Third Edition | 2018

THE VOICE

Robert Menzies College

Third Edition In this week’s edition...

Holi Festival Commencement Dinner New Master Interview Committee Elections

Editors Zoe Walters & Jennifer Good

Mar 2018

Contents Holi Festival ....................................

Pg. 2

Block Suppers .................................

Pg. 8

Commencement Dinner ..................

Volleyball ........................................

Gospel Community .........................

Committee Elections .......................

Master’s Commissioning ................

Interview with the New Master ........

Block Events ...................................

Pg. 5 Pg. 10 Pg. 11 Pg. 12 Pg. 16 Pg. 17 Pg. 20

Humans of RMC ............................... Pg. 24 March Calendar ...............................

Maze ...............................................

Pg. 26 Pg. 27

The Wiretap ..................................... Pg. 28

ANSWERS TO TRIVIA - Don’t check them unless you’ve already done it! No cheating!

Celebrity Answers: 1-Meghan Markle. 2-Diving. 3-6 Children – Shiloh, maddoz, Pax, Sahara, Vivienne and Knox. 4-Batista.

5-Russian. 6-Bernard Tomic. 7-Harry Styles. 8-Mark Hamil. 9-Stars are Blind. 10-Tenacious D Harry Potter Answers: 1-Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny. 2-Armando Dippet. 3-Sir. Nearly Headless Nick.

4-Gillyweed.. 5-31st of July. 6-Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbeldore. 7-Ordinary Wizarding Level. 8-#12 Grimmauld place . 9-Chocolate. 10-Gaunt

A busy few weeks Starting the semester is always filled with promises of study and dreams of having a full social life and still managing to maintain a successful sleep cycle.

We’ve both made these promises every semester, so we understand the struggle!

We just wanted to tell you guys not to worry - it’s always hard to keep this up during the first few weeks of a semester, whether you’re a fresher or a fourth year student!

Make sure to take care of yourself, try not to stress too much and enjoy the semester and all that college and uni offers!

Jen & Zoe

Holi Festival

Photos taken by Amy Jacks and Zoe Walters

Commencement Dinner With everyone dressed beautifully, we celebrated the start of a new year of university. Spoilt with great food and beautiful musical numbers, everyone enjoyed their night and clapped sufficiently at all the amazing residents who received certificates! The photos alone just prove how amazing everyone looked!

Block Suppers

A Block

B Block

On Monday night, we were all treated to yummy food and good conversation at

our block suppers. A block’s supper involved six different types of brownies and

an educational showing of ants by Sebastian. B block’s supper was hosted by Lily and everyone was enjoying themselves by lounging around and chilling. C block had a cosy supper and had a great community vibe. D block was bustling with

conversations and featured Digby soaking up the attention. And finally, E block’s

supper was held in the S conference and was filled with a great energetic ambience.

C Block

D Block

E Block (N/S)

RMC Conquers the Volleyball court!

Starting off the sporting year on a high note, RMC dominated the volleyball court - only losing one of our four matches!

Our girls team won both their matches against the Village and DLC and our guys team managed to win against DLC! It was an awesome effort by all our players!

Gospel Community Events

Gospel Communities (GC) GC is a great place to sit down and explore the bible in a welcoming environment that facilitates discussion and understanding.

It is held on Tuesday nights in N flat at 7:45pm.

The Gospel Community is really welcoming and full of lovely people who would love for new members to come along! Everyone is welcome!

TRINITY CHAPEL

CHURCH ON CAMPUS

SUNDAYS, 10AM & 5.30PM 136 HERRING ROAD (NEXT TO RMC)

REALITY IS BIG //LOVE MATTERS// TRUTH IS SHARED

tcm.org.au

Trinity Chapel Macquarie (TCM) TCM is a non-denominational church that is located right here on RMC. It is a relaxed environment where you can come to worship God, meet new people and feel free to ask or discuss any questions. Anyone is welcome and services are on Sundays at 10am and 5:30pm.

If you need anymore details don’t forget to talk to Dan or Tim, they are the Chaplains that live here at the college and they’re both very friendly and always around to talk about anything!

Committee Elections!

The RMCSA General Meeting is coming up next week! This means there will be the elections for the committee members.

This includes electing people for the positions on - Community, Communication and Marketing Committee (Block Captains) - Cultural Committee - Social Committee - Sports Committee - SVF (Sustainability, Volunteering and Fundraising) Committee In these positions you’ll be working closely with exec members to help organise events and get more involved with college.

The speech is only 30 seconds long and to apply you merely have to fill out a form (stuck on Sophia’s door A206).

The vote itself is a compulsory event so don’t forget to attend and vote.

All you need to do is fill out this form with your name, phone number, position of choice and sign the bottom!

Then put the form into the candidates folder and prepare your 30 second speech for the General Meeting on the 21st March!

SOCIAL COMMITTEE Committee: Social Exec Member: Lauren Coppel Positions Available: 3 Hi guys and gals, as I’m sure most of you know, I’m Lauren, the 2018 RMCSA Social Rep. Being on the social committee is an amazing opportunity to develop your organisational skills, event planning skills and a great way to become confident in your decision making! As a member of the social committee you will work with me to help make events such as Grooves in the Grass, End of Semester Party, Halloween Harbour Cruise and Ball run smoothly, look amazing, and be a fabulous night for all.

Your main task as a Social Committee member is to assist me in decision making, giving your opinion in regards to how you think an event should run and also completing fun mini-tasks delegated to you..AND you may also even get a free pizza from Ubar!! Being on the Social Committee, if not any committee is also great way to learn more about how the RMCSA Exec runs and if the Exec is something you’re interested in for 2019, I definitely recommend signing up for a committee position. Good luck to all the candidates and I can’t wait to see all your work as members of the committees!

Cultural COMMITTEE Committee: cultural Exec Member: jessie coker Positions Available: 3 Hey everyone, I’m Jessie and I’m the Cultural Rep. Cultural committee is a really fun way to get involved in the college! There are events on all throughout the year that you will be a part of planning, so you will always have the opportunity to get involved. The main events we organise are the college formal dinners including International night, Christmas in Winter, Reconciliation Night and Valedictory dinner. You will help me plan the night including the decorations and help set up and organise the proceedings for the event. We also do other events like a Cinema Under the Stars where we set up and all watch a movie with our outdoor cinema. I highly encourage you to give cultural committee a go!

CMM COMMITTEE Committee: Community, communication and marketing Exec Member: Stephanie Suen Positions Available: 6 Hey guys! I’m Stephanie and I’m the CCM (Community, Communication and Marketing) rep.

The Block Captains will be my committee and as a block captain, your main roles are to foster college spirit, especially within your block, as well as help raise awareness and promote college events.

This includes helping me with the things I do around college such as posters and posting on your block pages about upcoming events.

You will also have the chance to plan and run block events as well as college events.

And finally, it’s important for block captains to get involved in college events as this encourages participation and fosters college spirit!

SVF COMMITTEE Committee: sustainability, volunteering and fundraising Exec Member: Caitlin bell Positions Available: 3 Hi guys! I’m Caitlin and I’m the SVF (Sustainability, Volunteering and Fundraising) rep.

Being a part of the SVF committee is a rewarding experience because you will have the chance to help me in organising events around college.

These include Earth Hour, Worlds Biggest Morning Tea and many more.

If you want to know more please feel free to message me. I look forward to working with you!

Sports COMMITTEE Committee: Sports Exec Member: Tamsin nagaiya Positions Available: 3 Sports committee is the perfect role for anyone at RMC who has energy and passion for sport and being active.

Help inspire your peers to get involved in intercollege sport and college tournaments, while assisting in running these events. This is a committee where you are encouraged to share your ideas and make new sporting initiatives happen at RMC. You will also gain experience in planning, organising and running your own sport tournament with your fellow committee members. It is a great opportunity to have a role in college and experience a taste of what leadership at RMC is like.

Master’s Commissioning Ceremony The commissioning of The Reverend Dr Peter Davis as the sixth master of Robert Menzies College was held on Wednesday the 14th of March.

The night was filled with song and prayer as we gathered for this important night. The Archbishop of Sydney, The Most Reverend Dr Glenn Davies gave his address and outlined how students often feel while starting university and the importance of having strong foundation and guidance to succeed in life. He stated Peter is a great choice for this and we agree with him.

The speeches of welcome were lovely and were given by the Chair of Robert Menzies College, Ms Nicola Warwick-Mayo, the Dean of Robert Menzies College, Dr Katrina Clifford and The Pro Vice-Chancellor of Learning and Teaching at Macquarie University, Professor Sherman Young.

These speeches welcomed Peter and exclaimed their faith in him to do a great job as the Master. Peter gave his own speech highlighting his immediate goals for the college and how happy he is to be joining this lovely college community. Prayers were given on behalf of the Robert Menzies residents, Trinity Chapel Macquarie and Macquarie University.

The night ended with light conversation surrounded by amazing food.

Congratulations to Peter and we look forward to his contributions to Robert Menzies.

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE NEW MASTER OF COLLEGE REVEREND DR became the head of theology and then the PETER DAVIS academic director there. Which meant that I oversaw all their academic programs and made sure that they were meeting all the

government requirements and functioning as well as possible.”

So, what are your main focuses for the year?

“Well a number of focuses. I think the College is running really well so it has

been a succession of good leadership for

a long period of time, so I don’t know that there is going to be radical changes. But as I’ve said a few times, mental health

is really important and my experience in We sat down with our new Master of

College to ask him a few questions we thought were important for you all to

know. Here’s how the interview went...

So where were you before you became the Master of RMC? “For the last 12 years I’ve worked at

Excelsia College which is now Excelsia

Institute. And my initial role there was as a lecturer in theology, practical theology, so I taught preaching and leadership and things like that. And then over time I

higher education just seems to indicate

that students are experiencing more and more stress and I’ve seen the incidents of mental health support increasing

exponentially. So, I want to focus there and make sure that things are going as well as they can. In fact, we have just

appointed a counsellor one day a week.

I think sexual harassment has been in

the media and that it is really important

that RMC continue to be the safest place it possibly can. So, we want to have a

good long look at some of the reports that have come out in recent times to see what we can implement in that regard. And I

spoke at the Commencement Dinner last

there for us.”

growth and development during the

What are you most looking forward to

week about the importance of formational university years and I think that the time

for this year?

investment in their future. Not only their

“For this year? I mean probably focusing

society because the people you become

about. I like the people here, I like the

that students spend at university is a big future as an individual but the future of and what you do with who you become

in the future. This has significant impact upon yourself, your families and the

communities that you’re a part of. So, I’d like to see RMC as a place where we can

intentionally focus on that and get people to think about what a sense of vocation

means, having a really meaningful sense of purpose in your work, how we can be

on the things that we were just talking

staff and the students, I like the College

ethos. So I think I was just looking forward to meeting everybody and settling in and getting a handle on things and so forth.

And it’s met all my expectations. I like the staff and the students and I love what the College stands for.”

What do you think is the best thing

the healthiest people we possibly can in

about living in a residential college?

of stuff. Looking at spiritual and inter-

The people. Yes. I think you just build

both of those areas. And possibly the last

standing friendships with people. I think,

terms of practices and habits and that sort personal developments and growths in

area would be in terms of developing an

ethical framework. So, they’re the main things I want to focus on.”

deep relationships with people and long-

I’m a big believer in the impact of peers on your development and your growth.

Where did you grow up?

Now an important question, what pets do you have?

“We’ve got a cat named Cleo - she’s a

tortoise shell. We used to have a border

collie many years ago but we haven’t been able to have a dog in recent years. So, my wife is looking around on the rescue pet

websites and as soon as we move in here we’ll probably get a rescue dog of some

sort. And Jen loves a border collie so we’ll probably see if there’s a border collie out

“I grew up not far from here. So, I’ve lived in Sydney most of my life and I went to

high school at Pennant Hills High School, two or three railway stations up the

track. From there, I studied at college at

Newtown for a period and then went to the country. So, I lived in Lismore for three years where I was working in a church

as a Minister, and then came back to the

Northern Beaches. I was living around the Narrabeen-Mona Vale area for most of

the time since then. We’re currently at

Avalon. So basically, between Narrabeen and Avalon for the last 30 years.”

What was the best holiday you’ve ever had?

“The best holiday that I remember having, and that was purely because of the

simplicity. We were living at Lismore at

the time, we drove four hours north and

took the tent to just pitch somewhere. We stopped at Bundaberg. We went across

to the coast, to a little village there called

Monrepos. They had a caravan park there and we put up the tent. We discovered after we’d put up the tent that it was a

turtle rookery. And we were there late

What is your scariest interaction with an animal?

“When I was a kid I remember we were

digging out the front yard, Dad was laying some pipes or something like that and I

was bare foot, jumping up and down, as we were putting the soil back in, I was jumping up and down to pack the soil

back down, and as I was jumping up and down I realised I was jumping up and

down on a funnelweb spider. I wasn’t bitten but I’m glad I saw it in time.”

THE SIXTH MASTER OF RMC

January so it was the end of the egg laying season and the start of the egg hatching season. So, every night all these turtles

would come in and lay their eggs and the ones that were the early hatchers, they

were hatching and making their way to

the sea. So basically 100 metres up from

where the tent was. So, it was just one of those surprises and it was terrific. And I’m a real nature person and I just love

National Parks so I love to walk, or just

love to be out in the bush, so that sort of stuff was ideal.”

What do you think about a College alpaca?

“A College alpaca? That would be great

and I think an alpaca would love to live in the Dean’s backyard.”

Peter and his wife Jen at the Master’s Commissioning Ceremony

Block Events

A Block Puzzle de-stress session A single box.

1000 pieces.

One single block…

A rainbow looked as if it had broken and shattered all over the common room table. ‘A’ block residents lounged around the problem, when complexity decided to join us.

“1000 pieces?!”

Shock flooded the space. A wave had crashed down upon the residents.

They were wondering why I had inflicted this pain upon them. It did look like a mess. Luckily comfort food prompted motivation as ‘A’ block began to decipher the different shades of colour.

“This pink is too light for this pile!”

The piece was quickly placed into its correct family of colour. Many piles were formed. Pieces upon pieces. A box of doughnuts devoured before any progress was made toward piecing the riddle together.

8pm. 9pm. 10pm.

Frustratingly the puzzle continued to baffle. When residents started to put tools down, a sudden idea emerged into my mind.

Block challenge: free ice cream if the puzzle is solved.

Deadline: Mid semester break.

Three days later and the puzzle is almost done.

What can I say?

Free food is always a winner.

- Nicole: A Block RA

The progress of the puzzle as of the 14th March 2:00PM

E Block TRIVIA NIGHT

E-Block recently competed in their own floor vs floor trivia. The topics at hand were Motorsports, Celebrities, Global Affairs and Harry Potter. Suffice to say it was a pretty wacky blend of topics, but somehow the floors were able to get through them.

Below are some of the questions from the night – see how many you can get!

- Cindy: E Block RA

Celebrity Category by Cindy

1. Who was the most googled celebrity for 2017?

2. Known for his roles in Transporter and Fast and Furious, what sport was Jason Statham a professional in prior to becoming an actor?

3. How many children does Angeline Jolie have – bonus points if you can name them all.

4. Which famous WWE wrestling star made a cameo appearance in Neighbors?

5. Besides English, what other language does Mila Kunis speak?

6. This year on the Australian version of ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here’, which celebrity quit the show after just 3 nights – the first time in the show’s history?

7. Which British boy band member made his film debut in the 2017 film Dunkirk?

8. Which Star Wars star recently received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?

9. Released in 2006, what was the name of Paris Hilton’s first single?

10. Jack Black, star of the modern day classic film School of Rock, is also part of his own band with the smash hit ‘Tribute’. What is the name of his band?

Harry Potter Category by Julian

1. What are the names of all the Weasley children?

2. Who was Dumbledore’s immediate predecessor as Headmaster to Hogwarts?

3. What is the name of Gryffindor’s ghost?

4. What does Neville Longbottom give to Harry to take to help him for the second task of the triwizard tournament?

5. When is Harry Potter’s birthday?

6. What is Dumbledore’s full name?

7. What does O.W.L stand for?

8. Where is the headquarters to the order of phoenix?

9. What does Lupin give Harry to eat after the dementor attack?

10. What is Voldemorts mother’s maiden name?

Answers to the Trivia located on the contents page!

D Blockers and friends had a fab trip ferrying to Manly Beach this past Saturday (evidenced by a few sunburnt faces).

People enjoyed playing frisbee and volleyball, good swell, and eating fish and chips on the sand.

A well-spectated fresher dance performance and Faisal’s goat photos were a few of the highlights.

-Helen: D Block RA

D Block manly BeacH trip

C Block Games night C Block started their year of excellent events with a bang! Who knew that a simple games night would turn into such a competitive fight to the finish.

There was a mix of classic games, like Uno and Monopoly but what drew the attention of the group was the 5 Second Rule board game and Grace Slatyer’s big box of Cards Against Humanity! As I’m sure you all know, CAH is always a very amusing game to play!

We had the whole top floor, spread across two rooms chatting and gaming till noise curfew. A highlight for me was both Tami and Sophy’s enthusiasm and excitement for board games, shouting loud enough I’m sure D Block would have heard.

For both Pasi and I it was a success, with experience we knew how to draw in a crowd with hot chocolate, Tim Tams and Woolies doughnuts. Get ready C Block, we are ready for bigger and better things, stay tuned!

-Zoe: C Block RA

Humans of RMC

an hour from Tamworth. Yes there is differences between Duri living and Sydney living.

The main thing is how busy everywhere is. In Duri it is a busy day if you meet someone on road.

What do you study? What is your favourite part of your

Human #3 SophY mcrae

degree?

I study Bachelor of Marine Science. My favourite part of

What is your favourite memory of RMC so far?

My favourite memory of RMC so far was the whole of the harbour cruise. Everything about that evening was so much fun!!

How long have I been at College?

I have only been at college for about 3 weeks now.

Where are you from? Does it differ a lot to Sydney/ Australia?

I am originally from a place called Albury, but then we moved up to Duri, which is a small village only about half

my degree is the long breaks in the middle of the day for my naps.

What’s an interesting fact about you?

Even though we were living in NSW at the time, I am actually a Victorian. I was born in Wodonga hospital on the 26 of August and I am the only Victorian in my family.

What do you study and what is your favourite part of your degree?

I’m doing a bachelor of global business, majoring in Chinese. We learn about business on a global scale and specify in a chosen “region” of the world (mine being Chinese). My favourite aspect of my degree is learning Mandarin, which

Human #4 Maddy Melvelle

is extremely challenging but also really enjoyable.

What’s an interesting fact about you?

What is your favourite college memory?

Couple of my favourite memories at RMC have been the fresher dance off, the scav hunt, harbour cruise and of course meeting a bunch of beautiful people (shoutout to Insta wantsumbread x).

How long have you been at college?

I’ve been at college for 3 and a bit weeks and love it so far Where are you from? Does it differ a lot to Sydney I’m originally from Newcastle and even though it’s the 2nd biggest city in NSW its still so different. Newcastle only has 2 shopping centres, no high rise buildings and everyone knows (almost) everyone.

One of my reasons for moving away from home for uni was partially because of netball. This year I’m playing for the Manly U20s Premier league team, so I would have had to travel from Newcastle to Sydney 4 times a week = too much $$ spent on petrol. I’ve also recently been selected to play for the U19s ACT State team as an ‘import player’ to represent them at nationals held in Adelaide this mid-semester break which I’m really excited about :D

MARCH 2018

Saturday

Sunday

3

Friday

4 Intercollege Sports

Thursday

11 Holi Festival

Wednesday

10

Tuesday

9

Monday

8

16

22

30 Good Friday

23

31 Holy Saturday

24 Earth Hour

25

18 Intercollege Sports

2

7

15

1

6

14

29

Commencement Dinner 5:30pm

5

13

20

21 RMCSA General Meeting 28

12

19

27

17 BLOCK WARS!

26

THE VOICE

MAZE #1

RMC

Uni Navigating the first few weeks at uni can be a little tough! This year even the returners are getting lost thanks to the university changing all the building numbers, To make you all feel a little better about getting lost on campus, here’s a short maze for you to complete so you can at least pretend you know which way your classes are! Oh and if you do happen to get very lost, don’t forget to download the ‘Lost on Campus’ app!

Zoe W: “Beer tastes like asshole” Tom: “I love asshole”

Pasi: “What’s a double-letter word?”

Nicole: “Hey guys, just put your spoons in the microwave and it’ll be easier to scoop the icecream.”

Tyla *in referenece to B-Block*: “Is there a lift?”

Sebastian: “We used to have black ants but they got out...”

Em: “I’m black on the inside”

Sarah: “I want to get drunk off Ubar pizza.”

Zoe W: “Adding a ‘y’ to a name just makes me think it’s a hooker name”

Danielle: “Today I mistook my shampoo and my toothpaste and brushed my teeth with my shampoo, it was so bad.”

Sarah: *talking about the toastie press* “I was there for like 10 minutes and I hadn’t turned it on”

Darian: “I’m not a naughty boy, I was just talking about how Jesus parted the seas.”

Carly: “That was Moses.”

THE Wiretap

Feb 27 - MaR 12 Sophia: “Leave my peg alone, it doesn’t deserve to be treated like this.”

Darian: “Are animals naked?”

Jen: “They’re naked byt hella hairy”

Samantha: “I believe that there are only two types of people in the world.

Those who laugh at Hot Rod, and Terrorists.”

Sophia: “I was trying to amnipulate a lot of them during O-Week”

Jeremy: “Do you know what paleo is?”

Matt: “Yeah isn’t that a disease where you can’t move? Wait no that’s Polio!”

Jack B: “Could you compress your body to form a diamond from all the carbon?”

Zoe S: “When I swear I become tanner”

Vimbai: “I haven’t washed this since I got it” *referring to her 2017 RMC jumper*

Jack H: “You’re not really a cow though, you’re more of a horse” Kaitlin: “I would prefer to be a horse” Theo: “But then you don’t get your own milk”

Tom: *eating M&Ms* “I’m so happy that coco beans exist”

*In an economics lecture* Lecturer: “People who are not civilians are military and those people behind bars.”

Robin: *puts his hand up* “Why aren’t bartenders considered civilians?”

Share your voice!

Are you a creative soul and want to contribute to The Voice?

Send through your work as a message to our Facebook page or submit it annonymously to one of the editors!

Any contributions are

accepted - drawings, poems, stories, articles etc. And don’t forget any to send in any funny submissions to the Wiretap.

If you want to be featured in the Humans of RMC section, let us know and we will interview you!

Or feel free to talk to one of the editors Zoe Walters (A207) or

Jen Good (A203)