Issue 1 - Fresh

SALIENT

ISSUE 01

Fresh

C

S

T

N TE N O 04

06-07

Contributor Call Out

Welcomes

News

16-18

20-21

22-23

Centerfold

Got Milk (Feature)

24-26

28-35

36-38

A Flatter’s Guide to Composting (Feature)

Culture & Columns Podcasts (28-29) Taco Bell Review (30-31) Broadening Horizons (32-33)

Entertainment

Goodbye Grant (Feature)

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).

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

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).

2

08-13

Find Us Twitter @salientmagazine Facebook fb.com/salientmagazine Instagram @salientgram www.salient.org.nz

IT WASN’T THE SAME WITHOUT YOU. EDITORIAL Kia ora koutou e hoa mā!

Happy start of Trimester One to you all. Whether you’re amped for the start of a new chapter or dreading classes before they’ve begun, there’s no doubt 2022 will be a hell of a year.

A big welcome back to all of our returning students, I hope summer was kind to you. And if you’re a fresher who’s picked up their very first Salient, then congratulations on discovering us!

Salient Magazine has had a strong hold on over our student culture since 1938. We are your go-to magazine for student news, investigative articles, podcasts, horoscopes, reviews, and puzzles.

Our purpose is to hold the University and VUWSA to account, while keeping you entertained and informed. We ask difficult questions, deliver hot takes, and strive to make the student voice heard.

There is a new issue of Salient out every week, and it’s distributed all around our three campuses. It’s also available online through our website, so you can stay in the loop no matter where you are.

Campus wasn’t the same without you. During Trimester Three, it felt like a ghost town. I swear I saw tumbleweed roll past me in The Hub. But in the past week, I’ve loved watching new students navigate their way around the city with their lanyards firmly around their necks. You’re all bright eyed, bushy tailed, and ready for your next great adventure.

However, recently another distinct group of people moved to Wellington: anti-vaccine mandate protestors.

On my morning commute into Kelburn, my bus rolls past Pipitea campus. Protestors have taken our campus hostage, and they hold up signs saying “You’re Beautiful” and “Have A Blessed Day”. I check the news when I get into the office, only to see reports of violence, harassment, and the slinging of

fecal matter within this “Freedom Convoy”.

I wonder if this makes you feel welcomed. You, who left your families, your home towns, for the capital of politics and culture. You were supposed to get toga nights and live concerts, but instead you’ve had public transport diversion and halls that already have Covid-19 outbreaks.

We may have started off shaky, but here’s what I can tell you.

I can tell you that university is a place you’ll be academically and ideologically challenged. I can promise you this city has hidden gems waiting to be uncovered. I can assure you the coffee is as good as it’s rumoured to be.

And Salient will be there for you, every week like clockwork. If you’re keen on contributing to us, turn the page to find details on how you can get involved. We would love to hear from you!

Ngā manaakitanga,

JANHAVI GOSAVI (SHE/HER)

www.salient.org.nz

3

CONTRIBUTOR CALL OUT SEND IN YOUR PITCH OR PORTFOLIO TO EDITOR@SALIENT.ORG.NZ

Writing opportunities: - Horoscopes - Feature articles - News - Poetry - Puzzles - Reviews - Columns WRITE FOR SALIENT

Art opportunities: - Photography - Centerfold art (any visual medium) - Models (no experience required) - Cartoons/ illustrations VISUAL ART 4

Download the SJS app today to explore thousands of part-time jobs.

WELCOME! engagement, VUWSA’s got your back.

Kia ora koutou!

Kō Ralph Zambrano tōku ingoa, nō Piripini ōku tīpuna, he tangata tiriti ahau.

Mabuhay and a good ol’ what’s up! My name is Ralph and I am your VUWSA President.

Wherever you may come from across the motu or overseas, welcome to Vic and the next stage of your life—it’s going to be a wild ride. For those of you returning, welcome back to the chaos!

Uni is going to be full of ups and downs, opportunities, and challenges but VUWSA is here to help you throughout this journey.

We are your students’ association and we are here to represent you.

Whether it’s your academics, welfare, or

If you have an issue with your class, we organise class reps so that every class has someone to ensure all students are getting a fair go. If you need support, we provide free services like Community Pantry, menstrual products, and bus passes. We also have our two independent advocates who are here to help you with any issue. If you’re looking for some sick gigs or something to get amongst, we run O-Week (catch you in July), Sex Week, Sustainability Week, and heaps of other events.

We also tackle the big issues students face. You’ll see us organise campaigns, speak out at marches, and run student advocacy bodies. Whether it’s lobbying the Government, Wellington City Council, or the University, we’ll be onto it. Our kaupapa is your kaupapa.

Keep an eye out for our by-election too—this is your chance to get amongst!

For more info, hit up our social media or visit our bright green office at the top of the Student Union Building at Kelburn Campus.

Welcome to campus and welcome to 2022.

Ngā mihi and maraming salamat, Ralph Zambrano

Wellington welcomes you!

You’re beginning your next chapter of learning and laying the foundations for your future.

Maybe this is your first time away from home— exciting (or a bit frightening)—with all the added uncertainties of Covid. If you feel a bit stressed and overwhelmed please make use of the University’s great counsellors and support services.

6

better future for our city. My council is committed to improving its infrastructure, transport networks, outdoor spaces, meeting our housing needs, and so much more.

Life is about grabbing opportunities with both hands, making new friends, trying new things, and taking on new challenges!

I’m a Victoria University graduate myself. Our university’s world-class reputation is well-deserved, and in choosing Vic you have also chosen a worldranked city which is a great place to live and study.

You might know Wellington has its detractors. Some jealous people call us ‘Windy Wellington’—so, some advice, there’s no such thing as bad weather, only choosing the wrong clothes. So, leave the umbrella, invest in a coat instead!

I know you will discover there’s so much more to Wellington—it’s a vibrant and inclusive city. As our nation’s culinary capital, there are close to 850 cafés, restaurants, and bars dotted through the city—more per capita than New York. There’s Te Papa and art galleries. Take time to stroll round Oriental Bay, enjoy the waterfront and the water!

Check out some of New Zealand’s best bird life in and around Zealandia. As a runner, I love running the tracks in our green belts.

And finally, one last plea… please leave our bucket fountain alone! There are plenty of other drinking vessels you could use. Instead use that time to volunteer and help make our community even better.

Welcome to Wellington!

Mayor Andy Foster

As Mayor, I’m committed to creating an even

yo

do something!

ur

s

fe

b

14

c am p u s

g in so br

heads up!

m

d i spo s ab l e

on

fro

no

take more action to save the planet – quick: it's an emergency! scan me

own cup

single use

is

1999

www.salient.org.nz

7

Drug Testing: Leave the Bath Salts for the Bath In December 2021, New Zealand passed a piece of legislation that allows licensed service providers to offer drug checking legally.

Words by Beth Mountford (she/her) Leah Rothman, Program Lead at The Drug Foundation, says this is a “major” step in mitigating drug-related harm and will be beneficial for the student population in particular, many of whom will be experimenting with drugs for the first time.

The Drug Foundation ran a pop-up checking clinic at VUW on 21 February. It is hoped that monthly drug checking will be available at The Drug Foundation office later in the year, but a lower contact model is required to ensure safety from Covid-19.

The testing process is fast and simple—a small amount of the substance is applied to a spectrometer, which then searches through databases to find the best match. This reveals whether the substance is what it was sold as or whether it has been adulterated in any way.

According to The Level, a website run by The Drug Foundation, up to 50% of the MDMA

8

checked last summer contained eutylone, a type of bath salt with more unpleasant and unpredictable effects than MDMA. “Often, when you talk through the results with someone and it is a dangerous substance they won’t take it. Sometimes people do choose to take something that is riskier but they have the information so that they can then research the effects and more importantly research the dose,” says Rothman.

She assured Salient that the amount of a substance that’s required for the test is insignificant—about the diameter of a matchstick. “And if they really don’t want to give it up then we can give that substance back to them,” she said.

For more information, and a calendar of upcoming drug checking events go to https:// thelevel.org.nz/drug-checking-clinics/

O-Week? More like No Week.

Under the red traffic light system, events with mandatory vaccination passes are capped at 100 people, which has led to the postponement of VUW’s O-Week events.

Words by Azaria Howell (she/her) VUWSA, our students’ association, has promised that O-Week will be rescheduled to July. The July ‘NO-Week’ will be the “same deal”, with music nights, comedy shows, and the iconic toga party.

“We’ll still be running a variety of events across the first weeks of uni—we’re not just DnB, after all—and you can come and get a bunch of free stuff from us as usual,” VUWSA announced on social media.

VUWSA will also be running giveaways and stalls during the first week of university. Various VUW halls of residence will be running their own O-Week events for residents. Halls will be split up by floors into 100-person bubbles for these events.

VUWSA President Ralph Zambrano told Salient that they “will still be bringing many of our O-Week partners (such as The Edge and Redbull) onsite for activities and giveaways, as well as organising a VUWSA pop-up, barbeque and food trucks over the first week of classes.”

Zambrano added that VUWSA will be giving out O-Week bags and wall-planners “full of treats, deals and freebies.”

The VUW traditional O-Week Quiz will move online due to venue capacity limits, scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, 3 March.

If you bought tickets for O-Week events, rest assured you can use them at NO Week.

The postponement news comes after a call from VUWSA which mandated vaccination for all O-Week events—this mandate will likely still be in place for the rescheduled dates.

First-year Law and Music student, Jamie Clumpas, told Salient that they were “disheartened” the university postponed O-Week, but understood it was an important decision for public health.

“With the state of things, I think it was the right move. It was a cool idea to postpone it so we still get the events if we’ve already paid, but now I’m a bit concerned that there isn’t as much opportunity to meet new people; with the O-week events cancelled, I’m anxious that there isn’t as much chance to meet people that I’ll want to be friends with,” Clumpas told Salient.

“We can do this once it’s safe,” they added.

VUWSA President Ralph Zambrano agrees.

In a statement to Salient, Zambrano said, “[VUWSA] still want to give students the best experience possible to welcome them to Te Herenga Waka, but ultimately the safety of our students is our priority, and we won’t be running any events until it is once again safe to do so.”

WGTN Hall, a group which offers social activities for students not living in a hall of residence, will also be running events for new students throughout the week. The “hall without walls” will be providing hall-related social and academic events during O-Week.

www.salient.org.nz

9

What the fuck is happening down at Parliament? Responses to the 2022 Freedom Convoy explained.

Words by Salient Staff Note: Salient acknowledges the developing nature of the situation at New Zealand Parliament. The following is a run down of responses as of 24 February.

What is the protest about?

On 8 February, a convoy of vehicles from across the nation travelled to the Beehive, calling for an end to vaccination mandates and Covid-19 restrictions. Many protestors set up tents on parliament grounds that night, occupying the lawn.

The “Freedom Convoy 2022” represents a collective of people who oppose Covid-19 vaccination mandates. However, signs seen at the protest speak on a number of subjects including 1080, three waters, and the efficacy of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccination. The protest has been backed by multiple groups, including Voices for Freedom, the Freedom and Rights Coalition, and neo-Nazi group, Action Zealandia.

The protest has caused road closures and the rerouting of buses around parliament. In addition to parked vehicles, the “Freedom Village” contains three stages with live music, pop-up kitchens with free meals and several portaloos.

As of 22 February, protestors remain on parliament grounds, with many saying they will not leave until the vaccination mandate is lifted.

The University’s response The Pipitea Campus, which hosts VUW’s Faculties of Law, Business, and Government, will be closed until at least the mid-trimester break in April to “protect the health and safety of our community.”

In a statement, the university said it was “disappointing” that the ongoing protest

10

had created “disruption to our teaching and research.” The university thanked both students and staff for their “admirable resilience and resourcefulness.”

Students were sent an email from the university informing them of the closure of Pipitea campus on 18 February. Within this email, students were told that “the situation poses ongoing risks to staff and students.”

Access to Pipitea libraries is not permitted, and Mauri Ora: Student Health and Counselling appointments will now all take place at Kelburn campus.

Staff and PhD students are permitted to use Pipitea campus, but have been told to only do so if it is absolutely necessary, as they have been “strongly advised” to work from home whenever possible. Students and staff have been told to “act with caution” and “be vigilant” if they must access Pipitea campus.

VUWSA’s response On 14 February, VUWSA published a statement on Facebook that firmly condemned the Freedom Convoy. While they stated they support the right to peaceful protest, they clarified, “we do not support the Convoy’s kaupapa and their way of protesting”. VUWSA sighted the “harassment”, “vandalism”, and “intimidation” caused by the protest as risking the health and wellbeing of the university community.

As of 22 February, the post had reached thousands. While most of the comments echoed support for the statement, a large number voiced concerns that VUWSA was

being hypocritical, as the association itself has organised many protests on parliament grounds in the past.

Three days after their statement came a petition titled “Give VUW Students Our Campus Back”. It had two aims: relocating protestors from Pipitea campus grounds, and freeing up critical bus routes. VUWSA was tired of the “complacency” and wanted to see the university, Wellington City Council, and law enforcement accomplish this before the start of Trimester One on 28 February.

The petition garnered over 26,000 signatures within five days of being launched.

Students’ response VUWLSS, the VUW Law Students’ Society, publicly condemned the protest on social media.

Due to the impact of the protest, all law courses will be online for the beginning of trimester one, “with no in-person component,” says VUWLSS President Manraj Singh Rahi.

Singh Rahi voiced concern in a statement on the Law Students’ Society Instagram page, saying that the closure of Pipitea campus was “upsetting.” “Many people will be worried about the loss of community of law school,” Singh Rahi added.

Many VUW students have family members and friends participating in the protest, including Kaylim Tyson-Nathan, a student of International Relations and Public Policy. He has publicly expressed his views on the “freedom” aspect of the convoy.

“Tangata Māori—our freedom, our right to selfdetermination is not defined as an individual, but as a collective”, stated Tyson-Nathan.

Encouraging more people to get a booster shot, he said “our whakapapa is the means to a brighter future and the vaccine may be the very thing that can give us a chance.”

Commenting on frustration felt by Victoria University students, Deputy PM Grant Robertson said that he “empathise[d] greatly” with them and called on protesters to leave as they have now “made their point.”

“The university ultimately has to make decisions […] around the safety of the people who are in their charge,” said Robertson. He expressed remorse for students who had been harassed for wearing a mask.

“I would say to those people that I’m very sorry that that is the case, we want this to end as soon as possible, the enforcement of the law remains in the hands of the police”.

Protestors’ response After ongoing complaints that the media won’t engage with them, Salient went to speak directly with protestors occupying the Pipitea campus to hear their views on the issue.

When asked about the closure of Pipitea campus, the protestors were all unified that there was no need for the university campus to be closed, maintaining they were all friendly and welcoming to outsiders.

Nicola, who is camping with her family on the Pipitea lawn, told Salient, “Open the doors and go and use your building [...] There’s no violence here [...] There’s no rubbish, no one’s peeing or pooing in their gardens.”

The protestors insisted that reports of abusive or hostile behaviour to mask-wearing members of the public were examples of “fake news” and misreporting. One protestor, who wished to stay anonymous, said, “You’re gonna have a bad egg amongst them […] people are shutting down that negativity pretty bloody quickly”.

When asked what it would take for them to leave, protestors agreed that an end to mandates would dissolve the protest. Nicola reiterated, “My husband, myself and our five children all lost their jobs and study because of the mandates [...] We’ve got nothing else to do.

We’ve got nothing to lose. Everything has been taken from us.”

None of the protestors Salient spoke to were aware of closure of Mauri Ora Student Health.

When informed that they were inhibiting our student’s access to healthcare, a protester said “Oh, that’s absolutely shit.” Another offered the convoy’s medical tent set up on parliament lawn, saying “not only are they doing medicine, they are doing alternate treatments.”

www.salient.org.nz

11

Campus Cafés Keep Up with Keep Cups Words by Beth Mountford (she/her)

All cafés on Victoria University campuses are now serving takeaway coffees in reusable cups only, in a university-wide sustainability initiative supported by external organisation Takeaway Throwaways.

Helena Andrews, barista at Louis’ and Milk and Honey, says the initiative is necessary in changing the habits of long-time takeaway cup users, with customers insisting on their disposable fix right up until the ban came into place on 14 February.

“It’s really interesting how resistant people are to the [change] until they’re not allowed to use [takeaway cups] at all,” she said.

Support is unanimous from all other participating cafés—Vic Books, The Lab, Wishbone, and The Hunter Lounge.

A message from Wishbone head office states that the chain is “so proud to be supporting such a worthy cause here on campus, and the commitment from all campus cafes has brought a real sense of community to the project.”

Jack Barber, owner and manager of The Hunter Lounge, says that although takeaways are a small percentage of his business, he is “very happy” to be part of the movement.

“For us it’s not a big change but we are very happy to see all the other sites get involved because for them it’s a bit more of a risk because they do more takeaways […] I think the more they can encourage keep cups and these returnable [Auraki] cups the better,” he said.

The change has been prefaced with the establishment of the Auraki mug library—a system which allows staff and students to have their takeaway order made into a mug provided by the cafés, which they can then return to any drop-off point on campus.

12

Sophia Honey, VUWSA Sustainability Officer, said “This is a very exciting step for the university in working towards a zero-waste campus […] The aim is to make bringing a reusable cup to campus a habit, planning ahead to prevent a piece of unnecessary waste that will take decades to break down.”

According to the university’s Zero Carbon Plan (2017), waste is responsible for four per cent of the total greenhouse gas emissions. The plan states, “There are opportunities to make significant reductions in our emissions by 2030, but it is unrealistic to reduce our gross emissions to zero within that time frame.”

The ‘realistic’ goal is to reduce gross greenhouse emissions by 20 percent by 2030, compared to 2017. The elimination of single-use coffee cups is a step towards this goal.

Business as Usual… in the Peak of Covid Case Numbers???

Words by Ethan Manera (he/him)

As Aotearoa grapples with its largest Covid-19 outbreak yet, critics have said that VUW isn’t going far enough in doing their bit to slow the spread of Omicron and staff are calling for more clarity on the University’s stance.

When asked if VUW is being responsible in its approach to Omicron, McNeill told Salient, “it’s hard to feel that way when the Vice-Chancellor has used the term ‘business as usual’ as well as [with] the history of mismanaging Covid-19 over the past two years.”

Under the red light setting, VUW plans to offer ‘dual delivery’, meaning students have the option to either study on campus, with lectures and tutorials going ahead in-person, or online via Zoom. This is with the exception of Pipitea campus which remains closed until April 11 due to the occupation at parliament.

VUW is urging students to upload their vaccine pass to their student portal before returning to campus. Plans are also in place to enforce mask-wearing and one metre social distancing in lectures and tutorials, however the university acknowledges that in some cases it will be more practical for students to work closer together. There will also be 100-person gathering limits in place.

In an email sent from Vice-Chancellor Grant Guilford, students were assured that under no circumstances would they be prevented from returning to campus if fully vaccinated.

Other major universities in Aotearoa responded quickly to the potential danger of the current Omicron outbreak. Otago University and Auckland University both implemented onlineonly study for the start of the university year.

Auckland University’s executive committee stated, “A degree of certainty in advance is far preferable to the disruption that would be caused by having to change our learning and teaching settings at short notice.”

VUW’s insistence to keep in-person study available has staff concerned over their safety.

When asked for his response to the risk of Omicron, Vice-Chancellor Grant Guilford told Salient that he was confident that the vaccine mandate and government restrictions would ensure the safety of continuing with dual delivery. Guilford also stated that VUW is in the process of setting up their own on-campus Covid testing and contact tracing systems in order to minimise risk.

Asked specifically about staff’s concerns, Guilford said “whilst [dual delivery] is our desired setting, I can’t see any likelihood that we would force a staff member against her or his will to come into the campus and deliver a lecture”.

President of the Tertiary Education Union’s VUW branch, Dougal McNeill, told Salient that many academic staff are feeling distressed about that lack of clarity they’ve received and it seems the university’s leadership is once again prioritising marketing over the safety of their staff.

McNeill said, “There is huge uncertainty around Omicron and no one is in a position to guarantee anything. The leadership needs to be honest about this. It shows a pattern of trying to downplay the risk of the virus.”

www.salient.org.nz

13

14

RED BULL PAPER WINGS.

WHO CAN REALISE DA VINCI’S DREAM OF FLYING?

NATIONAL QUALIFIERS 14th - 22nd MARCH 2022 Calling all paper engineers and aerialists for the paper plane world championship.

Sign up now and compete with your very own paper plane for longest distance, longest airtime and aerobatics.

Find out more at:

redbullpaperwings.com

www.salient.org.nz

15

Goodbye Grant Words by Janhavi Gosavi (she/her)

By the end of next week, we at Victoria University of Wellington will bid adieu to our infamous ViceChancellor Grant Guilford. Guilford’s name has been synonymous with VUW since he started here in 2014, and the announcement of his retirement had been a mild-to-spicy topic of conversation around uni.

Earlier this month, I sat down with the enigma himself for his last ever interview with Salient.

I thought we’d start with a trip down memory lane.

Let’s throw it back to when you were at university, where you studied veterinary science and philosophy. How did your education prepare you for your role as VC? Grant cited four main skills: people management, delegation, having a diagnostic approach to problem solving, and crisis management. Working as a VC was similar to being a veterinarian because he was required to “act immediately on limited information”. Whether it was saving an animal or forming the university’s responses earthquakes, protests, and bomb threats, he learned to “trust the people underneath [him]” to help him make critical decisions.

One of the things you’re most known for is your push to change the name of our university. What were you aiming to achieve and how do you feel about how it all panned out?

We’ve ended up with a “good sort of compromise, which is the name of the game” so he is “pleased”.

He’s especially happy with the prominence that our new te reo Māori name ‘Te Herenga Waka’ now has within the University’s branding. Centring a Māori name that was not just a “simple translation of our English name” was a “fundamental part” of Grant’s aim to get equivalence between western and Māori traditions. This aim, he says, got lost in the name change controversy. His other aim was to “anchor the name in the university’s

16

tūrangawaewae—Wellington”. Doing this would “protect the mana of our graduates”, so they could be globally recognised as being from Wellington’s university, not Melbourne’s Victoria University.

He sees the name change as an ongoing discussion that might be picked up again in the future. For him, the “Victoria era” has been good to the university for the past 150 years, but it’s a “colonial era of the past”, one we can leave behind as we move towards the “Te Herenga Waka era”.

Out of everything you have achieved in your time at VUW, what are you most proud of?

Grant smiles his wee old man smile. He highlights the Ngā Hoe a Kupe Pathfinder scholarship programme, targeted at low decile schools in Wellington. Principals from those schools choose the recipients based on their school’s values and “as a result, it attracts young leaders” to VUW. It’s ironic that the achievement he’s most proud of is also what got him “in hot water” his first year on the job. The scholarship was funded by the sale of VUW’s old Karori campus, a sale he finalised for which he received backlash from the community.

“It was my first exposure to Wellington’s ability to resist and stop things [...] there are people in the city who are very good at personally attacking the people involved in the decision as well as the decision itself”.

The obvious follow up question is: what are you least proud of?

Grant didn’t answer straight away, yarning on about how he fundamentally doesn’t lack pride in any of his decisions. He eventually cited the partnership between Te Kōkī (VUW’s music school) and Wellington City Council that happened in order to get our students into Wellington Town Hall, but only because it is still in the works and has taken longer than intended.

You used to host ‘Rant With Grant’, an annual event held in the Hub where students had the opportunity to directly speak with you. What was the purpose of that event and why did you stop doing it?

Grant said it was about answering questions that were free-form, claiming to prefer non-scripted styles of conversation free of an “agenda”. In his words, it was an effective and enjoyable way for him to listen to students.

“There was no active decision to stop it”, he said.

As per ^Salient archives, this event was last held in 2017. Grant guessed it “got lost in the busyness” of Covid-19, and wanted me to note that there were formal mechanisms through which he regularly met with students. The Student Assembly, VUWSA, Pasifika Students Council and Ngāi Tauira were a few groups he highlighted as having contact with.

“I’d love to see it start again”, he nodded.

I agree. You see, I’ve been at VUW since 2019 yet today is the first time I’ve seen you in person. To what extent do you think it’s a VC’s responsibility to maintain a face-toface relationship with students?

“I think it’s a big responsibility”, admitted Grant, who began to acknowledge it was, in fact,

important to reinstate Rant With [Insert Name of New Vice-Chancellor]. Since the VC becomes the scapegoat for every poor decision made by the University, I would’ve loved the opportunity to raise concerns with him in person while I was still a student.

Neither the University nor VUWSA, who organised the event, could tell me why Rant With Grant was cancelled.

Grant reckoned “only a small percentage of students are interested in what the VC thinks” and that “this is the way it should be”. Considering how often his name has been in the media these past few years and the sheer number of students who have called for his resignation, I beg to differ.

I then asked him a few questions from other students.

Maddi, a student at VUW, asked how you have fulfilled your obligations to Te Tiriti o Waitangi?

Not gonna lie, Grant seemed very prepared to discuss the treaty. I’ll let you decide how legitimate his answers are.

He started by saying “I feel very committed to the treaty, I’m a sixth-generation Kiwi, I’ve lived and

www.salient.org.nz

17

breathed this for a long time”. The University has a treaty statute and treaty principles it follows, and Grant stated there was currently an audit happening to measure their progress against those principles.

Grant mentioned having a significant Māori caucus on the board of governors, moving graduation partially back to the University’s marae, encouraging staff to consider mātauranga Māori in their research, having te reo signage around campuses, and building the Living Pā—“a physical manifestation of having a marae at the heart of the university”.

“I’m proud of the progress we have made in the past eight years [...] but there’s still a long way to go”. He also acknowledged the contributions of Rawinia Higgins, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Māori), who helped achieve the aforementioned changes.

Another student, Kane, wanted to know if you were a cat person, and if there was a particular local cat you supported?

Despite finding this question amusing, Grant gave a genuine answer, “I used to be a cat and dog vet, but I do favour dogs”. He went on to say that his interests in native wildlife conservation brought him into moral conflict with cats.

Lastly, I wanted to look to the future.

What kind of a person do you hope our new VC is?

Grant ultimately hoped the next VC “understood the nature of New Zealand, the treaty, and the ‘Te Herenga Waka era’”.

What is one piece of advice you would give to the new VC? “Learn to take private satisfaction in the success of others”, said Grant. I thought that was pretty fucking poetic.

Is there an effort being made to find a VC that is not a pākehā man? How would having a VC who is a woman, particularly a non-pākehā one, benefit VUW?

18

While Grant is removed from the hiring process, he is “sure there is” an effort being made to find diverse candidates. He describes the process as being broadly inclusive, one that would welcome women and POC “without discriminating against the pākehā man”. I tried not to laugh.

Twenty years from now, where do you see VUW? Grant hopes VUW gets recognised as “a world leading capital city university”, and that our “world class teaching excellence and research” is recognised in the university’s international standing.

Here’s the thing. I don’t doubt for a second that Grant Guilford wholeheartedly loves our university.

There’s a twinkle in his eye when he speaks about this institution and the people in it. But Grant only sees us on our best days, when we are graduating or have won an academic prize. His inability to look ordinary students in the eye and listen to their grievances has left him out of touch with our realities.

Consider the following an open letter to our next Vice-Chancellor.

I hope you put students at the centre of your role.

I hope you commit to consistently speaking to us, face to face. Not just to the representatives we elect, that sit on committees we haven’t heard of. I want to see you at O-Week every year, welcoming freshers to Pōneke. I want you to equally engage with all three of our main campuses and regularly attend student events. When shit hits the fan for our community, I want you to show up in person to offer support and take accountability.

And yeah, once a year, I want you to sit in the Hub for a few hours and give us all the opportunity to rant at you.

I hope you make time for us. God knows we’llt pay you enough to.

STUDENT DEAL

EVERY THURSDAY TREAT YOSELF TO A MILKSHAKE!

CLAS Y N A

SIC

MAMA $13

BURGE

R R & F IES

BROWN

MENU

www.salient.org.nz

19

GWIL, SPACE INVADERS, 2022

Words by Bridget Scott (she/her) Wellington City Council has a milk problem.

The Wellington Milk Supply Act 1919 states that only suppliers issued with a licence from the WCC are permitted to sell, deliver, or possess milk within the region. Yet the licence hasn’t been issued in decades and the white liquid gold continues to flow freely through the capital—meaning suppliers are technically operating illegally. The right to supply milk, one of dozens of pieces of legislation that are practically redundant, unenforced, yet still on the books, has become a fight to balance proper legislating processes and the challenges of local government bureaucracy.

This is where Tyrone Baughn steps in.

A lawyer by trade, Baughn found the Milk Act in March 2021 whilst attempting to read all of Aotearoa’s legislation and sought to apply for the licence. While WCC declined to comment, emails reveal that Baughn experienced no formal application process. They responded to emails with confusion and eventually declined Braughn a licence, arguing that the law was too old to be actioned.

Indeed, the Act has been relegated to the history books. An info pamphlet from the early

22

1920s published by the council notes that the Milk Supply Act protected their monopolistic position and “led to the purchase of the council’s first dairy factory at Rahui on the outskirts of Otaki and soon the WCC became the sole supplier and distributor of milk to homes and schools across the city.”

Time, however, plays almost no role in determining the legal legitimacy of laws. In fact, as the latest generation of Laws 121 freshers are about to joyfully discover, older legislation dictates the fundamental principles of our legal and political system. The Magna Carta (1297), The Bill of Rights (1688), and The Judicature Act (1908) are all part of our laws today and continue to be enforced. Even the 1640 writ of habeas corpus, which prevents the unjustified imprisonment of citizens, has featured in our courts as recently as 2020, following a dismissed court case against Jacinda Ardern and Ashley Bloomfield that claimed Level 4 lockdowns were equivalent to detention.

Make no mistake, if granted the licence, Baughn intends to sell milk. After purchasing it outside of the WCC’s jurisdiction and transporting it into the city, he’ll eventually stock a novelty pop-up shop selling Wellington’s only legal milk. But without it, the law places Baughn in danger of committing an offence and being fined.

This isn’t an issue restricted to milk supplies.

Subway footlong sandwiches might be iconic, but according to section 11 of the Weights and Measures Act 1987, they’re also illegal.

Designed to force Aotearoa’s retailers to shift to the metric system of measurement, anyone using a unit of measure other than the metric system in advertising commits an offence— somehow a 30.48cm sub doesn’t hold quite the same appeal. These might seem trivial, but other outdated laws hold the potential to be legitimately and seriously harmful. The Māori Community Development Act 1962 plays host to a whole range of racist criminal offences that apply only to Māori. Under s 30 of this legislation, Māori who disturb congregations, public meetings, or audiences are automatically deemed to have committed an offence.

Alternatively, s 33(2) states that any person managing a “gathering of Māori” that is “held in a meeting place” and “supplies intoxicating liquor” commits an offence.

Even if these laws haven’t been enforced in recent times, as long as they remain on the statute books, there’s a possibility that they could be! The week three SparkNotes of Laws 121 points to the Rule of Law principle, the idea that law should be accessible, not discriminate, and safeguard against abuse.

Council’s decision with the High Court. Now, in an effort to preserve taxpayer funds by preventing unnecessary courtroom appearances, he has sought to compromise—lobbying for the repeal of section 6 and 7 of the Wellington Milk Supply Act 1919.

The last clarifying and repealing of outdated laws occurred in 2017 with the Statutes Repeal Bill that cut 132 acts out of the books. Today, ridding Wellington of the Act will require a bill from the Department of Internal Affairs sponsored by Local Government Minister Hon. Nanaia Mahuta. This has been described by Minister Mahuta as “not a priority while the department is progressing an ambitious package of reforms across the sector.”

Braughn is continuing the fight on his own terms. He will present a petition to the council at an upcoming meeting calling for “Council to demonstrate good regulatory stewardship and promote a local bill for its repeal” and hopefully improving the equitability and accessibility of legislation nationwide.

Until then, take pride in knowing that even illegal milk can create a tiny rebellion in the most unlikely of places.

All citizens have the right to know which actions are legally permitted and which aren’t. There is a legitimate argument that the Milk Supply Act may have been overruled by more recent legislation, but when outdated acts remain unrepealed, the public relies on ambiguous discretion exercised by politicians, judges, and police. Notably, public expectation about the conduct by individuals occupying these positions varies across partisan, geographic, and class lines and changes every election.

Today’s norms of behaviour cannot be guaranteed in the future.

For Braughn, this has only furthered his frustration: “Wellington City Council doesn’t have a strong culture of respecting the law or respecting good public law decision making principles.”

Since the rejection of his licence application, he has filed and withdrawn an appeal of the www.salient.org.nz

23

A flatter’s guide to composting Words by Maia Ingoe (she/her) It’s late on a Monday night and someone’s remembered it’s rubbish collection day tomorrow.

Trash is overflowing from the bin stuffed into an awkward kitchen corner, edges of the yellow WCC rubbish bag can barely be seen. Inside: coffee grinds, chip packets, rice thrown out after being left in the fridge too long, a banana skin, scrunched up paper towels, noodles that slipped out of the bowl. Something has a sickly-sweet rotting odour.

Pushing aside a yoghurt container, you grip the edges of the bag to pick it up. There’s a brownblack liquid leaking out the bottom and food scraps that missed the edges of the bag have gathered in their own mouldy colony. You unceremoniously plop the bag on the sidewalk.

In our disgust we aim to get rid of waste as fast as possible, but do we notice what goes into those yellow bags? If we took our time, we’d see that a good portion of it is food waste. On average, half of a household’s waste is organic matter. All of that could be composted, avoiding the smelly stew brewed in our bins every week.

Composting might not be something we’re used to: for many of us, our knowledge might go as far as the ice-cream container Mum kept on the kitchen bench for food scraps. Maybe you had a compost heap at home, or a worm farm if your parents were into gardening. Likely, taking out the food scraps was the most avoided chore. Now that we have found ourselves in a damp Wellington flat with little or no access to garden space, dealing with food waste has slipped our minds. Rent, flat disputes over dishes, and how to split the bills take priority.

“The thought of handling mangled food is gross,” third-year student, Imogen Fletcher, told me. “It’s something I’ve always taken for granted, since my parents do it—I’ve always been removed from it.”

Composting can be an intimidating feat, she said, since she doesn’t really understand the scientific jargon behind it.

24

Composting is essentially assisting in the decomposition of organic matter and turning it back into soil with the help of bacteria and fungi, a process that doesn’t happen in a landfill. It’s slow going, but after months, the soil we get is called compost, rich in nutrients and highly valued by growers. Composting is a circular system at the simplest level—returning what we consume back to the ground to fuel the growth of new things, regenerating soil while producing fewer emissions in the process. Kate Hall, director of Ethically Kate, explained the importance of home composting: “[Food is] half of your waste, so it’s easy to reduce half your waste by doing one thing.” She said: “I also encourage people because it’s fun and it’s good at teaching people about the circular system—it breaks down and grows into plants and other things.” When food waste is relegated to the flat trash corner, it festers rather than grows, and continues to do so when it leaves our kitchens for landfills.

It’s not just the cleanliness of the flat’s trash corner at stake: when organic matter is sent to landfill, it has worse effects than the plastic wrappers and coffee cups buried there. Without oxygen to decompose, organics release methane, the gas mostly associated with dairy cows, which is 84 times more potent than CO2. Nine per cent of Aotearoa’s biogenic methane emissions come from organic matter in landfills, translating into four per cent of our total greenhouse gas emissions.

It’s a small slice of the pie, but one created simply because it’s easier to bury food waste at the bottom of our bins.

According to Kate Hall, the most important thing is to “have a good system so it’s really really easy to put organic matter into compost rather than landfill.” That’s as simple as having an icecream container in the kitchen for food scraps and keeping all the flatmates on the same page.

You can compost almost any organic matter— that’s all your food scraps and leftovers—but keep meat and dairy products away from the compost bin, as these are more prone to rot and odour.

If you’re committed, dicing up food scraps into smaller pieces can help speed up the process, as can aerating compost—turning the contents of

Worm farm

the compost bin, helping to distribute the oxygen, moisture, and bacteria. Chucking in a few paper scraps, like the cardboard toilet paper rolls that build up a daunting pile in the corner of our flat bathrooms, helps to diversify the compost mix.

So what are the options?

Worm farms are pretty similar to compost bins, except they enlist the help of a superdecomposer: worms. Food scraps feed the worms, which decompose them faster and produce natural garden fertiliser. You’ll have to watch what you put in – worms are fussy and turn away from things like citrus. It’s a higher cost to set up, which varies depending on the brand and type of worm farm, and requires more avid attention.

At Home

Basic compost bin

This one requires a bit of outdoor space, so it doesn’t suit those in the most innercity areas and apartments. It’s simple and low maintenance: just empty your food scraps into the bin and let it work it’s magic, decomposing food quicker than when it’s buried in the ground. It’s the cheapest at-home method, with most bins easy to purchase for under $40 from a hardware store.

But any down-payment can be a stretch on a student budget, especially considering the semi-permanence of this option – not ideal when you might be moving on from the flat in the next month or year.

On the other hand, saving space in pricey yellow rubbish bags might be worth the cost.

Bokashi

Bokashi is a Japanese method of fermenting compost. Bokashi bins are generally smaller and airtight, made of one bin with holes sitting inside another. Bokashi takes fruit, vege, meat and dairy waste, but doesn’t like paper scraps or compostable packaging waste. The key ingredient here is a bokashi ‘sprinkle’, which is rich with microorganisms which help ferment waste. It’s perfect for those with limited space as it can be kept indoors. It’s small, so it’s easy to empty and take with you if you move flats.

Bokashi bins can be purchased from most hardware stores but at a higher cost – NZ company Zing Bokashi sells Bokashi kits from $70.

www.salient.org.nz

25

In The Community Community Composting Composting doesn’t have to be individual: outsourcing into the community can be ideal for students with a tight budget, unable to set up anything permanent in a temporary flat. Community composting is also great for those living in apartments and inner-city areas with no access to their own outdoor space. Those new to composting can pass their food waste onto an expert, and often learn while they’re at it.

Kaicycle

Wellington company Kaicycle operate a community compost and urban farming hub out of Newtown. They take household food waste by drop-offs or by collection – all done via bicycle.

There’s a monthly cost: $15 a month for household drop-offs, or $30 a month for weekly compost collection of up to 20 litres.

The compost soil goes towards the regenerative urban farming at Kaicycle, which grows produce that goes right back to feeding the community.

ShareWaste

Kate Hall recommends ShareWaste, an app aiming to improve urban composting by connecting donors (people with food scraps to compost) with hosts, people with a composting set-up able to receive more waste. It’s free and easy to use, but with only a few Wellington locations so far.

26

Positive wellbeing supports your educational achievement Your university, and the Code of Pastoral Care, works to ensure you have a support system.

This means that you should be: • safe, physically, and mentally • respected for who you are • supported in your learning and wellbeing • connected with your social and cultural networks and • able to have your say in decisions about services.

If you have concerns about your wellbeing that aren’t being met, or you want to make a complaint, talk to your university or student association first. If it’s unresolved, NZQA is here to help.

For more information visit: www.nzqa.govt.nz/know-the-code

#knowthecode

www.salient.org.nz

27

t t n e i l sa asts s c d o p po

Salient Podcasts, the love child of Salient Magazine and the late Salient FM, was born in 2020. We’re like a student radio station, only better - you can decide when you want to listen. Pop us on when you want a break from assignments or it’s your turn to clean the flat!

Above Standard

Miss your long-distance bestie? Want to go out for coffee with your biggest friend crush? Or let’s be real, maybe your mates are just shit with advice? Welcome to Above Standard. A place where you can become our best friends via the internet.

Alice Chrisp and Ella Hoogerbrug started off as best friends, then flatmates, and are now co-hosts of one of Salient’s original podcast series. From guests such as Sachi, Stella Clarie, Club 121, Jessie Wong (Yu Mei), and the creator of Nest Fest (Harry Pettit), we regularly create a space that feels like your best friend’s bedroom floor.

This year, we aim to continue growing our guest list and getting more and more interactive with our audience.

Zeitgeist

Hello! We are Zeitgeist - a podcast co-hosted by Jess Ye and Kate Schellekens.

Zeitgeist is about how it feels to be a young person today who is often disillusioned, but also hopeful that things will get better. We can promise group crying, honesty and hopefully some insight, but don’t come expecting solutions.

We get through every day by keeping our scope small, but if you step back there’s some fucked up shit, and things like voting or chosing what eggs to buy are never as simple as they seem. Zeitgeist tries to unpack what the world is, what it could be, and, if we can’t change anything, how we can cope.

28

Dusty Sunday

Whether it’s telling tales about the frivolous nature of Thai massages, being on tour with bands, how to get into the Willy the Waiter Club (trust us, you don’t want to be in that one) or special celebrity guests, The Dusty Sunday Session is the podcast for everyone.

Norm, Levi, and Tom record every second week and cover a plethora of special topics in an effort to bring some joy and laughter into an otherwise stressful world. If you’re looking for deep insight into the meaning of the universe, relationships and how to best cook a beef roast, boy do we not have the podcast for you!

SheCess

The SheCess podcast is based on exploring the feminine experience. From the voices of women in our community. Where they share stories based on their background, life experience, successes and losses. A beautiful part of femininity is the generosity and openness of conversation, which is the essence of SheCess. A recorded conversation - where I get to ask questions about their projects, lives or accomplishments.

I believe that a good story can change the world. SheCess provides a storytelling platform for stories that need to be listened to, a balanced and rich image of the feminine experience.

I think it would be a great idea if you joined me on my journey of unpacking and exploring femininity.

Zola xx

Stranger At Home

What does ‘being Kiwi’ mean? Who gets to call themselves that? Where is Alex’s accent from? And why is Gil always hungover?

Tune in to Stranger At Home, hosted by audio expert Alex MarinkovichJosey and English nerd Gil Ostini. Each fortnight, we get together with a guest—an expert in a specific field or a mate with a niche passion—to yarn about Aotearoa, national identity and what culture means. There’s a particular focus on people who fall outside the bounds of conventional Kiwi-ness, and this year, we’re going ham, with more expert guests and more creative audio editing from Alex. Get in touch on Insta (@ AmIAKiwi) or via email (strangerathomepod@gmail.com). Kia ora!

www.salient.org.nz

29

THE TACO BELL REVIEW Vegetarian Big Bell Box: In Wellington 2022, I would have thought that a vegetarian choice of protein would be something a little more exciting than plain black beans. I was wrong. As a result, the Crunchy Taco and Cheesy Burrito tastes like it could have been made by an eco-conscious, financially-struggling fresher. Sorry, it’s a no from me.

Words by Beth Mountford (she/her)

Loaded Fries: A delicious combination of spicy fries, queso, beef mince, guacamole, and sour cream. The loaded fries were comforting and flavoursome. Although at first sight the portion size looked attainable, with about a third of the meal left in its cardboard parcel, I threw in the towel. This meal is not for the faint of heart and clocking in at 1036 calories it definitely provides bang for your buck. Would recommend.

Crunch Wrap Supreme: A thick warm hexagon of tortilla packed with a variety of scrumptious fillings, what could go wrong?

It’s Taco Bell’s most notable delicacy, yet the Crunch Wrap Supreme let me down. In theory it’s amazing, in practice it was simply bland. Not only were the fillings lacklustre, the shape and poor construction of the wrap made it a punishing exercise to consume, falling apart in my hands and spilling lettuce on the table.

Would not recommend.

Words by Ethan Manera (he/him)

30

Overall atmosphere: I loved the neon purple lights and the friendliness of the staff, especially Manager Fernando. I loved the ability for customers to choose the music playing in the store. I did not love that they didn’t check anyone’s vaccine pass. Not only is it disappointing, it’s illegal.

Taco Bell has opened its doors to its first ever store in Wellington. National Party MP Chris Bishop cited the opening as a “bit of good news.” Others have condemned it as “slop” and gentrification.

Whatever your opinion, Taco Bell will no doubt be a popular stop for students making their way home from a night in town. ^Salient went down for an exclusive pre-opening taste of what the fast food giant had to offer.

(Disclaimer: Taco Bell provided our meals free of charge but ^Salient’s review commits to being unbiased)

Crispy Chicken Taco (eaten immediately): Yummy yummy in my tummy. The generous amount of crunchy iceberg lettuce and the beautiful symphony of sauces really does it for me.

Crispy Chicken Taco (eaten five hours after being made): Because I eat at the pace of a sloth, I saved my other taco for a late-arvo snack. Word to the wise: leaving a soft taco wrapped in a paper bag will result in them sticking together and compromise the taco’s (already questionable) structural integrity. However, the flavours had a decent amount of time to meld together and the taco itself still slapped stale.

Words byJanhavi Gosavi (she/her)

Crispy Chicken Taco: Keep in mind that “crispy” refers to the chicken and not the taco shell. Before I took a bite, I was convinced it would be ‘fast food’ quality, but the seasoning mixed with iceberg lettuce and fresh salsa was onpoint. I added some “mild” hot sauce to the taco to get the full experience, but it didn’t alter the flavour much. Thankfully, it didn’t have to.

Words byAzaria Howell (she/her)

Overall atmosphere: Whilst Coldplay is certainly not what would play in a traditional Mexican restaurant, hearing “Paradise” again took me on a nostalgia trip back to 2012. Taco Bell has a kiosk to queue songs which made it feel a lot more wholesome than a hungover maccas run. The wearable taco hats were funny, but I doubt they are Covid-safe—if not sanitised, the germs in those things would rival a used petri dish. I only wore one because we were the first customers through the doors. www.salient.org.nz

31

BROADENING HORIZONS: HORROR FILMS Words by Dylan Todd (he/him) Welcome to Wellington, the hipster capital of the country! Many of you may be starting afresh at university, taking the first steps on your valiant path of reinvention. If you feel the pressing need to appear cultured and sophisticated, let me broaden your horizons and help you to be better than basic.

First up, horror films. The other week, we saw yet another reboot of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre coming from Netflix, which I’m sure you’ve all seen talked about online, for better or for worse, as a slasher film that just goes through the motions. But for those wanting to flex their extensive knowledge of the horror genre, here are five films that might impress the film bros around campus.

synthwave-y soundtrack complements the colourfully dark visual intrigue. The intense and unique conclusion makes Mandy a masterclass in arthouse horror, in a way your Midsommar-type shlock wishes it could. And Nic Cage drenched in blood grinning in an unhinged frenzy is a bonus.

COLD FISH

MANDY

Panos Cosmotos’ 2018 psychedelic horror combines everything you want from an art film without skimping over the action and intensity of big budget blockbusters. Starring Nicolas Cage in arguably his finest role, the film follows his character’s encounter with a vicious, drug-fueled cultists in small-town America. The hallucinogen-inspired colour palette, rich cinematography, and gripping performances devolve into adrenaline-inducing sequences that leave you on the edge of your seat. A doom-metal-inspired,

Sono Sion is my favourite director. Cold Fish is my favourite film. Following a down-on-hisluck dad running a small aquarium in Japan, this 2010 film is a backseat driving take on a slasher. The Safdie Brothers’ style of pacing offers nail biting progression that makes your heart pump exponentially harder.

Japanese filmmakers do horror differently to the rest of the world. With a slow-burning, Yakuza reverse-twist on the concept of the slasher film, and the fact that it all ultimately boils down to a story about a family man and his fish shop, Cold Fish is a must watch.

Unless, of course, what really scares you is subtitles.

PERFECT BLUE

Have you seen Black Swan? Then congratulations, you’ve basically seen a plagiarised trailer for Satoshi Kon’s 1997 masterpiece, Perfect Blue. For all you anime cynics, Satoshi Kon proves the genre is more than just Naruto or Pokémon. Delving into the darker, psychological aspects of celebrity, distorted perceptions of the world and the self make up the film’s visuals. With a healthy sprinkling of critique on the systems of the Japanese patriarchy, Perfect Blue is a psychological horror with no true villain beyond the social structures that give rise to trauma.

Satoshi Kon is a master of utilising the freedom of animation to blur the lines between reality and cognition. Perfect Blue shows viewers the horror that exists within the mind through the potent imagery of a woman in a downward spiral. It’s commonplace for arthouse cinema today to show these themes, especially in the wake of A24, but it’s wild that an anime from 25 years ago did it better than anything since.

ALIEN: RESURRECTION

for being the least popular film in the Alien franchise. With a disjointed plot and a bizarre setting, it’s set up to be terrible. But as you unravel the obvious influence it had on films like The Matrix, you discover that underneath everything is a bizarre cyberpunk thriller in which Winona Ryder steals the show. Nothing will make you appear more like a sophisticated contrarian than finding the artistry inside a universally panned film.

Go in with your hopes low and your brow high.

SHIN GODZILLA

Political Horror? It’s a thing. If you’re dipping your toes into the PolSci offerings at university, this is worth your time… even if it is a Godzilla movie. Shin Godzilla comes from one of Japan’s greats, Hideaki Anno, penned in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. Sure, the monster is obviously a grotesque take on the classic Godzilla, with a deep-sea-aquatic-animal spin. But this film creates an underlying sense of dread when watching the blunders and political prioritisation of public officials in response to the monster, a direct parallel to the inaction by officials in the wake of the tsunami. And for anyone who’s eco-conscious and pro-public transportation, the train system is truly the hero of the film.

This one might be controversial. Coming from the director of alt-cinema’s favourite Amelie, 1997’s Alien Resurrection is notable

www.salient.org.nz

33

PSC Fakatalofa atu, Mālō e lelei, Talofa lava, Ni Sa Bula Vinaka, Halo Olketa, Fakalofa lahi atu, Kia Orana, Kam na Mauri, Noa’ia, Gude, and warm Pacific greetings to you all.

No matter the relationship you hold with your Pacific identity, there are many avenues of support to welcome you here at university. The Pasifika Students’ Council is a student-led representative group that works hard to advocate for all our Pacific-identifying students. Pacific students are such a beautifully diverse cohort that remains resilient despite its unique challenges. We sit on numerous committees where we bring attention to these challenges and push for solutions.

We also work in collaboration to bring you social events throughout the year, including our muchenjoyed Pasifika Week. This year we plan to support our students with welfare-focussed events in alliance with key external parties concerned with Pacific health. We will support our students academically with more subject-focussed study sessions, professionally with personal development workshops, and culturally with collaborative language week celebrations.

Check out the other amazing Pacific student associations at VUW and follow us on Insta.

KaiFiji (Victoria University Fijian Students’ Association)—IG: kaifiji_vuw MSA (Melanesian Students’ Association) PICSA (Pacific Island Commerce Students’ Association)—IG: picsavuw PLSS (Pasifika Law Students’ Society—IG: plss.vuw PSC (Pasifika Students’ Council)—IG: psc_vuw Te Fafetu o Tuvalu (Victoria University Tuvalu Students’ Association)—IG: te_fafetu.vuw Te Namo Te Lumanaki (Victoria University Tokelauan Students’ Association)—IG: te_namo_ tokelau VUSSA Inc. (Samoan Students’ Association)—IG: vussa.inc VUWCIA (Cook Island Students’ Association)—IG: vuw.cia VUWTSA Stallions (Tongan Students’ Association)— IG: vuwtsa

34

Nau mai, haere mai, tauti mai!

Tēnei au ka tū i te roro o tōku whare o Te Tumu Herenga Waka, ka titiro whakawaho ki te ao e rāhiri mai rā Here at Te Herenga Waka, Ngāi Tauira is the Māori students’ association which represents the interests of tauira Māori studying at Victoria University of Wellington.

Ngāi Tauira provides a legitimate voice for tauira Māori so they can feel comfortable and culturally safe within a Western academic environment. We also provide a number of services to tauira including advocacy and support, providing scholarships and funding, representation on academic boards and councils, social networking, and pastoral support.

An important service that tauira Māori should look into using is Awhina. This Māori student support service is for tauira to come together to share knowledge, achieve academic success, and build strong communities and leaders.

There are a number of tauira Māori associations you can join specific to certain degrees such as Ngā Rangahautira (Māori law students), Ngā Tāura Ūmanga, (Māori Commerce students), and Te Hōhaieti o Te Reo Māori (Reo Māori Society).

Alongside the formalities of being a student association, we also organise and host a number of events throughout the year: social events to network and get to know other tauira Māori, social sports, study wānanga, numerous noho, and our main event of the year, Te Pō Whakanui.

If you are wanting to know more, head to the second floor of the Student Union Building on Kelburn campus where you’ll find the Ngāi Tauira Common Room. The room will have tauira in there all week ready to answer any of your questions!

Instagram: @ngaitauira.vuw Facebook: Ngāi Tauira - Te Herenga Waka - VUW Māori Students’

MANAWA ORA—STUDENT WELLBEING The start of uni—whether first or fifth year—can be kind of overwhelming (especially in a global pandemic).

Perhaps you’re reading this between hall orientation activities, or during the excitement of moving flats, or having quit your hospo job of the last four years and making the leap to come to uni, and you’re thinking, “Dude, I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m fine. This is a blast.”

To that, I say: I bet you are. Genuinely. Those first few weeks are a whirlwind, with all the adrenaline rushes of a new phase of life. Soak up every second. But at some point, the assignment rush hits, the homesickness, the ache for inside jokes with high school friends and whatever expensive laundry detergent your mum used. Fresher flu (not limited to freshers, turns out) is kicking your butt and you just want someone to tell you how to get your life together and also tell you it’s fine, you’re fine, and most students are in the same boat.

Turns out, there’s actually a student service full of people whose entire job it is to do exactly that.

While Mauri Ora acts as a medical and counselling service (which you can access through their website), Manawa Ora—Student Wellbeing takes a preventative and holistic approach to your wellbeing. We know uni isn’t just about burying yourself in assignments and readings. Manawa Ora offers peer support groups to facilitate connections between students in environments outside of classes and halls. In 2022, these services are: The Bubble—a hangout space in the Student Union Building (with far more comfortable seating options than the Hub) with free tea, coffee, fruit and a kitchen on offer, and Bubble leaders milling around if you’re in need of peer support.

Storycraft—a student-run writing group that brings creative minds together in a safe, uncompetitive, and supportive environment.

Cultural Coffee Club—a student-led group providing a place where international and refugeebackground students can discuss mental health through a cultural lens and uplift each other to

succeed.

Canine Friends—saving the pups for last but not even remotely last, the Canine Friends Pet Therapy dogs regularly visit the university. Manawa Ora’s best pal Wolfie is at the Bubble on Tuesdays from 11 a.m.–12 p.m., so come along and get some Dachshund cuddles.

Manawa Ora is here, (some of us are) queer, and have a Rainbow and Inclusion service to answer questions about the rainbow community or help with issues affecting study, such as updating legal and preferred names. We also provide official services for students from refugee backgrounds for any difficulties or issues they may face studying at Te Herenga Waka.

Throughout the year, Manawa Ora runs Wellbeing Workshops that cover a range of issues and situations students encounter: Making friends Maintaining balanced habits and a healthy diet Imposter syndrome Procrastination Burnout Basically, anything you need to ease the whirling chaos of uni so it’s manageable long-term. More info about these, and other online wellbeing resources on offer, can be found on our Instagram and Facebook pages, or you can register for the workshops running from week two to week six on Careerhub now.

Nobody expects you to have it all together, not in week two, not in tri two week eleven, even third year. University will be equal parts rewarding and challenging, but you deserve all the opportunities and resources to be able to thrive. So come on down to Student Union and say hi, whether you need help, just want to see what we’re about, or of course, want some puppy cuddles. We’ll be here all year!

Website: wgtn.ac.nz/wellbeing Instagram: @manawaorastudentwellbeing Facebook: Manawa Ora Wgtn Uni www.salient.org.nz

35

ACROSS 1. Extinct New Zealand bird (3) 3. A little depressed (7,4) * 8. Landlocked African country with the capitals Gitega and Bujumbura (7) 9. Iron Man or Black Widow, say (7) 10. Title used by bands including Jane’s Addiction, My Chemical Romance, Korn and Rage Against the Machine, for collections of difficult-to-find tracks and bootlegs (4,3,4) * 12. Material used for paving roads and preserving dinosaurs (3) 13. TV show in which clairvoyant Tyler Henry gave cold readings to celebrities (9,6) * 16. They’re often targeted on Facebook (3) 18. “Nice work, me!” (3,4,4) * 20. Stretchy fabric (7) 21. Give a reason for (7) 22. Steak cut that can be served in any of the ways at the end of the starred answers (11) 23. Mother of Cain and Abel (3)

36

DOWN 1. Petrol company whose logo is a pegasus (5) 2. 2016 film in which aliens communicate through circular glyphs (7) 3. Exciting dream (7) 4. Former NFL quarterback whose brother Peyton is also a former NFL quarterback (3) 5. Birds that migrate in V formations (5) 6. ‘Green ___’ (Lorde hit) (5) 7. Its scientific name is the tympanic membrane (7) 9. Someone getting a prize (7) 11. File-hosting site; place where spies leave messages (7) 13. Leads, as a committee; brief warning (5,2) 14. Third book in the ‘Twilight’ series (7) 15. Put into quarantine (7) 17. Drummer Ringo (5) 18. Deliver a ruling on (5) 19. Bert’s Sesame Street roommate (5) 21. Flightless Australian bird (3)

PHOTO

Word of the Week: Fresh Te Reo Māori: Hou New Zealand Sign Language:

85 Ghuznee St, Te Aro, Wellington www.splendid.nz @splendid.nz

Aries Mars is moving to the house of friendship, potentially causing some friction and aggressive competition between you and your mates. Try to keep your cool this week, Aries. Let others share the mic.

Cancer New moon, new you? Thursday’s new moon signals a fresh page— time to let go of that negative internal voice. Self-love is the key to feeling like you have your shit together.

Libra This one goes out to all the horny little Libra freshers. Venus, the planet of love and relationships, is transitioning from the house of family to that of pleasure. A banging parallel to moving out of home…

Capricorn The urge to splurge might be going hard, bro, but now is the time for you to be disciplined with your finances and control any materialistic yearning. Welly opshops can wait.

38

TITLE

Taurus Guess what’s in the first house for Taurus? Uranus! Sounds like a bad joke, but it means there will be unpredictable changes for you this week. Maybe you’ll cut a spontaneous fringe?

Leo It’s O-Week bay-beee! The events may be cancelled but don’t let that stop you from doing something wild. Have a socially distanced dance-off with strangers. Hold a séance with your flatmates. Go ham.

Scorpio Scorpio, your communication’s been lackin’. With Pluto in the house of communication, it’s revamp hour. Death to sulking and grudges—time to lay your cards on the table and be frank with your feelings.

Aquarius It’s your turn to be the mum-friend this week, comforting homesick friends and holding their hair back while they chunder. Just as long as they promise to stop you making bad decisions next week.

Gemini With Mercury in the ninth house, you may find yourself frequently talking about politics and ideologies. While your enthusiasm knows no bounds, remember to use reason and speak with respect.

It pays to be kind.

Virgo This week is all about duty and hygiene. The stars are telling you to scan in, use hand sani, and go get your booster. I can’t make this shit up.

Sagittarius Jupiter has moved into the house of family and origins, bringing with it a focus on growth, hope, and understanding. This week is a good time to reflect on your whānau and whakapapa. Call Mum.

Pisces Pisces, I know you’ve been having some wacky dreams lately. The subconscious holds your hidden fears and desires, so take another look at those nocturnal visions.

What can your dreams tell you about yourself and your needs?

THE SALIENT TEAM YOU CAN THANK THESE PEOPLE FOR YOUR WEEKLY FIX.

Editor Janhavi Gosavi

News Editor Beth Mountford

News Editor Azaria Howell

Designer Alice Brown

Chief Reporter Ethan Manera

Sub-Editor Lily Holloway

Features Editor Ronia Ibrahim

Staff Writer Bridget Scott

Staff Writer Maia Ingoe

Staff Writer Zoe Mills

CENTREFOLD ARTIST This week’s amazing centrefold is brought to you by Gwil: Instagram: @gwilart

Social Media Manager Seren Ashmore

Podcast Manager Francesca Pietkiewicz

Contact Us editor@salient.org.nz designer@salient.org.nz chiefreporter@salient.org.nz news@salient.org.nz features@salient.org.nz

CONTRIBUTORS Cileme Venkateswar

Dylan Todd

Areta Pakinga

Phaedra Capes

Puck

39

Salient is hiring a Te Ao Māori Editor!

We are on the lookout for a Māori student to join our team as our Te Ao Māori editor. They will be a proficient writer and editor who is responsible for overseeing the Māori content in Salient. They will also need to regularly produce written content, such as news, feature articles, and reviews.

This is an exciting new position on staff for 8 hours a week.

The ideal candidate will have a thorough understanding of te ao Māori and tikanga.

To apply, send a CV, cover letter and writing portfolio to editor@salient.org.nz. Previous experience in writing and journalism is desirable, but not required.