totally worth having a yarn to them.

Pisces season has just begun, and it’s time to harness any momentum you’ve established recently and go hard. It’s been rough recently, and it might be in these times ahead, but honestly, you’re going to do awesome this year. Pinkies MF’n out.

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The Team Editors

Sally Ward & Matthew Casey editor@salient.org.nz

Columnists

Padraig Simpson designer@salient.org.nz

Anoushka Divekar Laurelei Bautista Zianna McLeod Daniel Khamis Kiretin White Rebekah Ward-Johnston

Sub Editor

Contributors

Design & Illustration

Jamie Clarke

News Editor

Kane Bassett news@salient.org.nz

Maddi Rowe Maia Ingoe Sloane Peters Madison Walker

Francesa Georgia Pietkiewicz Nutsford

Chief Reporter Niva Chittock

Staff Writers Janhavi Gosavi Ronia Ibrahim Lachlan Ewing

Social Media & Web Manager Thomas Gerbremichael

Podcast Manager

Francesa Georgia Pietkiewicz Nutsford

Centerfold BDR @art.bdr

Find Us

fb.com/salientmagazine IG @salientgram Twitter @salientmagazine www.salient.org.nz

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