FLAT FAMOUS

ROBERT Flat

Famous

Kaveh - The one who actually owns all the plants, studies forestry, and wears bandana’s - sensing a theme yet? Loves to water his plants and his liver, self-professed undefeated on the beer pong table for a year and three months (he wishes). Usually found in the kitchen, jamming just as hard to jazz as DNB and drinking way too much tea.

Robert - Listens to dnb 16 hours a day. Had a bleached mullet last year. Just got his nipples pierced for gags. Owns 70 cents worth of bitcoin. Rob’s a hard man to pin down. He spends more time watching Echos than should be possible. The king of TMI in public places, ay Papa pumpy pumpy. Owns 0 plants.

Evan - He’s a snow junky, the mountain kind that is. Proud CUSSC exec. Spends his weekends outlining the excessive value of flame beers to anyone that will listen. Secretly a huge nerd. He gets excited about measuring stream flows and froths a boardgame. Owns two of the plants.

Lilith - Blonde, surfs, vegan, and makes good pasta, the recipe for a good life. Studies Mechatronic Engineering, impressive considering we convinced her Kaveh was Colombian on the weekend. Purchased three shit box cars in the past year; one still runs. Owns one of the plants.

Jayden - Quit uni to work at a bike shop. Quit the bike shop to travel around the country riding his bike. Most often seen covered in mud and plasters. Self-professed ‘Lady Killer’ when the pit vipers come out. Broke even on the pong table one time. Loves to drive the boat. Owns zero plants.

Tommy - Not a flatmate, just Kaveh’s gardening buddy :)

EACH FLAT FEATURED IN FLAT FAMOUS WINS A NIGHT OUT AT SPAGALIMIS PIZZERIA!

By Emily Heyward (she/her)

Trigger warning. This article discusses confronting themes which may include sexual harassment, mental health, and suicide.

To those who thought Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was ‘attention seeking’ or ‘lying’ about having suicidal thoughts, I hope you never find yourself in that position.

It has been dubbed the most explosive royal interview since Princess Diana famously sat down for a tell-all with the BBC in 1995.

Harry and Meghan’s two-hour interview with Oprah has been dissected, scrutinised, and analysed from every angle by royalists, commentators, and it seems everyone with a keyboard and an affinity for the comment sections of news articles.

Among the many bombshell revelations, Meghan bravely revealed she had been thinking about taking her life during her time with the Royal Family in the UK.

“I just didn’t want to be alive anymore,” Meghan said.

“I was really ashamed to say it at the time and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry, especially because I know how much loss he has suffered, but I knew that if I didn’t say it, then I would do it.”

The Duchess of Sussex talked openly with Oprah about her struggles and what life was like within the Royal Family.

And while many commended Meghan for her bravery and strength in talking about her suicidal thoughts so openly, others took to social media, accusing her of never actually being suicidal, just ‘attention seeking’.

Piers Morgan, who has since ‘left’ his position as a host on Good Morning Britain, labelled the whole interview as “disingenuous”, saying he didn’t “believe a word she said”.

And here is the problem with comments like that. When you deny someone else’s reality, you silence them. your life, then you are lucky. It is harrowing and lonely.

Telling someone that you are thinking about killing yourself takes a kind of strength; you can only truly understand if you have ever been in that situation yourself.

For Meghan to tell the world that she was suicidal would have taken a hell of a lot of courage. People don’t go around saying that sort of stuff lightly.

No matter what you think of her, or the Royal Family, saying things like ‘she was just saying that for attention’ is dangerous. No, Meghan probably isn’t going to see your comment, but a friend or family member of yours might. And if they are struggling with suicidal thoughts or ideation, you have just silenced them.

New Zealand has the second-highest youth suicide rate in the developed world, according to Unicef. There is no place for denying or questioning someone else’s reality. People are dying.

Every time someone opens up about their experiences, like Meghan, it helps one more person feel seen and validated. Don’t be the person who stops someone else from speaking out and asking for help. And if someone tells you they are suicidal, believe them.

Where to get help:

Lifeline – 0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE) or free text 4357 (HELP)

Suicide Crisis Helpline – 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)

Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor

Healthline – 0800 611 116

Lads without Labels

Neueli Mauafu (he/him)

Instagram (@ladswithoutlabels) Facebook (Lads Without Labels)

EXECUTIVE TEAM 2021

President: Sam Watkins

Vice President: Jules Haus

Treasurer: Stacey Williams

Media and Communications: Jeremy Wright

Sponsorship: Kaleigh Pickover and Jesse Custers

Events: Sol Cerson and Rohan Chakrabarti

In a world where lockdowns and isolation slowly become the norm, the question “Are you ok?” really can make a difference in anyone’s life. With the whole COVID-19 pandemic continuing to sweep the globe into a total frenzy, a lot of our community are thrown into a space of being alone, physically and mentally. Much of these changes can take a toll on a student, and the academic portion already brings struggles that will only increase even more if someone feels isolated or trapped.

Based on campus is our very own Lads Without Labels club. Established in 2020, a year of uncertainty and despair, Lads without Labels arose as a charity/club addressing mental health and its impact on our wider community. I managed to have a chance to speak with the team via email and sent through some questions in regard to their club.

What was the thought/idea behind the establishment of the club?

Words from the 2020 President, Sam McLean :

I wanted to start this club because I know how difficult mental health can be. I’ve seen a lot of my mates struggle with it and faced my own issues as well. Whether its feelings of isolation, questioning my own self-worth, or just losing desire to do anything productive, I’ve definitely had my fair share of bad days. University can be an incredibly stressful place, with deadlines and expectations set on you to succeed. When you’re struggling with mental health on top of that, things become a lot harder.

One of the best ways to make things easier is by reaching out to people and making sure you’re staying in touch with the people you care about. Because you never know who might be struggling. I wanted to help create a community that helps bring people together and opens up more conversations about mental health. I want anyone to be able to come and learn how to look after their mates better. We’re not experts, but we want to make UC a better place. Because we all have men we care about. What are some setbacks you guys faced when setting up your club?

Overall, our community was hugely supportive of our cause and purpose. We received overwhelming support throughout the year, and the UC students were very engaging. The UCSA helped us throughout the year, which has proved vital in our success.

This year, the UCSA is continuing to provide more support for us at Lads Without Labels. Hopefully, this means we will be able to support students in the best way possible by creating a safe and positive space.

Without a doubt, COVID threw a spanner in the works. The club’s team was left scrambling to think of ways we could continue to spread our message throughout the lockdown period(s). However, we believe we did a good job at supporting our whānau.

COVID-19 has been one of the most damaging occurrences that a club can face, or, more importantly, that human society can face. The club mutually agrees to look past our own club’s performance and promises to provide support for our community we care so much about.

Identify some goals that your team want to achieve – both short-term and long-term. Our short-term goals are to hold events this year that establishes us strongly in the University club scene. We want to host events for people that are educational, and which encourage positive conversations.

Our long-term goals are to reach the wider NZ community and be a strong player in the Men’s Mental Health arena. We want to grow our UC community and support network. A part of this journey will see us collaborate with others. We at LWL strongly believe that teamwork is the best way forward.

Ella Gibson (she/her)

Uni is infamously known for causing some grief, and that’s in a multitude of ways; mentally, physically, and emotionally. I like to describe the plunge towards attempted adulthood at university as being thrown into the deep end without knowing how to swim. Uni feels like a constant pull against the tug, more giving than taking and all things stress-related seem inevitable. No matter if you keep up to date with your course load, there always seems to be another reading around the corner.