Togatus Annual 2013

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CONTENTS LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT pg 6 TUU STATE COUNCIL pg 8 INTERNATIONAL OFFICER pg 11 STUDENT PROFILES pg 12 FACULTY OF ARTS pg 18 THE ARTS FACTORY pg 19

DR JUNE OLLEY pg 20 THE CON pg 23 SOCIETIES pg 26

FACULTY OF EDUCATION pg 30 STUDYING WITH KIDS pg 31

ALISON WATKINS pg 35 SUSTAINABILITY AT UTAS pg 38

FACULTY OF LAW pg 40 MORE TO LAW pg 41 THE STUDENT LEGAL SERVICE MIGRATION LEGAL ADVICE SESSIONS pg 42 BUILDING FOR GOOD pg 43 SCIENCE pg 45

VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS pg 47

RESEARCH BITES pg 49 HALLEY DURRANT pg 51

READING INTO RESEARCH pg 52 SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY GAMES pg 56 AROUND THE WORLD pg 58

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU HAVE LEARNT AT UNIVERSITY? pg 62

AUSTRALIAN MARITIME COLLEGE pg 64 AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE pg 65 FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCE pg 66

ANOTHER LEFTOVER pg 67 GRADUATION pg 71

FOURTH GENERATION TEACHER pg 34

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FROM THE EDITOR Welcome to the Togatus Annual. We hope you enjoy perusing the pages of this unique publication. You will find snapshots of the students, alumni, faculties, societies, research, events, arts and culture that encapsulate the University of Tasmania in 2013.

Our UTAS community is immeasurable. With a surging surfeit of activity and achievements, it was extremely difficult to squeeze a fraction of the happenings of our tertiary community into this publication. However, we hope this selection offers a diverse slice of our fascinating institution— we tried to cram in as many names and as much news as we could.

For the Togatus editorial team, 2013 has been a year of reward. We have acquired buckets of invaluable experience, faced a plethora of challenges and continued to bloom with each edition. We would like to say thank you for having us. It really has been an incredible year.

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Hannah Grey @hannahlgrey

Published by the State Council on behalf of the Tasmania University Union Inc. (hf. “the publishers”).

The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of Togatus staff or the publishers. The copyright in each piece of work remains with the contributor; however, the publishers reserve the right to reproduce material on the Togatus website (www.togatus.com.au) The copyright in this magazine remains with the publishers.

Editor: Hannah Grey editor.togatus@utas.edu.au Deputy Print Editor: Kate Elphinstone Deputy Web Editor: Noah Sutton Design Editor: Savina Lim Designers: Jess Curtis, Leanne Steer Cover Photography: Nathan Gillam Cover Model: Jax Leonard Advertising: Please contact editor.togatus@utas.edu.au Togatus PO Box 5055 Sandy Bay, Tas 7006 Follow us: Instagram: @TogatusMagazine Twitter: @TogatusMagazine Facebook: facebook.com/TogatusMagazine www.togatus.com.au Togatus welcomes all contributions. Please email your work or ideas to editor.togatus@utas.edu.au It is understood that any contribution sent to Togatus may be used for publication in either the magazine or the website, and that the final decision on whether to publish resides with the editor and the publishers. The editor reserves the right to make changes to submitted material as required.

The Annual is a unique Togatus publication.

Photography: Lara Carbone ‘Another Leftover’ (p.67)

Untitled #4

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CONTRIBUTORS 2013—what will you remember?

Brendan Fisher

Bachelor of Biotechnology Lots of fun times blended with too much work, too much study, and way too many hours anticipating the last season of Breaking Bad.

Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business I will remember waking up shoeless in the rooftop pool of a Chinese family and watching the sun rise above my office building, cutting through the KL haze.

Emily Dunn

Bachelor of Arts

I will remember anticipation— as for what comes next, I’ll let you know if the hype was fulfilled.

Lewis Ringwaldt

George Holgate

Gordon Luckman

Would have to be passing out on the law school floor after a massive barrel.

I will remember that the Lambert boys won every party we attended throughout the year #ladsontour

I will remember running a conference for 40 year 1012 students and that there is never moment where Taylor Swift isn’t appropriate.

Jamila Fontana

Fiona Howie

Michael Voss

The fight for greater reproductive rights in Tasmania; hopefully it will have been a success.

Learning how to climb trees like a pro at Students of Sustainability conference.

To never wear a flight suit to a house party.

Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws

Bachelor of Arts

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Rhys Anderson

Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Laws

Masters of Education

Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Business

Masters of Teaching

Neika Lehman

Phoebe Nelson

The moment I realised I have given David Walsh approximately $1000 of my Newstart Payments this year.

Withdrawing cash from the Commonwealth bank ATM. Naked. That Scav Hunt challenge is seared in my memory more than the fact my team placed third.

Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

Emma Tanchik Bachelor of Arts The year that misogyny made a comeback.

Theo Kapodistrias

Mollie Coburn

Bachelor of Laws

Bachelor of Arts

I will remember the fun, the drama and the scandals of my final year of law at Uni. Our CCP class did make international news after all!

I will remember the ancient myth of Climate Change, before Abbott reversed all our hard work and progress from the Enlightenment.

Tim Stoklosa

Bachelor of Environment Design and Masters of Architecture I lived in a country with four official languages and couldn’t speak one. Not even a little.

Simeon Thomas-Wilson

Jaclyn Rogerson

I will remember Karl Stefanovic telling Clive Palmer that he had lost the plot.

My year 3/4 class on prac at South Arm and making it half way through my degree.

Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Education

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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT WORDS: Alex West

Welcome to the Tasmania University Union’s Togatus: A Yearbook.

campuses, both of which are occupied in UTAS operations.

Togatus has been an integral part of the TUU since 1931, providing independent commentary of student’s issues for 82 years. This edition is the second venture of the magazine outside of its quarterly publication and web presence, and made possible by the Student Services and Amenities Fee.

A further $1.2 billion in savings was found by converting scholarships to student loans. This will see student debt climb by between 21 and 37 per cent for those affected, leaving them with more than a decade of debt following graduation. Our generation is now paying more for education than any that has come before, a point that is further frustrated by the fact that policy makers behind these cuts and fundamental changes to tertiary education were beneficiaries’ of Whitlam’s Brave New World of Free Education. Sigh.

All SRC’s and Council have done a wonderful job this year. Instead of spending my time reviewing events and State Council projects I want to explain some of the bigger changes institutionally and in the national agenda.

WHERE IS MY EDUCATION REVOLUTION? Tertiary Education in Australia has received two blows this year.

The first on Saturday 13 April 2013, as the newly appointed Minister for Tertiary Education, Dr Craig Emerson, announced $2.3b in budget savings from the higher education sector to help fund the implementation of the Government’s reforms to school education. The cuts covering the period 2013-14 to 2016-17 were comprised of: ONE: $900m which will apply to all grants under the Higher Education Support Act 2003, excluding Australian Postgraduate Awards.

TWO: $1.2b savings from converting Student Start-up Scholarship (SSS) to HECS type loans, and THREE: $229m by removing the 10 per cent discount for up-front HECS payments.

These announced cuts to the sector represented an unwelcome backwardstep in Labor’s agenda and education revolution. It places unwelcome strain on universities at a time of significant growth in student numbers and poses a particular threat to important low-enrolment courses and regional 6

Through the debate that followed there were arguments that the savings from the university sector where to benefit increased Gonski funding to school education. This argument missed the point. With government funding to tertiary education at just 0.8% of GDP, Australia remains one of the lowest contributors to the sector in the OECD (university funding is typically between 1% to 2%).

Universities Australia, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), the National Union of Students (NUS) and the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations have all called for a minimum increase of 10% in Federal Government funding prior to these cuts, as recommended by the Base Funding Review.

Funding to education is not a zero-sum game; students benefitting from the Gonski reforms should have a quality university education to look forward to, if they choose.

CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT The second clear blow to Student Unions and perhaps Universities is the election of an Abbott Government.

The Liberal Party have not been friends of student unions in years past or indeed the broader university sector.

Under a Howard government we saw total public funding to universities

cut by 4% in the period 1996 to 2004 — compared with an OECD average increase in public funding of 49%.

Another legacy of the Howard government is Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU), which crippled student unions across the nation, and indeed the Tasmanian student unions. The TUU lost $3 million in fee income per year. As a result the union has been operating on less than a third of the previous revenue and services have suffered. VSU also lead to the forced amalgamation of the Northern Student Association (NSA) and the TUU. This model saw UTAS gain majority vote on the TUU Board of Management and this dictated the terms of the funding agreement, which restricted terms to representation advocacy, orientation and students health and wellbeing.

Any further decrease in funding would be catastrophic to the students of UTAS, and in turn the UTAS reputation and ratings. The impact of VSU around the nation has been vast, and as TUU is the only student union in the state the impact of a reduction in services has been more striking.

STUDENT SERVICES AND AMENITIES FEE (SSAF) The primary fear for Unions and the University sector is the possible scrapping of the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF).

SSAF was introduced to expand on already existing, and build new, services. SSAF is not in any way compulsory student unionism (CSU), it is a fee aimed at filling in some of the gap that VSU has left and ensuring that vital services grow or even exist.

UTAS and the TUU see SSAF as an important opportunity to rebuild services that were lost at VSU, services that underpin welfare and culture on all UTAS campuses. Without SSAF it would be virtually impossible for unions like ours to supply the critical and utilised services that we do.

UTAS—AN ISLE OF ONE UTAS is currently in a period of institutional change. In the past 12 months we have seen restructures in the Faculty of Arts, Science Engineering and Technology and Business, and a further restructure to the Faculty of Health Science is imminent. It is the first year of reduced membership on the University Council and a new financial structure to internal funding at UTAS is set to be rolled out next year. Breadth Units have been welcomed by UTAS senior management and the conversation of trimesterisation has developed.

Among these have been institutional changes championed by the TUU. This year the University has implemented the Student Experience Plan, which is the first of its kind in Australia. This plan was written in partnership with the TUU and aims to achieve the following: ONE: Provide students with opportunities to have a strong voice through representation and active engagement in university life.

TWO: Provide an inclusive and welcoming experience for all students in their transition into, through and out of university.

THREE: Provide timely administrative, academic, cultural and learning support for current and prospective students.

FOUR: Respond to student and stakeholder feedback to improve the overall quality of the student experience.

FIVE: Facilitate inclusive and accessible learning in a community environment (social, physical and online).

That seems pretty boring, so why does this plan matter? GEE I’m so glad you asked that!

What I have discovered from my time as TUU president is that it is easy for an administration to espouse values of inclusion and action, but without policy being implemented at an administrative level no action or funding will follow.

What we have seen with this plan is UTAS take a proactive step and acknowledge that your experience is more than just lectures and mountains of unit outlines, it is about a deeper student interaction within the

UTAS community and need for an investment in student services and culture. Further, that they have an obligation to foster this.

practice of the union, or indeed itself.

I welcome this restructure at a time where the primary role of the union is as a service provision.

This plan will work in partnership with the Social Inclusion Plan that the TUU also helped develop. This plan is the next step for the University in acknowledging that there is not a generic student and as such UTAS must look to cater more broadly. To accommodate to all student and staff groups wether they be international, differently-abled, Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer and Allied, Aboringal and Torres Straight Islanders or ethno – culturally diverse. It validates that all policy and services must provide for all cohorts and that steps must be taken to ensure equal opportunity to all, across every areas of the institution, acknowledging that there are broad and diverse barriers to people accessing and succeeding in tertiary education.

I am resolute that the TUU, as one of the oldest unions in the country with a proud history of serving students, could better serve its constituency should they have further and fair control of its governing body.

These are plans and changes that will see our student equity and experience taken seriously by senior management and university administration. It will see broader reform to the way UTAS interacts with students and encourages consultation and partnerships.

REFORM OF THE TASMANIA UNIVERSITY UNION BOARD OF MANAGEMENT. As noted previously in this article, since VSU the University has controlled the TUU Board Of Management (BOM). The make up and functions of the Tasmania University Union Board of Management is as follows as noted in TUU Constitution: ONE: Three members appointed by the University Council TWO: The Chairperson, who shall be appointed by the university.

THREE: The elected President.

FOUR: Two elected student members.

As such BOM sits at 4:3.

At the time of writing this article the BOM was conducting a self review; a review that I think is overdue. Since the sale of all TUU commercial assets, the functions of the BOM are limited.

It is my belief that the BOM has little understanding to the purpose or

I thank all UTAS students for giving me the opportunity to be your State President for 2013. It has been an honor. The TUU is a great agent of change within UTAS. I encourage all students to get involved in the union and wish the next State Council well.

OTHER PROJECTS ACTIVATED THIS YEAR • Increase in Equity and Welfare positions on SRCs • Investigation into Sydney campus equity and TUU recommendation Paper • Students Experience Plan adopted by UTAS which sets out to improve and see an equitable student experience across all campuses • Social Inclusion Plan Adopted

by UTAS • Creation of a TUU/UTAS Students Matter Conference • Evaluate partnership with SERRU • Funding agreements with UTAS that sees the TUU will a larger proportion of the SSAF with the aim of SSAF expanding existing services and building new ones such as free Financial Counseling and Legal Aid to students • Campaigns against the cuts to tertiary education that would see $2.3 billion ripped from the university sector which has increased activism on all campuses • This year we saw University Council make Student Experience a priority • More active NUS presence • TUU Board of Management self review • TUU involvement in student pathway programs offered to disadvantaged, Low SES and rural and regional students wishing to attend university.

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TUU STATE COUNCIL TUU Correspondent: Gordon Luckman

ALEX WEST STATEWIDE PRESIDENT This year we have seen been a big year of changes to the university sector with massive cuts to the sector federally and institutional change.

Below are a few of my highlights and achievements of the year.

My main focus of the year has been to institutionalise the importance of students experience across the University, a goal I believe we have achieved.

• Formation of State–wide committees • Increase in Equity and Welfare positions on SRC’s • Investigation into Sydney campus equity • Students Experience Plan adopted by UTAS which sets out to improve and see an equitable student experience • Social Inclusion Plan adopted

by UTAS • Students Matters Conference, • Evaluate partnership with SERRU, • Funding agreements with UTAS that sees the TUU will a larger proportion of the SSAF with the aim of SSAF expanding existing services and building new ones such as free Financial Counselling and Legal Aid to students • Better communication to student body • Campaigns against the cuts to tertiary education that would see $2.3 billion ripped from the university sector

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• The University Council made Student Experience a priority • More active NUS presence • TUU Board of Management review • TUU involvement in student pathway programs offered to disadvantaged, low SES, rural and regional students wishing to attend university.

There are always areas where we as people can improve. I am by no means perfect, but this year I set out to effect institutional change. Change that would see our student equity and experience taken seriously and safeguarded by senior management, to see broader change to the way the university interacts with students in terms of consultation and partnerships, internal institutional reform and more activism on campus. There are many other areas that need passionate student activists to contribute, and further UTAS boundaries to be pushed and administrative decisions questioned, but I am proud of my year as TUU president. I encourage all students to get active @UTAS, be that in a society, on a committee or as a student representative.

VINODAN RAJANDRAN POSTGRADUATE PRESIDENT This year we saw the renewal of the Postgraduate Council. While still a shade away from its more vibrant past, we have made huge strides towards rebuilding the postgraduate community which became fractured along the lines of the various schools/faculties/ institutes over the past 5+ years.

Three biggest achievements: ONE: Through hard bargaining and negotiations, we have seen our funding increase by more than 100% this year. This has enabled us to embark on strategic projects including the building of a Postgraduate Lounge and associated facilities in the major campuses with the Graduate Research Office.

This project is still underway. Our increased funding has also enabled us to provide greater support to postgraduate committees and societies scattered throughout the University. Increased funding has also meant increased frequency of social and networking events.

This year postgraduates have had dedicated O’Week events, postgraduate outreach initiatives, social events throughout each semester and dedicated postgraduate forums. The Postgraduate Council will also be dedicating part of its funding this year to increase the pool of travel conference scholarships available to RHD students.

TWO: The Postgraduate Council this year has achieved outcomes in the field of representation for its constituents. We have made numerous submissions to the various committees we are part of to improve the university experience. Notably, we have received positive developments with respect to the parking issue, workspace for Honours students on a University-wide level, securing space for students around the university and SSAF exemptions for RHD students that have submitted their

thesis. We, with the other arms of the TUU, have been successful in significantly altering the University’s Student Experience Plan and Social Inclusion Plans getting a better deal for students. We have also pushed the University into being more consultative by highlighting the lack of student consultation at Academic Senate. We voted against the Business Faculty restructure due to the lack of consultation and spoke against Trimesterisation.

THREE: Community. While the achievements above are tangible, I think the most important achievement of the Council this year is the re-building of a postgraduate community. A sense of community is crucial and we have laid the foundation towards a cohesive community at the University.

Three challenges: ONE: Going part-time. While the position of Postgraduate President is a part-time position, the state of the Council prior to my assumption of the role meant that there was heaps of work to be done.

TWO: Funding negotiations.

Being new to negotiations with the University, we were not quite prepared for the level of back and forth that we experienced. A more structured negotiation framework should have in place from the start.

We did manage to increase total funding to the Union by at least 6070% from last year and set in stone a two-tier funding arrangement.

THREE: Postgraduate Lounge.

I had envisioned the lounge to be up and running by now. Obviously things take longer to happen at our University. Structural changes within the GRO and differences in vision between various stakeholders, beyond the Council and GRO, meant that this couldn’t be achieved faster.

MADELEINE CHARLES CAMPUS PRESIDENT SOUTH This year the hard work of the extraordinary SRC has been noticed on campus. We have recently announced our ‘spring social calendar’ and the TUU classic ArtHaus. There have been ups and downs but the events and the initiatives from reps

have been above what is expected of them. The student representatives slug hours into their portfolios and their work is appreciated across the university campus and is key to creating campus culture and a memorable student experience. If I had my time over again I would make sure I ate all the egg and bacon at the TUU toasts and partied with Asta, Naysayer and Gilsun and Oh Mercy after the Oweek concert!

Three biggest achievements: ONE: This year we have seen many wonderful multicultural initiatives.

I was very excited to hold a night market in Oweek and have a Moon Light cinema in first semester.

TWO: Oweek—would have to be one of the biggest yet with a mammoth action packed line up—it started the year in style.

THREE: Mardi Gras street party went off despite the weather. It was a brave, bold and colourful new initiative!

CLAIRE CHANDLER SOCIETIES COUNCIL PRESIDENT I would consider my greatest achievements as Societies President as: • Getting the Societies Awards up and running, to promote and reward the wonderful work that TUU Clubs and Societies do. Without them, we wouldn’t have a campus culture!

• Hosting the biggest and best Societies Day ever! Two DJs, dozens of Societies, demonstrations, dancing, and all-round enjoyment was had by all.

If I had my time again, I would like to improve the way that societies communicate with the TUU and vice versa. The people running various societies have a wealth of experience, and that knowledge could be shared.

I would also have liked to further develop inter-society relations with some friendly sports matches and debates however, we’re all busy students and time has a habit of flying away from us!

In future years I hope to see the Societies Awards continue. I also envisage that the new My TUU app will be more integrated into promotion processes.

OLIVIA JENKINS WELFARE OFFICER Three things I’ve liked best about the TUU: ONE: Mardi Gras Barrel—this was an amazing night put together by the wonderful Aaron. I loved every minute of it and had the best time.

TWO: Shagfest—mostly because I got to witness my fellow TUU members blowing up naked dolls and sheep (we didn’t understand either) and then watch an ‘interesting’ DVD that had been one of the prizes, take from that what you may...

THREE: Whilst it hasn’t happened yet, I’m really excited for the Wellfest/ Exam Stressless event. It will provide students with a chance to relax and have some fun prior to exams.

GEORGIA ALLEN EDUCATION OFFICER

Top 3 things: ONE: Making changes behind the scenes in university committees to policies, plans or ideas to better benefit students. I found sitting on committees a rewarding and eye opening experience, albeit time consuming.

TWO: I was pleased to find out that the education forums I organised were included in the Student Experience Plan, so it will be University policy for UTAS to engage and facilitate discussions with students about their education in future years.

THREE: Meeting with the Dean of Health Science and Dean of Science to discuss their upcoming restructures and ways of disseminating information to students. This was a great departure from the lack of consultation last year. There is always room for improvement in this area across the university however, with the TUU representatives on Academic Senate voting against the Business Faculty restructure.

Things I could’ve done better: ONE: Managed my time better. It is very hard to juggle committees, 9

classes, work and life.

TWO: I think as an SRC we should have done less. Running an event every week is exhausting, we are all very tired. I think the student population would benefit more in future years from energised reps, not weary ones.

THREE: Disseminating information to students about education issues.

There is a lot of apathy around campus. Making the value judgment about whether or not students will care about an issue is difficult.

EMILY ROBINSON WOMEN’S OFFICER Three biggest achievements: ONE: Bluestocking Week celebrations- including a welcoming BBQ, the selling of bluestockings throughout the week and the climactic event of the week, a ‘Blue’ cocktail party with guest speakers.

TWO: Getting a Women’s Collective up and running which has held meetings and events throughout the year.

THREE: Celebrations for International Women’s Day

Three things I would change: ONE: I’d advertise the Women’s Room more so that people feel like they can use it for studying and networking.

TWO: I’d expand on the Women’s Collective so that it becomes widely known across campus as a group for meeting new people and organising events as a group.

THREE: I’d collaborate more with other officers in order to hold larger, joint events.

AARON MOSS GLBTIQA OFFICER I think my largest achievement this year has been getting the Mardi Gras Street Party going. It was a fantastic, resounding success and rather exciting. Other important things which I think I’ve done are working more closely with external stakeholder, connecting UTAS students with community organisations such as RedAware and the Sexual Health Service. I think 10

that my role has been very useful in bringing the experiences of LGBT students across UTAS, Tasmania and more generally to the attention of ‘non-identifying’ students and staff.

Three things I’d improve or change?

I’d really like to have taken a bit more care of myself—I’ve struggled to balance everything and as a result, my performance has suffered. I’d have liked to focused more on the Welfare & Equity sub-committee.

Lastly, I would have liked to have worked in a much more positive and supportive environment.

STEPH ARNOLD CONSERVATORIUM REPRESENTATIVE Three biggest achievements: ONE: Running the first annual Conservatorium Ball TWO: Improving the distribution of important news and information to students studying at the Conservatorium THREE: Including the Conservatorium in more TUU events such as the BBQ held on campus in O-Week, National Band Competition and the toast held in Semester Two.

Three things I would improve/change: ONE: Have a better plan for when I want events to run! Time goes so quickly and the weeks pass before you know it!

TWO: Incorporate the Conservatorium into even more events.

THREE: Make sure that all students get important information, not just those on Facebook. Perhaps set up a Conservatorium based webpage for this.

NYSHA MUNRO POST GRADUATE COUNCIL VICE PRESIDENT Three best achievements ONE: Increased our outreach through branding, social media and a presence around campus making many postgrads aware ofthe Postgraduate Council’s existence.

TWO: Held successful networking events such as the wine and cheese

evening, quiz night and MONA trip.

THREE: Successfully represented Postgrads on the issues that are important to them, i.e. parking, space allocation and SSAF.

Things I’d like seen done in the future: ONE: A University-wide buddy system which pairs up newly arrived students with current students and helps them to integrate into our Uni. TWO: More systems in place to support international students, especially with language and cultural acclimatisation.

THREE: More support for parents looking for affordable childcare options.

• The ‘Postgrad lounge’ idea is one I feel very strongly about and I am somewhat disappointed that it has been delayed so long by University administration. Once this space is ours we will strengthen our postgraduate community by providing a common place where we can meet, hold events and get to know one another.

LIAM DOLBEY GENERAL REPRESENTATIVE ONE: Advocacy for education and continually striving to improve student’s educational experience at UTAS such as sitting on educational review panels.

TWO: Hosting a variety of social and education events which interest and engage a broad range of students such as O-week, night markets, moonlight cinema, THREE: Involving students a variety of society-based events and working with other student groups for a better UTAS.

What I’d do differently: ONE: Work towards more strategic planning and lock in dates for events earlier.

TWO: Consider the impact of political/activisms events and how they connect with students on campus and societies.

THREE: Clearly define the role of the state council, the SRC South and how that correlates with individual roles and responsibilities.

INTERNATIONAL OFFICER International Student Officer Shafiq Sobri shares his successes on the TUU SRC in 2013.

To begin with, I never imagined myself running for an election to be the International Student Officer in the TUU. However everything changed when Maddi, the Campus President, approached me and told me that a group of passionate young people were running for positions in the TUU election. She asked me whether I was interested to be a part of their team known as Stand Up. Everything happened too quickly and here I am now, in my last few months as the International Student Officer. I can never be thankful enough to Maddi for bringing me into the TUU and the decision that I made to run for the International Student Officer was the best one I have ever made.

Being in this once a foreign land for almost four years has taught me a lot of things. It is really an arduous journey for international students to come a long way from their home countries without anything but a piece of courage. I believe the TUU as the peak students’ representation can help international students, especially new ones in making a smooth transition at the university. That is how my role as the International Student Officer comes into play; to help and assist international students while they are studying at UTAS. I believe being a student at the university is not just about getting a piece of paper at the end of your studies. It should be more than that. It is somewhat intimidating for international students to make new friends due to language and

Above: Shafiq Sobri, 7th from right.

cultural barriers. However at the TUU, we believe that there is always a common ground for everyone to break this barrier which makes life at UTAS less intimidating.

Throughout my time as the International Student Officer, I have organised a few activities for international students to break this barriers. I have also established a good connection with international students’ societies to better understand their needs and concerns while studying at the university.

I also have to thank Dona Leach, the Student Engagement Coordinator at the Community Friends and Network Program for supporting me and the TUU. I know there is a lot of room for improvement and I didn’t really explore my abilities to the fullest potential in helping international students. Being in my final year of the Bachelor of Laws is really nervewrecking as I have to juggle studies, the fear of not graduating at the end

of the year and my commitment in the TUU. However, I believe with the limited time and experience that I have in the TUU, I have done something to the international students’ community that has helped them making the university life an enjoyable one in some way.

ACTIVITIES THAT I HAVE ORGANISED:

• O WEEK Night Market • International Students Mentoring Program • Harmony Day with the Community Friends and Network Program • Moonlight Cinema with the TUU Activities Officer, the Secretary and the Community Friends and Network Program • Fiesta International, TUU’s annual multicultural night • Academic Misconduct campaign with the Education Officer 11

PROFILES

WORDS: Emily Dunn A diverse snapshot of our current students.

RUBY GRANT, 20 Degree: Bachelor of Arts Majors: Gender Studies and Sociology What is something interesting you’ve learnt this year?

I feel like I’ve learnt loads of really interesting things this year. A great new experience I’ve had has been taking an Art Theory unit (Fashioning the Body) to make up my Gender studies major. I’ve learnt that I know nothing about art, but most interestingly, I’ve learnt about how the human body is used as a cultural medium for messages and ideas about gender, class, ethnicity and sexuality. One of my favourite aspects of this has been how hair (head and other places...) can be imbued with significant sociocultural meanings.

ISAAC FOSTER, 19 Degree: Combined Bachelor of Arts (Adv. Hons.) and Bachelor of Science Majors: Ancient Civilisations, Philosophy, Zoology, Psychology and Behavioural Neuroscience What is something interesting you’ve learnt this year?

Finding out what my boundaries are. I’ve been overloading; trying to avoid the instinct to ‘multi-task’, also learning how to cope with burnout, anxiety and stress.

What is something notable you’ve achieved this year?

This year I was the State Manager of the Oaktree Foundation’s Live Below the Line campaign. I also worked on the SRC, a couple of societies and committees, and with UTAS’ Community Friends and Networks Programme. In all cases I’ve got to work with some incredibly talented

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What is something notable you’ve achieved this year?

Something notable I’ve achieved this year I think has been that I have become a writer for Lipmag.com; a young women’s feminist blog site based in Melbourne/Canberra. This was a notable achievement for me because it’s been the first kind of ‘job’ I’ve got using the skills I’ve learnt through my degree. I also get to write about loads of interesting issues that I’m passionate about.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

All things going according to plan, in five years I want to have achieved or will be about to achieve my PhD. I would love to have it published as a book.

people, and I’ve made some friends that I care a lot about. That to me feels like the most noteworthy thing.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I’ll have finished my Honours in Psychology/Philosophy and, with enough effort, will be doing postgraduate study in Europe; writing and raiding bookstores besides. I’m also hoping to get more involved in supporting some of the international causes that I’m passionate about such as, women’s rights, LGBTIQ recognition, mental health, intellectual freedom and overseas aid.

OLIVIA BURNETT, 21 Degree: Bachelor of Biotechnology and Medical Research Majors: Physiology and Neurology What is something interesting you’ve learnt this year?

Something interesting I’ve learnt this year is to perform complex (it seems complex to me at least!) surgery on live rats in order to gain important physiological information on how diet and exercise contributes to glucose uptake in muscles.

What is something notable you’ve achieved this year?

I achieved a bronze medal on Floor at the 2013 Australian Gymnastics Championships in July where I competed as a national level 10

LUKE BUDD, 21 Degree: Bachelor of Behavioural Science Major: Zoology and Psychology What is something interesting you’ve learnt this year?

Probably the most interesting thing I’ve learnt this year is the complex social behaviour displayed by bees called the waggle dance, which is used between bees to share the location of a food source.

What is something notable you’ve achieved this year?

This year my housemates and I rescued a dog named Bella from the dog’s home. She was underweight and riddled with mange and ear infections. In the space of a few months she’s put on 6.5 kilograms and has an amazingly glossy coat. She is still on daily medication for her

gymnast, as well as placing in the top ten of the All-Around, Bars and Beam category.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Wow, in 5 years, I don’t really know where I see myself; I’m looking forward to my honours next year, and hoping to qualify for my 10th nationals as a Tasmanian gymnast.

After that who knows! I guess as accurate as I can be is I’ll be doing some sort of science, somewhere, and coaching (or even still training) gymnastics!

ears but we have come so far already.

We’ve currently working on her doggy manners, socialising her with other peeps and pooches. I believe it’s really important when people are thinking of getting a pet to first check dog shelters. There are many dogs and cats looking for a good home.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I see myself being a badass on a motorcycle but in relation to uni/ career—researching the behaviour of some exotic birdies in South America would be nice.

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JEREMY YUNG, 22 Degree: Bachelor of Fine Arts Major: Painting What is something interesting you’ve learnt this year?

When I did my first year at uni, I didn’t really care and it sucked. So I ran away and did some traveling.

Came Back. Did some rampaging.

Crashed. At the start of 2012, I went back to uni and decided I would be the world’s best student, have no social life, and HD the living crap out this institution that was hardly worthy of having such an intelligent bastard like me in it (in my head I was Stephen Fry).The wall hit me and I was stuck inside that bloody wall for too long. So this year I’ve been learning about the bell curve for stress... being able to mediate the correct amount of stress for the highest amount of productivity. The answer is happiness. Not short term.

Not long term. Both. If you are happy, you are productive.... and happily productive, producing happily.

What is something notable you’ve achieved this year?

Achieve. Achieve? I don’t like that question. I would feel arrogant answering it. I will tell you what I did not fail at: I haven’t failed a class

CHLOE MAYNE, 21

or dropped out this year (...so far); I didn’t hurt anybody that didn’t deserve it; I painted a lot of paintings I liked painting; nothing traumatically tragic happened. Oh shit wait... LNP and Abbott. I always forget he’s in.

Then I remember again and think to myself, “Hmm... flee the nation or commit suicide?” Nah, just kidding.

The next term will be a goldmine for comedians and cartoonists.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

In five years I see myself becoming a Hip Hop genius, then I’ll get shot and then hang out with Biggie and 2pac in heaven and have riveting conversation with Hitler and Ghandi.

Oh man I dunno. I would like to be painting and teaching kids how to paint. I guess I would have hopefully finished my degree. I see someone random giving me $25,027.00 so I can go traveling without working and then live on a tropical island to paint without an artistic society critic over my shoulder. Ahhh painting in peace.

Yeah that’s where I’ll be in 5 years.

Thanks for helping me figure out my goals Emily.

Where do you see yourself Degree: Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in five years?

Either behind a typewriter, in Philosophy swimming in reams of paper and mostly mediocre poetry, teaching What is something interesting children in a remote corner of the you learnt this year? world, or donning khaki coveralls in I learnt that that growing old is a a wildlife sanctuary, with a possum choice, not a natural or necessary on my shoulder. Maybe all of the progression. above, if I get lucky!

What is something notable you’ve achieved this year?

I managed to finish my Bachelor from the beautiful and eternal city of Rome! Writing an essay with the sun and St. Peter’s just outside your window is a challenge.

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AMELIA CATT, 20 Degree: Combined Bachelor of Arts and Law Major: History What is something interesting you’ve learnt this year?

That the Google translator is a handy tool in a Spanish police station.

AARON MOSS, 20 Degree: Bachelor of Arts (Adv. Hons.)/Bachelor of Law Majors: International Relations & Political Science What is something interesting you learnt this year?

I learnt this year just how many different types of amazingly delicious frozen meals there are, and that existential crises can and often do happen on a weekly basis when you get busy!

No, but seriously, I have learnt a huge amount this year, not just about myself personally, but about how many opportunities actually exist for young people to make a difference in their communities; regardless of their skills, experiences, interests, or time capacities.

What is something notable you’ve achieved this year?

I’ve actually had a fantastic year and I’ve been blessed and supported in so many ways to achieve what I have. Probably my most notable achievement this year has been getting involved with a range of

What is something notable you’ve achieved this year?

Qualifying for Gold Fleet in our first 470 World Championships and requalifying for the Australian Sailing Squad.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I hope that I’m preparing for the 2020 Summer Olympics (Tokyo) and just about to finish my degree.

organisations, including Hobart Community Legal Centre, Student Legal Service, UN Youth and the Tasmanian University Union in an attempt to help use my skills to give back to my fellow students, and the community more generally. I honestly don’t feel that what I’ve done this year is that ‘notable’, instead I’ve merely done the best I can, and I’m flattered to be included!

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Given I don’t quite know what I want to do when I graduate this is a bit of a tough question. But that said, I guess I’d like to have a decent idea of what I actually want to do with the rest of my life! By that time I’d have liked to have done an Associateship with Judge, be admitted to practice in Tasmania (and hopefully to the High Court!), have travelled for six months around the Middle East and Central Asia and be three years into a job somewhere either on the Mainland, New York or Geneva. Either that or back at uni and half-way through a postgrad degree! Both seem equally likely at this stage.

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ELLA SHEEDY, 22 Degree: Bachelor of Social Work What is something interesting you learnt this year?

The most important and interesting thing I’ve learnt this year is the importance of just being you. This is something one of my tutors told me, and I think it’s something that’s easily forgotten.

What is something notable you have achieved this year?

I’d say it’s an achievement to juggle a 16 week full-time placement, work, uni and life. It’s a pretty tough ask but it’s also an incredible experience.

ADRIAN STAPLES, 26 Degree: PhD, Philosophy What is something interesting you’ve learnt this year?

C major is the people’s key.

What is something notable you’ve achieved this year?

I resent the Learning Hubbub in the Morris Miller Learning-Facilitation Learning Zone. What’s wrong with books? I’ve tried to get them back.

GUS MCKAY, 23 Degree: Bachelor of Fine Arts Major: Sculpture What is something interesting you’ve learnt this year?

I’ve learnt that things usually work out, even when you don’t think they will, and that the best work often comes from frustrating mistakes!

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Where do you see yourself in five years?

I haven’t really thought that far ahead just yet. I guess one of the best things about doing social work is that you can use those skills in so many areas, so I feel like I’m not locked in. I’d like to work in a few different areas so I can have a taste of different things.

I’d like to have a leadership role so I can implement important changes, as well as advocate for human rights and social justice.

Over the years I’ve been requesting them from storage, walking them out of the Reserve Section, and putting them into the Return Box. Where do you see yourself in five years?

The last time I filled out a tax-return I was asked whether I’d need to fill one out the next year. I thought it naive to try answering.

What is something notable you’ve achieved this year?

Being part of a successful group sculpture show at Kelly’s Garden.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Continuing my practice quietly in Tasmania, whilst my sculptures sell for millions all over the world!

RHYS ANDERSON, 23 Degree: Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Business What is something interesting you learnt this year?

Drink plenty of water, don’t drink good alcohol with boring people.

Never answer your phone at the dinner table and do not check your work emails on a weekend. Zen Buddhism is hard to understand, do not choose it as a fun elective.

If you want to be interesting you have to be interested in things, don’t just follow what your friends do.

Having a camera makes you no more a photographer than owning CDs makes you a musician. It’s okay to have different tastes to other people, unless you like Nickelback. If you never have time for a social life, find the time. In our twenties we can stay up past sunrise, be incredibly drunk and still function at work the next day, but do not do this too often. Find a shirt you like in a store and don’t buy it, when you might have to go to work in last night’s clothes you can buy this shirt to hide your smell.

Free scent samples in malls are also useful. Ride in cars with strangers but know a taxi number in case things

HUW JARVIS, 23 Degree: Bachelor of Medical Science with Honours (First Class), Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) What is something interesting you’ve learnt this year?

Not-for-profit organisations will not fulfil their potential until the world rethinks its belief that ‘people should not become rich by helping people’.

If only the world’s best minds in business were tempted by the salary earned by the CEO of a charity.

get weird. Apart from these things I learned that just because you are a terrible student doesn’t mean you are going to be bad at your job. If you are worried about your work/life balance you probably need to add more time for life. Work can wait.

What is something notable you’ve achieved this year?

I managed to escape Tasmania by boat before the Coalition could stop me.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I just don’t know how to answer that. I guess it would be nice if I could afford to eat three meals a day and conduct my research over a FTTH NBN scheme. Alternatively, I could be reporting to you live from a war zone and pretending to not be scared. I’m also developing a new NGO which should be launching in Melbourne next year, and a culture magazine that should have the first issue released by December. Who knows how any of that will go.

Planning this far in advance is an exercise in futility, and nothing I could say would be more likely than any number of other possibilities.

Soccer Club and was one of two convenors to host 500 people from around Australia, the Asia Pacific region and even further abroad for the AMSA Global Health Conference 2013.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I will be somewhere in Europe, dividing my time between the practice of clinical medicine, the research of brain physiology and the pursuit of health care equality.

What is something notable you’ve achieved this year?

The month of September was a successful one; I won the Southern Premier League with Beachside

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FACULTY OF ARTS WORDS: Wes Roach on behalf of Professor Susan Dodds

It’s a great time to be studying the arts in Tasmania and the UTAS Faculty of Arts is positioned well to ride the new wave of excitement for the arts: which involves the humanities, social sciences and the creative and performing arts.

The restructure of the Faculty of Arts is now complete and a new leadership team is in place. Professor Philippa Mein Smith was appointed Head of the School of Humanities and Professor Catherine Palmer, Head of the School of Social Sciences. The leadership team received a further boost with the recent appointment of Associate Professor Pam Allen to the role of Associate Dean, Internationalisation; held together with her existing Associate Dean, Learning and Teaching role. Finally, Professor David Castle takes up the role of Director of the Institute of Social and Environmental Change in early 2014. The restructure has resulted in improved alignment of research and teaching, greater academic collaboration and, most importantly, a better student experience.

During 2013 we have seen many new initiatives come to fruition including the formation of the new Asia Institute. A joint initiative from 18

the University of Tasmania and the Tasmanian government, the Asia Institute emerged from discussions within the university and government about how to rethink Tasmania’s economic, social and political engagement with the Asian region.

Those discussions came together with the Asia Institute proposal as a key outcome of the state government’s Tasmania’s Place in the Asian Century White Paper.

With its small population and island identity, there is a unique opportunity to mobilise the experience and knowledge spread across the state into a new story of Tasmania’s place in Asia. The Asia Institute will run events and projects that express and support this Asian engagement. These will include developing mentoring partnerships, network-building activities, facilitating research collaboration and hosting workshops and training.

UTAS has also received federal funding of $297,000 to send more than 100 students to Asia to gain experience in societies, cultures, health, business or languages as part of their degree–enhancing their studies and their Asia-literacy.

Scholarships of $2,000 and $5,000 are available to students undertaking

study exchanges, and $1,000 grants for preparatory Asian language study.

Closer to home, the new Academy of Creative Industries and Performing Arts (ACIPA) entered a new phase with the awarding the design of a new building, adjacent to the Theatre Royal, to Hobart firm Liminal Architecture, in collaboration with WOHA (Singapore) and the world leading Arup Acoustics and Theatre. The new building is central to ACIPA; it will house the Conservatorium and will be equipped with state-of-the-art acoustic, recording and computing technologies as well as flexible rehearsal, performance and teaching spaces, a recording studio, recital hall and black-box theatre space.

For students, ACIPA will involve development of new Programs and courses across music, theatre and architecture – across UTAS and in collaborations within and beyond Tasmania – in performing arts, new media, design, events management and digital technologies, using the expanded capacities of the National Broadband Network and Australia’s Academic and Research Network.

THE ARTS FACTORY WORDS: Skye Hamilton

Calling all coffee appreciators, art and design drinkers, Hobartians, Hobartian fans, Andy Warhol’s lovers, and anyone else of creative divinity; The Arts Factory is coming.

This involves a group of students catching some form of dormant Tasmanian innovation virus, mashing it with some pretty hard coffeecravings and becoming a walkingtalking manifesto of sorts. And no, they are not business students.

But yes, they are serious.

At its heart, The Arts Factory comprises a group of fine-art students who are dedicated to enlivening Tasmania’s emerging arts scene via the development of a pretty suave creative-hub. This hub will be a place in which students, the public and emerging creatives can convene and create over artistic morsels, food, drink and the odd evening soirée. The Arts Factory is dedicated to offering emerging creatives the opportunity to share their work with the wider community and Tasmania’s extensive visitor list, whilst enriching the State’s up and coming creative arts scene.

Design: Skye Hamilton

Sounds somewhat tasty. But seriously, creatives always are.

This summer is set to be big for The Art Factory, having recently raised $8000 toward the first stage of the project via a hugely successful crowd funding campaign.

Check out https://www.facebook. com/pages/The-Arts-Factory to keep up-to-date with the Arts Factory’s latest and find out how you can be involved.

Skye Hamilton is the TUU Arts School representative.

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Above: Dr. June Olley

DR JUNE OLLEY WORDS: Neika Lehman

June Olley sits by the window at her Sandy Bay property; hands crossed in contemplation, as we loll sausage rolls in our mouths, considering the complexities of the Golden Tulip’s recently awarded “best sausage roll in Tasmania”. I don’t normally eat meat, but I have to say, it’s deserving of its medal. Even without any sauce. Surrounding us are photographs from June Olley’s tremendous life. The antique, sepia toned images, like an Impressionist painter’s sponge, mark extra warmth to a house already teeming with memory.

And alongside these testaments to the past, is a woman placed firmly in the now.

Piles of contemporary science journals dot the floor, with enthusiastic notes alongside them.

June is 89 this year, marking 79 years of voracious commitment to science. A PhD from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a DSc at the University of London, Honorary DSc from University of Tasmania and now an Honorary Research Associate of UTAS’ Department of Agricultural Science, represent only the academic portion of achievements in a career committed to theoretical and practical balance.

As we sit over pastries, I get to know several Junes, bringing to life the many characters behind the admirable academic’s name found in the index of books. I get to know June the little girl, who hid from the Blitz in a blacked-out library, burying her nose in science journals at night.

June, the beloved only child of one of the world’s first commercial pilots, who flew starlets to France, and smuggled civilians out of occupied Germany. And June the committed wife, married to a man from the little known island of Tasmania, who was deeply religious, and just seven years her mother’s junior. I meet a determined, adventurous, and resilient person, and through her various nuances, the story of success begins to make sense.

I first met June Olley in 2010, when I began work at the Pickled Pear University Club Restaurant. The Club Restaurant is an establishment that, for the most part, goes under the radar of undergraduate knowledge, and for reason to. According to the rules of club membership, you must be of postgraduate level or above to become a student member. But never fear, you have up to 6 visits as a guest, and our coffee is infinitely the best on campus. Working on the customer service side of a University club is fascinating, and incredibly rewarding.

I’ve made sturdy contacts, and know all the endearing quirks that humanise our often-illusive lecturers.

One particular and rather infamous aspect of the University Club is Table 13: a long table that seats a club within a club. I’m still not entirely sure what the defining requirements are for membership on that table, but most goers are of retirement age, or above.

All are from different faculties, and all are wickedly intelligent. Table 13 is how I met June.

June started frequenting the club after her husband died, as a way to have a meal at lunchtime, without having to cook on her own. Upon first arrival, she asked where she should sit, and it was suggested she go over to Table 13. She remembers exclaiming, “But it’s all men!”

The response was that it didn’t matter, and that it would do them some good.

“For quite a while, I really was the only woman at table 13. And then the men’s wives started to come, about once a week,” she tells me, as we sit in her drawing room hours later, crunching biscuits as the sky outside starts to dim. June has a history of being the first in things.

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2

3

1

4

1. June with Image of Her Mother and Her as a Child, Age 4.

2. Gordon P. Olley with Clients, Olley Airlines 3. Books of Old and New 4. Memorabilia for Imperial Airways

Take her custom made PhD for example, where a new degree—the chemistry of nutrition was invented, to suit her and a workmate’s research.

June’s official career started in her home country of England, analysing fish fats in non-fatty fish (the benefits are common and important knowledge now, but a rare thing to study at the time) and ended the day before her 65th birthday, as Head of the CSIRO Tasmanian Food Research Unit, a position she had held from 1969. The very next day she started research at UTAS, and is still doing so today. Her current work is in the field of Predictive Microbiology, studying thermo-dynamic models of growth rates in living matter.

June has travelled extensively, often combining work with pleasure (though I’m starting to wonder whether these things are separate).

She was a Full Bright Scholar in Seattle, the first ‘outsider’ at an independent research institute in Cape Town, and studied in an old, dark Arab harem in Jerusalem. She has had a brief stint at the UN, and lectured and contributed to projects in Italy, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Phillipines and Singapore. But the British born and seasoned traveller says she will always consider Hobart her home. June holds great confidence in Tasmania, and emphasises the importance of seeing 22

ourselves as international players: “Because people come here from all over the world, you never really feel like you’re in the backwoods. And though a lot of people think we are, we’re simply not. Just think about our Antarctic research centre.”

as possible. Not necessarily from your own age group. You don’t always learn that much from your own age group.

I’m very proud that younger people and students have wanted to come to my house and want to know me.

That’s what I find very rewarding”.

June considers networks paramount, and outside of science, has been junior, and senior vice-president of the Tasmanian Royal Society, a member of the Tasmanian Club, and the Queen Mary Club. On speaking about the University Club Restaurant, she says: “now, it is the central thing of my life to go, really. I feel very much a part of the club.” What this leads to is the importance of the broader University community as a place that offers support and nourishment for all, and where individuals can find value in a variety of forms. I have come to June’s house as her interviewer, but I’ve also come here as her friend. We have developed a somewhat unlikely friendship, that is 3 years strong, with a 65 year age difference. Initially sparked by small exchanges about fashion on a weekday lunch hour, it has evolved to the telling of our lives on a Sunday afternoon. And though we come from different disciplines, our sharing of knowledge is invaluable.

Last year, when I was on exchange at the University of Texas, we were told five things that a student should do before they graduate. I can’t remember them all, but the one piece of advice that stuck in my mind was that you should try and create a strong and lasting relationship with at least one of your lecturers. I think this also applies to the broader University community.

When I ask June if she has any advice for students, she says the following: “Try to get to know as many people

Since graduating, I have become painfully aware of just how fast undergraduate years go by, and how rich and full of possibility they are.

And if working at the University Club Restaurant has taught me anything, it’s that everyone likes coffee, decaf, tea, or hot chocolate. And everybody still makes time for the occasional dose of procrastination.

Put those two together and get to know someone within the UTAS community. It can only be worth it.

Dr. June Olley is the founder of the Captain Gordon P Olley Scholarship in Aviation, in memory of her father. To see whether you are eligible for application, head to the Scholarships page of the Student Centre website.

THE CON WORDS: Brendan Fisher Jazz, latin, punk, soul, prog and classic rock...

Brendan Fisher chats to conservatorium students to find out just what plays a part in their musical training.

Students of UTAS are unequivocally familiar with the huge Sandy Bay campus, forming the epicentre of the vast majority of degrees and facilities.

Students and Hobartians alike can sometimes fail to avoid the Medical Science precinct; the modern building tucked within the heart of the city now seen as one of the state’s most invaluable resources. But one often forgotten campus nestled between the two (almost literally); forming a hub of students, artists and pioneers alike is the UTAS Conservatorium of Music. The Conservatorium, or more colloquially just “The Con”, largely plays host to students studying in the Bachelor of Music field (surprise!) and produces multitudes of talented performers, composers, and teachers year to year.

From an outsider however, little is known about what takes place at The Con, and how the life of a Con student may differ from those studying at the better known campuses. Luckily students of The Con aren’t too hard to come by: if you’ve known an extremely talented musician who lives and breathes

music, and studies nothing but it, chances are they might just be a Con student.

I caught up with two folk just like that: Madison Smith and Ritnarong Coomber. Madison is a 19 year old bass player in his first year of study at The Con, who is no stranger to the instrument. Both his older brother and brother-in-law are bass players and scene regulars in both Melbourne and Hobart, and Madison just might be the pick of the crop. Ritnarong (Rit) is a 21 year old drummer who has played in a multitude of bands in Hobart (from rock to bluegrass to punk/hardcore to funk/soul, too many to name) who is just ahead of Madison in his studies, and all the more an impressive musician. Both are majoring in Music Performance, which enables them to perform a vast number of styles and pieces to display an immense and building skill set on their respective instruments.

A large part of being a performance student entails being part of an ensemble, stressing the integral component of musicians working in a group setting. Rit explains these come in all shapes in sizes from trios, quartets, quintets and sextets playing anything from jazz, to groove,

latin, classic rock and prog. Every semester students must participate in a jazz ensemble and a contemporary ensemble; this semester Madison is tackling latin while Rit is part of a studio band. The studio band setting is a prelude to one of the ultimate goals of skilled contemporary performers: session work. Studio bands must work alongside a singer/songwriter with which they arrange, rehearse and perform one of their written pieces. Rit stresses the importance of lecturer Simon Patterson in influencing student’s desire for session work, having been the former Hey Hey It’s Saturday band guitarist and a veritable fountain of musical knowledge and insight.

Madison and Rit also explain how studying at The Con and being part of contemporary ensembles has helped them gain an understanding of the various subtleties involved in many different styles. In short: if you can’t adapt to a certain rhythm, tone, or melodic style, you aren’t playing what is appropriate for the style. The difficulties of conforming to latin grooves as a drummer have enabled Rit to improve four-way coordination, while Madison explains 23

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Above: Members of Tamba Rit Coomber Allan McConnell and Madison Smith outside the Conservatorium of Music

bass may be a little simpler in certain regards. There also appears to be a clear distinction between what makes a Con student stand out: ones who can not only adhere to the strict disciplinary honing of skills, but those who can also go off-book and further their creative and artistic playing.

In order to hone their skills, students must spend time undergoing private tutoring sessions to build towards an end of semester performance.

This firstly consists of a set recital to display the student’s ability to perform at a standardised level, after which students can select their own pieces to perform at an open recital.

Madison jokes that he could perform “Smoke On The Water” at said recital, however it would be unlikely he would achieve the marks he’s looking for.

Selection of pieces, and also the initial set repertoire, requires students to gain a sound level of understanding of the melodies and chords of a piece, as well as an ability to improvise over certain chords and harmonies.

Madison stresses an importance on articulation, timing, rhythmic phrasing and note selection as being vital to improvisation, however at the end of the day the discretion of those judging you always has a large effect on your results.

Of course, The Con isn’t only home to performers but also writers. Students wishing to become the next Mozart, John Williams, or Van Dyke Parks (by studying composition, of course!) must travel a slightly different path taking composition, theory, history and elective units. Rit explains a strange contrast in that many of the composition students may not be skilled performers or musicians (at least to the level of the performance students), however Madison clarifies these students have a vast knowledge of theory and a knack for creativity.

It seems very tongue-in-cheek when Madison explains hypothetical situations where a composition student could brainstorm and write ideas that they are by no means able to play, pawn it off to a student who can play it, thereby making them both look good.

The guys stress the importance of the

inevitable vice of every student: “you kind of have to do the gigs that you don’t really want to do to be noticed”.

Establishing yourself as a musician can be seen as a highly competitive field, especially in a community as small as Hobart, so students have to go the extra mile in order to make a name for themselves. Early on a lot of students can get shot down at The Con if they have the wrong attitude; Madison explains a lot of people have a rock star attitude and expect a rock star treatment (leading to a fairly high drop-out rate initially): “they go there thinking they’re going to be able to do what they want, and play whatever sort of music they want to do, but they get there and find out it’s more jazz focused, and a lot of people can’t be bothered.” The guys explain the importance of the ego (or lack thereof) at The Con, which plays a vital role considering the sometimes harsh nature of critiquing, leaving some people unable to handle criticism. Madison explains this is even worse (sometimes painful to watch) when solo musicians perform and the spotlight is all theirs, awaiting a barrage of knowledgeable musicians to pass judgement on only them.

This ultimately leads to a huge relief of playing gigs outside of The Con, where the guys feel they can have fun and play naturally as they know the crowd isn’t full of snobby jazz critics. Madison explains “the worst crowd to play in front of is a crowd of musicians who mostly more experienced that you are”.

In terms of careers, Rit explains he “was dead-set on becoming a teacher”.

Having already done plenty of tutoring work at a high school and college level, Rit has plenty of experience in this field. However the exciting prospect of session work may have stolen his attention from life behind a desk. The difficulty of obtaining work in this field however may lead to set-backs, with Rit explaining “it’s almost impossible to do it here” as there are few opportunities in Hobart, let alone on the mainland. The guys talk of inspiring cases of ex-Tassie or ex-Con students making the leap into successful bands or session work, citing Gilligan Gregory as an example as well as members of Hiatus Kaiyote

(featuring a bassist from “jazz central” Huonville). The guys stress the importance of limiting expectations, especially in terms of humility, as having a Music degree in Hobart isn’t a license to become super rich and famous. Madison and Rit are certainly motivated and prepared enough to pursue post-graduate study as well as moving interstate to obtain work in their desired fields.

The Con has become an invaluable resource to Madison and Rit, allowing them to push themselves and their abilities into directions not previously obtainable. They cite private tutoring and group work as a priceless tool for not only developing skill in a number of musical areas, but preparing them for the social and cooperative environment that is integral to playing music. The Con also has late night access unlike many schools throughout Australia, allowing the group ensembles to practice as long as they desire. Madison explains the facilities quite simply as “nuts”, and claims the like-minded community of students and teachers to be a fantastic way to learn and network (as well as forming new groups to play with). Inevitably studying at The Con has broadened the guys’ tastes, allowing them to discover and play music they might never have imagined, and notice all the subtleties and appreciate them on a different level. This can work in reverse of course, as Madison explains noticing clichés in pop songs mightn’t allow him to appreciate the subtleties of Nicki Minaj’s songwriting team.

Madison and Rit remain focussed and motivated to achieve their musical goals, and if you ever get the chance to see them perform I would highly advise it. It can be seen through speaking to those with experience that The Con plays a small but integral role in the scope of the University of Tasmania.

This invaluable resource provides Tasmania’s next crop of aweinspiring musicians to obtain a level of knowledge, skill and understanding to apply to the greatest and most sacred art-form known to man: music.

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SOCIETIES Societies Correspondent: George Holgate

TUBS

WORDS: Jarrah Rubenstein, President How has your society fared in inter-faculty competitions?

Unfortunately the Tasmanian University Business Society (TUBS) hasn’t fared overly well in inter-faculty competitions this year. With no soccer competition football was our only opportunity to shine however our combined team with University of Tasmania Arts Society (TARTS) was destroyed by Geo. How have your society’s events (cocktail parties, barrels, etc.) gone?

This year’s combination barrels with TARTS have been a great success.

In first semester we held a standard Wednesday barrel and then in second semester we decided to add a little extra by inviting Taco Taco and theming the barrel ‘Mexican’.

Working off the success of these combined barrels we decided to host a cocktail party with TARTS. Themed ‘Hollywood Glamour’ and held in the Grand Mecure Hadley’s Hotel ballroom this promises to be a fantastic event.

We also collaborated with TARTS, TULS and Engi for the TUU’s Mardi Gras barrel.

How has your society contributed to the lives of students in your faculty?

Part of our focus in TUBS this year was developing the careers of our faculty members. Last year TUBS held a very successful careers night and this year we wanted to build on that. In first semester we held an Accounting, Economics and Finance careers night with the students getting to hear the careers stories of various industry professionals and then have a networking session. This semester we’ve got a Management careers night of the same format planned with looks to be an even bigger success then first semesters event.

Which society would you least like to be stuck in an elevator with and why?

Based off our dismal display in football I think being Geo would be the society we’d like to avoid, mostly because we wouldn’t be able to look them in the eye.

What are your expectations for the next year?

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We’re really hoping our careers nights become a stable party of the business calendar. Based off the success the event has had with students, industry professionals and the faculty we believe this could become an event everyone knows about and expects every year and that it will continue to grow. Additionally growing the relationship TUBS has with the faculty is an important focus we have at the moment and next year’s council along with a faculty appointed liaison will be looking at this intently. Of course we’d also like to continue to throw awesome barrels and cocktail parties.

TULS

WORDS: Rhiannon Fletcher, President 2013 has been a huge year for the Tasmanian University Law Society (TULS). We’ve taken students down the garden path, back to the trashy 80’s, on the MONA ferry, down the rabbit hole and everywhere in between. We’ve provided health weeks, skills weeks and careers weeks, breakfasts and barbeques, sports matches and champagne parties, and produced newsletters, two careers guides and a yearbook.

There have been too many events to mention individually, so I’ll answer some questions posed by TULS’ very own George Holgate..

How has your society fared in interfaculty competitions?

This year marked the first year of the annual law/engi shield series.

After a convincing victory in the cricket, law was sadly defeated in the football, however with the soccer match still to go, its looking pretty likely the sporting prowess of TULS will overpower engi!

How have your society events gone?

This has been a HUGE year of events for TULS, and the turnout from students has been increasing with each event held. We have consistently held multiple events each week, and these have included Health Week, Skills Week, careers forums and workshops, educational lectures, barbeques, barrels, breakfasts and the annual Law Cocktail and Law Ball, which sold out in less than 2 hours!

How has your society contributed to the lives of students in your faculty?

TULS 2013 has aimed to enrich student lives both academically and socially, and I hope that this has been achieved. We particularly focus on careers and education, and have produced both a traditional careers guide and a new public and community sector guide, in the hope that the help we provide can assist students in their transition from uni to the workforce. On a day to day basis, we’ve provided numerous social events to help give people some light at the end of a very long tunnel of readings!

Which society would you least like to be stuck in an elevator with and why?

This is tough, I think all of the societies have done a fantastic job this year, and it’s been great being involved with them all, so for that reason I would probably say Engi, because as they are a big society like ours we would have too many people in there having TMF (too much fun) and end up crashing to the bottom of the lift…

What are your expectations for the next year?

I hope that all future societies can keep up the work and progress that current societies have achieved. For TULS particularly I would hope that future committees keep trying to strike that perfect balance between representing students in an academic sense, and providing them with the times that they will remember (or not as the case may be.. ) 27

ENGI

WORDS: Angus Herron, President In recent UTAS history it has become accustom that the Engineering and Law Societies vie off for supremacy and ultimate bragging rights in Inter-Faculty sporting events including Cricket, Australian Rules Football and Soccer. Within the respective committees, 2013 has brought the introduction of the Inaugural Shield, which will be presented at the Week 13 Barrel of the Society victor. The three aforementioned sporting codes will be of real importance toward the end of semester, due to, as it stands the Shield is one a piece and comes down to the final event in, InterFaculty Soccer. Earlier in the year Law got the edge over Engi in the Cricket, however Engi pegged one back in the Footy.

Throughout the year the Engineering Society have held various events, functions and liaison opportunities in which students within both our School and Society have benefited from and garnered relationships that will hopefully follow on into subsequent years. Such events that have been held this year that have provided a positive platform in productive and supportive connections are; Pharmacy-Engineering Cocktail, Young Engineers Australia Talks and Seminars, Inter-Faculty sporting events, Engineering Laneway Festival showcasing local emerging musical talent to the wider UTAS community, Engi Quiz Night, supporting GLBTIQA along with other major societies at the Mardi Gras Street Party and the major celebration of the 89th Anniversary of the Engineering Society.

Which Society would you least like to be stuck in an elevator with?

The Medieval Reenactment Society, I have always wanted to hear about the Battle Of Hastings (which would take a while) and being dark they wouldn’t see me smile.

In the forthcoming year the Engineering Society plans to build on the new events from the 2013 calendar. With another installment of the Engi Laneway Festival, another chapter is started in the rivalry between the Law and Engineering Societies and bigger and better cocktail parties are planned, as next year brings the 90th Anniversary Engineering Society.

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TARTS

WORDS: Kurt Temple, Committee Member The University of Tasmania Arts Society (TARTS), as a relatively young society, truly hit its straps this year. The year that was has seen us strive to increase our presence among campus to great effect. Kicking off the year (post societies day fun times of course) with our first of several TARTS VS TUBS events, we were able to branch out in our appeal and continue our quest for world domination – one section of the student body at a time.

In each semester we ran a “stress-less” afternoon tea (ironically this is usually in the middle of all the other TARTS events which leave our execs and reps run pretty thin) featuring James Chester as an opportunity for students to be more fully aware of the support services that UTAS has to offer and letting us connect a bit better with the Arts community. As a bit of a disparate group who rarely take the same subjects and can go whole degrees without seeing members of our year, we felt that this bit of networking bodes well for us. Also, who were we to resist the opportunity to give out actual tarts…

We held Quiz Night, with our new sponsors The Abbey, featuring prizes true to the noble spirit of Arts (Learning for its own sake. Not that other thing…) such as: the life story of Tupac on VHS, Mrs. Mills’ Non-Stop Honky-Tonk Party on record, four dinosaur jigsaw puzzles and of course the alcohol without which symposia and other learned pursuits would be impossible.

We then moved on to celebrate the primary career option of an arts student: running away to join the circus. Fuelled by mulled cider, popcorn, stunning dress (as always) and our trademark eye for tacky decorations, we pulled off a second successive successful barrel. Having also pulled out a great poncho-wearing opportunity with our Mexican Barrel and our soon-to-come combined Hollywood Glamour Cocktail with TUBS we aim to finish off our year with our signature event – Oktoberfest. Hats, high shorts and European beer, could anything sum up our year better?

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FACULTY OF EDUCATION WORDS: Jen Inglis on behalf of Professor John Williamson

2013 for the Faculty of Education has featured significant change, renewal and frenetic activity!

The year commenced with Professor Ian Hay stepping down as Dean after a 5-year term. Professor Hay led the Faculty through a number of important changes and, in particular, made significant contributions to the research profile. His achievements were recognised by the award of the title Emeritus Professor. Emeritus Prof Hay will continue to be involved with the Faculty through his several externally funded research projects and supervision of HDR students.

Professor John Williamson was appointed as the new Dean, bringing

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to the role a magnitude of experience in the field of education but also from the broader University, having most recently held the position of Chair of Senate for a period of 11 years.

Lead by John, the Faculty has embarked on a significant change agenda driven by UTAS which has included research and teaching performance criteria. The Faculty has worked closely with the broader University in assisting to shape and implement policies which are applicable to our profession. This has resulted in some re-profiling of academic staff and an efficiency review of professional staff and administrative protocols. The Faculty has continued to build its

teaching and research culture and is proud of the progress it has made in these domains. A number of recent university, national awards and competitive grants have reflected the valuable contributions made by staff in these areas.

The Faculty will be undertaking a review of its postgraduate programs and these will focus on identifying areas to enhance the development of the teaching profession. The Faculty has also undertaken a review of its Master of Education program, and has been actively involved in progressing the discussions and development of Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership Standards.

STUDYING WITH KIDS WORDS: Jaclyn Rogerson

WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT STUDYING AND HAVING CHILDREN?

Completing a degree is something many students find to be challenging and time consuming, with work, lectures, readings, assignments and exams on top of us. Throw in the caring of one or more young lives in your hands and life can become more than a little chaotic.

These are questions I asked the Bachelor of Education students studying online, who are full time parents to usually between two and five young lives.

“Difficulties? Guilt studying on weekends when you’d rather be playing with the kids! Or guilt when you are feeling tired after studying late at night. Lots of lost sleep as I try to study when they are asleep, and it requires a real discipline as a parent to get them to bed at the same time every night so the study can begin!”

Vanessa Shaw

“I would have to agree with the feeling of guilt. As a result there is little time for ‘me’ time, life is based around uni and family.”

Jayne Higgs

“I’ve found that time is the hardest thing. I do a bulk of my study during the day while kids are at school. Last year was different as I studied in the morning before the kids woke up and in evening when kids went to bed. Being pregnant has changed this. The problem I find is trying to juggle home, school and then add in all the appointments and it’s crazy, especially if child has a major health problem. There are more difficulties when school holidays and university holidays don’t match. Trying to study or work on an assignment during the school holidays is near impossible.”

Jodie Watson “I feel that I neglect my children quite a bit, as they are left to their own devices...” Phoebe Teniswood “Time management is essential.

Also, juggling, work, family and full time study can be tough especially when sickness hits or kids’ birthdays.”

Trudy Ward

“The hardest thing I have found is the practical component of this degree. The mentor teachers expect you to be 100% focused on the prac.

It’s your main priority and if it isn’t, they assume you’re not committed enough. I work 40 hours a week at night, look after my three kids while my wife works and I still find time to study.”

Jason Schmidt

“The hardest part is the time it takes away - but with support, this is possible - not only support from my husband in helping look after the kids, but support from fellow students who are in the same position, who get what you are going through and who get the sacrifices it takes to pursue your passion!”

Emma Wizza “Setting an example for my daughter is important, but sometimes I really need to drum that into my head- especially those days that she wants me to help out at school, or that she is sick, or when I am so tired and snap at her after staying up all night studying.

Studying as a mum can be difficult and lonely and time-consuming, and can reduce me to tears quite often.”

Alison Nermut-Nichols

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ILLUSTRATION: Alice Camm

ARE THERE ANY PROS TO HAVING CHILDREN AND STUDYING EDUCATION?

“They [my girls] are both very independent, resilient, good at problem solving, respectful and so capable of many things. I have often come in from my study on the weekends to find the dishwasher unpacked, washing put in the machine, and a batch of biscuits on the go.”

Phoebe Teniswood “I feel that it sets a good example to my children as they are twelve and fifteen, that you are never too old to study and that dedication pays off.”

Jayne Higgs “I think having children and studying means that you become amazing at time management which is a very valuable skill to have. Until I started studying I always thought I was too tired to do anything at night, but I have realised that if you set your mind to something, anything is possible.”

Samantha Routley

DO YOU THINK IF THE UNIVERSITY WAS MORE FLEXIBLE MORE MUMS AND DADS WOULD TAKE UP STUDYING?

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“I think that extensions for our children’s illnesses would be great.

As for prac, something needs to be done; I was lucky that my husband’s work allowed him to take his annual leave three months early. My hubby is a shift worker, four days on and four off - so it is nearly impossible for us to find suitable childcare, he

“I think the most rewarding thing is hearing my kids talk highly of education - they are only young, yet Stella already talks about going to uni when she is older and tells everyone her mummy is studying to be a teacher and she is going to do that too! I think it also shows my children what hard work and dedication can do - which for me, far outweighs the hard stuff. I really had to focus this year and work hard and always felt guilty that I put the kids in to child care - but I think long term - my degree will benefit our whole family, and hopefully my kids will value education and will see where hard work and following your dreams takes you.”

Emma Wizza

has different days each week. I have no idea how Jodie [four kids one on the way] the supermum does it! She is awesome! Flexibilty surrounding exam start times to accomodate school drop-offs would be great too.

Maybe another room, and they start at 10 or 10:30 instead of 9.”

Alison Nermut-Nichols

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WOULD YOU DO YOUR DEGREE BEFORE HAVING CHILDREN?

“I actually started my degree as soon as I had finished year 12 (so pre-hubby and kids) but dropped out after one semester and moved to Hobart to be closer to my boyfriend (now my husband). Then I did my ECA course and worked in a nursing home. My ECA qualifications (in disability care) helped me get a job as a special aide in a school. I worked with a teacher who really encouraged me to study, so when I got pregnant I thought about it a lot, but I wasn’t sure how to fit a newborn in with study. So I waited until my daughter started kinder.

I think I needed that extra time— I wasn’t ready, and next year I will graduate 15 years after starting my degree with a wonderful, supportive hubby and gorgeous family. I wouldn’t have it any other way!”

Alison Nermut-Nichols “I always wanted to do teaching, but “I first started my Bachelor of education back in 1999 when I first left school. I did 2.5 years, took my ‘gap’ year, ending up in six months on the dole (an awesome time!) then straight into my first ever childcare job. It was eleven years later when I decided to go back. The degree had changed, as had my life. Anyway, it’s all worked out! I went from a child carer, to kinder aide where the hours were more family friendly, especially with a six and two year old! They are now eight and four.”

Phoebe Teniswood I don’t think I had enough confidence in myself to do a degree. I wouldn’t be doing it without the support and encouragement I get from my wife.

My kids give me my drive to finish but are also my biggest distraction.

The birth of my children is so much more rewarding than a good mark.”

Jason Schmidt

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR 2014?

“The key things I have learned: kids wait for you...and if you let them go, they learn a lot themselves, and become better problem solvers because they have to be. Next, the wait is worth it - the look on their faces when you can finally go to the park, or come and watch their tricks on the trampoline is so worth it. Also, my girls have a great appreciation of what we

“I would have to say in my particular situation I sometimes wish I had completed this degree before I had a baby. In saying that though, I hope not to work in the coming 3-5 years while I raise young children so maybe it worked out perfect to do this degree slowly over that time so I have a career when I do re enter the workforce. If I was already a teacher, I would be coming towards the end of my maternity leave and would have to return to work to keep my foot in the door. It’s a hard one! Yes, my baby will come before everything, but that’s not to say I won’t continue to study hard late into the nights so I can help provide a future for her, set an example and hopefully inspire her to do great things in her own life!

Plus, it’s something I do for myself because at the end of the day, being Lacey’s Mummy is the best and most important role in my life, but it’s not my entire identity.”

Kylie Fenton “I had my first two children very young, so yes I would say that it would have been much easier to have had my degree before I had children. However, I didn’t know I was interested in early childhood until I had children. They also keep me focused and grounded.

Like Kylie, I find studying online gives me the flexibility to be at home with my youngest and I’ll hopefully have a degree by the time she is ready for school. As for going back in time, I might, but only if I could retain all my life knowledge and maturity that I have now.”

Georgia Berry

have now, and are looking so forward to when I graduate, to celebrate with me! They realise that when I am a teacher, we may be able to things we can’t do now! Without my girls and my partner, Karl, I could not have stayed focused and as determined! They are life savers.”

Phoebe Teniswood 33

FOURTH GENERATION TEACHER WORDS: Michael Voss

Upon completion of my degree, I will become a fourth generation teacher. It’s a really interesting thing, but most teachers seem to come from families with other teachers. I like to think it’s because they understand how hard and yet ultimately how rewarding our line of work is. That or craziness is hereditary.

Like so many others in my generation, I found myself at University without a clue what I wanted to do. I come from a long line of story tellers (I talk a lot of shit), and so naturally the Arts faculty was my first port of call. Alongside that, having enjoyed some veritable noise complaint level arguments in Legal Studies, I decided to study law. I was the quintessential lost student. I partied too hard, studied too little, and this was coupled with the newfound arrogance so often touted by the typical law student. I enjoyed law, but it was never something I wanted to do forever, it was just something that helped me bide time as I grew up as a person. Admittedly, it took me a little bit longer than most. My friends laugh that I’m so well suited to teaching because I’ve finally found something where I can spend the day in a room of 20 odd people who share my emotional maturity level. They’re probably not as wrong as they think.

My first attempt at teaching on prac was on a Kinder Prep. I think it took me 45 seconds to fall in love with it.

I love the mess, the noise, and the enthusiasm of little people. I love how hard they make me laugh, and also how stressed and frustrated they can make you. No one day is ever the 34

same teaching little people. For me, they are harder than the older grades, but they are also more rewarding. That and they are a hell of a lot funnier.

I have been told by Kindergarten students that by making them do writing I’m hurting their feelings. I have been told by students that they have seen fairies, and that by saying that I haven’t I’m a big fat liar. I have had my sexuality called into question

by Preps who find it incredulous that as old as I am at 24, I don’t have a wife.

One day I was told that I must be a pirate because I have a tattoo, and that I had better bring my ship and sword to class next time so we could make the other classes walk the plank. I have had 5 year olds ask me how many years until they can get married, ‘so they can marry Mr. Voss’, and I have had days where I have been told I should be in charge of the school because ‘Voss and boss are rhyming words’. I have also been told that I am the meanest man ever. That I am a giant. And that I need to stop wearing clown shoes if I ever want to get more than two girlfriends. More often than not, I have to turn away from the class for a second so that I don’t lose my shit.

As a teacher, you aren’t meant to have favourites. The truth is that you do, and any teacher who tells you otherwise is just a good liar. You just never show it. For me, my favourites are reminiscent of those I imagine my late grandfather once had. He passed away earlier this year, and I remember him telling me how proud he was that I chose teaching over law. For him, his respect and admiration lay with the battlers. For me they sit alongside the naughty ones. They always have

the biggest grins. That and I was no angel. As a teacher, there are days where you want to give up. In fact, for me, most days are hard. I haven’t even graduated yet and I think I have quit teaching about a dozen times. As a teacher you have really hard days.

But the flickering light of a candle is always enough to overpower a room of darkness. After suffering a catastrophic loss during my degree, I went into the classroom I volunteer in. I don’t think I had ever felt as lost or as hollow as I did at that point in time. That day, one of my students came up to me out of the blue, hugged me, told me that she loved me, and handed me a picture that was supposed to be me riding a giraffe.

I also happened to be coloured in purple, which was apparently because ‘I love tanning’. I have always found that little kids can sense emotions better than adults.

On my lowest days they seem to find new and ingenious ways to make me smile. Children are selfless, they are forgiving, and they are clever in a way that most people can’t begin to imagine. They are capable of so much.

To those people who tell me that teaching was a waste of my intellect, I just smile. Because it goes to show how little they really understand. For over six hours a day, to over 20 little kids, I am superman. For as long as we are together I am a parent.

A teacher. A friend. These small people show me how to be the best I can be, so that I can help them to become the best they can be. There is nothing more rewarding than that.

ALISON WATKINS WORDS: Phoebe Nelson

Alison Watkins is many things.

A Mum of four, wife, farm owner and CEO. If there was any uncertainty to the answer of one of the ridiculous yet pertinent question—‘Can you have it all?’— half an hour chatting with the GrainCorp CEO extinguishes all doubt; just don’t accuse her of breaking the glass ceiling.

From growing up on a farm in Tassie’s midlands, to fronting GrainCorp, Australia’s largest agricultural business on the ASX 200, Watkins confesses that her ambitions were initially to get into agricultural college and marry a farmer. But it was her mother’s encouragement to ‘keep your options open’ saw her enrolling in a combined Commerce and Law degree at UTAS. She soon decided law wasn’t for her and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce in 1985.

Watkins is fervent with recalling her time at UTAS; She was a “very active” member of the hockey club and there is an excitement and fondness in her voice when she tells

me about her two years as a resident of Christ College, where she loved the community spirit and the intercollege sport, before mentioning that Wednesday nights at the Uni Bar were always a hit. Watkins tells me she still has many close friends from her uni days.

After graduation, Watkins joined her now-husband, Rod, in Sydney.

Rod had graduated in economics the previous year, and the pair had met while studying at UTAS. In Sydney, Watkins joined the accounting firm Touche Ross (now part of Deloitte) as a chartered accountant.

“After thinking we would only be up there for a couple of years, we haven’t ended up moving back to Tasmania,” she admits, before adding, “never say never!”

This is the third company Watkins had led, with previous CEO roles at both Berri and Bennelong. She credits her career success back to her mother’s advice of keeping her options open. It was during her time as an accountant at Touche

Ross and a management consultant with McKinsey & Co that Watkins says she gained a “fascinating sort of insight into industries, different companies and what makes them tick and the styles of leadership different companies operate under.”

It was also during this period Watkins became “convinced” that she wanted to work in a more senior role, to experience running a business and to be the client, rather than the advisor.

Female CEOs are few and far between in Australia and beyond, but Watkins is reluctant to say she has cracked the glass ceiling. She speaks cautiously when I bring up the subject of gender in the corporate world. “I think I’ve had a lot of help along the way,” she concludes after a pause. She speaks of the support and encouragement offered by her husband and emphasises professional nourishment, where she says she has worked with people who have wanted to create opportunities for her and help her succeed.

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Above: Alison Watkins

“I don’t see myself as cracking the ceiling, more being pulled up onto the roof by other people, I guess.”

Watkins credits these opportunities to establishing relationships where people were motivated to help her thrive, something she stresses as integral to success, but admits that it is something that women tend to be reluctant of.

“I think sometimes as women we like to feel that we can succeed purely on our own merits, and that if we do a good job, we’ll get noticed and get promoted, and that’s true to an extent… but part of succeeding is building those sort of relationships and networks, and gaining confidence that people are willing to take risks on you.”

I hear a soft laugh on the other end of the phone line when I ask Watkins about her biggest achievement. She is swift with her answer: “being able to have a satisfying and enjoyable 36

career and a wonderful family life,” she tells me.

“I think I’m very fortunate. Unlike a lot of women who may succeed in their career, for me it hasn’t had to be at the expense of having a wonderful family. It’s something I value very, very highly.”

Watkins and her husband, Rod, have four children, aged between 12 and 21. She is also not far from her farming roots, as the family also own a cattle, wheat and grain (naturally) farm in country Victoria.

Watkins tells me she finds the work and family life equilibrium by spending the working week in Sydney, where her role at GrainCorp is based, before heading back to the family home in Melbourne on weekends. She says Rod keeps everything together on the home front, which is beneficial as it allows her to be “very single minded” during the week, whilst weekends are reserved for her family. Watkins

tells me later that Rod is a bit of a culinary whiz, and he sends her photos of his cooking throughout the week. This tends to invoke some serious food envy, “but I make up for it on weekends,” she chuckles.

Watkins’ eldest daughter is currently studying commerce and law at university, and she says, with a laugh, that she could have probably taken the advice she gives her daughter earlier, reflecting on a lack of confidence in her own abilities when she first moved to Sydney.

“I think us Tasmanians have a bit of a chip on our shoulder when we go to the mainland, and I probably had a little bit of that chip early on, and we don’t need to. In fact, [it’s] the reverse.”

From UTAS graduate to CEO, that chip obviously didn’t hold Watkins back. She is humble about her trajectory to the top, but she makes the roof seem like a pretty nice place to be.

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SUSTAINABILITY AT UTAS WORDS: Fiona Howie

In 2012, UTAS won the Australian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS) Award of Excellence. This award recognises the University’s increased commitment to the environment over the past few years. I spoke to Corey Peterson, UTAS Sustainability Manager, to find out more. Corey is enthusiastic about the changes at UTAS over the past few years: “things take time, but the commitment and interest is there at very high levels of the university.”

HOW SUSTAINABLE IS UTAS? In the past four years, UTAS has adopted a more serious attitude toward sustainability. This is reflected the appointment of a fulltime Sustainability Manager.

Corey’s role is to introduce more sustainable practices in operations management in areas such as energy, transport and procurement. An Environmental Management Plan was developed, which operated from 2009—2011. UTAS has also expressed their ongoing commitment to the environment in their strategy document, ‘Open to Talent’.

One of Corey’s first actions as Sustainability Manager was to initiate 38

new recycling infrastructure across UTAS. “When I started, there was little to no recycling, but there is more understanding now of the value of it to UTAS and the broader community.”

showers and lockers. As part of the UTAS Sustainable Transport Strategy, these facilities have been designed to encourage more students to cycle to UTAS.

Other significant projects include the Academic Operations Sustainability Integration Program (AOSIP). In AOSIP, students are involved in planning and implementing sustainability projects on campus, and receive academic credit for their work. Over 100 students were involved in the development of the new Bike Hub on the Sandy Bay campus—from research on the best location through to locker design. UTAS won an award in the 2013 Australian Bicycling Achievement Awards for the outstanding planning, design and installation of these facilities.

Another major priority is reducing carbon emissions at UTAS. All major new buildings on campus must now be of 5 Green Star standard—a national system that recognises first-class environmental practice in construction. This also provides an opportunity for local building contractors to gain experience in sustainable development practice.

One of Corey’s goals is to expand the use of solar power at UTAS.

In other good news for cyclists, a State Government grant, coupled with Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF) funding, will support a similar development at the Inveresk campus later this year. There are also new bike lockers at the Newnham campus, and further facilities at the new Medical Science and Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) buildings—including electric bike charging points, repair stations,

THE POWER OF STUDENT ADVOCACY The student voice continues to play an important role in driving sustainability initiatives on campus.

Laura Sykes, Environment Officer of the TUU, believes students have an important role in advocating sustainability on campus. “It is the role of students to keep UTAS accountable to their sustainability commitments.” As a result of student lobbying this year, UTAS has indicated a renewed commitment to sustainability. They are currently in the process of developing new

environmental policy, and are forming a new Sustainability Committee.

There has been a strong rise in the activity of student environment groups over the past year, including the Enviro Collective and the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC). Following a successful student campaign in 2012, there are plans to install solar panels through SSAF funding to offset carbon emissions from the TUU. The Enviro Collective has also initiated new paper recycling schemes in the libraries, including the introduction of scrap paper boxes and double-sided printing. AYCC State Coordinator Lauren Burke believes environment groups have potential to develop their presence further on campus. “They are doing a great job, but they could be a lot stronger and louder.”

One of Laura Sykes’ achievements as Environment Officer has been the development of stronger ties between environment groups and the TUU by establishing a student Sustainability Committee. An outcome of this has been a joint newsletter reporting the activities of the environment groups. Laura notes, “we’ve got that community feel this year where the environment groups are all working together.” This is particularly important in a small community such as UTAS. According to Laura, “the student movement is really important in driving sustainability forward, but we need staff support too.”

HOW SUSTAINABLE ARE CATERING OPERATIONS ON CAMPUS? To obtain an independent perspective of sustainability in catering at the University, I interviewed Christine Delpero, the owner of The Pickled Pear. This independent enterprise does the catering for the University

Club. Christine uses recycled, biodegradable cutlery and coffee cups, and composts waste where possible. Even the bin liners used by the Pickled Pear are compostable.

An important focus of the Pickled Pear is supporting other Tasmanian businesses. Christine explains, “Tasmania is seen as being a sustainable state, so I find it important to support local businesses as part of my eco-friendly statement. For example, I try to use as much local produce as possible.” Christine would like to see UTAS place a stronger emphasis on engaging with local businesses where possible.

Two years ago, biodegradable cutlery was a feature of other university food outlets such as Lazenby’s Café and the Ref, but disappeared last year with the outsourcing of these outlets to multinational company Compass Group. These companies are not currently subject to the university’s policy on sustainability. However, with the Vice-Chancellor informing the student groups that a new sustainability policy is under development, it is hoped that these issues may be solved. In Christine’s words, “‘it would be lovely to see the university as a whole lead the way on sustainability.”

DEVELOPING AN ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE UTAS COMMUNITY The success of sustainability plans depends upon the cooperation of the whole university, including staff and students. Further education may be needed to improve environmental awareness within the UTAS community. For example, recycling bins on campus are being repeatedly contaminated. In the meeting room where I interviewed Corey, the lights and heaters had been left on

unnecessarily and an empty bar fridge was running. Corey stresses, “all of us need to do our part every day, and just think about it—make it a no-brainer that when you leave a room, you turn the heaters off and the lights off.”

He adds jokingly, “you’re the most educated people in our community— this should not be hard!”

As part of a strategy to improve sustainable practice, over 80 Sustainability Representatives have volunteered across UTAS. Their role is to advocate more sustainable practices within their respective workplaces. Corey says that because most of them are staff, “they can influence what is purchased, how waste is managed, and in a meeting they can talk about turning the lights off and other energy saving measures.”

WHY DOES SUSTAINABILITY AT UTAS MATTER? Sustainability is becoming an increasingly important issue for the Tasmanian community. Over the past year, unusually hot weather has resulted in a series of large bushfires. As an island, Tasmania is also vulnerable to rising sea levels associated with climate change.

The Climate Commission’s latest report argues that the changes we make before 2020 will be crucial in reducing the future effects of global warming. This can only be achieved through strong community leadership. As our only tertiary institution, UTAS is a leader of the Tasmanian community. It is important that staff and students continue to work together to ensure the ongoing commitment of UTAS to sustainability. We look forward to seeing the university express this commitment in the development and implementation of future policy.

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FACULTY OF LAW WORDS: Professor Magaret Otlowski (Dean and Head of School)

2013 has been a great year for our students with many notable achievements including outstanding success at the national ALSA competitions held in Perth in July. Penelope Owen won the Australian Witness Examination Competition and David Tan and Kristy Riley came second in the International Humanitarian Law Moot competition. This is the best result for the Law Faculty at ALSA in recallable history and these competitors are heartily congratulated by the Law Faculty for their success. The Faculty also wants to acknowledge the sponsorship from UTAS alumni for the International Humanitarian Law Moot team. There have been other national successes: Christian Roberts was named as one of the top ten mooters in the Jessup International Law Moot Competition held in Canberra earlier in the year, David Gale won the Dr Peter Nygh Private International Law Essay Competition. Also noteworthy was postgraduate Meg Good’s winning of the national environmental law essay competition run by the National Environmental Law Association with undergraduate student, Anna Davies, in the top 4 in this competition; both Meg and Anna will have their essays published in the National Environmental Law Review.

Also significant have been the raft of activities in the social justice area 40

spearheaded by TULS Social Justice Officer, Emilie McDonnell with the tireless support of Christine Beuermann. A highlight in March was the launch of the Public and Community Sector Careers Guide, by the Honourable Michael Kirby AC CMG who also wrote the forward for the Guide. Also notable was the Immigration Law Training session involving numerous contributors including alumnus David Manne (Executive Director of the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre in Victoria) and which attracted over a hundred students and members of the legal and other professions interested in volunteer work in this field. In August, the new Asylum Seekers Legal Network was launched.

In September, Julian Burnside AO QC, gave a public lecture on the Asylum Seeker policy post election.

Other significant achievements include the award of the 2013 Tim Hawkins Scholarship to alumnus and 2011 recipient of the University Medal Bridget Dunne. Bridget is the 10th recipient of the Tim Hawkins Scholarship which commemorates the tragic death of alumnus Tim Hawkins in the Bali bombings.

Receipt of this scholarship has enabled Bridget to take up a position as Research Assistant in the Prosecutor’s Office for six months in the International Criminal Court at The Hague in the Netherlands. This year there were two Sandy Duncanson Social Justice bursaries (scholarships) conferred. Charlotte Hunn received

a bursary for her COMET project which aims to educate disadvantaged and homeless Tasmania youth on aspects of criminal law that impact on their daily lives. Tim Woolley also received a bursary to support his goal of facilitating a forum between community legal service groups to establish a social justice law elective for Law students inspired from his experience studying social justice law at the University of Ottawa in Canada in 2011.

Importantly, I also want to acknowledge TULS and its executive, and particularly the hard work of Rhiannon Fletcher in her role as President of TULS, who have given great support to the Law School community and provided invaluable assistance with key events including the ‘Ladies in the Law Breakfast’ (a fund raising event to support the team in the Women’s Moot Competition), Open Day and LawFest. We are very fortunate to have such an effective student body and members of the Faculty value the good working relationship that we have with TULS. On behalf of the Faculty and its staff, I wish all our students all the best for the coming exams. Warm congratulations to those students who are finishing this year – we look forward to celebrating your graduation in December. For our continuing students, safe and happy holidays and all the best for another great year ahead.

MORE TO LAW WORDS: Lewis Ringwaldt Above: David Port

The flow of public hostility toward those toiling in the law does not seem to relent.

From Shakespeare’s line ‘The first thing we do: let’s kill all the lawyers’ to Rowling’s ‘Are you planning to follow a career in Magical Law, Miss Granger? ‘No, I'm not. I'm hoping to do some good in the world!’

Yet, unlike Hermione, hordes of students are opting for a degree in law. Law is ranked one of the most popular degrees in Australia, and graduate jobs are even more competitive, according to a Graduate Careers Australia Survey for 2011.

I spoke to David Port, a law graduate from UTAS and now a legal advisor with the federal Attorney General’s office in Canberra, for both his opinion on the faculty, and insight into his wide-ranging role within the Attorney General’s office.

Lewis: When did you graduate?

David: I graduated from UTAS in 2010 and I did my GDLP [legal practice course] until July 2011. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a lawyer, so I came across these graduate programs, which had something like 30-35 different government departments which you could work with. I applied for those and ended up being successful at the Attorney General’s department, I got the offer in about August, which was about the time I finished GDLP. So I had a nice 6 month holiday because it didn’t start until February the next year. It’s a 12 month program where you have three rotations in different areas, and after you finish that you’re given a permanent position in the Department. I finished the graduate program in January 2013, and I’ve been in my current role until now.

UTAS graduate David Port outlines the possibilities beyond the courtroom.

L: Was it very competitive?

D: In my year there was about 1000 people who applied, and they accepted 34. And more recently the current graduate program had 1400 applications. I think that highlights how short the private sector is in opportunities and there aren’t many jobs going at the moment, especially in Tasmania, and there’s people coming out of uni really struggling to find jobs.

L: What is your current role in the Department?

D: I work in the international legal assistance branch. What we do is what you’d call ‘legal capacity building’. We respond to demand from partnered countries. My particular area is South Asia, Africa, and developing countries such as Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and small African communities. We advise and help them strengthen their own laws and deter trans-national crime, that’s what my division does.

Transnational crime, includes people smuggling, terror, money laundering.

There’s a lot of commenting on legislation and interpreting international treaties from the UN and things like that, so it is law focused.

L: Why didn’t you want to work as a lawyer in the traditional sense?

D: I suppose it’s a realisation I didn’t really come to until I did the legal practice course. But it wasn’t the legal practice course–it’s a great course that teaches you all the skills that you need and it’s run by great people and there’s great opportunities that can come out of it. But the actual practice of law¬–it’s the paperwork and the day to day billing in six minute intervals. I felt as though I couldn’t

utilise any kind of creativity in that.

L: So you don’t think there’s enough coverage of career options for law graduates at UTAS? D: I think, well my experience anyway, I think it’s more tailored towards private practice. The sort of information that came out, not only through TULS but just in general, like job ads, internship ads, articles…

I think that there’s so much more you can do with your law degree and there are so many people coming through in their final year and in GDLP and thinking ‘you know what, I don’t want to be a lawyer’, and I guess there are so many more options out there.

And I love what I do, really.

L: What do you think the positive and negative aspects of doing a law degree are?

D: Look I think it’s a good degree to do. I think there’s so many ways that you can use a law degree that doesn’t necessarily involve private practice.

I work in government, but working in government in itself is not just one way you can use it, there are so many ways you can use it within government.

I know people up here with law degrees who are working for not only my department but for the Murray Darling Basin Authority, or they’re doing programs with foreign aid, or working at the treasury, working in financial and politics. So there’s all kinds of fields you can use it.

L: What do you hope to do in the future?

D: I’m lucky in my area that I have regular interaction with international organisations such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the African Union and the OECD. I think I’d like to work overseas in a few years.

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THE STUDENT LEGAL SERVICE MIGRATION LEGAL ADVICE SESSIONS WORDS: Theo Kapodistrias

This year has been a big year for the Student Legal Service.

Amongst all of our information lectures and training sessions that we have provided for students, we have also been doing what we do best by providing free, confidential legal advice to the community.

This year, we have been pleased to expand our service to even more people. The SLS and the TUU combined forces to bring about a service that has the potential to save students from the potential of deported from Australia back to their home countries because of the cancellation of student visas. With the addition of SSAF funding, the SLS now provides migration legal advice to international students who need the assistance.

In 2012 there were an alarming number of students who came to us needing assistance, but there was very little we could do. With strict 42

requirements under the Migration Act 1958, only a registered Migration lawyer or agent is allowed to provide legal advice about matters relating to immigration law.

To try and fill the void, we hosted a Migration Information Lecture in the law school allowing international students from any faculty to come and listen to a presentation held by Ricky Bustos from M+K Dobson Mitchel Allport explaining the requirements and obligations that are held under a student visa and protections to make sure students would not be excluded from the university.

The lecture theatre was packed.

It was filled to capacity. This demonstrated the need for the service and how many students were potentially struggling with this very complicated area of law. Although the lecture was very useful, there was still the need for help dealing with individual cases.

After a long set of negotiations between the SLS and the TUU, the SLS Migration Advice Sessions were now finalised. As of August 15th 2013, the SLS now provides Migration Legal Advice on a fortnightly basis.

The new addition to our service has been very successful! Our solicitors involved, Ricky Bustos from M+K Dobson Mitchel Allport, Jonothan McCarthy and Craig Mackie from Mackie Crompton have been providing legal advice and legal guidance to the international students that require it.

The service is available to all students from any UTAS campus across Australia—we provide a phone in service, allowing the students to chat to the solicitors one on one.

It has been a huge success this year and it is hoped that it will continue on in years to come.

BUILDING FOR GOOD WORDS: Tim Stoklosa Tim Stoklosa explores the Pro Bono world of architecture.

Architects only design around 5% of the buildings in the world. With a figure like that, you might think that everyone could get by without them, and maybe they can. In my first year, the buildings that seemed at first to be cool and impressive, ended up being pointless, pretentious wank by 4th year. These buildings only served the interests of the now-famous architects (see Zaha Hadid). When I came to this realisation, I started to wonder what the purpose of it all was.

Architecture does have the ability to affect people’s lives. For example, Christopher Alexander believes that good architecture can stop you from losing your keys. In his book, A Pattern Language, he outlines how a waist high shelf at the door can give your miscellaneous shit somewhere to live, stopping you from losing your jingly janglies. On a larger scale, The Jewish Museum in Berlin by Daniel Libeskind is unrelenting in making visitors feel unsettled, confused and disoriented. Uneven floors, walls bearing down on interiors and jagged windows give a brief insight into the emotions experienced by victims of the holocaust. Then finally, beyond a simple experience that is remembered, good architecture can enhance the lives of the people that use it—permanently.

That’s where pro bono architecture comes in.

Pro bono architecture originates from the latin term ‘pro bono publico’ meaning for the public good, and there isn’t nearly enough of it. Pro bono links people who can greatly benefit from good design, with people who can provide it. It is widespread within the medical and law professions, but has somehow evaded the scope of mainstream architecture. This might be because it

is seen as an additional commitment, which is unfeasible for small businesses in particular. However, with the support of UTAS, LARC in Launceston operates as a commercial architecture firm with a ratio of 50:50 unpaid vs paid staff. This is where I found out architecture could really help people and communities. I was lucky enough to be involved with LARC in third year, taking an elective held in the office. We were engaged to design a new community center and temporary accommodation for orphans in the Kabale district in Uganda. It was my first experience designing something that might actually be built for real people.

Rosie O’Halloran was great, she’s the founder of Foundations.au, the not-for-profit heading up the project.

Seeing her enthusiasm to give these orphaned children a great childhood was really inspiring.

For those without access to the goldmine, which is unpaid student work, there needs to be another motivation. John Peterson from Public Architecture advocates the great advantages of pro bono for professionals. In the preface to the book, The Power of Pro Bono, he explains how he picks up rubbish at his local park in San Francisco with his friend Tom. Tom used to do it by himself, whilst John watched, but after a while he felt too guilty and joined in. As a result, he started to feel very good about himself, whilst creating a stronger sense of connection to the place that has become like his ‘…backyard.’

The reward for pro bono architecture is much the same. John writes, ‘I don’t imagine that many people would fault me for these selfish motivations, because the outcome is positive and there is a responsible balance between selfish and altruistic intentions.’

He similarly encourages firms to engage with ‘healthy, self-centered motivations…’ as a catalyst for more pro bono work in the architecture profession. Once the bottom line has been removed, the relationship and trust between client and architect becomes much stronger. This can only mean good things for the final product.

One of the problems with pro bono, is the absence of a ‘wanted’ column in the classifieds. Projects find you. This was the case with Dr Ceridwen Owen, program director of Architecture at UTAS. After being involved in the Tong-len charity in the UK, Ceridwen was asked to provide some initial sketch designs proposing a hostel for displaced children in the Kangra Valley, NW India. What began as a small commitment whilst on maternity leave quickly escalated into full involvement in the project.

Many hours needed to be fitted in around full-time work and family commitments. Ceridwen often had to navigate erratic correspondence with builders over fuzzy Skype connections and many differences in terminology. Talking to Ceridwen, you can see that it was definitely worth it.

She met His Holiness the Dalai Lama when he inaugurated the building upon completion; you always know it’s worth it when the His Holiness shows up. Ceridwen asked Vijay, the boy she sponsors at the hostel if she had done a good job. He replied “yes” then paused and said, “no, you have not done a good job, you have done an excellent job.”

Architects may only be responsible for designing 5% of the buildings in the world, but within that 5% exists the capacity for great public good.

So it seems architects might be useful for something after all.

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Above: Hostel designed by Ceridwen Owen ŠJordanDavis 44

SCIENCE WORDS: Mollie Coburn

Undertaking a Science research project is sort of like a woman going through labour, Erin Nash tells me.

“You go through all this pain and hard work for hours, then something goes right finally and when your research is starting to work you’re filled with this joy and you’re like Yes! I’d do it ALL again! It’s like having a baby.”

Erin is coming towards the end of her Honours degree at Menzies Research Institute, where she has been researching fat tissue insulin resistance in the pre-stages of Diabetes. This research fills a gap in current knowledge of the causes of the disease, and forms just one tiny piece of the puzzle towards understanding the disease and it’s manifestation. Erin focuses specifically on exactly why it is that fat cells (or Adipose tissue if you’re a scientist) accumulates in the blood in the first place, a question that remains a mystery.

“In research, you’ve got to find a primary cause. You can treat the secondary causes, but you need to know what caused them in the first place, or you’re not really solving the problem.”

The commitment to this research seems mind-boggling, but Erin assures me that it is worth all the pain, including working until 3am in the labs - “I’ve had glimpses of my reward.”

So what exactly is it that draws people to answer these infuriatingly complex questions about the world around us?

For Erin, it was an inspirational teacher in Year Ten at Mount Carmel College. And in that, she is not alone. Peter Harrison, a PhD Plant Science student points to a passionate lecturer as a motivating factor towards his studies in revegetating the Midlands of Tasmania.

Peter’s reward however, unlike Erin’s, comes from actually seeing the output from his research. Working with industry partner Greening Australia, Peter and his research team are undertaking experiments to understand whether local native Eucalyptus species are more effective at regeneration than non-local species. This research has come together under a grant from the Australian Government Biodiversity Fund, and Peter tells me that by understanding Eucalyptus genotypes, they will be able to take revegetation measures into the unpredictable

climates of the future. “Hopefully, by understanding how Eucalyptus Ovata adapts to its environment, we can potentially suggest to Greening Australia exactly which populations should be used during revegetation work. It’s all about linking in remnant patches of forest, and building up corridors where animals and plants can move around.”

Will Percey of Agricultural Science was similarly influenced by his Plant Physiology lecturer during his Undergraduate degree. Eventually ending up in Plant Physiology and Electro-Physiology, Will is currently studying salinity tolerance in vegetable plants such as beans or peas, specifically looking at the way these plants are able to absorb nutrients under conditions of soil salinity. On a broader spectrum, by searching for possible genes that may be used for increasing the adaptability of the plant this research contributes to a greater picture of farming efficiency.

While Will has now been at UTAS for over seven years (excepting a recent 7 month break), he is planning on steering away from academia after several years of dedication. “When you get results you’re expecting, it’s good. After working for a couple of years and getting not the results you 45

Honours student Erin Nash

want, or no results at all, that can be hard. So to finally get some results, that makes it all worth it.”

Like Will, Joe Hartley is also undertaking research within the faculty of Agricultural Science.

After operating his own sawmilling business for ten years, Joe relocated to Tasmania from Western Australia. He then began his Bachelor of Agricultural Science and unexpectedly, in his Honours year, decided to undertake further research. Drawing inspiration from his previous trade, Joe is searching for new and improved methods of timber treatment, with the aim of improving farming operations by creating a less toxic chemical for preservation.

“Basically, if farmers have got a non-toxic wood preservative, they can treat their own trees. Right now there are only Copper-Chrome Arsenic mixes that are commercially available. CCA preservatives can’t be used on farms because they’re too dangerous, so farmers can’t treat their own wood.” To find a less harmful treatment for timber. Joe tells me, would be beneficial not only economically for farmers, but also environmentally on a broader scale.

Farmers would have an incentive to fell their own small timber instead of paying a large amount to purchase pre-treated wood, massively reducing operation costs. But this new form of wood preservative would hold additional environmental benefits in terms of maximizing timber 46

products within forestry, as well as reducing the environmental risks that are associated with CCA timber treatment preservatives.

“Basically, this is about farmers valuing and using their forests better, and it also takes the pressure off native forests and that sort of thing.” Joe plans on returning back to the outdoors soon, “I really like research but I’ll probably get back to something more agriculture related I really like growing stuff.”

But for James Howard from Chemistry, it was a desire to teach that led him to undertake PostGraduate research.

“I didn’t always know I wanted to do research, but teaching definitely.

I love the idea of lecturing, always figured from day one as an Undergrad that I would like to be a lecturer..

I didn’t really realise research came with that until Honours.”

Now, as head PhD student in synthetic organic chemistry as well as Royal Australian Chemistry Institution representative and ambassador, James has definitely been able to fulfill his teaching aspirations. He is currently undertaking the foundational research that involves transforming a simple and cheap material into a complex one that can be readily utilised by pharmaceutical companies. James’s research has enabled him to do a lot of traveling,

recently venturing to Brazil and with plans for the United Kingdom or United States for 2014.

“If you can take a simple material and make a complex material in as few steps as possible, then you’re laughing.”

The diverse and wild array of things that one can do within a science research degree is overwhelming.

While a Science research degree may seem mind-bogglingly complicated, the trick appears to be finding something that you are genuinely passionate in. Whether it was inspiration from an influential educator, or a passion from a previous career, each of the individuals mentioned above are making huge yet tiny steps towards making our lives more functional, friendly and livable. While their workloads are undoubtedly overwhelming, each of these people are passionate and so incredibly immersed in their own scientific world.

And there are many, many scientific worlds one can involve themselves in at UTAS. Whether it be Chemistry, Medical Research or Antarctic Science, UTAS has some of the best facilities worldwide. In the words of James Howard, “If you wanna study science, you may as well stay in Tasmania. We have some of the best lecturers in Australia if not the world, as well as world class facilities… there is a lot happening within Science at UTAS.”

VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS

Student Directed Festival, Caravan, By Kate Rice, Directed by Ben Glover, Image credit: Mel De Ruyter

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Student Directed Festival, Lucy Devil Has Wealth Syndrome, by Chris Howlett, Directed by Fiona Burnett, Image credit: Alisa Ward

Student Directed Festival, Heads in the Sand, by Geoff Dobson, Directed by Brad Hall, Image credit: Alisa Ward

Student Directed Festival, Caravan, By Kate Rice, director Ben Glover, Student Directed Festival, Due Monday, by Lachlan Philpott, Directed by Caitlin McCarthy, Image credit: Alisa Ward Credit: Mel De Ruyter

Student Directed Festival, Lucy Devil Has Wealth Syndrome, by Chris Howlett, Directed by Fiona Burnett, Image credit: Alisa Ward

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RESEARCH BITES RUTH PYE School: Menzies Research Institute Title: Effects of devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) on the immune system of the Tasmanian devil.

The Tasmanian devil is the world’s largest living carnivorous marsupial and is unique to the island state of Tasmania. It is currently threatened with extinction in the wild by devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) – a transmissible cancer that was first observed in 1996 and has since spread to affect more than 80% of the devils’ geographic range. It is invariably fatal with most animals dying within six months of the tumour appearing.

Remarkably it is the cancer cells that are the infectious agent, and thus DFTD is acting like an allograft – i.e. a tissue graft passed from one individual to the next. The fact that DFTD is not rejected by the devils’ immune system as most foreign tissue grafts are, has called into question the effectiveness of their immune system, but also the impact that DFTD may be having on the immune response.

My PhD thesis has two main aspects. One is exploring the devils’ immune response by analysing various immunological components (immunoglobulins and lymphocyte subsets) of peripheral blood samples collected from healthy and diseased wild devils to see if the DFTD status is impacting on these components.

The other aspect is involved with the development of a vaccine that will provide the devils with long term effective protection against the disease.

JOHN OTTO School: School of Agricultural Science, Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture Title: Reproduction and fertility parameters of dairy heifers supplemented with omega-3 canola oil sources: mRNA gene expression profile.

Dairy farmers tend to prefer cows that can produce on average, 30 litres of milk per day.

However, high-producing dairy cows are often associated with infertility, long calving intervals and reproductive anomalies. There is a strong awareness of fertility-linked beneficial effects of cows consuming dietary omega-3 fatty acids, hence the strong research interest in trying to enhance plasma omega-3 fatty acid levels in cows to improve fertility in the dairy industry. Results of earlier attempts to quantify the specific effects of omega-3 fatty acids on the sex-drive of cows have been diverse and inconsistent. There is contrasting evidence linking omega-3 fatty acids with the cow’s libido. Therefore, my PhD research aims to examine the effect of omega-3 fatty acids on reproduction and fertility parameters of dairy cows to better understand the interactions between dietary omega-3 fatty acids and dairy fertility as a means of ameliorating the progressive subfertility issues emerging in the dairy industry.

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VIVIENNE CONDREN School: English Program, School of Humanities Title: Writing in the Midst of an Unfolding Disaster.

I am looking at a range of contemporary novels and films, all set in the South-West or Central Plateau wilderness of Tasmania, to see what they tell us about the changing relationship between people and the environment.

DR. MITHUN RAJSHEKAR School: Menzies Research Institute and Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement Studies Title: Animal dentitions as a tool for forensic investigation of bite-marks: establishing the extent of the problem of dog bites in Australia, developing new techniques for classifying and evaluating the evidence, and creating a repository of information for identifying perpetrators.

I am a Forensic Odontologist looking at individualizing dog bites. The first thing that we do when attacked by a dog is cleanse our wounds. This takes away most of the usable DNA from the injury. What we are left with is a bite mark. It is presumed that individual human beings have teeth/ dentition’s that are individual to them just like DNA and Fingerprints. I am extending that knowledge to see if its valid in dogs too.

The practical applications of my research will be identifying an unknown/ re-offending dog or one dog among many similar looking dogs. I am also looking at individualizing them based on age and sex. Once I achieve this in pure breeds, I shall be extending my research to the most common cross breeds in Australia. Kids are the most common victims of dog bites in Australia and it is impractical to expect them to remember details of a dog at that situation. It will bring closure to involved families as well as create a safer environment for families and kids to live in.

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LIVINGSTONE DIVINE CAESAR School: National Centre for Ports and Shipping, Australian Maritime College Title: Making Seafaring Attractive in an era of global shortage of ship officers.

My study concerns the need to improve retention among ship officers. A review of the literature revealed that the number of years spent working at sea on board ships is reducing among ship officers. Initially, seafaring was seen by entrants as a lifetime occupation but it is increasingly becoming clear that this is no longer the case. On an average, ship officers are spending less than ten years working at sea and then move to find landside jobs. This highly mobility among ship officers is a disturbing trend as more vacancies are created at the helm of ships to the detriment of navigational safety.

Shortage of ship officers is the result of the increasing attrition among seafarers.

Hence the study intends to identify the factors that are significantly contributing to the movement of ship officers to landside jobs and further explain the entire attrition process among them. A thorough understanding of the attrition process is needed to secure a pragmatic solution to the problem. A mixed methods design which involves a web-survey of ship officers and phone interview of shipping company managers is used to answer the key research question: How can shipping industry employers improve retention among ship officers?

HALLEY DURRANT WORDS: Emma Tanchik

The idea behind the 3MT Competition is a simple one: present your thesis to a room full of academics and your peers with no props and no notes, all in three minutes. So maybe it’s not that simple after all. It certainly wasn’t for this year’s regional winner Halley Durrant, who spent the lead up to her presentation frantically writing her speech overseas and rehearsing it on the 18-hour flight back to Australia.

Above: Halley Durant

Originally from Tasmania, Halley completed her undergraduate and honours research at the University of New South Wales before returning here to Tasmania to work on her Ph.D project. Her project is titled Genetic Connectivity of Local Kelp Species in Relation to Marine Park Design.

Strangely Halley’s research is based in the Zoology department not in the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) as you might imagine.

The reason behind this arrangement is one of her supervisors, Chris Burridge a ‘genetic whiz’, is based in

Zoology. This unconventional match of disciplines might seem strange, but it works out well as helping to catch Quolls and Tasmanian Devils in her spare time is a nice side project that helps other Ph.D. students conduct their research.

As you might imagine a Ph.D. project based in the discipline of Marine Science might involve going out on the water but, as Halley admits she suffers rather badly from seasickness. Her survival trick is getting over the side of the boat as quickly as possible and into the water. Thankfully professionally certified divers get the kelp samples needed for this project. These samples come from marine reserves all around Southern Australia.

Halley’s Ph.D. project is part of a bigger A.R.C. (Australian Research Council) project, which is exploring the vital role that microorganisms such as kelp play in marine reserves.

She tells me that when creating marine reserves it is important to protect the right species while not isolating them completely. Isolation of a species means that they do not exchange genetic material and if a storm or other such event wipes out the kelp, it not only wipes out the specific plant, it also wipes out all those with that particular genetic makeup. The topic of marine parks is a controversial one as most

proposed sites only end up being half their originally intended size and so, designing parks is a delicate balance of keeping people happy while preserving a big enough areas to protect species. Despite this balancing act Halley told me that at the end of the day one party is always unhappy with the result.

Regardless of the controversy of this topic, Halley is clearly passionate about marine conservation which speaks as to why she is this year’s regional winner. She said that a good thing about the 3MT competition is it makes people think about the basics of their research without relying on scientific jargon. For Halley, winning this competition could not have come at better time. The Sydney-sider has won a $2,000 travel grant and a spot in the finals held in Sydney the day before her wedding anniversary. She expects that the competition will be tough as representatives from 33 universities from Australia and New Zealand academically battle it out to win a $5,000 travel grant and this year’s title. Halley said at this stage just making it to the semi-finals would be an accomplishment and that winning would be unbelievable. The university whose student won the competition the previous year hosts the next competition. Meaning that if Halley is fortunate enough to win the 2013 finals, Utas would receive great exposure hosting in 2014.

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READING INTO RESEARCH

Sessional Lecturer and University Associate Dominic Lennard reveals the use of his obscure hours.

B

y day I work for the pre-degree programs at UTAS as part of a fantastic teaching team.

On my days off, by night (and occasionally obscure hours of the morning) I pursue scholarly research in my role as a University Associate (the new and infinitely ambiguous title for Honorary Research Associates), within the School of Social Sciences. My PhD is in film studies, and I typically write about cinema and television. The past year has brought many interesting and challenging opportunities to write about film. I recently completed a short book on Barry Levinson’s comedy Wag the Dog (1997) aimed at college students writing about the film (and at their teachers).

However, below are outlined a few academic projects of mine that have been in the works this year. If any of them pique your interest— look them up! In most cases I won’t make a dime from your buying the book or nagging your library to do so; but the thought of someone bothering to actually read one’s writing is enough (and, really, a lot).

Above: The telepathic child villains of Village of the Damned (1995)

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DARK LAUGHTER This year my work was included in the collection The Last Laugh: Strange Humors of Cinema, edited by Murray Pomerance and published by Wayne State University Press.

There are plenty of books on film comedy.

This book, however, focuses on humour in unusual forms in film: the laughter of terror, nervousness, embarrassment, failure, despair, of the “sick” sensibility—in essence, laughter in all the wrong places. Pomerance writes about laughter in the gangster film. David Sterritt writes about mortality and absurdity in avant-garde film. Adrienne McLean (a scholar of both cinema and dance) writes a deliciously scathing essay titled “If Only They Had Meant to Make a Comedy: Laughing at Black Swan.” My own contribution focuses on Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s notably serious The Dark Knight (2008). Aside from praise for Ledger’s performance, another consistent theme in critical discussion of this film (both positive and negative) was its austere mood. Yet critics didn’t think to consider the coincidence of a humour-themed villain in a film whose tone is relentlessly serious. So that’s what my chapter does.

TIM BURTON I have recently completed a contribution to an academic collection on the work of Tim Burton called The Works of Tim Burton: Margins to Mainstream, edited by Jeffrey A. Weinstock and to be published by Palgrave Macmillan in November this year. This book contains in-depth essays on several intriguing dimensions of Burton’s long and multifaceted career. My contribution, “‘This is my art, and it is dangerous!’: Tim Burton’s Artist-Heroes,” explores the foregrounding of creative art in Burton’s films. It considers several of Burton’s “artistic” heroes in relation the so-called “Tim Burton-ness” of the director’s work (the insistence that we notice its particular artistry), and traditional conceptualisations of art production.

UP CLOSE WITH “BROMANCE” This year I also completed a contribution to a collection of essays on the “bromance” phenomenon called Reading the Bromance, edited by Michael DeAngelis of DePaul University and to be published by Wayne State University Press sometime next year.

This book contains discussion of a wide variety of films and TV shows replete with bromantic affection. As well as the usual suspects like The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Superbad (2007), Knocked Up (2007), I Love You, Man (2009), and so on, readers will find analysis of Grumpy Old Men (1993), Scream (1996), buddies in Hindi cinema, and bromance films’ preference for vulgarity.

They will find discussion of men engaged in bromance’s obsession with mimicking homosexuality while insisting that this is indeed merely mimicry. My chapter is titled “‘This ain’t about your money, bro. Your boy gave you up: Bromance and Breakup in HBO’s The Wire.” As its title indicates, the piece focuses on the acclaimed crime series The Wire. This show probably isn’t the first thing that jumps to mind when one thinks of bromance, yet the show abounds with close male partnerships. Centrally and critically celebrated was the relationship between drug kingpin Avon Barksdale and his righthand man, Russell “Stringer” Bell, which is phrased in terms of family but—I argue— consolidated by a series of romantic and virtually sexual gestures.

BAD SEEDS AND HOLY TERRORS A great deal of my free time this year has been consumed by finishing a book on child villains in horror film. The classic instances of this theme are The Bad Seed (1956), Village of the Damned (1960), The Exorcist (1973), The Omen (1976), and The Ring (2002); although child villains also populate a wealth of lesser-known horror pictures including The Other (1972), It’s Alive (1974), Manhattan Baby (1982), Phenomena (1985), The Suckling (1990), Demonic Toys (1992), Whisper (2007), The Unborn (2009), Orphan (2009) and many more. This book is titled Bad Seeds and Holy Terrors: The Child Villains of Horror Film, and will be published by SUNY Press next year.

It examines the emergence of children as horror villains, locating this in the juvenile delinquent scare of the 1950s, and the effect of the 1956 film The Bad Seed—from which the popular term “bad seed” (to describe a child apparently “born bad”) is derived.

My book argues that the effectiveness of child villains, and the reason they keep popping up over and over again, is rooted in the persistence and power of cultural definitions of children as “innocent.” The idea of the child as an innocent is a relatively recent invention; it was popularised in the 1700s due to a rather distinct set of historical circumstances; yet it persists powerfully today.

Because the idea of innocence is so closely tied to children in our culture, the child’s contradiction of that tends to be seen as extreme or unnatural. If a child commits a shocking crime, let’s say, one that contradicts our theory of childhood innocence, instead of rethinking how we define children, there is a tendency to imagine that child as part of an oppositional or “demonic” category.

He may be thought of as a “devil” child or a “bad seed”; there may be calls for him to be tried as an adult (that is, ejected from the category of “child” altogether). The use of this kind of vocabulary serves a number of

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MY BOOK ALSO EXPLORES A NUMBER OF OTHER CONCEPTS LINKED WITH CHILD VILLAINS IN FILM.

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purposes. It implies there’s nothing adults could have done, or can do—except keep this monster suppressed (killer children are usually imagined by the public to be somehow beyond rehabilitation). It also allows us to maintain this fraught myth of idealised innocence—because this was obviously no “ordinary” child.

My book maintains that Western culture’s obsession with the innocent child is deeply problematic and ultimately unmanageable.

The idea of the “innocent child” is so powerful, and so valued, that it is easily subject to doubts, anxieties, hauntings. And these are the kinds of uncertainties we see played out in horror cinema, in various forms, with “demon” children, spawn of the devil, and so on.

My book also explores a number of other concepts linked with child villains in film.

When the archetypal evil child movie The Bad Seed came out in 1956 there was a conscious campaign to convince women to remain within the domestic sphere. Thus child villains right up to The Ring are linked with women who aren’t considered “domestic” enough: if mum had been at home doing her “proper” job, many of these films imply, none of this would have happened. Another theme covered in the book is what I call the “bourgeois brat.” Virtually never are deviant children in horror film the result of disadvantaged upbringings (unlike in reality). In fact, very many of them wear all the signifiers of being very well-off: neatness, formal clothing, haughty accents, etc. So in many of these films we see an odd preoccupation with social status in the depiction of child villains—children who seem to suppose they have some terrible entitlement to kill. The book also analyses

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how the recent resurgence in child-protection rhetoric as a response to the horror of paedophilia has recharged the child as a symbol of innocence and vulnerability, a development we see sensationally capitalised on in horror films like Hard Candy (2005) and Orphan (2009).

I hope also that the book comes as more than just analysis of a bunch of goofy horror movies, because I think the questions it deals with are ultimately quite serious. Unlike derogatory characterisations of other social groups, horror’s characterisation of children is still considered neither offensive nor political. The failure to recognise such images of children as derogatory reflections on our relationship with them, their social standing, and on children as people is an issue I want the book to address. Disturbingly, the child villains of horror have already served as points of reference in discussions of real children in the media and public sphere.

Julian Petley has pointed out that the child killers of toddler James Bulger were described in the tabloid press using the “demonic” vocabulary of films like The Omen. That we may be willing to somehow believe in the monstrous representations of horror movies is, I argue, a very worrying and reprehensible development. When we use language of horror to describe real children we’re not only engaged in a child-focused xenophobia, but entirely evading the complexity of our relationship and responsibilities to children.

LOOKING AHEAD...

In addition to my forthcoming book, I’m excited to be pursuing several new projects.

I’m currently writing a chapter for a book on ageing in popular culture; my piece focuses on the ageing tough guys of action cinema. Tough guys have made quite a comeback over the last decade, in films like Rocky Balboa (2006), Die Hard 4.0 (2007), Rambo (2008) and A Good Day to Die Hard (2013), as well as, of course, beefcake parades The Expendables (2010) and The Expendables 2 (2012). I argue that in these films spectacular action performances of heteronormative masculinity are used to shore up gender identities threatened by age (thereby further reinforcing dominant constructions of masculinity).

More interestingly, though, these films also acknowledge that the immense physical demands of this type of masculinity cannot be re-performed indefinitely; therefore they also seek to negotiate alternative ways of announcing one’s manhood.

TOUGH GUYS HAVE MADE QUITE A COMEBACK OVER THE LAST DECADE

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In May I will be providing a long chapter to a collection on the work of director George Cukor, whose career spanned five decades.

It was an open secret in Hollywood that Cukor was gay; in fact he was at the centre of Hollywood’s gay subculture in the 30s, so analysis of his films has often focused on questions of gender and sexuality. My chapter focuses on four Cukor films: the wonderful Camille (1936), as well as Romeo and Juliet (1936), It Should Happen to You (1954), and Les Girls (1957).

I’m also writing a chapter for a book on film theory. The idea is that each chapter of the book introduces readers to the work of one theorist of particular significance in cinema studies. My chapter explores key concepts in the work of French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan through two films: Otto Preminger’s noir classic Laura (1944), and that object of Adrienne McLean’s delightful derision, Black Swan.

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SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY GAMES WORDS: Simeon Thomas-Wilson In July, 36 UTAS students travel to Ballarat in Victoria to compete in the Southern University Games. The Games, which ran from the 7th to the 11th of July, was conducted by Australian University Sport. 1800 students from universities from all over Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania came together to battle it out in a variety of sporting events.

The small UTAS team performed admirably in their events against the larger and more fancied interstate universities. They narrowly missed out on third place finishes in Men’s Basketball and Ultimate Frisbee. Michelle Delaney finished in the middle of the pack in a strong Female CrossCountry field, while the Mixed Netball team, “I always enjoy going to the sports and watching them in their first ever showing at the Games, play and the team-manship they have, as well as the was able to be competitive. respect they have for the other players. They try their hardest in the competition but it is always played in But it wasn’t all about who won or loss good spirits,” he said. in Ballarat. As well as facing off against each other, three nights of social events Janez said this was a large part of how the sports were provided the athletes with a chance to make played at the Games. new friends and build up networks with students across the nation. Janez Zagoda, the “I think everyone wants to win and be the top team, but universities team manager for the Games, the Games are played in the spirit of the sport. In games said this is a huge benefit of sending students like Ultimate Frisbee, at the end of the game each team to compete in games like these. presents the other team with an award for who they thought was the best player on that team. That shows “After the opening ceremony there is three the camaraderie present amongst them,” he said. nights of social events that are only for the students, so it’s as much fun and interaction with other students from other universities as Patrick Neasey, the president of UTAS Ultimate Frisbee and the captain of the universities Ultimate Frisbee the sport,” he said. team, said he thought the team performed amazingly, especially given their inexperience of some of his teams’ “That’s why I think these types of events are important to participate in, and its important members. The team narrowly missed out on a medal. for universities to send teams is for the “Without sounding too biased, I thought we did students to build up social networks and awesome. We came 4th out of ten teams, only narrowly interaction.” losing our semi-final 10-9 and our bronze medal match by the same score line,” he said.

Janez said that as well the social aspects of the Games, he enjoyed watching the athletes “Even though there was some disappointment in being compete and the fair play and good spirits so close to the medal positions, this was a fantastic they embodied while doing it. result for a team in which half the players were playing at their first Games, a couple of them only having taken up the sport a few months prior!”

Like Janez, Patrick also thought the social events were a great success and was amazed at the extent to which students got involved in them.

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1. Ultimate frisbee: UTAS v Melbourne Uni 2. Men’s Basketball: UTAS v Deakin Uni 3. Ultimate frisbee: UTAS v Melbourne Uni 4. Mixed netball: UTAS v Deakin Uni

“The social events were a raging success.

I was amazed that so many players were out late each night and were still able to play the next morning,” he said.

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As the organisers of the Games, one of the aims of Australian University Sport is to foster sport at university as a relevant and important part of life for students.

Both Janez and Patrick said they believed playing a sport was a great way for students to wind down from the rigors and stress of university life. Patrick said this could help students balance their studies.

“Absolutely, I’m a firm believer in a balanced routine and there are a heap of sports clubs at the TUU for students to get involved with,” he said.

“It doesn’t have to be sports of course, but people can make the most of their uni years by taking up a hobby or two and get away from the books every now and then.”

Janez said as well as a way to wind down from their studies, students participating in events such as the Southern University Games provides them with a chance to test themselves at a high level due to the high standard of competition and infrastrucutre.

“I think its good that they like to play sport at the best level and in an environment like this because its well run, there’s good officials, the facilities are good, and the organisation is slick,” he said.

Buoyed by their impressive showing at the Southern University Games, the University of Tasmania will send students to compete at the Australian University Games to be held on the Gold Coast. The event, which runs from September 29 to October 4, has grown to be the nations largest annual multi sports event and is the flagship event on the national university sporting calendar.

Since its inception in 1993 numerous Australian elite athletes have used it as a platform for future sporting success. This includes Brenton Rickard, Dani Samuels, Christian Sprenger, Brooke Hanson, and Steve Moneghetti. This is sure to provide UTAS’ athletes with an added motivation on top of representing their university.

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AROUND THE WORLD

OUR EXCHANGE STUDENTS SHARE THEIR OVERSEAS ADVENTURES.

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1. Humboldt State University 2. Grand Canyon, Arizona 3. Gavin Livingston competing at the AWFC competition in Missoula, Montana 4. Nick Cleary with other student exchanges for Spring 2013.

Origins include; Chile, Australia, Germany, Italy, France, New Zealand, Cambodia, Spain, Netherlands, Mexico, Greece, England.

5. Main Campus of Butler U. Known as ‘The Mall’.

6. Nick Cleary with ‘Adnan’ a fellow, German, exchange student at the Golden Gate Bridge.

GAVIN LIVINGSTON

Bachelor of Natural Environment and Wilderness Studies Place of Exchange: Arcata, Northern Calfiornia, Humboldt State University I grew up in North East Tasmania in the rural town of Lilydale, just outside of Launceston. Influenced by my upbringing in the natural environment of my hometown, I have always wanted to pursue a career in forestry.

I moved to Hobart in 2011 to commence my three year degree in Natural Environment and Wilderness Studies. It was in my first year of study that I heard of the chance to do exchange and it sounded like a really interesting and worthwhile opportunity.

Since my area of passion was in forestry, I was really keen on doing an exchange to Humboldt State University which had a very large forestry faculty catering perfectly for my educational needs.

NICHOLAS CLEARY Bachelor of Business

Place of Exchange: Butler University, Indianapolis I have always been a late bloomer when it comes to travelling. I was lucky enough to spend two months in Europe, backpacking through most of the west, in early 2012. This really gave me the ‘itch’ and spurred on my motivation to do what I had always wanted and thought about doing: a student exchange.

I chose the USA for a number of reasons. These ranged from a love of basketball and dream to see NBA live, to the excitement of the challenge to be thrown into a foreign situation by myself. I settled on Butler University in Indianapolis, which is in the Mid-West region of the United States. I studied mainly economics subjects there for

Finally in 2012 I was accepted to go on exchange to Humboldt. Before this exchange I had travelled to many parts of South East Asia including Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore but never this far abroad and it has proven to be an exceptional and enriching experience.

There were many great experiences and it’s hard to pin it down to one. But if I had to pick, it would be joining the timber sports team and participating in the Association of Western Forestry Clubs (AWFC ) competition which had 10 different universities and colleges from Western America participating. Dating back to 1937, the Association of Western Forestry Clubs (AWFC) competition is the largest timber sports event in the west of America.

Timber sports is highly competitive amongst universities in America. It includes activities such as axe work, sawing, climbing, axe throwing and various obstacle courses. This allowed me to build strong friendships with

my economics and business degree.

Getting a different perspective of the field, especially an international one, was a great opportunity.

In retrospect, the fears I had of an exchange (mainly homesickness) were irrational. The way in which schools set up their exchange programs works incredibly well and I enjoyed every moment. It really is worth the effort and courage to take the plunge. The greatest thing about the exchange were the people I met, who ranged from Europeans to South Americans and of course, local Americans. My roommate was the middle line backer on the school football team (which, if you know anything about college sports , you will understand what that means).

I am currently planning a trip to see some of the friends I have made.

students from my university as well as other universities.

Even though I speak English as a first language, I had difficulty with the accent barrier. It still sounded like a foreign language to some Americans.

For some people, it took them quite a while understand me. There were times I had to slow down my speech to get my point across in conversations. These conversations proved to be humorous since it was ironic as I spoke the same language as them.

Although you may be tempted to stick to international students as it provides comfort and security in a strange country, always make an effort to get involved and meet the locals. This way, your exchange program becomes more enriching as you learn and become part of the local community and culture.

I was lucky with my time at Humboldt as there were little other international students so most of my time was spent with the Americans.

and in particular, fish, are hard to substitute. This is especially true in Central America. This is also the biggest point of difference in my opinion. The food there is very commercial and frustratingly so sometimes. Even being able to go to the local pub for a counter meal is something I appreciate now.

But having said that, the exchange for me is simply amazing. It is a lot of work and can look like a financial Everest sometimes, but for whatever disheartening moment you have pre exchange, just know that you will be paid back 10 fold in experiences and amazement.

The worst thing, if I was forced to choose, was missing the food in Tasmania. The fresh fruit, veggies

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SAMANTHA TUCKER Bachelor of Laws

Place of Exchange: Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic When visiting Brno for the first time, you are not struck by its beauty (as with Prague), by its friendly people, or by its style (in fact, Brno is very much stuck in the 90’s). What welcomes you is a strange, and sometimes cold place, where ice-hockey is treated as ‘sacred’ and the beer is cheaper than water. With a bit of time, however, the ‘weird’ soon becomes wonderful.

Initially, I felt completely out of my comfort zone. Simple tasks such as ordering a meal, reading train timetables and striking up a conversation with locals became impossible due to language barriers. Living in a communist-era dorm was about as glamorous as it sounds. Yet, within a few weeks my initial hesitations vanished. Gradually I began to embrace the city for all its quirks and came to

RHYS ANDERSON Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Arts

Place of Exchange: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia In my last semester of University I was offered a three-month internship with Al Jazeera in the programs department.

Unfortunately the duration of the internship made me ineligible to enrol in the unit “Professional Placement” so I had to make the decision within two weeks of whether or not to go. I decided to enrol via distance and moved to Malaysia to do the internship, bringing with me my laptop and sixteen kilos of clothes and textbooks. I arrived in the country at midnight, on the first day of semester and begun my 50 hour work week at 6am the following day.

I had travelled through South-East Asia previously, backpacking through Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand but

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discover a place with amazing spirit, culture and people. By the end Brno had become home, and a crazy bunch of students from across the globe had become family.

Located in South Moravia, Brno is the Czech Republic’s second largest city with around 400 000 inhabitants.

Today, thanks to its large studentpopulation, the city has a sense of youthful vibrancy, set against a rich and varied history. 13th Century castles overlook the colourful communist blocks, and there are more sports bars and pubs than there are students.

some of the most welcoming, kind people you will meet.

My semester in Brno was without a doubt the highlight of my degree.

I came away with lifelong friendships, a new-found sense of confidence and many crazy experiences. My advice to anyone considering doing exchange is, ‘just do it’. You won’t regret it. And the more challenges you encounter along the way, the more you’ll gain from the experience.

Also, being located right in the heart of Europe, there are countless opportunities to get away and explore other countries. Travel is made easy by regular (and cheap) buses and trains running to places such as Prague, Vienna, Berlin, Bratislava, Krakow and Budapest. Although a few times I found myself lost in foreign Polish or Slovak towns, Eastern Europeans are

I had never worked in an office in my life. Sometimes an opportunity presents itself and you just have to make it work.

So despite not going on exchange, I am a full-time student, working full-time for the Program 101 East, and ccasionally doing field reporting for Al Jazeera News. It was the best decision I have ever made.

I have two amazing experiences. I have two, from the top of my head. A day where I begun at a counter-culture art fair, hopped in a car and found myself at an underground punk show on a derelict floor of a government building with maybe a hundred people and thirty resident bats. The night ended at an up-market bar discussing the finer points of Tasmanian whiskey with the founder of Malaysia’s secret service.

The second greatest moment was the day when, for AJE News, I went out with only a cameraman and conducted interviews with Rohingya asylum seekers who escaped from Myanmar, smuggled

themselves through Thailand and had just exited Malaysian detainment. Their stories of suffering inspired me to work harder to promote better asylum seeker policies, inside Australia and abroad.

I owe it to them to do everything I can.

The biggest point of difference is the Food. Always food. The ethnic groups in Western Malaysia are predominantly Malay, Chinese and Indian and that is represented in their food. Late night banana leaf or mamak’s are the perfect place for long conversations about nothing. Ramadan food bazaars and Hari Raya feasts introduced me to a wide weird and wonderful world of flavours and textures.

Don’t waste an opportunity; apply for everything you can. Eat bakuteh in KL. Visit Cameron Highlands and Palate Palatte (this is where I met the best people) in Changkat. Never get into a taxi that doesn’t use a meter.

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1. Samantha Tucker in Czech Republic 2. Brno (taken from Spilberk Castle) with the Gothic-style Cathedral of St Peter and Paul at the centre 3. Prague Old Town (or Stare Mesto in Czech) 4-6. Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

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WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU HAVE LEARNT AT UNIVERSITY? WORDS: Rhys Anderson

I have learnt of a system overburdened by bureaucracy. I have seen teachers and students struggling to wade through the groaning kipple of administrative chaos.

The thing I blame university for, the most. Is taking away my voice by destroying my interest in learning. It is easy to render yourself mute when faced with frustrations that seem as needless as they are unending.

Eventually anyone who supported any political view I dismissed on the grounds that their view must be obstructed by their inevitable cronyism. My pursuit of reason and expansion of knowledge had become quite suddenly the pursuit of isolation and the expansion of my weekends. All I wanted was to not be bothered; by lecturers, by other students, by politics, by environment and by those god damn administrators. The problem with the education system is that no one is to blame but everyone is affected.

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their lunch break lasted three work days. I’ve had to deal with administrators sending an exchange application for Austin, Texas to New Brunswick, Canada. I’ve watched teachers be forced to assign essays for a practical subject just so it can be justified as academic to the administrative board.

Personally, I was not allowed to enrol in “Professional Placement” when I received an offer of a threemonth internship with a world-class global media organisation. I did not know why. It was not specified in the enrolment information that attendance was necessary to be able to complete the one assignment and the one in-class presentation.

Over a series of emails I tried to justify my placement, suggesting my presentation could be done via live Skype-in, or pre-recording but it was made blisteringly clear to me that attending the classes each week were necessary. Not just by the course co-ordinator but by the head of the school. What nerve I showed, having the gall to think that such a placement opportunity for a unit called “Professional Placement”

would be more important than practicing my Harvard referencing style.

After some rather heated emailing I eventually had to write a formal apology to the course co-ordinator out of fear of not being allowed into the only other subject I was eligible for. Had I not been allowed into this other subject I would not be able to graduate.

I had intended to graduate a semester earlier, but a year ago I went to the student support centre to find out if I was eligible for course credit. I was informed that I was actually eligible for an entirely new minor. Not only was I eligible but, just my luck, it had been made mandatory.

I could choose between the exciting options of Australian Public Policy OR English Literature in the 17th Century. I did protest that this put my total units completed four higher than what everyone else required to graduate, but they sensibly told me that the policy had gone into place the day I enrolled in the course— three years ago.

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The policy, of which I was not informed of once during this three year period, meant that several of my enrolled courses had been made redundant. Truly, aggressive bureaucracy of the University of Tasmania is second only to the Vogons. It is my fondest wish that Eric Abetz convinces our new government to allow UTAS and Centrelink a knowledge-sharing seminar so that our Tasmanian facilitators may one day surpass the Vogons to take their place at the peak of universal incompetence.

Maybe that will see our State finally feature on the Olympic medal.

Here I was thinking a university was a collaborative space for likeminded individuals to congregate and attempt to share knowledge and educate people in the history, future and practice of their passion.

Our standardised tests are below standard. Our teaching staff are genuinely first-rate while our course coordinators are, by and large, best described as ‘breathing’. Every time I click on Mylo it makes me shudder.

Any attempt to find reason in the glut of defunct processes and hollowedout administration centres is futile.

So what have I learned from this?

University is not about gaining knowledge, it is about suffering.

Through various academic hurdles, the student is assessed not on their knowledge or ability to interpret

EVERY TIME I CLICK ON MYLO IT MAKES ME SHUDDER.

life. Rarely will the display of unstructured awareness result in the students favour. University teaches the student discipline, and academic structure with the malicious repetition of a medieval torturer. The student suffers within a miasma of irrelevant information, processing and refining it until it represents an academic structure.

In three months working for one of the world’s largest media organisations, I have researched dozens of stories, fact-checked countless facts and pitched to some of the most famous and successful journalists in the world to date. Not once did I use Harvard, Chicago or MLA. So to my fellow journalism students, I would like provide my answer to the question we throw around time and again in the campus cafeteria or on late nights at the library; “How does University make you a better journalist if you only learn theory?”

The theorists themselves are largely irrelevant, the history of journalism is of fleeting interest to a practical journalist as it fails to meet most news values. It is neither current nor is it impactful. History without archive footage is by and large useless for long form TV journalists.

Theorists themselves provide value as talking heads, if they are dead so is their usefulness.

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The inverted pyramid is what it is, and any essay on new media is usually outdated by the time it is published.

So why do we write countless essays on theories of journalism, instead of chasing our own stories, refining our pitches, or learning industry-standard editing software? Academic writing provides you with discipline and structure. Any job, any cadetship, any pitch, any award submission or story script requires structure. University gives you this structure in the form of criteria-based assessment. This is the reward you get for suffering.

While I myself am far from the top percent of students in the university, I understand the need for structure. When you are writing your resume or cover letter, when you are applying for jobs, grants or awards you must meet the criteria the person or organisation outlines as they are instrumental to your application’s success. Applications, like assignments, are assessed against specific criteria. When you combine scholarly discipline with direction of ambition you get results. Raw talent in an unrefined form is arguably not enough today, when the chequebook holders are also the key holders of success. Industry organisational design requires you to work within its framework and use its terminology. This is the importance of learning to write to criteria, and this is the most valuable lesson I learned in University.

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AUSTRALIAN MARITIME COLLEGE WORDS: Nicole Mayne on behalf of faculty

$12M CASH SPLASH FOR MARITIME TRAINING Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard visited AMC on 2 May to announce $12 million in additional funding for maritime vocational education and training courses. Ms Gillard toured facilities including the Cavitation Research Laboratory and Simulation Centre, before meeting with students to chat about their career ambitions. The funding boost will be delivered across a fouryear period, enabling AMC to sustain ongoing courses as well as develop new world-leading programs.

Back row: Nick Mammides, Alex Clifford, Michelle Williams and Catherine Knuckey.

Front row: Katherine Langworthy and Maddi Brick with then Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

ICE BREAKER VISIT A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY

Aurora Australis visit

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First-year marine engineering students had the opportunity to see the inner workings of a ship firsthand during a tour of the Antarctic research vessel Aurora Australis.

Former AMC student, and now Chief Engineer, Matt Williams took the 11 lucky students on a guided tour of the ship and its engine room. Students undertaking the Bachelor of Applied Science (Marine Engineering) are usually privy to one scheduled ship visit in their first year. There are over 60,000 large merchant ships in the world, but there are very few ‘ice breaker’ class ships like the Aurora Australis.

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE WORDS: Amanda Cromer on behalf of faculty

Dr Anna Carew of TIA explains the GEL project to UTAS Landscape Architecture students– Yuting Tang (L) and Gordon Goh at the UTAS School of Architecture and Design at Inveresk in Launceston (credit: Chris Crerar)

It’s been a year of change, celebration and achievement for TIA and the School of Agricultural Science.

Our multicultural halls have been buzzing with staff and students from countless countries, performing research, development, training and extension on everything under the sun – microbiology, food safety, viticulture, cherries, potatoes, ladybugs, dairy farming, vegetables, irrigation, salmon and much, much more. We’re celebrating an historic teaching milestone (it’s our 50th!)—

and looking forward to a merger with the School of Geography and Environment Studies…

Anna Carew presented three posters at the 15th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference, and her poster (titled ‘Microwave maceration of Pinot noir: phenolically equivalent, aromatically distinct’) was awarded Best Student Poster for Oenology.

Anna reported on a novel red wine maceration process which employs microwave to heat red grape must.

The process affords winemakers greater control over colour and

tannin outcomes in red wine.

PhD student, Gareth Hill, won the prize for best viticulture presentation.

Community engagement.

Dr Carew is also involved with another project that’s creating a buzz in the Tasmanian community: the ‘Grow.Eat.Learn’ project, investigating the urban vegie garden.

Collaboration with students – from local primary to TIA postgrad – is a major part of the project. You can track the GEL project at: blogs.utas. edu.au/gel

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FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCE WORDS: Kiri Fitzpatrick on behalf of Professor Denise Fassett

On a late autumn day in May of this year, Dr Judi Errey from the School of Medicine along with 20 fourth and fifth year medical students attended the Mt Stuart Primary School in Hobart to heal and console the patient teddy bears of 48 grade one students.

The Teddy Bear Hospital included six wards catering to all manner of illness including emergencies, asthma, broken teddy limbs, surgery, immunisation, and the preventative health care related to a healthy lifestyle. The visit marked the beginning of healthcare awareness and education for these young students that will span decades and it gave students of the Faculty of Health Science valuable experience working with young people.

A teddy bear has received an xray at the teddy bear hospital

The Faculty of Health Science in 2013 continues to leave an imprint locally, nationally and globally through learning and teaching, engaging with the community and our research endeavours. In 2013 our students have participated in 66

state-wide events such as Agfest, they have developed and delivered national student conferences, they have attended recruitment events, given campus tours and assisted with high-school and college visits. Our students have combined incredible talents in the arts with their discipline of study to take home prizes in short film and photography; and they have helped the Faculty raise the profile of our quality learning, teaching and research activities in campuses across Tasmania and in Sydney simply by making the most of their experience with UTAS. In training health professionals of the future, interdisciplinary learning and teaching remains a key focus within our undergraduate programs.

Nursing and Midwifery students and staff embraced the opportunity to be whipped into shape by Human Life Sciences students in their last year of their Exercise Science degree.

The goal was for participants to take part in the Launceston 10 footrace, and the UTAS Super Nurses did just that. Commonwealth funding of $1.4 million will further enhance interdisciplinary experiences, providing the support required to build a Teaching Aged Care Facility in Ulverstone, dedicated to enabling clinical placements by allied health students in the Faculty.

In 2013 our research has contributed towards making healthcare services accessible. Researchers, Professor Ken Kirby and Dr Allison Matthews from the Schools of Medicine and Psychology respectively, produced an online program to minimise the anxiety created by irrational fears and phobias. We led UTAS into

Bachelor of Paramedic Students in the simulation paramedic van (Emily Mangione, Anne-Maree Blight, Jonathon Sward, Brooke Potter).

the MOOC revolution offering the University’s first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). Titled Understanding Dementia, the MOOC is a free course delivered fully online and open to anyone from around the world. In its first delivery it has received over 9,000 enrolments and will teach students about the brain, the disease of dementia and the person. Funding has also enabled the RedUSe project led by Dr Juanita Westbury of the School of Pharmacy to deliver the ‘Reducing the use of sedatives’ program into Aged Care Facilities across Australia, taking her knowledge, skills and support direct to our growing aged care industry.

There have been so many amazing achievements, highlights and noteworthy successes from within the Faculty over the past year. As we move into the New Year, we will be streamlining our disciplines, expanding our interdisciplinary approach, and continuing to offer exciting opportunities to our growing cohort.

ANOTHER LEFTOVER PHOTOGRAPHY: Lara Carbone

With the series ‘Another Leftover’ I wanted to explore the sensations that the viewer could experience when confronted with what is not often observed.

There is something special to me about leftovers: it is the relation between the domestic space and the interior space.

Leftovers are something that we do not usually observe, it is more usual for us to abandon them, or just forget about them before going to bed and remembering about them the following morning, when we throw them away. In my photographs, there is no human being present, although the human passage is strongly noticeable, conveying, to the viewer, a delicate but strong sensation.

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The series instantly transmits the sense of narration, the sequence of different leftovers, something that is not an isolated act but instead something that is repeated over and over again. What is perceived is that leftovers are part of the common life of each individual.

After gazing at the photographs, the viewer is led to slowly move his or her attention through what he or she actually sees—a depicted domestic space and leftovers –to a more reflective and inner reflection of the state of being; the concepts of abandon.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: Lara Carbone ‘Another Leftover’ Untitled #6

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PHOTOGRAPHY: Lara Carbone ‘Another Leftover’

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GRADUATION WORDS: Jamila Fontana

The end of the university year is a mixed bag of feelings for students.

You might be diving straight into spring school, worrying about how you went during exams, looking forward to summer or like myself and other soon to be graduates, wondering what on earth you’re supposed to do now.

In 2013 it’s about much more than finding a job. We’re living at home longer, getting together with significant others later, even procreating later. Every second link we see on the internet is telling us what to do with our twentysomething years and every dinner with our parents has someone telling us how magic it is that we can just take off and see the world without the restricting pressures of careers and family. The annoying thing is that your mum’s best friend has neglected your plans to honours, the pressure you feel to apply for internships and grad programs and the lecturers who all give different advice on what step to take next

So at the end of your degree it’s ok to have feelings. Are you an adult now? Should you have a five year plan and half a house deposit? Are you a mature age student a bit bewildered about how graduating makes you feel like a lost twenty two year old again?

Should you know by now if the past three, four, five, or six years have made you successful or not?

I’ll be the first person in my immediate family to graduate; my dad grew up in Naples and finished school at 16 and my mother, after matriculating in Tasmania, did the inverse and spent eleven years in Italy. They brought me into the world in the midst of an Australian society and education system that is all about getting degrees but with no experience of it themselves. I have no idea what graduation looks like, what it means and where it’s supposed to take me. I’ve gone from working in a chocolate shop, to a Telstra store, to the tax office, to a newsagency. I’ve had a relationship, a few regrettable hook-ups, and a few

outfits I’d rather forget. I’ve moved out and then back home and have ultimately become increasingly less clear about my life ambitions as my studies progressed.

For those of us who have made it this far, our schooling has meant that the phases in our lives have been sorted into different stints of education and gap year, and come the end of this year all bets are off. By that token however, it’s also not the first time we’re graduating; these days you get a ceremony, awards, a certificate and a lame song like Friends Forever or That’s What Friends Are For at least three times in life. Is this one going to be any different? Some of us will come away with a specific profession; others come away with obscure majors which feel totally inapplicable to Tasmania. Either way, we’re graduating in an environment where for a lot of us getting a degree is as normal and expected as finishing primary school.

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“

ARE YOU AN ADULT NOW? SHOULD YOU HAVE A FIVE YEAR PLAN AND HALF A HOUSE DEPOSIT?

“

For me and my modest Bachelor of Arts, I’ve spent a lot of time wondering what on earth happened during the last three years. I’m a fairly good student when it comes to results but a rubbish one when it comes to process. The past three years have included the most stressful and fulfilling years of my life to date and this final year has easily been the most difficult of my personal life and when you only have eleven contact hours a week, it’s easy for university to be a last priority.

Admittedly that paints a shallow picture; some of you have battled for your degrees. There are people who will read this who have broken cycles of poverty and ignorance, grown up in households that don’t value tertiary education and also people who had to trust their potential and overcome significant anxiety and self-doubt. There are those of you who will have struggled with illness, struggled with loss, and with emotional and financial stress. One thing I can assume is that within the only university on the island, this 72

year’s graduates will carry with them a huge variety of life experience, successes and struggles.

and a kick ass LinkedIn profile.

Nor do you stop wanting to watch HBO shows all day, every day and those middle aged friends of parents Now I’m beginning to look back and with comfortable salaries and Dolce draw together a narrative of the past glasses are as much of a mystery and three years. I got the best and worst annoyance as they were before. academic results in my education, I had more hangovers than I needed, Those reading this out of their I used to spend three nights a week twenties will inevitably find it cute clubbing but I still walked away from and hopefully endearing. I remember first year with a distinction average. posing a lot of it to my mum in a fit of I felt lonely, I made friends, I moved anxiety and she said, “Jamila, a lot of out of home, I moved back home, I life is just going through the motions made plans for adventure, and then I and routine, this is it”. So for me, never followed them through. Should the reality and challenge of this next all of that mean something by now? phase is living beyond the timelines I don’t know. educational institutions have been setting my entire life. If I wake up Has anything I’ve said resonated the day after graduation feeling with you? Does it matter? I mean, nothing, no moment of realisation feelings and emotions aren’t the or enlightenment then I know I’m worst thing that can happen. in it now. Life is about our own I imagine the elephant in the room sense of momentum and everything for most of us is that nothing graduation might not be will remind changes at all. It will be for some you that it’s about your autonomy, of us, inevitably underwhelming; your will and your ability to make you don’t suddenly become more the ‘motions’ whatever you want productive, build an amazing CV them to be.

Make your next step count.

If you’re about to finish your undergraduate degree, you’ll be searching for what’s next.

As a university ranked in the top 2% worldwide,* UTAS is a place where you can excel in your chosen field.

Applications for 2014 are now open for postgraduate coursework and higher degrees by research. With an extensive range of scholarships and lecturers who are leaders in their field, UTAS is the place where you can make your future happen.

Tomorrow starts today.

ApplicAtions now open.

utas.edu.au/2014 | 13UTAS

Academic Ranking of World Universities 2013 USRM10956rj CRICOS Provider Code: 00586B

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J.C by Joshua Andree, joshua.andree@gmail.com

2013