Togatus Issue #7 2014 by Togatus

September 2014

tog atus x

DEPRESSION | FREE THE NIPPLE | PROFILE: PETER CAVE | SCAV HUNT '14

THIS IS FREE

Published by the State Council on behalf of the Tasmania University Union Inc. (hf. â&#x20AC;&#x153;the publishersâ&#x20AC;?) 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: Tabitha Fletcher editor.togatus@utas.edu.au Deputy Print Editor: Olivia Congdon Deputy Web Editor: Nathan Gillam Design: Jess Curtis, Mahalee Smart Contributors: Judy Augustine, Debbie Baird-Bower, Nina Barnett, Olivia Congdon, Joey Crawford, Waqas Durrani, Kate Edwards, Anneliese Farmer, Zara Gudnason, Evan Miller, Holly Monery, Jade Standaloft, Molly Turner, Topher Webster, Milly Yencken Advertising: Please contact editor.togatus@utas.edu.au Togatus PO Box 5055 Sandy Bay, Tas 7006 Follow us: Twitter: @TogatusMagazine Facebook: facebook.com/TogatusMagazine www.togatus.com.au Togatus welcomes all your contributions. Please email your work or ideas to editor.togatus@utas.edu.au It is understood that any contributions 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. Togatus is published monthly.

Front cover art by Esther Stride, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Hunter St Contact the artist at esther.stride@gmail.com and follow her on Instagram @esther_helene Moth illustration by Laura Wilkinson: Instagram 7_willa

FROM THE EDITORS Hello UTASmanians! What joy it is to bring you a 7th edition of your wonderings and wanderings. Among other things. This is something of a revealing edition, with some informative articles on the changing structure of degrees, via the introduction of ‘Breadth Units’, how to get a lunch date with the State Premier, an intimate insight into living with depression, fascinating profiles of two Australian journalists, a dummies guide to Centrelink changes, thoughts on cultural appropriation (is wearing a bindi really that offensive?), and much more. Everything must go! One blaring omission is some content on the recent TUU elections… but by the time you read this, a full review should be available on togatus.com.au. Enjoy! With snugs, Tabitha, Olivia and Nathan

CONTENTS A Murder or a Nipple

Breadth Units

Profile: Journalist Aaron Smith

The Great Depression

Andy Bull

Cultural Appropriation

Centrelink Changes for Dummies

Profile: Foreign Correspondent Peter Cave

The Bias in the ABC

The Benefits of Interning

Scavenger Hunt 2014

Discovering the Lost Space of a Jam Factory

Lunch Date With the Premier

Creative: To Be The One That Got Away

Book Reviews

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E L P P I N A R O R E D R U M A Jade Standaloft, LLB/BA, Hobart

The campaign has received significant support from not only the social media communities, but also a number of celebrities. Model/actress Cara Delevingne posted several images of herself topless and uncensored, drawing comments about her “quirky nature” and questions asking if the images were actually her, while Australian actress Caitlin Stasey was criticised for “seeking attention” when she posted her topless photos alongside several controversial tweets about oral sex and rape apology. There are problems from the outset, when viewers and media outlets immediately disregard the message being pursued, or brush it aside as a cry for attention, rather than as a valid commentary on a systemic societal problem.

illustration: Molly Turner

“What’s more obscene, a murder or a nipple?” This is the intriguing question asked by Free the Nipple campaigner Lina Esco. Creator of the movie by the same name, Esco argues that if an average child can be exposed to 16,000 murders on television before turning 18, then there is no reason for outrage over showing a female nipple. I must say, put like that, her campaign seems to make sense. But what does it mean to campaign on it? In case you’ve let yourself get buried by uni readings too early this year, or (like me) don’t have a television and inevitably end up looking at cat videos rather than news sites, Free the Nipple is grassroots campaign that’s been filling social media feeds for several weeks now. The campaign started in America,

where it is illegal for a woman to be topless in 35 out of 50 states. In Australia, the law is far more ambiguous, with indecency rarely defined in legislation. However, I don’t think anyone could deny that the same censorship issues are all too prevalent if not in law, then in media and social attitudes. The premise behind the movement is that censorship of the female nipple is both unnecessary and sexist – why censor a female nipple, but leave the exact same piece of anatomy uncensored on a topless male. The campaign initially took the form of women posting topless pictures, but has expanded to a clothing line with slogan shirts and bikini tops printed with breasts. It also includes the upcoming Free the Nipple movie, addressing the campaign concerns.

The preliminary reason behind the campaign is pretty straightforward. While there is some confusion that it is a criticism of the judgment that breastfeeding mothers face, for the most part, it is a clear comment on misogynistic discrimination, and a clear action of – now I’m going to say a scary word here – the feminist movement. All Free the Nipple is asking is for equal treatment when it comes to male and female bodies. The logic of the censorship, after all, is somewhat unclear. Men and women both have them. If we want to consider technicalities, then why don’t we censor all female breast tissue, rather than just the nipple? Is the presence of a nipple somehow the defining point between erogenous and non-erogenous? Furthermore, a breast is not a sex organ, with or sans nipple. So is it due to the female nipple’s inherent usefulness? Because censoring based on how useful a thing is to society seems problematic in the least. I don’t know about you, but I think equal treatment isn’t a whole lot to ask. So either we should start asking men to cover up, or stop telling women they should.

BREADTH UNITS BREADTH UNITS LEAD FACULTY SEMESTER 2, 2014 (CURRENT) SEMESTER 2, 2014 (CURRENT) x

Confronting Sustainability

Faculty of Arts

The Sciences and Society

Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology

Living and Working with Cultural Diversity

Faculty of Health

SEMESTER 1, 2015 x

Art of Persuasion

Faculty of Arts

Good Thinking: Reasoning Skills for Life

Faculty of Arts

Developing Your Creative and Entrepeneurial Potential

Tasmanian School of Business and Economics

Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology

Global Food Security

SEMESTER 2, 2015 x

War: The Moral and Legal Limits of Political Violence

Faculty of Arts

Source: www.utas.edu.au “Breadth-Units-approved-website-version-2.pdf”

In an interesting move made by The University, there has been a funding incentive of $20-25,000 offered for academics that develop and deliver a new kind of unit offering: The Breadth Unit, capable of meeting the needs of up to 140 students. But what is a Breadth Unit, you ask? These units are cross-faculty units that are assumedly structured in a different manner than standard classes. ‘Breadth’ is aimed at fulfilling the “generic” Graduate Attributes (GAs) of the University, as opposed to degree-specific objectives. For those who are not aware, the GAs of UTAS include; knowledge, communication skills, problem-solving skills, global perspective, and social responsibility.

Breadth Units are not permitted to be led, designed or delivered by one faculty alone and must be constructed in a way that makes it ‘globally relevant’. The interesting thing that I found in my research was that the discussion paper on Breadth Units states that “a breadth unit may be defined as a unit that… is readily adaptable for Open Universities Australia to build on UTAS’ ambition to be recognised as a premier university for OER [Open Education Repository]…” In other words, there is an underlying intention that these units will be suitable for marketing purposes. For those of us currently studying, the introduction of Breadth will have no effect on our degree structure. Some units are currently available as electives but are mandatory for new undergraduate

students from 2015/2016. This is to say, that in combination with their majors, minors, and degree specific units, undergrads must also take on one introductory and one intermediate / advanced level unit. Information on these classes and the way they operate is limited. However, it is noted that these units are similar to the units of twelve other Australian universities including Melbourne University, which is the model used when development was initiated in the final months of 2013. I would like to revisit the idea of these not effecting current students for a moment. As a final year business student, I will probably feel no effect from these. However, as we begin our first semester in 2015, we may begin to see a continued diminishment of

Joey Crawford, BBus, Launceston

numbers in the classroom. Some might argue that with more units, there will be better education for those in the smallersized, first and second year subjects. What we begin to see is units of interest to people specialising in a particular area folding. I speak from experience when I say that over the course of my short Bachelor degree, I have saw a significant increase in online classes (in the North), and smaller numbers in classes. With no significant upward trends to student enrolments (see Figure 1), it will be interesting to see if the university can support these units. Maybe these classes are aimed to reduce the slumping of offshore numbers. I made a visit to a few lecturers and professors to speak on the matter of Breadth Units and ask them what they knew. It was profound to see that very few within the academic staff were greatly aware of exactly how they would operate and how they would affect new students. There was no shortage of academia who were intending to, or had been, working on a Breadth Unit proposal, which begs the question of how

many UTAS can support, with the current model. The Breadth Unit discussion paper recommends that by 2017, there should be around fifty breadth units available. The major issue I feel could be taken with the implementation of Breadth Units is that they are not specific to your degree, or any other for that matter. In colleges and high schools there is the option to do generalised classes and courses in order to work out what it is you want to do. But surely by the time we hit university, we should have somewhat decided what field we enjoy and as a result, what we want to study further. I think that breadth units could add benefit to degrees, but detract that benefit away as well. The point of studying at University, I would argue, is to gain the knowledge required to either become an academic, get a job in the relevant field, or maybe for selfdevelopment or a pursuit of knowledge. If you wanted to get a job as an engineer and are doing a Bachelor of Engineering, then I would question whether you would gain

Source: www.utas.edu.au

significantly more value from doing an additional two engineering classes or from two Breadth Units. There is also the problem of which fee band do these units fit into if they are not part of any degree specifically; will they have their own band? The answer is unclear. I did scout about for people undertaking one of these units, but I had difficulty finding anyone. In saying that, I also had significant difficulty finding anyone who even knew what a Breadth Unit was. For people doing a double degree or double majors, it becomes problematic for students to find a spot in their degree to complete them. The implementation and development of these units has had a very short lead time, due to the premise that the UTAS Breadth Units can just be directly modelled on those implemented at the University of Melbourne. In summary, I think the model itself has its application within the University, but these units need significant work, potentially a little more flexibility and maybe some additional direct research within the University of Tasmania.

-AARON SMITH“Just by this conversation that we’ve had you’re probably thinking ‘fucking hell this guy’s a nutter’, which is a fair enough conclusion, but I also have morning tea with the chief of police, I’ve met with the Governor General and I’m holding down a job as the editor of a newspaper.”

Aaron Smith is quite unlike any ‘adult’ I’ve ever spoken to. You know what I mean; the ones who have those jobs we uni students dream about. They give those same cardboard cut-out answers about how to be successful in life: work hard; stay in school; keep your nose clean. Wikipedia paints Aaron as a published author, the editor of a regional newspaper in the Torres Strait, and a successful freelance journalist with a Masters in Journalism from UTAS. “[From the office] I can see the turquoise water and the white sandy beaches, but I don’t get to stick my toes in much - not that you’d want to anyway because there are bloody big crocodiles and tiger sharks everywhere,” he says with a hearty laugh that reverberates through the phone.

Aaron is the editor, sole journalist, photographer and paperboy for Torres News, a weekly paper with a circulation of 3000 and a readership base across all the inhabited islands of the Torres Strait and throughout the five communities of the Northern Peninsula Area of Cape York. “Just in the last 12 months I’ve met the Chief of the Army, most of the Federal Parliament, the State Parliament cabinet, flown in helicopters around the remote territories, swam with Lisa Curry and have been invited by indigenous Elders to visit Eddie Mabo’s grave on Murray Island for a historic Mabo Day ceremony,” he says. He’s seen cultural wonders that 99 per cent of the world will never witness, has put the issue of dental care for Torres Strait Islanders on the national agenda, and believes he has fulfilled his aim to “keep the bastards honest.”

He also does not bother beating around the bush. “If you’re wanting a stable job with money, quit your degree. If you want a long-term safe career, give up now because you’ll save yourself a lot of pain. And if you want to be a writer it’s even worse,” Aaron says with conviction. “But if it’s the thrill of the chase and drilling down and seeing what the truth actually is then maybe you’re a journo.” An ex-hard drug addict who played in a grunge rock band while lived on the mean streets of Melbourne in the early 90s, Aaron freely admits that his current gig is his first proper job. “I get a perverse satisfaction of climbing the greasy poles of the newspaper world that’s a young man’s game in a dying industry,” he says.

photo: supplied by Aaron Smith

“It’s an interesting industry to move into – I don’t really know where I’ll go from here but I don’t really care to be honest, because something always comes up and the adventure continues.” Aaron’s current focus is the release of Chasing El Dorado, a South American Adventure, his new book due for release at the start of October. Aaron spent three years living in Brazil, using the country as a base to explore Latin America, psychedelics and the human condition. “My previous book starts with an LSD trip in the slums of Calcutta and pretty much goes downhill from there. In my second book I meet my future wife, who I call ‘the no bullshit Brazilian’,” he says. “I’ve usually had some pretty good lines that I could put on girls and she was the first girl who didn’t buy any of them, so I married her.”

He tells me of the search for El Doraldo within the jungles of his own mind, the multiverse, the hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca, religion, voodoo, and purgatory. “It’s been a learning process and the big thing I learnt, I asked the universe for want of better word, or the multiverse, what is my divine purpose - and I was told nothing really matters.” The human mind needs structure and patterns and reason to not go insane, Aaron says. “We create culture and we create society and we create morality and all these things, but ultimately there is no right or wrong, there is no why,” he continues. “Once you come to terms with that it doesn’t make you become potentially a sociopath or psychopath, it’s quite the opposite, you realise that everything that you think is important in this life is actually not that important.”

Career, aspiration, friends, beauty – Aaron believes it is all meaningless. “All that is left in the world is love, respect, gratitude and humility and once you learn that and that nothing else has any meaning in life, you are actually liberated.” His voice has held me captive; his tales have morphed a twenty minute interview into nearly an hour and a half of intrigued silence on my behalf. I’ve still got so many questions to ask. How does the man he describes reach the place he is now? How did he start out that way in the first place? I think I’ll just have to read the book. Meet Aaron at Chasing El Dorado book launch, Thursday October 9th 5:30pm at Hobart Bookshop, 22 Salamanca Square.

Holly Monery, BA, Hobart

illustration: Milly Yencken

THE GREAT DEPRESSION Last year I walked out in front of a car. I wasn’t trying to kill myself, I was just so numb. I didn’t want to feel so down anymore. I didn’t look for cars; I frankly couldn’t be bothered to look because at that moment it made no difference. Depression and anxiety are not diseases of a weak mind. I’m a clichéd, stubborn Taurus and it still affects me. Many express ill thought-out phrases such as ‘he’ll get over it’, ‘we all get stressed sometimes’, and my personal favourite – ‘there’s always someone worse off than you’. Depression is not a simple bout of melancholy; it is a chemical imbalance in your brain with its very own DSM-V definition. It is not a matter of logic. Yet society continues to be sceptical of the very real effects it has. One in ten Australians between 18 and 25 will experience an anxiety disorder in any given 12 month period. The World Health Organisation lists depression as the leading cause of disability worldwide, and a major contributor to the global burden of disease. The WHO recently reported that someone dies of suicide every 40 seconds. University

students are four times more likely to be depressed than other people their age. It could start with not going to class, evolve to extended hours in bed, and go develop into not getting out of your room to see friends, or shower. For me, depression and anxiety joined together as the wicked stepsisters. I prided myself on my independence and capability but suddenly found that cowering in the corner of the supermarket was how I reacted to doing the groceries. Old catch cries such as ‘just pull yourself together’ wasn’t quite cutting it. The effects of depression and anxiety are well documented, from the emotional blunting, to physical symptoms such as exhaustion, muscle fatigue and general decline in health. Your body is literally shutting off. Such a familiar scenario is still so misunderstood and mis-handled. An acquaintance of mine was brave enough to approach her supervisor about burn out and wanting some flexibility in her work. Her employers told her that the job wasn’t the issue, she was. She ‘wasn’t up to the task’

and sent her straight back to the same role. Taking a few days leave, she returned only to break down within hours. This behaviour is concerning, given that she works in a mental health organisation. Ironic, and disturbing. If the very people educated and practiced in mental health are not taking these issues seriously, what hope is there for workers not based in a health promotion organisation, or students dealing with the ever powerful tertiary institution? I felt that if I couldn’t cope with uni, how could I cope with ‘real life’? Depression and anxiety swamps a person. All those irrational and negative thoughts begin to appear as if they are your own. It’s not just your brain in overdrive with ‘what if’ thoughts, a la Nina Proudman of Offspring. It wants to kill you. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. Suicide becomes almost inevitable; like there is no choice. You wonder why you haven’t done it yet; what excuse could you possibly have for continuing life when the future only seems filled with more pain and failure? Suicide is not selfish. Sure, it hurts the people left behind, but the people who commit suicide

Anneliese Farmer, BA/LLB, Hobart

are in their lowest of lows, the deepest of depths and rational thoughts just aren’t there. “You wonder why you haven’t done it yet; what excuse could you possibly have for continuing life when the future only seems filled with more pain and failure?” Yes, depression is hard to understand because it does have so many varied signs and symptoms. But phrases such as ‘just pull yourself together’ are not useful or appropriate behaviour towards others, or yourself. Depression isn’t necessarily fifteen tragedies happening at once either, it can be the simple trigger of university itself. Anxiety and depression are tough, but you can begin to build a repertoire of techniques for escaping from it beyond medication. I try to make mine healthy ones such as saying three things I am grateful for each morning before I get out of bed, or walking every day (those endorphins are great!) and taking up activities I enjoy. It keep me busy and happy, and most importantly – connected. Connected to myself, and to my friends and family.

This is not an appeal for sympathy, it’s an appeal to consider things differently. This is why initiatives such as R U Okay Day are so important – they contextualise the suffering. Offer to go for a walk with your friend. Bring around a little gift or card to say you care. Keep inviting them to come out, or ask them what they would like to do together. Please don’t judge by commenting ‘shouldn’t they be over it by now’ or ‘we all get down’. The ‘Big Black Pit of Despair’ can be managed, especially with comfort and connection with friends. Any measure of understanding and patience couldn’t hurt.

If you feel the need for support the following contact details are a great resource: x Uni Counselling: Hobart - Ph: 6226 2697 Launceston - Ph: 6324 3787 Cradle Coast - Ph: 6430 4949 x Your GP for a Mental Health Care Plan: Medicare rebate for 10 psych sessions a year x Beyond Blue: Ph: 1300 334 636 - 24/7 or web chat from 3pm-12am daily x Lifeline Ph: 13 11 14 - 24/7 x Headspace: Health services for young people ages 12-25 years info@headspace.org.au

Andy Bull

Olivia Congdon, BA/BSC, Hobart

Andy Bull – the Australian indie-pop muso with the amazingly high vocal range – is back. After releasing his second album just this year, he has reappeared in the spotlight and brought along a new unique style and electronic flavour. Bull’s musical method skips from one extreme to the other. He began collaborating with a number of artists to create some awesome and intriguing tracks on his first EP, Phantom Pains. However his latest accomplishment, entitled Sea of Approval, is a result of a solo, five-year project. Bull was the songwriter, musician and producer – something that he says has taught him a great deal about himself as well as the music industry. I spent some time chatting with the Sydney-based musician recently, glimpsing a snippet of the elusive, yet loveable character of Andy Bull. Bull is softly spoken, yet articulate and passionate about his work. As we chat, he has a friendly, easy-going energy. Bull is currently in full promotion-mode for his album and tour, a phase which he says is a stark contrast to the slower-paced production process which has constituted the last few years of his life. He is suddenly barraged with a whole bunch of tasks and outside attention, which he says is quite full-on. Traditionally, Bull’s music originates from a darker place, and circles around sombre tones – but don’t let this lead you to think it’s not beautiful, or uplifting to the soul. Self-doubt and depression have made appearances in Bull’s life; these are hurdles

that have in essence, layered his work with richness and rendered it more relatable. One his most famous tracks, “Dog”, featuring Lisa Mitchell, (which made it to number 68 on Triple J’s Hottest 100 in 2010), made waves by raising awareness about how depression is an illness, and can infiltrate and deeply affect a life. Much of his new album, including the popular track “Keep On Running”, also draws on this aspect of his life, and how we as individuals, reconcile personal failure. Contradictions are what makes us unique: I would pinpoint Bull’s to be revolved around the notion that he can be intensely private, sometimes hiding away from the public eye, but, when he chooses to reveal himself he is articulate, warm and unreserved. Like Sia, he is known for this rejection of the social celebrity persona – even his album cover shows Bull covering his face with his hands. I guess that’s what his new album is exploring – the ‘sea of approval’ that we tend to lose ourselves, and our identities within.

photo: Universal Music You may think that by revealing these personal snippets or emotions to the world through your music would be really scary. However Bull says, while his songs are based on personal vulnerabilities, they aren’t scary to release because they’re not a precise reflection of his intimate thoughts; “you’re not reading my diary or anything”, he says. He speaks in an animated fashion, illustrating his words with avid hand movements. He says, actually, “its cathartic, because I get to symbolically sum up my internal meanderings. In reality, there’s nothing really to fear.” Bull notes that’s there’s a real joy in connecting with people through your work, but realises that it won’t be like that for everyone, and that’s okay. Bull’s down to earth attitude is also demonstrated by what motivates him. His philosophy is that 99 per cent of inspiration comes from just sitting down and beginning to work. Because when you work, he explains, you’re trying things – and that’s where ideas pop up.

“I try to look for inspiration in terms of what I can do, rather than external influences,” he says. His eyes light up as he describes the sound of playing a chord on his newly acquired electronic synthesiser – “I felt like it was singing to my heart. It was really inspiring”.

publicly.” Persistence and consistency in particular, he decides. “I worked hard to really improve myself,” he says. “When I first started playing [the piano] when I was 15 or 16, I couldn’t play with my left and right hand at the same time – so when you think about it, from then it’s been a long journey.”

It’s evident that Bull is highly self-critical and under confident at times. As a pop musician, the pressures of regularity and quantity can compromise the outcome of your work, but he refuses to do that. His latest album was not pushed by deadlines and necessity – it was something he produced on his own in an unassured manner, and was later convinced by others to produce another record.

Andy Bull’s tour brings him to Hobart this September, which he says he’s immensely looking forward to. “Whenever I haven’t come, I’ve got angry letters sent my way… So I’m coming to Hobart this time – and I hope the angry letter-writers actually come to the show!” he says.

I ask what he’s most proud of, in terms of his music career. “Oh my goodness...” he pauses for a moment to contemplate. “Obviously there’s highlights, and things that have gone well, but the things that I’m most proud of would be those that aren’t rewarded

Well Hobart, he’s finally here. I doubt you’ll be disappointed. Andy Bull plays at The Waratah, on 26th September as part of his Sea of Approval. Tickets available from OzTix.

Source: Pacific 14 Coast News

Cultural Appropriation Judy Augustine, BA, Hobart

“No one seems to be talking about cultural appropriation of St Patrick’s Day, where shallow enthusiasm perpetuates the stereotype of the Irish being drunk and stupid.”

Tog writer Judy Augustine asks; “Are we in danger of being too keen to be offended?” If you're a regular visitor of the Tumblr universe, you've most likely stumbled across the issue of cultural appropriation. People are getting all fired up over individuals, specifically white people, wearing bindis, dreadlocks, headdresses and other styles from different cultures. Essentially, if you're white, you are not allowed to wear anything outside of your culture, because it is insensitive and oppressive. Are people really worried about whether a culture is being disrespected though? Or is this a case of people being overly sensitive and blowing something out of proportion? The bindi, one of the more common sources of outrage, is a known part of Indian culture. There are spiritual meanings behind them, however they are also worn simply for aesthetic reasons. What people seem to be getting upset about, is that someone who doesn't understand the history of that culture can take it and make it into a fashion statement.

It is understandable why people could be upset by this, but with that lies the assumption that a person has no knowledge or appreciation of the culture. That assumption is generally based on the colour of the wearer’s skin. Because the cultural appropriation police decides that this is insensitive, a white person can't take part in a culture deemed not ‘their own’. We can't know whether someone has a knowledge and appreciation about the origins of something, based on a photo which seems to reveal that they don't bear the physical traits of the culture they’re interacting with. So why are people being attacked because of this? Cultural appropriation is a real problem, but like many other issues (gluten, anyone?), it's trivialised by hype. In our rush to discuss, the true meaning of an issue can be lost. In this example, people begin to perpetuate harmful stereotypes. The reactions verge on racism, and reverse racism.

No one seems to find issue with cultural appropriation when it comes to European cultures, for example. No one seems to be talking about cultural appropriation of St Patrick's Day, where shallow enthusiasm perpetuates the stereotype of the Irish being drunk and stupid. This seems to me to be far more harmful than someone appreciating another culture through dress. Are people really disrespecting Indian culture by wearing a bindi, or are they instead celebrating and being open to other cultures? Is anyone really being harmed by non-Indian wearers embracing this traditional item? To me, it seems as though a person could actually create a positive awareness and message, by admiring something beautiful about another culture. Diversity is good. Culture doesn’t have to be exclusive, and participating in a culture’s customs by wearing a traditional dress, is a way of expressing that. Our society is made up of many different aspects of other cultures, and that should be celebrated.

CENTRELINK CHANGES FOR DUMMIES Evan Miller, BA, Hobart

The release of the 2014 budget looks set to bring a raft of changes to social welfare payments. The majority of these are targeted at payments typically for young people: Austudy, Youth Allowance and Newstart. The the government’s changes are designed, fundamentally, to decrease the amount of payments to young people. Changes are overwhelmingly targeted at people under 30. Some of them are quite contradictory to the government’s stated goals of getting more young people into work. Here are the changes broken down in an easy to follow fashion. All information was taken directly from the Department of Human Services website. The greatest changes - and the ones most likely to impact students - are the “participation incentives” which are to be implemented on 1 July 2015. The single biggest change is the waiting period. An “applicant” must wait between one to six months before receiving payment. This is intended to act as an incentive to make sure an applicant has fulfilled their obligation to look for a job. The waiting period will be extended if the applicant does not apply for enough jobs or in any way does not comply with the regulations of Centrelink. The waiting period is not the only “participation incentive”, however. Once approved for a payment, you will only receive it for six months out of every 12. You must also work 25 hours a week in a work for the dole program paid at well below minimum wage and you must apply for 40 jobs a month.

There are stronger “compliance arrangements” in place to ensure that job seekers are meeting their requirements. Job seekers must accept a job they are offered or lose their payments for eight weeks. There is no provision for any job being unsustainable. If you are somehow able to present an excuse as to why you were unable to meet the requirements of the Department of Human Services, you will be unable to use that excuse again in a six month payment cycle. God forbid you get sick twice in six months. The participation incentives are the most obvious changes, but there are many other more subtle changes that will affect the amount of money that a young Australian will receive. The age that a person can claim Newstart has risen to 25, from 22, as has the age a person can claim Youth Allowance, up to 24, from 21. Formerly, when you turned 22, Youth Allowance recipients would switch over to Newstart, which meant an extra $96.10 a fortnight. Previously you were able to claim student benefits while on short trips of under six weeks, overseas. This is no longer the case, unless you are doing a government approved training course, or involved with the army reserves. The relocation scholarship will be restricted to students moving from or to a regional area. This scholarship, presented to students receiving a payment, who relocate for study will no longer be given to students moving to a city for study. Worth around seven

thousand dollars over a three year degree, the scholarship is intended to help pay for the costs associated with relocating for study. This in particular is a move designed to cut the majority of students off from funds. The majority of Australia’s universities, especially prestigious universities and those offering specialist degrees are in cities. It’s unclear if UTAS Sandy Bay will also be classified as a city campus, cutting off the moving assistance for regional students. There will be no increase in payments for three years. The maximum payment for Austudy is 542.40 a fortnight, including rent assistance. Already a difficult sum to survive on, there have been numerous entities calling for a raise in the payments by Centrelink. This sum is to remain static, despite inflation, for the next three years. The final change, and perhaps the most ideologically telling of all, is the removal of job seeker workshops. For a government that declares it wants young people to be either earning or learning, they are certainly making either of those options difficult. Removing the programs designed to help young people gain knowledge of job seeking techniques, while increasing all compliance regulations is not an effective way to increase the amount of young people in jobs. All of these measures, however, only apply until a person is 30. Why a person suddenly becomes immune to the new regime when they reach the age of 30, or where all these jobs apparently will materialise from, is yet unknown.

illustration: Milly Yencken

OBSERVING THE OBSERVER Zara Gudnason, BA, Hobart

Walkley Award winning Foreign Correspondent Peter Cave was over 1500 kilometres away from me when I interviewed him; which is fitting, as having spent the majority of his life reporting from obscure places, thousands of kilometres, Peter is no stranger to distance. Courtesy of Skype he pops up on my screen in a matter of seconds, and we begin. I’d met Peter a few days prior at a UTAS master class run by the International Committee for the Red Cross. Peter was tall and trim, his almost fully grey beard and hair worked fittingly with his blue striped shirt and dark suit. He showed little of the weariness you would expect from a tumultuous life on the front line. The first note I wrote upon seeing him was “assured” in bold black letters and that’s what he is. In every sentence he is confident in his words

and without fault in his voice, a skill you would expect was learnt on the job. Peter gives very little away. The role of the observer he so easily embodied is still very present. During our Skype interview, I can hardly miss a row of shining silver Walkey Awards lined up in the background. It was Peter’s most celebrated work which tends to be his most confronting. In 1989, his coverage of the Tiananmen Square massacre earned him his first Walkley; a “commendation for outstanding journalism under particularly difficult circumstances.” The situation arose due to being the last man standing, Peter witnessed the first moments of the massacre after everyone else had gone home. In later years he recounted that time as one of pessimism; hopping from Tiananmen Square straight to the Berlin Wall there wasn’t a lot of hope for the people there at that time. I press Peter on whether he is still pessimistic

about the power of the people, given recent upheavals internationally, but he dismisses the idea, saying that South Africa during the end of the apartheid was people power, and that having witnessed those things he was not pessimistic about people power back then and he isn’t now. I ask Peter how he dealt with the situation of the American hostage, Thomas Hamil in Iraq. Simply and eloquently he replied, “you just focus on doing your job.” As Peter and his crew were travelling on an outer highway of Baghdad, they came upon the scene of a dozen petrol tankers that had been targeted with rocket launchers by members of the Taliban. It was as they were leaving that a car of heavily armed young men keen to show off their prize pulled up. They were carrying an American hostage, Thomas Hamil. This situation of being in the right place at the right time and it was

Photo: supplied by Peter Cave

this coverage which earned him his fourth and fifth Walkley Awards. It was the focus on observation that seems to have defined Peter through his career – the ability for objective reporting in the most confronting of situations. While he has witnessed others, even colleagues, “go to the front line and pick up a gun,” Peter recounts that when you’re in that situation you have to concentrate on doing your job. You have to decide whether what you are doing is important and if it is then you can always feel comfortable with doing just that.

of his early days fondly. He recounts the disappointment of finding out that he was colour blind in a vocational guidance test and explains that “they said I might as well give up any hope of being a camera man.” Although his transition into television and radio flowed seamlessly from his early interests in technology, he speaks about his early steps into journalism as “a fallback.” “Technically I was a bit ahead of my peers, especially in radio” he says, making him a talented producer and mixer as well as journalist.

“It was the focus on observation that seems to have defined Peter through his career – the ability for objective reporting in the most confronting of situations.”

Peter Cave went places few dare to go and, even though these days he lives quietly in Sydney, he continues to go places others haven’t, through his ongoing voluntary work with the ICRC and Dynamiq, an ‘emergency management’ organisation, working to better prepare and better equip foreign correspondents.

Remembering himself as a young man fascinated by technology and ambitious for a life behind the camera, Peter speaks

Peter jokes in his master class about having to “learn to be biased,” measuring his success in increments of rage and insults directed at the evening news – an image which evidently contradicts the tradition of Peter Cave we have known on our TV screens. Even speaking to others about Peter, you understand the home that he found in the ABC reflects the role Peter had in the home of his audience. A co-worker tells me the first thing that comes to mind is the sound of his voice upon hearing his name, a sound almost as iconic as the opening bars of the ABC news intro. His steady voice continues to resonate in the minds of those who followed him throughout the world.

THE BIAS IN THE

ABC

FROM THE WRITER OF GRUMPY BEARDED MAN RANTS (TOGATUS ONLINE) The Institute of Public Affairs recently released a study that shows that the ABC is biased in its portrayal of the mining and coal seam gas industries, compared to renewable energy. The study found that by linking these methods of resource recovery to the environmental harms inherent in these methods, the ABC were biased. This study was totes scientific and it was only by pure serendipity that it happened to confirm the IPA’s firmly held beliefs. I’m sure they wore lab coats and held beakers while conducting their research. It was also completely independent, and not at all run by members of the IPA’s board. The IPA’s findings are extremely conclusive. They had graphs! These graphs show that the ABC certainly is biased against mining and fracking. The scientific study shows that the ABC only writes positive stories about mining 15 per cent of the time, and are only 12 per cent positive about fracking.

Meanwhile, they were 52 per cent positive about renewable energy. It is the view of the IPA that the stories about mining and fracking should be at 50 per cent positivity also, since the benefits of mining and fracking are clear to see. There was even a table with numbers about how much better coal is. It works in the dark and when there’s no wind! How can renewable energy possibly hope to compete with that kind of dynamic range of applications? I was ashamed to see the extent of the bias that runs through those hallowed halls of journalism in Australia. Luckily I am a member of a very important think-tank called the Australian Institute of Australia. I also happen to own a lab coat, safety glasses and several beakers. I set out on my own journey of scientific exploration. A good 20 minutes browsing the ABC news website revealed conclusively many more things that the ABC is biased against. Things that the ABC is also biased against, include

cigarettes, drug abuse, paedophilia, murder, human trafficking, cancer, corruption, rape, slavery, and genocide. It is absolutely disgusting that the ABC can misuse public funds in this way. The Australian Institute of Australia recommends that the ABC be de-funded and all traces of it’s existence be purged from Australian history. This corruption runs deep and none should be spared, lest the corruption continue. It’s time to stop the Bananas in Pyjamas pushing an agenda in which people stay home in their sleepwear all day rather than working hard to contribute to the economy of Australia. No longer shall Peppa Pig push a communist agenda under the guise of “co-operation” and ‘friendliness”. The green-left agenda being peddled by Blinky Bill and his ilk is a disgusting misuse of taxpayer money and should be stopped! Thus concludes my study. Evan Miller, BA, Hobart

THE

BENEFITS

INTERNING CAREER ADVICE: WAQAS DURRANI RECOUNTS HIS EXPERIENCE WITH A SPECIALISED INTERNSHIP UNIT

Waqas Durrani, MA Professional Accounting Specialisation, Hobart

What made you choose to do an internship? Learning should not be thought of as an experience wholly and solely in a classroom based on textbooks. I chose the Corporate Internship unit because I wanted to gain hands on experience in my field of study. I wanted to put my theoretical knowledge in to practice and give my understandings an industrial perspective. What are the most important things you have learnt and experienced? I have learnt that to secure future employment you need to be currently employed! Get the trick? No? Well when you finish your studies you may feel that the piece of paper you have been awarded has made you the most employable candidate for Google, Apple, Coca Cola or any well-todo business in your industry. When you walk into an interview (and you’re lucky enough that your resume makes it to that round), the first question asked is “Do you have any work experience?” Both you and I know the answer to that - you wouldn’t have the work experience unless someone actually hires you, so you walk out of the interview having lucked out.

It is experiences like internships that not only give you the work experience but also a project to showcase in your interview. You can demonstrate your calibre with your findings and exhibit your strengths that the organisation would benefit from by hiring you. How helpful do you think this internship will be for your career? I interned at St Ann’s Homes and this experience has been very fruitful for me in many ways. I had the privilege of working directly with Mr George Wilson, the CFO of St Ann’s Homes. Working with a person of such high calibre and persona nurtured my organisational skills and helped in developing a thorough understanding of the accounting practices in an age care residential facility. It was completely different to the mainstream commercial organisations we learn about in the lecture rooms. This internship has given me confidence and the competitive edge that makes me stand out in the crowd with the diversity of accounting experience I now possess.

Did you get to do real work at the internship? Did you find that doing the internship was extra pressure on your work load? I worked on the unit costing of the outreach program and it constituted a lot of reading materials and understanding of the limitations of the nature of industry. The Corporate Internship program is an intensive unit and is very competitive to get in. It’s a unit that will help you reach your potential. It is a challenging unit but there is constant support available by your mentor in the work organisation and from the unit coordinator at UTAS. This unit is currently on offer to students at the School of Business and Economics. It is my hope in writing this article that such opportunities are considered for a wider array of courses, so students can gain first-hand work experience with more ease and support. I thoroughly recommend this experience.

Tabitha Fletcher, BA, Hobart

UNLEASHING THE

CARNIVALESQUE GROTESQUERIES ON AN UNSUSPECTING CAMPUS Topher Webster, BA Hons (English), Hobart

This year, the campus counterculture saw a revival of biblical proportions. The ancient and mysterious rite which is ScavHunt, a tradition with roots lost in time, arose from its nest deep beneath the Ref Steps and, much like Godzilla, unleashed hell (Without trousers on. Like Godzilla).

been seen before: engineers swinging their massive balls like Miley (only nakeder), lawyers getting inked for the cause, miscellaneous others licking cars, stealing goal-posts, transforming the entire TUU building into a mock-up of Shelob’s Lair (Lord of the Rings, jeez) with nothing but gladwrap—this year saw mortals forged into champions in the fires of ScavHunt. Featuring an on-stage naked human pyramid, a wheel of death, a boat-race of indecent proportion, and, of course, a mechanical bull, this one weird week was wicked.

With one week of wacky antics keeping kids busy (and pleasantly distracted from that grim business which is “study”), ScavHunt provided the stage for such daring displays of balls (…and lady-balls) as have never

Scavenger Hunt plays an important role in maintaining the sanity of the student populace: the champions danced like puppets for our amusement, but their efforts were extrapolated to each and every one

THE SCAVENGER HUNT 2014: IN YO FACE

of us: ScavHunt is our link to the stories we hear of the golden olden days, where students stole busses and delivered human organs to judges. These days feel like they fade already, but no, I say, never will hijinks be repressed by increasing workloads. ScavHunt is vital for the student conception of what it is to be student-kind! There is a special kind of freedom you only feel when three hundred eyes burn into your naked skin: anonymity. Under the cloak of ScavHunt, individuals are transformed into ideas, each personality repressed to leave room for ScavHunt’s mighty hand, each body left little more than a willing glove-puppet, shaken before the assembled masses. This sacrifice, made by each and every ‘Hunter, is great: their dignity died so that your studies may live.

This year’s winners, the Christ College boys, embodied this spirit: their violent embrace of the impossible and indecent would have left Hercules himself with a hard-on. Featuring the most efficient item-scouring, challenge-doing, and naked-getting guys on the block, this year’s winners drove away in the traditional ScavWagon — a “roadworthy” bomb purchased by the TUU. This investment was repaid to the student body a hundredfold: those who

Illustration: Molly Turner

heard the roar of the crowd at final judging would agree. Everybody who saw a dick they didn’t expect, or pretended not to scope out the gal in the fishnets (only fishnets) gets a story: when they come to think of their time at uni, they won’t remember the late hours spent chasing a quote from a dusty old book. They will remember ScavHunters, who will not grow old as ye that are left grow old. Time will not weary them, nor the years forget. ScavHunt is the epitome

of youth and pointless rebellion: without it, you’d all have died from boredom.

WE ARE STUDENTS: HEAR US ROAR!

photo: Esther Stride

Discovering the Lost Space of a Jam Factory Nina Barnett, BA/BBus, Hobart The old Jam Factory is home to the Tasmanian School of Art and several lovely local businesses. It buzzes away, oblivious of the numerous nooks and crannies that you might expect to find in an abandoned manufacturing hub. Lying unnoticed, these dead spaces become somewhat of a vacuum between entirely impractical arrangements of furniture, and beneath the many staircases. This random and rough space is precisely what makes ‘The Ramp’ the uniquely dynamic gallery that it has become. Opened just last month, ‘The Ramp’ has already taken on a rather organic life of its own. “I just let go,” says Gus McKay, School of Art student and manager of the student gallery space, Entrepo’t. “It kind of just does its own thing … you don’t have to touch it,” he explains. The gallery offers students the ongoing opportunity to show their work, minus the highly formalised proposal process

“The quirkiness of ‘The Ramp’, with a mid-dividing wall and odd lighting conditions, necessitates a mindfulness of the work’s relationship with the space.” required for most art spaces. Artworks needn’t be complete or even recent, allowing for testing and development through trial and experimentation in a gallery setting. “Initially, the idea was to reinvigorate a new space in the art school,” Gus says. Along with previous Arts School TUU Rep Skye Hamilton, he propelled the concept to fruition late last year. Numerous ideas were circulated, “But we thought, what do artists need most? It’s mostly spaces to try their new work or to test it […] to take it out of the studio and isolate it in a space.” In a sense, the space has been deliberately designed to be difficult. “When you’re an artist”, Gus says, “you might be asked by a gallery to have a show, but you don’t know what that space looks like necessarily”. The uncannily pen-like impression of Butchart’s 24

journal wire installation currently occupying the space examined ‘traces of presence’ through its experimental adaption to the new space. The quirkiness of ‘The Ramp’, with a mid-dividing wall and odd lighting conditions, necessitates a mindfulness of the work’s relationship with the space. The weekly rotation of artwork has flouted all ‘deadness’ of space, and has created a productive vibe of freedom and lucidity. “I like the looseness of it”, says Gus, “it’s nice that there is an onus on students to take initiative and run with something”. The concept has captured the involvement of UTAS and TAFE students and lecturers alike. Its popularity provides a set up for many projects to come. The lost space of the jam factory, as it happens, is more a place of discovery than first thought.

Photo: Clark Cooley

Lunch Date With the Premier Joey Crawford, BBus, Launceston

Several members of the Business and Accounting Student Society (BASS) attended the annual Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry budget lunch in Launceston on August 29. This event was presented interested parties with the ability to hear from the State Treasurer, currently Peter Gutwein MP, of a few highlights of the state budget as it was launched. Along with a lunch, a few slides and speeches, those in the room have a chance to ask a quick question to either the Premier or Treasurer on the budget. This allowed for easy access. I was planning to ask a question addressing of youth employment, but sadly, there was a limited amount of time. This was probably because there was a budget dinner in Devonport, later that day, there was a strict deadline.

Photo: Clark Cooley

Photo: Kevin Swarts

Outside the Country Club Casino, there were a few protesters from the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) and others protesting about the budget. It was a privilege to have been fortunate enough to attend as a member of Bass electorate. I would encourage students to join student societies that interest them in order to have access to opportunities relevant to their interests and education.

illustration: Milly Yencken

TO BE THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY Joey Crawford, BBus, Launceston

I thought it was a good idea to stop by the scene of the crime. I had to ensure my perfection. I was meticulous in my cleaning and I was sure that everything was perfectly free of any trace of Doug, the corporate human resources guy just a curious business man who works up the road Isn’t this what one of those psychopaths I saw on a documentary would do? Revisit their masterpiece? Of course they would, but not to examine their success of hiding it. They want to gloat. That is what makes me different. From behind the crime scene tape, I look cautiously. I don’t want anyone to feel as if I have been here before. I did it well, I think. The Chief of Police was there. It’s clear they suspect this crime was perpetrated by the same person responsible for several others. She was conducting a walkthrough of the area with some uniforms and as she did so,

I knew now was my opportunity to depart. I turned to leave and then I heard it. “Doug?” She said. I did not think she would recognise me, but she did. I turned around again and the Chief of Police was standing eye to eye with me. “Hi Sharon,” I replied exuberantly, trying to hide something I felt. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was though. Was it fear, or something else? “I haven’t seen you in quite a while,” she said, lifting the barricade tape. “Come through.” I indulged in a bit of a conversation with my old school friend. We had dated at a much younger age, but she broke it off when she told me I lacked the kind of emotion she needed. I know it sounds cliché, but I always recognised her as the one that got away. Stupid right? I didn’t feel I needed her now though.

We spoke about the crime, and she reiterated everything I already knew; much to my satisfaction. “The murderer left no trace, it seems,” she said. I thought I could sense an ounce of awe in her voice. She was impressed by the doublemurderer’s level of perfection. My perfection. “There were no cameras active…” She began. I already knew this, but of course, I concealed it. “Except the turtle in the corner. The technicians expect it will take a week to decrypt the footage.” My heart jumped to pounding and my throat dried. This was the only piece of evidence they needed to catch the killer. To catch me. “Would you like to go to dinner with me?” I asked promptly.

Book Reviews

Kate Edwards, Graduate Diploma of Science (Psychology), Hobart Wanting is a compact little book which packs so much meaning into its few pages. The novel, published in 2008, is just one of Tasmanian writer Richard Flanagan’s successes. Wanting reveals two main stories placed on opposite sides of the globe and yet constantly intertwining. One narrative takes place in England, following the writer Charles Dickens as he navigates and confronts his own desperation and isolation despite the presence of fame. The other story takes us (or returns us) to Van Diemen’s Land at a time not too long after invasion. We follow the story of Lord and Lady Franklin as they try to find themselves anew in the early settlement of Hobart Town. The land represents, as it did for so many others, a place to make a mark. However, the most fascinating and poignant narrative in Wanting is that of Mathinna. The fate of this young indigenous girl somewhat epitomises the treatment and experiences of the Tasmanian Aboriginals. Mathinna, once so vibrant, full of stories and life and connection to the land, is systematically stripped of all she is. The young girl is initially taken by Lady Franklin and raised as a project, beheld with fascination and even lust, so strange is her exotic nature. She is to be civilised. Yet as Mathinna’s culture and pride are gradually peeled away from her, she is neither what she was nor what the white people wish her to become. After Lady Franklin declares that the girl cannot be part of society, Mathinna is cast aside - a broken and empty shell. Wanting brings together themes of self-denial, what it is to yearn, and the issues of our past which seem to be so seldom discussed. Flanagan’s writing is hypnotic and I recommend this novel as not only an enjoyable read but as a thoughtful look at issues relevant to both our past and how we go forward into the future.

Debbie Baird-Bower, PhD in Antarctic Fur Seal Demographics, Hobart Writing a thesis is hard, whether you’re writing your first or third. Paul Gruba has written several successful books aimed at helping PhD students write a better thesis. This time ear Gruba teamed up with Justin Zobel, to help Honours and Masters by coursework students write a better minor thesis. With decades of experience with research training and supervision between them, Gruba and Zobel know what they are on about. This is a comprehensive ‘how to’ book, laid out as a step-by-step guide. You can read this book from cover to cover, or scan the useful index to dip in and out of the chapters and easily find what you need. Chapters one to three reveal the anatomy of the tasks ahead and show you how to approach them. From there, each chapter reviews the components of a minor thesis from introduction to conclusion. The last chapter guides you through editing and submitting with a useful checklist, which would definitely come in handy over and over again. A refreshing aspect of this book is that it talks you through more than just writing your thesis, but explores all aspects of a minor thesis, including the relationship you should expect to have with your supervisor, an understanding of your role as a student and perhaps most importantly, your own health and wellbeing during this inevitably stressful time. This book is a great companion for an Honours or Masters student. It is written in an amiable manner and well worth the read if you’re just starting out on a minor thesis. It’s an insightful and well-rounded book that you would definitely refer back to if you ever start a PhD. TasPostgrads looks after all postgraduate students from Honours to PhD. So what do all of these students have in common? At the end of their studies they must submit a thesis, an extended argument that reports on the outcome of a supervised research project. 27